Hey girls, I’m Gemma, mother to my darling Mary (3) and wife to my darling husband. I’m very honoured to be asked to guest blog here today. You can usually find me blogging about my musings and inspiration on my blog The Home County, pop over and say hey x

Pregnancy Essential #1. Giving up the maternity clothes.

I was over the moon to be pregnant, and it was a perfect opportunity to stock up with some new mummy to be clothes, I had an image in my head:  to look like a size 8 from the back and then for people to be gobsmacked when they saw my bump… So I shopped. I bought the jeans, the wrap shirt, the long vest, the skirt, the dress… what a waste. I was so miserable and frumpy in them, I didn’t feel like myself anymore. During one painful shopping trip my with best friend, she threw me into a changing room and made me try on ‘normal’ clothes. Success! I was back to myself again and my bump looked like a bump and not a fat tummy covered in rolls of strangely baggy clothes. PS I am not a size 8.

Pregnancy Essential #2 Hello Boys

Buy sexy maternity bras. You didn’t wear some boring grey thing to get yourself pregnant, so don’t start now. I bought 2 pairs of Elle Macpherson maternity bras and they were fantastic. Lacy, cute, comfy and it didn’t matter if you caught a glimpse of them. They also have the back expanders which are great. H&M also do maternity bras – keep an eye out – I have seen them in shocking pink lace and leopard print…. Who needs to be sensible!?!?

Pregnancy Essential # 3 Magazine

Junior Pregnancy and Baby is amazing. The shots are fantastic, the pregnancy advice is on the button and you can keep the magazines as they give advice for the first few months of your baby’s life. Definitely invest in a subscription, I bought one each time I found out a friend was pregnant too.

Pregnancy Essential #4 Jo Malone

Someone once told me that Rose oil is supposed to be fantastic for stretch marks. I was straight on the Jo Malone website and bought a huge jar of the Rose bath oil. I used it in the shower every morning. Not only was it my daily pregnancy ritual, but it was the perfect alternative to perfume (the smell of which made me feel sick).

Pregnancy Essential #5 GSOH

When you’re swigging Gaviscon from the bottle on the London Underground while squashed against the door as no one ever looks up,or your feet are so swollen with water retention that EVEN Uggs are tight, a sense of humour is essential. Looking back you can laugh, I know it’s  hard to some times, but please smile and giggle. You are beautiful and you look incredible, go on show off a bit of bra!

Working down, treat yourself to some brown leather – yes leather – wedge boots from New Look for £79.99. And as it’s a little chilly at the moment, how about a blue maternity jacket from Zalanda? £75. Nice outfit!

Obviously, all that’s missing is a little bit of accessorising. I’ll leave that to you … but would suggest some nice earrings, manicured nails and a big smile.

There’s a few nice pieces in it. Colours are all very muted but in a good way – think greys, tans and other autumnal tones.

What grabbed my attention was this snugly long, chunky-knit cardigan. I want! It’s £29.99.

If you’re liking the whole outfit the model is wearing, you can snap the dress up for a mere £19.99 and the scarf for £7.99. And whilst you have your card out, why not grab a pair of the knee length riding boots (£39.99) to finish the ensemble off!

Sara 'Bump Rocker' Cox

The Radio 1 DJ Sara Cox is due to give birth next spring. ‘How terribly modern of me to say this on Twitter!’ she wrote, ‘Wanna share with you just before I do it live on air: I’m pregnant and over the moon.’ This is Sara’s third pregnancy, and she’s rocking her bump.

You can steal her style easily. Just grab yourself a fitted tunic top, a black jacket, blazer or boyfriend jacket and knot a black scarf around your neck and pair with a long, colorful necklace.

If you’re not the high shine leggings or leather bottoms kind of girl, there are a whole load of others you could choose from to pull this look off, including regular black leggings or dark denim such as Baxter jeans from TopShop (I had these, and LOVED them) or black jeggings.

Then all you need is a great pair of boots to pull  the look together. There are loads of fab boots out there at the moment. Our favourites include:

Black William High Leg boots – £110

Black Winema Knee high boots – £120

Melissa Slouch Calf boots – £80

Black over the knee boots – £50

Biker boots – £55

So what you waiting for ladies. Go forth and rock your bump a la Sara Cox!