The Day Baby Was Born

The Day Baby Was Born is a free service offered by Tommee Tippee that automatically gathers information about the day your baby was born based on your selections, to create a storybook that you can share with family and friends.

You start during pregnancy, recording bits of information and even scan pictures. It also pulls through well wishes from people on Facebook. Once you've had your baby you can add photos of him and all sorts of information is included like the headline news on that day and the weather! Information that I would love to have known about the day I was born, like popular songs of the day and famous people they share their birthday with. I wish I'd been able to do this with my two, it's such a great record to keep. Not only is it online you can also print it out.

It's so easy to do, you just sign in using Facebook and get started creating a digital memory book of your special day! Check it out here:

Thedaybabywasborn

Widgey® Nursing Pillow - Review

I was really pleased to be asked to try out the Widgey® Nursing Pillow as last time around with Isla I found that I couldn't get enough of pillows for all different uses - in bed during pregnancy and for back support when relaxing in the evening and then when she arrived for assisting with Isla's positioning when I was feeding her whether breast feeding or bottle feeding. So I became a bit of a pillow addict!

I was sent a fab Cow Print widgey and I couldn't wait to use it.

Widgey® Nursing Pillow is a feeding aid for nursing mothers with a firm filling and removable cotton covers (great for milk spillages!!). Uniquely designed to hug around the mother it removes the need for the mother to clasp both the child and the pillow whilst breast and/or bottle feeding.

The Widgey really has longevity as it's uses are as follows:

- Can be used in pregnancy for back support

- Is used for nursing baby, it hugs round mums body and provides a raised support for baby to rest on as they breast or bottle feed.

- Once your baby is 3 months old he can be rested within the confines of the pillow to aid digestion of his milk

- And lastly once your baby is around 6 months old and attempting to sit up unaided the Widgey can be positioned around the baby so he will be supported if he falls backwards.

So you see it really is worth it's weight!

I've found this cushion really handy now I'm breast feeding, it raises Noah up a bit so that I'm not bearing all his weight on my arms and as I use a different position to feed him on each side it works in both instances. I'm also looking forward to using it to support Noah when he's starting to sit up as I like the fact that it will surround him and it is quite a firm pillow so he wouldn't fall over.

The Widgey has a RRP: £29.99 and is stocked at: www.thebabycatalogue.com, Mothercare, John Lewis, Boots,Toys R Us, Asda, Tesco, Amazon.

I was sent a Widgey free of charge in order to write this review. The opinions expressed are my own.

Bump Watch...Week 39

I'm nearly there, come on baby boy, no tardiness please!

Bump Watch... Week 38

I can't get much bigger than this.....can I?!

Mind Your Own Business!

I started maternity leave this week and I'm wondering if I've become slightly sensitive to other people's comments, pointed questions and observations about how I do things with my daughter purely because I've shed the skin of being a 9 - 5 worker and walked back into the world of being a stay at home mum? Maybe I didn't have time to listen to things that people have to say, or I had bigger things to worry about than whether I was doing what everyone else does.

What am I referring to?

It seems that now my daughter is approaching 2 years she 'should' be potty training, or even totally dry by now! This is news to me, my feeling has always been that she will show me when she feels ready for it and in the meantime I will do things to gently prompt her in that direction. We've had a basic potty in our bathroom since she was 18 months, she knows it's purpose, quite often sits on it, asks for tissue and mimics wiping herself, but it is very much a piece of role play at the moment. I feel like this is good enough and I don't want to push her but when someone mentions it in such a way that you feel like you've failed at something it can get you down.

This isn't the only thing. Isla also uses a dummy, some days quite heavily. It isn't my favourite thing of hers and I admit to feeling fed up on occasion about her having it, but when I rationalise things, she will give it up eventually and in the mean time it would be nice if again people didn't make it their business to help her rid herself of it, because as far as I'm concerned they're only raising her own awareness of it and making her more stubborn about not taking it out. Also referring to it as 'dirty dummy' etc. It's not dirty, and neither is she. It's a habit and for some of the people who say these things, they actually smoke! A habit that is definitely damaging and definitely dirty (I don't hate smokers though - please don't make something of this comment)!

