A day of fun

We have been busy today.  After a quick trip to the doctors we all bundled into the car and off we went to The Deep.  We have a free pass plus where we can visit as often as we like in the year since we went on my birthday so we decided to use it.  It only takes 40 or so minutes to Hull from our house so we were there by dinner.  I have to say, it was BUSY!  But then, its six weeks school holidays.  Having said that, we didn’t have to queue for very long and we were in within a few minutes.  Oliver loved the big fish, but wasn’t so sure at the smaller tanks.

Oliver tried to catch the fishes! lol, after this bit we went under the glass tunnel and up in the bubble lift which seemed to go down very well.  (So did the little teddy from the gift shop).

After The Deep we got in the car to drive home and decided on the way that we would go to Cleethorpes for the afternoon instead.  So Oliver got his first go on a fairground ride (or three) and we had a nice walk along the beech front before we had some tea in a promenade cafe.

 

Oliver really enjoyed the different rides and then the chips at the beech but it wasn’t long before he looked like this:

We all had a really good day and that was after a really good weekend where me and Oliver went to see my mum and step dad on Saturday and my dad and step mum on Sunday.  While we were there my older sister came to see us as well.  Here is a picture of Oliver with his cousins Bella and Riley

 

Oh and by the way, we’re full time cloth bums now! how cute is this?

Cloth bum take one :)

There are lots of things I wanted to do when I fell pregnant, some I couldn’t and some I just didn’t.  Cloth nappies were one thing that I just didn’t do.  I know all the benefits, less nappy rash, kinder on the environment, saving up to £400 in 2 years etc etc… but disposables are easy.  So that’s the way we went. 

Recently though, I’ve seen lots of pictures of babies in ‘cloth bums’ and the patterns on them are gorgeous.  It renewed my want to try cloth nappies, so off I went, trawling the internet for information on the different nappy types to try and understand which one would best fit our lifestyle and routine.  In the end I opted to try some pocket nappies.  Then I had to try and work out all the different inserts.  I opted for bamboo as most people seemed to think this had the best absorbency and due to initial outlay I was only ordering three nappies to try at night.  I had to go with what would last Oliver 9-12 hours.  So the order went in on Saturday for 3 Little Bloom pocket nappies.  You can find them on Amazon.  At £5.70 each including 2 bamboo inserts they were some of the cheapest I had seen but I couldn’t find any bad reviews so I decided to give them a try.  I ordered a slightly cheaper package with only one bamboo insert per nappy.  They arrived yesterday.

Then the questions started.  So many people wash nappies before use to increase absorbency.  So I went and got some natural soap flakes and was all ready for washing them but decided to ask in one of the mummy groups I am in.  One lady told me that at times she has used the nappy straight away and just expected to change it earlier but that she only uses Microfiber inserts at night.  I decided to use two bamboo inserts for the night and just go with it.  I went to Boots and got some flushable liners and also some bed saver mats and when Oliver was getting ready for bed we just went with the flow.

Doesn’t he look sweet?  There is a bed mat underneath because I was panicking but we had no leaks what so ever and I was over the moon when I changed his bum this morning and the bamboo inserts had sucked all the moisture away from his bum with no sagging involved unlike after a night in a disposable.  So we have some more nappies on the way with 2 bamboo inserts each.  I’m hoping after a few nights we can start to convert to day time use as well

After spending 9 months on the inside

Oliver has now spent 9 months with us on the outside too!  That’s right, my gorgeous little boy is nine months old today!  Time has flown and he is getting bigger everyday and doing something new everyday too!  Soon mummy and daddy won’t be able to keep up! (Very soon).

From this:

To this:

I can’t believe where the past year and a half has gone!  Here are some other photo’s from our journey to today 🙂

Do I look like my mummy or my daddy?

Or do I just look like me?

This is me at one month old

And at two months old

Here I am at three months old playing with my toes

At four months old I started using my teether toys!

I learned how to play peek-a-boo at five months old

At six months old I picked my favourite teddies

At seven months old I took a real liking to my food

All that play time is tiring, at eight months old I started sleeping at night better.

