My Baby Shower

After much planning (and baking) on my mothers part, and much assistance from me (I produced 4x banana breads, a cheesecake and enough brownies to feed a rather large army) the baby shower day finally arrived. 

A decent amount of deliberation and internet shopping had solved the issue of 'what to wear?' In all, five dresses were purchased and four were swiftly returned. It is hard to look good when you're pregnant as I am sure most of you know! Whilst I had my heart set on a gorgeous Isabella Oliver Talbot ivory maternity tunic and was so excited to unwrap the beautifully packaged item when it arrived last week, I am sorry to say that the cut just didn't suit me and so the dress had to be returned. Instead I decided to return to my old faithful, the brand whose dresses always fit me perfectly (despite being a little on the long side) 'Seraphine'. 

After Friday's midwife appointment I decided to make a little detour on my way back to the sticks popping to the store on Marylebone High Street. After hunting around in the sale items (I am due in 4 weeks so felt I had to!), I found a gorgeous navy shoulder lace maternity shift dress which with a little tugging in the right places (it is a little long for me so ruched the bottom up tad) fit perfectly. Finally I'd found a dress I was comfortable in, that was appropriate but most importantly, that hugged me in 'the right' places and showed off Baby J as well as possible.

Suited and booted I headed over to my parents house to help with the preparation. What I didn't expect upon arriving was that everything would be done, and done good!!! My mother and I are incredibly close and very similar in many ways, yes this can lead to ferocious arguments at times but it also means that when it comes to each other... we don't go halves. I mean, we don't ever do things by halves to be honest but we particularly go all out when it is for each other and yesterday was no exception.

My mother is an amazing baker and feeder. These combined attributes meant that there was enough food (sweet & savoury) to feed all the guests 10 fold with plenty to spare (my entire freezer is currently bursting with a variety of un-touched delicious leftovers ready to be defrosted and tucked into when guests start to arrive to meet Baby J.)

The images below should give you a wee taster of what I am talking about. Not only do we love to eat, but we love to celebrate and any opportunity is grasped by both hands by myself and my mother (Baby j is going to be one spoilt little boy!!)

The day really was just beautiful. Games were played, two to be specific. One organised by two of my best & oldest friends where a playlist was devised of "baby related' songs (e.g. baby love, bye bye baby etc). Guests had to identify and shout out the correct song & artist to win. Sadly my team lost... I blame the baby brain! The other game was organised by my sister-in-law and was very cute. A ball of string was passed around and everyone had to cut the string to the length that they guessed would fit perfectly around my bump. 

Never in my life did I imagine that I'd let a room full of people stare at my stomach (pre baby a very troublesome area for me!!) and measure it for fun!! I was pleased though that only one persons string didn't go around me, everyone else (including the hubs, who had arrived by this stage... he didn't want to miss out!!) had grossly over-estimated how big I was, which if I am honest made me very happy!! The winner of the game was the hubs auntie who was bang on, very impressive!

The only strange part of the day was seeing people off. There were around 35 guests so for the most part, I now won't see people until after the arrival of Baby J. Whilst this of course obvious, it is a strange reality. Next time I see a lot of my friends & family I will be a mum, the hubs will be a dad and we will be a proper family. Not only that but people will be grandparents, great-grandparents, great aunts, uncles, cousins and so on. For a lot of people the arrival of our son means a lot and now that the shower is over, I can't help but realise what the next big diary date is.

Yesterday was a very special day, and one I'll remember for a lifetime. Baby showers are perhaps a little indulgent, and "American" but if nothing else, they are a wonderful excuse to get your nearest and dearest together to eat a lot of cake,  for one last time before life changes in a big big way.

Bump Off!

Last night I posted a tweet that fuelled quite a large debate amongst a number of you.

After being out and seeing some friends, I was left feeling a little flat and a weeny bit anxious.

For someone who today is 26 weeks pregnant (Happy Birthday Baby J!) I apparently I have a relatively small bump.

This isn't the first time I've received comments to this avail.

In truth, it's pretty much daily that someone (friends, strangers... anyone really!) feels the need to touch my stomach (so weird) and share their words of wisdom about the size of my baby bump.

I must say that I personally don't agree with the masses, having watched my body turn over the past 26 weeks from relatively toned and slim to what I only can describe as 'swollen' (that's my polite way of saying fat)

The Hubs also doesn't agree... Especially as now when we snuggle up he can barely fit his arms around me.

Neither does my mum and she knows best of all. I'll never fully understand how she's been able to buy me clothes at any age, at any size and they'll fit me perfectly (I've not been consistent so this is harder than it sounds!) She knows my body well and would be the first to say if she thought something was wrong.

I suppose the issue here isn't so much about the size of 'my' bump... It's more about the public (I suddenly feel like a politician) and their openness and confidence in dishing out their uneducated opinions about it.

I know people mean no harm, but surely they should be bright enough (especially as they're all seemingly qualified medical professionals... Can you feel my anger?) to realise that pregnant women are scared, anxious and most importantly hormonal.

The last thing we need is a complex about the size of our bumps?!

It seems that many of you agree with me, and many of you have experienced this unnecessary overstepping of what is polite and acceptable in society.

What I was interested to learn last night following my twitter post was that it doesn't just stop at small bumps.

Oh no.

People also like to share their opinions of big bumps, high bumps, low bumps and in same cases 'odd' shaped bumps!! (Surely not?)

As I mentioned earlier, I don't mean to rant or sound too harsh it's just that I'm a worrier. Thankfully I'm seeing my midwife this afternoon who I'll ask to measure the bump to ensure all is well. If I didn't already have the appointment, last nights comments (from 'the public', not from you lot) would have driven me to make a last minute booking.

I'm sure all is well. But who needs the added stress?

Maybe next time someone comments I should respond with a comment about their appearance?

"You've got a small bump"

"Thanks, haven't you got big ears!"

I don't think that would go down too well, but at least they'd get the point!!!

My advice on the matter? Ignore people, most likely they are trying to engage with your pregnancy in some way and don't know what else to say than to comment on the bump... I just wish they'd say nothing at all!

After all, my mother always taught me that if you've got nothing nice to say, to say nothing at all!