Stuff You’ll Wanted Sorted Before Your Baby Is Due!

Being a new mum can, while being wonderful, also be a stressful and busy time, to say the least. Although, hopefully, you will have plenty of people around you to support you during your baby's first few months. Having said that, getting your life and home and organised as possible before your little one arrives can help to alleviate some of this stress and make your new mum experience a lot calmer. A topic you can read all about in my post below.

A Guide to Pregnancy Incontinence

The test gave you the result you have longed for and now, you have an exciting time ahead of you!

But it would be wrong to suggest that everything about pregnancy and giving birth is rosy and happy. Many women find pregnancy uncomfortable, the morning sickness hard to handle and the lack of sleep makes daytime functions ten times harder.

4 items that you should purchase as a new mum

As a new mum, you’ll soon be aware that there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done and you’ll find yourself savouring the odd moment of relaxation here and there. But these moments don’t have to be so seldom, there have been some gadgets designed to save you time and energy:

Disposable vs reusable nappies

I'm going to have to make a confession before I write this post. I'm not an eco warrior. I'd like to think I'm quite conscious about doing my bit for the environment but in reality, I shamefully seem to put convenience first.

Outdoor nappy change in the woods! Country life <3

Experiences Breastfeeding in Public

Next month sees world breastfeeding week, a week to celebrate and educate the magic of breastfeeding. It's been 7 months since I last breastfed Henry and my goodness I miss it. If I had my way I would have breastfed until he was two, but he made the decision for us both (which, really was the best way to do it).

Breastfeeding was truly something I treasured second time round. My experience with Darcie was pretty dire and she was never able to latch properly without the aid of a nipple shield and it all came to an end at 6 weeks. Still, six weeks is pretty incredible and for saying what a shit time I went through, that really was an achievement. Second time round was a breeze - literally a dream. Bar the cracked nipple in the first two weeks.

A baby costs how much?!

How much does a baby cost?

When I sat down to write this post I made a guesstimate on how much I spent in the first year's of my children's lives and it sure made my eyes water. Here was my guesstimate for Darcie for the first six months;

What is a Baby Sprinkle?

Many of us are pretty familiar with baby showers. Friends and relatives shower the mum-to-be with gifts and presents that will help her in caring for her newborn baby-to-be. It’s like a celebration of an impending motherhood. But what about a baby sprinkle? Perhaps you have already heard of it but are quite confused whether it is the same as a baby shower or not.

Enhanced Recovery After an Elective C-Section

Enhanced recovery, what on earth is that? That was exactly my thought's when my consultant uttered these words when discussing my planned c-section last year with Henry. I was due to have a planned c-section after having a very traumatic failed induction with Darcie that resulted in an emergency c-section. So whilst I felt quite prepared for my actual section, I had no clue what an enhanced recovery was. 

My Birth Stories - C-Section Awareness Month

As I mentioned in my "Enhanced Recovery After an Elective C-section" post, April is C-section awareness month. I decided to retell my birth stories of both Darcie & Henry over on my YouTube channel in order to spread awareness about c-sections and to wash away the stigma that it's the "easy option".

Mummy B xoxox

Baby number three?

Once the newborn phase has died down the same old usual question seems to always pop up, will there be a baby number three? It's a question I dread.

I know the answer, there is no choice now on the answer, but the answer seemingly fills me with sadness. And that answer is no.

Things you don't expect when you're expecting

You may or may not know, my daughter's birth story it wasn't the magical picture that people had tried to paint it would be. Having said that, I did have a beautiful birth experience with my son Henry.

A long time ago, I originally wrote this post to share with you the things you were not expecting when you're expecting and I thought it might be nice to share it again!

Why I love my stretch marks

When I had my daughter, Darcie, I counted my lucky stars and rejoiced in the fact that I didn't get one single stretch mark whilst I carried her. I gave myself a little high five when my stomach was left unscathed from those dreaded and ghastly looking marks. So when I had my son and I got my first stretch mark at 30 weeks, the  fear that my unmarked belly was now starting to get covered in those unsightly marks set in.

