How to work from home with a baby and stay (relatively) sane
I’m coming to the end of my second month being a stay-and-work-at-home-mum (SWAHM - yes it does exist!) and to say [...]
Why don’t pregnant women use wheelchairs?
That’s among the questions three ‘pregnant’ dads have posed just days into their mission to wear pregnancy suits for a whole month. I left BB and Little B in the capable hands of Misery Guts on Sunday to go and write about their story, among others, and it really is an interesting one. There’s no doubt the world would be a different place if it were men who gave birth. The three dads are wearing 15kg ‘empathy bellies’ – the average weight of a full term pregnancy – day and night in the run up to Mother’s Day to see what it’s like for all us mums out there. […]
Getting to the job interview has required military-style planning & industrial-scale milk pumping
I’ve got an interview for my dream job. It’s writing features on a freelance basis for a national newspaper (which [...]
Thrupenny Bits nursing cushion – hands free breast feeding!
I used to think nursing pillows were one of those things they try and sell you but you don’t really [...]
My bum is a depot for building my baby’s brain
Excellent news: curvier girls produce brainier children. I’m not joking. Scientists have this week said that the fat found in our bums helps to build our babies brains because fat cells in our derrieres are ‘routed’ directly towards them. Apparently these ‘fat banks’ are depots for building a baby’s brain via breast feeding, and women with larger stores of fat are likely to produce brainer children. And there was me turning my back on a rather lovely looking slice of blueberry frangipane in the coffee shop yesterday, which really did have my name on it. […]
I should have been more assertive and insisted on breast feeding
Little B’s gorgeous, podgy legs are now sporting a pair of plasters thanks to the administration of his 8 week jabs (pictured). It was an ordeal, in more ways than one. As if getting us all up, breakfasted, dressed and out of the door by 9.15am wasn’t bad enough, it was raining cats and dogs and we had no option but to go on foot. In order to get to the surgery in the fastest possible time and avoid unnecessary drenching, there was nothing for it but to put BB in the pushchair with the rain cover (I was hoping her pushchair days were over) and Little B in the papoose, under the cover of my coat. We couldn’t have got any wetter. The rain was so torrential (and too windy to attempt balancing an umbrella on my head/shoulders while pushing) it soaked through my coat and onto Little B within minutes, and we arrived literally dripping. […]
The best Christmas present in the world ever: a 30 year old dolls house
After a two-week Christmas and new year break (bet you didn’t even notice) we’re back. And while we might be [...]
Bedside cribs: a ‘safe’ co-sleeping solution?
At just six weeks old Little B has outgrown the moses basket. Not that he slept in it much anyway, preferring to sleep in our bed spread-eagled between us. But while this would send him into a deep, peaceful sleep, it of course meant I slept terribly, worried one of us would roll onto him, accidently pull the duvet over him or that he would shimmy himself against one of the pillows in his sleep. The health visitor advised putting him on my side of the bed rather than between us because as his mum I naturally sleep more lightly, but that’s hardly a long-term solution for the next few months when he’s too small to go into a cot in his own bedroom. So, after a bit of research, I think I’ve come up with the answer: a bedside crib (pictured). There are lots on the market, some as much as a couple of hundred pounds, but we went for the cheapest, Chicco’s Next2Me (£149.99), given he will have outgrown it by six months old. Even Misery Guts, who was predictably sceptical about buying yet more paraphernalia, admits it’s a nifty bit of kit. (You can hire other brands through the NCT, but the waiting list was until the middle of January, so not much help). […]
Running after pregnancy: I’m pounding the pavements again
It’s the moment I’ve been waiting for: at long last I can pound the pavements again. After hanging up my trainers at 36 weeks pregnant I then had four weeks ‘off’ after Little B’s birth and went for my first run exactly four weeks later. Without a bump I felt like I was flying. My running bible throughout pregnancy has been Runner’s World Guide to Running & Pregnancy by Chris Lundgren, one of only a handful of books I’ve been able to find on the subject. She advises waiting until you’ve stopped bleeding and then adding another week before attempting your first post-partum run, and then if you have any fresh blood afterwards wait another week before going out again. I followed this advice with both BB and Little B, and it seems a sensible approach to me. I was careful to stick to my pregnancy pace – you’re actually more at risk of injury in the months immediately after giving birth than you are during pregnancy – and not to take too big strides owing to my recent date with the needle and thread, but wow. As it did after BB was born, it felt brilliant. […]
Stretch mark creams review: Bepanthen, Palmer’s & Bio Oil
They say there’s nothing you can really do about stretch marks: it’s in the genes and you'll either get them, [...]
Little B’s first smile: the most rewarding moment so far
At 5 weeks and 4 days old I’ve managed to capture Little B’s smile on camera for the first time. There have been fleeting mini smiles over the past week or so – and never with a camera to hand – but now he’s properly beaming and throwing in gurgles for good measure. After almost six weeks of not sleeping longer than a couple of hours at a time, the pain of bleeding nipples and stinging stiches, the indignity of big pants and industrial strength wadding, scraping poo from under my fingernails (not mine, obviously), soothing colic, cold tea, snatched baths and even colder dinner, to be rewarded with a smile is the most momentous, fulfilling moment so far. […]
Hopefully that’s our last medical-related appointment for now…
Not only was Little B diagnosed with tongue tie on the day he was born, the paediatrician also discovered a heart murmur. This was found at his paediatric check, which took place when he was just a few hours old because we were on a six hour discharge from the hospital. I wasn’t overly concerned: he has a good colour, has put on a whole 2lbs since he was born almost three weeks ago and doesn’t look like there might be something wrong with him. Apparently a heart murmur isn’t unusual in really newborn babies after their circulation switches from running on the inside to functioning on the outside, and we were told that had the paediatric check taken place the following day they may not have detected anything at all. […]
When the nurse brandished some shears I nearly passed out…
At 13 days old Little B’s tongue tie has finally been sorted out. I’m not normally squeamish, but when the nurse brandished a pair of shears scissors to make the snip at the base of his tongue I nearly passed out. And I’m not joking. Admittedly the room was hot – stiflingly hot as only ante natal units are – and I was already feeling a little light headed because it was way past lunchtime owing to the fact they were ‘running behind’. But even so, after reading somewhere that they take the baby away to cut the tongue tie, I didn’t expect to have to hold him down while they actually did it. […]
I’m loving NOT being pregnant
Isn’t the human body amazing? It takes 40 weeks to grow a baby but just a matter of days for it to look like there was never anything there at all. This is how mine has changed in the 10 days since Little B was born, although suggesting it looks like there was never anything there at all is stretching it a bit. There’s no doubt I’m a mother: the tell-tale linea nigra across my stomach, the midwife’s needlework skills and the fact I’m in dire need of some serious heavy duty eye cream are all dead giveaways, but all things considered, when fully clothed, I reckon I’ve escaped relatively unscathed. […]
Breast feeding a baby with tongue tie: ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch
Little B was diagnosed with tongue tie by our midwife as soon as he was born, meaning a little lip [...]
