Here we have it sports fans..

After a grueling 4 hours at the hairdressers I am blonde. They put a silver toner on my hair for literally 2 minutes, and it must have been enough to pull the yellow out!
So after 3 washes, deep conditioning, 3 blow dries and a cut and style we have a decent look! 

The journey to pinksville continues

This morning I made the call, the call to the hairdressers! I've officially given in, and accept that if I want my hair to stay in any kind of condition, it needs to be looked after by a professional! 

I'm half way to blonde, which shouldn't be hard to fix. I just need a sure fire way to get it blonde so it can reach it's goal of baby pink at long last! The condition is slipping, which is scary as I do love my hair. I've already had to chop 5 inches off it so i'm not impressed. 

Tomorrow at 9am my hair will continue it's quest! 

In other news, I'm getting my gouache collection out tonight. 

Product.. lots of product

So I didn't go back to black. But I couldn't put up with the orange.. So I went to Sally's Beauty and was given lots of good advice and at least one good product! 

I was given a silver toner, which was a waste of £10 as it did nothing but tinge my roots silver.. not good. The second product was a ash blonde colour with developing creme, which (left on for an hour) has given pretty good results! I then conditioned the hell out of my hair and wrapped it in cling film for a couple of hours to soak in. Finally the finish line is in sight! Perhaps now I can take my Christmas photo with Ben and Dylan!  

Hello there blonde hair! 

Click on this photo to see the whole gallery!

I just couldn't leave it alone...

So my sister gave me some peroxide powder and cream. Somehow I believed it would turn my hair blonde, but how wrong I was. I mixed up 3 batches of the bleach and peroxide and lathered it on my hair. It began lightening instantly so I thought perhaps in a hour or so it'll lighten to blonde. Hell no.

An hour and a half later, a dissolving pickled head, and a bright orange barnet. Don't get me wrong I love ginger hair, but this is orange. Orange as a carrot. Carrot as an orange. 

So where from here? Well we'll see. All I know is, my hair cannot possibly stay this colour, and especially not for Dylan's first Christmas. Not only will photo opportunities be in abundance but he'll probably not recognize me. Watch this space, and if no news appears, I've gone back to black. 

Simply Red

Since my last application of 'Colour B4' my hair has been through trauma, on a big scale. Not only did I apply 'B4 U colour' but a second dose of  'Colour B4', then I decided (through some inspirational moment) to dye my hair peroxide blonde, with two bottles. You see, I'm a smart cookie and in haste to get results, accidentally left out the (very important) powder for the bottle. I had already applied all of the dye but I decided to cut my losses and mix it with a little water to form a paste. I then applied, and oh boy did it burn.

After blow drying I found that I was left with BRIGHT peroxide blonde (1 inch long) roots. Bright ginger hair for about 5 inches, and dark brown to the tips. Shocking..I wish I'd taken photos of the monstrosity.

After some thought I decided the best way to go would be to chop at my hair with scissors (hoping it'd make everything better). I then had a block fringe, and awful hair, resembling a squirrel that had gotten into the Tony and Guy factory. I finally bought some bright red hair dye and thought 'what could be worse than this'.

Once I'd finished the dying process I was impressed, It turned out to be a dark brown/red combo all mixed up. It blow dried to look even better.

Next time I'll be far more protective of my precious!

The hair continues

Today I applied my second dose of 'colour b4' and syrum 'b4u colour' which removes silicone and pollution from the hair. It's far lighter than yesterday and looks fairly nice, although not my natural colour!

It also seems to be in good condition still which is a bonus! It is slightly more 'ginger' than the photo likes to admit. Looking more of a mahogany deep brown.. which is a big old lie.

I am currently sat (with a burning head) dying my hair blonde, which I fully expect to turn sos sign orange. If it turns blonde straight away It'll be some kind of miracle.

In haste I forgot to add a powder to the dye, so I hope that adding it afterwards with a small amount of water won't have too dire consequences.

Good luck hair.. I hope we can make it out of this without too much trauma!

The hair blogs

 I shall begin at the beginning! My hair has been truly abused over the past 6 years. It's been dyed, stripped, bleached, straightened, crimped and curled. I have changed colour more times than I could mention. The most recent of which was in 2008-2009 when I was blonde. It was a pain to get there from jet black, taking 4 professional dying sessions.

