I'm back - and it looks like I'm running too!!

I know, I know, I have said this in the past plenty of times... but I actually am back on it!!

I decided not to start back up again until I knew that I was definitely back with Weight Watchers well and truly...  

So to start off, I thought I would just give you all a quick update on my current weight loss journey...

Week 1 - 7.5lbs

Week 2 -2.5lbs

Week 3 +.5lbs

Week 4 -1lb

Week 5 -2lbs

Week 6 -3lbs

Week 7 -2lbs

Week 8-1lb

Week 9 -1lb

Week 10 +1lb

Week 11 +1lb

Well, I apologise now for the last 2 weeks, but theses have been weeks that have been better than they could have been as I seem to have eaten out lots over these last two weeks so hopefully I will be able to get back on fire with it this week....

Life? What's happening with it at the moment? Lots but I wont bore you all for now with it. But Baby O now looks like this.....

  

And here is Mr O and I last week out for a meal.  

                                            

Why did I decide to get back on it and loose my weight again? Simple. That guy there! I just don't want to be a 'fat Mum' at the school gate! I don't want to be an embarrassment to him. I remember once I had a 'tiff' with some kids at school about them calling my Mum fat and from then on I was really embarrassed about her. I never saw her as fat. I saw her as my Mummy! Maybe it was because I was going through the 'trying to be cool' stage at school? Or maybe it was the turn in me suddenly being embarrassed by my Mum as I was 'at that age'?... I mean, my Mum was working her butt off doing different jobs, bringing up 4 children (all with an age gap of 6 years) and trying to keep us all together. 

Ok, so that is one reason. The other reason is thanks to some awful photos that were taken of me.For example this is me in Australia back over the Easter period.

                                    

No selfie angle can hide a photo that someone else takes off the cuff! There is no excuse now. Baby O is nearly 3 and I can't exactly say it's Baby fat or baby fat anymore!

So, after 8 weeks, THIS has been the difference so far.... The photo on the left was back in June and then the one on the right was taken in September.

If you fancy seeing what I'm eating daily you can find me here...

WeightWatchers Connect: emma-joy89

Instagram: Thelifeofmrso

Bare with me as I also update the recipes on here to SPs and keep an eye out for all the new recipes and foody finds out there that I find... I'm aiming to do at least one new blog post each week. :)

 Here's to a new, healthier, slimmer and fitter me and being a health inspiration to my little boy....

Love, Mrs O xxx

Guess Who's back....

Yup, that's correct, it's me! The Life of Mrs O is BACK!

If you follow me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram then you will know that Baby O finally arrived - 6 months ago! 

I literally 'popped'! This is how big I got to...

Look at my massive feet!

I wont bore you all with loads of info or photos but....

He was born on 30th January at 7:13am by an emergency C Section and weighed 6lbs 4oz

It was a week of my nightmares finished off with a real bump into motherhood but it was all worth it. I just remember waking up and asking Mr O about 4 times 'What have we had?' and then when I finally came around (as I was given a general due to implications of my epidural that didn't work) I remember Mr O tried to be funny and told me that we had called Baby O: Rupert Digby Jonty. To which I nearly cried! I said we can't call him that! I want an Albert! He told me that he had told all our friends and family that we had called him that. With that I told him that he had to call them all and tell them that it was a mistake - he then reassured me that he hadn't told everyone that at all! Family knew that we had a baby boy before me! 

Anyway, Baby O and I enjoyed getting used to each other, our middle of the night cuddles and our time at home. However, Baby O was losing weight after re-gaining his post-weight birth loss. I could just tell that something was wrong as he looked so grey compared to other babies. He was alert and all his developmental signs were fine but he just kept on being sick and was therefore looking really ill and loosing weight.

So, at 5 weeks he got re-admitted back into hospital. This to me was worse than being in hospital for a week when having him. I actually cried one day. On the maternity ward I couldn't fault the staff at all. Every member of staff from the cleaners right through to the consultants (minus one) was lovely and supportive. However, on the childrens' ward this was a different case. I had nurses telling me that he was hungry and that he needed this and needed that. I even had one nurse take Baby O off me at one point as she said he was hungry (he had only recently been fed) and fed him! How happy was I though when the paediatrician and the dietician came in and told me that the shortest amount of time that I could feed him was 2 1/2 hrs - that nurse then looked in shame! I will say though that there was however one nurse that was agency and she was like my guardian angel - she was amazing. She's the one I broke down to after having that nurse the day before and a night nurse that wasn't interested in either of us at all. 

