Tommee tippee sangenic bin

If you haven't heard of it, the sangenic bin is meant to save you from constant trips to the outside bin to dispose of nappies without the house stinking. There are cartridges that hold 70 something nappies depending on the size of them, and the bin itself holds about 28 before it needs emptying. There are three colours: pink, blue and white.

I'm not going to lie, I didn't read the description properly and just thought that every cartridge held 28 nappies rather than just the bin so I didn't realise that I would have to cut the bag and re knot it every time the bin got full! There is a blade on the underside of the lid to cut the bag with, although it did take me a couple of attempts before it actually cut through the whole of the bag. You then tie a knot in the top of the bit that you're throwing away, and the bottom of the unused bag so you can continue to put nappies in it. I hate emptying the bin as it really smells, the smell is contained within the bin so until you open it your room won't smell at all which is really good, but once you open the bin it is disgusting! I tried washing the bin but the smell sort of stays ingrained into the plastic 😐 I have ended up putting a plastic bag into the bin for the nappies to go into to make it a bit easier to transfer the nappies to the outside bin when the sangenic bin is full as although the nappies are all contained in what is effectively a large nappy bag, it isn't pleasant carrying the long nappy sausage out.

The sangenic bin does reduce the number of trips you make to the outside bin, and it does contain the smell really well but honestly I don't think it is worth getting. It is just as easy to use normal nappy bags and putting them in the normal household waste bin in the kitchen then emptying that when it is full as the nappy bags do tend to keep the smell in quite well and we empty the kitchen bin regularly anyway. I did get taken in by the hype and it is a cute bin but I don't think I would buy another one if this one broke in some way.

Have you tried this bin? What did you think of it?

Xxx

Parenthood and relationships

When I was still pregnant people told me that it doesn't matter how strong your relationship is, it will struggle to survive once you have a baby. I didn't really listen as I thought that people were exaggerating, but honestly they were right.

You will get tired and cranky with each other, when the baby cries for seemingly no reason and you have checked all the usual (hungry, needs changing, tired, wind etc) you will blame each other for not being able to soothe the baby. But if you're anything like us, you will have a little argument then realise it's silly and only because you're tired and then apologise to each other and have a big family hug.  I'm not saying that we argue all of the time, but there are occasions where you will think your partner could do more to help or something, and they will think they do loads and you will end up having a discussion about it but it won't last forever and you have to remember that it is normal.
I think it would be less normal to not argue when you're both tired, more tired than you've ever been. I have worked some pretty difficult night shifts in the hospital and even then I have never been as tired as I have been with the baby so it is logical to get tired and stressed out and take it out on the people closest to you.

I will also point out that men get jealous. Not all men probably, but definitely my hubby. He asks me for cuddles now because he gets a bit jealous that EmJ gets loads of cuddles and he doesn't think he gets any. He especially likes me to cuddle him to sleep because night time is probably when I spend most of my time watching the baby to make sure she's not sick in her sleep or something and every little sound she makes I'm awake and watching her, so he feels like I don't pay him enough attention now. Luckily he has told me about this, and does ask me for cuddles, but if he hadn't we could easily have ended up splitting up because he felt I wasn't giving him enough attention, and I have seen people split up for this reason. So my advice is talk to your partner and if you or him feel left out then tell them so you can work through it. There are some statistics out there That state that men are more likely to cheat when they have a young baby at home because they feel left out and just enjoy the attention given to them by the other woman.  I can see why this is true as if I hadn't started showing more affection to hubby he probably would have sought it elsewhere.

Have you got any advice about parenting and relationships?

Xxx

EmJ 6 week update

So its been another week..It seems to have flown by!!

EmJ smiles and giggles loads now, especially at my mam!as soon as my mam walks into the room EmJ has the biggest smile on her face!! She is a bit ticklish and giggles if you tickle her tummy ☺

She hated lying down now, she prefers to be sitting up or standing (with our support). She loves walking up my tummy still, and loves being in her baby chair.

She cuddles her comfort blanket now which is super cute. She holds it with her right hand usually, I don't know why she won't hold it with her left hand much but she plays with her dummy with her left hand so we aren't too worried.

She grabs her dummy and pulls it out of her mouth then cries if she can't put it back in again, it's quite amusing to watch!she's such a cutie! We only give her a dummy to comfort her when she eats her hands but isn't hungry (we do check ) but people have already made comments to me about babies shouldn't be allowed dummies. In my opinion if it makes her happy then she can have it, she isn't given it all of the time and won't have it for more than 6 months or a year depending on what advice the dentist gives when she starts getting teeth.

She had her first few hours away from me and hubby when we went out for a meal for our anniversary. My mam looked after her and she was really well behaved!she didn't cry once and accepted my expressed milk off my mam. My mam used the foam bath support which we haven't used before and she loved it, my mam was splashing her and making waves in the water and EmJ loved it! We have since tried this at home and she giggles and kicks her legs to make a splash so we have stopped using the baby bath.

EmJ has grown out of one sleep suit which I was surprised at but it shows she is growing which is good! We still have some 0-3 months clothes that are too big for her but most of it fits her now.

She has started eating more out of the bottle, she takes 5oz not 4oz now which makes me wonder if she is getting enough when I feed her directly from the breast as when I express I can only ever get 4oz out! I don't know if this is why she wants to feed more when I do feed her from the breast as she isn't getting enough.

We have a toy for the car seat now which she looks at out of the corner of her eye, as if she is suspicious of it, then giggles at it then goes back to looking suspiciously at it. She hasn't actually played with it yet but I think this is because she doesn't quite understand why it is there now.

She is awake a lot longer now and gets cranky as she fights her sleep. I think she doesn't like to miss things so if we lie next to her with our eyes closed she will close hers and go to sleep, but if we were clearly staying awake she fights her sleep.

Xxx

5 things I've loved this week #1

I love these posts so thought I would do one of my own ☺

💖 the first thing I have been loving this week is gossip girl. I know this has been finished for ages but I never actually watched the final series, so thought I would start from the beginning and I am loving it! I'm still only on series 1 but the drama is so exciting, I just wish I had gone to a school like that!

💖I have been loving the Danny black book series by Chris Ryan.  I love his books as he doesn't over exaggerate things like some authors do, and I think that this is because he was in the SAS. His new book in the series came out yesterday, so I haven't read it all yet but it is about ISIS so far, which shows how on point he is.

💖I had my favourite dessert lemon meringue pie when I was at my parents house at the beginning of the week. My mam made it and it was amazing! Homemade desserts are always better than shop bought ones.

💖we have just moved EmJ onto bigger bottles as she is having 5oz of milk when I express now, so the bottles we were using are too small. I love the bottles we are using now as we have two pink, two purple and two green ones. They are so pretty and make it easier to keep track of which expressed bottles need to be used first as I do pink then purple then green.

💖the last thing I have loved this week is EmJs new 1.5tog sleeping bag. We got it from asda and it is pink with bambi on the front which makes it so gorgeous.

What have you been loving this week?

Xxx

Breastfeeding facilities in meadow hall including mothercare

As a breastfeeding mother I have been struggling to feed EmJ while out in public. Yes I know, it is against the law to stop a woman breastfeeding in a public place but I am a very shy, private person and the thought of getting my boobs out in front of people is a very scary thing! I hadn't been expressing until about a week ago, and I ended up feeding EmJ in disabled toilets in pubs like Wetherspoons if we went out!

However, my prayers have now been answered and I have discovered breastfeeding rooms!

