A little explanation as to my lack of posting

Hi guys,

I feel like all I have done lately is say I will publish a post, not publish it and then apologise! I haven't meant for it to be like this, especially for it to have gone on for a couple of weeks!
I am aware that I haven't been the best blogger, and I have lost followers because of that but I would like to say a massive thank you to those of you who have stuck by me 😘
There are reasons for this, and I would go into them but they are quite personal to me so all I will say is that I had to have a biopsy taken, my marriage might be over and EmJ is a lot more active now.
I know these aren't really giving much away, and don't seem like they could affect me much but honestly most of my time has been taken up with crying, or trying to entertain EmJ and then by the time I then get round to publishing a post I realise I haven't taken the photo for it! I have been trying to take a photo of the perfect prep for about a week now but every time I go to do it something else happens that distracts me and takes my attention away.
I am going to work harder in the next few weeks to try and post all of the content I wanted to post.
I hope you all understand that I am trying hard to still post but I have been distracted.
I love you all

Xxx

9 weeks update

If you follow me on Twitter, or have read my last blog post, you will know that EmJ had her injections last week. Since then she has had a viral infection/reaction to the injections which made her have a rash, diarrhoea, a cough, put her off her food and made her more sleepy at first and then she didn't want to sleep at all.

She has still been smiling and giggling a lot more though, and her favourite game is for me to throw a blanket on her and for her to kick it off and then giggle! We spent about an hour playing this the other day before I had to go and do something else!

She rolls over properly now, and can roll herself back which is so cute! And she is still trying to crawl. She managed to move herself forward by one movement a few days ago, but then forgot she had to keep moving her arms so just kept kicking her legs! She gets quite frustrated with herself that she can't move as much as she wants to but I think she will be crawling properly before the end of next week!

She can support herself sitting up for a few seconds now, which I was very impressed by! And she likes to be held up so she can walk! I think she is going to be a proper handful very soon!!

I have had to start giving her formula milk as well as breast milk as I had an operation on one of my breasts and it has made it very awkward to feed her off that one, so I try to give her as much as I can from the other one but it isn't enough. I use the perfect prep machine to make her bottles which I will be reviewing shortly, and we have Aptamil formula. I do feel a bit guilty giving her formula but she wouldn't get as much food if I didn't so it is better for her.

She likes to suck and bite her hands, and even favours this over her dummy! We do try to keep her hands clean so that she can bite them as I have given up trying to stop her! It is easier just to let her but clean them.

She has grown again, and some of her clothes are going to be too small for her very soon! We do still have a lot of 0-3 month clothes that still fit her though, and even have some that are still too big! Has anyone else noticed that sizes vary massively between shops?!

She doesn't like having her photo taken and I'm sure she knows if I point my phone in her direction that it means I am taking a photo as she will be posing for me then as soon as I pick up my phone she either hides her face or looks away! She has her own little personality already and she is so cute and cheeky! She knows when she is going to do something cheeky like spitting her dummy out on me or going to poo on me and she grins or giggles before doing it and then again after!

She has started to sleep in her crib a bit  better now which I am pleased about! We finally put the stand up for the moses basket downstairs but she will have grown out of it within a month as there isn't much room left in it for her!

She likes stories to be read to her but she does look at the pictures, especially each peach pear plum! It was my sisters favourite book when she was younger and Emily loves it! I am still reading a little princess to her while she is going to sleep, a chapter at a time, but she isn't as interested as there is no pictures but she does still like to listen to my voice.

I think that is it for this week!

