28 weeks and 32 years

I am actually nearer to 29 weeks now. I had my 28 week midwife appointment last week. It went really well. My urine sample was clear, my blood pressure was normal, my bump is measuring spot on and Jellybean’s heartbeat was great. I love hearing her heartbeat.

Pregnancy wise I am doing well. The midwife was shocked at how active I am but said it goes to show how it is helping. I still cannot eat loads of food and heartburn is more of an issue now. Jellybean is super active and I am feeling her move right up by my ribs a lot now.

Yesterday was my 32nd birthday. I have had a lovely weekend. On Saturday, my friends, Mum and sister threw me a surprise birthday party. I was really not expecting it and was so touched. They had been planning it for ages.

There was a theme to the party to do with the name we have decided on for Jellybean…

Yesterday we went for a curry with my family. It was delicious. Today, Dave and I are round at my best friend’s. Her two little girls have made me birthday cards. Tomorrow, Dave is treating me to a day out. We are making the most of being baby free!

Things can get better

Sometimes I find it hard to believe how much progress I have made over the years since being diagnosed with anxiety and depression. I have two things that have happened over the past few days that I want to talk about.

Dave received a Facebook message from someone I have not been friends with for nearly 3 years a few evenings ago. I have spoken about this person. She was one of my bridesmaids when Dave and I got married. But when I was at my lowest, she made my life even worse. She made me feel guilty, didn't respect my boundaries and only cared about herself.

I made the decision that I did not want or need this person in my life. So I was surprised to find out this person messaged Dave acting as if nothing was wrong, asking how we were and congratulating us as she (somehow) knew I was pregnant.

Dave worried so much how I would react that he got in touch with my sister. She reassured Dave that I am stronger then a lot of people realise.

My first response when Dave told me was to laugh. I can honestly say that I have not once missed the friendship. I questioned the motives behind her getting in touch in the first place. Plus, the message acted if nothing had happened when it was quite the opposite.

Dave and I both agreed to ignore the message and that he would block her on Facebook. I am so happy with the people in my life. My family have always been amazing. I have the nicest and supportive friends. I didn't see the point in trying to be friends with someone who made me more ill and turned out to be an awful friend when I needed them the most.

I know for a fact that this message would have triggered my anxiety and depression when I was still struggling. I would not have been able to stop ruminating about it, quite possibly had a panic attack and it would have made my mood come crashing down. I would have brought it up continuously with Dave. It has been quite the opposite. We have not talked about it since Dave received the message.

Yesterday I went for afternoon tea for a friend's hen do. In the past, I would have automatically said no to something like this. I used to actively avoid situations like this; too many people, being with people I didn't know, a busy place etc. The only person I knew was the bride. But I went and had a good time. I chatted away to people I didn't know and they were all lovely.

To think there was a time that I was suicidal, struggled to leave the house and was constantly anxious and my mood was low is hard to believe right now. I am proud of how far I have come. I want to stress how it has not been easy to get to this point. There have been a lot of tears, pushing myself out of my comfort zone and being honest with myself and others when it is not always easy. I can recognise if I am starting to struggle and do things to help myself feel better.

27 Weeks

I am now 27 weeks pregnant. My pregnancy feels like it is flying by.

Last week, I didn't think Jellybean was moving as much. She just seemed a lot quieter than usual. I decided to phone up the hospital that I am giving birth at. They were amazing and said for me to come in so they could check everything was ok.

I ended up not telling anyone at the time and went the hospital on my own. I messaged Dom's Dad as I was due to pick him up for 10am and he said to collect him whenever I was ready.

Looking back, I have no idea why I didn't tell anyone in my family. I just calmly phoned the hospital, had a quick cry and drove myself to the hospital.

Jellybean was and is absolutely fine. They put a doppler on me and gave me a clicker. I was asked to press it whenever I felt Jellybean move. The midwife went and got me a drink and as soon as she left the room, Jellybean started moving! I was given tips on how to get Jellybean to move in future if I feel like she isn't moving as often.

So I did eventually tell Dave and my family that I had been to the hospital. Not surprisingly, I was told off by them all as they felt I shouldn't have gone on my own.

Since I have been into the hospital, Jellybean has been making up for having a brief quiet spell. She has been moving so much! I love feeling her move. It is one of the most incredible experiences.

I finally got round to doing yoga last night. I absolutely loved it. I have been continuing to do this pilates, zumba and bodycombat. I also continue to walk Walter each day. I really believe staying active will help me during labour and after Jellybean is born.

