Friday 29 April 2016

Real nappies

We decided a long time ago, probably before we'd even thought about having a child, that having "real" or reusable nappies was the way to go. We've always been good at recycling and composting (although not so much since we realised we were filling the compost bin quicker than it could actually break it all down) but with two cats who mainly use the litter tray it felt like any way to avoid over filling the bin is worth investigating. We once missed the bin collection on a week where I'd bought lots of new things for the baby which came with non recyclable plastics, a week when we were deep cleaning and clearing the house too. It was difficult to manage making sure we could fit all of our non recyclable waste into the bin.

I was at a bit of a loss to begin with trying to figure out what was what with reusable nappies. The only ones I knew where the terry towels that I grew up on. But I had no idea where to look or what was needed. Is heard about a government funded site that (supposedly) told you all about reusable nappies, but to be honest it all felt a bit like jargon to me and j was still no clearer on where to begin. If anything it confused m even more as suddenly I learnt there were all sorts of different types of nappies you could get.

I decided one day just to see what existed in my immediate physical world. I took a trip to boots to see what they had. I discovered the brand TotsBots. Boots sold something called easy fit and some disposable liners. I still wasn't sure what I was looking at, but at least now I had a starting point. A local boots stocks some real nappy products, this was a decision maker for me as it meant if ever I needed anything in an emergency, there's always boots.

I went home and looked on the tots bots website. Things started to make more sense and to make it even easier for a novice like me they do trial kits and birth to potty kits. After lots and lots of reading descriptions and FAQs I decided that the two piece nappy set would be most suitable and financially viable for us. So I bit the bullet and bought the Peenut birth to potty kit. These two part system consist of a wrap, which (fingers crossed) can usually be reused with a clean pad at changing time. The pads pop in and out, you can change use more than one pad to maximise absorbency and use washable or flushable liners to catch the main offences.

The Peenut wraps are designed to grow with the child through the use of cleverly places poppers. According to the website they can be used on babies from 9lb onwards. So this left us to consider those newborn days. For the first few days we intend to use disposable (I hear those first few poos are like Tarmac). Tots bots make an all in one teeny fit to fit tiny babies in those early days, so we asked for people to buy us a nappy each for our baby shower (at the time they were half price). Unfortunately the excitement of a new baby means people want to buy you the things they like, which is lovely and we appreciate everything we've received! Although it does mean we've ended up with only four teeny fit nappies. But I guess that's 4 less nappies in the bin a day. (UPDATE!! I've just ordered 3 more teeny fit nappies as they currently have another discount offer, enter Gift50 at the checkout for 50% off. Plus there was free delivery on orders overs over £25 - before the savings!)

Humpty Dumpty design. Shows how the nappy grows with your child.


Anyway, back to the Peenut; I'm still a little confused about the washing process, I've had a sheet with a teeny fit nappy (bought as a baby shower gift) that says there's no real need to soak the nappies, but surely this would be best for your washing machine?

So I'm looking to you to share your experiences and any tips about using reusable nappies. What have you found works well? Do you soak your nappies? Have you used the Peenut system or something similar? How did you find it?

Tuesday 26 April 2016

Being pregnant: Part 4

Horror stories and hospital bags.

(Don't worry, there are no horror stories in this entry!)

Telling friends and family that I was pregnant was definitely one of, if not the greatest thing about being pregnant. Everyone was so full of love and it made you feel like you were definitely doing the right thing.  Making people cry tears of joy (for a change!) will always stay with me and make me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. 


However...  get to the third trimester and a lot of people suddenly change from "congratulations/ I bet you can't wait / what wonderful news! / Wow a new baby" to seemingly wanting to make you terrified and full of regret.  Now, this is my first baby so my experiences of a new born are very VERY limited - I don't know many babies, and I've never changed a nappy,  but I think of myself as a bright and capable girl.  I know that my life will never be the same, I know I'll be up several times in the night to see to baby, I can see how leaving the house in the mornings will be much more challenging.  I don't need people to keep reminding me that "Oh you won't be able to do that when the baby comes/ make the most of your sleep now because you won't get any when the baby comes / When the baby comes you know you'll have no time for yourself right?"  


