Maternity Bargain Buys...

To be honest, I never thought I would find myself here again - but here I am! And never one to shy away from a challenge, I am determined to spend as little as possible on maternity clothes this time, bearing in mind they will definitely NOT be worn again.

As this is my third child, I've found that I've had a bump pretty much from day 1, though it hasn't grown massively as yet (I'm about fifteen weeks now). I tried to last as long as I possibly could in "normal" clothes (unlike my first pregnancy where I was desperate to get into maternity clothes!) bearing in mind it will be a while until I wear them again, but alas the time has definitely come.

My first port of call was a local buying and selling group, where I picked up some Seraphine tops and leggings for £1 each, bargain. They are a bit worn but after a good wash and iron look fine. I wore them today in fact and am very happy with my purchases!


Next came ebay. I was a big fan of Isabella Oliver maternity last time I was pregnant, and bought about three key items. This time, I've headed straight to ebay, picking up a wrap dress for £5 and a portrait top for £1.20. The wrap dress was a bit of a fail though, as it has a smell that no amount of washing can get rid of. Still, you win some, you lose some.

Isabella Oliver Wrap dress, whiff optional.

 I've also bought some Isabella Oliver maternity trousers for £5 and some H&M Maternity trousers for £3. Both are great, and I also know I can sell the IO on afterwards for a very similar price.

Another ebay purchase was this Asos gold sequin dress, now it's arrived, I'm less than convinced...

It's a bit longer than I anticipated and not the most flattering, even for a pregnant woman. Still, I only paid £7 for it, maybe I'll take it to my local dressmaker and get the length shortened slightly.

Just to show I'm not a total cheapskate, I headed over to Mummy and Little Me (There's one in Leeds also) and picked up a Hotmilk Bra for £15...

and some Noppies Treggings for £18, these are lovely and look really expensive, which is of course, the main thing.

Noppies Treggings £18

Now over to Funmum, I picked up this gorgeous pleat top for £31.20  minus a 15% sign up discount.

Pleat Maternity top from Fun Mum £31.20.

I have to say I think it's the nicest maternity top I've ever seen - so far I've worn it with boots and leggings and I can see me wearing it lots over Christmas.

Do let me know if you spot any maternity bargains!

A few surprises...

This week has been a VERY eventful week, for a variety of reasons. Just recently I haven't had time to do much blogging and have also been devoting my energies to my other blog, bingleymums.com. Now my children are three and six I feel like I actually have time for myself again - they are happy to play together at Lego or Star Wars games, and to be honest I'm happy to let them , since that's what makes them happy.

So anyway, since I don't like my life to be TOO easy (obviously) and clearly have a distaste for sleep - this is happening...

Yep that's right. I'm having another baby! Due May 2015. It's all been a bit of a shock to the system, but the boys are on

board with it and that's the main thing! Eeeek! After maintaining I would never be crazy enough to have a third child, it appears that actually I will be a mother of three quite soon! We've a lot to think about like moving house, getting bigger cars and the like but of course we're over the moon.

The other thing that happened (and I would like to add, totally unconnected) is that I had the chance to meet deputy prime minister Nick Clegg to discuss teacher workload - which quite franklyhas reached  breaking point. Of course when it came to it I shook his hand mutely and was unable to say much at all! Luckily there were many far more eloquent teachers who spoke very passionately about changes that need to be made. Thank goodness they were there.

My colleague and friend Bess got a selfie and I was seething with envy.

He seemed like a nice man and I've hopes for changes to the demands on teachers in the near future.

What a week!