On a recent trip to Meadowhall in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, I went to Mothercare to get some stuff for EmJ and while looking for the lift I stumbled upon a changing room, a bottle feeding area complete with bottle warmers and a separate breastfeeding room!! I was that impressed I genuinely rang my mam to tell her about it! I couldn't feed in the breastfeeding room as annoyingly it was full of people bottle feeding or just sitting waiting for their friend/relative to finish breastfeeding, so I actually ended up feeding her in the bottle feeding room but luckily no one came in! There were sofa type seats to sit on, and it was really comfortable to feed her. Plus because there was also the baby changing part I could change her straight after! !I thought this was such a good idea by mother care to have these rooms as the people who shop there will predominantly be pregnant or with child!

Because EmJ is a greedy little thing (she isn't really, she's just growing) she wanted feeding again before I left Meadowhall and I was nowhere near mother care so I resigned myself to having to take her into the toilets but then I noticed that there was an actual feeding room next to the toilets by the food court, which had a nursing seat in it!!and a lock on the door so I could feed her in comfort and total privacy!!
Because I had found this room I decided to have a little wander round and see if there were more and in general I found that there was a feeding room wherever there was a baby changing area!

I have to say that I am so impressed with Meadowhall as it makes it so much easier to breastfeed and means I will more than likely do more shopping there!!

As a side note,  I have since found a breastfeeding room in Alhambra in Barnsley also by the baby changing area!

Xxx

My current morning routine

Hi ☺

Since having EmJ, my morning routine has changed so I thought I would do an updated post.

EmJ usually wakes up at about half 3 or 4 am so I get up with her. I feed her and change her then watch nothing to declare or border security while playing with EmJ, at the minute she likes to listen to me singing songs I learnt off my family when I was very young.
At about 6:30am I feed her again, and then read her a chapter of a little princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett as that is the book I am currently reading to her and she generally falls asleep before I finish the chapter.
Hubby sometimes gets up at 7am, so if he does I go back to bed for a few hours until EmJ wants feeding again, if he doesn't then I try to get EmJ to sleep in her moses basket so I can go to sleep but a lot of the time she won't sleep of she's not being cuddled so I watch the animal planet channel or more episodes of nothing to declare until hubby gets up.
At about 10am I brush my teeth, and get washed. I am currently using the clinique 3 step system again, so I wash my face using the liquid soap for combination oily skin. I use the toner and the moisturiser from this set and brush my hair.
If I am going out anywhere I will straighten my hair and apply makeup while hubby watches EmJ, I have got this down to about 15 minutes now! If we aren't going out I don't bother, which is surprising to me as I used to wear makeup all of the time even if just staying in the house and I also always made sure my hair was perfect but now I'd rather concentrate more on EmJ. Plus it means I'm using less makeup now so I won't have to buy it as often.  Luckily hubby loves me without makeup so he doesn't mind!

If EmJ is sleeping I will watch homes under the hammer and cowboy builders as I have become slightly obsessed! But if she stays awake I try to talk to her, pull faces at her and sing to her. We also like to give her tummy time on her playmat and I have started trying to introduce toys that play music and a comfort blanket toy.

That is my mornings now. What do you do on a morning?

💖 xxx

Review: Italian farmhouse, sunderland

Two years ago hubby and I got married at the roker hotel in Sunderland, so we decided to have a meal in one of the restaurants there for our anniversary while my parents looked after EmJ  (not going to lie, I text and rang my mam a few times to check how EmJ was!). Last year we went to the Italian Farmhouse restaurant and really enjoyed it so we wanted to go there again this year and make it a bit of a tradition.

I didn't get any pictures of the food or the decor as every time I went to take a picture I was getting dirty looks off the woman on the table next to us and I am a very shy person so I didn't dare!

We made a reservation for 7pm, when we got there we were given a table for 2 in between two other tables despite there being loads of free tables that weren't quite so claustrophobic. The tables were really close together to the point where the woman on the next table kept staring at me and blatantly listening to our conversation which made me feel uncomfortable!
The design of the restaurant is quite nice, it has a lot of brickwork on the walls which gives it a bit of a rustic feel, and it has bags of pasta and bread as decoration and garlic and salami hanging from the ceilings above the windows which actually makes it look better surprisingly. The lights have big paper shades around them which makes the atmosphere a bit more romantic as the lights seem dimmer and there are candles on every table. The only thing that was out of place was the signs on the bathroom doors which I took a picture of because they were more rock or biker club based than Italian! There are quotes on the walls which I love as they are inspirational quotes which made me smile! Again didn't really fit with the Italian theme but didn't look out of place if that makes sense.

Hubby got a pint of lager and as I'm breastfeeding I got diet coke, which took about 20 minutes to come!which meant that our order didn't get taken until about 25 minutes after we got there which was a little annoying as the last time we went it was taken more quickly and I was very hungry. We decided to get a starter and hubby got meatballs and I got bruscetta as I usually love it. I don't know whether the bruscetta I have had before has been made incorrectly, or whether it was made incorrectly there but I didn't like it at all. The bread was soggy and cold (it might be meant to be cold it just happens that whenever I have had it before the bread has been a bit crunchy and it's usually warm ), and there was way too much basil so I ended up leaving most of it. Hubby loved his starter though and I must admit his was really nice although the sauce genuinely tasted like dolmio sauce! The starter took ages to come, and the table to the left of us had their main and dessert before we got our starter and the table to the right of us had their starter and main before we got our starter!! Both myself and hubby were starving by the time the starter came which made it all the worse when I didn't like mine!!

For main hubby got a pizza with three types of cheese on it with spicy beef and I got spaghetti carbonara as it is one of my favourite meals and it was lovely when I had it last time. Unfortunately hubby didn't like his pizza, we don't think the board it came on had been wiped properly as his pizza tasted of washing up liquid and the beef wasn't spicy and had loads of fat on it! He left most of his so I offered to share mine with him but it had mushrooms in it so he wouldn't! Mine was quite nice although the sauce was a bit too liquidy, and the ham was mostly fat so I ended up picking the ham out! They also covered it in black pepper and as I don't like the taste of pepper I ended up leaving a lot of mine too. The main took about 40 minutes to come which again was disappointing!!

As we both had left a lot of our food so far we decided we wanted dessert to try and fill us up a bit. Hubby got ice cream and chose chocolate, raspberry pavlova and passionfruit. He left the raspberry pavlova scoop but he really enjoyed the other two flavours and I haven't seen him so happy in ages! The passionfruit scoop was a bit like having sorbet which was good as it helped to get the taste of his pizza out of his mouth. I got chocolate calzone which was calzone with Nutella inside of it and vanilla ice cream on the side. Although my calzone was burnt I still really enjoyed it as I absolutely love Nutella!! The dessert was definitely the best part of the meal and I loved it so much!! again, we had to wait ages for our dessert to come out, and hubby was beginning to get annoyed with the service! I had finished my drink with my main and I didn't get the chance to get another one because the waiter wouldn't come over to the table even when we tried to get their attention so I ended up being quite thirsty and having to get a drink as soon as I got home!

The fastest part of the night was when we had to pay, the waiter couldn't have been any faster if he tried! Although this was good because it meant we could get out of there quicker, it was slightly annoying that they made us wait for the food but couldn't wait for us to pay and leave even though it was practically empty!

Overall we were in there for 3 hours and genuinely spent about half an hour eating and 2 and a half hours waiting! There was another group of people came in about half an hour after us that had finished all 3 courses before we even had our main! I don't know whether our waiter was just really busy or really slow but the service should have been more consistent rather than some people having to wait ages and some getting their food practically straightaway!

Overall I would give a 4 out of 10 for service, and a 4 out of 10 for the food and that's just because I adored the dessert so much. I don't think we will be going back there again which is a shame as we loved it last time but the chef was different I think. I know hubby wouldn't recommend it to anyone and after this time I don't think I would either! I think the only really good thing about it is that it is opposite the beach which is my favourite place in the world and makes me feel at home even though I don't live there anymore.

