So I've been doing a lot some moaning lately about this horrid sickness and the way I've been feeling. It's been hard for me to think about the nice things to pregnancy, especially the whole having a bump again. With Oli it was only in the last couple of months that I actually looked like a pregnant woman. I felt strange about pregnancy and the whole having a bump last time so didn't really take any photos of it, it was only after I had given birth where I've spent the last 2 years mourning my bump and getting bump envy every time I saw one out and about. This time from the moment I've found out I've made it my mission to take a photo each week so that I can keep a photo diary of just how much my bump changes over time. Here's some photos of it from the last few weeks.


This time around I've started showing a lot lot sooner then I did with Oli, I've also noticed it's in a completely different place to the first bump too. He was much higher up which was handy when it came to avoiding to buy maternity clothes, I actually stayed in normal clothes for the whole 9 months of pregnancy. This bump is very low down and from the moment I practically became pregnant I've not been able to fit into any of my ordinary trousers and tops are a struggle too seeing as most of them with tight fitted tees! So it's been joggers and baggy hoodies for me the last several weeks. I do fear I may have to go winter shopping in maternity shops in the next few weeks.

I have my 12 week scan on Monday, if mine and the midwifes calculations are right then it should say I'm 13+1 weeks. I'm hoping I'm in luck and I'm further on, I may cry if they give me anything less then 12. Just itching to get these first 15/16 weeks out of the way and get down to enjoying this pregnancy like I should be.

Currently if you spend £30 on LEGO DUPLO at Toys R Us you receive a free DUPLO cuddly bear worth £10! Seriously look how cute this bear is!

To celebrate this exclusive offer with Toys R Us, LEGO DUPLO are offering a whole heap of DUPLO goodies to give away to my LEGO DUPLO Experts blog readers. Check out our review from a couple of months ago of the Cars LEGO sets. Here’s what you could be in with a chance of winning:

First Prize (2 winners will get this)

· 1 x Cars ‘The Pit Stop’

· 1 x Cars ‘Tokyo Racing’

· 1 x Cars ‘Agent Mater'

· 1 x Cars ‘Luigi’s Italian Place’

· 1 x My First LEGO DUPLO Set

· 1 x DUPLO Brick Box

Second Prize (3 winners will get this)

· 1 x Cars ‘Tokyo Racing’

· 1 x Cars ‘Luigi’s Italian Place’

· 1 x DUPLO Brick Box

Third Prize (10 winners will get this)

· 1 x My First LEGO DUPLO Set

· 1 x DUPLO Brick Box

All you have to do to enter the competition is to email with the name of my blog (Me, The Man & The Baby) in the subject line and then provide your full name and postal address. Competition closes on November 6^th.

Good luck!

I'm sad to say but nap time seems to of become a thing of the past in this house. I knew it was going to happen one day, I was ready as much as I wasn't. You gotta admit that time in the afternoon where you put child down, clean up what mess they created before they went and then collapse on the sofa with a coffee and cake is bliss. You get to not worry about you coffee being knocked over or your cake being stolen. Not like I've had either coffee or cake lately, coffee has been non existent in my life since becoming pregnant and cake was last eaten at Pippa's house (which reminds me I'm yet to steal that recipe from her!)

It's a shame they've come to a end at this time what with needing lots some nap time myself during the say as baby seems to be sucking all the energy out of me already. I know we're going to still have the odd occasions where nap time will make a appearance, like the other day when he was just so full of cold and he really didn't need much persuading to go and give himself some shut eye. And those times after soft play where he's worn himself out so much it's either a nap or a afternoon of a grump toddler because he's tired.

Thankfully the man has a job which sees him back most days before midday and if he times going to bed right then he doesn't need a nap when he gets in, which means I can sneak my pregnant bottom upstairs for a little snooze. At the moment I'm just going to enjoy this extra time I have in the day with my boy, though I wont be surprised if some days I'm urging bedtime to come round much quicker.

I've said it lots of times in the past but we really are huge fans of wooden toys in this house, when it comes to toys for Oli we know wood are the best as they are sturdy enough to endure the angriest of toddler mood swings. Mine has been putting this to the test on several occasions when pushing over his wooden toy garage or chucking his wooden toy till against the wall.

WoodenToyShop.co.uk sell a fabulous range of wooden toys for kids of age ranges, it happens to be the place we got Oli's wooden toy garage from. If I had a unlimited amount of money to spend on toys for him it would have to be spent here, from train tacks to bedroom furniture they sell it all. I wont keep it a secret but I'm secretly hoping for bump to be a girl (though of course I just want a healthy baby!) so that I check out the wooden dolls houses and wooden prams.

