My breastfeeding story so far...

Hi ☺

while I was still pregnant myself and hubby decided I would try to breastfeed when we had the baby. It seemed like the logical thing to do, every midwife we spoke to basically told us it was my Duty to try it as it was better for the baby etc and it was cheaper than formula.
So when baby was born (from now on I will call her EmJ ) I started to feed her myself.  However, I was in hospital for a few days after her birth as I was a bit ill, and I found it very difficult to feed her. I couldn't figure out how to get her to latch on properly so I kept having to ask for help. EmJ would lick around the nipple and put it in her mouth but then wouldn't actually suck. When I kept asking for help the midwives or nurses would latch her on without telling me what I was doing wrong or what I should be doing.
Some of you may be reading this and thinking well breastfeeding is natural you should just know how to do it!But I genuinely didn't.
When we left the hospital I found it even harder as she would only latch on occasionally, and the less she was feeding the more tired she was getting which we thought was normal as newborns sleep a lot. We thought she just wasn't a very hungry baby. I tried to feed her every few hours but she wouldn't have it and we didn't know any better.
So when the midwife came out the day after we got sent home, she weighed EmJ and realised she had lost 12.1% weight, and we had to go back into hospital.
We were on the proper children's ward this time and they did a lot of tests to see if there was a reason she wouldn't feed, but I told them I thought it was just because I didn't know what I was doing. They measured her glucose and it was very low which was why she was so tired, and she was too tired to feed properly. However I did have a lot of colostrum,  so I expressed into a cup and the midwives cup fed emj until she had enough energy to feed herself. All her tests came back fine and after a few days in hospital, with the lovely nurses showing me how to breastfeed and encouraging me, emj gained weight and had more energy and was allowed home.
Since we have returned home she has been feeding every few hours and has put on weight. The breastfeeding team ring us regularly to make sure we are still coping fine and emj is still feeding properly which I think is good as it encourages me to continue with it rather than swapping to bottles.

The reason I wanted to share this story is because no one really talks about what happens if you don't know how to feed your baby as it is thought to be a natural thing.  And believe me I felt awful, I felt like I had failed her and failed as a mother. I was embarrassed that I couldn't do the basics of looking after a baby and I was so close to giving up and bottle feeding but with the support of hubby and the children's ward I now know that to some women it is difficult. I am sure there are other women who have gone through the same as me and I just want them to know that they didn't fail, and as long as they do what is best for them and the baby then they are a successful parent.

💖 xxx

A further update about the rash...

Hi ☺

So...The rash has gone (touch wood). It actually disappeared off my stomach the day I gave birth and went from my legs and arms not long after.
Myself and hubby have therefore decided we were right all along and it was PPPU or PEP that I had as one of the things stated about it is it disappears when you have the baby.
If anyone else has the same sort of rash as I did, I would seriously recommend telling your doctor to check the symptoms for Pep (if in uk ) as it is not just stretch marks or a sensitivity to anything although the cream given for sensitivity does help as it is a mild steroid cream. 
It annoyed me a bit that my GP discounted what we thought just because we read about it on Google, and dismissed the rash as stretch marks when it clearly wasn't that, and if I hadn't gone to the ANDU I wouldn't have had any relief at all until the birth.

For those who didn't read my initial posts about the rash, it started off as really itchy pink spots in the stretch marks on my tummy, then spread over the rest of my tummy, back, hips, thighs, arms and a little on my calf's. They were very very itchy, to the point where I genuinely wanted to rip my skin off and couldn't sleep at night. They became bigger and some of them started to look a bit like blisters or boils and just became more itchy. The good thing about this rash is that it very rarely affects the face, or the hands although I did get a few on the back of my hands.
There is no real reason why some people get PEP and others don't, but apparently it is more common in first time mothers, those expecting multiples, and those expecting boys. If you have it in one pregnancy it is very unlikely you will get it in subsequent pregnancies.
There is no cure except to give birth, although steroid creams and anti histamines can help with the itchiness but obviously you have to be very careful while pregnant with these.

I put up with the itchiness for quite a few weeks and honestly it was awful so if you think you have this please see a doctor and make them look at PEP  (although some midwives know about this condition and just discount it).