I don't mean to go on, but this is my outlet for letting off steam and for a whole evening this week I felt thoroughly miserable thinking that I wasn't doing things right. Perhaps I'm being over sensitive? I'm in the last 3 weeks of pregnancy and tiredness could be distorting how I see things, but one thing I do know is that Isla is a very happy little girl (as pointed out by my best friend) and surely that is all that matters and from the many responses to my moaning on twitter, it's fair to say that there aren't many 10 year olds that walk around with dummies in their mouths, wearing nappies (thanks Northern Mum!).

Bump Watch...Week 35

Last week at work, then maternity leave....eeeek!

Pregnancy Yoga

I Love Wednesday's, I spend the day with my darling daughter and then at 6.30pm I hand over the reigns to my OH and get my yoga gear on! Since I was 22 weeks pregnant I've been doing a weekly Pregnancy Yoga class and I absolutely love it! I skip (like a Hippo) out the door, jump in the car and really can't wait to take off the weeks troubles, stresses and forget my pregnancy related aches and pains!

The session is 75 minutes and it is PURE me time, and also special time for me to think about my baby boy and channel my energies into him for a change. The thing with 2nd pregnancies is that the baby growing inside you doesn't get nearly as much thought as the first one did. There is no poring over Pregnancy books, no mooning over baby products you want to buy as you have most of it already and no lazing around watching the Discovery Health Channel all weekend for birth programmes (I did a lot of that last time!). My attentions are usually spent on the Toddler, work, looking after the house and my new love of blogging.

There are about 7-8 of us in our class and we're all due within a 3 month period of each other. We start off by talking about our week/ sharing how we're feeling physically (most say knackered!) and mentally. Our teacher is brilliant, so down to earth and her use of affirmations is really empowering. We practice along to music and it's real mixture of uplifting and relaxing sounds. We start by warming up, and 'shaking' off our day, we're always encouraged to take our eye gaze up, this is a really positive thing to do. All the movements are gentle and Jayne says we should always work to 80% of our usual effort, which is good to keep in mind to stop from causing any injury.

I won't try and describe any of the sequences we do as I know I won't be able to do them justice but some of the moves we do feel like we're 'taking off our day' and letting go of everything. We also do perineum squeezes to help with our pelvic floors - I'm useless at remembering to do these so at least I know I'm doing them once a week! I'm sure I'm setting myself up for trouble in years to come - I'll be looking for Tena Lady to sponsor me for Cybermummy 2012! 

After the various moves we do, we practice focussing on breath work, we do this seated on a chair and last week it was so relaxing that I nearly fell sideways off the chair - luckily all the other ladies had their eyes closed and only Jayne saw! The breathing work we do is designed to help us cope with the contractions and also to maximise oxygen intake for me and Baby boy. The out breath should be longer than the in breath and we often use the word Relax, separated into 2 syllables with 're' being shorter than 'laaaax'.

Right at the end comes my favourite bit - deep relaxation, where we lay down, get comfy and warm and focus on relaxing each and every bit of our bodies. Jayne uses visualisation and I love it when she mentions our babies all curled up inside us, safe and protected and smiling! I'm usually nearly asleep by the end of that and wishing I didn't have to get up and drive home but I don't really fancy spending the night in the Quaker Hall really... So I rouse myself and do some final exercises, one of which is where we're encouraged to think of a word and send that out as a vibration into our week ahead, quite often I think of being calmer and other times I think of energy (seriously lacking that now!).

I love the classes for how they make me feel on the night and for the following days and I really hope that I can remember the techniques I've learnt when it comes to B-day, and not go into panic mode! Hopefully being prepared and using the breathing and visualisation I've learnt will give me confidence in my body and what it can do on its own. If you've read my first birth story you'll know that it wasn't a smooth ride and I'm hoping my yoga will be part of the toolbox that will allow me to cope better second time round.