Have you been there?What did you think of it?

Xxx

Baby's 5 week update

EmJ is 5 weeks old now...how time flies!! She is still such a little character and loves to copy faces you pull at her, she will also try to blow raspberries if you blow them at her which is super cute! If you go to kiss her she turns her head so you kiss her on the mouth, and sometimes she leans in too!If you blow kisses at her she purses her lips as if she wants to blow them back ☺ we have also had more smiles off her!

She is eating more now and sometimes seems as if I'm constantly feeding her!I have started to express now but she wouldn't take the bottle off hubby at first only off me, but now if I hold her hand she will take the bottle off him which he loves as he feels like he is bonding with her. We did try her with formula as I wanted to breastfeed her during the day but give her a bottle on a night to see if she sleeps longer. We tried her with a bottle we made up and one that was ready made, she didn't take any of the ready made one at all but did try the one I made up. Unfortunately she only took half of it and then threw it all back up so we have decided not to give her formula.

She has grown and now fits a lot of her 0-3 months clothes now ☺

She is better in the bath now and only cries if the water is too cold. We have had a few smiles while she has been in the bath so we are hopeful that she likes it now!If she is particularly tired we have been putting the johnsons bedtime bath product into the water and then applying the lotion after to try and help her sleep.

She loves being in the pushchair and sleeps as soon as it starts to move. She's usually good when we are out and only cries if she's uncomfortable or hungry, and stops as soon as she gets a cuddle or feed.

She still doesn't like sleeping in the crib, but will go to sleep in her chair or in someones arms.

She likes to turn round and watch the TV, I think she likes to see the colours moving and she loves the music channels.

She loves when I sing to her and smiles and makes noises as if joining in. I try to dance with her too which is quite fun and I am reading a little princess to her still. We have just bought her a new toy for the crib, pram and car seat so I hope she likes it! She has started to hold things when she goes to sleep, like my necklace if I'm wearing it or a sleeve so we have started to give her a comfort blanket that she can hold on to. She played with her rattle yesterday, accidentally I think as she just wanted to hold it and I don't think she had realised it made a noise as it gave her a bit of a shock. 

She is staying awake longer during the day now, and didn't sleep at all for a whole afternoon but then she slept all of the next day.  Sometimes she sleeps for about 5 or 6 hours during the night which is good but other times I have to be up all night because she won't sleep.

She loves having tummy time still and you can see her trying to crawl but she can't quite figure out that she has to lift her bum up.

Think that's everything for now ☺

Xxx

Travelling with baby...weekend away

I don't live near my parents so we have to travel to visit them, and since we have had EmJ the amount of stuff we take with us to stay a few nights at my parents house has increased dramatically so I thought I would do a post about what we usually take with us.

🔴 clothes- EmJ has her own little suitcase (I got a champneys set for Christmas which came with a hard pink bag) but not all of her clothes fit so she has a bag too.  The reason we take so many clothes is that she generally is sick on them, poos on them or dribbles milk on them so has to be changed.

⚪nappies- we generally take half a box of nappies (so about 72 I think) as we do need quite a few still and if we need any more we can just go and buy them.

🔴wipes- we didn't actually bring any back this time as we have a box of wipes at my parents house.

⚪bath support- we were going to take the baby bath but it wouldn't fit in the car so we took the bath support instead as last time we forgot both and it was quite awkward trying to wash her in the big bath and keep hold of her at the same time.

🔴toiletries - we brought the johnsons first wash but that was it as we have johnsons bath stuff and lotion at my parents house so there was no point in taking ours. We did take a couple of sponges though as they don't have any there.

⚪pram- we have the silver cross 3D travel system, and originally I had planned to just take the frame and use the car seat on it, but the rain cover doesn't fit over the car seat and as the weather we have been having has been so unpredictable we didn't want to risk it, so have been taking the full travel system which admittedly does take up a lot of room.

🔴baby chair- we forgot this the first time we visited my parents so they bought one for her so we don't take it there but we do take it if we go to Liverpool or anywhere else. Luckily the chair we have packs flat so doesn't take up too much room.

⚪room thermometer- the room in which baby sleeps has to be a certain temperature, and if it is too hot or cold then the clothes they wear for bed or what blankets are used changes, so we take the gro egg with us everywhere we go so we can make sure we are dressing EmJ appropriately.

🔴bottles and pump- now that I am expressing a bit I take these with me so that I can express wherever I am staying. This means that if hubby and I go out anywhere (like we did for our anniversary ) I can express and my mam can still feed EmJ.

⚪steriliser- we don't take the electric steriliser with us as it is too big, but we have a travel steriliser that can be put into the microwave for steam sterilising, or be used with cold water and sterilising tablets.

That is everything we usually take with us, but there is probably something that I have forgotten!
What do you take with you for weekends away?

Xxx

Breastfeeding Q&A

Hi ☺

As you may know if you have read my previous breastfeeding posts, I did have a bit of trouble at first feeding EmJ and until I went back into hospital when she was 5 days old I didn't get much help despite asking for it. So I thought I would do a post answering the questions I had so that if anyone else has the same problems as me hopefully this will help.

How do I get my baby to latch on?
Babies don't naturally know how to latch on, it is a learning curve for you and them. I was doing it wrong at first which is why EmJ lost so much weight but the nurse on ward 37 explained to me how to do it. Take your breast in your hand (the hand on the same side as your breast so left hand and left breast etc), hold the baby with your other arm with your hand on the back of baby's head. Tilt the baby so they are facing you, and guide the baby's head to your breast. Position your nipple so it is under baby's nose, and baby should open his/her mouth wide and take the nipple in. Baby's chin and nose should be touching your breast, the brown part of your breast should be mostly in baby's mouth.
This may take a bit of practice but it becomes second nature to both you and baby I promise.

How do I know if baby has latched on?
You will know! For me I can tell when EmJ starts sucking properly as it hurts initially, and I can basically feel her sucking. When the milk starts to flow it doesn't hurt anymore but I can still feel her sucking longer and harder. I don't know how else to explain this but after she didn't feed for the first few days I can tell the difference between how that felt and how it feels now. If baby isn't latched on it won't feel uncomfortable and you probably won't be able to feel baby sucking. When baby is finished feeding and spits the nipple out look at the shape, if the nipple is its normal shape but a bit longer off where the baby has been sucking this is fine,if it is squashed on one side baby hadn't latched on properly and this could make it more painful for you.

How can I tell if baby is feeding?
You will be able to hear baby swallowing, if you can't hear swallowing he/she probably isn't feeding although they do have natural breaks when feeding so watch out for them. If you haven't heard baby swallowing in 5 minutes but they are still sucking it generally means they are sucking for comfort so you should take baby off the breast. If baby hasn't sucked in 5 minutes but is still on the breast, remove the baby from the breast.

How do I unlatch baby if they aren't swallowing or have fallen asleep?
Put your little finger into baby's mouth and push the tongue away from the nipple. This will release the nipple so you can withdraw it from baby's mouth.

How do I know if baby is getting enough milk?
The midwives say to use the guidelines of 6 heavy wet nappies and at least 2 dirty nappies per day show that baby is getting enough milk, but EmJ was producing these and wasn't feeding properly. So my advice is to watch out for weight changes, if it looks like baby is gaining weight they are probably feeding okay but the weight checks that get done by the midwives and health visitors will give an accurate interpretation. Another thing to watch out for is sleepiness,I know that babies sleep for most of the day at first but if you find that you have to keep waking baby up to feed and when they are awake they don't seem like they have much energy I would get them checked. EmJ was very lethargic and had to be woken up to feed when she wasn't feeding properly and she ended up being too tired to even try to latch on so she lost too much weight, so watch out for those signs.

