One Bar Every Minute.

No, that is not a typo. That is exactly how I've been feeling this week. I've been absolutely atrocious in the healthy eating department. All throughout my pregnancy I have really tried to be as healthy as possible for myself and the baby but this week it all went out the window. I don't really know why though! I'm sure part of it lies in the fact that I feel bigger, less mobile and generally more, well, pregnant. It's easy to justify the chocolate or dessert when you're having a little pity party lying on the sofa with a sore back. I always feel guilty after it though. Maybe not immediately but I can honestly say that for the past week I have probably really enjoyed maybe 20% of the food that I have eaten. It's not an obsessive thing at all, I just feel like I was a bit out of control for the past week or so and the main point to be made here is that it does not make me feel good. It makes me feel sluggish, sick , and my skin and hair definitely suffer. Back on the wagon I go.

My due date is in just EIGHT WEEKS time (My God) and I plan to spend the next eight weeks back on my good old 80/20 rule, basically being healthy and 'good' 80% of the time and actually enjoying treats 20% of the time. It wouldn't bother me if I was a thin girl and didn't feel affected by the foods that I eat but I can't afford to gain lots of weight during pregnancy, or more than is healthy for the pregnancy and baby, and I also feel absolutely crap when I am eating unhealthy food. That is the genuine truth! I want to feel as good as possible right now.


Now, One Born Every Minute is a different kettle of fish altogether, but something that has been on my mind a lot lately nonetheless. I absolutely LOVE this programme. I loved it before I fell pregnant (because that's how it happens, you fall?) and surprisingly enough I love it even more now. At the moment it's on the telly every Monday evening at 9pm on Channel 4. A lot of girls tell me that they can't watch it since they've become pregnant because it terrifies them. I watch it even though it totally terrifies me too. It is such an amazing programme and I love the access all areas approach. Maybe I'm wrong, but it doesn't seem to glamorize pregnancy and only show you the magical parts. They show you the hardship, the pain, the complications and all of the realities that women face during labour and birth. The only negative thing that I will say about the programme is that the types of hospitals that they show gave me a much different impression of labour and birth then what I will actually be facing in a couple of weeks. They show big Maternity hospitals in the UK where more than one person can be your birthing partner and there never seems to be a shortage of pools if you want to have a water birth. 

I am attending The Coombe Maternity Hospital as a public patient and so far I cannot fault it, but from what I have heard the labour ward is nothing like what you would see on OBEM. The impression I have been given is that the labour ward more or less has non sound-proof particians separating each woman as she labours, you can only have one birth partner (my boyfriend, though I would love to have my mam there also as she has done it 5 times herself) and apparently if you want to use the pool in the hospital you have to tell every single person you see and basically scream it from the roof-tops. They also only have one pool for the whole hospital so even at that you would only be allowed to use it if it was free and judging by how busy The Coombe is I wouldn't be feeling too confident about that. Anyway, it's just something I was thinking about last night. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't be expecting it to be like in the Kardashians where they're only short of inviting the postman to watch Kourtney give birth, but it would be nice to have the choice to bring more than one person. After all, support is essential at a time like that. I just thought it was interesting that a programme gave me one vision of labour and the type of room I would be in etc and in reality it is actually quite different. It is amazing how much different maternity units differ from hospital to hospital and more so from country to country. Having said that, I am very happy to be attending The Coombe and have heard lots of positive things from friends who have had their babies there. 



I've just come across this article that shows a video of the pool in The Coombe. Nice isn't it? All in all it suggests that great improvements have taken place and something tells me it is a far cry from the way our mammy's delivered us, and worlds from how our mammy's were born themselves! 

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/the-coombe-opens-stateoftheart-delivery-suite-with-hydrotherapy-pool-29948648.html