And so the regime began. Darcie, every night, would slather my pregnant belly in stretch mark lotion in the hope that this stretch mark wouldn't multiply  or at least minimise the risk of my belly resembling something we're all told is an absolutely hideous sight.

As my due date grew closer those marks multiplied and grew with the growth of my bump. I tried to put it to the back of my mind and hoped that once my boy was here they wouldn't look quite so awful.

When my son was placed into my arms my stretch marks were the last thing on my mind. When I managed to successfully breastfeed from my stretch marked boobs, the marks were the last thing on my mind and when he smiled at me for the first time, again, those "awful" marks were the last thing on my mind. 

In actual fact at that point I had actually grown to love my stretch marks. Yes, I had grown fond of these little reminders that adorned my body. I remember when I first had a bath after having Henry, I noticed how most of my stretch marks were on one side of my stomach. It was the side that Henry liked to lay on the most.

One of the reasons I most likely got stretch marks this time round was probably down to his size, he was two whole pounds heavier than my daughter and I had no issues this time with fluid levels - I had a very healthy pregnancy and these marks were all signs of this. 

Henry is my last baby and I'm proud of my body that it was able to grow such a beautiful little being. Who cares that I now have a few reminders of this? I should be oh so thankful that these marks adorn my body because I know there are so, so, so many women out there who would want these marks who unfortunately are unable to have children. 

I will never look in the mirror and wish that they were not there. I'm proud of my "baby marks". 

Mummy B xoxox

How to prepare your child for a new sibling

When you find out you're expecting again it is, of course, a very exciting time. After the initial happy and excited bubble has popped and the realities of having another baby sink in, one of your worries may be how your child(ren) may react to a brother or sister. 

Whilst for the most part I was extremely excited to see how Darcie would react to her baby brother, I was a little apprehensive too. Would she be accepting of this new bundle of joy? Would she be resentful? Or would she just completely ignore him altogether?!

Thankfully Darcie has been super accepting of Henry and has taken to him so well. Their bond is already so beautiful, with him smiling (for the first time ever!) at her and Darcie constantly showering him with kisses and declaring they are going to be best friends forever. 

So how can you prepare your child for the arrival of a sibling?

Post Pregnancy Care

Congratulations new mumma, you’ve made it through the perils of child birth, and now you get to relax and bask in pleasure of your new bundle of joy. Of course the relaxing part is easier said than done, as just when you thought the trauma of labor was far behind you, you now have to contend with raging hormones. The trouble is, nobody prepares you for how your body is going to feel after the birth. We go through so many antenatal classes preparing us for the birth, but there’s never a wealth of guidance for how you’re going to feel once that baby is finally resting peacefully in your arms. After all, birth is a dramatic experience for your mind and body, and then you’ve got to get up and look after the baby, but don’t think you’ve got to start playing super mum immediately, these tips are things that you should start doing 6 – 8 weeks after the birth of your baby to help you recover.

Henry's Birth Story

As you may know if you've been following for a while, I planned to have an elective c-section due to my traumatic emergency c-section with my daughter. On the 8th of September exactly that happened and I welcomed our beautiful boy the way I had planned and it proved to be the most wonderful experience. 

We woke at 5am full of nerves to get ready to make our way to the hospital. Once ready, car loaded and medication taken we headed to the hospital to be there for 7am. I was very quiet that morning as I was really trying to focus and prepare myself mentally for what was about to happen. To say I was scared was an understatement! When we arrived we were taken into the ward surrounded by mothers whom had already had their babies. I found it a little surreal that in a few hours I too would have my baby boy in my arms. We soon met with my surgeon, midwife and anethatist, they talked through everything with me making sure I was happy and comfortable with the procedure that was about to take place. They then told me I was second on the list so it was time to get suited and booted. 

