Blended

Hey Guys! This is the last time you’ll hear from me for a little while, because when this episode comes out I’ll be 37 weeks pregnant and officially on maternity leave! To be honest I've been on maternity leave unofficially for a week or so because the tiredness has hit me SO hard.Before I go, I want to leave you with some final bits to round off this amazing series of Blended. You’ll hear my final preparations for pregnancy, an interesting update from team Blended and I’ve selected some of my favourite moments from the season for you to enjoy, one of the clips I've chosen does contains reference to miscarriage and baby loss so please take care while listening.I hope you’ve found this season of Blended as enjoyable and comforting as I have, thank you so so much for your support and community, it genuinely means the world and I can’t wait to share more with you guys on the other side!If you’re excited to be a part of the Blended community, make sure to follow @Blended on Instagram.

Today on Blended, we are speaking to a guest that so many of you have been asking for! Former Queen of the Jungle, podcaster and author Vicky Pattison!Although Vicky herself isn’t part of a Blended family, hearing her journey to potential parenthood is very in keeping with the family stories we love to hear on Blended. Earlier this year she took the decision to freeze her eggs and start an IVF journey, but it hasn’t gone completely to plan. During a scan in January, the doctors discovered that Vicky had an ovarian cyst, meaning she couldn’t start treatment, luckily after a rocky few months, Vicky has been given the all clear and has started the IVF process.Vicky has been so open on social media in documenting her journey and showing both the physical and mental challenges that come with IVF. On today’s episode Vicky details the last few months of her IVF journey alongside sharing why she doesn’t yet feel ready for pregnancy and the scrutiny she’s faced because of this.It was such a pleasure to chat about her alternative route to motherhood, as always with Vicky this chat is open, hilarious and more than a little sweary!If you’re excited to be a part of the Blended community, make sure to follow @Blended on Instagram

TW: This discussion covers displacement through war, and descriptions of death and violence so please be kind to yourself when listening.Next week marks Refugee Week here in the UK, and we’re honoured to be joined on Blended by the inspiring Waad Al-Kateab. Waad is a Syrian journalist, filmmaker, and activist. Her documentary, For Sama, was nominated for four BAFTA’s, winning Best Documentary, and it was also nominated for Best Documentary Feature at The Oscars.‘For Sama’ is a love letter from Waad to her daughter, Sama. The film tells the story of her life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, all while conflict rises around her.Her camera captures incredible stories of loss, laughter and survival, as Waad wrestles with an impossible choice – whether or not to flee the city to protect her daughter’s life. Waad has since settled in the UK with her husband Hamza and their young two daughters Sama and Taima.We chat about the resilience being a mum provides you, how war & conflict cause you to build families beyond blood, the impossible scenario of having to leave your newborn child in a different country and starting again in the UK for the safety of your family.Waad is an absolute inspiration, the challenges herself and her family have been through couldn’t be tougher, so to come out on the other side and speak with so much strength optimises the Blended story.Check out Waad’s incredible film For Sama, as well as her new film We Dare To Dream and please do follow @actionforsamaIf you’re excited to be a part of the Blended community, make sure to follow @Blended on Instagram

Hey Guys! As you’ll hear in today’s episode, life has been busy over the last few weeks! So it feels like a good time to fill you in on what I’ve been up to, book launches, birthdays and my ever growing bump!Thank you so much for all your questions that came in from my Instagram Q&A, I do my best to answer all the things you want to know!We’ve got such an exciting last few weeks on this series of Blended so please stick around and I’m hoping to do another one of these before going off to have the baby!Please click here if you’d like to (pre) order a copy of my brand new blended children’s book ‘The Family Tree’If you’re excited to be a part of the Blended community, make sure to follow @Blended on Instagram