I don't know what makes people think that these kinds of comments are helpful.  Why anyone would want to worry a mum to be very soon that filling her with a sense of dread is beyond my comprehension.  It does nothing but make me want to walk away from them and if anything, makes me feel that if I want to ask for help, I'm backed into a corner because I don't want to hear those words "I told you so".  


So if you find that you're about to say anything along these lines to a soon to be parent, just don't! Be helpful, offer words of encouragement.  Don't get me wrong, this is not what everyone does.  We've found now that we only talk about the impending arrival with positive people and we're starting to shut the negative nancys out. Lots of people keep reminding us it's the best thing ever and agree that they had so many scary comments from others, their advice; just ignore them, life is going to be different, but different doesn't mean bad. Let us enjoy the moment. 


Other than if I have particular questions about labour, particularly as I fill out my birth plan, I've also banned people from talking about their birth stories.  It's hard to vet what they will say before it's too late and you have a horror story engraved in the back of your head. 


As a first time mum, I feel, this may vary from area to area, that midwives seem to have a pretty high expectation of my knowledge of what happens during birth. At my 34/40 appointment I was given a bounty pack and told to read the magazine which had lots of info on labour and begin thinking about my birth plan. Well the magazine inside was a product guide, so that was no help. At my 36/40 appointment, my usual midwife wad away. I explained that the pack given to me had no info on birth plans but was advised to have it written be the next appointment. Luckily I'm literate and have access to the internet. For women who can't read I can only imagine their frustration. I certainly know I left feeling upset that no one was prepared to go through my options with me for what is going to be one of the biggest moments of my life.


Fortunately, parent information class began that week and we were able to discuss labour. My birth plan is complete, yet to be read by my midwife but ready to go for the appointment in week 38/40. For more information on labour and birth plans visit  Nhs choices which also allows you to type you birth plan covering all different aspects in an easy to use pro forma. A bit like applying for a job. I also found The Labour information pack from Emma's diary to be helpful and informative. I decided this is what my midwife had meant to give me at my 34 week appointment.


But remember, birth plans are there so that health professionals know what your wishes are. It may not always be possible to follow through with all or any of which you have planned. I have complete faith in the NHS and am sure those looking after me will do their best to see us all through the birth safely.

So my hospital bags are packed! Well partially. I've looked several places for advice on how to pack your hospital bag, but really nothing is better than asking those who've been there and done that. My bag is about 30% snacks at the moment. High protein bars and sweets to give me the energy boost in probably going to need. I've also had lip balm from friends who've told me just how much gas and air dries your lips, and dry shampoo, to refresh yourself if you can't get to the shower. 

I've also packed a bag for the baby. It's hard to know how long we could be at the hospital for so I've packed about 4 muslin squares, about 4 body suits and 3 spacesuits. Even though he's due in "summer" -British summer lets not forget, I was advised to pack a hat or two and a cardigan. It's easy to forget this little one has been living in a very warm place for the last 9 months and has never felt a cool breeze. 

Do you have any other handy tips or advice for hospital bags? I've read there should be one for the birth partner too, but he's a grown man, he can sort out his own.

Sunday 24 April 2016

Making a playmat

Play mats can be pretty expensive, and I could not find one that I liked. Then one day I was walking through the market and stopped by the fabric stall. There I spotted some beautiful woodland themed fabric. There were so many patterns coming in a variety of muted colours. I found a delightful fox pattern, foxes wearing blue bows. Perfect! I wanted it, then I thought about what I could use it for. The play mat!! I hurried home an got onto eBay, found some wadding, some blue bias binding to match the foxes bows and some 'latte' fabric which I imagined would match the background pretty well. It didn't, but I'm not much of a perfectionist, I wanted it done and to say 'I made that'.