This is really all your going to hear from me now for the next couple of weeks, I really do think it's important that I get it out there and not keep this bottled up. I'm writing this just moments after writing my last post about HG. I don't know why but I seem to be full of anger, anger at the denial I've faced with going through this Hyperemesis. Just having it brushed over for normal morning sickness, being frowned at or even made to feel guilty simply because I'm not having a 'simple' pregnancy. Pregnancy isn't simple, ok it can be for some people but not for everyone. It's not all bright lights like it's made to look like growing up. Take my last pregnancy, pretty ordinary and had normal morning sickness but ended up developing gallstones. I'm angry at those who think just because you choose to get pregnant doesn't mean you choose to suffer like this.

The only joy we've had so far in this pregnancy is the joy at the very beginning of knowing that us trying to get pregnant had succeeded. Since then that joy has been casted aside, at times I've regretted getting pregnant. Wondering why? Why did I want to become pregnant? Trying to stop myself from having those dreadful thoughts about getting rid of baby just so I could feel better, just so I'm not spending from 12-12 emptying the contents of my stomach even when it's already been emptied 40 times over. Just so I could spend time with my other baby who had been casted aside as I couldn't be anywhere but in the bathroom or in the bedroom attempting to get some kind of rest from the constant sickness.

Hannah at Muddling Along Mummy wrote this post 'Would you abort your baby to stop feeling sick?' which just sums exactly everything I want to say and what I'm thinking. Why is it only now that I've suffered with this and that 10 weeks after becoming so ill that I on my way to being educated about this condition. Why doesn't the baby books tell you this when they so call tell you 'everything you need to know about pregnancy' I've certainly never heard of this, not with my first pregnancy and not over the last couple of years of being a mother. Did I turn such a blind eye myself when seeing and hearing mothers talk about their extreme sickness?


Everywhere I read about it, it says that hospitalisation should be the first step of treatment for it. I do wonder if at the same time as being prescribed medication for the first time if I should of had a drip alongside it, especially now after being in hospital and having the fluids and seeing how it helped. I still wont fault my doctors though, they did try there best to help find medication to help stop my constant sickness and to help me get better. It is serious, I know this even more after googling it. Just read the symptoms from the NHS website and tell me if you could go 10 weeks like this? Some go the whole pregnancy and some even continue to suffer after giving birth. I'm still hoping that my time with this is over, I do fear that I may be on this tablets now for the rest of my pregnancy to help combat it but then we'll see how I'm doing over the next couple of weeks.

So pleased I was feeling better for this weekend, Oli had been invited to Baba's (Scrapbookerry's little one) 3rd Birthday party. We had a plan that if I was still ill or in hospital that the man would take him so that he wouldn't miss out. To get in with the theme we bought Oli this adorable dinosaur tshirt (seriously, trying to get a toddler to stay still for a photo = mission impossible!) from H&M but get this right, the tshirt cost £5.99 but the day we bought it, with every transaction they were giving out £5 gift cards. Yeah makes sense right, but I suppose that's the cost of Oli's winter hat covered.

Was so nice to actually be able to spend time with him again, well both him and the man. To be out of the house as a family and for mummy to not be carrying around her sick bowl or even walking around with knotted hair (again thank you Vic for deknotting me!) Even managed to have a shower, yeah eww for you but you try finding the energy to stand in the shower everyday with Hyperemesis.

Oli had a great time and Baba looked like he had much fun with his dinosaur presents (We got him the land before time DVDs) and we were extremely impressed with the dinosaur cake his mother had made. I seriously think there's no ends to this crafty woman's talents! She even made some yummy homemade biscuits for the party bags. Though Kerry I have to admit Oli may of 'accidentally' not got any of the birthday cake, though the fact I've not eaten in yonks is enough of a excuse to let me get away with that right?

I've not really blogged yet about this horrid condition I've developed called Hyperemesis Gravidarum. I did include a link in my last post from Luschka who is also suffering from it, she describes it perfectly and gives you the perfect summary about what it's like to suffer from it. Thanks to twitter I realised I'm not alone and this isn't no made up condition, it really is quite serious. Hannah and Jen also suffered from it and through twitter I realised many others too suffered and some which were too afraid to admit it at the time. If it wasn't for Oli and this not being my first I don't think I would of been so quick to ask for help controlling this.

I'm on my second day today of no sickness and of being to eat and keep down breakfast, lunch and tea. May not sound like much to you or it even may be too much information but for me this is life changing. May sound a little over dramatic but when you've spent most days attached to the toilet or lying in bed like I've been doing the last several weeks, doing something as simple as getting up with boy and preparing his breakfast is a big achievement. Even more so is doing some hoovering and familiarising myself with the washing machine.

