Samantha Bentley

When I wrote my original article about my first trimester woes, I was so excited to be entering the second trimester, hoping to settle comfortably into the magic of pregnancy that I had heard so much about, but that didn’t happen. Although I am now very excited to meet my son, I’m starting to plan and nest. We have started buying baby things and the names list is getting more and more concise. There are still things that haven’t quite fit into this idyllic pregnancy scenario that I had painted up in my head since I was a kid. Everyone from my friends, to my midwife, to the internet had told me: Your second trimester is the best bit, you will have an energy burst, your sickness will go, your hormones will settle! It’s supposed to be the enjoyable bit before the gruelling third where you drag around a huge belly and can’t tie your own laces. Well, as I head swiftly toward my third trimester, here is what I have to say about my second.

I’m not here to pretend that I’m a relationship expert, not even close. But at age 30, I have had to navigate my way through a series of not nice boyfriends, some abusive (mentally and physically), drug addicts, mama's boys, commitment phobes, total fuckwits, ghosters, alcoholics, and sex addicts, to name a few, and I’ve managed to wind up in a long term, stable, happy relationship with someone I love more than anything, but in a totally calm and non-obsessive way. Someone I want, but don’t need. Someone that I can share anything and everything with and not be afraid they will leave. Someone that lives with me and puts up with my mess, my quirks, my anxiety and my past…. however present it sometimes likes to be… and someone that I am expecting my first child with, and hopefully…. hint hint Tony… a ring at some point?

When I originally had the idea to write this piece, my plan was to hit up all my friends and ask what kind of porn they were into and why. But, upon doing so I realised that ALL of them are just like me. They don’t watch porn.

The older I get, the more aware I become of how much junk and garbage there is in the food we eat. From E numbers, to chemicals, to refined sugars, pesticides, and hormones and everything else in between. Surely this is why people get sick?

Calling all my fellow yogis! I LOVE yoga, don’t you? It’s so diverse. There are so many variations, so many new things to try! When I first started yoga (almost a decade ago) it wasn’t so wide spread and mainstream; it was a lot more alternative and less well received. Now, thanks to this new burst of health kicks in the media, and with a little help from social platforms like Instagram, yoga has become a cool way of keeping fit, socialising, getting in touch with your spirituality, and all round having fun.

Before I start a #notallmums revolution (god help us) let me just say that yes, not all mums, but most mums to an extent, whether they mean to or not, just LOVE to 'Mumsplain'. I know that loads of you are reading this right now and you are enraged, you can’t BELIEVE I could say such a thing, but hear me out.