Maternity Leave: A reflection on that which has past.

I'm just coming to the end of mine so I thought I'd have a look back at the reality of this period.

1.    Do take the pre-birth time to have a well earned break. You have been growing a baby and that is hard work. Watch some films, read a book, eat cake, go for a pamper (pregnancy friendly, of course) and take it easy.

8 months and time to put the feet up!

2.    People might mention getting as much sleep as possible before the baby arrives however most women find sleep in the third trimester uncomfortable so instead of worrying about lack of sleep, just chill out. Try a You Tube guided meditation to have a power nap. Or have little snoozes when you feel like it.

3.    After the baby is born, please rest. Adrenaline and excitement tend to course through the veins days after the baby is born and you will be on full alert. I found I wanted to get back to life as quickly as possible but I should have been resting and letting my partner do more.

Brand new baby Boo-boo!

4.    You are allowed to say no to visitors. Your guests will all want to turn up when the baby arrives and you might not be in the mood for it, so put them off for another day.

5.    There are lots of free things for babies to do such as the one o'clock clubs, Sure Start centres and library story times. You don't have to feel obliged to go along if you are just enjoying the peace with your baby at home. If you do intend to visit one of these places, I recommend phoning to check whether things are on.

6.    Eat, cake or lunch and sip coffee with friends (other mummies or otherwise). And remember that you need a break - most mother's are spending lots of the night time up with their baby and deserve a treat!

Coffee, cake and baby Boo-boo

7.   It's ok to feel a little stir crazy in this period. Day in, day out, night in, night out of baby, baby, baby can make you feel a little irrational and yearning to have a grown up conversation. If you can find an outlet to keeping you sane, try and make a bit of time for it whether that be writing a blog, a regular evening out with friends or doing some sports.

8.   It is likely that there will be times when you feel hugely resentful of your partner. Sometimes, I think it's the hormones othertimes it's because he thinks I'm playing with the baby and having fun all day. The level of anger is a new emotion to me. I understand these things fade with time.

9.   It goes past very quickly. And it will be hard to step back and reflex on it all. People say that kids grow up so quickly and to remember these times but most parents (particularly the main carer) don't always have the energy to enjoy these moments.

I feel there  is lots more I could say on this subject! But what do others think? What have I missed? Or anything that you disagree with. Post comments below!

What not to do when 40 weeks pregnant!

Let's go back in time to Feb 2012. It was week 38 of my pregnancy and there was not any real sign of the baby arriving. I was just on maternity leave, feet up relaxing and glad to be away from work. An email was sent to residents in our block asking if anyone's flat was available for filming for half a day in the following weeks.

So I sent an email saying that I was happy to let the crew in and out of the building but didn't want to let my flat be used for filming due to the fact I could have my baby at any second.

Another email came around and it seemed my name had been put forward. The location manager came to look at my flat and liked the fact it was on the ground floor. So it looked like it was on. A half day of filming in the flat...

.....except when he talked to me it had now moved to two days which I thought was do able. Not a problem. The rest of the TV people came to peruse the flat and make notes about the shots. Seems like instead of using one room, they were planning to use them all.... hmmmm.

But they had been very clear to me that they would pack up the rooms, set them up for filming, unpack and put everything back into place!

So that was fine. The location manager agreed to put us into a hotel for the night. So all was looking good - a night out from the house and we would make some money.

The Friday before the week of the shot, I got a phone call. They told me their new plan. I would leave the house on Monday, they would empty the furniture on that day, Tuesday, set it up, Wednesday film, Thursday, undress the flat, Friday, I'm back in!!!

 I phoned up the location manager and said, I couldn't do it if it was going to take that long. My baby was due on the Sunday so I didn't want to be out of the house for the week after!

So he suggested we could be back in on the Thursday and we could stay in a local hotel for the rest of the time with money thrown in for food. There was a bit of fussing about it but when I thought about it, I'd have all my hospital stuff packed, my other half with me and I'd be in a nice warm hotel room. If I  did start going into labour. it would take a good day or more so we'd either be in a hospital or a warm hotel room.

So that's what we did. Monday, 40 +1 we left the house for a hotel in Battersea and spent three nights there. We watched crap on the telly and I got to photograph 3 murals for another project I work on.

When we got back , they were just finishing putting my belongings in place. A little bit of adjusting and you would never have guessed that the whole flat contents had disappeared out of the place for the day.

 I gave birth a week later.

The TV programme that was filmed has been aired last week and it's interesting to see the shots they did. This flat makes a great set!

They used my curtains!!

Sometimes strange features in the flat are useful.

The fireplace is a TV star!