I have my 28 week midwife appointment next week. They will start measuring my bump. The week after we have our 4D scan. I can't wait to see Jellybean. I am doing a hypnobirthing course through the hospital which starts on Sunday. I have heard good things about it so hoping that will be beneficial when I am in labour.

Besides pregnancy, we really enjoyed having Lola here for two weeks (as did Walter). We managed two dog play sessions and loads of nice walks.

Still spending time with my family and friends regularly too. It is good to spend time with good people. Jellybean will be so lucky to have these fantastic people in her life.

A strange trigger

Since the house move, I had been coping (at least I thought I had) with the upset with handing my notice in. A friend messaged me as she found out about it through another friend. They are both aware of my anxiety and depression. My friends had talked about the issue I had to deal with in regards to work. 

A friend asking if I am ok has made my mood drop significantly lower. How messed up is that?! Mental illness is such a strange thing. 

Deep down, I know I did the right thing. But I guess I am still processing the whole thing. I have been doing an accredited online dog walking course which, so far, I am enjoying. A fresh start is always good. 

I talked with my lovely friend on here Vicky about how I was feeling. She is such a good person and gives great advice and support. Last night I looked after my friend’s two little girls while she was at college. They always make me smile and laugh. So all of this has helped. 

I’m chilling with two good friends later on today. Tomorrow Dave, Walter and I are up to Vicky’s to have a Christmas get together. Spending time with some of my favourite people is always good. Even when I don’t feel at my best. 

Lovely friends, lovely moments

Sorry I have been so quiet on here. But it’s all for good reasons. I have been busy spending time with my favourite people.

I love my group of friends at the gym. They are so amazing, positive and encouraging. They have been there when I have been anxious or my mood has been low. I’ve had motivating messages and offers of phone calls during recent lows. They just totally understand my anxiety and depression. 

So my life recently has been dachshund meet ups, christmas coffees, party planning, cinema trips and it has been lovely. 

Walter and Poppy

Walter looking very handsome in his new red jumper

Salted cappuccino and honeycomb latte

Doggy selfie

Walter and Lola

I can’t take credit for the amazing birthday cake. My mate made this over the past two days. I made the cartoon words, zested some lemons, washed and dried a lot of dishes and kept my mate company. 

So this time in two weeks (hopefully), Dave, Walter and I will be in our very own house. Just need to get a move on with packing!

Honesty and Illness

I decided to let myself calm down before addressing the situation with Samantha. A week after she sent me the baby photo, she messaged me to ask if I was ok and if I had upset her. 

So you know what I did? I told her that I wasn’t ok and she had upset me. Previously, I would have reacted in an angry manner to a situation similar to this. But, I was honest without being hurtful or rude. This resulted in Samantha apologising and making an effort with me. 

I’m proud that I dealt with this situation in such a positive way. I saw Samantha yesterday and actually enjoyed spending time with her. 

Walter has been unwell. At first, Dave and I put it down to the heat that we had. But on the second day of his lethargy, not wanting to do anything but sleep we became more worried. Firstly, all he did was cuddle next to Dom when he came round on Wednesday. There was no excited Walter who couldn’t wait to greet Dom. Then on Thursday we had the same again when I brought Bella home from work with me (Faith has gone away with her family for a week so we are looking after her) Walter was the same; not bothered in the slightest about seeing Bella but with the worst runny poo we had ever seen. When the runny poo had blood in it we knew Walter needed to see a vet. 

At this point it was evening, so our vet was closed. We ended up going to see an emergency vet. It was a good job we went the vets when we did. Walter’s temperature was high and he was dehydrated. As he hadn’t been sick the vet didn’t feel Walter needed to stay in to be put on fluids. This was a huge relief. Walter was given an antibiotic injection and we were told he needed to see a vet again in the morning. 

Luckily, Walter’s temperature was down on Friday morning by the time Dave took him the vets. He is on antibiotics for the next few days and we have been told to give him food such as rice, chicken and scrambled eggs. 

Walter is back to his usual lovely, happy, playful self. He is thoroughly enjoying getting to have rice, chicken and scrambled eggs. So much so, he licks his food bowl clean!

My grandad is really unwell. He has had his first lot of chemotherapy and ended up having bad side effects to it. At the moment he is in hospital. They think he has a bleed in his stomach and he is really dehydrated. He is unable to keep food down so is on anti sickness medication via a drip. It’s hard to be positive about my grandad when he seems to be getting worse 😦

Letting Go

I struggle massively with moving on from bad experiences. It’s like my brain can’t process what has happened. 

