Melting!

Day 58.

It’s 84 degrees right now (29C), and I’m MELTING.  Yeah, I’m whining about the sun now.  Actually, more specifically, I’m whining about maternity wear.  Why must these damn clothes come with so many layers?  It’s bad enough that it’s all so deeply unflattering, turning the cutest of yummy mummies (I hasten to exclude myself from that particular group) into apparent contenders for The Biggest Loser (why else are we so afraid to actually congratulate someone on their burgeoning belly?  Because we know that those baggy tops and ill-fitting pants could just as easily be hiding the results of a month long pizza bender, that’s why!).  But oh my God, the elasticated fabric, the odd ruffles and ruching and the layers….all those damned layers!

I already have a living, wriggling little creature in there, pushing up blood volume, maxing out metabolic rate, and generally making me feel like I’m ill-advisedly spending my days and nights with a hot water bottle strapped to my abdomen.  The last thing I need is more damned layers keeping Daisy toasty cosy in there.

Nope, I have never been pregnant in the summer before.  Evie was a March baby, and Henry was April.  I had already suspected that I wasn’t going to be the happiest of clammy little campers this year, but now that I survey my sweaty wardrobe in despair, and read of the forecast El Niño summer bringing us heat, humidity, and a fair few sticky nights in the next few months, I have to ask myself….how on earth do my fellow mums Down Under do it?  Or in Brazil, Ecuador, South of France?  More do the point, where do you shop?  I’ve seen the likes of Miranda Kerr in the gossip mags, and beached whale is probably the last thing that sprang to mind.  “Beeattchh” might have topped out the list, but definitely no huge aquatic mammals in sight.

So yes, here I am moaning about the gorgeous weather.  So shoot me – I’m in my third trimester, it’s my duty to be unreasonably contrary.

But then, I open up my window, peer out from the sweltering gloom of my “office”, and this is my view:

 

OK.  So maybe I’m willing to concede that all this glorious sunshine might be survivable, after all.  Happy kids, happy Mum and all that….and there’s no denying the joyful screams, splashes and squeals coming from the paddling pool right now. Plus, I have recently been given the happy news that although I’m not entitled to Maternity Leave, I can claim “Short Term Disability”, which means that I am officially off work from July until October.  It may well be a long, hot summer ahead, but that long hot summer is mine.  ALL MINE – bring on the muslin and maxi dresses!  #100HappyDays