Xxx

EmJs first injections

On Thursday, EmJ had her first injections. The nurse started off by giving her some liquid immunisation which she had to swallow,as she decided she was hungry just before we went in, she devoured this without complaint despite it apparently tasting awful!
Hubby held EmJ while she was getting the injections as I can't bear her being in pain! She had 2 injections in her right leg, which she cried with but hubby managed to soothe her quite quickly. But she had the meningitis injection in her left leg and she screamed and went bright red. It was absolutely awful and I have never heard a scream like it!one of the nurses in the room ended up crying too as well as me as it was so heart breaking to watch! Hubby couldn't soothe her after this injection so I cuddled her. We couldn't leave the doctors surgery until she had had some baby paracetamol, which we couldn't give her until she calmed down in case she choked so we had to go back into the waiting room and try to calm her down. She cried for about 10 minutes before we could even attempt to give her the calpol, but once she had it she went to sleep in her pram.
As she was hungry we did try to feed her straightaway so I did wake her up, but she was fine and giggling with us and smiling. 
About 3 hours after she had the injections she started screaming again, and we couldn't give any calpol for another hour so I ended up putting her in her pram and walking around the estate with her. This worked and she went back to sleep but woke up as soon as I went into the house again. She didn't calm down until about an hour after we gave her her second dose of calpol.
She didn't have as much milk as she usually would, which got me worried but she was producing enough nappies so hubby said she was fine.
We gave her her third and final dose of calpol and she went to bed.
It was the worst thing I have been through so far, and I kept trying to check her temperature to make sure her fever didn't get too bad!
She was a bit cranky the day after, but that is to be expected.
On Saturday night I noticed a little rash on her tummy but we couldn't decide if it was a rash or just where she had been sleeping on me. On Sunday morning I noticed that it was a rash and had spread all over her body so we rang the NHS 111 service, who got in touch with the out of hours GP.  He rang us back straightaway and asked us to take EmJ to the out of hours GP in the hospital.
He told us that the rash was caused by a virus, and was either a cold (which I have) or a reaction to the injections as some babies do develop viral symptoms a couple of days later. The treatment for both of these things are the same which is basically nothing,we asked about calpol and he was a bit reluctant for us to give her any but did say we could give her some if her temperature became too high.
He told us she would get diarrhoea, and told us to monitor her wet nappies and how much fluid she was consuming as if either reduced we would have to take her back and she might end up on a drip.
When we got home, she fed a few times on both breasts withing 2 hours, but as I can't see how much milk is coming out I'm not sure how much she actually had but she did have a few more wet nappies.
I tried to take her temperature a few times but she doesn't like the thermometer being under her arm so kept moving. 
I am a bit worried about her becoming dehydrated and us not realising, or her getting a fever :(
She had two diarrhoea nappies which smelt awful, and we had to change her clothes as the first lot came out of the top of her nappy. 
She did take a while to settle, and Saturday night I had to stay up all night because she wouldn't go to sleep anywhere else but on me. She slept a little bit on Sunday, and was laughing and giggling a bit with us but she did keep crying too.  She went to sleep at about 9pm, and slept through. Hubby stayed up till about 2am and I got up then so he could go to bed and I could watch her. I was debating with myself whether to wake her up to try to feed her to make sure she was getting enough milk, but she usually sleeps through now and is fine so I wasn't sure whether that was a good idea as she needed her sleep. I ended up waking her up at 4am as I had to put her in the car at half past to take hubby to work, so I changed and fed her then. Her nappy wasn't as heavy as it normally is but it did have wee in it.
I will keep you updated on her progress.

Has your little one had their injections?were they okay?

Xxx

Don't listen to others: you know you're child

I posted a tweet on Wednesday saying I had taken EmJ to our first baby group and we had been judged by some of the women. The reason they were judging me was mainly because I express milk and give it to EmJ in a bottle if we are out, and they all said they would never give their babies a bottle (despite it still being breastmilk) and kept telling me I wasn't doing what was best for EmJ  as if she was having milk from a bottle then we wouldn't be bonding.
I disagree with this as I still cuddle her into me, I still talk to her and look into her eyes while feeding her and she can be fed by her dad too. The reason I started expressing more was because it was painful for her to feed directly from the boob one day and if I hadn't expressed then I would have just given up and gave her formula. Because I could express and it didn't hurt, it gave my breast time to recover and it meant I was still giving her breast milk. I also don't think they have any right to comment, as surely as long as the baby is getting milk it doesn't matter if it is from breast directly, breast milk from a bottle or formula. I was only given formula and I turned out fine as did my sister!

They also told me off for giving EmJ a dummy,despite me being advised to by the health visitor. EmJ used to comfort feed, as she just wanted to suck something but ended up making herself be sick. So we gave her a dummy. She is happy with it, and we don't give her it instead of feeds we give her it when we know she definitely isn't hungry. They all told me that we were doing a bad thing as babies shouldn't have dummies and they would never give their child one.
I would like to point out that I also had a dummy when I was a dummy and I am fine, and I have perfect teeth so it didn't affect me badly at all. We know when EmJ is hungry and when she just wants comfort,and it means she doesn't make herself sick which can only be a good thing! She won't have it forever, and as soon as she starts getting teeth we would try to take it off her.

I was also criticised for going to EmJ as soon as she starts crying as they let theirs cry unless they start choking from the crying. They said she would grow up to be spoilt and clingy and it wouldn't be good for her.
I know I probably shouldn't go straight to her but I have tried not doing that and she just cried louder. She also doesn't cry unless there is a reason, even if occasionally that reason is just that she needs a cuddle (she actually doesn't often cry for a cuddle). I don't think she will grow up spoilt, I think she will grow up knowing that I am always there for her and she can depend on me. I would rather cuddle her than let her scream and cry and think that I don't care. A lot of babies would probably be fine not being picked up when they cried and would stop crying but as I said she only cries when there is a reason.