I didn't have a pattern for this quilt, basically I made it up as I went along and sought advice from the oracle (my boyfriends mother who taught me how to sew). What seemed like a lovely and straight forward thing to make turned out to actually be quite difficult and cost me two sewing machine needles and a lot of patience. Seemingly the issues I had were that quite simply, I needed a walking foot but didn't have one, the tread on my sewing machine could not be adjusted, my sewing machine was probably never designed to make a quilt, and I had no idea what I was doing!

Weeks later and I finally finished it. As with anything difficult, the fact that it's not going to plan really puts me off picking it up. But I really wanted it! It wasn't going to do itself. Several failed attempts to not catch the under fabric on the sewing machine when it didn't quite make a straight enough line (thanks to poor tread, no special foot) meant I had to finish quite a bit of it by hand. It's not my best hand sewing work. To make it even more difficult my cats LOVED IT! Whenever it came out they'd be all over me trying to sit on it. What felt like hours trying to get them off it was slowing me down, so I gave in and just let them sit on it while I sewed around them.



But anyway, it's now complete and lint roller. It doesn't look to bad from a fair distance away. Besides baby won't mind, it's somewhere comfortable for him to be sick on. Most importantly, this play mat come with one important rule: Don't look at the back!!

Now to convince my boyfriend to make one of these baby gyms.

I love the idea of this simple wooden structure. Not only does it look fantastic, it seems as though storing it will be simple and i like the idea of being able to change what stimulus could be hanging, maybe some black and white pictures and shapes first, the perhaps bold colours, moving onto natural materials, noisy things, photos of family. The possibilities are endless and will hopefully mean he won't outgrow it too quickly.

Instructions for the baby gym can be found here http://atilio.metromode.se/2016/02/20/monthly-makers-tra/

I can't read what i think is Swedish either but the photos look pretty self explanatory.

Instructions for the blanket (not that I have much faith in my own instructions)
2 pieces of fabric 1m x 76cm
1 piece of wadding 1m x 76cm
4 meters of bias binding (I overlapped a little)

Sandwich wadding between the wrong sides of the two fabric pieces, pin all around the edges to hold it all in place.

Pin and tack diagonal lines from the centre on the fabric (there was no way I could do this without tacking first as the fabric kept moving).

Sew beginning at the centre and working your way out.

Repeat to make a horizontal and vertical line.

Pin bias binding to the side you'd like as the front of your play mat and sew.

Fold and pin bias binding onto the back of the mat, then slip stitch to finish.

Saturday 23 April 2016

Being pregnant: Part 3

Keep moving.


That seems to be what the third trimester is all about. Suddenly you go from being pregnant, to being pregnant-pregnant, seriously pregnant, a soon to be mother.

I chose to take my maternity leave 4 weeks before by due date, with the added bonus of Easter which actually made it 6 weeks before d day. Some women I've met worked right up until their due date so they could have more time the other side with their baby. I feel this is completely down to the individual and is something you must decide for your self. If I'd done this I would have been completely unprepared for baby's arrival.

There are plenty of very stressful jobs out there and careers that don't just stay within working hours. As a teacher I found I had very little, usually no time during evenings and weekends to get any baby stuff done. Truth be told I only ever had time to think about being pregnant during the holidas. The rest of the time I just felt like a very tired and very sick teacher. Plus I was sick of sitting in tiny chairs, which I was later assured was great for squatting, but as I discovered from a back massage in my second trimester was killing my upper back.

Had I had the time, I wish I'd have began pre-natal yoga and aqua natal sooner. I began yoga at about week 27. I learnt so much (and discovered the horrifying truth that I had been splitting my abdominal muscles). I began to learn things about birth and started to really realise that this was something I'd be going through in the very near future. Time had flown since I first became pregnant, as it will do when you only really have time to be pregnant during your holidays. Pregnancy yoga teaches you all about breathing techniques you will need to help you get through Labour, as well as manoeuvres you can do to try and ease pain, and possibly, most importantly optimal foetal positioning (off). That is things you can do to try and get baby in the best position for Labour. For more on ofp visit Belly belly.