How often will I need to feed baby?
Basically as often as baby wants it. At the minute EmJ is feeding every 3-4 hours during the day and during the night,but between certain hours in the evening (usually starting at about 6pm) she cluster feeds. This is when baby can feed loads in one or two hours and it may seem like she is feeding constantly with no break in between. This is normal and they do it to keep your milk supply coming as the hours when they cluster feed is when the level of hormone needed to produce breastmilk is at its lowest so they cluster feed to stimulate production. Quite clever really. If your baby doesn't wake up every 3 or 4 hours, leave them to sleep if they need it but don't let them go longer than 6 hours without a feed (this is what we were told). When we are out with the pushchair some of the time EmJ will sleep for 6 hours before having a feed and that is fine now so don't worry if your baby occasionally does this.

Does it hurt?
The midwives will say if you're going it right it won't hurt, but it does. Everyone I have spoken to that has breastfed have said it hurts too so it's not just me. It hurts when they first latch on and for a few sucks but after that it feels fine. When EmJ first latches on it actually makes me jump and has brought tears to my eyes once or twice so don't worry if it hurts initially,but do get checked out if it hurts the entire time. 

Can I give baby a dummy?
The advice given is wait until the baby is 4 weeks old as the sucking motion for breastfeeding and sucking a dummy are different so baby might not suck your breast properly if given a dummy before this but I disagree. We gave EmJ a dummy when she was 3 weeks old because she kept looking as if she wanted to feed,or kept sucking her hands and these were both for comfort so when we gave her a dummy it really helped. It also helps bring her wind up and she still feeds properly so using a dummy a bit early didn't affect her

Is it easy to express?
I Have expressed both in the hospital and at home and have used manual and electric pumps and for me it is easy to do. It does feel different to when baby sucks and some people find that it hurts less and is less uncomfortable but for me it still hurts a little initially. If using a manual pump, try to mimic the way baby feeds so pump fast and short until milk starts coming out then start holding each pump for about 3 seconds before releasing as this mimics the let down and then normal feeding.

How do I know how much milk to give if I am expressing?
I don't really know the answer to this other than what I do which seems to work. We checked how much formula she would be getting if we weren't breastfeeding and used that as a guideline and also I empty both boobs every time I express as this would be the amount she would be getting if she fed herself. Luckily for us the amount I express from both boobs was the same as the amount of formula she would be getting so we are confident she is getting enough. She comes off the bottle herself when she is full if there is still some in the bottle and if she is still hungry she will let us know so she never eats too much or too little.

I hope this post has helped and I am sorry it was quite long! If you have any other questions just let me know as I have asked so many questions about breastfeeding that I have probably asked someone what you want to know 😂

Oh and the poos breastfed babies do look different to bottle fed which I hadn't known, and the poos are mustard seed consistency (trust me you will agree with this description once you see one ).
💖xxx

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My birth story part 2...active labour

Hi ☺

So when I finished the last post I was going to the birthing centre...

I was taken into room 2 (don't ask me why I remember that!). I was asked to get myself from the wheelchair onto the bed and I thought to myself I can't do that it hurts too much! But the midwife told me once I was on the bed I could have gas and air, and as I hadn't been given pain relief since 9am this convinced me to get on the bed!
I told them I wanted a water birth so they started to fill the bath but as soon as I breathed in the gas I felt the urge to push which I told the midwife. She told me to go with it and push whenever I felt the need to.
After that I lose all sense of time but I remember having to push and the midwife telling me to push into my bum without making a noise as if I made a noise it would mean I wouldn't be pushing properly.
The midwives grew concerned as baby started to get distressed and they asked me to push as hard as I possibly could. The gas and air was making me dizzy but wasn't taking the pain away,but it helped me to keep breathing it as with every push I was saying to myself the next breath will make it hurt less! A doctor came in and told me I would need forceps to help get the baby out as the baby needed to come out immediately!
The forceps really hurt more than anything that had happened up until that point...I can't really describe what it felt like. I could feel where the baby was and could feel a lot of pressure and that doubled when the forceps were used but after a few more pushes all the pressure was suddenly gone.
Hubby cut the cord and was apparently given EmJ to hold but I don't remember this. I was told to lie still while we waited for the afterbirth but after a while (I'm not sure how long) someone realised they hadn't given me an injection they were meant to give me, so they gave me that and the afterbirth came out. I was told I needed stitches as they had cut me and I had also torn, but they forgot to inject me with anaesthetic so I was using the gas and air again to try and help with the pain. Despite everything I had just been through, the stitches hurt me to the point where I was crying! To make matters worse once they were done the doctor said she couldn't find a swab and spent ages looking to see where she could have put it and I was dreading them having to undo the stitches to see if it was inside me but thankfully it didn't come to that!

I don't remember holding EmJ although hubby and my mam took pictures so at some point I must have, but I do remember trying to decide her name and picking one for no reason other than it seemed like I should pick one!
I was told I had lost nearly a litre of blood so was going to be given some fluids, it took them a few attempts to get the cannula in and they needed to take blood but couldn't find any veins in my arms so were trying to take blood from my hand but it was just really painful and they didn't manage to get any.
I was given something to eat but I didn't feel well so only ate a small amount, I told them I didn't feel well but they said that was to be expected.
A nurse came and asked me to get up so she could take me into the shower room but when I sat up I felt really weird, and everything started to go dark like it does before I faint so I told her I thought I was going to faint and wanted to lie back down.  At this point I thought I had lay back down and gone to sleep and when I opened my eyes again hubby and some more nurses were standing over me telling me to keep my eyes open,I was really tired and shut my eyes to go to sleep and hubby shouted at me to stay looking at him. I thought he was just being really horrible seeing as I had been awake since 11pm the night before, but then I was told I had had a fit! They didn't know why I had the fit but they were worried about it so had decided to give me 2 units of blood.
I work in the hospital lab so I know that transfusions can go wrong and people can die and have reactions to the blood etc so I was panicking! But everything went fine and I stayed on labour suite until I had been given both units which took until 2am Friday morning. While I was being transfused my mam told me she had panicked when I was having the fit and thought I was going to die and that hubby had thought the same and had been crying. Apparently when I had sat up and said I felt faint I had just fell backward and hubby gave the baby to my mam and tried to catch me and then I started having the fit and the nurse who was there didn't know what to do so my mam had to run round the bed to press the call button to get the rest of the midwives in.
Another nurse came in and sponged me down down there.
The hand which had the cannula in it swelled up to three times the size of my other hand and it started to hurt where the blood was going in so I asked the midwife if everything was okay, she had a quick look and just said it was fine but sent a senior midwife in. The senior midwife told me to stop being stupid and the blood was flowing fine so obviously nothing was wrong. When they came to change the bag of blood over, they flushed some water through which really hurt and the tube ended up being changed because it felt like there was a blockage to the nurse, which could have been why it was hurting so much apparently as it was being forced through!
I was then transferred to the antenatal/postnatal ward at 2:30am and my mam and hubby were sent home.
💖xx

My birth story part 1

Hi ☺

I have read a few birth stories on here and I went really sure whether to post mine or not, and I was a bit reluctant to write it as it brought back bad memories...but I decided now is the time to share my story.

