Bump Cast and Keepsake Lion

When I was 33 weeks pregnant I got together with my friends and they surprised me with a bump casting kit! We had loads of fun making the cast and I have now decorated it and have it on display in Harry's bedroom. 

I painted the cast the same colour as the feature wall in the bedroom and then did Paul's handprint, mine and Harry's, now his hand is a little easier to prise open! I then wrote on it; 'All because two people fell in love.' I'd seen this quote and the handprints done on a canvas but thought it would go perfectly on the cast. I then sealed it with a PVA/water solution.

In the photo bottom right the lion that the cast is next to is made from Harry's clothes. I found the lady who makes it on Facebook; Keepsake Cuddles. I love him and he is something for me and Harry to keep, rather than having his clothes sat in a box in the loft.

Craft and Decorating

I've been planning on doing this post for a while, hence the Christmas stocking, but have only just got round to writing it up!

When myself and my sister were small our mum made us stockings with red fabric that had little christmas bears on it. I loved putting them out each Christmas Eve, with a note to say whose was whose, ready for Father Christmas to visit. Even though Harry was only 5 months at Christmas I wanted to make his first stocking, start the tradition with him. (He couldn't use mine as Father Christmas still visits me!!) 

I bought the fabric at a local market, mum had the red ribbon already. I used my stocking as a template then got busy with the sewing machine. I was so happy with how it turned out and I hope, as Harry gets older, he will enjoy getting his special stocking out each Christmas. : )

This next piece was something I made when I just happened to see the metal tags on notonthehighstreet.com I was looking for something else and saw these and got the inspiration to make this birth date art for Harry's room. The frame was from Hobby Craft and with a bit of card and a glue gun here is the finished piece. 

I absolutely love having loads of photographs around the house! I already had a few on the wall up my stairs; I wanted to have some of Harry there too. I didn't want to take down any that were already up, so I added to the collection! The inspiration for this comes from the Dunphy's house in 'Modern Family'. I got some tips from Pinterest on how to do the layout etc.

I hope you like these craft and decorating ideas. What crafty things have you done lately? I've got lots of ideas on my Pinterest for future projects; lots of hand and foot printing and salt dough! Also look out for my upcoming blog on my finished bump cast that my friends did when I was 33 weeks pregnant.

Catch Up

Hi all, it's me again! I haven't blogged for a while; I don't know how other mummy bloggers find the time! I've been enjoying spending time with my little man and my big man! Harry is now sleeping better at night, after a few weeks of waking almost every hour and a bit of co sleeping, I've got my evenings back. Which is lovely; spending time as a couple is important and I'd missed it.

We did have to do a bit of sleep training. The decision wasn't taken lightly and I read up on a few different ways of training but in the end thought I'd try Sleep Sense by Dana Obleman, which a friend had successfully used. I just read the book and used it as a guide to write my own plan that would work for us.

I was worried at first as I'd always been against controlled crying, but we just had to do something as H just wouldn't even be put in his cot at one point. I was ready for the change, that's an important part of it, if you're not ready it won't work, plus you need great support from your other half, working as a team. I'm a member of a peer support group for mums on Facebook and know a lot of these ladies are against controlled crying, night weaning etc but this method is what I felt would work best for our family and after reading the sleep sense book I felt a lot better about letting H cry for a little bit. After all even when he's awake and he cries I can't always get there to give him a cuddle immediately. All babies are different and we need to find our own way and what we think is best; there is no right or wrong way to do things.

It won't be the method to suit everyone but it has worked for us and the night weaning happened as a by product. I was quite happy to carry on feeding at night but H has slept through, on the whole, without a feed most nights. If he does wake I do still feed him.

It's also helped with nap time. It's still a bit hit and miss but I try and put him down about the same time everyday in the cot. I loved my sleepy cuddles with him and still have a few, but felt I needed to get a bit more of a routine in place for when I return to work.

Other than that things are going really well, H was a bit poorly the other week, just wanted to be attached to me or Paul all day. But he's back to 100% and he's back to being the cheeky monkey we love. It's horrible when he's I'll, like most babies they regress to a newborn state and lose their personalities.

He's showing signs that he'll be crawling very soon, eats well, chats a bit and giggles lots!

That's just a little catch up and hopefully I'll be blogging again soon now I have a bit more time.

Amy x

Advice and the Mummy Competition

We all do it, even if it's subconscious. Comparing our babies and our experiences. It starts during pregnancy; 'I have the worst morning sickness.' 'Oh, I had none at all, didn't even feel sick!'

