"How to Grow a Baby" - Review

You may remember that last week I bought some pregnancy books.  I've already made my way through the first one so here's my review!

I'd read a snippet of this book for free on the Kindle and it sounded like exactly the kind of pregnancy book for me.  I didn't realise until today that this book was only released a month ago, so I imagine not a lot of people have read it yet (unless you're pregnant at the moment).

Clemmie Hooper provides an informative, humourous, no-nonsense guide to pregnancy, birth and the first few weeks of being a new mum.  As a midwife, she has a great insight into the medical aspects of pregnancy and as a mother of four girls, she has plenty of personal experience to complement her knowledge.  

The book is split into sections relevant to the stages of pregnancy with cute illustrations of what size fruit/vegetable your foetus is likely to be at that stage - it's a little scary when it's a fully grown pumpkin by the end!

Alongside Clemmie's writing, she has excerpts from various other writers covering all sorts of topics.  There's articles about hypnobirthing, pregnancy massage, diet, exercises and doulas - to name just a few.  Scattered throughout the book are quotes from real mums covering everything from sex to postnatal depression, which makes everything feel a little less alien and a little more comforting.

Possibly my favourite part of the book is the birth stories.  Towards the end of the book there are stories written by women who have experienced all kinds of birth, including C-sections, natural delivery, epidurals, induction and home birth.  Hearing from people who have experienced these scenarios brings a real personal touch to the book.

Overall, it was a great read.  It was informative but entertaining at the same time.  It didn't throw pages and pages of statistics at you and it always explained every option.  I've heard a lot of complaints about books that push natural delivery without medication or that make you feel guilty if you choose not to breastfeed, but this was not one of those.  Everything was clear and concise with enough detail to help you make informed choices, without telling you what you should be doing or confusing you with too much unnecessary information.

I would highly recommend How to Grow a Baby (and Push it Out).  You can also check out Clemmie's writing on her blog (where it all started).

Enjoy your work!

I had a job I loved... and it ruined my life!

Okay, so I may be being a tiny bit dramatic but this is pretty much how I feel at the moment.  It's a feeling I wasn't able to shake for most of 2016.

I should make it clear at this point that since I started having problems with my EDS and had to drop out of sixth form (twice) any career ambition I may have had was gone. I wanted to be a midwife but I couldn't handle long shifts or being on my feet for large periods of time. I wanted to work in a job where I was good at what I did, had a relative amount of responsibility (but nothing majorly stressful - which counts out working with the general public) but could go home at the end of the day and leave work at work.

I started my working life as a Legal Secretary and I hated it.  Despite the fact that the Solicitors I worked for were brilliant, the nature of the work made it somewhat unbearable.  It was a criminal law firm and they were defending criminals - there were a few innocent people who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time but they were the rare ones.  Clients were often very verbally abusive and I was often the only one in the building to deal with the situation.  As an 18 year old girl that was scary.  I stuck it out for just under 3 years; it was good money considering I was fresh out of school (it started off well and I had a couple of pay rises after performance appraisals), the people were supportive and I just didn't feel I could leave something where I was considered to be doing well.  Eventually I got very depressed, to the point where I would sob the whole way to work.  My husband (very soon after we got together) gave me the confidence to hand my notice in and walk away.  I did this with no prospects of a new job and just did agency work (making minimum wage) to keep myself going until something better came along.

I've always been fascinated by medicine so when a job came up at my local hospital as a Clinical Typist for the Paediatric Department I jumped at the chance to apply for it.  Little did I know it would be the single best career decision I ever made.  It is the only job I have ever had where I NEVER looked for other jobs.  I was never unhappy about going to work (even when we had an alcoholic working with us and being quite hostile).  I got up every morning and looked forward to it - I'd often do about 15 hours overtime a week, which was great for the money (I got paid time and a half) but also didn't feel like work.  Unfortunately, when we relocated I couldn't continue with the 30 minute commute as we had one car between us and I found a new job quicker than ALS.

I had a job in a lab for a while, which was impossible as I was on my feet all day and this was my lowest point.  In August 2016, I started working in the Maternity/Gynae Department at my local hospital.  This was in an admin capacity and was quite interesting.  However, it was hard work whilst I was going through the fertility treatment - although it had its perks when I ran out of medication or needed advice.  By Christmas it had gotten to a point where we were seriously overstaffed and I spent most of my time twiddling my thumbs.

In December, I was approached by my old manager and asked if I would be interested in returning to my old job in Paediatrics.  We have now become a 2 car family and ALS has a more local job, so I jumped at the chance.  Tomorrow, I am heading back to that job and I absolutely can't wait.  I'm looking forward to looking forward to work again.  

Admittedly, they might not be thrilled when they find out I'm pregnant but enjoying your job is so important for a happy life.  Plus, now I can actually imagine myself not entirely hating going back to work when I've had kids - instead of ending up depressed, tearing myself away from my baby and going to a job I hate.