I was 41+6 and started having back pains at about 11pm Wednesday night (my mams birthday), I told Jay about it but he told me it wasn't labour and just to go to sleep. I tried to sleep but couldn't get comfortable, so ended up walking about the bedroom trying not to wake anyone up! The pains kept getting worse until about 2 am Thursday morning when I felt something 'pop'. I don't know how else to describe it other than it felt like something pop, so I went to the toilet and a small amount of clear fluid was present on my pad and when I wiped with toilet roll.
I woke my mam up to ask if it was my waters as I had expected them to gush out, but there was only a little bit.
My mam said she thought it was especially as I was getting pains around my front as well as my back now and they were quite close together.
We rang the labour suite and got put through to triage who told me to have something to eat and then go to hospital.

Hubby drove us to the hospital in my car, and we left the hospital bags in the car because I thought I would be sent back home!
We went through to triage and I was examined and told I was 3cm dilated and they couldn't tell if my waters had broke or not. I was asked to collect some of the clear fluid in a tube but by that time there was no fluid.
They asked me to move to another cubicle and attached me to a monitor that would monitor baby's heartbeat and said I would be attached to it for half an hour. By this time my contractions were really beginning to hurt and I remember telling hubby I couldn't cope and I wanted it to stop! Squeezing his hands didn't help so I ended up pulling my own hair to try and get the pain to stop. ..I'm still not sure why I thought that would help! Considering I was only 3cm dilated I think I was being a bit dramatic but it did really feel like I couldn't cope! Someone else came to see if they could tell whether my waters had broken and they said they couldn't tell if the membranes were still there or if it was baby's hair...After a bit of feeling she decided they had broken and it was baby's hair she could feel.
After half an hour they came to check the monitor which showed that baby's heartbeat dropped to about 30 every time I had a contraction which got them worried so I was told I would stay on the monitor for another half an hour and a doctor would have to come to see me.
The baby's heart beat kept dropping with every contraction but then going back to normal so when the doctor came he said it was fine and after another half an hour I could probably be sent home.
By this time it was 6am and the staff swapped over, the midwife or nurse who came to check on me became worried about the baby and decided to check the heart beat again before agreeing to send me home even though the doctor had said I was fine. When they checked it again it was showing the baby was getting distressed with the contractions so I was told I would have to stay in the hospital but be transferred to the antenatal/postnatal ward until I went into active labour, but I couldn't be moved until they were happy baby didn't have to come out urgently.
At 9am I was offered breakfast and was then moved to the other ward and given 2 paracetamol and 2 codeine tablets. I have never had codeine before and I'm not going to lie I felt pretty spaced out! The contractions still hurt as much but apparently I found it funny and couldn't stop giggling!! I don't remember much until we were on the other ward and hubby went home to have a nap and my mam stayed with me.
My mam has arthritis in her hands so I couldn't squeeze them when I was having contractions so I ended up hugging a pillow. By this time I had stopped complaining about them and coped with them silently while counting to 30 in my head and giving myself little pep talks that really seemed to help me....' come on only 20 more seconds and the pain will be gone and you will be fine again' etc. My mam went to sleep next to me and although the contractions were getting more painful and longer I thought I was just being a wuss so didn't want to tell anyone, so just read magazines and hugged the pillow.
At about 11am,I was asked if I wanted lunch, but because I hadn't been there when they had brought the menu round all they could give me was a chicken sandwich. I did try to eat it but I wasn't hungry and my mouth felt really dry despite all the water I was drinking. It was at this point that my mam woke up and noticed that my contractions were making me put the pillow over my face in agony and she asked if I could have some more pain relief. The nurse said I would have to be examined first, so I agreed and they realised I was now 7cm dilated and told me I would have to go to labour suite.
We rang hubby and someone came with a wheelchair to take me down to labour suite (called the birthing centre), and they crashed me into every door and wall on the way down! I remember thinking wow  that will help with my pain...not!

I will tell the rest of my birth story in another post as this one is quite long now!!

Xxx

Expressing for the first time

Hi ☺

I have been breastfeeding since day one (I have done a post on my experience so far with it, but as EmJ is going to be going to nursery one day a week from September I thought I should start trying to express instead of leaving it till the last minute and finding that I can't do it! Plus if I start now then hubby can feed her during the night too....bonus!!
We originally had the tommee tippee manual pump but somehow we have managed to lose it somewhere in the house (I think hubby has thrown it out while tidying up as it was just in a plastic box) so we had to go out and buy another one. Hubby did some research and decided that the tommee tippee one wasn't for us as a lot of people have given very bad reviews of it, so we went to boots to see which other ones they have.
I was looking at the mendela manual pump as I used the electric version in the hospital when EmJ was being cup fed, but hubby said that the Phillips avent manual pump had the best reviews, and it was on offer (£23.99) so we got that one.

It comes with a 4oz bottle, two day time breast pads and 2 night time breast pads. The pump itself is very easy to take apart to clean and sterilise (which you have to do before using it) and very easy to put back together although there are instructions too. There is basically 4 parts to it that need to be washed and sterilised.

The instructions state to express before or after a feed (if baby hadn't emptied the breast) or when the breast is engorged. It also tells you to start by doing short fast pumps and then when the milk starts to flow hold the pump for 3 seconds to mimic the way the baby feeds.
I used this for the first time today and I am finding it hard on one breast.  My nipples were already a bit sore when I started to express, so when I started pumping it did hurt initially but not in the same way that it does when EmJ feeds,however for me it does stay a little uncomfortable the whole time whereas when EmJ feeds it is only uncomfortable for the first 30 seconds or so.
One of my breasts also expresses quite easily and I have managed to get 6oz out of it today (on 2 occasions so 3oz twice) but the other one I struggle to get 1oz per time. I'm not sure if this is because there is less milk in that breast or if it is a problem expressing it as I don't know how much milk EmJ manages to get from it.
I would recommend this pump as it does what it is meant to and isn't overly uncomfortable, and there are different sizes of breast cushion available to buy if needed which I'm not sure if other pumps have.

As we have tommee tippee bottles and this is a Phillips avent pump, we only have the one bottle that came with the pump that fits the pump, so after every time I express I am currently transferring the milk into a tommee tippee bottle to be kept in the fridge, or a tommee tippee storage tub if there is only a small amount. This allows me to wash and sterilise the Phillips avent bottle to be used again the next time. It is easy to do but I do think it would have been easier if we had the pump to match the bottles that we had!

We have already tried to feed EmJ with the bottle just to make sure she would take it, and she wouldn't take it off hubby but would for me. I think this is because she associates me with food whereas she has never got food off hubby before so she probably wasn't too confident about it but we will keep trying as he will need to feed her while I am at uni.

Has anyone else expressed milk? What pump did you use? Did you find it easy?

💖 xxx

EmJ is going to nursery...

