Pregnancy | 33 Weeks

I am so sorry that I didn't get round to writing my 32 weeks pregnancy post last week! It was my baby shower last weekend and I was so busy all week getting everything sorted for that and I just didn't have the time to sit down and blog!

How far along? 33 weeks and 3 days.

Baby's size: He's the size of a honeydew melon, 19 inches and weighing 4.5lbs!!

Total weight gain: I still haven't weighed myself! I can't decide if it's a good or a bad thing that I am not keeping track of my weight gain. I don't have any scales so I can't really, but I will weigh myself after I have had him and then make a decision on how much weight I want to lose. 

Maternity clothes: I have been wearing the maternity tshirts my friend gave me a lot more recently as not only do my normal clothes not fit over my bump anymore, the ones that do fit I don't want to wear and cause them to stretch because then they will be ruined and I won't be able to wear them after I've had him.

Best moment this week: My baby shower! I loved getting together with my family and friends and celebrating mine and Marks son. 

Miss anything? I miss being able to eat dippy eggs! I've been craving them so badly but you're not supposed to eat soft boiled eggs during pregnancy because of the risk of salmonella. I'm sure it would be absolutely fine to eat one because I've never gotten sick off a dippy egg before, but it's not worth the risk for me. The first thing I'm eating when I get home after the birth will be a dippy egg and soldiers!

Movement? Yep, still moving all day every day! I love it. It's not so much kicks anymore as he is running out of room, its more rolls. However I do keep feeling little feet coming out my side, which can be a tad painful especially when he kicks off my hip bone!

Food cravings: Still coffee and chocolate. I craved chocolate so much the other day that I made a whole chocolate cake! 

Anything making you queasy or sick? Still feeling sick at night when I lie down because of heartburn and acid reflux.

Gender: Boy.

Symptoms: Back ache, braxton hicks, breathlessness, muscle pain, nausea, leg cramps. 

Belly button in or out? Definitely on its way out now! It looks gross, haha.

Looking forward to: My birthday next week and getting to see our baby on scan as I have a low lying placenta so we have to go for a scan on my birthday when I will be 34 weeks to see if the placenta has moved out the way, otherwise it will be a c-section!

Other fun things to note: STILL waiting for his cot to be delivered. I'm really not happy with Mothercare. We ordered it almost a month ago and were told it would be delivered within 10 days. We heard nothing from them for 3 weeks so I rang up about it, to be told that there had been a delay with their deliveries because they had changed couriers. It would have been nice to have been notified of this instead of sitting round and wondering when it will be delivered!

My Baby Shower

Last weekend was my baby shower! I know that really someone else is supposed to throw the baby shower for you, but no one offered so I thought hey! I'm going to throw myself one. And why not? 

It was a lovely day where all my friends and family came and we celebrated the upcoming birth of our son. I was supposed to take far more photos than I actually did, and I'm a bit upset that I didn't get any more photos but I was so busy rushing around making sure that everyone was okay and eating all the food that photos just didn't cross my mind until it was too late! 

I will say one negative thing though, never again will I throw a party when I am this pregnant! I was exhausted! It took me two days to get over it, haha. The night of my party when I got home, Mark and I ordered dominos and were both tucked up asleep in bed by 7pm. Not sure what his excuse for being so exhausted was ;) I then woke up at 10:30pm with the most horrendous leg ache of my life from walking around all day, since I had been up since 8:30am cooking all the food and then walking round at the party I hadn't really sat down all day. So Mark kindly got up and ran me a lovely bubble bath, then I got back into bed and fell straight back asleep again! 

Although, I was so exhausted it really was worth it and we had a lovely day celebrating our son, and he got well and truly spoiled by all the gorgeous presents we got for him! 

Marks auntie made us this gorgeous cake! She is so talented :)

Emma's Diary Voucher Packs

www.emmasdiary.co.uk

I signed up to the Emma's Diary website a couple of days ago and I was delighted to find out that you can get vouchers for all sorts on this website! The ones I was particularly interested in, of course, were the three goody packs you get full of free samples. All you have to do is sign up to the website if you're a Mummy or Mummy-to-be, download the vouchers and take them to your local Boots or Argos store! Sounds easy to me, so let's take a look at what amazing things you get inside these packs..

The 'Bump To Baby' Pack

In this pack you get:

- Pampers New Baby Premium Protection Nappy Sample in Size 1 Newborn

- Pampers 12 Sensitive Wipes (perfect size for changing bag!)