Excited does not even cover it!

Throwback Thursday!

I've been keeping up my exercise this week and today was my last day at my current job - before starting a new one on Monday.  I thought I'd earned a night off the exercise so I've used my evening to read back through my blog from the beginning.  I noticed a few things:

1.  I've become a much more frequent poster since things have been happening regularly on the IVF/pregnancy front.

2.  All of my posts are at the wrong times as I've been running on US time, when I live in the UK.  Anything I posted in an early morning claims to have been posted the night before - I have now fixed this in my settings.  I'm still getting to grips with the intricacies of writing a blog, rather than just putting words into the box and posting them.

3.  I have learned a LOT in the last few years.  I'm not claiming to be an expert but I know a hell of a lot more about my own body, reproduction, IVF, hormonal medications, pregnancy and various other related subjects than I did when I started the blog.  I've found myself wanting to correct my mistakes, but I've left them as a memento.

4.  ALS and I have a great relationship and always have had.  It made me sad to read the posts about our difficulty with intimacy but I'm very pleased to say things are back to normal in that department.  We made a real conscious effort to work on our intimacy after the first FET failed and it's brought things back to normal.

5.  I haven't really posted much about Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome; the symptoms, the management, the implications or anything else.  I will write a couple of posts in the next few weeks, which will hopefully help anyone struggling to learn how to deal with the condition.  If there's anything I've learned since I first fell ill (8 years ago) it's that you are the best judge of what works for you, try everything and don't let anyone tell you that you "can't" do things you want to do.

Happy Throwback Thursday!

Pregnancy - 5 week update

How far along?  5 weeks 

How big is baby?  I have a couple of apps on my phone - one is suggesting a sesame seed and one is suggesting an apple pip.  Seeing as they're around the same size, you can take your pick!  Personally, I think Pip sounds quite cute as a nickname for this week.

Total weight gain/loss?  56.6kg, another 0.6kg down this week.  Really hope this doesn't keep up.

Waist?  I haven't measured it this week but my weight hasn't changed and my clothes feel the same so I'm guessing nothing.

Stretchmarks?  Not for a long time yet I hope!

Maternity clothes?  Not for a while yet.

Sleep?  Between being excited, being nervous and just generally not being able to stop thinking, I've had very little sleep this week.  At least it's preparing me for the inevitable!

Best moment this week?  Telling my mum!

Movement?  Nothing yet, way too early.

Food cravings?  Nothing so far.  I really fancied apple juice for a few days, but now I've bought some I've not actually opened it.

Food aversions?  Nothing.

Gender?   No idea and I don't think we're going to find out... but that could change.

Labour signs?  Definitely not.

Pregnancy symptoms?  My sense of smell is super heightened - it's like a really crappy superpower.  I can't save lives BUT I can tell you what the family 5 doors away is having for dinner.  Other than that, absolutely nothing.  I really want to feel pregnant, even if it's just feeling sick.

Belly button in or out?  In.

What I miss?  Nothing much this week, I'm going to a strongman gym with my friends on Saturday and it'll be annoying not being able to lift heavy.  However, the gym have just adopted a husky puppy so I'm sure I can keep myself entertained!

What I am looking forward to?  I have a 3 day weekend coming up and then start my new (old) job on Monday... I have a post half written explaining this so all will become clear soon.

Upcoming appointments/scans?  Early scan on 14th March... only 13 days to go!

Weekly wisdom?  Exercise kills fatigue.  I really didn't feel like exercising at the beginning of this week because I was so tired from lack of sleep.  I've done a couple of home workouts and been swimming and I feel SO much better, despite still not getting much sleep.

Milestones?  Telling my mum - turns out, she's incredibly excited!

Bump picture:

Needless to say - there's not been any change in my bump (or lack of) yet!

Reading List!

I absolutely LOVE reading.  Needless to say, pregnancy is the perfect time to get some reading in.  I am desperately trying to make it to my scan without worrying and I know it's early, so I shouldn't be getting too excited, but I've bought a couple of little treats! I like to have as much information as possible about everything so I've got a list of pregnancy books, that I want to read in the next 8 months, as long as my arm.

I've spent hours browsing on Amazon and I've settled for 2 for now, one for me and one for ALS (although his looks much more humourous so I intend to read that too)!  

I found this book on the Kindle and it actually had a free sample to give me an idea of what was in store.  I definitely wanted to read more so it was my first purchase!  You can find it here.

This one had brilliant reviews and I've seen it recommended on various blogs and websites, hopefully it's as good as I'm expecting.  This is another one from Amazon.

I will be posting reviews of both books once I've read them and hopefully ALS will actually read the Survival Guide so I can get his opinion, as a father-to-be.

