We've finally hit the last stretch of pregnancy - I've passed the 28 week milestone which means I'm officially in my third trimester!
I've learned several lessons since becoming pregnant, for example; morning sickness can be debilitating, reflux can be very uncomfortable, and those pelvic cramps and aches throughout pregnancy are no myth. I've also learned that 40 weeks is actually quite a long time to be pregnant - especially if you're an impatient person like me!
To know that this is the final push now {no pun intended} is incredibly reassuring, and I have to say I'm relieved. Something I've found quite difficult to cope with during this time {other than being pregnant in a global pandemic!} is how my experience of being pregnant is so very different to how I imagined it would be.
I have dreamed of having children for a long time, initially feeling broody as a teenager and eagerly looking forward to the day I would carry a baby. {Please tell me I'm not the only person to have stuffed clothes under their top to see what a bump would look like...?!}
I often used to say to Mr MM that I was just as excited about the idea of being pregnant as I was about having children. I couldn't wait to see my body changing, to feel a baby growing inside me, and to spend 9 glorious months bonding with my bump. I wasn't completely stupid; I knew it would be tough and tiring, and especially gruelling towards the end, but I saw these as challenges that I would willingly take on with very little complaint.
My experience of pregnancy has been so far from my expectations! Admittedly, I was simply unlucky to be affected by hyperemesis gravidarum, and suffering with regular sickness up until 20 weeks made everything much harder. But there have been other aspects which have surprised me; I really struggled with body image and confidence issues as I started to gather weight around my middle. As the bump I had so desperately longed for started to appear, I felt ugly, overweight and sometimes even disgusted by my appearance in the mirror. Having imagined cradling my ballooning tummy, I now found myself angrily trying to find clothes in my wardrobe to stretch over what I thought looked like an unflattering beer belly.
And then the penny dropped and everything became easier. My pregnancy has been tough. Yes, all pregnancies are tough, but I have really struggled with mine for lots of different reasons. And that's OK!
Instead of making enemies with my own body and churning out negative thoughts all the time, I started to make a conscious effort to address my way of thinking and my approach:
- My body is growing a human which is pretty incredible, so cut it some slack.
- It's hit lots of bumps along the way and suffered lots of ill effects, so be even kinder to it!
- Acknowledge the difficulties you have faced, accept them - and then try to move on.
- Change the language and words you use about your body - I'm not being lazy, I'm tired because I'm busy nurturing another little life inside. I'm not fat, I'm growing in size which means our child is growing too. My skin is breaking out because my hormonal levels are changing, in readiness for carrying our baby to the finish line and then delivering them into our arms!
When you first opened this post, you might not have expected these sorts of words. And I don't know if that's what I even had in mind when I started writing it. But it's so important to me to be honest about my journey. Being pregnant is hard work without putting ourselves under lots of pressure to 'do it well'. If one other woman reads this and finds that she's not the only one hating on pregnancy - that she's not the only person in the world to have felt like this - then it is entirely worth my honesty. And who knows, I may need to remind myself of these things in a future pregnancy...!
Now for the positive bit. I am so unbelievably excited about having our baby. When I feel those kicks {those very strong and powerful kicks, particularly the ones in the bladder} I rub my bump with happiness and have a little chat with Baby Maggie May, telling them how we can't wait to meet them and have them here with us. I can't wait to see them open their eyes for the first time; to feel them cuddled up against my chest; to see Mr MM with them. The thought of labour terrifies me {anyone who says differently must be lying?!} but I'm weirdly looking forward to it too.
Pregnancy has been the hardest time I've ever had to face, and I know that being first-time parents and caring for a newborn is going to be a whole new mountain to climb. But I have never looked forward to something as much in my entire life. And I know that if I went back in time, and had to experience this whole journey again - including the hyperemesis and being pregnant during a pandemic - I would do it without a second's hesitation.
See you soon Baby Maggie May!
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If you're anything like me, it can be a real struggle to decide what to cook during the week.
The weekends are a bit easier - you can choose to make something from scratch that needs a little more time and attention, and can leave a pot of deliciousness bubbling away on the hob for several hours for the flavours and tastes to develop. But when it's 8.00pm on a Thursday evening, you've spent the whole day working and you're starving, the last thing you want is something that takes an hour to prepare. I can't be the only one who experiences hanger...?
It's easy to get into a lazy routine; Mr MM and I can very quickly persuade the other one that we deserve a takeaway pizza or curry after a long day. But when you're both busy, these choices can become more and more frequent until you realise you haven't cooked something nourishing for a while.