There was more things that I got criticised for but I know my child, and I know what makes her happy and what upsets her. I know what is best for her, and for me. She is growing perfectly, she is putting on the right amount of weight, she laughs giggles and plays and she loves when I sing and read to her. She loves to cuddle her blanket, and she likes being in her swing chair. She can hold and support her head and has been able to since she was born. She loves tummy time and tries to crawl. She tries to talk and babbles away to herself. The health visitors are very pleased with her progress and have said she is quote advanced for her age.
When she had her injections she was very upset but as soon as I took her off her dad she snuggled into me and went to sleep. She did whinge a bit later but she calmed down when I cuddled her. This is because she knows I am comfort, and I don't think there is anything wrong with that. 

This has been a bit of a long ranty post and for that I am sorry but I don't like the fact that some mothers judge others for doing something different to what they do. In my opinion as long as the baby is happy and healthy and being loved then it doesn't matter if they have a dummy, or if they are breastfed or bottle fed. Basically the point of this post is to say that you know your child and you know what is best for your child. Ignore anyone who criticises or judges you, and keep doing what is right for your child.
If I had had EmJ a few years ago, I would probably have changed the way I was parenting thinking I was doing it wrong because of what the women said to me. But now I am a bit older and a bit more confident I know that my baby is thriving and is happy and healthy. I'm not going to change the way I parent and if I end up giving EmJ formula as well as or instead of breast milk eventually then there will be a reason for it and it will be in her best interests.

Has anyone judged you for anything?

Xxx

Tommee tippee perfect prep

When I was still pregnant my sister bought us this incase I couldn't breastfeed and needed to use formula. For 6 weeks I managed to breastfeed fine, but the past week I have had a bit of trouble with pain so decided to express milk. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to express as much as EmJ needed so we ended up giving her a bit of formula milk.
I thought this would be the perfect time to use the perfect prep as we only gave her the formula during the night as I didn't manage to express enough to feed her in the night and she wouldn't sit and wait while I expressed to feed her straight away. Getting up at 3am to make up a bottle is not the ideal thing to do, and I know that if I had had to make it up myself I would have got it wrong.

The perfect prep is actually easy to set up as it does come with step by step instructions on how to set it up and how to do a cleaning cycle which needs to be done before using it for the first time. This takes about ten to twenty minutes but it really simple to do! After the cleaning cycle it is ready to use.
There is also step by step instructions on how to make a bottle, which even hubby can follow!
Basically, you set the amount that you want the bottle to be using the dial on the top of the machine, and press the giant button in the middle of the dial. The button will flash red while It dispenses a small amount of hot water into an empty bottle that you put under the nozzle. When the hot water has stopped flowing the button will go a solid red and the machine will beep. You then add the required amount of formula to the bottle, put a lid on it and shake until the ppwder dissolves. You then put the bottle back under the nozzle and press the giant button again. The button flashes green and the perfect prep dispenses the correct amount of water and makes it to body temperature so that it is ready for the baby to drink immediately. When the water has stopped dispensing the button will go a solid green and the machine will beep again.
It genuinely couldn't be more easy to use and it does make it to the perfect temperature for EmJ and she is very fussy! What I tended to do to make it a but easier during the night was to measure the formula out before I went to bed and put it in a storage pot so that I didn't have to faff about at 3am trying to accurately measure it out.
I would recommend this product as honestly it is so easy to use (as I have mentioned) and takes the stress out of making up bottles. It is a bit expensive but there are always deals on, and my sister got us the black one for £60 while it was on offer! I think it is only available in black and white currently. It is worth the money especially if you only feed your baby formula as it would save so much time compared to other methods of making up bottles, and if your baby is anything like mine she won't wait for the bottle to cool down so having it at a perfect temperature straightaway is brilliant!
Also the initial shot of hot water ensures that any bacteria that might be present in the formula is killed so baby won't get ill (hopefully). I have read a few reviews online about the perfect prep with people saying that the initial shot of water wouldn't kill bacteria but of course it would. It doesn't matter what the volume of hot water is as long as it is enough to let the formula dissolve and it is above 70°C which is the lowest temperature required to kill the bacteria.
Using the perfect prep also reduces the risk of scalding yourself as you aren't holding a kettle of boiling water and trying to pour it into the bottle so as long as you don't drop the bottle when you go to add the formula, you won't get scalded which again is really useful for the middle of the night or if you're holding the baby like I have to sometimes!

Have you used the perfect prep?what did you think?
Xo

August favourites

I haven't done a favourite post in a couple of months I don't think, so I thought I would do one this month as I love reading what other people love!

