Parenthood

Showtime?

showtime-a1‘More pineapple?” offers the husband as he hands me another cup of Raspberry Leaf tea. Breakfast in bed, always a treat. Except now I’m entering day four passed my due date and getting a little impatient for Baby Parsons to arrive. While last night’s spicy curry is still giving me heartburn, the little one seems pretty happy to stay curled up in his/her cosy nest. Perhaps all the yoga has chilled it out so much, they are no hurry to make an appearance! 

Now, while I know the old due date should really be abolished in favour of the ‘arrival window,’ it is hard not to feel a little anxious once the day comes and goes. As irrational as I know it is, the mind still quietly probes: “Maybe they’ll never come out! Cheryl Parsons – the longest pregnancy in history.” Continue Reading

Parenthood

Guest post – Preparing for Baby…

preparingForBaby-a1This week, I am happy to share some great advice that was sent to me from fellow blogger, Katie Moore, on preparing for childbirth and your baby. Katie is an active blogger who discusses everything from maternity and motherhood to prenatal health and childbirth. Follow her blog Moore From Katie or connect on twitter @moorekm26.

Bringing a new life into the world is an experience that only a mother can have. Preparing mentally and physically for both giving birth and becoming a parent is a life changing experience. It’s imperative for pregnant women to take the utmost care of themselves while expecting and ensure they are receiving the proper health care at all times. In addition, there are plenty of things moms-to-be can do before the big day arrives to help remove some of the pre-birth anxiety and assure the day of labor goes as smoothly as possible – keeping in mind being prepared for the unexpected is a key element in being ready for labor. Continue Reading

Yoga

Big Belly Salute!

Countdown…39 weeks, 5 days. Only 2 days until my due date! If you’ve been reading my blog, you’ll know I’ve been keeping up my yoga practice, adapting it of course for my growing belly! 

Before mini Parsons comes into the world, I wanted to share with you a pre-natal sun salutation that I have been using throughout my pregnancy. A big thank you to Jennifer Wolfe and her pre-natal teacher training for her inspiration and guidance. Continue Reading

Parenthood

In the waiting line

intheWaitingLine-a1“You’re a yoga instructor? Oh, it’ll be like shelling peas, I tell you. It’ll just pop straight out, no bother,” commented one enthusiastic lady at the yoga studio. “All that deep breathing and open hips stuff…sure you can just meditate right through it. You’ll be grand!” 

Just under two weeks away from my due date, I definitely have this sense that I’m in the waiting line, ready to meet my baby when he/she decides to make an appearance. But I admit I am not always feeling quite so confident. If anything, sometimes I feel just a bit of pressure to have this wonderful birthing experience, just as nature intended. After all, I’ve put in the time on my yoga mat, I’ve read the books (Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth is a must for all pregnant ladies), and watched the DVDs (Orgasmic Birth anyone?). But in reality, there are days when I have serious doubts about how I’m going to get this baby out! And if you’ve seen the size of my belly lately, I think I may be in for a big one. Continue Reading

Parenthood

Big Mamma!

“I don’t think you should be swimming so ‘professionally’ ma’am,” comments the man in the pool as I rest after my 30 steady laps of front crawl. “Especially when I think you must have only a week to go.”
“Actually I’ve four weeks left and for me, swimming feels good. I wouldn’t do it if it didn’t,” I reply as politely as I can to his ‘well meaning’ advice. “I mean, you need to be careful…it’s twins, right? …what?…just the one? But ma’am, your belly is sticking so far out!”

Feeling a surge of pregnancy hormones threatening to bring on the water works, I signal to the husband it’s time to go. You see, that day hadn’t been the best day. I’d been at an antenatal class and eaten something that didn’t agree with me for breakfast. The result being my stomach (located somewhere in my left upper ribcage) bloated out so much the whole day, that I felt like baby was boxing for space in the other three quarters of my belly. The words ‘beached’ and ‘whale’ could easily be inserted here and it didn’t help that someone else had seemed to notice! Continue Reading

Parenthood

Tick tock!

“I do love you very much…but after all I am a man…and I cannot be expected to get excited about handmade baby blankets and the best strollers on the market,” the hubby tells me ever so politely. Bless him. He’s done well to ‘listen’ to me over the last few weeks of our holiday; from the passages I’ve read aloud to him from my ‘Guide to Childbirth’ to the debates I’ve had over whether to bugaboo bee or not to bugaboo bee. (That’s a brand of pushchair just in case you are lost already). 

Last week marked a milestone for me…on the same day I turned 32, I began the first day of my 32nd week of pregnancy. Now pushing seven weeks until my due date, when I think back to the day that we discovered the ‘x’ on the stick, it seems like an age ago. But when I sit here today with my iphone app telling me I have a 4.5 pounder, 19 inch honeydew melon in my belly, it suddenly feels very close…and a little scary. Continue Reading

Yoga

A new chapter

If I ever wanted confirmation of what prana feels like, (that’s yoga speak for energy or life force) then I got that today. As I sat on my mat in front of 20 bodies resting in savasana for what will be the last time for many months, I can truly say I felt that buzz of amazing energy that is present within all of us. Ok, so you will have to forgive me for coming over all yogically sentimental today, but it is for good reason, so bear with me! This morning, I taught my last yoga class before I take some time off to prepare for the next chapter in my life…having my first baby. 

Tomorrow morning I head on holidays – one week at home, then two weeks in Cyprus…read: Baby Moon! After checking the hotel in advance for a large bed, extra pillows and provisions for small beached whales, we are good to go. Our last holiday as two, and before life changes immeasurably, but for the better. Continue Reading

Creativity

Saving face with Snowberry

Throughout my ‘youth’ (ok, so I’m only 31), I’ve been blessed with a peaches and cream complexion. I was one of those annoying people who could pretty much wash my face with soap and water and still stay spotless. Besides the addition of a few wrinkles, I sailed into my twenties with next to no skin problems, right up until I started growing a mini Parsons in my belly. Enter the first trimester…and cue dry skin patches, red lumps, a somewhat ghostly palour (from all my morning sickness) and a handful more wrinkles to boot.

Then one day one of my yoga students came to my rescue and handed me a little parcel, complete with a selection of samples from a funky new skincare brand called Snowberry. I wanted to break a little tradition in my blogs this week, and share with you a bit about this cute range, as I think it’s about as yogic as a skincare brand can get. It has also really helped me get my skin back on track, and into that ‘blooming’ stage of the second trimester. Continue Reading