I'm really hoping this isn't just a one off and will continue now for the rest of the pregnancy. Its took several trips to the doctors and 2 visits to the hospital but hopefully I'm on the right medication now which has got my hyperemesis under control. I know I needed that hospital visit to help me on the road to getting better.

I did try to get myself the help I needed on Thurs night when come the end of the night and a day where every 10 minutes saw me throwing up, both physically and mentally I had had enough. My body was aching and my chest was hurting, which I'm pretty sure was down to the day of non stop sickness. I did first phone the maternity ward who didn't want to listen when I said I was only 12 weeks pregnant, they told me to phone gynecology emergency. So I did and was told I would need to referred by my GP.

I came off the phone feeling like I got nowhere. Thing is I would of been straight to my doctor if it wasn't so late at night. I phoned NHS direct who took concern about the chest pain which was the same concern that the doctors in a&e took on. No one wanted to hear about the horrid sickness which was making me so ill, after hearing about me not eating or drinking for the last few days I was put on a drip. Told I could I have a clot on my lung and that I was to inject myself for the next 10 days. I knew the chest pain was the strain that me being ill was putting on my body, just like I knew that pain before was thanks to the morphine - you just know your own body. I was sent home from a&e at almost 4am in a taxi.

The moment I walked back through the door I had my head down the toilet once again. That morning after a few hours sleep I was still unable to keep water down or even go near food. I got a emergency appointment with my GP, the moment he saw me he said he was getting me admitted. Says it all really! I could of cried with relief! He phoned gynecology and had them agree to see me, told them he had tried different medications but nothing was bringing it under control. The moment the doctors on gynecology saw me I was given fluids and admitted to the pre-natal ward so I could get constant fluids throughout the day and night. I was also given some anti sickness medicine. That evening alone I started to feel much better.

A woman visiting her friend opposite overheard that I was starting to feel hungry so kindly got me some food and fruit from the cafe. This really made me smile and the feeling of fullness I got from that food was extremely satisfying. The next morning I was greeted with no sickness but a hunger for breakfast! This has continued since I came out of hospital. They gave me some medication and have told me to go straight back in if they don't work and I find myself feeling as poorly as I did before. I do feel like a different person right now, Just so glad I nipped this in the bud now before I lost anymore weight and became more ill. I just really hope this continues for the next 26 weeks.

Before this pregnancy I had only ever heard of Post Natal Depression, I knew all about it as it was explained to me when I was pregnant with Oli. Told that it was something that every new mother could suffer from, even without a history of depression. What I wasn't prepared for was to be told at 11 weeks with this pregnancy is that I, myself am suffering from post natal depression. This feels so foreign to me, even more so then the Hyperemesis Gravidarum that I'm also suffering with. I don't know where to begin with describing to you how I'm feeling or how we (me and the doctor) came to the decision this is what I have.

I know it started very quickly after I fell pregnant. There was one week where just before we found out that we were expecting that I felt extremely low about myself, I briefly mentioned it in the post where I talked about being pregnant. I would stand sobbing in front of the mirror and I didn't feel at all comfortable in/with myself. I broke down at one point at the ironing board because the way my work uniform was ironing, it was ok thinking back to it but something bugged me. I didn't go to work that evening, I was for some reason in a uncontrollable state. It did start to become a concern but then we discovered I was pregnant and just put it down to the hormones and stuff that my body would of been producing.

Sadly it didn't and hasn't come to a end, it's only got worse. I know the way I've been so ill with this pregnancy has not helped issues and the way I feel. What I have been extremely grateful for is the lovely doctors I have, from the one who was concerned about my low blood pressure to the doctor who bought me after breaking down on the phone to him. He really took the time to talk to me and talk about the way I feeling. He helped me to not feel guilty about this diagnosis and promised to get me what help I need to get through this. I've been referred to a specialist but with regards to taking anything in the form of a pill for this I've turned this option down. I'm at too early of a stage to be taking such meds. The doctor did phone me as I was on the way to my in laws to say he's been doing some research into what could be the safest for me and does has something in mind as a back up plan but we agreed to leave it until I've seen the specialist and see how I get over the next week.

I really don't know what to say about how I'm feeling, I guess it's too personal to share right now. I suppose it's just post natal depression but without the baby in my arms, Until I get my head around it all, I'll just stick to moaning about this horrid morning sickness and the way that makes me feel. Just please say there is someone else out there who felt this way in pregnancy and can give me that much needed light at the end of the tunnel.