Weigh in

Six days of a some serious healthy eating, no booze, no formal exercise and a medium sized foray into a bag of praline truffles = 1.25lbs off.

Yes please! Pretty happy with that as I'm now the lightest I've been since giving birth. I'm also closing in on a stone lost this year; less than 4lbs to go. I've got a wedding in 4 weeks time. A stone off for then would be peachy.

Goals for this week. Less sugar and more movement. Cocoa nibs for healthy raw food balls are on the list, as is a buggy run on Sunday.

Owards.

Current weight:        13 stone 6.5lbs
This week:                - 1.25lbs

Pre preg weight:      12stone 11lbs

Weigh in

Last weekend I was away on a hen do. It's impossible to stick to healthy eating in such circumstances. Sometimes, you just gotta go with the flow and enjoy life. And so that's exactly what I did. Cake, booze and all!

Monday, I was right back on it. Friday (today) I decided to weigh. Risky. Would I see a loss? Yes. The answer is yes! Just a wee half pounder but after what I had shoved in my cake hole, I'm flipping delighted.

I'm now 13 stone 7.75lbs. Just a pound off being my lightest post pregnancy and 10.75lbs from my pre preggo weight.

Pleased with that.

Totally unrelated is this pic I took this week. Gives me joy!

Backatcha

Well hi!

Would you look at this.... a post! It's only been about four months.

These pics pretty much sum up what's been going on. Hanging with my wee pal, returning to work and of course, thinking about the size of my arse.

Lady P is almost nine months old and is more hilarious every day. Well, she certainly thinks so!

I went back to work in January when she was just seven months old. Just a wee toot! It's only two full days though and she seems to be loving nursery, and getting to see more of her granny. I am spending a lot of the other days trying to squeeze work in around her, which is proving more tricky than I hoped. Not quite got the balance yet. The massive washing pile is testament to that!

I've also felt like shit for most of this year. I had a fluey type thing which I was informed was viral, and came with a rash. Was just feeling better and BAM, floored with another cold. Just what I need when I'm trying to do it all... And can't take any sick days from work or life!

Soldiering on though! Off to my folks tomorrow for meetings down that way, while my mum babysits. Constant juggling act!

Weigh in

I'm on a pretty good cycle with Lady P.  Every three hours she feeds and within that time she always naps for 30 minutes. That's not long though. 30 mins to get on top of what you need to do without having one eye on her goes by in a flash.  Especially when you get you get your head around that the time between feeds is from the start of the feed.  Let me explain...

If you feed at 1pm, that might take 30 mins. Regardless of how long it takes, the next feed is 3 hours away, at 4pm - so you've now only got 2.5 hours in which to do whatever you want to do. Gym, supermarket, coffee with friend, bake - and then BAM is time to get your tattas out again. The next thing you know it's bedtime and it all begins again.

At least I know I've got those 30mins every 3 hours. I've hung the washing out, tidied the spare room (Mum is coming to visit) and then I thought, fuck it - just sit down and please yourself for 10 of those minutes. Haha! 10 minutes. Whoopee doo! You've gotta laugh.

Anyway, this wasn't meant to be an account of my days! Just an account of one part of this day, weigh day. Stayed the same. Of course I would have loved to have lost something but I had a Chinese, sweeties, and a power of booze on Saturday night. So it was not to be. Fair enough. We're going on holiday a week on Friday to Crete with TB's folks and naturally there will be many delicious Greek foods. I'd love to lose 2lbs next week to try and get my down a bit before I put it all back on again!

This week I'm only gyming it twice so I'm going to do a home workout on Friday night - and my usual 10k of walking every day. Onwards!

Hello from the first stop

In my last post (which was bloody ages ago) I said my first stop in the old weight game, was going to be the 13s.  Just like a Eurovision contender, here I am, calling from the 13s. 13 stone 9.25lbs to be exact! Can you see me? That's me waving from a town called, Super Chuffed.

I'll stop with my terrible analogy, cause it isn't even really one.  My grey matter is a bit rusty.

So in total I've lost just over a stone since I started actually trying post baby. I'm very pleased with this result as I deserve it! Let me tell you, I am working hard. Almost every single week I am at the gym three times. Once is a weight workout, once is spinning and once is a glute and shoulders workout. Mon - Fri (including the gym) I'm covering at least 10k - so my fitbit tells me. And of course what's going in my trap is mostly super healthy. It's only in the last few weeks things have really started to move though. One week I even gained. As you can imagine this went down like a lead balloon.