I decided to post about this as a ‘friend’ (we will call her Samantha) has upset me this week. In January 2015 I stopped speaking to a friend (we will call her Sandra) due to her unreasonable behaviour. At this time, I was trying to deal with severe anxiety and depression. This friend made me feel bad for being ill and bullied me into coming round to my house. 

On Wednesday Samantha sent me a photo of a baby. No explanation, no message with it at all. After me responding with just a ? she said that this was Sandra’s baby. 

Why would Samantha think I would want to see this photo? I have not spoken to Sandra in 18 months. In all honesty, I felt that it was a really nasty thing to do. Samantha knows that I have been struggling recently with my mental health and that my Grandad has cancer. I really don’t need this kind of nonsense. She only got in touch to send the photo as she didn’t have the decency to say Hi or How are you?

Thinking about it, Samantha brings up Sandra in conversation frequently. During CBT, I actually brought up Samantha. I find her draining and can only spend time with her in small doses. She is in her mid 30s with a young son but is extremely immature. She revels in drama and her ‘best friend’ changes frequently. I feel that she only wants to spend time with me when she wants to offload or if her other friends are busy or doing her head in. 

I am still furious about the whole thing. I came off Facebook to avoid negative situations such as this. 

If anyone has any tips, strategies or advice on me dealing with this please let me know. Depression and anxiety make me over analyse everything. My mood has been noticeably lower for two days now. I don’t want to experience a massive dip again. 

It’s been awhile

I can’t believe I haven’t blogged in so long. For the most part, things are good with me. For the first time in a long time, I actually feel like I am living rather than surviving. 

I have become good friends with a girl from the gym. We meet up before classes a few times a week to do some extra weights, pull ups and a run. I have spent time with her outside the gym. We have walked our dogs together, I’ve met her two little girls and she has cooked tea for Dave and I. We have a laugh togethe, she is easy to talk to and a genuinely nice person. Tomorrow we are meeting up for the day. The plan is to go shopping and for some food. I can remember quite clearly a time when I was unable to go into a shop, let alone into a busy city centre. I have opened up to her about my anxiety and depression. She is completely accepting of it and totally supportive. 

Faith (and I) took part in a big performance with guides. We got up on stage and did a dance with the rest of the guides. She recently made her promise. I was massively proud of her. She is doing a lot more for herself now too. 

Dom continues to have a close bond with Walter. He tells him repeatedly that he loves him and loves to cuddle him. Walter has made some new doggy friends in the form of Lola the king spaniel and Betsy the cockerpoo:

A few weeks ago, I went to my first gig in about 18 months. I went to see Daughtry with a friend. As silly as it may sound, I was really proud of myself. I put off seeing Halestorm last August as I felt that I wouldn’t be able to have a good time. Daughtry were fantastic and I didn’t experience any anxiety what so ever. 

Unfortunately my grandad is really unwell. It is quite possible that he has cancer. He has lost loads of weight and is so frail. He is currently in hospital until at least tomorrow after repeatedly throwing up and experiencing stomach pains. He has had a camera down his throat, a biopsy and a scan. We are now waiting on the results. At times, I have been finding it hard to deal with. I don’t live nearby and I feel guilty because of it. I chose to move away for work and at times like this I wish I hadn’t moved away.

Friends

Does anyone else feel that they don’t really have good friends? I was just looking through my instagram feed and it got me thinking. I couldn’t name a single friend who I could call my ‘best friend’. It has made me feel down. I see loads of people that have a close group of friends or at least a best friend that they can talk to about anything. 

I am even struggling to think of many good friends. It has got me thinking that this is all my own fault. I push people away, I don’t deserve to have friends, my anxiety and depression make me unlikeable. 

Another factor that seems to play a part is that I am teetotal. I made the conscious decision to stop drinking alcohol last April when I was in Australia. I didn’t like what it did to me. It heightened all the negativity in my head and made me feel out of control. 

Call me old, but I never imagined that when I was 30, people would see alcohol as such an important factor when socialising. I have been made to feel boring or not worth inviting out because I am teetotal.

It’s probably just me that feels like this. At least, I hope no one else experiences the isolation and loneliness I regularly feel. I consistently make the effort with people and yet I continue to feel second best with most people. 

I will try and do a proper update soon. It’s been a few weeks since I posted. I’m just feeling quite low at the moment.