(I had hoped to post this sooner, but you know, mum life! My life revolves around Mr Zion Joseph now)
RIGHT! This is my last post on my pregnancy! We’ve actually got so much to hurry up and get into, in regards to motherhood that’s happening in real-time! So no more dilly-dallying! So with this being the last pregnancy post, we’re going to be talking about a lot so LET’S GET INTO IT.
HEALTH
In regards to preparing, there was a lot that needed to be done to get us all ready for this new life; mentally, emotionally, physically, financially and spiritually! I needed to make sure that my body was in the best condition to house a baby. 🍼 As soon as I found out I was pregnant, I looked up all the necessary vitamins and supplements and ordered all that I needed! I took Pregnacare Original, Max and Plus (consecutively of course), with added Folic Acid, Iron, Omega 3 and many more. I also made sure I was stocking up on my colourful foods, with loads of fruit and veg. 🍏 🥕If you follow me on socials, you’ll know that I became a 5-a-day advocate. I was making smoothies every day for about 4 months into the pregnancy, To be completely honest though, I did have the occasional junk food to satisfy the baby’s craving, of course. 🍔
Towards the end of my pregnancy, it came back that I didn’t have enough iron in my blood, so I had to take extra iron supplements with orange juice 🍊(Vitamin C is supposed to help the iron absorb properly) every morning. TMI: With all the iron I was taking, there was definitely some effects on my digestive system. Let’s just say that my “movements” were GREEN! And smelt like fried fish! It was so weird.
In regards to exercise, I didn’t 😂 Again, I’m not going to lie, with how tired I was, just the thought alone of exercising was exhausting. I did however go for lots of brisk walks, just to get the bare minimum in, especially at the very end. I was also bouncing on my exercise ball regularly during my pregnancy, apparently it’s supposed to help prepare my pelvis.
SLEEPING ARRANGEMENTS
In my earlier blog, I mentioned not having a bedroom to come home to after university. Before I left home to go to uni, I shared our loft bedroom with my younger sister (back in 2016), who was so eager to finally be able to have her own room, that she immediately removed my bed and redecorated her new bedroom! 🙃Of course, this had me feeling a type of way, because where was I going to sleep when I was back down for breaks people!? It wasn’t too bad though, because my parents had planned for us to move into a bigger house, by the time I had finished university. 🙄
However, with how life goes, our plans don’t always seem to go to plan. So I was coming home to the sofa indefinitely!!! Now, this was the loose plan, from before I found out I was pregnant during my final year. When | did find out, and we all (my family) began talking about what was going to happen, I decided that sleeping on the sofa would be alright whilst we figured out another plan lol. I laugh now, because what a joke!!!! To be honest, I could have chosen to stay with my grandparents where they have a spare room for me, but I wanted to be at home with my family and from what I understood, my family wanted me home too❤️
I slept on the sofa for maybe a month, until my neck said NO MORE! 😞I then moved to my younger brothers’ bedroom. The two of them shared the top bunk of their bunk bed, whilst I took the bottom. This was such a testing time for me boy. I love my brothers, but my gosh they get on my nerves. With being tired all the time from growing a human, I tried to get as much sleep as I could, but these boys just wanted to play all the damn time! It was difficult but was a lot better than the sofa! 🛋
For those of you that know, my sister entered a competition on the BBC (Little Mix: The Search) back in October, so she had to stay in a house the BBC had provided for the contestants. 🎤 That meant her room was vacant, baby! At this point, I was around 7 months pregnant and had been sleeping on my brother’s bottom bunk for about 4 months. My back was more than grateful to be sleeping on a mattress made for adults! The timing was perfect with my bump getting bigger and bigger.
Of course, my sister was planning on returning, so I had to think about what I was going to do when she got back. By the time she had returned I was nearly 8 months pregnant. I knew for a fact that there was no way I could go back to sharing with my brothers. So I was considering staying with my grandparents, but before I could even mention my thoughts, my parents told me that they were going to pay for someone to build a wall in our living room, giving me my own space! Un-bloody-believable! Everything felt like it was finally starting to come together! I could finally envision where my baby was going to rest his head. 🥺
WE’RE HAVING A BOY!
One of the early thoughts I had after finding out I was pregnant was, “I GET TO PLAN A GENDER REVEAL & BABY SHOWER!”. 💕💙I know but it’s the truth. I didn’t actually start mentally planning anything until I was excited about it all. I knew what colour scheme I wanted, white and gold with eucalyptus leaves! And I knew how I wanted to reveal the gender of my baby, with pink or blue in a cupcake! But the whole pandemic thing had other plans for us.
