I'm back with a surprise

Hi all,
I thought I would explain myself. I haven't blogged since June and I have severely neglected the blog. I'm Sorry! I was rushed off my feet quite literally over Christmas and had too much on my plate then I got a big surprise......

Yep that's right I did four tests in total and still didn't believe it. Just after Christmas I'd visited the doctors with what I now know were pregnancy symptoms, to be told it may be Endometriosis and to come back after the new year for an ultrasound! I was convinced I was infertile.

On the 1st January, something- (call it divine intuition, a hunch or just bored curiosity) made me do a pregnancy test and lo and behold I was pregnant! I stated that I wouldn't believe it until I had a handful of positive tests and a doctor saying congratulations. By the end of the day I had all that and still couldn't believe it until my first scan.

That little blob changed everything!

 

My first trimester was god awful, I had to come off the majority of my medication cold turkey and overnight, I had nausea, vomiting, anxiety, insomnia, mood swings, sore everything and severe fatigue. I was even hospitalised due to my POTS skyrocketing out of control. There were times I could barely function as a human being let alone do anything else. Luckily this passed and I made it to 12 weeks with a lot of support from my amazing husband.

12 weeks

My second trimester was wonderful! the nausea and fatigue gradually wore off, suddenly everything wasn't sore anymore, my POTS calmed down I had energy to actually do things, I wasn't in constant pain and I began to enjoy been pregnant.

It was during this time that my business loan with the princes' trust was approved and I re-launched sending spoons, this time with a new name- Chronic Comforts. If your interested in the Princes' trust and what they do I wrote a post about it here.

Now I had an embroidery machine and was able to do much more. I've been concentrating on getting to know my other baby (a Brother Innovis F440E) and working on new products.

https://www.consciouscrafties.com/handmade-gifts/magical-unicorn-hoodie/

I'm now into my third trimester and the chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia and POTS have returned with vengeance. My joints are struggling and I'm doing daily physiotherapy and having monthly manipulation to put everything back into place. hEDS and pregnancy hormones don't mix! I still don't feel as bad as my first trimester but its really hard work for me now. On the Bright side I found out we are having a girl. We're naming her faith and I'll leave you with some of the more recent scan photos to show what a little cutie she already is:

20 weeks

28 weeks

 

As always thanks for reading and check out www.facebook.com/chroniccomforts for new products, links and news.

Laura :)

 

Chronic Comforts & The Prince's Trust Enterprise course.

Todays post is to raise awareness and share my experiences of the princes trust. The Princes trust is an amazing organisation which helps 13-30 year olds who are unemployed or struggling in school. They were founded by HRH The Prince of Wales and have been running since 1976.

This week I was lucky enough to have a place on their Enterprise program. The Enterprise program helps young people (age 18-30) who have a business idea, learn about business, create a business plan and apply for funding. They run a 4 day training course that teaches:

• Skills to run a business
• Marketing and selling
• Pricing, book-keeping and cash flow forecasting
• Business plan topics and structure
• Mentoring.

There is then a 1:1 meeting with the training facilitator to go over anything, and discuss the next steps. You're provided with a business mentor who then helps you develop your business plan and ideas, they're available through email and face to face meetings. Finally you attend a business launch group where you pitch your business to two Prince's trust volunteers and they decide if your business is viable, they then decide whether to loan you funds to start your business. Once you have done all this you become a Princes Trust supported business.

Did I happen to mention that all this training and support is FREE!! Obviously the loan is repayable (6% APR after the first 6 months, £20 a month until then), but everything else is free.

This course was amazing. The trainers for each topics were all volunteers and included those that had set up their own business' those that sold services for very influential business', accountants and venture capitalists.

There is a workbook you work on throughout the course, completing this can give you a level 1 and 2 qualification in Exploring Enterprise.

Now I'm working on the business plan with a view to re-launching the Sending Spoons shop with a new name of Chronic Comforts and some exciting new products in the pipeline!

The Princes trust runs in several cities and towns across the UK, for more info contact 0800 842 842
or visit: princes-trust.org.uk,

If you want any more information, or have any questions feel free to leave a comment.

As always thanks for reading,

Laura :)