Breastfeeding dictates my whole day as the little munchkin feeds pretty much every three hours,  but I've tried to forget about it when it comes to losing weight. The official line is that it means you're using up another 500 cals a day. I can't see it. The rate I'm losing weight at is slow. Which is good, I mean, I need to make sure I'm getting plenty of the good stuff to pass onto Lady P.  But the pounds aren't just falling off like some people would have had me believe. I am putting the work in. For sure.

We've only got two months left of until we begin weaning (holy shit- I just counted that up) so I'm hoping as she gets bigger and feeds more and more efficiently, taking more and more milk, that these next eight weeks will see the back of at least half of the the last 13lbs preggo pounds.

You may be wondering where the baby chat is. Apart from the fact I'm going to tell you Lady P is such a good baby (mostly!) there is none. I spend SO much time thinking about her, I'm not inclined to bore you with the details. And there are so many details. The tiny things she does, that change and advance every day are mind blowing. To me.  Four months of baby life, and I am loving it but I am also loving that I am still me. However, I am still gonna show you some pics of my wee darling.

And leave you with the hope of more regular blogs but you can always check out my instagram @mrs_lainey

Seven

Seven weeks post Miss P... I'm back on the exercise train. Toot toot! 

TB is away on a stag do so baby and mamma are kicking back with my folks. With doting grandparents on hand there is no better time to get into the swing. Not my usual gig but a nice start was Zumba with mum last night. It wasn't hard but I could feel myself getting tired moving my heavier limbs about and I was so ready for it to be over! 

This morning I went for a run. I think my last run was when I was about 16 weeks pregnant. Today was a 20 minute number, not exactly at high speed. But I did it without stopping. And well, I just did it. Pretty chuffed. 

I quickly took these snaps last night. I probably should have taken my jacket off. I've a way to go but I'm on the road. First stop, is 9lbs away... the 13 stones. 

Back to blogging

Life with Miss P is certainly different, but also kinda the same - just MORE.

I did have a post drafted all about how life is with her, what the first few weeks were like and of course, the actual birth. But as we close in on 7 weeks together, the significance of it all has faded and each day is a day of learning as we continue to get to know each other.

I mean, part of me wants to tell you what a good baby she is (well, just did), about the lonely moments in the middle of the night in the first few weeks when I uttered the words "I can't do this", how clever she has been at taking a bottle, my conflicted emotions about giving her formula from time to time, and how a bad night (of which there are few) is quickly forgotten about when I get to pick out a cute wee outfit for her just how god damn cute she is! I could go on forever. But that's not what this blog is about. Yeah, it's about my life but it's really about the size of my arse and how I'd like to reduce that!

First of all let me tell you that I almost gave up blogging. You know what it's like when you've not done it for weeks. Can you really be bothered to find the time again? That is key for me. When Miss P sleeps, I am trying to do 101 other things. I have no time. Actually no time. I should be hanging out washing right now!  So who know how regularly I'll be posting, but I am going to keep it up and I suspect when I start losing weight (when, not if) it'll at least be weekly.

Anyway, I now no longer have a baby in my tummy so what are the dirty deets. Just how fat am I?! Pretty fat, but not as fat as I thought I would be!

During pregnancy, my heaviest was 16 and a half stone. Ooft! Post birth I was 15 stone 1.5lbs. A week later I was 14 stone 8.75lbs. Which is where I am now. So I've got about and stone and half to lose to get back to my pre pregnancy weight.

I have to take a moment to salute planks and side planks. Even just a few days after giving birth you would never have known I had just had a baby - stomach (with just a little additional flab) back to normal.  Backside, not so much!

Let me leave you with a picture of my little bug at two days and seven weeks. Much less squished and swollen!

Penelope

She finally graced us with her presence... Penelope.

Born Thursday 28th May at 5.40pm, a chubby little 9.1lbs - why am I not surprised!

Day 13

13 days overdue.

Can you believe this? I'm beginning to question if there actually is a baby in there. I always thought I'd be late, but not this late. And I have to admit, as my 14 days allowed before I'm induced have slowly disappeared, it's been tough.

