Baby On A Budget

One of the biggest stress factors for me so far in this pregnancy has been the finances.

If I had known my workplace had such an awful maternity policy, I may have spent a few more months saving up before I put this bun in the oven!

But rather than wallowing in self pity, I have been trying to be proactive by finding ways to save money in the lead up to my baby arriving, alongside buying the necessary baby equipment.

I thought I would share some of the money-saving tips I have found so far in case they could be useful for you too, so here goes:

Old Wives Tale Test

There are a lot of old wives' tales out their to predict baby gender, the internet is full of crazy ones! I have seen Chinese prediction charts based on the mother's age and when the baby is due, others about the cravings you have, shape of your bump and pendulum tests, and a hell of a lot more!

Flu Jab: Yes or No?

For weeks I have been debating whether or not to have the flu jab as the risks have always seemed unclear to me. The jab is always recommended for pregnant women, as we are deemed the 'high risk category'. This is apparently because pregnancy lowers your immune system, so if you have the flu, you can have far more serious side effects from it, which can even include death.

I am asthmatic, so have had the flu jab yearly for many years now, but the jab now contains bodies to protect against swine flu, and I have always been quite dubious about this.

Pregnancy: The Relationship Wrecker?

I have never found relationships to be the easiest, quite possibly due to the men I have chosen and my own ‘baggage’, but I don’t think I quite realised how pregnancy can possibly provide the biggest test of all.

My first trimester was quite tough on me physically and emotionally, and in turn there were times I would be quite low, irritable and at times frustrated with how I had no control over my body. I attempted to talk to The Bloke about this, and the typical man that he is, feelings really are not things he seems able to identify or understand.

So there were definitely times that my mood swings and his inability to understand why I was having them, would clash hugely. We have had fights because I have spent all day vomiting and he has not attempted to even visit me to mop my brow and kiss it all better. He will argue that I need to just rest and at times he has thought I have been overdramatic, which I think has led him to not giving me the support that I have desperately needed.

Pregnancy Workout DVD - My Review

Prenatal Fitness Fix with Erin O’ Brien.

Three months of eating stodgy rubbish and lying on my sofa has taken its toll.  I look seven months pregnant instead of four, and none of that is baby bump!

So after having a very lazy first trimester, I have decided to attempt to do some fitness in my second stage to try and slow down my weight gain. After a good look on good old Amazon, I managed to find a pregnancy box set with very good feedback, called The Complete Pregnancy Workout.

The Heartbeat

After spending the last week worrying myself sick that I have somehow suffocated the baby by the squashed positions I sit and sleep in (plus being paranoid about my stomach fat squashing bubba), I was sooooooooooo relieved to get the chance to hear the heartbeat today.

The midwife did the usual checks (blood pressure, urine, checked my notes etc) before getting me to lay down and have that lovely, cold gunk applied to the bottom of my tummy.

For about a minute she searched and searched near my groin for a heartbeat. The longer it took, the more nervous I got, and at one point I heard a beat, but she told me that was my own heartbeat.