Blooming beautiful: Jessica Simpson poses nude for Elle magazine.

We all speculated for months whether she was or wasn’t expecting (even though it was blatantly obvious!) but now we’re all speculating about her due date! Poor Jessica Simpson, she’s had absolutely no rest from the Media. But maybe she likes it that way?! And, goodness knows how she’s been plodding along in the skyscraper heels! I’m waddling at just 5 months pregnant in my Converse Hi-Top’s!

How has she managed to wear these massive heels, so far into her pregnancy? Aside from the fact that they’re uncomfortable and would make your feet swell – surely they’re dangerous, no?

But all of this aside, Jessica has gone and done the usual celebrity thing and had a nude magazine shoot with Elle. She does however, look incredible! A picture of health and happiness. Jessica’s appearance on the cover came as she admitted to the magazine that she and fiancé Eric Johnson are expecting a little girl.

But Fashion Star mentor Jessica admitted she hoped their daughter would take more after her than her sportsman beau. She told the publication: ‘I swear, I will croak if she asks me for a pair of Nikes instead of Christian Louboutins!’

Check out the lovely photoshoot below…

 

 

And here are the copycat covers from over the years… taking inspiration from the original Demi Moore and Vanity Fair cover of 1981.

 

 

MM.

 

Welcome to the world: Blue Ivy Carter.

So today the world woke up to the news that the very lovely Beyonce and husband, Jay-Z had given birth to a healthy baby daughter – of which they had named ‘Ivy Blue Carter’.

Since the initial reports, I’m seeing articles across Twitter saying that their new born is infact named Blue Ivy Carter.

I think I prefer it the other way around. What do you guys think?

Obviously, cannot wait to see the first pictures of what will only be an incredibly beautiful baby!

MM.

Coming clean about your pregnancy at work.

So as I mentioned in my previous post, I felt it was the right time to speak to my boss about my pregnancy. Although I am still within the first trimester I feel I owe it to him and the company to come clean. After the Christmas party and the festive drinks and meals of the week before, I was told by a close friend and colleague that people think I might be pregnant… I hadn’t even told her the news yet either! SO I had to REALLY play it down. I had planned to tell EVERYONE ELSE after the 12 weeks. Just to be safe. But now that people were ‘gossiping’ about my impending situation, I felt I had a responsibility to tell my manager before anyone else catches up with him.

So on the morning after the office Christmas party (Friday 23rd) it just so happened that we were the first to turn up at the office… I had a feeling that most people would be arriving somewhat late to work. So I took this as a prime opportunity to take him aside for a chat.

It also, just so happens, that he had an inkling. So when I asked for a chat he had an instant smile on his face. He knew. He so knew.

So I basically said that DP and I were ‘expecting’. To which he grabbed me and shouted congratulations and I KNEW IT! So yes, he did know. I was somewhat taken aback by his excitement. I knew he’d be happy for us as I’ve worked at the company for many years now and I do know my boss outside of work because of this. So I was pleased it wasn’t a shock for him. Ultimately however, as a department, this is the first baby to arrive. SO! It’s going to be a learning curve for everyone that I work around, including my boss. He suggested that I wait for my chat with HR until after Christmas when everyone is back in the swing of things and it can be dealt with properly.

So yesterday I had my chat with HR and they sent a ‘Risk Assessment’ form to my boss for completion. They have also sent me a Guide to Maternity on behalf of the company which outlines the rules and regulations at company-level but also my entitlements and legal standing from the government too.

So that’s that – I’m officially pregnant at work! But shhh, nobody else knows!

Are there any tips or tricks that you found whilst being pregnant at work that might be beneficial?

MM.

Christmas Party Woes!

It’s that time of year when there are LOTS of invitations to festive drinks and meals. I’ve had TWO important ‘festive drinks’ and a ‘festive meal’ with external companies through work this week… AND I’ve just got back from my office Christmas Party.

I’ve documented my previous struggles with excuses for not drinking in the below blog posts:

TTC: Excuses for not drinking!
TTC: Excuses for not drinking, PART DEUX.

