Happy Mother’s Day to Me!

I don’t know what the rule is when it comes to being a Mother. Does the baby have to be born yet, or does pregnancy count too? Well I’m 5 1/2 months pregnant and I’m calling it! Happy Mother’s Day to ME!

It won’t be long now until we have our little bundle of fun. We’ve decided to keep the gender a surprise, although I’m convinced it’s a boy, as I tend to be an over thinker. Secretly I think my hubby is hoping it will reign in my spending! Good Luck with that James!

So far my pregnancy has been fine and dandy, sickness has been minimal and I’m still happily painting away in the studio, although I am prone to a stitch if I’ve been sat too long- all that baby smushing my lungs into my ribs perhaps? There’s been a few bumps in the road here and there so I’m been monitored a little more closely with more regular scans. But I’m looking at it as a plus, most ladies only get two scans in pregnancy where as we get to see Smudge every two weeks!

MEET SMUDGE
First of all, I’ll explain the name. At our first scan we discovered our fetus was only 10 weeks not the 12 you usually wait for. That being the case the camera couldn’t really make out much. When we were given the print out James said ‘Look, it’s a smudge!’ and the name stuck. Now Smudge is 27 weeks and the size of a cucumber! We have daily reading sessions as apparently it will help brain development, however I’ve recently had to adapt my reading list as The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury didn’t seem very kiddy friendly. So now we’re onto the `Wizard of Oz.

SMUDGE’S LIKES
Mash Potato
McCoys Crisps
Fruit Corners
Haribo
Grapes

SMUDGE’S DISLIKES
Cranberries
The smell of peanut butter
Decaf Tea (although I think that’s just me!)

We’ve also been listening to some hynpnobirthing audiobooks. It’s not half as weird as it sounds- forget the pocket watches and think body empowerment. I figured it would be useful for Smudge to hear anyway! After all it’s good to have a game plan.

BILLY NO MATES!
One thing I wasn’t planning for was all this Covid-19 mess. I was determined to have an active pregnancy, joining yoga classes, keeping going at the gym and starting swimming again. I also planned to carry on working as normal, going to the studio and attending our usual summer events. However it seems overnight all these plans have changed. Pregnant ladies are considered higher risk and should be social-distancing for 12 weeks, all my activities have been cancelled as have the majority of events. I’ve gone from feeling very in control of everything, with routine and a carefully planned out calendar to being a little bit lost! Should I do that? Can I do this? It’s very irritating.
I thought I was being very savvy waiting for the Easter sales to purchase all my big baby gear. That is until I learned that a lot of the products are made in factories in China, factories that have been closed down due to Coronavirus and there are now huge waiting lists for the most popular brands.

And here I was thinking the only thing I had to worry about was avoiding unpasteurized dairy, and shellfish!

All that set aside though everything is going just swimmingly and its been lovely to receive all your kind words of congratulations. We are very much looking forward to welcoming Smudge in June! I’m sure Enzo knows somethings going on! He can’t quite put his paw on it, but he knows somethings funny about Mumma. She’s looking a little rounder than normal and moving a little slower. But he’s a huge fan of my new crocheting hobby, enjoying the extra naps and this new bump thing provides an excellent vantage point!

SO WHAT HAPPENS COME JUNE?
As a business owner in can be a bit tricky to plan what effect a baby will have on a company. The good news is, the shop will be open! I’ll take a little time off to begin with, but then I intend for it to be business as usual on the whole. Jude will be taking care of dispatch and customer service as always, while I squeeze in as much painting as I can. We’ve also welcomed some new members to the LC in squad in the form of a marketing team, making sure you are up to date with all the latest news! Until we know how much of a wriggler and squawker our baby is, it’s hard to know the effect it will have on painting. It may sleep for hours at a time and I’ll get just as much painting done as I do now, or…..

But for now I’ll just keep growing! Let me know your favourite Baby names! Otherwise it may end up being called Smudge!