So I am now almost 23 weeks pregnant. People keep telling me that the time has flown by, it hasn’t! That said, it hasn’t been too bad, I find the days go quickly but the weeks still seem to drag somehow. I always knew July would be one of the most difficult periods. I started off the month at 22 weeks and will hopefully finish it at 26 weeks. Those of you know about babies and viability etc. will know that it is a particularly key time in the baby’s development. 26 weeks is still extremely early but it will mean I have passed the time which I had my son which was just before 25 weeks.

It is strange to think that just over a year ago we found out we were pregnant for the first time and at this stage of my pregnancy with my son I moved from the UK to Dubai. So much has happened and all of that feels like 10 years ago.

It has been a tough week or so mentally but I have managed to make the most of bed rest, I even managed an hour by the pool with my hubby one evening as it was a ‘cool’ 38 degrees.

Feet up whilst hubby goes for a swim!

June went fairly quickly and I celebrated the end of the month with my birthday. My husband thoroughly spoilt me, treating me to an amazing homemade brekkie (my favourite pancakes with crispy bacon and maple syrup), a pregnancy massage, afternoon tea at the Burj Al Arab and he will also be helping me design a bespoke necklace as a present.

My favourite brekkie

I had such a lovely day and other presents included an extremely long book to keep me occupied and some Neal’s Yard Tummy Butter to try to keep stretch marks at bay. Ultimately I couldn’t care less if I got stretch marks, it would mean that I managed to get big and keep this baby in and so that is fine by me. The evening of my birthday was quite amusing…we were both in a sugar coma from afternoon tea and decided to watch a ‘nice’ film. I mistakenly let my husband chose the film and he chose Kajaki. Oh. My. God. I love war films but jesus this film was so graphic and emotional! Brilliant film but not one to watch on your birthday! We both went to bed slightly traumatised!

Afternoon tea at the Burj Al Arab.

I would love to report all the things I have been doing but I am struggling to remember what I have done! There have been days where even though I always get up before 10am, the day just passes me by as if I’m in a daze. Not a bad thing really. I’ve been doing lots of Skyping with friends and family which is great.

I have managed to establish a bit of a routine which involves getting myself up, reading at least 25 pages of my current book club book (Margaret Atwood’s Bodily Harm) and then I have some breakfast and do at least one hour of French.  By this time it is lunchtime, so I have some lunch (I’ve been told I am putting on too much weight! It seems doctors in Dubai are much more obsessed by weight than the UK and I exceeded my 1kg a month allowance…by quite a bit!). I have been doing various things in the afternoon including making some more…..yes you’ve guessed it…pillows! The afternoon tends to go fairly quickly and my hubby is usually home by 6ish at the moment as it is still Ramadan.

More cushions! I’m starting to run out of material now…

I will soon be entering week 23 and though I do very little at the moment and very rarely leave the house, for the next two weeks I will do even less. So I plan to lie in bed watching box sets and doing a bit of hand sewing. I’ll continue my French too though I am making very slow progress!!

Aurevoir x