It’s been a struggle again, but because of my recent trips to the hospital I have just been saying that I’m on strict orders not to drink until my “blood test results come back”. I’m pretty certain that people are not convinced – but I have had quite a lot of sympathy! 🙂

So at tonight’s office Christmas party there was the usual free-flowing booze from the onset. I’m usually the one guzzling the freebie’s and dancing the night away… but things are obviously quite different this year! Upon arrival there were ready-made cocktails, with jugs of the same cocktails ready for people who wanted a refill. I obviously couldn’t drink them so politely asked the barmaid for a ‘soft drink’. To my dismay she REFUSED and said that it was the ready made cocktails for the first hour and ‘custom drinks’ could be prepared thereafter. So I said, “I don’t wish to drink a customised drink, I’d just like a lemonade or a tonic water please?”. I actually could not understand!! To my further dismay, she pulled over her manager, who reiterated to me that there were no additional drinks until after 8pm….and that I could have a glass of water if I was “desperate”. Seriously, how rude?!! Nevermind being pregnant – I could be allergic to alcohol, or alcohol may even be against my religion! (Neither of these are true, but they don’t know that!). Has anyone else had trouble with mardy waiting staff?!

Despite being post-8pm I still struggled throughout the evening to obtain non-alcoholic drinks. The music was so loud that most bar staff thought I was asking for Vodka and Lemonade when I was simply asking for ‘JUST LEMONADE PLEASE!’. By 10pm I was absolutely exhausted and frankly, sick of the people behind the bar so left ready for home! Several colleagues did question whether I was pregnant… Most of whom were pretty much beyond drunk and wouldn’t have remembered my answer the next day anyway. But I did shrug all awkward questions off with “Maybe next year”.

Because of the amount of appointments and phone calls I’ve been making during working hours (and the CONSTANT not drinking anxiety!), I feel that the time has come to tell my boss what is really happening. I’m kind of looking forward to finally getting it off my chest – albeit, I know it’s still really early doors. I’d just hate to have people thinking I’m taking advantage…

Wish me luck!

MM.

 

 

Telling your own parents that you’re going to become a parents.

We were quite torn about telling our parents the amazing news… As I’m only 5 weeks pregnant, it’s still really early days. But then again, we really wanted to share the news face-to-face (as we now live 300 miles away! And Facetime just wouldn’t cut this type of news…). Plus, the next time we’re visiting the motherland, I’ll be almost 13 weeks pregnant and could definitely not have held it in for THAT long!

So we decided that we’d tell my parents first, on Saturday 25th November. The first time that the four of us got together. We were sat watching TV in the late afternoon… my DP subtly kicking me to make the announcement. So at 7pm, on the dot, I began with “As we’re all sat down together, we have something exciting to tell you…”. My Dad being my Dad, jumped in and said “You’re pregnant…?”. As I tearfully nodded my Mum jumped up in congratulations. I have to say, I was more worried about announcing it to my parents than my in-laws. I’m the youngest and it’s my parents first grandchild! But it was great. My parents are over the moon – they grabbed a bottle of champagne (and I had a glass of lemonade) in celebration.

Announcement Two came the next morning when we arrived at my in-laws. Again, we all sat down in the lounge when my DP began with “We’ve got something to tell you…” and my Mother in-law (to be) went white and said “You’re having a baby!”. So we didn’t actually get to say those words… both our parents guessed!

We have reiterated that we don’t want the pregnancy news spreading outside the close family circle (Grandparents and Sisters families), until after our 12 week scan. So we’ll tell the rest of our family and friends after the 12 week mark too. Which is already proving very difficult – I can’t wait to tell my close friends! They’ll be ecstatic! After all, this is something we have planned for the past 2 years!

I will also need to figure out at what point I tell work. The timing needs to be just right.

When did you first tell your family and friends? Did you do anything as a means of a surprise for your family, for the announcement?

MM.

Keeping Mum: I salute you, Jessica Simpson.


I just had to write a post on the pregnancy ‘rumours’ circulating the lovely Jessica Simpson. Now, I have done A LOT of pregnancy research in the past 2 years leading up to TTC… I am by no means an expert, but Jeez Louise, Jessica Simpson has definitely got a bun in her oven! A six month bun by all rumour accounts. But why is she keeping mum about it? She looks positively glowing – she looks REALLY well. Part of me thinks, well, it’s nobodies business really… but then again, it’s so obvious she’s pregnant, and quite far along in her pregnancy, so why the ridiculous oversized bags in front of her tummy? Maybe she’s uncomfortable with the way she looks? Maybe the pregnancy wasn’t planned? Maybe (probably) she’s waiting for a highly lucrative magazine deal. Who knows!