What books did you enjoy during pregnancy?  Did you read pregnancy books or fiction?  Was there anything else you enjoyed doing to pass the time?

Grandparents & Great-Grandparents to be!

Yesterday, we went and told my mum, grandparents and ALS' grandparents our news.  We were initially going to wait until after our scan at 7 weeks, but I already felt bad that I'd not involved my mum in the IVF process and not even told her what was happening.  That being said, I was absolutely petrified to tell her as she often says "Don't get any ideas" when I tell her someone's pregnant and I also didn't want her to be upset about the fact that she'd not been involved so far.

Fortunately, she was incredibly supportive.  She knew about the IVF process but didn't know that we had already started so she was quite shocked.  However, she said she'd had suspicions because last time we discussed the process I seemed to know WAY too much detail!  She's over the moon and completely understood my decision to not tell her about the IVF due to her health (she has suffered with anxiety and depression for a long time and recently has started having stress-induced migraines).  She admitted that she'd have worried a lot about it and that this was probably for the best.  She has, however, informed me that from hereon in she will be here night and day, for anything I need.  My grandparents were also pretty pleased and my grandad (to ALS' relief) took it all very well - I think he especially liked the part where he found out that it was IVF so he can keep his image of his sweet, innocent grandaughter.  My grandma actually asked for my permission to start knitting bits for the baby (after we've had a scan and confirmation that everything is okay - always practical).

We followed this up with a trip to ALS' grandparents (accompanied by his dad, stepmother and brother) to tell them.  His grandad was so overwhelmed he actually cried - which was a beautiful moment.  They're both very excited.  They all celebrated with a glass of wine (except for the proud parents as I'm pregnant and ALS was driving) but everyone else enjoyed it!

It's starting to sink in now... a little bit.  There's still a long way to go before I actually accept what's happening and it starts to feel real.

Pregnancy - 4 week update

How far along?  4 weeks, 2 days.  

How big is baby?  Obviously, we've had no scans measurements but about the size of a poppy seed.

Total weight gain/loss?  I'm 57.2kg, which is  a bit less than I was last week (58.5kg).  My weight fluctuates between 58-60kg on average.  I'm going to go with 58.5kg being my "pre-pregnancy weight" and add on from there, so I'm currently -1.3kg.

Waist?  25 inches.

Stretchmarks?  None, I bought myself some Palmer's Cocoa Tummy Butter yesterday and I've already added it into my routine when I get into bed at night.

Maternity clothes?  Not even given them a thought - it'll be a while before I need them!

Sleep?  I'm sleeping like a baby, once I get to sleep.  I'm so excited from the news and too busy thinking about how we're going to tell people and what we need to do/buy so it's hard to get to sleep.  However, I'm pretty exhausted so once I get there, I stay there!  I am waking up once or twice to pee - that wasn't unusual for me a while ago but over the last few months I've worked really hard to train my overactive bladder out of it, I guess I'll have to get used to it again.

Best moment this week?  Getting that positive beta result - and such a high number too!

Movement?  Nothing yet, way too early.

Food cravings?  Nothing so far, I'm not overly hungry at the moment despite not being particularly nauseous.  

Food aversions?  Nothing.

Gender?  Absolutely no idea - this week it's being called Poppy (due to being the size of a poppy seed) so let's guess at girl?

Labour signs?  DEFINITELY NOT!  Don't want any of that for another 36 weeks.

Pregnancy symptoms?  I'm a little nauseous, but only when I start to get hungry.  If I'm late for a meal, I know about it!  My sense of smell is going crazy too - I keep smelling things that aren't there, or are so mild nobody else can smell them.  I'm pretty fatigued but it's been a long, mentally tiring couple of weeks with the embryo transfer and 2 week wait, so that's pretty understandable.

Belly button in or out?  In.

What I miss?  As I'm so tired, I'm really missing caffeine, but as I gave it up in August for the fertility treatment it's not too hard - I'm pretty used to it now.

What I am looking forward to?  Tomorrow, I'm going to tell my mum.  I'm nervous (she always suggests babies aren't something I should be thinking about yet) but excited at the same time!  I think she'll be really happy when she gets over the initial shock.

Upcoming appointments/scans?  I have a scan at the clinic in Sheffield on 14th March (6 weeks 6 days), it's going to feel like a VERY long wait.

Weekly wisdom?  When you're going to get your bounty gift box (free with the Bounty App), you only  have 20 minutes to claim it.  Even if you're already in Boots, don't click claim until you know they haven't run out!  There was an option for "Not available" but the sales assistant accidentally clicked something on my phone and it said I'd claimed it.  I've sent an email so hopefully I'll still manage to get one - I do love freebies.

Milestones?  Being pregnant enough to get a positive pregnancy test!

Bump Picture:

Obviously no bump yet, just a little bit of podge from not exercising much over the last 2 weeks!