💖xxx

What we have used with the baby so far...

Hi ☺

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, I was ill and then had a baby girl but I am hoping to start posting properly again ☺

Today I want to talk about the products that I have actually used since having the baby, as we bought a lot of stuff before we had her.

🍼 chicco next to me crib- originally we were intending to use this both upstairs and downstairs but after attaching it to the bed we realised how much of a faff it was so it has remained in the bedroom for when baby goes to bed at night time.  I will say that it is an amazing thing to have as it means I can see my baby without sharing a bed with her and it soothes her knowing that we are so close to her and if she starts to cry we can reach her immediately.  I would definitely recommend this to anyone even though it is a little bit expensive it is worth it.

🍼a moses basket- I mentioned in a previous post that we weren't going to get a moses basket as we were going to use the chicco crib, but a few days after the birth we did go out and buy a moses basket for downstairs. We only paid about £41 for it but it is comfy and looks cute.

🍼baby bath- we bought both a baby bath and a bath support as originally we weren't going to use a baby bath we were just going to use the bath support. However, since being in a lot of pain I found I couldn't lean over the bath so the baby bath was a life saver! The reason we weren't going to get the baby bath was the baby would grow quickly and wouldn't get much use out of it but I would now say that a baby bath is the best option especially if you have stitches.

🍼room thermometer- we try to have this in whichever room we are in at the time. We have the gro egg one which changes colour depending on the temperature and I don't think we have been in green yet. We have tried but the optimum temp is about 18 degrees Celsius which is actually quite cold and as we have a new house it is generally around 24 degrees so we do tend to judge ourselves what to dress the baby in rather than rely on the temp monitor but it is nice to have. Their website also has a handy table which shows what tog sleeping bag or blanket to use depending on the temp of the room.

🍼a water bottle for me- breastfeeding really makes me dehydrated so I have to have a bottle of water with me at all times. No one told me what to expect other than hunger which I don't even get.

🍼all of the essentials like nappies and wipes etc are obvious so I won't talk about them other than we love pampers and asda little angel wipes.

Those are basically what we have been using in the past few days since coming out of hospital.  I will do a post about what we haven't used so far and why.

💖xxx

An update about the rash...

Hi ☺

For those of you who read my post yesterday,I finally got seen by a doctor at the hospital at the antenatal day unit ☺

Basically we tried ringing the midwives again and still couldn't get hold of any of them, I rang the antenatal clinic but they wouldn't see me but did give me the number of another midwife who actually answered her phone (1 out of the 9 that we rang!) And she told me she couldn't come to see me but told me to ring antenatal day unit again and tell them she wanted me to come in and be checked out.
Once we got to the andu we were put in a waiting room for half an hour, then I got asked to lie on a bed and was hooked up to a monitor that monitors the babys heartbeat, and my bloods were taken.
The baby heartbeat was fast (the normal range is 110-160 and baby was 175-190) but it was moving about a lot so they thought it could be that.  I was on the monitor for an hour, and then someone else needed it.
My bloods all came back normal so a doctor was asked to come and see me. When he came he actually examined the rash which no one had done so far, and asked some questions. He told me that it looked as if it started as something like PUPP but as my GP had incorrectly assumed it wasn't that and was just stretch marks it would have got worse anyway, but what made it worse was the stretch mark cream the GP gave me (that she googled ) I was actually allergic to which was why the rash was getting a lot worse and more itchy as the worse it was getting the more cream I was putting on so it was a vicious cycle.
I have now been given different cream and tablets, and honestly it's looking better already. The doctor told me if it didn't get any better by Thursday I have to go straight back in to see him, and he's going to do a check up on me next week including more blood tests.
We were at the hospital for 5 hours altogether, and we got put back on the foetal monitor and baby's heartbeat was fine by then so they were happy to let me go home

I'm so happy that we finally got sorted out, and although the rash wasn't anything that could harm the baby,  it could have been and neither my GP nor my midwife looked at it properly or took me seriously. It could easily have been something more serious and I took a picture of part of the rash on my thigh just to show I wasn't being over dramatic. (While we were at the hospital my rash was actually getting worse on my arms as I had put cream on before leaving the house).