I've been mentally prepared for a water birth throughout my whole pregnancy, taking place at my local maternity unit - just a mile from home. However, as induction is more medical it means I have to have the baby at the nearest hospital - 45 minutes away.

It's fine, it's not that big a deal, it's just not what I've visualised for the past nine months. On Sunday I went for a second sweep (sorry, I hate that word) with limited success. It was then I realised that I'm more than likely to be induced. That was not a good day and I spent a lot of it in tears; the culmination of almost two weeks of hanging around, carrying this baby, being uncomfortable, hormones, and lack of control.

So unless this baby makes a move in the next 24 hours, induction here I come. One way or another there is going to be a baby in my arms in by Friday. A little Gemini baby.

Grasshopper slices

If this baby doesn't make an appearance soon I'm going to bake myself into a diabetic coma.

Yesterday's endeavour was a minty choc delight described by the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook as a Grasshopper slice.

It all nearly went tits up as I had to make a white choc ganache with 1kg of chocolate. Yes, 1KG! That is a shitload of chocolate. So of course, I managed to split it. And when I say split, it wasn't just  bit grainy looking, it looked like curdled milk. The oil from the cream had separated out so badly it was sitting on top of it. Horrific. And I was raging.

However, a quick google later and I read that a fix is to heat up some semi-skimmed milk and add it a bit at a time to the mix, stirring well. Holy milky bar kid. It worked! I am amazed! I was ready to chuck it in the bin, it was that bad. I mean it looked more lumpy than my thighs in their current state (i.e. VERY). The end result, creamy, smooth silky ganache. Amazing!

Anyway, here is a slice of the finished product (with a bite out it - ummm... baby was hungry!).

Obviously there is still no god damn baby! My friend who is a midwife told me to have more sex. Well, sex. Ha! Look, it's bloody awkward  and heartburn inducing at this stage!

In other news (yes, this is my high octane life just now) I've cooked twice with quinoa this week. We had healthy burritos made with turkey mince and quinoa instead of rice. Very delicious they were too!

TB is on a health kick and so while I might still be chowing down on cakes and sweeties, my meals are all very healthy as I'm cooking for loverboy. It's been really good actually as it's helping me get back in the mindset - ready for the full on health kick which is imminent. Tonight's tea is a crazy tasty fritatta with leftovers including spicy turkey mine, roast sweet potato and leek. Can't wait!

Come on out!

I'm still here and I'm still pregnant! Today I'm 40 weeks and five days so officially overdue.

The past month feels like it's been really busy - what with finishing up at work and generally just getting (parts of) the house organised. Last week I thought I had feck all to do and then my accountant asked for all my tax return info so that was three days of spreadsheets!

And inbetween we've also had my birthday and our wedding anniversary. I'm actually really pleased we've managed to get those dates out the way so that the baby's birthday it a date of it's own - and let's be honest, who wants to be pushing a human out their vagina on their birthday? Not I.

So yeah, that's me 35. It doesn't feel or seem that old (and I know if you're older than that you'll be scoffing right now) but then I realise that's 17 twice over. I moved to Edinburgh for uni when I was 17. I can't believe it's been another 17 years since then. So, so fast. I really feel like I just left uni a few years ago.

Despite moving around like a big lump, I had a lovely birthday. My mum came up to see me and we went out for lunch at my local beachside cafe. Cannot wait to go for walks here with our baby.

My lovely parents in law also took us our for dinner. I've not got much to wear at this stage so I donned my trusty, striped maternity dress which has been a new look god-send. There ain't no hiding in this and I did get a few looks at the restaurant. There's a baby in my tummy - deal with it! You can also see in the background the freshly painted bedroom and new carpet! Loving our new 'coastal' bedroom. You might also spot our crib which is just waiting for a wee person to go in it!

The next big change to the house is cutting one of the bedrooms in half to make two rooms. The velux windows went in when we  were on hols and last week we got the new door in place. Some jobs you just gotta pay a joiner to do. This new half is going to be the baby's room and the other half will still have room for a double bed - it was a huge room. There is no massive rush for this though as the baby will be in with us for the first while.

Sunday was our first anniversary. It's been a fantastic year. A really busy year. I am such a lucky girl to have found TB and I can't wait to have lots and lots more years together. We spent the day, cutting the grass and tidying round. So romantic! Ha! Someone asked me if we were doing paper gifts. I said yes, a birth certificate.