- Pampers 'At Birth' Magazine

- Coupon for £1 off your next purchase of Pampers New Baby or New Baby Sensitive Nappies

- 1x Fairy Non-Bio Liquitab

- A bag of Kellogg's All-Bran Red Berry Crunch Cereal

- Metanium Everyday Barrier Ointment

- 2x Disposable Dr. Beckmann Colour & Dirt Collector

- 2x Lasinoh Ultra Thin, Stay Dry Nursing Pads

- 3x Always Dailies Pantyliners

- Coupon for 50p off next purchase of Always Dailies Pantyliners

- Coupon for £15 off your first Ocado shop and £10 off your second Ocado shop

- Voucher for 20% and free UK delivery from The White Company

- £2 off personalised children's books from www.penwizard.co.uk

- 3 for 2 plus a further 10% discount on all Pregnacare products (online only)

The 'Mum To Be' Pack

In this pack you get:

- Johnson's Baby 56 Extra Sensitive Fragrance Free Wipes

- Johnson's Baby Oil 100ml

- Johnson's Baby Top-to-Toe Bath 50ml

- Johnson's Baby Nappy Cream 16.5g (perfect size for changing bag)

- Johnson's Baby Guide to the first 10 days

- A bag of Kellogg's All-Bran Red Berry Crunch Cereal

- 3x Always Dailies Pantyliners

- Coupon for 50p off next purchase of Always Dailies Pantyliners

- £25 voucher for Hello Fresh

- Coupon for £15 off your first Ocado shop and £10 off your second Ocado shop

- £2 off personalised children's books from www.penwizard.co.uk

- 3 for 2 plus a further 10% discount on all Pregnacare products (online only)

- Vertbaudet Autumn/Winter 2014/15 catalogue + £15 off your first order and Free bodysuit 0-3months enclosed

The 'New Family' Pack

In this pack you get:

- Palmers Cocoa Butter Massage Lotion for Stretch Marks 50ml

- 1x Fairy Non-Bio Liquitab

- 2x Lasinoh Ultra Thin, Stay Dry Nursing Pads

- 1x coupon for free Graze Box for you

- 1x coupon for free Graze Box for a friend

- £25 voucher for Hello Fresh

- Coupon for £15 off your first Ocado shop and £10 off your second Ocado shop

- Free photography session with 1x gift portrait at PixiFoto or Portrait Place 0-6 months

- Free photography session with 1x gift portrait at PixiFoto or Portrait Place 6-12 months

- Free photography session with 1x gift portrait at PixiFoto or Portrait Place 12-24 months

- Coupon for £10 off any purchase at PixiPhoto and Portrait Place

- £2 off personalised children's books from www.penwizard.co.uk

- 3 for 2 plus a further 10% discount on all Pregnacare products (online only)

I was so impressed with what came in these packs. You get loads and it's completely free! All you have to do is be a Mummy or Mummy-to-be and sign up to emmasdiary.co.uk. I'd highly recommend you do this, as the little trial size products are perfect for popping in your changing bag, I know I will be!

Review | Pact Coffee

I have never been a huge coffee drinker, but the past few weeks my latest pregnancy craving has been coffee. So I decided to treat myself to some lovely decaffeinated ground coffee from Pact Coffee. Now, I had never heard of Pact before but my husband had recently ordered himself a bag and the smell was so gorgeous that I wanted some for myself that I could drink, as his wasn't decaffeinated.

So what makes Pact so special? Well first of all their coffee is hand roasted, world class sourced. So instantly you think, that will be delicious! And let me tell you, it was! What you do is you put all your details and preferences into their website and they recommend you a coffee flavour. The flavour I was recommended was Decaffeinated Finca San Anotonio. The flavour and smell is supposed to be that of chocolate digestives, although I didn't really think it tasted of chocolate digestives although I could definitely smell it. But that didn't bother me at all, it was easily fixed; I just dipped some digestives into my coffee instead. Bonus!

So after you have been recommended your flavour of coffee, they hand grind it freshly for you and send it out in First Class Royal Mail so it comes to you the very next day as long as you order before 1pm. I think this is terrific service, especially for a raging pregnant woman like me who was craving a good cup of coffee! They deliver to most UK addresses and the packages fit through most letterboxes so you don't even have to wait in for the postman. 