Have any of you had bad experiences with doctors or midwives?

Xxx

Due date been and gone....

Hi ☺

If you read my latest pregnancy post you will know that I was due last Friday, (10th july) unfortunately that date has now passed and the baby is making no signs of appearing anytime soon.
What I thought was pains from my cervix softening apparently wasn't as when the midwife came to do the membrane sweep my cervix was closed and behind the baby's head! Gutted!! This is going to be a bit tmi now so stop reading if you like 😂 after the failed sweep attempt (she ended up just doing a membrane massage,  which btw feels nothing like a massage it was actually painful for me) I did start to lose more mucous. This time it had brown tinge to it but I am assuming that is normal after the cervix has been massaged, and since then I have been losing white mucous daily but as this happened before I'm not taking it to mean anything.
I went to the doctors as I developed a very itchy rash (which I may have mentioned) on the bump where the stretch marks were, but then it spread all over the bump, my legs, arms hands and feet (so far). The doctor wasn't very interested and said it was just related to the stretch marks, which we weren't happy about as most of it was nowhere near any! When the midwife came out for the sweep we showed it to her but she said she was too busy to look properly and wouldn't go against the doctor anyway. We said we thought it was PUPP or PEP as it is known here, and she told me to stop googling things. Despite getting stretch mark cream off the doctor the rash is getting worse and spreading more, all over my back and bum so I am going to try and see another doctor today.
On Sunday one of my ankles and foot swelled up, but the other one didn't which I know can be something to worry about. We tried getting in touch with our midwife, and then other midwives but all of their phones were turned off so we rang the hospital antenatal day unit but they weren't answering. We ended up getting in touch with the birthing centre and they just told me to raise my leg for a couple of hours and even if that did nothing they wouldn't do anything.
Yesterday I started getting bad back pain coming and going and a tightening of my bump but it amounted to nothing unfortunately so still no sign of baby :(

Have any of you gone over your due Date?

39 weeks update

Hi ☺

I am now 39+3 pregnant and boy am I feeling it!

JJ thinks that me wanting greggs sausage rolls all of the time is now officially a craving (I just wanted the pastry) and those gorgeous mini Victoria sponges they do too!! Although I am still loving chocolate milk and ice cream! Healthy I know, but I am eating a balanced diet too.
I have stretch marks on the bottom of my bump now which are really itchy!I didn't even know they could be itchy so I will admit that I have googled it to make sure it is fine! The bump also became a bit sore to touch at one point which panicked me but apparently is normal.
A bit TMI so if you don't want to read this part look away now....I started to lose my mucous plug yesterday (at least I think that's what it was) so I am hopeful that baby will make an appearance soon, although apparently when you lose this has no bearing on labour unless it has blood in it which mine didn't 😕 I have also been constantly leaking from my boobs this week, and I mean constantly! For the past few months I've had a few drips but the past week they have been streaming and soaking everything so I have had to start wearing breast pads.

My mam is coming to stay with us on Wednesday until a few days after the birth (I think) which will be good as she has had two kids so knows what to look out for with labour! Does anyone else have the scary feeling that they won't realise they're in labour until it's too late to go to the hospital?? No? Just me?
I am finding it harder to go for walks now and as driving is uncomfortable we do tend to be walking everywhere.
As you will know the weather has been very hot lately so we had to go out and buy a fan to cool me down, and also for when the baby is born so he/she doesn't overheat.
We have washed all of the baby's clothes and ironed them ready for when the baby comes. I didn't realise how many clothes we had!! I may have mentioned this last week I can't remember 😐

I have been feeling a bit down lately and feeling like I have no friends as when I try to make plans everyone is busy, and no one texts me much anymore unless I text them. I do know it's nothing personal and that people are busy with their own loves and work etc but JJ gets messages all of the time off his mates and constantly gets asked to make plans with them which makes me feel worse. I am hoping it is just my hormones being silly with me being this close to labour and that it will be fine once the baby has been born, but who knows.