I'm not saying it's a bad thing, we are just proud mummies and want everyone to know it. But it can lead to feeling like you've failed. Especially if your baby is later at doing something that someone else's is. I have found this with sleeping; specifically sleeping through the night. Many mums are all too quick to shout from the rooftops about their 3 week old sleeping through the night. But we don't hear about the majority of us who are the 'norm' and have a baby that wakes, a lot, for feeds!

All babies are different, we shouldn't compare. But I think this is particularly hard for the first time mum. Especially today with the internet, facebook groups, forums etc. We have too much access to too much information, a lot of which is conflicting, then the mummy competition on top of that can leave you totally overwhelmed. You can feel out of your depth and start second guessing things you'd got the hang of! 

Advice can turn into competitive boasting and not be helpful at all. We end up asking mums how their baby is doing just to say how amazing our own is! When it comes to competitiveness masquerading as advice we should take it with a pinch of salt. 

Really we should be going with our instincts. We know our babies like no one else. Our own mums would have had just one book and their mums to guide them through and we all turned out ok. What works for one mum and baby won't work for another. I want to enjoy my baby and not stress if he hasn't had a nap in his cot for a week, I'm enjoying a cuddle and it isn't going to impact on his future... Look at the bigger picture. I'm trying to stick to that and go with the flow as much as possible. 

That being said I think competitive mum syndrome is natural. It has always and will always be there, but the key is too not let it get to you and try not to do it too much yourself! 

What are your experiences of advice and competition?

Tesco Baby Clothes Haul

Tesco aren't doing particularly well on the stock market at the moment; but one place I think they are doing really well is baby boy's clothing. I have bought the majority of Harry's 0-3 month clothes from Tesco and as he is about to go into the next size range (he is pretty much 14lb now!) I had to do some shopping! I have found Tesco to have a great range of clothes for Harry's age/size compared with other shops.

I think the clothes are cute, funky and super cool for the little man. They wash really well and are great quality, especially at such a reasonable price. None of the below items were more than £7, and that was for a 2 pack of joggers or a 3 pack of t-shirts!

What shops are you loving for baby clothes?

The First Few Weeks of Motherhood

In the first few weeks of new mummyhood I found myself wondering why labour puts women off having more babies. I know it's not a great experience for everyone; but for me it was nowhere near as bad as I expected. Labour has an end, a light at the end of the tunnel. That light being a beautiful baby that you have made. For me the first few weeks is what would put me off having more babies...

You're in a weird bubble and barely know what day it is. Harry slept in between nappy changes and feeding, but it was a constant cycle. Then the baby blues hit and I felt like I didn't know what I was doing. I felt like I should be getting dinners ready and keeping the house tidy as well as looking after Harry. Then feeling guilty because I wanted to tidy the house and not stare at Harry all day. But that was just pressure I put on myself. Paul just wanted me to concentrate on Harry. He was amazing, so supportive and understanding. I felt so connected to Paul after giving birth and still now. I think we are stronger; we now have this physical being that totally connects and bonds us. Having our families close really helped. My mum was great, coming over when Paul went back to work just so I didn't go stir crazy.

You're meant to sleep when your baby does; that just doesn't happen! I still wanted to maintain some level of personal hygiene; so you need time to shower! Then people want to visit you and your baby; normally when the baby is asleep so another missed opportunity. You also have to find time to eat. (My batch cooking definitely paid off.)

Then there's the sleepless nights. Trying to stay awake to feed is a skill! And then your baby decides it doesn't want to go back to sleep and cries for 2 hours! Not knowing what's wrong and the sound of your new born baby's cry that stabs you right in the heart. In the first few weeks it made me cry just to hear it. I wanted to make everything ok. During the day I wasn't too tired, it was the broken sleep that affected me the most.

A baby in the early days and weeks is like a vending machine. You constantly put the money in to get nothing out. It's a thankless task. But you do all your baby needs, no matter how tired, upset or frustrated you are because you already love this little being more than life itself. You wonder how you can feel so cross sometimes then hate yourself for feeling like it. But it's all normal.

Then, one day, a smile; and not a windy one! It just makes everything worth it!

Now 10 weeks later, I'm still tired, but can cope with it. The house ticks over but not as tidy as before Harry, but who cares? I now know Harry so much better and know what he wants and needs. No one said it would be easy, but it has got easier.  Harry is giving back to us. He is now changing and developing everyday and it's amazing to watch and know that's down to our nurturing of him. 

The next task will be to try and get Harry into a bit of a routine! But more importantly it's now time to just enjoy him. I can't believe how much he has grown and changed in just 10 weeks.

Wish us luck!