Pact boast that they roast their world class beans in small batches as this ensures optimum quality, and you really can taste this when you're drinking it as it definitely tastes rich and fresh, exactly what I like in a good cup of coffee. If you're having your coffee beans ground, they do so within minutes of it being sent out and sealed in a special valve bag to keep the coffee fresher for longer. They also grind it according to how you're going to use it, for example fine for espresso or coarse for a cafetiere.

In all, I think the idea of this company is great! Their customer service is spot on, and they do everything to ensure that you get a great tasting cup of coffee, and you can definitely tell through the taste and smell of your coffee. My kitchen every morning since I have ordered this coffee smells gorgeous. There's nothing better than a coffee-smelling kitchen in the morning! 

What's even better is that you can order your first bag of coffee for £1! Then every bag after this is £6.95 which includes P&P. Personally, I would only pay that amount for a bag of coffee if I was treating myself every so often. I'm definitely not the kind of person who would want a bag sent out to me every week, but for your average coffee addict I think this is completely worth it because of everything Pact do to ensure your coffee is to a high standard. 

I definitely recommend that if you love coffee you should definitely at least try this company, even if you cancel your account after the first order. £1 for your first order is nothing and you get a great bag of coffee out of it! 

Make sure you use my code at the checkout so that I can get my free Rhino Hand Coffee Grinder, and then you yourself can recommend 5 people to order using your code and you could get yourself a coffee grinder for free that's worth £35! 

My code is INDULGENCEBLOG or alternatively just click this link and follow the instructions to be on your way to ordering your first bag of personalised coffee: https://www.pactcoffee.com/spread/INDULGENCEBLOG

If you do try this company, or have already ordered through Pact before make sure you let me know in the comments what you thought :)


This is not a sponsored post.

Pregnancy | 31 Weeks

How far along? 31 weeks and 4 days.

Baby's size: He's the size of a coconut, 18 inches and weighing 3.2lbs.

Total weight gain: Still haven't weighed myself! I think as long as the midwife isn't concerned about weight gain when she see's me then I won't be either. I will definitely try hard once he's here to get all the weight off by going on walks with him. 

Maternity clothes: This lovely birdy top is a maternity top that my lovely friend gave to me. I love anything birdy so I especially love this!

Best moment this week: Going to physio and being givena bump support band, I really hope it works and takes some of the pressure off!

Miss anything? I miss being able to paint my toes! When I went down to my mams at Christmas my sister was kind enough to paint them for me, but now they've started to chip and really could do with being done again. I will definitely be booking a pedicure closer to my due date. I don't want minging nails in labour!

Movement? Oh yes! I had been feeling bruised across the top of my bump so I asked my midwife about it and she said it's where he sticks his bum out because he is head down and his bum is right up in my lungs. Naughty little baby!

Food cravings: Coffee, lemonade and chocolate! I've been resisting coffee because I didn't want to drink any caffeine but I just wanted the taste so much that I bought some decaf. I think decaf is pointless because I'm expecting to feel a buzz and to be more awake after I've drank coffee but when I drink decaf obviously that doesn't happen. But I gave in and bought some because I was craving the taste so much! 

Anything making you queasy or sick? I still feel sick when I lie down at night so I always have to prop myself up with pillows now. I have bought some Rennies for in case it gets unbearable but I've been okay at the minute.

Gender: Boy.

Symptoms: All the same as last week, except I seem to be getting Braxton Hicks contractions a lot now. At least once an hour. I asked my midwife about this and she said its completely normal as long as they're not regular and not painful. 

Belly button in or out? In, but definitely on its way out!

Looking forward to: My baby shower next week. I ordered the nicest little guestbook off eBay for everyone to sign and I've asked for it to have his name on the front and the date of his baby shower so I can remember it forever. I also got some card and cut out the shape of vests and I will get people to write their baby advice on them at my shower, which I will think will be nice to keep. You can totally tell they're home made but I think that makes them even more special!

Other fun things to note: We're still waiting on getting his cot delivered, I'm getting so impatient I just want it up! I love just chilling in his room because the blue makes it so relaxing. Once we get the cot up I will be doing a blog post about his room :)

Mummy To Be Essential Pamper

Now that I really am in the final stretch of my pregnancy (8 weeks to go, eek!) I'm trying to find more time to pamper myself because I know that in just a few short weeks I won't even have the time to brush my hair! Not only that but with all my aches and pains and just general discomfort it's nice to set aside a bit of 'me time' so that I can just chill, unwind and start to feel slightly more human again!