I have become slightly addicted to daytime tv- I have a schedule... everybody loves raymond, Jeremy kyle, homes under the hammer, cowboy builders, come dine with me then dallas cowboy cheerleaders ☺ I know I won't have time to watch these when the baby comes as I will be too tired or too busy so I am making the most of it now!! I do now want to be a cheerleader though 😂

What have you all been up to this month?If you are pregnant how is your pregnancy coming along?
I would love to hear from you all.

💖 xxx

Ingenuity convertme swing-2-seat review

Hi ☺

We got the ImGenuity convertme swing chair from mother care (I think) ages ago but I only just got round to setting it up a couple of days ago (I walked past the baby room and just got the urge to set it up!).
I like to think that after putting together all of the baby's furniture that I am quite a good person at doing things like this....but this chair proved me wrong!
I did set it up alone, and it didn't take that long overall but oh my word!the instructions are hard to follow! There are only pictures to follow, no written instructions, and I thought I had followed them really well until I came to put the cover on at the end! At no point in the instructions does it say not to fully tighten the screws, but as I found out at the end if you tighten the screws fully you can't put the cover on! Basically, the bottom of the chair is meant to be able to be lifted up for storage (I obviously didn't know this as it didn't seem to be safe to me to leave anything that could potentially trap the baby?!) So I had tightened the screws and then spent a good ten minutes getting frustrated as to why I couldn't fit the cover over the chair properly and the instructions were no help! I ended up ringing my mam in a mood and declaring that the chair was stupid and I didn't like it, while on the phone I did realise that the instructions showed the bottom of the chair being lifted up to fit the cover on. I unscrewed the screws a little bit and sure enough the bottom of the chair lifted up and I could fit the cover over it...but I was hating the chair at this point!!
The other thing I don't like about it is the one toy that comes with it, I just don't like it and I wish we had opted for another chair but on the plus side we can buy more toys to put on it that might make me like it a little more.

I will see how baby likes it and do an update then as the baby's opinion is more important than mine!

Have any of you got this chair? What are your opinions of it?

💖 xxx

beauty: comparing foundations #1

Hi

As some of you may know, I have tried a lot of different foundations since I started wearing makeup many years ago. Currently I have 4 foundations on the go, so I thought I would do a post comparing them all.  I will start with the 'drugstore' foundations and then onto the more 'high end' foundation (although it still wasn't too high end!).

Revlon Colorstay foundation for oily/ combination skin in Buff Chamois

I  have recently started using this foundation again, after a two year period of trying different foundations.
Packaging
I actually love this packaging, it is a clear glass bottle so you can see the colour of the product and can see how much you have left. There are two different types of this foundation, one for dry combination skin and one for oily combination skin, and the lids on the two bottles are different. The lid for the oily combination version is a plain black, shiny lid, the dry version has a slightly more upmarket looking lid which is black encased in a clear glass lid.  I think the packaging does look slightly more high end than other foundations which I love!! The only thing I don't like is that it does not come with a pump so I have to pour it onto the back of my hand, which means that it is quite messy and also means that I sometimes pour more out than I intend to which wastes the product a little bit.
Consistency
This foundation is quite thick, and the bottle I have at the moment is a little thicker than what I am used to. I'm not sure if it is just a one off as I don't remember I being as thick previously, but it is quite difficult to get the product out of the bottle and onto the back of my hand, I find myself having to bang the bottle quite hard in order to get anything out of it. The good thing about that is that I am slightly less likely to accidentally pour out too much product, as some foundations I have are quite runny so this is better.  It is actually really easy to blend into the skin though despite being thick, I use the real techniques buffing brush to apply it, and it does give a flawless finish quickly.
Coverage
This is a high coverage foundation which is what I usually go for. It does cover blemishes without the need for concealer in my experience, but it does need a little extra help covering the dark circles under my eyes which I have had lately due to not being able to get comfortable enough to sleep as it is too hot! But, this is to be expected, and doesn't bother me too much.
As it is very hot lately, I haven't wanted such a high coverage foundation (which is weird as I have never wanted anything but high coverage) so I have mixed a small amount of this foundation with my usual moisturiser to try and make a homemade tinted moisturiser which actually worked surprisingly well. It still covered up everything that I wanted covering up, while feeling a lot lighter.
Although I do get the formula for oily skin, I don't feel like it completely stops oily skin from shining through but this is probably just because of the hot weather and the fact that I am pregnant. I will say that the foundation may look a little shiny after 12 hours of wear, but it doesn't slide off like some foundations do.
Shade
As I mentioned before, I get this product in the colour Buff Chamois, which is actually the perfect shade for me when I am not tanned. It is slightly beige with a yellow undertone as I don't like foundations with pink undertones. I'm not sure the exact number of shades available but when I went to Mexico last year I did get a slightly darker shade which matched my tanned skin quite well, and there does seem to be quite a wide range of colours available.
This is also one of the only foundations that doesn't seem to oxidise and go a bit orange after a while which is great.
Price
I think this is about £12-£14 but in Boots there always seems to be an offer on, whether it be money off or 3 for 2, which makes it slightly cheaper. I will also mention that only a small amount is needed so the bottle I have at the moment has lasted me about 5 months so far so it does last a while.

