Bethan is Mum-to-Be of the Month - congratulations!
11 February 2016
Hi Bethan! First of all, congratulations on being Mum-to-Be of the month!
Tell me, how many weeks are you now and how are you feeling?
I’m 30 weeks pregnant and loving it! It’s strange though seeing your body take a new shape, especially if you’ve always struggled to maintain your figure like I have. Some days I look at myself in the mirror and think ‘Whoa that’s soooooo strange’ but everyone always complements the bump and you get a lot of ‘you’re glowing’, ‘you look great’ etc. so it helps to give you more confidence and feel great about your changing shape. Since the bump has become more prominent I’ve definitely loved it more and more.
What aspects of pregnancy are you enjoying?
You mean besides the guilt free indulgence of eating a bag of mini-eggs a day?!
I’ve loved the scans, seeing the baby being so energetic in there, doing summersaults, showing off – it’s as if it’s saying ‘look at me!’ (I swear mine was doing ’the worm’ at one point!)
I’ve really love feeling the baby move inside me and feeling it getting stronger, even at night when it wakes me up with a jump, I just love it – it’s so reassuring that everything’s ok and makes me feel a renewed excitement each time.
And the not-such-fun bits?
There are loads of strange things that happen to your body during pregnancy that you’d never think would happen, they just wouldn’t be on your radar unless you’ve been pregnant before.
Things like the water retention in your feet and ankles kind of make sense, but I developed carpal tunnel syndrome in my left wrist recently which is an odd one! Apparently it’s very common in the later stages of pregnancy and usually goes not long after the baby is born so I’m not worrying too much about it and I’m wearing a support bandage which is helping dull the sensation.
What’s been your favourite pregnancy gadget?
The apps rather than a gadget as such are a bit addictive – I have 4! Babycentre, NCT, Bounty and Pocket Midwife which is one developed by the Nottinghamshire hospitals midwives. I love reading the weekly updates about me and the baby’s development, all the things that are happening to us both and it usually references the ‘not so fun’ symptoms you might experience at each stage – which is really reassuring! I also love the comparisons of the baby’s size to fruit and veg – currently a cabbage!
You do your pregnancy fitness with me but have you always been active or is this new?
As I said earlier, I have struggled to maintain my figure in the past so as a result I’ve always tried to eat pretty healthily and keep fit.
I love walking in the outdoors and am not often put off by weather – unless it’s snowing or hailing! I live in Kegworth which is really close to East Midlands Airport, which has a nature trail around its perimeter fence – it’s an 8 mile round trip and I used to do it almost every weekend if I could. I’d always try to beat my time which was 2 hours 5 minute at its best – not bad for a walk on different terrain though.
Other than that I was very keen on yoga but I couldn’t find a class near me that fitted in with my work schedule but it doesn’t matter because I found you and I love your classes! (No, Jo didn’t pay me to say that! Lol) - note from Jo "Bethan's very polite ;) "
Are you into healthy eating? What’s your all-time favourite dish?
Apart from the afore-mentioned daily quota of mini-eggs, yes I eat pretty healthily as a rule. I’m a bit obsessed with fruit at the minute so it’s not unusual for me to have a banana, apple, 2 Satsuma’s, grapes and strawberries in a day. My favourite dish right now is Jamie Oliver’s recipe for Spaghetti Bolognese with fresh pasta, my boyfriend is a pro at making it and it’s the only thing I can eat a lot of without feeling sick.
I’ve found with the bump’s recent growth spurt that I very much have to adopt the ‘little and often’ approach to food in general as otherwise I’m starving but feel like I’m full already and as I eat I’m filling up my throat and then can’t breathe! Not a great way to feel so little and often it is!
How do you find combining pregnancy with work and also tell me a bit about your job please?
I’m an account manager for a design and print business based in Nottinghamshire but I work most of the week out of my client’s offices in London. At the moment I’m still travelling there and back but I have reduced my days, so I’m currently doing 2 days / 1 night but it was 3 days / 2 nights before. The role is really varied by virtue of being onsite with clients but I thrive on variety and change so it suits me to the ground and as I’ve been doing it for 2.5 years, several of the clients are actually good friends and they’re a good social bunch so it keeps my evenings away from home busy too!
Are you looking forward to maternity leave?
The above being said, I can’t wait for maternity leave to start. The travelling does make me quite tired by the end of the week and I’ve had to tone down the amount of evening activities I do so I can rest more.
I’ve found telling myself to rest to be one of the hardest things to do, I’m just not used to it! Thankfully my body tells me now too so I can’t really ignore that! So yes, looking forward to hopefully having some time when I’m not working and the baby’s not quite here yet so I can just rest for a while and gather myself – it’s been such a whirlwind so far!
And what about the birth? Thinking about it or a case of bury your
head in the sand?
As the date draws nearer I’m definitely thinking more and more about the birth. I’ve read loads of birthing plans, and what astounded me with these was the level of detail some mums have put into it! I’ve since decided on my own but gone down a more relaxed route with only 5 main points. I kind of feel that if I try to plan for everything I could be easily disappointed if it doesn’t work out – which I don’t want. I’ve also been on a hypnobirthing course and spoken to my midwife about my preferences so now I just have to hope it all goes well and to plan – fingers crossed!
What are you most looking forward to about motherhood?
Having one of my own! I have so many friends with little ones and I adore spending time and playing with them. I’m so excited that soon I’ll have one too!
We all need a bit of “me time” when we’re mums. What will you be squeezing into your “mummy me time”?
I’m a huge fan of massages, so hopefully getting a few of those in because I do love a pamper! My favourite past time was clothes shopping but there’s little point when your body changes so much each week.
So I’ve taken on lots of little fun projects to keep myself occupied but not so much that I can’t rest. I’m mostly looking forward to switching off for a little while and mentally getting prepared for the biggest adventure I’ll ever undertake – I can’t wait!!