And here I am today, nine months old, playing on the swings in the park.  (I even got to go on the slide too but I wasn’t sure of that one).

What a week

this week has been.  It started with a funeral followed by a friend losing her 7 month old baby.  Being back in work and Oliver being off didn’t help and on Friday I ended up at the doctors and she has put me on anti-depressants.  Hopefully this will help as the one that she put me on was also the tablet that my pain specialist recommended for pain relief in my back and leg. 

The tablets are making me very foggy first thing in the morning but surprisingly (and what I was worried about) I am waking up in the night to Oliver’s demands so that is good even if the morning brain fog isn’t.  It’s taking me over an hour to shake it at the moment but I have only just started to take the tablets so hopefully over the next few days it will become easier to function.

In the mean time I have done a little stitching on my current Heaven and Earth Designs project: SK Fragile which has no less than 45 different shades of pink in it.  I am enjoying seeing this one grow and am hoping to get it finished by the end of August which is when the reward programme finishes.  I already have CCK’s Dragonflies finished and have decided on which chart to request for finishing this one but if I do finish SK Fragile in time I have no idea which one to ask for in it’s place, it might be that I ask if I can combine the two for a bigger chart. (I have done a little more since these pictures were taken).

Oliver has found the transition of me going back to work hard too, he has been up and down with his eating and sleeping and generally being a winey baby which is very unlike him.  We have had some success in the eating side of things though as he is willing to eat lumpy food and I have found a new bowl that I adore.  If you have read my posts in the past then you will know that I haven’t ever found one that suits us before and I ended up just using little picnic bowls that I got from Asda.  Not any more – Nuby have done it again and released a new addition to the weaning range and I love it!  The bowl comes with a completely sealable lid and it has a place to clip a spoon and fork (included) and a little flippy thing that keeps them covered and clean.

These bowls are brilliant!  They are currently on sale at £3.99 and come in a range of colours that are nice and bright ready for the summer They are microwave and dishwasher safe and are the perfect size for a single portion (either a jar or home made) for Oliver and I am looking forwards to getting our next package and trying out the other new weaning products.  If you haven’t seen the new additions to the range I would highly recommend taking a look.

I have also been doing some bits of crafting recently – you might have seen the teddy I made from one of Oliver’s baby grows recently, I am also currently attempting a doggy too.  The teddy pattern is from Funky Friends Factory – it is free for signing up to the news letter and really easy to follow.  The doggy I have the pattern for and no instructions so it is proving a little more difficult but so far we have a head with stuffed ears, and a nose.  It will hopefully be done by the end of next week for me to share with you.

I am hoping later this afternoon to make some salt dough hand prints with Oliver.  If I manage to do so I will get some pictures on in the week once they have been painted.

Have a good week everyone x

Is the hardest part over?

I knew going back to work after having Oliver would be hard.  We all dread it don’t we? I never realised quite how hard that would be until it happened.  I haf never planned to go back full time but circumstances meant that I had no choice, so on Monday morning and every other morning this week I have set my alarm for 5.30 am and been at work for 7am. Yes I have a baby and I am generally up early but not that early. I am shattered! And I feel like someone stole my son for a few days and replaced him with the devil child. He wasn’t sleeping or eating during the day and then only sleeping a couple of hours at night so until Thursday we were at our wits end. That was when we decided to go out for some tea. The pub we went to served Oliver a proper baby meal (not many places do them as well as kids meals). He had a full portion and a nice big drink and by 7.30 after just a little bit of a fight he was asleep!

We had tears from me, tears from him and it’s been stressful but we are now getting there. We are currently visiting family for the weekend and have had 2 good nights followed by days where he has eaten. Hopefully this will stick as next week I am working later shifts and am hoping that being there in the morning will help me get his routine back on track.

People have told me that the first week is the hardest, I hope so.