Once I was gowned and Jamie had his scrubs on, one of the theatre team members came to meet us to take us down to theatre. This bloke was lovely and got me an extra gown so I didn't have to expose myself! He chatted the whole time making both Jamie and I completely at ease. Once in theatre we met another member of the team who also talked to us whilst they were setting up. These two guys were absolute stars and were busy taking the piss out of each other offering lots of amusement for me and Jamie. Then the rest of the team arrived, we didn't end up with the surgeon or anethatist we met that morning as they got called to an emergency. Still as they were quite quiet that day they had another team available for my section.

My anethatist then introduced himself and began to put my cannula into my left hand. He tried twice and had no such luck so then tried my left wrist. He failed again. The anethatist was so apologetic and I think he felt a little flustered! It's a good job needles don't bother me because as my bruises now show, he made a big old mess of my arms! Eventually he managed to get one into my right hand and then moved onto my spinal. I was a little nervous for this part as many women had told me this was quite painful, last time I was put to sleep so this again was new. They sprayed my back that made it go very cold and then began to put the spinal in. In all honesty it wasn't that bad at all. I could feel it being done and was a little uncomfortable but not painful. 

With the spinal in I was helped to lay down and then asked to raise my legs. I was able to do this but they felt so heavy. They waited another minute and asked me to do it again and this time I couldn't move them at all! It felt really bizarre! They then got an ice cube and ran it up both sides of my body and asked when I could feel the cold, it wasn't until it was near my chest that I could feel it, so thankfully the spinal was effective! I was terrified it would fail and I would end up asleep again, which would of been my worst nightmare.

I was told time and time again at if any point I felt uncomfortable/in pain just say something, but again I was pretty comfortable! I did get one side effect from the spinal and that was shaking, it was like I was a bag full of nerves (which in reality I was), but they soon wore off. The procedure itself was completely painless and whilst I could feel the tugging sensation it wasn't at all bad like I had imagined. Then the most wonderful thing happened, our son was born. 

They raised him above the sheet where I saw my beautiful boy and I was immediately over come with emotion and instant love. I gave Jamie a kiss and then they took Henry off to be checked and cleaned. Jamie was by his side the whole time, taking pictures and cutting his cord. Such a special moment for him too as he wasn't allowed in theatre with our daughter. When he was weighed we had such a shock, at our consultant appointment the week before, he was scanned and estimated to weight 6lb 14oz. He was in actual fact a whopping 8lb 11oz!! Two whole pounds bigger that his sister! Jamie then brought him over to my side where we spent the remainder of the time getting to know to our little boy. 

We didn't try to do skin to skin whilst in theatre, there just wasn't to room. But once in recovery we had lots of skin to skin and he instantly latched himself on and had his first feed. 

I can honestly say that my elective c-section was the most magical experience of my life. It was calm, peaceful and such a positive experience. I am so so thankful that I managed to get the birth experience I had always dreamed of, especially since my traumatising birth with Darcie. Having this positive birth experience has helped me with recovery, breastfeeding and even mentally. My birth experience with Darcie lead to me developing anxiety and now I feel like I completely new person, like this experience has healed me in a weird way! 

Now, Henry is six days old and is doing brilliantly! He is feeding well and now gaining weight after initially losing some. He is a pretty "easy" baby and only grumbles when I have to change him. We are getting used to being a family of four, Darcie completely adores her little brother Henry and I couldn't be any more proud of her. She has been such a star. 

I'm hoping now that I'm starting to feel a little more human normal blogging should hopefully resume. 

Mummy B xoxox

Déjà vu With Baby No. 2

You may have seen on social media that this week has been a little hectic. I have been so closely monitored due to a few issues. But I have to say all of this is sounding oh so familiar and baby boy is most definitely taking after his big sister. 

35 Week Pregnancy Update

I haven't been very good at updating you all about my pregnancy, but to be honest it would be a boring read if I did them weekly because week to week not a lot really changes. However, my last update was at 28 weeks so I thought it was time to give you another!