💖 revlon lip butter in peach parfait
This was actually chosen by hubby, but the colour is perfect for me and it is so moisturising!it doesn't last very long on me so does need to be reapplied probably more than I would like. I think we got it in the revlon deal that was 2 for £10 so was quite cheap really!

💖 johnsons baby bedtime lotion
I love this for the baby! It is meant to help the baby to sleep on a night, but for us or doesn't seem to make her sleep any better or longer than normal, but we do love the smell of it! It is also so moisturising and EmJ seems to like it being massaged into her after her bath.

💖 little angels baby wipes for newborns
I love these wipes! We have been using these since EmJ was born, and I honestly believe they are just as good as using the cotton wool balls and water. They are specially designed to be used from day one, and EmJ was fine using them. They are quite cheap, I think we got a box of them for about £9, so we got loads of boxes. They are asdas own make but I find them better than the better known brands like pampers and johnsons. They are thinner and they are easier to get out the packet, which also has a plastic lid on to prevent the wipes from drying out.

💖gossip girl
I mentioned this in my 'things I've loved this week' post but I have to include it here too! I forgot how good this show is, and I am already onto series 2 (I only started watching it a few days ago!)

💖 Chris ryans Danny black series
Again, I mentioned this in the weekly post but I recommend anyone to read this series. It is completely believable,and probably does happen in real life as most of his books are based on his experiences or someone he knows experiences in the SAS.  The newest book in the series only came out a few days ago, so I still haven't read it yet but it's seemingly about ISIS and some people who do things for them and the SAS people who have to deal with it.

💖 nothing to declare
This is usually on TV after EmJ has woken me up to feed her and then gone back to sleep, leaving me wide awake. I love the Australian one as they are so strict and I think we should more strict than we are! I find it fascinating what people do to hide what they are bringing into the country like drugs or food (Australia don't allow certain foods that could pose a threat to the plants or wildlife).

💖 clinique take the day off balm
I love this as it takes off my makeup,including waterproof mascara, really easily and gently. I also use it to clean my makeup brushes and it leaves them so clean and soft!definitely a product worth having.

What have you been loving this month? Xxx

Wishlist: Primark September 2015

I haven't bought myself any clothes since my maternity pants I got when I was pregnant. Unfortunately, nothing fits me anymore, I'm too thin for my maternity clothes but I'm not thin enough for my pre-pregnancy clothes.
We don't have much money as everything we get goes on bills or EmJ so as much as I want all of the new season clothes in River Island, I have had to make a Primark wishlist instead.
I love Primark because a lot of the clothes are very similar to the new season clothes in other shops but a lot cheaper (obviously the quality isn't as good but it lasts a while still).
I have quite a few things picked out including bootcut jeans, skinny jeans, new boots and dresses (hubby doesn't like the dresses).
I am going to be buying the clothes on the 16th September when hubby gets paid, as I need a new wardrobe that fits me before I start uni later in the month.

Do you like any of these clothes? I can't wait to buy them all!
Xxx

Ps I just want to point out that this is not a sponsored post, I just really like Primark.

Don't get taken in by hype

When I was pregnant, I bought a few things that I probably didn't need, or at least had cheaper alternatives, all because of the hype surrounding them.
So my advice for today is never buy something just because of the hype, or because it looked cute or cool.

An example of this is the tommee tippee sangenic bin. I was in mothercare and saw these bins on offer, and the hype around them made them seem great and a must have!the sales assistant told me they were really popular and I would regret not getting one, so we got one. In pink. Don't get me wrong, this bin does what it says, it stores nappies without making the room smell. But so does a nappy bag. I don't always change EmJ in the same room, so unless we carry the bin about with us, or carry dirty nappies around, I end up using normal bins too. Nappy bags are much cheaper than the cartridges for these bins, so i would recommend for people not to get one of these.

Another thing I got was the Gro Egg. This is a room thermometer that also acts as a night light....or its meant to. I am actually disappointed by this as it sometimes doesn't give the correct temperature, and it isn't bright enough to be a night light. The orange also looks quite similar to the red so it's harder to tell the temperature unless you actually look at the digital display which defeats the object of having colours displayed. I saw this in the baby club magazine from boots and it was described as being a must have product, which is the reason we got it, but honestly it's not worth the hype. You can get much cheaper room thermometers that probably work better.

These are just two examples of things I've bought just because of the good advertising surrounding the product, and I think that if I do get pregnant again then I will choose what I buy carefully and decide whether something is actually necessary before buying it. I will consider if there is a cheaper alternative that will be just as good, and not waste money on pointless products.

Have you bought anything just because of the hype surrounding them?

Xxx