So on a general pamper session I start by lighting a few candles. My favourite candle at the minute is a one I got for Christmas off Mark. It's the Snow In Love Yankee Candle. This honestly smells amazing and even when it isn't lit, if you leave the top off it makes the whole room smell gorgeous!

Next I will run myself a gorgeous hot bubble bath. I can't have a bath without bubbles in, I just can't. It doesn't feel right at all and I cant relax in it. No idea why! My favourite bubble bath of all time is a one from Avon in the scent White Lily. I had never tried this one until my sister recommended it to me, and the scent is just gorgeous. I find that all of the Avon bubble baths bubble up gorgeously and even though you really don't need that much to create endless bubbles, I still pour loads in because I just love the smell, and they're so cheap too so I don't feel like I'm wasting the product. 

Next, before getting in the bath I will remove all my makeup using the Garnier Micellar Water. I only bought this the other day so I am still trying the product out before I do a full review on it, but so far let's just say that I am mighty impressed with it! The cleanser I'm using at the minute again, I only bought the other day and it's the Ren Rosa Centifolia Hot Cloth Cleanser. Again, I will do a review on this product once I have used it for a few weeks. If I'm feeling especially kind to my skin I will also go in with an exfoliator at this point.

Once I have removed all my makeup and my skin is feeling all fresh I will then apply a face mask. I tend to chop and change and try out different ones and at the minute I've got a couple that Marks mam got me for Christmas that I have ready to try. She also got me these lovely Cool Cucumber Eye Pads which are really good for helping reduce eye bags and are especially refreshing if put in the fridge before use! I got the feeling that by the presents I got off most people this year for Christmas they were telling me that I need to make the most of 'me time' before the baby comes :)

So, once my face mask is applied I will then get myself into the bath and sit for about 10-15 minutes with the eye pads on. Once I feel that I have reaped the benefits from them, I will remove them and the face mask and then start reading a good book. At the minute I am reading a Danielle Steele book called Pegasus that Mark bought me for Christmas. He knows how much I love Danielle Steele so he always gets me a couple of her books for birthdays and Christmas :) 

I usually stay in the bath for a good hour to two hours as when I'm in the bath it takes all the pressures of the baby off my hips and back and its so nice to just be able to relax without feeling any discomfort. So I definitely take full advantage and stay in for as long as I can. When I get out I quickly get dried as it's always so cold once I get out! I will then lather myself in moisturiser because my skin is so dry at the minute. The one I'm particularly liking at the minute is the Garnier Intensive 7 Days. 

Then I will put on some lovely cosy pyjamas and get into bed. If I can be bothered, I will paint my nails. I wish I could afford nail extensions but with a baby on the way, not only can we not afford it, it's probably very impractical to have long nails!

So, once I'm feeling all lovely and relaxed after my gorgeous pamper, I will either just go straight to sleep or I will lie on my phone for a while until I'm tired enough to fall asleep. All this talk about pampering is making me want one now, so I think I will definitely be making the time to have one tonight!

What kinds of things do you include in your pamper nights?

Pregnancy | 30 Weeks

For some reason the lighting in this photo makes me look like I have no legs!

How far along? 30 weeks and 2 days. 

Baby's size: He is the size of a butternut squash, 17 inches in length and 3.1lbs. He should be at his birth length now but little chub just needs to pack on the pounds now.

Total weight gain: Still haven't weighed myself. After all this Christmas chocolate I've been working my way through, I dread to think!

Maternity clothes: I've been wearing some maternity t-shirts my friend gave me and the jumper dress I bought last week. Everything seems so tight on my bump though, and uncomfortable. It's far more comfortable for me to just sit with my bump out, though I only do this at home. I'd get quite a few strange looks if I just whipped my bump out in the middle of Asda or something!

Best moment this week: The best moment this week was definitely getting his nursery all finished! I'm so excited!!

Miss anything? I don't really miss anything to be honest, but I do keep saying that I can't wait until I have a baby here instead of a bump! Although ever since we have finished his nursery it has been dawning on me more and more just how close we are to having a baby and things will never ever be the same again. It's an exciting but frightening thought at the same time!

Movement? Yep he loves a good all wiggle. He keeps pushing himself right into my hips and ribs which is really painful!

Food cravings: I've really been craving lemonade this week for some odd reason.

