What's in a name?

First off this isn't meant to cause any offence to anyone it is my opinions and people may have the same feelings about my shortlist of names. It's just I feel that naming a child is a really important job as generally it stays with you for life.I have come across a lot of names whilst looking around and below is a list I have taken a particular dislike to.


Dexter - this is a surname, one of my good friends is a Dexter so this should stay as a surname.
Lewis - this is my own surname, should not be used as a first name.
Remie - just reminds me of being at school when the name 'rem' was used to describe someone being thick/stupid.
Wesley - this wrong, no reason, just wrong.
Molly - this isn't as bad as other's mentioned but when you team it with May it becomes hideous.
Daisy -  this is a lovely name for a baby/child but could you really take an adult seriously with a name like Daisy? "Nice to meet you PC Daisy" it just doesn't work. A friend of mine wants to call their baby Daisy Jane! aarrgghh.
Jasper -this reminds me of Jasper Carrott.
Brodie -  is this even a name?


However, I think this proves just why I am struggling to come up with names and it is possible I will end up hating my shortlist and liking a name I have completely dismissed. For example, a work colleagues daughter had a daughter and called her Darcy which I thought was hideous but now thinking about it I wouldn't mind calling any daughter of mine Darcy.

I hope you have all taken this with a pinch of salt and are not offended by what I have written I am an awkward person who changes her mind frequently and it's more than likely in a few years I will regret whatever name I have chosen. At least I still have just over 15 weeks to make decisions. Plus, to be fair, I would never tell anyone to their face I hated their child's name as it's all down to personal opnion

24 week scan

Thursday was my repeat anomaly scan which went so much better than last time. The sonographer was like a different person, really friendly unlike last time when he just didn't bother with me.

I got to hear the baby's heartbeat, see the baby moving around and get all the measurements. The baby is measuring fine for 24 weeks. On this website it has the average measurements for each week. My baby's head circumference is 216mm which is 4mm smaller than it should be, the abdomen circumference is 200mm which is 1mm smaller than it should be (yay for non fat baby!) and it's femur length is 43mm which is 2mm shorter than it should be. However, I still think my date is a day out from the scan and it's all average and this can change is the coming weeks. Jonathan has short legs considering his height, in fact I probably do too. I was worried the head would be massive as I have a huge head!


All checks could still not be completed due to the baby being curled up in a ball with it's legs over it's head by my spine again. However, the heart, stomach and bladder are all fine it still has all it limbs and as my work colleague said 'what more do you want?' Which is true I am sure that the baby is fine and healthy and cannot wait to meet him or her. 

24 week midwife appointment

I had my midwife appointment on Wednesday and as a result I have made the decision not to engage with anymore midwife care and am also writing a letter of complaint about the way I was treated. I am tired of being belittled and judged because of my weight. I have weighed up the pros and cons of this and for me I don't think there are many risks. I am under consultant care, my next appointment is 28weeks which is when the midwife said to come back so my blood pressure and urine will be checked then, my sonographer also supports this move and has said he will get someone to check my blood pressure at scans, my next one being at 29 weeks. I just don't think getting upset, stressed and angry is going to help me or the baby. I have had an easy pregnancy so far and fingers crossed it remains the same until the end.

Below I have put a few examples of why I was so upset and disappointed with my midwife appointment.

My first issue is that I don't have a named midwife so far I have seen four different midwives which makes it hard to build up rapport or trust in the person, the care between the midwives varies massively.

My first issue with the appointment was the fact my blood pressure was taken with a small cuff, my blood pressure reading was 140/70 which I was informed was high, after reading the British Heart Foundation website I found that high is classed as 140/85, I must point out this is the highest my blood pressure has been. The midwife did try and find a larger cuff but none was available, the obesity levels in borough are high so I feel that this is a piece of equipment that is need by staff to ensure accurate readings.  I also would like to point out that the other two midwives I have seen at the surgery both had large cuffs to use.

Secondly, the midwife went on about my weight problem for most of the appointment, she wanted to refer me to the Lose Weight Feel Great scheme which I told her what they can offer me doesn’t work for me as I have tried before, she kept going on about it until I gave in and said to refer me just so we could move on from the subject. I informed her that I had lost 5 stone since January 2011 by following Slimming World from home to which she replied ‘so you've put it all back on then’ which I haven’t I have gained a stone back.  She then went out to tell me to start over and get rid of all the chocolate, crisps and cream cakes in my kitchen.

She asked about my exercise, I told her I swim once a week, go walking and am also very active at my job which involves site checks, she then said ‘well your body will be used to what you do at work so you still need to do extra’ which I had told her I do extra.

She said my breathing was heavy and asked if I had asthma, again another assumption, I don't have asthma I have a number of allergies that I am unable to take medication for at present. So if you have hay fever and allergies to dust then your breathing is going to be heavy especially when you cannot possible breathe through your nose.

She didn't feel for my uterus or listen to the baby's heartbeat as she didn't want to embarrass me by not being able to find it, the midwife I had at 18 weeks had no problem finding my uterus and even got me to feel so I knew where it was up to. 

Sorry for the long post and thank you for reading if you got this far. 

Maternity Leave

So after weeks of reading the maternity policy at work I think I finally know what I am entitled to. I am not sure whether or not what I am entitled to is generous compared to other people's but I feel that it is not enough time to be off with my new baby.