No7 Beautifully Matte foundation in Calico
This is the foundation that replaced the Revlon foundation with two years ago as I had heard it was meant to be really good and mattifying.
Packaging
I'm not actually keen on this packaging as I think it looks cheap. It is a plastic bottle, which you can see through but it is actually white (I don't know quite how to describe it, it is not clear like the previous product, it is white plastic but you can see the foundation through it), so you can see how much product you have left and can sort of see the colour of the product inside. It has a black lid, and also comes with a pump. I do love that it comes with a pump, but I do prefer glass bottles rather than plastic but it is just preference.
Consistency
This foundation is slightly less thick than the Revlon foundation, but isn't runny or watery. I usually apply a couple of pumps to the back of my hand and that gives the exact amount I need. It is very easy to blend with the buffing brush.
Coverage
Again, this is quite a high coverage foundation, but it doesn't seem to provide quite the same amount of coverage as the Revlon foundation.  I don't suffer from acne or blemishes currently but over the past couple of years I did have a few, and while the Revlon foundation covered them easily, this foundation did need a little bit of help from concealer. I would still definitely describe it as high coverage though, or at least medium/high coverage.
This doesn't seem to last as long as the Revlon foundation on me, and does seem to disappear on my nose and chin after about 8 hours of wear so may need touching up (I just take a makeup brush and try to blend the remaining foundation back over my whole face as I think that sometimes applying more foundation can look cakey or overdone). It doesn't mattify my skin for very long, although when used with a setting spray it does last a while longer.
Shade
This is probably the thing that I love the most about No7 products.  If you don't already know, No7 counters offer a free matching service in which they use a camera machine thing (technical term) to match your skin tone to the foundation. This is better than either me just deciding myself whether it matches me, or other makeup counters which just use their eyes to match people as I have been matched badly at some of those.
There is also a wide range of colours from what I can remember, although some of their other products have a wider range of colours.
Price
This is currently £13.50 at Boots which is impressive as the Revlon foundation is slightly more expensive and I had always thought of No7 as being more expensive.  As only one or two pumps are needed, this also does last quite a while although slightly less than the Revlon foundation.

