More bump photos

So here I am 37 weeks pregnant!

I decided to take some more photos whilst pregnant before the baby arrived as I knew I'd treasure the photos forever and it would be interesting to see the difference from my last baby bump photos. As you can see I have grown quite a bit! Little man must be getting big!

Again I took the photos myself and I am pleased with how they have come out; I have even been asked to participate in a university interview for a student covering young pregnancy! Which I am thrilled about. I can't believe our gorgeous baby is due in just under three weeks time, the excitement I am feeling is indescribable! Definitely counting down the days til we meet our son.

As you can see also I managed to get Ole in on the action, and I'm so glad I did because I think these photos of us are amazing, and they're something I can treasure forever, and even get a couple blown up onto canvas when we finally move out :D


J xxx

Our Trip to Sidmouth

11th-16th August 2013
This was mine and Ole's little getaway before our son was due to enter the world.

Originally, we were meant to have a weekend away at a spa hotel which Ole had surprised me with, but when he went to book the treatments, the hotel said there were no more spaces - so we cancelled. Although it was a shame, I was soon to be going away with my family to Turkey for 10 days, and Ole was soon to be going away with his friends to Magaluf for 7 days. We knew that we both really wanted to get away together, just us before the baby arrived so we kept our options open. I even suggested camping to Ole's dismay haha. After searching through lots of options, Ole's mum recommended Sidmouth.

One of their family friends owns a house there right on the seafront, and Ole and his family had been and stayed numerous amounts of times during the summer so Ole knew the location fairly well. This seemed like a brilliant idea - and Debs didn't want any money either so this was even more appealing! We decided to drive down on the Sunday evening after Ole and I finished work at Vauxhall. The drive only took 3 hours without stopping but it was a gorgeous drive, especially with the summer sun setting around us. We drove past Stone Henge and a vast amount of gorgeous fields and farms, singing along to songs the whole way.

When we arrived it was dark but you could still see the waves lapping on the shore in the moonlight and I remember thinking that nature is beautiful. We unloaded all of our things after having a look in every single room of the house (it's 3 floors) - as you do! I think it must've been about 21:30 and we were peckish so we decided to go for a walk into the town which was only about 10 minutes away. After meandering through the cobbled streets, past the cute little shops we found a Tesco Express! Which was good because it was the only place open! We bought shepherds pie and some basics and decided we'd come back tomorrow for more supplies. After getting in and eating dinner at about 22:30, we snuggled up and watched a film.

For the whole duration we'd wake early - around 9ish, have some breakfast and watch some tv. Then fall asleep again til about 2pm, have some lunch and then go for a wander around Sidmouth. Although the beach was pebbled, it was gorgeous and so relaxing watching the children play in the sea, build sandcastle and watching people in boats. Of course we bought some seaside chips and donuts to share and we sat on deck chairs sharing them in the gorgeous sun.

It was the best week ever with Ole, totally relaxing enjoying each others company, doing what we wanted, when we wanted. We also both love to cook so making dinner every night was something we could share and have fun doing together. We even got some fudge and rock to take back with us - I grew quite a sweet tooth in my final few weeks of pregnancy. Walking around everywhere whilst 35 weeks pregnant had its advantages and disadvantages. Obviously the disadvantages were that by this point my bump was getting really heavy and this was putting a strain on my lower back and nerves. Plus I was waddling like you wouldn't believe - funny image to think about I know haha! The advantages though were that it made me feel good to be walking everywhere and at my own pace, knowing that with every step the baby was getting lower and lower into my pelvis!

It was sad to be leaving Sidmouth and back to reality but we were also excited as it was one week closer to meeting our baby boy!
Saying that, the journey home was horrendous. We left Sidmouth at about midday, and it took over 6 hours to get home (without stopping) due to a crash on the motorway, and as a result the motorway had to be shut, so we were crawling the whole way home!!

J xxx

Baby Bump Photos

At this stage in my pregnancy, I was roughly 24 weeks pregnant. According to my very informative app 'BabyCentre', our little sprog was about 30cm at this point - the same length as a corn on the cob! What's also interesting is that at this point, my uterus was the size of a football! I think it's truly amazing to look back and see how much my bump has grown, and how quickly too. It's funny looking back and thinking "wow, I'm huge" - and then seeing how big I am now. Compared to how big my bump is now, this is a tiny bump!

I'm so happy with how these photos came out, especially as I captured and edited them myself. (Using my Canon 500D). I knew early on in my pregnancy I wanted to have some photos taken of my bump as I'm sure I won't be looking like this for a long while! Unfortunately Ole wasn't around for these photos but we've agreed we'll take some more nearer the end of my pregnancy so we can compare the differences!

I set up my tripod, pulled down my white blackout blind - which also works brilliantly as a photography screen, and after a while of trial and error, finally found the perfect position for my camera and the best position for me to stand/sit. At first I didn't really have an idea of what sort of poses to recreate, but the more photos I took, the more comfortable I became.

After taking these shots it made me realise that I could take photographs for other women in the future, as well as photos of newborns, babies and children. I got a really good response from the people I shared my photos with, and this has given me the confidence to make specialising in this sort of photography a possibility. It would also work around having a newborn myself, and it's fun, rewarding and wouldn't ever seem like a chore.

In other news, I am due to go abroad to Turkey in 4 weeks time so I am very excited about that! I'm going with my mum, her boyfriend and my three brothers. It's great timing as Ole will be going away to Magaluf with his friends at the same time. I can't wait to properly relax in the sunshine for 10 days, whilst getting a tan! I shall write a new post all about it once I'm home!

J xxx