Hi ☺

Although EmJ is only 4 weeks old now, she will be going to nursery one day a week soon as I am starting my masters part time and hubby is back at work. A lot of nurseries don't take babies less than 6 months old, but we did manage to find a couple that take younger babies.
I won't give the name of the first one we went to as I really didn't like it. We arranged a visit with this nursery as it is close to where we live, and close to where I work so would be easy to take her there after my maternity leave.
We were buzzed into the building and there was no reception area just a very small hallway which we were asked to wait in. The baby room was upstairs and there was no disabled access (we aren't disabled but we had EmJ in the pushchair and were made to take her out to carry her up the very steep stairs and leave the pushchair unattended downstairs). I hate stairs usually so I was extra worried carrying EmJ up and down them!
We were told to take our shoes off and leave them outside the baby room (very difficult to put them back on while holding a baby!). The room itself was small, and had no baby chairs or anything for EmJ to be able to sit in, and we were told she would be put on the floor with the other babies (the youngest of which was 6 months older than EmJ ). Straightaway I didn't like this idea as older babies play with toys and throw them about etc so if EmJ was just lying on the floor she could be accidentally hit etc. There was a lot of toys there but they were all dirty and old looking, and the babies aren't allowed to take any of their own toys or comfort blankets in which I wasn't happy with as when she is older she may use her comfort blankets that we have for her and I wouldn't want her being distressed.
We were shown a sample menu,which she wouldn't be having as she's still on breast milk. We asked if we could express milk and bring that in and we were told we could but formula is preferred- although we have to measure the formula into one bottle and the water into another for them to then mix later! There wasn't any chairs for her to sit in while being fed so someone would have to hold her, and we were told that if the staff were busy she would have to wait to be fed! I also didn't like this as she is young when she said hungry she needs food! I hate the idea of her crying for food and being ignored!!
The sleep area was just very thin mats on the floor, and each child has a sheet to use as a blanket. I don't really like the idea of her sleeping on the floor either but we were told we weren't allowed to bring anything in for her to sleep in.
There was a sensory room which had an interactive floor which was quite good but the babies go in in groups, and are only allowed 15 minutes in there so she wouldn't see much benefit from it as the room was really small so the older babies would probably be using the floor so she wouldn't have much room.
Overall I didn't like the nursery and I didn't feel that she would be stimulated enough to progress and learn things. I also didn't feel like she would be safe enough in that I think she would get accidentally hurt by other babies playing. I didn't feel that this nursery provides enough for babies of her age, or even babies less than 6 months old, despite them claiming to accept younger babies.
Hubby told me he didn't know what to expect from a nursery so he didn't know whether that one was good or bad. I also don't know what to expect but I told him that we had to look at another one before agreeing to send her anywhere as I didn't think the standards there were good enough and I wanted to see if they were all the same.

So we arranged a visit for Mini Me's nursery. We had to be buzzed into the building at this one too but this time we were buzzed into a reception area which immediately made me feel more comfortable. We were introduced to the girl going to be showing us around, let's call her Amy (not her real name). Amy buzzed us into the main part of the building and led us to the baby room, which had a ramp going to it and a place to store pushchairs if needed. I was able to leave EmJ in the pushchair and bring her round with us.
The baby room was massive and split into two parts. One part was carpeted and used for story time, singing and playing with toys, and the other part had wood flooring and was used for activities like painting and playing with squirty cream and sprinkles or playdough etc. We were told that although EmJ is too young for some of the activities, she would be put in a baby chair and mobiles or toys would be provided to keep her stimulated. And if they were painting they would put her feet in it and let her be held over some paper to do her own painting so she would feel involved and would be getting sensory stimulation as would getting the feel of the paint on her feet. There would be plenty of toys for her to play with suitable for her age, and there was also an outdoor area with toys, soft play,ball pool, sand pit and water to play with as well as soft tarmac and grass.
They would feed her whatever we wanted, breast milk or formula, and they would store it how we wanted it to be stored. They would also work around her routine, so if she wanted to eat every 3 hours they would feed her every 3 hours rather than making her wait for the other kids to be having their lunch. She could also sleep when she wanted to and play when she wanted to. Everything is very focused on making the child comfortable. They even assess the needs of each baby individually so if one baby needs lots of cuddles they get lots of cuddles whereas if another baby wants to just play all the time and not be fussed over they let him play.
They have a special sleep room where every baby has their own cot, and if you don't want your baby to sleep in a cot they will accommodate that too. The babies are allowed comfort blankets or toys that help them to feel safe and secure too.
There is a nursery rhyme cd constantly played in the background which I like as it gives a more relaxing atmosphere.
Everything we were told, and everything we saw made me feel like this was the perfect nursery for EmJ. I am happy that EmJ will be kept stimulated and will learn new things all of the time. Each child gets a book which is filled in at the end of the day with what they ate and what they did that day,  and at the end of the month every baby gets a copy of photos of them achieving something or playing throughout the month. The baby is regularly assessed by them to make sure that they are progressing and learning everything they are meant to,  and they work with the health visitor to ensure the baby is progressing the way they are meant to. 
This nursery also offers 2 two hour free trials so that we can decide whether we want EmJ to go there, for EmJ to get a feel for it and so we can see how she settles in and which staff member she bonds with as they will become her key person and rather than just assign her someone they let the baby decide.
Overall I absolutely loved this nursery despite it being a lot further away. Both nurseries were the same price and I would be able to take emj there and still make it to uni or work on time.
I genuinely feel that EmJ will flourish there, they have lots of things for her to do and seem to genuinely care about each baby and know everything about them. She will be stimulated using sensory activities and baby toys suitable for her age which I love.

We have decided to send EmJ to Mini Me's nursery as for the same price it is a million times better than the other one and I am so pleased I insisted on seeing another nursery. I think a mothers intuition knows best, including whether a nursery is good enough or not so never doubt yourself if you're going through the same as me! If I hadn't been so fussy about what I thought the nursery should have for babies we would have sent EmJ to the first nursery and she may have been hurt or not stimulated enough.
Trust your instincts as you will more than likely be right.

💖xxx

Scottish Power and why I would never go with then again

Hi ☺

When we moved into our house nearly two years ago, Bellway had a gas and electric account with Scottish Power,  and when we moved in we took over that account, I wouldn't have chosen Scottish Power myself as my parents have always been with British gas or npower and I knew these were good companies. Although I have since found out my parents went with Scottish Power briefly and had nothing but trouble with them!

When we first took over the accounts, Scottish Power sent me 6 letters with different account numbers all asking for money....call me stupid but I'm sure one for gas and one for electricity only comes to 2!I had to ring them to query which 2 account numbers were the correct ones, and they didn't seem to know so told me to just pick two....should have known by that that they weren't a good company but oh well.
Every month they sent a bill out for both accounts for £50 each, but when we discovered we could see the account online we realised they had been overcharging us as we were nearly £300 in credit on BOTH accounts...so £600 overall!! Again we rang them, and I was pregnant at this point but they refused to speak to hubby as it was in my name although I didn't need the stress. I was told that although the accounts were in credit, the money couldn't be used to pay future bills but they also couldn't give us the money. I admit I did get a bit stressed as the man I spoke to just kept telling me I didn't know what I was talking about etc and they couldn't refund us the money or use the money and I kept pointing out they had to give us it back as it was our money surely. I ended up ringing about three times and speaking to a manager before they agreed to send us cheques for the balance, and the bloke I originally spoke to was disciplined as the manager listened to the call and admitted that the way I was spoken to was unacceptable especially as I had kept cool and calm the entire time.
When the cheques were sent in the post they were sent to Mr instead of Mrs so the bank refused to accept them, so we had to ring Scottish Power again. This time I asked if I could give hubby permission to discuss the account as I didn't want the stress while pregnant. After speaking to hubby they agreed to take future bills off the credit balance on both accounts. However they also changed the account without telling us at this point as instead of paying monthly they changed it to paying quarterly and also stopped sending us bills.
I kept checking online to see if bills were being paid by the credit balance, and on three occasions despite being in credit the account said the bill hadn't been paid so I ended up paying them by bank card online which then made the credit balance increase.
A few weeks ago we got a 'final demand' letter in the post despite not receiving a bill, and I had already checked the account online and we are still in credit and it also showed that the bill had been paid using money from the credit balance. We rang Scottish Power and asked why we were getting final demand letters when we didn't owe them anything and also didn't even receive a bill and I was told that they would look into it.
A week later we hadn't heard anything back from them but received a final demand email so we rang them back again. This time the man told me that he couldn't see anything past November.  It was July when I rang so I asked how I could see further than that online and also if there had been no bills produced since November how had I received a final demand... He didn't have an answer to this and just kept saying the account was in debit and he couldn't see past November (I feel I should point out that it was November when they sent the cheques out ). He agreed to investigate it further as I said I would pay the bill if it was correct but I wanted an explanation as to why the online account said we were in credit and showed more transactions than what they could see.
We also emailed screen shots of the online accounts to the customer service team as suggested to us by the customer service advisor.
A few days later I got a phone call from Scottish Power telling me I needed to pay the bills,I checked online again and it still said in credit so I asked again why there was a discrepancy and whether they could see past November now. They said no so I said I wanted to speak to a manager, it was at this point hubby took the phone and spoke to them. They agreed to freeze the account until everything was resolved, and we emailed the customer service team again. The advisor also asked us to take an updated meter reading so we did and he updated the account...we checked online and it had been updated and as it showed we had actually been charged too much money on the last bill they had refunded money into the account so our credit balance was even higher! A few days later we got another text off Scottish Power saying we needed to pay the bill so we rang back again and asked why we got that text when our account was frozen. We were told they couldn't discuss the account with us as the name had been changed on the account and neither of us gave the correct name so we had to ring another department to change the name back to then ring back and discuss the account. There was no reason for the name change and we still haven't found out why they had changed it! I was fuming by this point and told them if our account wasn't sorted out in the next few days I was going to take it further as we didn't need the stress with a newborn baby in the house. They said they would investigate it and the account was still frozen.
We then got a letter off Scottish Power telling us to pay...we rang back and hubby spoke to a manager (after being hung up on by a female customer advisor for saying he wanted to speak to a manager immediately ). The manager could see what we were looking at online and admitted there was a discrepancy and said he would make sure it was being investigated. At this point we went to citizens advice to ask if we could take it further and they rang Scottish Power and the woman they spoke to admitted that there is a fault with their system that is affecting lots of people not just us so the fault is definitely with them.
Yesterday we got another letter off Scottish Power again demanding money despite the account being frozen and nothing being resolved yet so hubby rang again and we were told it should never have been sent out as our account is frozen and they aren't sure when everything will be resolved.