My pregnancy yoga class is taught by Jayne Micallef, details of her classes can be found here:
Jayne Micallef Yoga

This is not a sponsored post - I've written this as it is something that I think has been truly beneficial to me during my pregnancy, I have not been offered anything in exchange for my views.

The MAD Blog Awards - Best Pregnancy Blog 2011 Finalist

So I've got through to the last 5 finalists for Best Pregnancy Blog in the MAD Blog awards. I'm really happy about this as my blog is so young - I only started it in November - but it has followed me on my 2nd pregnancy journey and has given me so much pleasure. I've done things I never thought I would do - like standing in a maternity bra at The Baby Show for Bras4mums, I've taken Isla on some fun excursions and I've also made some great mummy contacts as a result!

Just being a finalist is truly exciting but naturally I would like to have a taste of what it's like to be a winner (I'm a winner already just by having a fantastic husband, daughter and wonderful friends and family) and I'm hoping that you'll continue to support me and vote for me again. If you do I'll stop banging on about it.....

Click through to vote on this link: The MAD Blog Awards

thanks all!

Sharon x

Pregnancy Pampering

Last week I did a couple of lovely things just for me! I was feeling really really pregnant - I feel like I've got a beach ball full of wet sand permanently attached to my front! So firstly after I'd finished at Blog Camp on Thursday I took a stroll up to John Lewis and had myself a fantastic manicure at Nails Inc.

I don't know about you but since I've had children my hands have gone to the dogs, they're rough as sand paper, my nails are all jagged and all different lengths, it's embarrassing. Anyhow after 30 minutes of pampering my nails looked fantastic, and BRIGHT PINK! I felt really girly although I have to say I did feel a bit guilty spending money on myself. But then I think the guilt disappeared and.....

Next up was a bit of eye brow threading. I've been a fan of this for a couple of years now and I really enjoy having it done. I know that there are cheaper places to go but I always go to Blink as after the threading they give a lovely little massage around the forehead and temples and I find it so relaxing. I love how my eyebrows look afterwards (they were like bushes before - but my new fringe helps to cover them a bit!) and I don't really notice the slight pain throughout.

My pampering didn't end that day as I decided on Friday I'd take some time out over lunchtime during work to go and have a pregnancy massage at Spa NK on Westbourne Grove. And oh my gosh, it was bloody fantastic! I opted for an hour long massage that was £75 (I know, spending more money on myself! - but that all stops when Baby Boy arrives!) and it was worth every penny.

On arrival at Spa NK I was taken to the changing room and given the key to my locker where I found a robe and slippers. I got changed and then went to the relaxing waiting area and waited for my therapist to take me to the treatment room. Once there I hopped (read as galumphed) up on to the massage table with a convenient hole for my bump to fit into. I was asked to breath in some oils and then the therapist got to work on my back. It was fantastic, I hadn't felt so relaxed in weeks. The oils used were gorgeous smelling and the soundtrack to the massage was sleep inducing. Half way through I turned over and she set to work on my feet, legs, arms, neck and shoulders. What I wasn't expecting though was my bump getting a bit of treatment too - very gentle stroking massage. I had my fingers crossed that Baby Boy wouldn't start making his usual jabs and kicks and he was very well behaved, the massage must have worked wonders on him too and he was asleep. I enjoyed it so much and really didn't want it to finish, but all good things must end and I still had to get back to work.

So that was my week where I did a few things just to focus on Moi! It's not something I do very often but I figured in the coming months things will again to cease to be about me and they'll be all about this little person that I'm carrying around and I think he'll do a lot better if he comes into the world with a relaxed mummy at his beck and call.

Wellstart Parenting & Child Development PC Software - A Review

I was recently offered the chance to review a new computer based software package dedicated to recording details of pregnancy and your child's development. It also has information about conception and fertility for those at the family planning stage.