I loved it so much when I got on to maternity leave I joined a second class, which I'm very glad I did as the government cuts to funding within children centres meant that the mid wife led yoga session was cancelled with very little warning. There are 3 children's centres in the town I live, all off which seem to be less and less utilised, despite the fact that they all come with a hall, a kitchen and most of them with an early years room. I understand that now they are mainly only utilised for vulnerable families. Which well surely increase as community centres for news families are becoming less and less accessible.

As soon as I began maternity leave and was suddenly able to get the sleep I needed, the aches and pains began. I don't know if this was just a coincidence of timing, or if it had something to do with the fact that I spent more time lying down or sitting down.  One day a simple sneeze made me feel as though I'd broken a rib or two. The pain lasted a couple of weeks. I believe this may have been down to the increase in elastin and the extra weight in the uterus, as well as the fact that my baby loved hanging out on my right side. But it was a contributing factor to also beginning aqua natal. If this is something which is available in your area, I highly recommend it. It's not only n great fun, but you also have the opportunity to feel weightless and light. As someone who is generally quite active and misses body pump, I enjoyed using  the water as resistance training too. Usually these classes only take a small number of participants so book ahead.

Friday 22 April 2016

Being pregnant: part 2

Secrets, Sickness and Tiredness.


When it comes to discussing morning sickness, I'm afraid I have only bad news. My sickness started about week 6-7 ish (I can't be sure now, be prepared to lose parts of your memory).  I woke up and was instantly sick.  Most of my sickness occurred just after getting out of bed, sometimes after breakfast, sometimes at about 10am (while your at school and about to start your phonics lesson) and on occasion, not very often, in the evenings.  This made it quite hard to keep my pregnancy a secret.  Doctors will tell you not to tell anyone until after your first scan.  I had to tell my bosses and the other teacher in the base at work as I felt I needed the support (as well as the time off for appointments).  Family were told instantly, as was my best friend, who I wouldn't have been able to hide it from as we usually shared a bottle of wine at meal times.

Look away now if you don't want to read about what morning sickness is really like.

Morning sickness is quite different to other vomiting experiences I've had.  It's defiantly more draining and so very painful.  

If you are lucky/unlucky enough to be sick after getting up, you actually don't have anything to bring up, so it's fairly easy to clean and not get any in your hair.  However as there isn't anything in your stomach I found that I'd be heaving for ages before I was able to get anything up.  Each time getting more and more uncomfortable as I could feel my stomach almost turning itself inside out to get whatever the offence was out.  Then I'd get this awful luminous bile that I'm pretty sure, is the worst taste in the world.

If you are lucky/unlucky enough to be sick after breakfast, throwing up was much easier and less painful, but I found I had seconds to get to the toilet before it was forced out of my gut, and on occasion all over the toilet seat, down my clothes and in my hair.  When your in a rush to get to work, this is not very helpful.

Lots of people would ask if I was having sickness,  I'd say yes but to be honest, I was so happy to be pregnant that I didn't consider it a sick pregnancy. I wish I could say that after week 12, the sickness went away, as was many people's experiences, but it didn't.  It lasted until about week 30. Some weeks were worse than others. I seem to remember week 10 being the worst. Unfortunately, drinking water was one of my biggest triggers for being sick!  I got to a point in week 10 when I was in tears because I was so thirsty.  I survived by drinking Coca Cola, milk and eating Fabs.




















All advice will tell you, and rightly so that you should follow a super healthy diet while your pregnant, drink plenty of water and always take your vitamins.  If only it was really that easy.  I had to eat and drink what I could, which unfortunately consisted of high levels of sugar and take aways.  I seemed to develop a love for beige food and went off my old favourites spinach, broccoli and salmon. I could not touch them for months.  I also went of tea, I remember before I knew I was pregnant, that I had a cup of tea and I thought to myself 'that was the worst cup of tea I've ever had'.  So I just didn't touch it until I got to my third trimester, I was offered one and forgot that I now hated tea so said yes.  Turns out I got over that eversion. 

One of the best things about those early months was the taste of milk.  Nothing could compare! Suddenly it was all I wanted and I would drink over a pint a day.  Something happened to me, the taste of milk become a delicious elixir!  I still frequently drink it now, but the magical pregnancy effect seems to have worn off somewhat. 