Does this sound like a good company or good customer service?!?!
I have no problem paying bills that I actually owe but as the online records show I have been paying bills since November (and before obviously) and they can't see past November I don't want to pay anything until the discrepancy is resolved and both balances match up.

We just want to get it sorted, and we don't like how we have to keep ringing them up to try and get it sorted!!

We have now decided to switch companies but we have to resolve this issue first so if it isn't resolved this month we will be taking them to court.

Has anyone else had problems with Scottish Power?

Xxx

Breastfeeding essentials

Hi ☺

This may seem like a bit of a weird post as really the only 'essential' needed for breastfeeding is breasts! But these are things that make it a better experience for me and therefore probably for baby too.

🍼 a pillow
Holding a baby upto your breast at the correct angle for her to latch on properly takes its toll on my arms so I have found that having a pillow to rest on is so much more comfortable. You can buy proper feeding pillows but I have found that my maternity pillow (which I got from mothercare) works just as well.

🍼 a drink of water
I find that the more EmJ drinks, the more dehydrated I become. I have found that having a bottle or glass of water every time I feed her has made me feel better and more hydrated than before. I would definitely recommend always having a drink at some point close to when you feed as the times when I haven't done this I have felt a bit light headed too which I assume is because of being dehydrated, especially at the beginning when I wasn't used to breastfeeding.

🍼 a little snack
I don't always have a snack but I do tend to feel a bit more energetic after feeding when I do have one. When you think about it it does make sense as baby is taking calories and energy from you whenever you feed so having a snack just helps to keep you topped up! Obviously make it a healthy snack rather than chocolate or something like that!I have found cereal bars or oat bars are the best as they keep me energised for a little while.

🍼 a book
Although I do tend to talk to EmJ when she is feeding to keep her stimulated and let her know that she is loved, sometimes she feeds for about 20 minutes to 40 minutes and she closes her eyes while feeding so instead of sitting bored I keep a book handy. It prevents me from feeling bored and means I am happier about her feeding for longer than if I was bored as I would start to resent her feeding if I had nothing to do. You could watch TV I suppose but I like to keep the TV on mute while feeding so she can focus on what I am saying to her.

🍼 a nursing bra
I don't actually have one but it would be so much easier if I did! There isn't really a reason why I don't have one other than I just haven't got round to buying one so I wear a normal bra which I then have to take off every time I feed. This is awkward when out in public (I don't actually feed in public I go to the toilet or baby changing area and feed there as people tend to complain otherwise ) so u would recommend that if you are going to breastfeed you get a nursing bra.

🍼 a top that buttons up
Again I tend to wear t-shirts or vest tops but I have found that when I do wear a top that buttons up it is a lot easier to feed the baby as I don't have to remove the top completely. However, when I am out in public I do like that when I wear a t-shirt I can use it to cover up my boob easily when feeding just in case anyone does walk in.

So.those are the things that I think make breast feeding a more comfortable and easy experience for both you and baby.

Have you used any of these? What are your essential?

💖xxx

Gro egg and grobags

Hi ☺

When you have a new born or very young baby it is important to monitor the temperature of rooms. The ideal temperature is approximately between 18-20°C which is very hard to maintain in our house. I don't think it has ever been less than 20°C since we got back home, and that's with windows and doors open!!

We bought a gro egg which is a room temperature monitor which shows the exact temperature, and changes colour depending on the temperature  (could I say the word temperature any more in that sentence 😂😂). If the egg is yellow the temperature is fine, blue means too cold, orange means warm and red means too hot. Because it is lit up it can also act as a bit of a nightlight when the baby is a bit older (it isn't light enough to be able to see if the baby has been sick but is light enough to comfort a child).
I love this as if I can't see the temperature because I'm at the wrong angle or something I can still tell by the colour the approximate temperature.
We use this as a guide to what to dress the baby in to sleep. usually the temperature is about 21-23°C so we usually have her in a body suit or vest, and either in a sleeping bag or under a thin blanket.
The grobags  (sleeping bags) we have are 2.5 tog which will be ideal for the colder weather but are actually a little bit too thick for this weather so we do intend to buy a 1.0tog one. The sleeping bags range from about £ 20-£40 which seems a bit expensive but they are safer than using blankets as the baby won't (usually) fall underneath the sleeping bag so won't suffocate like they can with blankets. It also means their arms are free which EmJ likes as she doesn't really like to be swaddled in a blanket.

I think both the gro egg and the sleeping bags are essential for babies and I can't imagine not using either one of them

Do you use these? What did you think of them?

💖xxx

Bathing a newborn

Hi ☺

Before I had EmJ I did a post about newborn essentials for bathing but since I have had her I thought I would update you all on what I do to bath her.

We use the baby bath currently as we don't trust ourselves to put her on a bath support in the big bath incase she slips out of our hands.
we fill the bath to just over a quarter full of warm water (we check the temperature with our elbow) but before we put her in it we use cotton wool to clean her eyes, then her face. We also wash her hair before we put her in the bath as this is how we were shown how to do it by the nurse in the hospital.
Once her hair has been washed we take her nappy off (we have made sure it is clean, if not we change her before we bath her so her lady parts are clean) and hold her in the bath
She hates the bath atm so we splash her a little bit to get her used to the water,which she seems to like as she stops crying for a little bit. We put a tiny amount of Johnsons first wash into the water and use a baby sponge to clean her body. When we have finished washing her we take her out and wrap her in a cuddle and dry towel.
She usually cries at this point but when she has had a bit of a cuddle she calms down. We then massage her using johnsons night time lotion as this calms her down and makes her sleepy while also promoting bonding between us and her. We then dress her in clean sleep suit.