Harry's first smile

Harry at 8 weeks

My Birth Story: The Undiagnosed Breech

Today my beautiful baby boy is 5 weeks old! I can't believe it's going so quickly, he has grown so much already. Motherhood has so far been how I expected and totally not what I expected at the same time; but I'll save that for another blog! 

Today I am sharing my birth story with you, it's taken 5 weeks to find the time to do this but here it is.

I had a textbook pregnancy; didn't suffer with morning sickness, felt great most of the time and loved being pregnant. So I suppose I was due a not so textbook labour.

Thursday 10 July 2014.
11:45pm
I woke up with what I thought was really bad trapped wind! I thought it was one of the signs my body was getting ready for labour to start in a few day's time.

Friday 11 July 2014.
12:15am
Paul arrived home from work to find me in the bathroom, asking him to help me! I wasn't sure if it was wind or labour, either way it hurt and not much was happening!

12:15 - 2:25am
Paul went to bed, if it was labour we assumed it would be a while so he'd better get some sleep after an 8 hour shift. I kept going from sitting on the loo, to trying to go back to bed, to walking around the bedroom, to leaning over the bed or bathroom sink! I didn't know what to do with myself.
In a few of my visits to the loo I had a bowl movement, again I just assumed it was one of the signs my body was getting ready for labour and why I was in so much pain.

2:25am
Finally something happened, I felt/heard a pop then there was a big gush of water, like a water balloon popping (luckily I was on the loo, again!). My waters had broken. This WAS labour.

2:30am
I started timing, what I now knew, were contractions. Paul was telling me to call the birth centre and let them know my waters had broken. With my natal hypnotherapy I didn't want to go too early. But I was uncomfortable and in pain.

The contractions were about 1 and half minutes apart, lasting 20-30 seconds. After timing for about 5 mins I called the birth centre. The midwife guided me through, deep breathing. I needed to go in to be checked over as my waters had broken.

3:00am
We grabbed the bags, in which I'd put the last minute bits on Thursday. Maybe I knew something was happening earlier in the day. I got dressed and off we went.

3:30am
We arrived at the birth centre. The midwife met us and took us into a birth room to check me over. My blood pressure was good, then the examination. That was easier said than done. Between contractions I somehow managed to lay on the couch; but still not long enough for a proper examination. I moved to a position leaning over the birth pool where I felt I needed to be sick; so yet another trip to the bathroom!

4:00am
I started using the gas and air so the midwife can do a proper examination. The baby was breech. An ambulance was called to take me to hospital. At this point I was leaning over the emptying birth pool :( with Paul holding my hand and helping me through my contractions and giving me water. All I could think was I don't want to go to hospital, I want the baby here, I don't want to be in an ambulance, I don't want to lay on a bed and I knew the baby was coming.

The midwife had a visual check (using a torch!). The midwife made the decision, I wouldn't be going to hospital, I wouldn't make it, the baby wanted to come and it would be more dangerous to have the baby in the ambulance than the birth centre. The midwives started to get prepared.

4:16am
Soon after came an overwhelming urge to push, the baby was on its way. The urge took over the feeling of pain and was primal. More midwives came in to help. The baby's heartbeat needed to be checked…Nothing. A heart stopping moment for Paul and I. But then we heard it, baby was just in a position that made it hard to find, it was normal.

Time to start pushing. I did the initial pushing still in a standing position, not wanting to lay down, knowing it would make my pelvis smaller and pushing harder. Initially I was grunting through the contractions but was told by the midwife to use that energy for a bigger push. It was working, the baby was nearly here. For breech delivery laying down is the best position to be in. This was all explained to me; even though I didn't want to be laying down I knew it was best for me and the baby. So I moved to the couch with my bum on the edge ready for delivery.

A few pushes later and the bottom was out, a couple more then the legs and torso. I was nearly there, ready to meet our baby, I was still using the gas and air and had Paul holding my hand encouraging me the whole time. The contractions subsided a little with the head still not delivered so I had to have a small episiotomy. The baby was here. But no crying, Paul went to the midwives to check all was ok…Then there was the cry.

4:56am Harry was born weighing 7lb 2oz

It wasn't quite the labour and delivery I was expecting, no time to use natal hypnotherapy, but I have no doubt that helped me stay calm, focused and take the fact Harry was breech in my stride. I listened to my body. Undiagnosed breeches are rare, it's even rarer to have a midwife delivery, but as a team we did it and I wouldn't change it. The midwives were amazing; for most it was their first breech delivery! After 5 hours of labour our beautiful baby boy was here. Now to start the next chapter.