I intially thought I was entitled to 18 weeks full pay and 6 weeks at 90%, this was wishful thinking I am actually entitled to 18 weeks full pay and I have to start my leave 2 weeks before my due date, so providing the baby arrives on time I will only have 16 weeks with the baby :-( After this I will be entitled to statutory maternity pay which is currently £135.35 per week which means I would only receive around 35% of my normal wage, which considering I am the main wage earner it is not looking likely that I will be able to have anymore time off. This means I will have to go back to work on the 7th February, this makes me sad!

This is an article I remember reading a few months back http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2102517/Women-need-year-recover-childbirth-study-finds.html which ironically was a study done at the institution that I work for! Therefore, I think they should lead the way and give me 12 months off on full pay! I know this would never happen and I also understand that having workers off for maternity leave can stretch an already stretched budget in most workplaces nowadays.

As a first time Mum to be I have no idea how giving birth and looking after another human is going to effect me,  I like to think I take most things in my stride and adapt easily to whatever situation I am given but the fact this new chapter in my life is scaring the shit out of me!

I would at least like another 8 weeks off which would take me until the 4th April which would give me 6 months off, I need to make this happen. I have figured that if I keep my budget strict I can save from my wages whilst on maternity, I am currently putting £100 a month away for the baby and there is no reason I can't continue to do this, I should also have some money left from what I have saved so far. I will also not be driving to work which is currently a 30 mile round trip so my petrol costs should go down. Jonathan and me will not be going out as much for meals, cinema or for drinks so our social life budget will fall as well.

How much time are you taking off? What will you be doing to ensure you can cope when you go onto statutory maternity pay?

Plus size maternity wear: Simply Be

Today's post is going to be about the maternity wear on offer from Simply Be which is an online catalogue retailer. However, they do have some stores but not sure if they stock the maternity ranges.

Again, I have picked out some of my favourite bits from their collection. First up is a black maxi dress which is on my list to get. This would be a staple in your maternity wardrobe over the summer which would look great with this necklace and this cover up. I have one of the Joe Brown cover up's in white from last summer and I love it. The dress is also available in cobalt and is a very reasonable £30.

Next up is a maternity starter kit which contains leggings, vest top and bump band for £38. This is a great starter kit for anyone and can be accessorized easily. 

I chose this top as it is such a pretty colour for Spring and summer. It will be easy to wear on those days where you don't have to accessorize and can look fabulous without putting much effort in. It also comes in grey marl. This will cost £20.

For the rest of their range which includes swimwear, nursing bras, knickers, work trousers and palazzo trousers go to their website

Plus size maternity wear: Yours Clothing.

As many of you probably know I am classed as plus sized. I am a size 22-24, sometimes bigger depending on where I shop. Whilst looking around the Internet I noticed there are not a lot of places that sell plus size maternity wear. I am currently 21+4 and am in no way looking pregnant yet, if I push my belly out there is a definite hard roundness just above my belly button but I am not bursting out of my clothes yet.

I have had a look around and have picked some of my favourite items out. First off is Yours Clothing who have only recently launched a maternity range.

Leggings for me are an essential part of my daily wardrobe, I look better in leggings that in jeans and trousers. These come in at a very reasonable £12. My favourite pair of leggings are from Yours so I am hoping to pick up a pair of these in the near future.

This maxi skirt is an ideal essential item especially if you are going to be pregnant over the summer you can team it was a vest top and small cardigan and a statement necklace or scarf I love the vest tops from George at Asda.The skirt comes in at £20

Finally, my favourite item from Yours Clothing is this grey printed top I love this because it's not too in your face about being pregnant like some of the more obvious ones that have a huge statement printed on that you can see a mile off but is just enough to show the love of your bump, this sits above the knee so makes it an ideal partner to the leggings. This lovely top costs £16.

21 week update

I am now 21+1 weeks pregnant which means I have 19 weeks left before my due date, this is slightly scary because if the baby comes early it will be less! At 21 weeks my baby is roughly the size of a carrot, well one that is around 10.5 inches. I am only 3 weeks away from it being viable pregnancy, that is if the baby arrives this early it has a chance of living :-)

I am still not over my scan experience last week and I'm sure people think I am over reacting, I still hate the fact that I am anxious about the baby being OK, it doesn't help that I still haven't felt it move or heard the heartbeat (which I am hoping to do at the next midwife appointment). Everytime I think about the scan it makes me cry so emotionally I am not having a good week, I have pretty much cried every day since the scan, although sometimes it isn't about the scan, for example, Prince Charles speech at the Jubilee concert had me crying as did running out of bread.

I am currently on my 2nd night at work out of seven, this is exciting as this will be my last block of seven nights until next year when I return from maternity leave.

After making a list of things Jonathan and me need to do before the baby arrives it looks like the next few weeks are going to be hectic.

Things we need to do before baby is here:

• Clear out spare room and decorate
• Get a multitude of items including cot and pram
• Spring clean the whole house
• Living room carpet needs a deep clean or replacing
• Car boot sale on 24th June

I'm sure there is much more but even this list freaks me out, I keep finding things I would like to do like some shelves in the kitchen, the bushes at the front of my house need to go as they are getting out of  control and painting the bathroom. I know in reality that some of these things can wait until baby is here.