We use the johnsons first wash as it is designed for newborn babies, so we know it won't harm her or irritate her skin as newborns are meant to only be washed in water for a while. We also use this to wash her hair,although we do have a bottle of johnsons first shampoo which is also made specially for newborns.

We are thinking about getting a tummy tub instead of using the bath as apparently babies prefer this as their whole body is in the water and so their whole body is the same temperature, whereas if they are in the bath there bums and legs are warm but their bodies are colder as they aren't in the water. 

How do you bath your little one?

💖 xxx

Chicco next to me crib review

Hi ☺

I have mentioned this crib in a few posts now, including my newborn favourite post so I thought I would do a full review.

We got ours from mother care and we got it in silver, there are 3 colours...dark grey, pink and silver. We chose the silver because it matched the other furniture in our bedroom. 
I didn't actually put it up but I'm assured by hubby that it is very easy to do and everything just clicks into place...no screwdrivers needed.
The crib comes with a mattress which is good as we weren't sure what size mattress we would have needed. The mattress has a cover on it but some people also use an extra sheet just to make it a bit more comfortable for baby. The mattress is quite hard, especially compared to our mattress and the one in the moses basket. EmJ doesn't like being in the crib and we are actually wondering if it is because of the mattress as she is fine in the moses basket and if we put her on another bed while we change her etc she goes to sleep there too.

The crib can be used as a stand alone crib or can be attached to the side of your bed.if used as a stand alone, there is a side with mesh in it so you can still see your baby which I love as I do tend to panic a lot and have to keep checking on her. The height can be adjusted, and it can even be made to be on a tilt if needed. If it is attached to the bed, the height of the crib should match the height of your bed including mattress. The side with the mesh in it unzips and folds down so that the crib is like an extension of your bed and you can reach over and comfort your baby. There are straps which attach to the bottom of the crib and attach the crib to the bed so that it can't move. This is what we use the crib for most of the time.
The crib is bigger than a moses basket so can be used for longer, and the baby has more space to move in (EmJ likes to wriggle about in her sleep) while still being safe. The sides are also taller than those of a moses basket so the baby is less likely to be able to climb out when it gets a bit bigger.

I personally love this crib and think it is worth the money (I think we paid about £100 for it) as I like being able to be close to EmJ while she is sleeping but not be actually sharing a bed with her. EmJ seems to like being able to see me as it seems to provide her with some comfort that I am watching her. When she wakes up she always looks over to where I am and either cries to get my attention or shows me she is hungry etc. Sometimes she just watches me until I read her a story or play her some music.

We took this with us when we went to stay with my parents for a few days and it was simple to collapse and put back up again.  It also meant that although we were in a different house in a different city, EmJ could still go to sleep in a familiar environment which provides her with comfort.

Overall I would recommend this to everyone! I will continue to use this with EmJ and if I ever have another child I will use it again with them.

💖xxx

Newborn baby favourites

Hi ☺

I love doing favourites posts and as I predicted before I had EmJ I have mainly used things for the baby since having her 3 weeks ago, so this post is about the things I think we have found essential.

💖 chicco next to me crib
I have mentioned this in a previous post but honestly it is amazing, and we took it to Sunderland with us when we went to visit my family so didn't have to buy a travel cot. It can be used as a stand alone or attached to the bed which I love as it means when we do go to stay somewhere else we can use it instead of a moses basket too.

💖 pampers nappies
I love that these now come with a yellow line on them that turn blue in the presence of urea so it is really easy to see if she had weed without taking the nappy off. She is still in the first size atm.

💖 gro egg room thermometer
We literally take this everywhere with us that we are going to stay. It basically tells the temperature of the room and changes colour depending on the suitability of the temperature. If it is too cold it is blue, too hot it is amber then red etc so you can tell just by having a quick glance at it how hot it is for the baby. We use this to judge what to dress the baby in to sleep and what sleeping bags to use. 

💖 moses basket
I first realised how useful this was when hubby was out and I needed the toilet. Where was I going to put the baby?? At the time we didn't have the moses basket and I ended up putting her in the car seat and taking that with me, so when we got the moses basket it was much easier to put her in that!

💖 boots maternity pads
I didn't realise how many of these I would need, despite reading online about it! But they need changing every few hours especially in the first week, so lots of these are needed! I got boot's own brand pads for the first week ad they were spongy so as not to make my stitches more painful. After the first week I went to using the ultra slim version which worked just as well but didn't feel like I was wearing a nappy.

💖 breast pads
These are a must have for people who are breastfeeding!! At random intervals I can feel my boobs tightening and know that they are leaking! This isn't an issue when I'm using the breast pads, I use boots own slim pads, which are super absorbant!! When I had to go back into hospital I didn't take enough breast pads and honestly I can't describe the embarrassment I felt when I soaked my top!!

💖 swaddle blanket
We have two of these but my favourite is a thin white one with silver stars on it. For some reason babies like to be swaddled, and this calms her down so much and let's her go to sleep ☺

💖 dummy
You're meant to wait until at least 4 weeks before giving a breastfed baby a dummy but EmJ sucks on her hands for comfort so we decided to give her a dummy a week early and she loves it. We don't give it all the time, it is only at night when she won't settle and has already cluster fed so can't be hungry. Honestly she sleeps so much better when she's had the dummy. We have tommee tippie dummies for 0-6 months, we have a few but atm we are just using two, they are see through and very simple to look at.

These are the things that I have been loving for the baby this month, there will be loads more but these are the ones I've used the most so I deem to be essential.

Another essential thing for a baby is cuddles, they love their cuddles and cuddling them helps them to feel secure and helps with bonding. I find that there is nothing better than giving your new baby a cuddle  ☺☺ some people might say cuddling all the time will spoil them but I disagree, if the baby wants a cuddle there must be a reason so I always cuddle hee.

What did you love for your newborn? Did you use any of these?

😤💖 xxx

Baby update 26 days old...

Hi ☺

My gorgeous little EmJ is 26 days old now and she is amazing.  She already has her own little personality and can already roll over (which she has been doing for over a week) and hold her head up (which she has been doing since birth ).

She can be loud when she is hungry or has pain, but all other times when she is awake she just sits and watches people and tries to talk.

She doesn't like to be in her crib, she prefers going to sleep cuddling mammy or daddy and then being put into the crib when she is asleep. She also wakes up every 3 hours to be fed, and hates if she has to wait for milk! She sleeps with one arm up by her face, and when she is sound asleep she has both arms up.

We have had a few genuine smiles rather than those caused by wind, and they melt my heart every time! We have also learnt how to use Viber to video call my parents so they can see her every day!

She had her first car journey to sunderland and was asleep in the car seat the entire time (I had to ask hubby to keep checking she was still breathing) but on the way back she was crying a lot because we had a load of diversions so she got hungry. She tends to quiet down or go to sleep if she's in the car or the pram,which I think is normal for babies and I was exactly the same when I was a baby.

She has been to liverpool and Leeds now and was so well behaved both days!!she did poo on a family member but obviously didn't mean to and apparently it's good luck anyway!

She is still a bit too small for 0-3 month clothing,but luckily we have some slightly smaller vests and dresses for her to wear,and if she manages to be sick or poo on them all we have to either let her just be in a vest or use leggings and a top or dress that are slightly too big for her.

She has started gripping things when she's feeding or having cuddles, especially my necklace or my hair, which seems to soothe her and stop her from crying. She prefers cuddles off me to those off anyone else, and if she is in anyone else's arms she looks around for me and cries if she can't see me.

She has been to visit where I work and went to sleep on my colleague!she didn't like being in reception as the people were too loud for her but she loved being in the lab and everyone loved her! She got cuddles off everyone, and everyone wants her to visit again soon.

That's everything for now but I will keep you updated on how she is doing.

💖xxx