Surprisingly, our eating habits changed for the better at the start of the pandemic. We started keeping ourselves at home just before lockdown officially kicked in due to Baby Maggie May and decided that we would need to start planning our meals more efficiently so we could limit trips to the supermarket. I was also keen to start eating healthier foods since my hyperemesis had improved, and I began fancying dinners that weren't just beige...!
Being our usual geeky selves, we have a spreadsheet that we fill out every fortnight to see what we have in our fridge, freezer and cupboards, so we can be sure to make use of the various ingredients in the kitchen and avoid things going to waste. We also have a meal planner pad on the door of the fridge, where I write down a flexible plan for our suppers for the next couple of weeks. If you'd be interested in a post about how we meal plan and reduce food waste, let me know in the comments! I won't rush to write it as I appreciate that not many people may be as weird and freaky as me...
As a result of the planning, we've resurrected some of our favourite suppers to cook and eat, as well as discovered new dishes both online and in our collection of recipe books. And it's been so great! We're both really enjoying taking it in turns to cook a variety of different things - but do you know what they all have in common? They're simple. They're easy. And they're all utterly delicious.
Some things we've tried haven't quite gone to plan {let's not talk about the veggie 'meatballs' made from aubergine that disintegrated into mush} but I've built up a nice little collection of the things that have worked, and am excited to share some of these with you below. And if you have any great weekday supper recommendations, I'd love to hear them so I can add them to my Pinterest board! You can tweet me or comment below - I'm sure my readers would be interested too.
S I M P L E W E E K D A Y S U P P E R S
Deliciously Ella's baked sweet potatoes from her book Deliciously Ella Every Day*
Quorn Vegan Hot & Spicy Burgers {from the frozen aisle} - in buns with sweet potato fries, or with couscous and salad
Delicious magazine's cheese, tomato and gnocchi bake
Chilli con carne - we make up the recipe each time {!} but BBC Good Food have a classic recipe
Yorkshire Provender Rustic Vegetable Broth with Kale, Lentils & Quinoa {find it in the chilled aisle with the soups - it's lovely!}
Rukmini Iyer's crispy gnocchi with peppers and ricotta from her book The Green Roasting Tin*
Rukmini Iyer's crispy gnocchi with peppers and ricotta from her book The Green Roasting Tin*
Deliciously Ella's classic stir fry from her book Deliciously Ella*
Jamie Oliver's roasted vegetables and halloumi traybake
Jamie Oliver's roasted vegetables and halloumi traybake
Anna Jones' carrot dahl from her book The Modern Cook's Year*
My parsnip and sweet potato soup, pictured above
Pasta with green pesto, frozen peas and broad beans {similar recipe here}
Rukmini Iyer's crispy gnocchi with mushrooms and butternut squash from her book The Green Roasting Tin*
BBC Good Food's butternut squash and sage risotto
Rukmini Iyer's crispy gnocchi with mushrooms and butternut squash from her book The Green Roasting Tin*
BBC Good Food's butternut squash and sage risotto
Phil Vickery's French onion soup
Black bean tacos - lots of great recipes online; this one is a good starting point
The Londoner's Swedish meatballs
Jack Monroe's mixed bean goulash from her book A Girl Called Jack*
Dr Oetker's Ristorante Funghi pizza {because we love pizza as a treat!}
Madeleine Shaw's butter bean and cauliflower soup, from her book A Year of Beautiful Eating* {I can't find the recipe online for that one frustratingly, but let me know if you'd like it and I can post on here!}
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I hope you find something in the collection above that tempts you!
I've only been to Edinburgh once, and ever since our trip a few years ago I have been itching to go back.
I've also been itching to write this blog post, and it's taken me a long time to finally put pen to paper and share some of our favourite discoveries in the city!
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This may be the tastiest soup I’ve ever made.
It’s sweet, spicy and nourishing - perfect for a quick lunch, or alongside a hunk of crusty bread for dinner.
I’ve got back into making soup recently; I think because we’re even more keen than usual to not waste food due to the limited shopping trips, I’ve been digging through the vegetable drawer, determined to find a use for that odd wrinkly carrot or shrivelled potato!
It’s also easy to batch cook soup, and fill up the freezer with a few portions for days when you can’t be bothered to make dinner from scratch. Heating up some homemade soup which you know is packed full of healthy veg is very satisfying, and I’m definitely planning on making lots of portions in the weeks leading up to Baby Maggie May’s arrival...
I'm going to start this post off with a disclaimer: this list is most definitely subject to change as I progress through my pregnancy, and discover more and more things which have come in useful!
It might seem slightly premature to write about pregnancy essentials before I've reached the end of my own, but I've already got a selection of recommendations that were either passed on to me and were invaluable, or that I discovered myself along the way and am keen to share with other mamas-to-be.
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