Baby O was given a change of milk (now a prescribed high calorie, soft tummy milk) and put on medication - which I took him off a few weeks later as it was making him more sick. And my word! It was like he was a new baby that next morning that he was put on the new milk. He continued to put weight on and grow - very happy Mr & Mrs O!

We now could continue to grow and learn about each other and enjoy our time together. We have already in these short 6 months had such great fun :)

Trips around London...

The Salvation Army's congress...

Holidays

       

   

A Wedding

Fun walks and trips around parks and shops of course!

      

      

    

    

Parties...

Meals out....

We got him dedicated back to God... (Christened) 

    

   

   

Trips to Ikea

And each month he becomes a new 'month age' I have done this....

A quick update about myself...

Firstly, as said above, I had a C Section, but I also had an epidural. I have already decided that if there is a next time, I WILL NOT have another epidural. It didn't work and not only that, it's left me with no feeling down the sides of my legs :(

Secondly I took a detour from the world of Weight Watchers and went on the journey of a Slimming World Member. I lost over a stone doing it but my word it was tough! It's a really easy plan to follow and it's all about eating healthy but I just could not digest the amount of carbs that I was consuming. Being a lady who has PCOS (Polycystic Ovaries Syndrome) one of the side effects is that your body can't break down carbohydrates in the same way as other people can. I think that is also a reason why I just couldn't get any more weight shifted off. 

The food however, was amazing.... Which for some reason I can't get the photos up :(

Then finally, the classes now fall in a time that just doesn't work with Baby O. I will really miss the classes as the friends there that I have made were brilliant and really supportive and the leader, Heidi, was fantastic. She was really supportive and really spurred me on. 

So, whilst on holiday the other week I decided that I wanted to go back to my beloved Weight Watchers and back to the Life Of Mrs O. I decided that I would enjoy my holiday but still eat sensibly as much as I could, but as soon as I got back, that Monday morning I would sign back up for WW. 

Now, I will not say that these 6 months have been easy and a walk in the past. They have been very testing and at times I just have had to cry! Mr O has been my rock and although he didn't take paternity leave, he has been there for me at the end of the phone for me whenever I have needed to talk. I have also made some amazing friends these last months that have added to my friends and family network and they have also helped me realise that I'm not the only one going through it all.

One thing that is for sure is that God has blessed me in many ways but more so than ever with giving me the gift of Baby O. My baby that is a constant smiler and has shown and taught me so many things including how love can be so unconditional.

  

As I have been, should I say, 'busy' these last few months, that's why The Life of Mrs O has had to be put on hold. I did have plans to have this with a week by week account of how motherhood has gone, but I just literally not had any time! Hats off to those who can do that, plus be a mother, run a household, get dinner on the table as well as looking stunning all at once. At first, it was amazing if I managed to walk out the door with both having had a shower and make up on my face!!

Just so you know, The Life of Mrs O will now also have a few additional features - later to be released. But, it will be like old times too - about my journey through life, getting back to being a healthier human, crafts and of course some fab recipes :) 

So, we should now be a little up to date with life and let the fun of 'The Life of Mrs O' resume!

Sorry for the lots of writing - just a few months to catch up on (!), but back to normal on my next post....

So as always, With Love, Mrs O xxx

Who are you?!

I have written and then pressed delete on so many blog posts recently.... So after gaining some confidence again about sitting down and writing about me and where is my life at yesterday, I have promised myself NOT to delete this one!

Life as a blogger means that I am forever taking photos but recently, my camera isn't being used as much and the things that I am taking photos of just doesn't feel like me.

I feel like my identity as Emma-Joy is vanishing....

I feel like I am in that typical cliche scene of 'my head is telling me one thing but my heart (my body in this case) is telling me something else'.

Inside I know I am still the same person, but my body is morphing me - which is it's way of preparing me - to have another job title under my name... Maybe it is because Baby O is coming as a bit of a surprise?

And I think that's why I haven't blogged for such a long time (it feels like)...

However, a few events this last week have made me finally enjoy what I am becoming... A mummy.

Whilst driving home from work one day this week, these funny movements that I have had in my tummy (that I knew were coming from Baby O) for the last month have finally made me realise and made me hit reality that they are coming from a real human being inside of me. My own flesh and blood growing and preparing to step into this world.

One day at work I had a bit of a funny black out / crazy head moment (basically thanks to a lack of eating and exhaustion).. It was like a mini wake up call of 'hey Emma, you need to look after yourself as it's not just you that you are looking after'

Then finally on Friday I went to the baby show at Olympia with both my Mum and my MIL. It was such a lovely day. Not only for the things we got for free, purchased, and some of the products we all laughed at together, but also that every now and then we had some moments down memory lane. There were even some tears shed at different points of the day.