So! Here I am back to black and desperately wanting change. I'd like my hair baby pink!

I discovered 'colour b4' while claims it shrinks the dye molecules in the hair so you can wash them out reveling your natural hair colour. I read mixed reviews but decided to cut my losses and give it a go. I emailed the director asking what his suggestions would be, he emailed back quickly with a lot of great information, and even better he sent me two boxes of 'colour b4 extra'! They retail at £11.99 each so I was very grateful. 

After leaving the product on for the allocated 60 minutes I rinsed for 10 minutes, lathered rinsed and repeated. I was left with a brown chestnut colour which is rather nice! I was hoping for a lighter colour but I am being advised by email on what to do to achieve what I want.

I was rather pleased with the lightening and emailed photos as promised to show how well the product worked and asked how I could achieve the blonde that I was after. He subsequently told me that the lighter colour looked great on me and that he'd send another box free of charge to try to lighten my hair some more, and also another product which will remove the silicone and pollution from years of dye. 

I am currently awaiting the arrival of the next lot of product which I will gladly smother on my hair and see what happens next! 

Watch this space.. things could get hairy! 

He arrived

Dylan Alexander Thomas was born on Thursday 13th October 2011 at 12.06am weighing 8lbs 13oz. Contractions began night of Tuesday the 11th. I honestly thought what I was feeling was a trapped nerve in my leg, but it turned out to be the real deal. I went into hospital where I was examined and told I was 4cm dilated and not dilating fast enough to keep me in. I arrived back home at 4am on Wednesday morning and growled through my contractions until I needed some pain relief. I sat in my beloved glider chair for hours timing contractions, and then decided to make the move to the hospital at 6pm as I couldn't get through them without screaming.  When I arrived at  LCH I was greeted with a welcome dose of gas and air.  I was 6cm dilated and very relaxed!

The night passed quickly and at 9pm I was given an epidural which worked fairly well up until the last hour of labour, at that point Dylan's head was pressing so hard to get out I was in agony again. After a lot of screaming I told the midwife I needed to push. She examined me and I was indeed 10cm and ready to give this a go! All it took was 10 minutes of insanely difficult pushing and Dylan was born.

He was the most wonderful little thing I had ever seen, like a wrinkled pink peach. I stared at him in awe for several minutes before realizing I was still in pain from labour. 

 

                                                                            5 Mins old

My boys

Today my little Dill pickle is 7 weeks old. That's 49 days.. I am still in shock. He get's more beautiful by the day, and recently learnt to smile at Ben and I. All in all, I'd go through hell and back for him, he's my entire world and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life adoring him.

32 weeks 5 days and a surprise!

So apart from looking and feeling well and truly like a planet, waddling and feeling minor pain in my hips and pelvis I'm actually alright! If the pain went, I'd hardly feel pregnant. Most women (and websites) say that 'after the second trimester it's downhill' but I disagree. I'm deep into the third trimester and feel fairly good!

Also - Big surprise! We have a house! We should be moving in within the next 10 days, and signing documents tomorrow evening. Very exciting!

28 weeks 5 days

So between the last 3 or so weeks I was diagnosed with SPD (Symphisis Pubis Dysfunction). This is where the two halves of your pelvis are connected at the front by a stiff joint called symphysis pubis (funnily enough). This joint is strengthened by a dense network of tough flexible tissues called ligaments! To help baby get out while giving birth a hormone called 'relaxin' is released which softens the ligaments. As a result the joints move around more, and cause lots and lots of pain! 


This all led to two trips to the doctors, lots of midnight phone calls to the emergency doctor, then finally going into hospital for 4 days! Which wasn't nice, lots of injections, painkillers and being tugged about by the physiotherapist! 


Anyway, about a day after the physiotherapist had her way with me I felt almost 100% better. I could do everything again without hurting! So i'm eternally grateful as I was told that SPD stays until after the baby is born. So i'm very happy about that, and back on track!


Anyway, back to how the pregnancy is getting on! Backache is getting considerably more painful, but it's nothing compared to the SPD! Then there's the not being comfortable anywhere, and taking 3 hours to get to sleep! But it'll all be worth it!


I spend most of my time pottering around the house these days as my hormones have gone a bit nuts and I will probably kill someone! 


11 weeks 2 days to go folks! Watch this space!