Back to work

After 9 months and it was HARD. I admit I have been dreading this day since Oliver was born and as it got closer and closer, I got more and more worried and upset about leaving him, even though he is staying home with daddy and getting to spend time at Nana’s and Great Nanny’s.  I didn’t feel in the slightest ready when I was sorting my clothes and things out last night and this morning I felt like I was missing something as I walked out the door.

Oliver being in bed still (It was 6am) helped a little I suppose as I didn’t feel like I was leaving him behind (until I looked in the car seat while driving).  I cried when I got to work and then I cried when I spoke to my manager.  Then I spent the morning wondering if everything at home was okay.  I managed to hold off calling until my lunch break at 11.30am though.  By that time (I had been out of the house a while) I couldn’t wait.  I had to call and see how things were, and of course, they were fine.  Oliver had been chasing Pepsi and playing in his ball pit.  He was covered in rusk and dinner and daddy was complaining that they both needed a shower.

So, I went back to work and daddy took Oliver to his great Nanny’s house to play.  She got the paddling pool out with all his toys and by the time I got there at 3.30pm (one good thing about the early shift) he was fast asleep on her knee.  I got the biggest smiles when he woke up and lots of snuggles too.  Andrew said he had been good all day, no issues I felt worse knowing that they can do it all without me in a way.

And work wasn’t too bad, I have a settling in period at least and it was nice to see adults again.  Although I know I am going to be changing teams again soon so there will be some upheaval but I will just have to take that on the chin and deal with it.  On the plus side Andrew has a test for an apprentice job next week and if it is something he does get I would be able to drop down to part time.  We won’t know for a while though if he will get it and the earliest will be August before he starts so I will have to stay full time for a while at least.

One thing I will say is I am SHATTERED! It’s just after 7pm and I am off to bed as I am back in work tomorrow at 7am, people tell me that the first day is the hardest, we will find out tomorrow x x night all x

Poorly Baby

 

Oliver has not been himself for roughly 8 days now, from being sick to dirty nappies I initially assumed it was a tummy bug since they have been going around.  Then over the past couple of days his temperature keeps spiking and we have been having to use baby nurofen and calpol every couple of hours to keep it down, as well as that he woke yesterday morning at 1am screaming.  Now Oliver rarely wakes in the nights – in fact he regularly sleeps from 8pm until 6am so for him to wake at that time screaming was unusual.  It took us 7 hours to calm him down and he still didn’t sleep so I went to Andrew’s nan’s house because I was so tired after taking him to work.  Gina was lovely and told me to go home for a couple of hours to get some sleep and she would watch Oliver.  Two and a half hours later when I went back though, he was just going to sleep and had been the same all morning.  I booked him in the doctors and was appalled to be told that there was nothing wrong with him, I understand that babies get the snuffles but I was ushered out of the doctors surgery before I had even managed to tell him about the screaming in pain.  I wasn’t happy.

So I went back to reception, Oliver still in my arms and told them I wanted to see my own doctor, after being told she was too busy to fit him in, I managed to persuade them to swap my appointment (that was pre-booked for me to get my own tablets etc) into Oliver’s name.  Last night was nearly the same, luckily though, we managed to get him back to sleep between the screaming fits, and were able to get a little sleep ourselves.  He still isn’t right though, he’s snuffly and still unhappy 😦 we tried feeding, nappy changes, cuddles, winding, stripping down and giving medicine all to no avail. Lets hope my doctor gives him a proper look over rather than a cursory glance.

Growing up in a flash!

I really can’t get over how fast Oliver is ‘growing up’.  When people have told me to cherish the little moments I have had with him, because they don’t stay little for long, I didn’t realise how right they truly were.  We have had lots of firsts in the past few weeks and I can’t believe how fast they are stacking up, and we know there are many more to come but by gum, my baby boy is twenty weeks old, in 6 weeks time he will be 6 months old!  Where has the time gone?

I thought I would share some of the firsts that we have had recently:

Oliver went to his first birthday party – it was for his little cousin Rosie and he got to try some party food which he wasn’t sharing.

 

 

He has moved into his first ‘forward facing’ car seat because he is too long for his rearward facing one.

 

 

He has had is first play in a children’s play area and loved it!

