How Sez Sees It

Lessons I have learned in the first 22 weeks of pregnancy There are many things that we do know about pregnancy because those are the things that people talk about all the time. There are plenty of other things that are not spoken about. As a first time mum I am terrified when new things happen to me. I have been honest in the past about my mental health and part of that is health anxiety. As a result I have put this blog together to explain some of the less talked about things so that I can help other people. I would like to note that the following is from my own experience only. Your's may be totally different and that is absolutely fine. Every pregnancy is different and every woman will experience it differently. With that said, enjoy! What they do tell you The things other women will happily talk about with regards to pregnancy are few and far between. There are some things though that, if you asked anyone on the street, they would tell you they know the following about pregnan

How to show anger and fight for change in a pandemic Unless you have been off world lately you will know that we have been living through a pandemic for a year now. This has also been a year of social change. First of all was the Black Lives Matter movement that gained traction again following the death of George Floyd. Next came the events of the last week (at the time of writing) where women are trying to make their voices heard in Britain. Black Lives Matter In May 2020 the death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers cause wide spread and actually world wide protest. Statues of those connected with the slave trade were toppled and people took to the streets to march. There were protests and counter protests throughout the summer and it was a time when people wanted to really make their voices heard. Pandemic or not, they were angry and they wanted to be taken seriously. Sarah Everard In the same week that saw International Women's Day and Mother's Day (UK) a young

How has Covid changed your world? It is undeniable that the experience of living through a pandemic will have changed the world for so many people. How has it changed for you though? I know how it has changed for me and so I have tried to use that to inform this post, but I would be interested to see if you think that, long term, life has changed for you and how. Mental Health It is true that so many people have had issues with their mental health over the last year. We are seeing more people than ever seeking help for anxiety and depression. Personally I have also been struggling as we go in and out of lockdowns.  How will this affect us long term though? Surely there are going to be issues for years to come? People have lost jobs, family members and more during this pandemic. There is no way that we come out of this without damage.  It will take some people a long time to get up the courage to go outside again and resume 'normal' life. Other people will have to live with anxi

It's important to get checked - Cervical Screening It's a global pandemic, but it is still important to get checked I received my letter about cervical screening and my appointment coincided with Cervical Cancer Awareness week this year. I always write about my experiences and you can read my previous blog, which also has a link to the one before that, here: https://sezblog-sez.blogspot.com/2017/11/get-it-checked-2017.html The complication at the moment is that we are going through a pandemic. However, there are still services available and a lot of surgeries are still doing the screenings. If your surgery is not screening at the moment you can still get tests done if you think that you have symptoms. It is so important to get an appointment though and go if you get your letter. This year I didn't have a nurse that almost set fire to me...which was nice (see previous blog as above). What did happen was that it was probably the quickest and easiest appointment I have ever ha

Can 2021 be better than 2020? 2020 Round-up 2020 was a total shit show, there can be no denying that. Apart from the personal losses my husband and I had last year, the world was literally burning at times, drowning at others and all of this while a pandemic ravaged the land.  If I were a religious person I would say that 2020 was a series of plagues sent by God to punish us all...but I am not. Basically a few things were unexpected and others were totally in our control and we should have done something about them a long time ago. Really it was shocking and saddening that in 2020 we were still having to see people fight for their freedoms. The Black Lives Matter movement got going again at a level not previously seen after George Floyd, an African-American man, was killed by police during his arrest for allegedly using a fake $20 bill. The officers in question initially saw no justice and, rightly so, protests were seen across America and eventually the world.  Australia began 2020 wi