My Baby Shower

On Sunday 10th July, when I was 34/almost 35 weeks pregnant, it was my baby shower! My lovely mum and sister planned the day - afternoon tea at a lovely, local golf course with my closest friends and family. I knew it was happening (as I had told them that I wanted a baby shower, but didn't want to plan it myself!) but I still didn't know the full details of what we were going to be doing.

I also decided that I wanted B to come to the baby shower, which isn't traditional as they tend to be female-only events, but I didn't really care. I know that B has found my pregnancy quite hard because a lot of the focus is on me as the mum growing the baby, so I wanted him to feel included by being at the baby shower. After all, she's half his baby too!

So, when we arrived, everyone else was already there. No surprises there, as I am famous amongst my friends and family for always being late to everything!

The venue was decorated beautifully by my mum and sister with the gold ‘baby’ balloons strung up across a green foliage backdrop (which was already part of the venue). There was a helium baby balloon, a set of boxed balloons that said ‘BABY’ (which are now displayed in our living room!) and pink and white balloons all over the floor. The tables were decorated with fake pink petals and some tiny baby bottles filled with confetti - and the afternoon tea stands, of course! They had also bought some gorgeous personalised cupcakes - one which said Baby Maguire, one that said ‘twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are’, a few that said ‘baby’ or ‘little one’ and then just some plainly decorated pink and white ones, some with iced baby grows on top.

Once we’d chatted for a little bit, it was time to play some games, which my mum and sister had put together. They were:

How well do you know the mum to be?

Turns out - not very well. There were some hilarious responses to some of the questions - including B's mum who called me the wrong name, both my Gran and Grandma writing the wrong birth year and someone guessing my all-time favourite song as Barbie Girl! The winner of this game was B, which I wasn't surprised at and I'd have actually been slightly offended if he didn't win.

Guessing baby's date/time of birth, weight, length of labour with advice to the parents-to-be and a little letter to baby

These were so interesting and lovely to read, especially the advice and letters to baby. Definitely something to keep in a little memory box for her! I've also written down everyone's guesses in my notes on my phone so we can see if anyone guesses correctly.

Bump or beer belly?

This one was hard. Turns out beer bellies and baby bellies look very similar!

Guessing the size of bump

All fun and games until a family friend guessed my bump was 160cm, when it was actually only 121cm! Do I really look that big?!

Guessing the chocolate bar (which they'd melted into tiny newborn nappies!)

One of the strangest sights I’ve ever seen is watching all of my friends and family sniff brown substances in nappies.

Baby item bingo

This made us all realise how many baby-related items and things there really are! And how much stuff babies need.

Pin the dummy on baby

Again, exactly as it says! My sister had written everyone’s names on the dummy stickers, so I have of course kept the poster for baby's memory box (can you tell that I am one of the most sentimental people ever yet?)

In between playing the games, we also had our afternoon tea, and as my sister had called ahead to let them know, the venue had kindly made me a separate stand with GD-friendly bits! Obviously I couldn't have any of the desserts or cupcakes as they all had sugar in (sob!) but I had sandwiches on wholemeal bread (egg mayo, cucumber and ham with lettuce) and homemade sausage rolls. I was a bit nervous when I tested my sugar levels, but they were well within range!

B and I had decided beforehand that, although bringing gifts was absolutely not necessary, if people wanted to bring gifts then we would like them to bring their favourite baby/children's book with a handwritten message inside for baby. I'd seen this idea online a few times (and heard Zoe Sugg mention it when she was pregnant!) and thought it was such a lovely idea. As you may be able to tell, I'm such a sentimental person, so the idea of having a collection of books with personalised messages to baby inside just meant a lot to me. Also, it makes sense as B and I are both primary school teachers and book lovers! My sister made me open the book she had chosen and read her message at the baby shower, which instantly made me well up! After that, B and I waited until we got home to read the rest.

We took lots of photos, laughed a lot and just generally had the best afternoon together. Everyone is so excited about baby's arrival, and it just made me really appreciate all of my amazing friends and family for being part of my life. It definitely feels more real now, as there were some friends and family there that I probably won't see now until after baby arrives!

I'm not sure if they'll ever read this (as I'm not sure my mum has ever actually seen my blog!), but I just want to thank my mum and my sister Megan for planning and hosting the baby shower of my dreams. It was better than I ever could have imagined (or planned!) and it was just so special. It's definitely been a highlight of my pregnancy and moments I will treasure forever.

Did you/would you have a baby shower?