I've been doing quite a lot of baking since I've actually had some time, which has been fab. So nice to enjoy the new kitchen and potter around making cakes. TB's colleagues are pretty happy about it too as they are on the receiving end.

 

We've had a bit of a cat situation on our hands. Papa Lazarou is just as affectionate as ever - as seen here with bump - but Dave is seldom seen at the moment. He appears for some food once ever few days and that's about it. Turns out some dame who lives on the next street has been feeding him! She took him to the vet to see if he belonged to anyone (thank for microchipping) and so they called me to make sure he had a home to go to. Ummm - YES! How about you stop feeding him and don't let him come in your house. I want to get him back home and settled before a wailing sprog sends him running again!


So that's me covered just about everything apart from how I am feeling about waiting for this baby to show up! I am ready to stop being pregnant and I am so ready to meet this wee monkey.  I've got until I'm 42 weeks before I'll be induced - so just over another week left.  I really don't want that though as it means I have to go to the big hospital 45 mins away, rather than my midwife led maternity unit where I've had all my appointments (and the fact I am sick of lugging this sprog around in my uterus) At my last visit there I was examined and they said the baby's head is very low - so that's good news. I'm booked back in for a sweep (ugh) on Thursday so I'm hoping that will chivvy things along if there is nothing by then.

It's weird being in this limbo like state. I'm not physically able to to walk far and I don't really want to be that far from home - so we are just waiting. TB is worse than me; he is desperate for us to have our wee baby and bring it home. In the meantime, what else is there to do apart from make jaffa cake cupcakes.

Doing and Dealing

How are we nearing the end of April. HOW?

I'll tell you how, life has been so crazy busy that the days are passing in a mahoosive blur. The kind of blur that makes me feel entirely exhausted and just a leetle bit over sensitive! Using the wrong jug to froth milk? I will take you down. You know, that kind of over sensitive.

I'm 37 weeks pregnant today (so I am allowed to be irrational - OKAY?!)  and boy, am I feeling it. I'm still don't have the biggest of bumps but I am really aware of the extra weight I'm lugging around. When I stand up, I can feel it all going into my pelvis and lower back. Even when I lie down, there is just... this weight. Walking is slow. I am slow! With just three weeks to go until my due date though, this is pretty good going I reckon. I am tired, mind you. I feel wiped. Physically and mentally.

Even though we had a week away on holiday we just haven't stopped. For months. It's just been constant. TB'd dad was giving me a row last week for painting. I didn't want to be painting. Let's make that clear - I am over it! But the carpet was coming, and this baby is coming. Shit's gotta get done.

I did lose the plot a few days later when I was trying to paint the lower wall and it just wasn't happening (bending down is not part of my range any more). The tears came and through my wailing I tried to explain to TB that I'd had enough and maybe it would be easier to just go back to being two. Just us. How's that's possible I don't know but at the time it seemed like a very appealing idea. I'm definitely getting more teary again. Work has been proper mental too, which has been getting me down but I've broken the back of a VERY challenging project and I've just got this week and next - and then I am DONE!

After my painting meltdown we did get bedroom finished before the carpet arrived on Monday. So we're back in our bedroom, the baby's chest of drawers is built up and stocked. We are gaining control!  I also got my kitchen shelves up which I am love with. I've been planning these for quite some time! You gotta love those jobs where you can select a few lovely items and place them with care. I've been dreaming about using my new le creuset tea pot for over a year!

The rest of the house is bonkers messy though. I got a huge pile of baby clothes from my sister in law (which I've washed and put away), along with various bouncy chairs, a Moses basket and other stuff I've not had a chance to look at. Lucky me! But where does all this new stuff go?

 It's all been chucked into our front room that has no furniture in it (which we are lucky to have) but it  has sort of been our DIY dumping ground. Currently there are piles of kitchen cabinet off-cuts, our old cooker, paint pots, bits of an old kitchen table, ALL the tools - as well as our new pram and car seat!  Just shutting the door on it just now. Cannot deal. Don't actually need to deal - this is what I must remind myself. We have done a power of work. Not everything needs to be sorted in one go.

I've been really excited to have our baby, but also scared. What have we let ourselves in for? My mindset kind of changed at the weekend. My childhood best friend was due six days before me. She had to get induced early and had her baby on Sunday; a wee girl. She's got her baby. She knows what she looks like. I want to meet mine. I can't wait.