Estee Lauder double wear foundation

I got this foundation as a suggestion from a beauty vlogger who compared it to the Revlon foundation and said it was better so I had to try it!
Packaging
This comes in a glass bottle, and looks very high end. The glass that the bottle is made from is thicker than the Revlon foundation, and feels more sturdy so I am much more relaxed about having this in my bag as I feel like it is less likely to crack.  As it is glass, you can see the colour of the product and how much of the product you have left, which is ideal for me as I always end up running out if I can't see how much is left. This bottle doesn't come with a pump so I have the same problem with pouring it onto the back of my hand, but this is a more thin consistency than the Revlon foundation so it does come out quicker, meaning that I am more likely to pour out more than I need which does waste the product.
Consistency
As I have mentioned, this is a thinner consistency than I am used to.  I still apply it with the buffing brush, but I do find that it takes more blending in than the previous two foundations that I have mentioned. This surprised me as I thought that it would be easier to blend as it is a thinner consistency.  I think this foundation would probably be easier to apply with a beauty blender, but I do not have one yet so I can't say for certain.
Coverage
This is still a medium/ high coverage foundation in my opinion despite being slightly thinner in consistency. It offers a very similar coverage to the Revlon foundation on me, so it does cover up blemishes when needed, and does actually seem to cover the dark circles a little better, although some concealer is still needed.
The reviews that I read before purchasing this foundation stated that it kept skin matte all day, which I didn't find, but it did last about the same length of time as the Revlon foundation and even longer with setting spray. I do, however, find that this seems to disappear more than the Revlon foundation on my nose and chin which is disappointing. However, I do think that it offers a slightly more flawless and natural looking finish than the other two foundations despite needing to be blended in more.
Shade
I got matched by someone at the Estee Lauder counter, and honestly the shade doesn't quite match me like it should. Whether this is because they didn't have a shade that perfectly matched me, or if it was the lighting at the counter, I'm not sure which is why I prefer the no7 match service. You may wonder why I bought it if it didn't quite match but at the time it looked okay, and I did feel pressured into buying it by the sales woman, so I didn't feel like I could go outside and see what it looked like in natural light. I did mention at the time that I would like to try a lighter shade but the sales woman said that it matched me perfectly. Saying that though, I do still wear it as it isn't ridiculously dark only slightly too dark for me so if I blend it really well it doesn't look too bad, and suits me when I am slightly more tanned.
Price
This is quite pricey for me at about £30, especially as it doesn't seem to be too much better than the Revlon foundation. I don't use this as my everyday foundation due to the colour, so I do only use it if I am going out somewhere nice and want a more flawless finish.

Chanel Perfection Lumiere foundation

I got this after watching another beauty vlogger rave about it, she has similar skin to me and she said that it was amazing despite being a medium coverage foundation.
Packaging
Again, I love this packaging. I think better packaging is one of the main things you get when you buy a higher end foundation. It is a glass bottle again, with slightly cloudy glass (I can't remember the actual name of the type of glass) and again it seems thicker than the less expensive foundation bottles. It has a black lid, and comes with a pump which I love! Because it is a glass bottle, you can see the colour of the foundation and how much product there is left like the other three foundations.
Consistency
This is probably the thinnest foundation I have ever used, and I would even say it is more runny than some tinted moisturisers that I have used in the past. As you know by now, I pump the foundation onto the back of my hand before applying to my face, which does become tricky with this foundation as it does tend to spread over my whole hand which can become messy. I also think that this may be another foundation that is better applied with a beauty blender rather than the buffing brush that I use, but it still seems to apply adequately with the brush.
Coverage
As mentioned earlier, this is not a high coverage foundation. It offers slightly less coverage than I am used to so I do only use this when my skin is having a good day, but I do actually love this product anyway. This is probably the only foundation I have ever tried that is more medium coverage, maybe even light coverage, so it is weird that I love it so much, but I do feel that it offers enough coverage for me to be happy with. I have noticed that it tends to cover up any small blemishes that I have while letting the few freckles I have come through so it actually offers the most natural finish of all of the foundations. I do need some extra help with the under eye circles, but surprisingly not as much as I expected.  It feels a lot lighter on the skin, and I prefer this for the summer months.
Shade
I was matched by a lady at the counter again, so again this is ever so slightly darker than the Revlon foundation but not as dark as the Estee Lauder foundation. As I only usually wear this in the summer anyway, the shade is actually perfect! I think there are a lot of shades available, more than the drugstore foundation ranges, and I found that the sales assistant at this counter offered to give a sample of the foundation in the matched colour so you could go away and try it for a few days and if you liked it could go back and buy it which I love.
Price
Again, I think I paid about £30 for it, which is slightly expensive but I genuinely think that it is worth it and good value for money. Despite being runny and medium coverage, I actually use less of this product than the  previous foundations, and because it has a pump I don't waste any of it.  If you have the budget for this I would definitely recommend it, and it smells lovely too (the others don't really have a smell).

I hope you have enjoyed this post, and if you want more posts like this please let me know!