 

 

He had his first sleepover in his new travel bed at Grandma’s and was comfy cosy.

 

 

He has managed to guide his monster spoon to his mouth by himself, for the first, second and many more times since.

 

 

He is learning to play, hide, peepo, with his bib by himself.

 

 

He is learning to clap hands.

 

 

As you can see, a lot is to do with his motor skills and he is even learning to grab and move things such as the toys on walkers and mummy’s glasses!  He swipes them clean off me if I am not careful!

Some of the things we are looking forwards to at the moment are:

 

Swimming, we have increased to twice a week for some mummy and Oliver special time and this is our favourite activity.  Oliver is nearly ready to receive his first badge.

Mother’s day – it’s our first one so this will be special.

Easter 🙂 Oliver has a little white chocolate bunny off his nanny to try 🙂

Our six months photo shoot – I am looking forwards to seeing the difference in him.

His first holiday in June 🙂 We are going to Lanzarote with Grandma, Pops, and Uncle Roan.

 

After that, who knows? At the rate he is going, he is trying to take steps when he can’t even balance, managing a little bit of combat crawling and babbling away like there is no tomorrow and that’s on top of teething and doing well in other areas too.  We have lots to look forwards to but in a way, I am a little sad looking back at all the things he has accomplished – my baby boy will always be my baby boy but he is growing so fast that he has his own personality and I know that soon he will no longer be a baby, but a cheeky little toddler who is running his mummy of her feet and wrapping daddy around his little finger.  I can’t wait for that; I just don’t want to leave this stage behind.  I wonder what changes we will see in the next six weeks taking him to 6 months old on 12th April?  I can’t wait to see!

Starting to Wean properly

 

Oliver is 5 months old soon and on the advice of our health visitor we have started to wean him properly a little early.  This is simply because his milk isn’t filling him up (and giving him more of it doesn’t work as he just won’t take it).  Her first advice was to move him onto Hungry Baby milk, but as we have had a change in health visitors she didn’t realise that this was something we did when he was just 6 weeks old.  So instead she has advised us of things we can give him before he reaches 6 months that won’t harm his tiny tummy.

Here are some of the things she advised we avoid:

• anything with Gluten in it.
• anything with honey in it.
• wheat, nuts, fish and seafood, eggs and cows milk are all obviously no go areas too.

Here are some of the things that have made this change easier:

• Our Nuby First Cup is brilliant, because as Oliver is having solids he isn’t needing the milk quite as much so isn’t really getting a drink too.  We use it with baby juice that is aged 4 months plus but we still water it down enough so he is just getting the taste of the juice rather than taking in something that could contain too much sugar for him.  I know it says 4 months, but that doesn’t always mean it is very healthy.  The cup itself has a soft silicone teat that Oliver got used to very quickly and the fact that the teats and handles interchange with the Nuby bottles we already have is brilliant.
• We quickly found that Oliver had some strong likes and dislikes so any thing with Banana’s in is great, which we know means we can always get him to eat something as when he has been teething the past few days, he hasn’t really wanted to try new flavours.  One thing we have found is the HIPP First Tastes Baby Yoghurts – he loves the banana ones of those too, even though they are a new texture.  Oliver can quite happily finish a pot each time.
• Sometimes I use the packeted food as it is much easier if we are out and about, and I have found many of them still say 4 months plus on them.  I have checked the back of all the ones I have tried for Oliver and none of them contain anything that he shouldn’t be having.  However, I do like to cook and get the blender out as well.  Oliver hasn’t had meat but he has lots of different vegetables, and being able to store them in the freezer is a must otherwise he will get bored.  We use the Boots Store and Feed pots as you can get these in 1oz as well as 3oz.
• For bigger batches of puree, I use the Nuby Store and Feed Breast Milk Containers which are ideal.  Of course anything that has been put in the freezer has a date and label on it and I also know that anything in the freezer is better for him as it has no additives or extra salt/sugars.

