Let Myself Go? No, No, No.
This week's been pleasant. I've been shopping; we attended a dinner party; and I threw a baby shower for my sister. For this baby shower, I got a couple of ideas from Pinterest, but the problem is, they don't look like they did on Pinterest. Why is that, when I tried to copy them...well, with a few tweaks?!
Pinterest ideas looked like this (copied from Pinterest):
My versions came out like this:
(I think the melon's the problem?! I needed something to stick them in. That, and on reflection I clearly had sprinkle issues.)
(These actually went down really well- but I suppose a bit of pretty ribbon would have maked them look less 'Poundland.')
It's pretty exciting that my sis and I will have babies so close in age! She's finally joining me on maternity leave adventures (yep, venturing from the sofa to the fridge; travelling from home to a coffee shop; that sort of thing!)
Anyway, it was really fun to organise her baby shower and I've become determined not to allow myself to become some sort of gremlined recluse. There is no need. Fun is still at large, folks!
There seems to be some sort of expectation that I would've let myself go post baby.
“You're looking so well considering you've just had a baby,” they say. However, can we take slight issue with the 'considering' part of this sentence? I take the word considering to mean 'thinking about,' so does this sentence therefore imply that they are thinking about an imagined, expected version of me, and that version of me is so awful that the reality is pleasantly surprising?! Because people say it with surprise, don't they?
“Oh I can't believe you're looking this well!”
What do they expect happened after labour- that I didn't wash or dress or recover? That they thought I'd just saunter out of the hospital in a hideous, spotty nightie, still swamped in my own sweat? Was I supposed to have gained 15 stone and let my hair infest itself into a greasy clump?
Granted, I did look totally terrible in the hospital. And to add+ to my description, I did actually become extremely swollen all over whilst my body was left with lots of excess fluid. And my belly did still look half pregnant. Like a deflated ball. Like a deflated ball that has been kicked over the fence by the neighbour's kids, actually. And when I looked in the mirror I kept calling myself Princess Fiona (when she's ogre, of course.)
http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/scale_small/3/39164/1245372-untitled_1.png
But I didn't have to stay like that.
Since baby's arrival, I've actually treated myself to some new clothes courtesy of H&M and invested in my face with the lovely and natural Tropic skincare products. To be honest, I might even dare to say I've improved myself cosmetically- before pregnancy I made do with mostly pound shop and Primark products because I didn't bother indulging in luxuries. Now I feel the need to suck up any luxury I can get at- already having a child has had this effect on me!!
However, it is a struggle at times to keep up appearances. Firstly, baby now really dribbles and has started bringing a bit of milk back up. Problem is, she does this randomly, so unless I coat myself in muslin cloths all day, I cannot save myself from soppy sleeves and shoulders. Secondly, I'm now more distracted than I ever was, which means any time I pick up my own food, it mystically leaks on me or plops on me or bashes into my bottom lip instead of my gob. Finally, I'm having to consider whether my shoes are trip hazards or not. I had a pretty epic fall at 34 weeks pregnant when I was leaving our year 11's prom (good job I was significantly pregnant- can you imagine the rumours of a drunken teacher fail that could've been construed otherwise?!) Since then, I'm forced to risk assess my footwear.
Wedges (low ones) are the answer. Flats would be safer, yes, but flats give me back ache because I have flat feet- the irony.
All in all, I'm trying to style out the dribbly catcher, vegetable patch, not-quite-flat outfit. Not letting myself go, see.
I'll let you know how it holds up...