I love keeping records of Isla's development and up till now I've done this through a paper baby journal, inserting scans/ photo's and writing bits and pieces about her development as and when I remember to do it. And that's the trouble with baby books, you have to remember to write in it (that's once you've remembered where you've put it in the first place!) and so you can forget to record all those momentous milestones, like first rolling over, first tooth, first steps etc. The beauty of the Wellstart program is that it starts up on the laptop once Windows has opened, so given that I use my laptop everyday, it works as a prompt to add in a quick note about something that Isla has done that day or something about my pregnancy. There is no excuse not to do it.

The program itself is a calendar and in relation to pregnancy, it gives notes about what to expect each week. For existing children it gives guidelines of what you should expect of them for their age, along the lines of how many words they should have in their vocabulary, things that they should be physically capable of doing  for their age, like climbing the stairs etc.

When you first use the software you input all the family details, mother, father, existing children and pregnancy details. You can then add in photo's of your children and from that point onwards you can make journal type entries relating to each of your children. For each note you make you can add photo's, video footage or sound files, so written memories of babies first taste of solids can be accompanied by a video of those first few mouthfuls - which I think is brilliant - the memories all consolidated in one place! This makes it like a library of your child's development and I think it will be fantastic to actually be able to sit with Isla or the new baby when he's old enough and show them all the notes and media you've kept about them. I remember being fascinated with the cine film footage that my Grandparents took of me when I was very young and that didn't even have any sound, so I can imagine their delight at seeing all this.

My only criticism of the Wellstart software is that it could be aesthetically more pleasing, it has a basic look about it - you are able to change the colours in it and the fonts and you can add your own photo's, but I think it can look a bit clinical. So for me I'd like it to be 'funked' up a bit - this is minor criticism though!

If you are the kind of person who likes to have hard copies of this kind of thing then you can also print off your records and you can email records you've made too. Another feature I like is the link to BabyCentre which has a wealth of resources for child development and advice, I'm a regular visitor to their website, so for me this is a useful resource.

Overall I'm sold on Wellstart, and I can't wait to start using it for our baby boy's arrival in July. I will enjoy recording his milestones right from the beginning and using the software to store favourite photos and videos of him. I have already bought him a paper baby book and I think it's nice to have both anyway!

We were supplied with a copy of the Wellstart software to review free of charge in order to write this blog post.

The MAD Blog Awards

Friday morning I was having a pretty crappy time at the hospital having my Glucose Tolerence Test (Pregnancy related - will post about this at some point!) - I  was starving because I couldn't eat from 10pm last night until the testing finished at 11.30 this morning. As any pregnant woman in their 3rd trimester will tell you, breakfast is the first thing on your mind from the minute you wake up!! I do well most mornings to wait till I get into work and have it at 9am - that extra 2.5 hours killed me!

Then my morning took a turn for the better when one of my blogging mummy friends told me that she had very kindly nominated me for a MAD Blog award!!! Who is this kind citizen? The one and only Super Amazing Mum! I totally hadn't considered that this would even happen and hadn't even got around to looking at any of the categories to see if I might even fit in with any of them. I'm relatively new to blogging (started in Nov 2010) and small fry in the mummy blogging world, so feel really honoured that SAM has done this. I have to add at this point that SAM and I have a bit of shared history that we only discovered when I joined the a blogging site for mummies. We got talking and realised that she was an old friend from years back of my husband - they used to loaf around the streets as teenagers together in a group (she's slightly more respectable these days...hehehehe!), so it was nice to have some familiarity with someone in this new blogging world that I'd become a part of.

So what award category have I been nominated in? Best Pregnancy Blog! The 'blurb' says that I share with my readers, week by week the very beginning of the parenting journey and that I'm not afraid to tell it how it is when it comes to the joys and challenges of living with bump! And I think I have done just that really, most weeks I try and post Bump Watch, a photo record of bump growth for baby number 2 - see  Bump Watch Page and I've recently posted about my previous labour and birth with my baby girl.