This is a couple of days ago, but the most recent picture of le bump. 

25 weeks 2 days

Well I've made it to 25 weeks, and time certainly has flown by, and hopefully the next 15 weeks will go by just as fast! My wardrobe is now a sporting maternity wear in all shapes and sizes, and my skinny jeans have gone on holiday (To the back of the wardrobe) as they are now far too uncomfortable.

I have an awful pain in my tail bone/ coccyx today, and have done on and off for a while. It sucks. Bending over, picking things up and sitting down are mountains to climb, ugh. It's worth it, besides Ben (the fiancé) seems to enjoying hoisting me up off the sofa when needs be.

Anyway, bump picture.

No complaints at the moment other than general aches and pains, and that damn coccyx thing.
I shall write again at 30 weeks, until then! Au reviour!

ITS A BOY! - 23 weeks

I'm leaning over the laptop like a vulture with really really bad lower back pain. But that's literally all I have to worry about for now! Although getting stitches when walking fast are happening more readily.

It's only three weeks since the last post but it feels like forever. It was kinda devastating that we didn't find out the gender at the last scan. As it was the last NHS scan us pregnant folk get :( But we got to go private instead (money grabbing...grr..) and we found out. There is a gentleman inside my womb. A GENTLEMAN! 

So it's a boy, and as soon as I got home, I sifted through a basket of clothes and put all the pretty pink things, dresses, shirts, skirts, etc into a bag and have put them in the cupboard. Although I can't dress him up as a doll, i'm sure I'll find other ways of being an embarrassment..

23 weeks and about 12 inches big, and about a pound in weight. The baby will double his weight in four weeks!

And there he is, all cute and all.. and 'NOT FOR DIAGNOSIS' 'well nurse your diagnosis, I do believe the girl is ...pregnant' silly goose.

For the past couple of weeks i've not felt very pregnant at all, no complaints. I should get out more and do yoga and swimming etc.. but pfft.. I'd rather watch horror movies and nibble on huge cheddars.

We've gotten all the real essentials figured out as far as baby 'stuff' goes.
Moses basket - check
3 in 1 pushchair, stroller, car seat - check
extra moses basket (dont ask) - check
Tons of baby-grows - check
Tons of other baby clothes - check
Baby monitor - check
Cot and changer - check
and lots of other goodies.

Perhaps I should wrap this post up? It's getting lengthy now! All I can say is, I'm excited, Ben is excited (and currently building a boat out of cardboard on the floor) and we can't wait to say hello to our little fella. 

20 week half way update!

IT BEGINS! The sickness and nausea has stopped! Now begins the backache, abdomen ache, and every other ache imaginable. But all very exciting.

I feel the baba moving now almost every day, and seems to love bouncing around when I'm eating or trying to sleep. When I need some peace!

We find out the sex next Tuesday and I can't wait! It'll be so exciting to know what Miss or Mr is hanging out in the womb room! Most people say it'll be a boy, but really.. it's 50/50 and I have no idea until next week!

Heres the bump :)

Be nice..

Today was a good day.

Life is no longer about the best angles to take pictures of yourself, how photoshop can do wonders for you, or how high contrast makes all your flaws disappear.

Forget about that. There isn't a photoshop or editing program in every day life, to make you look better in person.. or blogs to make your personality look utterly whimsical and carefree.

Prince William has a bald patch.

Good day

Still being 'cool'

So i'm one week past three months pregnant and feeling great! Thank god I've passed the first few months of sickness, nausea and generally feeling awful. 

As seen in the scan, my baby was lying back with their legs in the air and having a relaxing time of it all while I was being prodded and probed by the sonographer. 

I can't see myself slipping into motherhood, and suddenly becoming Betty Crocker.. I think the transition will be far more casual, although my cake baking won't cease. 

Having a baby is no excuse to become reclusive, and obsessive. There's nothing more repulsive than seeing a facebook profile full of 'darling' baby pictures. 

I may buy some big earphones soon and play them to the bump, with any luck the baby will develop a good taste in music.

Vivienne Westwood pimpin' your boots UK style

My new Vivienne Westwood booties complete me.. materialistically at least 

2.05am

It's 4:30 A.M. on a Tuesday.
It doesn't get much worse than this.
In beds in little rooms in buildings in the middle of these lives which are completely meaningless,
help me stay awake, I'm fallin'...