At one of the stands I bumped into one lady who ran a website for Mums - a bit like NetMums maybe? Not checked it out yet as I need to sort out all the leaflets I got - you know what it's like when you go to those kind of shows/exhibitions. But I got chatting with the lady on the stall and she really inspired me to get writing again, she even gave me her business card. Which is one reason why I have decided to not worry about blogging all about Weight Watchers for now and to just continue writing about my day to day life with all it's ups and downs!

****

So I am now 6 months pregnant.... I know! That is scary and whilst walking round the baby show on Friday, lots of people were saying 'wow, not long to go now'.... Which is probably another reason why my head was like, GET TO GRIPS WITH IT WOMAN!!

Just so you know, I will write a write up about the baby show (and not hit delete!) and I will post it up in the next few days.

I think this point now deserves a little 'catch up'....

This time of the year is definitely time to get the hot chocolate out... and it has been made full use of! Man, I love Whittard's White Hot Chocolate!!

I bought a new car........ Well, Mr O bought me a new car! After all the trying out of lots of different cars, trying out the boot size to fit THE pram etc we decided to get another Swift! This one is very swanky though... All mod-cons in it - even air conditioning! Hahahahaa..

 

I had a lovely time in Oakengates with the ISS... One of my fake little sisters and her Mum came along to see me. What a lovely surprise it was to see her <3

Oh, and I got a chance to wear one of my comfiest maternity tops....

 

(At Olympia I got lots of comments about it!)

I came across this really sweet boys outfits, which emphasises that no matter what sex we have they are still going to be dressed in really cute clothes!

A few weeks ago, the best way for me to chill out and let my legs calm down was to have a bath. Baby O must have been lying in a funny position which made my right leg and hip feel really sore

I had my 20 weeks scan.....

This could have been our last chance to see Baby O, but as you can see, it was being just as stubborn as it's father and wouldn't show us it's face or heart....

Oh, and what blog of mine would be complete without some pictures of my food....

Look away now if you hate crawly things.... But look what I found under a cushion at home... Even I was scared of it and I don't normally mind dealing with creepy things!

As part of 'prep to become a Daddy' I think that Mr O has developed a phantom baby! He has cravings, he's tired all the time, he needs me to get things for him oh and he is 'ill' too!! Here he is fast asleep!

Whilst looking at some old photos at home, we pulled one photo out of a frame and then we came along this beauty....

This is my Mum and I (she recons I was about 4 months in this photo). I hope Baby O is as small as I was! Plus it just shows how beautiful my Mum is.

More food.... Yummy 2 ingredient cookies with chocolate chips in them.... (Recipe here)

... So as Baby O was being stubborn, I had to go back at 23 weeks. This to me was a lovely blessing in disguise as it meant that I got to see it again! I got to see the heart and all 4 of it's chambers in such good detail. Unfortunately it was being stubborn again in allowing us to get a nice side profile, but we all think that it is laughing in these pictures ....

  

So that was Baby O on the inside and this is Baby O from my view day to day.....

I now have a new best friend too... 

As you may well know, I am a bit of a bargain hunter! I have so far managed to not buy anything at full price! I have even managed to get lots of things that are second hand and hardly used at really good prices. I have used local Facebook selling groups to find things, just like this gro egg ... It is a baby room thermometer that glows different colours depending on the temperature of the room. 

Mr O has also been doing a spot of cooking too.. As he is a massive meat fan, I think he always tries to find and cook THE biggest bit of meat he can! He also forgets about vegetables so I often have to bump in with some! But this last week he cooked me this beautiful bit of beef ribs. We had enough for dinner then lunch and dinner for the next day too!

Now, excuse how I look in this photo as I have been rough this last week! But it just shows how big Baby O is getting :( When my Mum saw me on Friday one of the first things she said to me was 'you're getting massive' which was then shortly followed by 'you've put all the weight back on your face'.... I was like, great thanks Mum! More about that in my Baby Show post...

And finally... This is one of the products we all had a good giggle about.....

We nearly bought it but they only had purple or blue - which was one of my big bug bares (I don't think that's the correct saying but oh well!) at the Show - all the gender specific stuff!

And finish! I feel like I have got a weight off my shoulders, a burden I have been baring for a while. I am just going to enjoy being me, this new changing woman. I am going to enjoy writing about my new and ever changing life and all that it brings to me. 

So, as always...

Love Mrs O xxx