With Boris, our beloved prime minister, changing the rules every 2 weeks or so, I opted for the basic old balloon at home for the gender reveal. I wanted a girl really and truly, but God has other plans and that’s okay. I don’t feel that neither I or my partner would have been able to give a baby girl the love she needs at this current time in our lives.
“I can’t even lie, I initially wanted a mini me, a baby girl but God said nah & I’m still honestly so overwhelmed with joy. 🥺I’ve been given the opportunity to raise a black king. This little boy doesn’t even know what his mum is on when it comes to protecting him from this world. I just pray God gives us all the correct tools to love and teach a whole KING how to be just that! 💙
I ended up having a nice, intimate socially distanced baby shower, having 6 guests at a time to play games and have baby-related fun! It was so beautiful, decorated perfectly! I have to give credit to my support team. Everything was so gorgeous. I couldn’t have asked for a better day, It was such a blessing to feel loved by so many friends and family. The kind words, wishes and advice on raising my little boy was so touching. I spent the evening of that day opening up and sorting out the many gifts that were given to us.
In regards to buying “stuff”, I got a little anxious about where we were going to come up with the money to be able to buy everything that we needed but was very quickly reassured. We were(/are) surrounded by so many people who would want to help and support us! My partner and I only bought the Moses basket mattress and sheets and the buggy/car seat. We managed to find an amazing deal on a car seat, stroller, walker AND a baby bag bundle for around £800 from Mamas and Papas! 👌🏾Everything else was bought for us.
Here’s the list that we used for our Amazon wishlist:
Sleepsuits, bodysuits, vests and newborn baby grows
Baby socks or booties
Hat and mittens
Snowsuit or shawl
Car seat & buggy
Nursing bras and breast pads
Bottles, accessories and formula (if not breastfeeding)
Bottle Steriliser kit
Nappies
Wet wipes or reusable cloths
Cotton wool
Coconut oil
Sudocrem
Baby Powder
Muslin squares, flannels, burp cloths or receiving blankets
Moses basket, carrycot, crib or newborn bed (with mattress, fitted sheets and cellular blankets)
Changing mat
Changing bag
Grooming kit
Breast pump
Baby shampoo or liquid cleanser
Soft-hooded towels
Folic Acid/ Supplements
Playmat
Bouncer
Highchair
Keepsake box
ANY DAY NOW…
We’re getting there, guys! 😆
So of course, I was counting down the weeks, making sure I was documenting my bump as it grew bigger and bigger. I had started watching birth and labour vlogs by week 32, doing what I thought was preparing myself. Wow, I forgot to tell you, my due date was the 17th of December 2020.
“8 months today 🤍
My baby boy, it’s starting to feel way too real now. In a month (or less!) I’m going to be meeting this little person that’s been knitting inside of me for 8 months. I’ve spent all this time accepting the fact that I’m pregnant, and it’s only now just clicking that I’M ACTUALLY HAVING A BABY. That part is honestly more scary than the idea of labour!🤯”
My midwife, mum and majority of the youtube mums had said to pack my hospital bag by week 36, but of course, out of pure excitement, my bag was packed by week 32. I’ve listed below what I packed in my bag:
My Bag:
My hospital notes
Massive black knickers (or disposable knickers)
Maternity Pads
Pyjamas (button up, if breastfeeding)
Dressing gown
Formula & Sterile bottles
Nursing Bra
Snacks & electrolyte energy drink
Going on home outfit
Socks
Comfy slippers
Flip flops for the shower
Camera (if you want to document it)
Your charger & headphones
Overnight Toiletries
Hot water bottle
Baby Bag
2 or 3 sets of vests, babygrow, hats in size newborn (plus an extra set, size up or down, depending on how much your baby is measuring)
Nappies (just in case !!)
Cotton wool
Blankets for going home
Snowsuit (depending on the season your baby is due)
Muslin cloths
Dummy (if you want)
Car seat
(If I’ve forgotten anything, just let me know so that I can amend the blog!)
By the time I got to week 38 (3rd of December), I was plotting and scheming about ways to get this baby out! I would go for brisk walks nearly every day as I heard that helped to get things moving. There was no way bubba was going to be overdue, When I found out I was pregnant, I also found out that a few other women around me were expecting too. Around the time of my due date, I ended up being the last one to give birth and strangely enough that got to me. I remember the day after finding out that my friend who was due after me, gave birth before me, I felt so deflated and hopeless. It sounds so silly now but it was real. It felt like I had been pregnant for too long!!!
My cousin spoke to me about a method that got her sister-in-law’s baby evicted: castor oil.
And that was the start of my labour.
Signed,
A Young Mum
x
Catch the next post, Friday 26th March.
See below, the extended version of my pregnancy vlog 🤍