Of course, I am not telling you to wean your little one early, only do that at the advice of a professional, all I am doing is showing you some of the things that have made those first tastes a little easier. x

Parenting Highs and Lows

Every new parent goes through the sleepless nights, the grumpy days of teething and for many, the baby blues.  The lack of sleep and adult conversation can really make you feel down, but for some new parents, mums and dads, the baby blues can go on for a little longer than the few days that is expected.  This is normally classed as post natal depression.  It comes in many forms and can kick in (generally) at any point in the first two years.  Parents who have experienced some form of depression are more likely to get it according to health professionals and for many, you can feel completely alone and cut off from the world.

There are people you can turn to for help when you realise that the constant lack of sleep, maybe a teary baby, or even just being lonely gets you down.  From your health team (who include your midwife before discharge, the health visitors, and your doctor) to family and friends, they can all help.  But you have to realise you need and want that help.  It can be something as simple as spending an afternoon at a friends for a cup of coffee (you know we can’t function without that anymore) or a family member looking after your little one for an hour while you get some sleep (it doesn’t have to be a lot of sleep, just an hour to relax can help) or even popping around to help with the cleaning (we know it gets put on a back burner).

If you don’t recognise the signs straight away, you could need extra help, be it, talking to a trained councillor or your doctor putting you on medication.  These are other options that can be put in place to help you.  It can help to have a supportive partner around you who may notice the signs before you do, or who can go with you to the doctor to explain your moods.  If you’re not sure, then try keeping a mood diary for a week (a councillor or doctor may ask you to do this anyway).  It will give you an idea of how often you feel down or low.  Make a note of time, what baby is doing and how you feel – are you just tired, do you not have the will to fulfil a task, are you upset and teary or do you want to hurt yourself/baby?  If you do at any point feel like the last one, please see your doctor straight away.  They are professionals and trained to help you.  If you notice that you have a low mood more often than a happy one, it may be time to seek advice.

Oliver is 4 months old today, and I still feel like I am living on a rollercoaster everyday.  From him being born and spending time in the NICU to coming home, trying to get things ready (because he was early not every thing was set up) to looking after a baby for the first time alone when Andrew went back to work.  I have been lucky, I have some very close friends and family who I wouldn’t have got this far without.  Even though the majority of my family are quite some distance away, they are also very supportive and I know they are just at the end of the phone if I need them.  I was doing alright until just after Christmas.  My Gran passing away shook me to the core, and then it hit.  I didn’t want to do anything, cleaning, cooking, even getting dressed seemed like a chore (although I make a point of getting dressed every morning to take Andrew to work).  I’ve never had any issues with looking after Oliver, he has always been my first priority, but other things were put on the back burner and my health visitor became worried about me.

After a few weeks of crying every day, it’s getting better.  I don’t always feel like doing house work, but the basics are done every day now and slowly I am starting to come out of the lull, thanks in part to taking Oliver swimming.  We get out of the house, get to see other people with babies and both of us get to interact with people in an appropriate age range.  We both love going and it really does make my day to see him smile when we go.  I have a busy week planned most weeks, which is good too, I don’t have time to sit in the house and mope about.  I’m lucky, it was picked up very fast, I was given support and advice from my health team and am moving forwards and through it.  Others aren’t so lucky, some people are that good at putting on a front that no one ever knows something is wrong until something major goes wrong.  Like I said, daddies can get PND too! 

The signs to look out for include:

• A low mood or a persistent feeling of sadness
• A loss of interest in the world around you
• A lack of energy and feeling tired all the time.

Other things to look out for are:

• disturbed sleep or not being able to sleep at night
• difficulty concentrating or making decisions
• low self confidence
• poor appetite or an increase in appetite
• feeling agitated or just can’t be bothered
• feelings of guilt/self blame

Spotting the signs in someone else:

• Frequently crying for no obvious reason
• difficulties bonding with their baby
• they seem to be neglecting themselves
• seem to have lost all sense of time
• constant worry about baby regardless of reassurance

The NHS have a very good section on Post Natal Depression and I would recommend reading it. http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Postnataldepression/Pages/Introduction.aspx