Anything making you queasy or sick? Yes when I lie down at night I start to feel really sick. My mam said it could be heartburn so I've been propping myself up a little more at night and it seems to help.

Gender: Boy.

Symptoms: Back pain, hip pain, breathlessness, fatigue. All the same as last week!

Belly button in or out? In.

Looking forward to: Getting him here! We have everything we need for him now finally, so now its just a waiting game. I'm also looking forward to my baby shower which is in a couple of weeks.

Other fun things to note: We got his room all finished this week which is exciting. Now we are just waiting for his cotbed to be delivered and then I will dedicate a whole blog post to that!

Weekly Roundup In Photos

I wish that I could say that I have had a lovely chilled out week this week but I really haven't! We've been trying to get everything sorted for the baby before Mark goes back to work on Monday as we won't get another chance! 

I got a gorgeous changing bag off my mam for Christmas that I just had to share a photo of with you. I cried when I opened it, its so lovely and gorgeous! 

Another thing that was gorgeous was the snow that we got on Boxing Day at my mams! It literally chucked it down all night and the next morning everything was covered in white, so pretty :) 

I thought I would also share a photo of my little Alfie cat being all cute, he must have missed us when we were away at my mams because he slept next to us on the bed all night which he never ever does!

We finally got round to opening our Christmas presents off my dad and they had gotten us this gorgeous little heart plaque that says 'Babies are blessings from above, they fill our hearts with lots of love' I love it!!

And of course there's a shameless New Years Eve selfie of Mark and I, and finally a sneak preview of the colour we went for, for the babys room :)

How's your week been, what did you do for New Year?  

Pregnancy | 29 Weeks

How far along? 29 weeks and 4 days. 

Baby's size: He is the size of a small cabbage, 17 inches in length and should be weighing 2.9lbs!

Total weight gain: I havent weighed myself this week!

Maternity clothes: I finally went a bought myself an appropriate top although it isn't maternity. I refuse to pay the prices!! I bought just a plain black jumper-dress in a size 16. I usually buy a size 12 so I'm hoping this will last me as the material is quite stretchy aswell.

Best moment this week: Spending all our Christmas money on all the last bits we need for little mans arrival! He has been well and truly spoilt this week.

Miss anything? I'm sure most people would say that they missed having a drink at New Years, but I've never been a big drinker anyways so I didn't mind it at all. I was asleep by half 11 anyways and Mark had to wake me up at New Year!

Movement? He's still moving about all the time! I no longer feel his kicks though, it's more rolls and waves which feels quite weird but I just love it! 

Food cravings: I don't think I've really craved anything particular this week.

Anything making you queasy or sick? Not this week.

Gender: Boy.

Symptoms: Back pain, hip pain, breathlessness, fatigue.

Belly button in or out? In.

Looking forward to: Having his cot delivered and setting his room up! I can't wait until it's all done so I can go and just sit in there and pretend that he is here.

Other fun things to note: My dad and Mark started painting his bedroom the other day! We chose a gorgeous blue colour called 'First Dawn' by Dulux. We have decided on the nautical theme for his bedroom so we have been buying loads of gorgeous accessories and things to make his room look all cosy! We bought some curtains that were only a fiver(!) from Wilkos but they were too short for the windows so my mam had the genius idea of letting the hem down so that they fit. Hey, can't grumble for a fiver!

Posts From The Past..

Since I haven't planned on doing a New Years related post I thought that I would share a motivational post that I wrote quite a while ago, so I hope you enjoy and it helps you in some way.. 

My Birthday Wishlist

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful and blessed Christmas and New Year :)
So since Christmas is out the way the next thing to focus on is my birthday, yayyyy! My birthday is on 5th February and I'll be 22. Whenever I say that I always get the Taylor Swift song '22' in my head! No doubt I will be singing that to everyone on my birthday. So here's my birthday wishlist.. :)

1. Zoeva Rose Golden Luxury Set; 65.00 EUR

2. Strawberry Buttercream Yankee Candle Large Jar; £19.99

3. Thomas Sabo 'Charm Love' Charm; £39.95

4. Paperchase Birdies A5 Thick Ruled Journal; £6.00

5. Lush Happy Bathday Gift Set; £25.95

6. Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm; £22.00

7. Black Classic Crochet Toms; £42.00

8. Sali Hughes 'Pretty Honest'; £12.50

9. Urban Decay Naked Illuminated; £22.00

xxx