So what do I do now? Well I'm in the position where I am now going to shamelessly ask you to make more nominations for I Heart Motherhood, I'm particularly suited I think to the category of Best Pregnancy Blog for all the reasons given above but if you click through on the link below you'll see that there are other categories that you may feel also apply. There will be many different people reading this post, other excellent bloggers who blog on the same topic, bloggers who write in other topics and family and friends who don't really have any other blogging experience other than reading mine. If you feel that you've enjoyed reading my blog then I'd love for you to show your appreciation and help me get to the next stage of the MAD's. I so enjoy writing it and sharing my thoughts, experiences, photo's and feelings with you all. I'm very new in this arena and I'd love to have your rubber stamp of approval. 


thank you!
Sharon x

Bump Watch...Week 26

Bump Watch...Week 26 - Already feeling huge!

I ♥ Cathy Thorne Cartoons!

I discovered these cartoons through the BabyCentre Pregnancy iPhone app. I love them, they are so funny and I'm finding I can identify with most of the mummy/ pregnancy ones! Check out all her cartoons at:

http://www.everydaypeoplecartoons.com/index.php

Pregnancy Ailments....

This week I'm mostly suffering from the following pregnancy related ailments:

SPD (Symphasis Pubis Dysfunction) - definition from BabyCentre:
The two halves of your pelvis are connected at the front by a stiff joint called the symphasis pubis. This joint is strengthened by a dense network of tough, flexible tissues, called ligaments. To help your baby pass through your pelvis as easily as possible, your body produces a hormone called relaxin, which softens the ligaments.

As a result, these joints move more during and just after pregnancy causing inflammation and pain, known as symphysis pubis dysfunction or SPD.

I had this with my last pregnancy too but it's started much earlier this time. At the moment, it's not too bad in the daytime but by the time I get to the end of the day everything feels really heavy where my pubic bone sits. And getting up in the night, I'm like an old granny. Towards the end last time, I couldn't actually go to the loo without the OH heaving me off the bed and helping me along the hallway - I walked like John Wayne! 

Advice is to avoid having your legs apart too wide at any time, getting in and out of cars/ out of bed/ climbing stairs are all instances where you need to be aware of your body. I also had a belt last time that I wore but I found it to be of no help as I got bigger. It's also important to avoid heavy lifting, so no carrying heavy shopping - but this one is difficult when you have a 20 month old who no matter how much she likes walking will want the occasional carry and that's 2 stone I'm lifting!

It's also important to mention the condition in your birth plan, to avoid positions that aggravate it, but this isn't always possible.

All I can hope is that it disappears straight after having the baby like it did last time...

Acid Indigestion:
This is a daily occurrence now and happens regardless of what I eat - a burning sensation from low down in my throat, it's horrible and it's making mealtimes unpleasant. At the moment I'm trying to cope with it by drinking milk, but I think I'll be downing the Gaviscon very soon!

Leg Cramps:
Another nice pregnancy by product! And another one that I have to rope the other half into helping me with. Last night, I was fast asleep, dead as a dodo. Then suddenly, AAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHH, my left leg is cramped, it's rigid and massively painful. I'm trying not to scream out because if I woke Isla that would make the situation 10 times worse, so I'm whacking the OH to wake up and help me. In his sleep, he's reaching over and patting me - not what I need, so through gritted teeth I'm saying, "MY LEG IS CRAMPED! HELP ME!!". I can't even move to get the duvet off me. Eventually he wakes up and massages my calf muscle and it eases off.

Again I can only refer to BabyCentre to explain this one, but in short the growing uterus is putting pressure on the main veins in the legs and that combined with increased progesterone in the body means muscle tone is affected. The baby is also stripping a mothers body of essential nutrients, calcium and magnesium and salts and this shortage can cause the cramps.

All I can say is if you have your partner on hand to help you deal with it all the better, because it's pretty hard to shake on your own.

So there you have it - the joys of pregnancy!