The tiredness!  I could not have expected the tiredness in pregnancy to be as bad as it was.  Throughout my first trimester, as soon as I got home from work I'd need a nap.  I haven't felt full of energy since August last year! I can't even remember if feeling full of energy is a real thing (and from the horror stories people like to tell you in the 3rd trimester, I probably never will again). I was promised that in the 2nd trimester sickness would subside (pah!) and the tiredness would go, I'd feel like I'd got a second wind - 3 weeks left until my due date and I'm still waiting for this to kick in.  I have felt tired since the beginning, 1st and 3rd trimester were definitely the worst but 2nd trimester was no walk in the park.

My advice: If you can follow a healthy diet, then do.  If you find this almost impossible as I did, don't worry about it, make sure you are eating and keeping fluids down, whatever they are. Stock up on iced lollies!  I don't know how they do it but they can make your sickness feelings disappear for the day, plus if your finding drinking difficult, it's a good way to get some more fluid into your body.  Buy sweets and keep them in your bag.  I found the fizzier the sweet the better.  I'd pop one in my mouth at work before phonics just to try and hold off the sick feeling for as long as I could. Take naps whenever you can.  


Thursday 21 April 2016

Being pregnant: Part 1

It's clear from talking to other mothers and mums-to-be, and ended google searches to find out if something is 'normal', that everyone's pregnancies are different.  Even pregnancies experiences by the same mums are very different, so all I can do is share my own journey through pregnancy.  

Early signs.

I We had been trying for a baby for some time, so I was very aware of any changes that occurred in my body as being potential early indicators of pregnancy.  Imagine my disappointment when once again, I could feel those horrible dull pre menstrual back aches. These lasted for a few days but nothing else materialised, but the aches were very real so I just kept assuming my period would start soon. Then one day, I had a slight bleed...but that was it,  there was no more. Confused by this I took to google before deciding whether or not I should see a real doctor (Dr. Google always has AN answer - not always the right one).  The more I read, the more I started to believe what I'd experienced was an implant bleed - caused by the egg embedding into the wall of the uterus.  

General advice was to leave it about 10 days before trying a pregnancy test so that the correct hormones were being produced and there was a sufficient amount to show up on your test.  I mangaged to leave it about 5 days.  It was a Sunday morning and I peed on a stick once again, trying not to get my hopes up.  I watched the windows carefully, and kept having to look away to make sure I wasn't just imagining the second thin purple line developing in the window. 

I sat there for a while, I can't really remember what I thought or did.  I just remember staying in the bathroom for a few moments.  I went down stairs and began a weird trembling sort of cry as I told my boyfriend the news.  I think I felt a mixture of joy and 'what the hell do I do now?' - my words exactly. (I'd just started a new job - I was about 8 days into the academic term).  My boyfriend's reaction, was much more composed than mine.  I remember him telling me to 'simmer down'  - a phrase he is sure will be used throughout the raising of a child as a full proof way of calming a person down. I carried out another test a few days later, just to be sure, even though I was told that a positive test is a positive as it gets. 

I used Boots own pregnancy test



Following this second positive test, I booked an appointment to see a doctor.  I was referred to the midwives service and was given a form to complete for an exemption certificate (this allows you to get your prescriptions for free throughout your pregnancy).

Waiting for an arrival.

Almost 2 weeks into my maternity leave and I'm getting very bored. So I thought it would be a good time to start keeping a blog of the things I like to talk about, but those who are usually available to listen aren't always all that interested.  

I'm an early years teacher in my 37th week of pregnancy.  Thankfully I've began my maternity leave (with the added bonus of the easter holidays).  Tiredness and those tiny chairs were beginning to get the better of me and many mornings as the children came into class I wondered to myself how on earth i managed to get myself into work that day.  Then realising I had a full on day of sharing a room 60 (yes 60!) 4-5 year old children.

I always find that I'm looking for information on blog sites, whether that be other's opinions and ideas regarding learning and development (more so for babies than young children now), as well as sewing, and general making ideas.  Why not have a go at starting my own?