I am now 35+3 weeks pregnant, and it's safe to say things are getting a bit interesting now. If you have been a follower for a long time you will know that with Darcie I had raised blood pressure which resulted in reduced waters and being induced early which resulted in an emergency c-section. This time round my blood pressure has near enough behaved itself but in the last couple of weeks it has started to rise. So my Midwife asked to see me weekly, and then she discovered some protein in my urine, and decided to see me the next day. The next day (Tuesday) she came and my blood pressure had risen again so she sent me off to Triage at the delivery suite!

It was a long wait and we didn't get home till midnight but luckily everything was fine. It did bring back a lot of memories from Darcie's induction day as we were in the next room to where that took place! We found the experience quite comical, maybe that was the nerves. But when I was hooked up to the monitor I started having quite strong Braxton Hicks, it amazed Jamie as we could see the 'contractions' on the monitor and I think made him realise just how uncomfortable I have been. 

As well as this little bit of excitement we discovered baby is back to back, which would explain why I'm having a lot of back pain and sciatic nerve issues. He is also fully engaged, but both these things are irrelevant due to the fact that I'm having an elective section anyway. I'm now having to see my midwife more regularly, around three times a week for BP checks and fingers crossed it doesn't go any higher else there will be more trips to the hospital. I have my final consultant appointment on Monday for a final growth scan, hopefully that will be fine also and baby is continuing to be a good size. 

I hope this has explained why I have been a little quite on here and social media, but I guess as its now only 3.5 weeks till section day this is going to happen! 

Mummy B xoxox

A Changing Bag for Him & Her - PacaPod Hastings Review

A changing bag is something that all mum's need, in my opinion it is an essential necessity to keeping organised. Today's changing bag market is so vast, with everything from designer like handbags to cute kitsch bags with fabulously fun prints. There is something to suit every kind of mum out there. But what about for dads? I am very lucky that I have a very hands on husband who does more than his fairs share of parenting duties, one thing he said when looking for a new changing bag was "can we get one that isn't aimed at just mums?".

Coping with back pain whilst pregnant

If you follow me on social media you may have seen me occasionally moan about my back. This little boy has certainly given me a few aches and pains along the way, and now with only five weeks left to go I have been getting (at times) unbearable back pain. Being unable to turn to the usual oral pain killers, we all know that's a big no no when pregnant, I thought I was going to just have to grin and bare it. Thankfully I was introduced to something that really has helped. The Deep Freeze Pain Relief Cold Patch. 

A week of ups and downs

These past 7 days have been quite tough, you may have noticed my absence on the blog front and that most certainly hasn't been on purpose. Last week we discovered that Darcie had a very bad urine infection, one that almost got her admitted to hospital as the doctor was so concerned! But luckily, despite it being a bad infection, it actually had little effect on her (only when she went to the loo!) and the doctor was happy for her to continue her treatment at home. She will have to have a visit to hospital in the coming weeks to have an ultra sound - that will be interesting trying to explain to her they are not looking for a baby! The reason for the ultra sound is to investigate whether there is anything physically wrong. I'm obviously hoping that isn't the case. On top of this I have been experiencing dizzy spells and headaches again, luckily my mum has been on holiday this week so has really helped out looking after Darcie and me. So thank you mum!

Despite the hardness of this week there has been some incredibly lovely moments. On Saturday I went to a big family BBQ with my entire family, it was so nice as we hadn't all got together in such a long time (even at my wedding my cousin didn't make it due to her about to pop with her beautiful twin boys). What was so special was seeing Darcie play with all my cousins children - the next generation. It brought so many memories back from my own childhood, I couldn't help but feel very content and incredibly lucky. 

Yesterday I also got to see baby at my 32 week growth scan. Everything went beautifully and baby is such a good size already, estimated at 4lb 12oz at 32 weeks exactly! And to top my week off completely we put baby's room together and I feel so happy that its finally done. I keep going in there and just sitting in my nursing chair dreaming of September...

Finally today was my last day at work, I have the wonderful six weeks of summer holidays off then officially start maternity leave in September - timed that right hey?!?! 

So now it's time to relax and enjoy the final few weeks as a family of three, make sure you pop back soon for a nursery room tour and some more baby/pregnancy updates!

Mummy B xoxox