Robe-Around by Sporty Bump - Review

I was given the great opportunity to try out a 'Sporty Bump Robe-Around' -  a wrap-around pleated towelling robe aimed at pregnant ladies and new mums to be. Created to give complete privacy during pregnancy. Ideal in public places such as the swimming baths, gym, tanning rooms or health club. The trial of Robe-Around couldn't have been timed better as Isla has started swimming lessons and we now head to the pool on a weekly basis. As my bump has grown, the more I've come to appreciate the roominess of the design!

The central theme of Sporty Bump products is that they recognise that us pregnant women have needs and we want to look and feel good even as our body shape changes. This particular product is excellent in that it has pleats built in so that as your bump grows it still covers your modesty! There is also no chance of the towel falling down on you in the changing rooms due to the nifty velcro fastening at the top!

This is also not a product thats use ends when pregnancy is over. We all take varying amounts of time to get our bodies back in to shape after having a baby so the towel still works to keep our body under wraps!

Personally I have found it to be my towel of choice now for swimming. The fact that it stays secure and grows with my body is brilliant. I'm not shy about my pregnant body at all but I think that the concept is great for women of all shapes and sizes who may not feel so confident in a changing room environment.

Getting changed with a toddler can take time, they wander off all over the place and so without the velcro fastening I'd be forever tucking in a towel as it would inevitably fall down all the time. The length of the fastening is also quite long meaning that the towel is one size and will fit even the biggest of bumps!

It would also be perfect as a holiday cover-up for the pool or beach. One size fits all and it comes in black.

It can be purchased from http://www.sportybump.co.uk/ and it retails at £20 plus p&p. You can keep in touch with Sporty Bump on twitter http://twitter.com/SportyBump) and Facebook.

I was sent a sample 'Robe-Around' for the purposes of this review and did not receive any other financial reward for the post.

Swim Baby Swim UK - Review

So we're nearly at the end of Isla's swimming lessons with Swim Baby Swim UK and it's been brilliant, this week was so enjoyable, it was such a great start to a Sunday. We're all really enjoying the lessons and may need to keep them up - still to decide on this.

I was really looking forward to this lesson as last weeks hadn't been the best due to me feeling a bit tired due to pregnancy and Isla really missing me being present with her and my OH in the pool. She wanted to get out and be with me and so it cut short the lesson. I wanted this Sunday to go really well and I couldn't have hoped for it to be any better!

As usual there was no stopping her from trotting round the pool to the steps, she just loves the water. Once in we went up and down holding the float a couple of times and she was really kicking her legs, like more than she's ever done before and I kept saying 'kick, kick, kick' and she was really going for it with lots of smiles.

She also learnt to get out of the pool on her own by climbing out from the side. This a is bit tricky from the point of view of her age and how she quite often doesn't listen to what we're telling her, because once out she wants to run around, but we managed to get her back to the edge and encouraged her to plop back into the water with a big splash! She's getting so comfortable with having her face under the water now. We had a couple of goes of putting her under the surface and then encouraging her without help to swim between me and Daddy. I have to be so brave to do it as it's easy to freak out a bit and grab her but her big blue eyes are open and you can see that she's holding her breath until she surfaces. She looks unsure when she comes up but she gets so much praise when she does that she is fine. Anne's presence by our side is so reassuring and she's so encouraging.

We did 'piggy back' rides up and down the pool and she now holds on to us tightly without help while we swim underneath her. She loves this and says 'giddy up, giddy up!'.

I always encourage her to look at the other children as they are all slightly older and they are all jumping in and doing bits of swimming on their own and given that children love to imitate other children, it's good for her to see what they are all doing.

The best bit of the whole lesson for Isla was when she got given a badge at the end of the lesson, she loved that, it was such a nice touch. We're so pleased with her progress that we're considering continuing with Swim Baby Swim lessons. It's the last lesson next week, so here's hoping it's as brilliant as all those that have come before it.

We're also going to be testing the Swim Baby Swim Swimming app on the iPhone, where we can practice things we've learnt in the lessons and follow the advice in the tutorials in the app.

As per previous 'Swim Baby Swim' posts, I have to add that this course of 6 lessons has been provided to Isla without charge.