It's three weeks since my due date and that gorgeous last date with Mike. I literally can't believe how upside down our world has been turned by this little fella and not just practical things, like making sure I eat or being able to go to the toilet in piece and quiet, but emotional things too. I spent at least the first week feeling completely overwhelmed by how gorgeous he was. I'd look at him and start crying just because I thought he was beautiful, or I'd be singing him a song and cry during the nice bits!

Other than being totally knackered and crying at the slightest thing, I'm generally amazed at how little time I have. When he's asleep the first thing I do is sleep too. If I'm not bothered about sleeping (which is hardly ever), I'm cleaning the breast pump, bottles and nipple shields (I'll fill you in

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Well, 35 weeks pregnant came and went in a bit of a blur. With 5 weeks to go, it was suddenly very real. I've been dreaming about going into labour and worrying about the baby continuously - it's moving too much, not moving enough, why's it hiccuping ALL the time, etc!

Mike was still away and I was feeling a bit miserable, particularly after a visit to my Grandparents. My Grandad turned 80 last weekend. He's an amazing man, still working full time running his own business, very fit and healthy. What he hasn't picked up with age, however, is any tact, and while we were watching the Wimbledon final last Sunday and just after I'd enjoyed a chocolate, he decided it was important to tell me, in a very matter-of-fact way, that I'd put on more than baby weight. Particularly in my face and legs. Although I knew this was

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I'm aware it's a bit of a cop out of a blog post today but I wanted to tell you about 2 things and since I have a report due on Thursday and I'm travelling all day today to get home, I'm taking this opportunity to just write a quickie!

Well, firstly, I'm very excited that my gorgeous husband, Mike, and his work mate 'Giff' have been kindly working on my new blog design and I love it! For a sneak preview you can see it in more detail here (but only for today!), but if you don't see it today, here it is a bit smaller...

I've had the loveliest time this weekend with my best friend, Alex, down in Olney (despite being VERY disappointed to not meet Alice from morethantoast!). The sun has shone, we've eaten more cherries than you can shake a stick at and had the most dismal

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I turned 33 weeks pregnant on Thursday and I'm feeling better than I have done at earlier points in my pregnancy. Despite this I didn't get much chance to workout with various other things getting in the way. So on Saturday I was well up for a good gym session. Here's what I did:

20 mins on the bike (I did about 140 cals)

> 10 x squat to shoulder press (with 5kg weights)

> 20 x slow sumo squats

I had a conversation with Mike yesterday which went something along the lines of:

me: 'thankfully I only put on 4lbs on holiday and since I have to put on weight anyway, that's fine'

Mike: 'You don't have to put on weight it's just that women tend to as a result of being pregnant'

Let me clear this up for you ladies...yes we do have to put on weight because our babies need us to... If you don't put on enough weight, it can have an adverse effect on you and shorty! Follow the top 2 links in resources below for a good explanation as to why you should put on weight (oh and while you're at it, why it's bad to put on too much - it's a bleeding minefield!!)

Courtesy of precisionnutrition.com and babycenter, these are the weight gain guidelines to follow:

If you were underweight before conception, you should aim to put on

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We're back! I had such a lovely time relaxing and reading in the sun - it's amazing how you can fill your time doing relatively little (except eat, relax and get into strange positions in order to get an even tan). I'm sure I've put on quite a bit of weight and baby seems to have popped as I am definitely looking pregnant now. I'm wearing mama jeans (topshop's Baxter jeans bought for £10 in the sale), that didn't fit 10 days ago, as we speak.

 Just quickly, here are the things I forgot and recommend you don't:

Bring your pregnancy tablets, I forgot mine and I've had to make do with one from the airport that I'm not keen on.

If you suffer from heat rash bring something for it

Bring something for heartburn - with all this luscious food and drink, Mike started to suffer. I didn't have any trouble but it's

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For the last week or so I've really started to show so some things have stopped fitting (remember these trousers I bought 2 weeks ago...yeah, they don't fit anymore!) but my maternity clothes are still too big so I'm in no-mans-land!

Here's a round up of my last week's 'make-do maternity clothes', taken in various lifts because I forget to take a photo at home in the morning and I look like I've been dragged through a hedge backwards by the time I get home. It's rather dress heavy, so I'm going to look for some skinny jeans on return from holiday (I've spotted a few good 'uns on ASOS for when I get my first pay cheque!).

I've been particularly lame this week! I have been researching different ideas for blogs during my lunch breaks but by the time I get home at night after work I can't be arsed...terrible, but I guess I'm still trying to get my head around not being a lady of leisure! I'm not sure I like it but my new job is good.

The good news is that we've had a bit of time to ourselves this weekend. Today, I was the last one up at 7:30am (bearing in mind we also have a teenager in the house at the moment!), so it's been very productive. By 10am Mike had finally finished off the painting in the bathroom (hooray for a complete bathroom, it's only taken 8 months!), I'd hoovered our room and the dreaded stairs, Gabby and Ashleigh had tidied and hoovered their rooms, I'd put a huge wash on and

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I’ll be honest, at this stage strengthening my back (in particular the lower back) is mainly for vanity purposes – I’m going on holiday in 29 days and I want to wear a bikini!

Yesterday was my first day of my new job but unfortunately they didn't have the paperwork for me so I couldnt really get started. As a result, I did a spot of shopping in the afternoon to see if I could find a nice bikini. I couldn't and what was worse was the full and hideous view of my behind and love handles. Why anyone thought it would be good to put reverse mirrors in a changing room, I'll never know. I near enough lost the will to live.

Instead, and thank god I had some time on my hands, I did some research and got myself straight to the gym to focus on my lower back, obliques

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Here's your all request Friday, Polly - albeit - on Monday. Sorry love, apparently headaches are common in pregnancy and you are meant to keep track of what you've eaten so you can avoid it in the future. My head Achilles, if you will, seems to be bra shopping - every time I go I have a shitty time and come back with a headache and no nice bra. And, it's still lingering now. BUT excuses aside, because it's green, it invariably looks like pond water and it's really good for you... let's talk juice!

My pal, Polly, asked me last week about the Juice Master (you know the guy who laughs at pineapples?) and to recommend the best book, so I thought I'd do a book review (in order of preference) of the ones I have so you can make your own choice, love! As some of you many know,

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