I’ve had a great time watching Jessica’s recent ‘maternity’ outfits – don’t think she can hide behind those massive handbags for much longer though! Take a look at her recent outfits below:

 

 

TTC: Excuses for not drinking, PART DEUX.

Just wanted to go back on the original ‘Excuses for not drinking’ post. I took another Mumsnetter’s advice and pursued the Tonic water with ice and lemon route for my several social events this week. It worked a treat! Nobody even battered an eyelid. Perfect!

Here are some of the other suggestions put forward on my post:

ChocoBOO says:

Just don’t say antibiotics. Dead give away!

When I found out I was pregnant I said I’d been having migraines so needed to rule out causes – worked for alcohol and caffeine.

Jenniec79 says:

Be the driver? It’s the other unquestionable excuse for not drinking on a night out!

MrsDobalina says:

At work dos I always walked around with a glass of wine and waved it around, pretended to sip it but never actually drank any. This worked even at dinner – it’s amazing how little people noticed! 

At bars I ordered tonic water and asked for ice and lemon so it looked like a g+t. 

LydiaTheTattooedLady says:

There was one last time I had quite an aggressive dental infection. Dentist told me not to even risk a sip, as it can cause severe vomming.

Nice.

Whereismywine says:

I’ve got a big run/bikram yoga in the morning
I’ve got a nasty bout of cystitis – this shuts people up!
I’m on a detox
I’m driving
Ive got a big drive the next morning
I’ve got an important work meeting the next day 
I have one half pint of something at the start of the night. Often no one asks after I’ve been seen with that. Usually give it to dh. Difficult if rounds are going.
I’ve got a cracking hangover.

I wish you all the best ttc. But if it does take a while, a glass of wine or two a week would be fine, in my humble opinion.

So with what Whereismywine says in her last sentence, what you think of one or two glasses of wine while TTC or PG?

MM.

TTC: Excuses for not drinking!

I stopped drinking several weeks ago in order to be the healthiest I can be; as myself and DP had planned to begin TTC. We’ve now began the exhausting journey of trying to conceive. The giving up drinking thing was fine because we didn’t really have any social events planned and had kind of slowed down on the red wine at home already. When we had been for meals with friends (we have the same circle of friends luckily) recently, we’d been quite open about our plans… but work friends are a little bit different. I have a work friend’s birthday party tonight, another party tomorrow, a meal with work colleagues next week – aswell as a conference with evening ball! There will be lots of wine and champagne flowing, and in attendance will be my boss, with whom I get on with, but obviously wouldn’t want to find out I’m TTC for fear of work complications.

So not only is it a busy week – but a lot of time spent with work colleagues and alcohol. Which would also be fine if I wasn’t renowned for being a little bit of a red wine lover! How have you ladies gotten around the not drinking thing? Any useful hints and tips? Or even excuses? My DP will be attending the party tonight and tomorrow and won’t be drinking either – stressbox!

MM.

Beyonce proudly displays growing bump in new video.

It was the news we’d all been waiting for from celebritydom, Beyonce and Jay-Z expecting their first child together. Beyonce had never been shy of the fact she wanted to start a family with her husband; even pointing out prior to her announcement that she wanted to start a family before she was 30, “I always said I would have a baby at 30. But I also said I was going to retire at 30. So I don’t know.I am not retiring, I tell you”.

Here’s a sneak peak of Beyonce in her brand new, 60s inspired music video for her latest single, which is appropriately titled, ‘Countdown’. You’ll also notice that Beyonce proudly displays her growing baby bump throughout the video (previews this weekend).

 

Una Heely: Pregnant with first child.

The Saturdays camp recently announced the forthcoming first mini-Saturday! The lovely Una Healy and boyfriend, Ben Foden, are expecting their first child next year. Una however, shows no signs of changing her ‘rock inspired’ look – I also think she looks positively glowing.

I look forward to  observing how Una fares in the fashion stakes throughout her pregnancy – good luck to the couple!

I do wonder whether the other Saturdays’ ladies will follow suit?

MM.