Getting creative

True to my word I am embracing this blog and thought I would do a quick post whilst Darcie is happily playing on her play mat!

Today is a slightly crafty post, as you may have read in my last post '7 Things for 7 Days'  I have become slightly obsessed with Pintrest. On there I came across something that inspired me to create my own....

* The fonts I used (some you may need to download offline, but that's very simple to do), Steak (the date), Arial Narrow (the day), The Beautiful Ones (place of birth), Segoe Script (Star Sign), Janda Silly Monkey (Name), Appleberry (time of  birth), Cinnamon Cake (weight).* 

This is all of Darcie's birth stats, which I simply created on Power Point. I'm going to have it printed framed and put it either in her room or in our kitchen. Its such a simple thing to do and I think once it is printed and framed it will look lovely!  

Mummy B xoxox

7 Things for 7 Days

Firstly this is the beautiful Louise of Sprinkle Of Glitter, She is absolutely divine! I love this women, she is a true inspiration. She has a youtube channel and a blog (I will link below) about beauty, fashion, life and mummyhood. Louise recently set up an "interactive" blog, in which you list 7 things or goals you would like to do over a period of a week, and as I'm in need of some structure and motivation I decided to join in!!

So here are my 7 things....

Exercise: Since going through an emergency c-section eight weeks ago when Darcie was born (See Darcie's birth story post), I have not been able to do any exercise other than walking Lady (our dog), and  knowing I would at some point have to start losing the baby weight I got myself a few DVD work outs. My plan is for this week is to have a go at the Zumba DVD, just once, as I want to make my goals realistic as I know with having an eight week old sometimes its simply not possible to exercise every day!!

Little Ducklings: I have yet to attend any mummy and baby groups, Little Ducklings is my local Sure Start group, I think it will be great to meet other local new mums and hopefully make new friends! 

CLEAN MY KITCHEN FLOOR: As you can tell with the caps lock, this is a job that I have been meaning to do for the last three weeks (shameful I know) and I just simply have not got round to it! But now I have it in writing for the world to see I guess I'm going to have to do it!

Prep for craft project: I want to make Darcie something she can keep forever and after some thinking and pintresting, I have decided to make Darcie a keep sake cushion from her clothes that she has grown out of. I need to take a trip to Hobbycraft as I'm in need of some supplies and this week I would also like to try and design the cushion.

Jamie time: I would like at some point to have some Jamie time, he is working horrible shifts so we don't get the evening together when Darcie goes to bed... so on his day off on Sunday I plan have some "us" time (No not sexy time you silly people), where we can just sit down have some dinner, and enjoy each others company.

Organisation: Since I have been on maternity leave I have been organising the house, so far I have done the spare room, my wardrobe (ahhh so tidy and looking beautiful... sad I know), and the under stairs cupboard , I would like, this week, to get my kitchen cupboards done and give them a good clean.

Organise blog posts: I am very hit and miss when it comes to my blogging, and I really want get this baby going! So I am going to organise a blog schedule for this month.

There... very simple goals, but there all things I keep thinking I must do but never get round to doing! This is why I love Louise, just some simple motivation to help enjoy the little things in life!

Come one guys go subscribe to Louise's Blog and Youtube channel and get involved!!

 http://sprinkleofglitter.blogspot.co.uk/

http://www.youtube.com/user/Sprinkleofglitter

Mummy B xoxox

Eight Week Update

Hey everyone!

Darcie is eight weeks tomorrow and I have realised I didn't do her six week update! SO here goes....

At four weeks it became apparent that breast feeding was not working for us, she would not settle after a feed and I didn't get that "full" feeling you would normally get when she was due a feed, then at her midwife appointment she had not gained any weight. Which is absolutely soul destroying! You feel like a failure. So after discussing it with Jamie we decided to move onto formula. It was the best decision I ever made! You could almost see her gaining weight with every feed, and at her next appointment she had gained over a pound in one week! At 7 weeks Darcie weighed 9lb 15oz, and the health visitor thinks she will be very tall... just like her daddy!

**** If you find you are struggling with breast feeding make sure you discuss your feelings with your health visitor/midwife, and of course your partner. Don't let anyone tell you what to do, YOU as mum knows best. I felt so guilty for stopping, but my health visitor said even 4 weeks breast feeding gives them the best start and we are both so much happier for doing it. I'm glad I was able to breast feed her for at least 4 weeks****

At six weeks it is practice to have a six week check with the Doctor for both your child and you. Darcie was good as gold and the Doctor was very pleased with her. HOWEVER I was not impressed with the lack of checks the Doctor did for myself. He didn't even realise I had a emergency c-section till I told him! Even then all he asked was "Are you ok?", I said "Yup, I think I'm healing all ok" his response "good".... That was it, no checking of my scar or feeling my tummy!!! 

At six weeks Darcie also had to go to hospital to have an ultrasound on her hip, as when I was born my hip joint had not formed properly and I had a constant dislocated hipand had to wear a brace for 12 weeks for the bones to set correctly, so it is customary for any of my children to have this check. And as expected all was A OK!  

Three nights ago I noticed that Darcie was pushing up in her Moses basket and then banging her head, so reluctantly I have put her in her cot which is in her own room next to us (our room will not fit a cot!)... I can't believe it! She is growing up so quickly you have to really cherish every moment!!!

So to summarise at eight weeks Darcie....

*She has very good head control*

*She smiles*

*She "chats" (makes lots of cooing noises)*

*She chops on her fists (I'm pretty convinced she is teething)*

*She takes a Dummy*

*She has 6oz of formula every 4 hours*

*She enjoys tummy time*

*When you kiss her she opens her mouth (maybe she is trying to kiss back???)*

*She loves our dog Lady*

*She has "discovered" her tongue and is always sticking it out*

*She loves to chat to her cuddly toys and books*

*She is sleeping in her Cot in her own room*

She loves to have cuddles with Mummy and Daddy sleeping on our chests*

* (from top right, clockwise) Darcie not loving the hot weather, but rocking a hat! First night in her cot! Having some cuddles with daddy! Boo!*

Bye bye for now

Mummy B xoxox

Baby Weavers Baby Carrier!

Thought I would start my many baby product reviews with one of my latest purchases which I'm absolutely in love with. It's the Baby Weavers Baby Carrier bought at Morrisons for £15, you can also purchase this item from Kiddicare and Amazon for the same price.

When I saw the price I have to admit I was a bit sceptical, but for the price I thought I would give it a try, especially as Baby B's car seat is also by Baby Weaver (we can fault it!!). The carrier is suitable from birth (facing you) and up to approx 18months, it comes with a handy dribble cloth and a head and neck support perfect for newborns. It can be used in three positions, baby facing you, baby facing outwards and baby on your back.

Setting up the carrier for the first time did require help from my Other Half, as all the straps needed adjusting to make sure it fit and held Baby B securely. However once all adjusted, putting Baby in out is fairly straight forward and feel comfortable doing it alone (reading reviews on other carriers some sound very tricky trying to use them alone!!).

Although I have only just got this product I'm completely in love with it! It's brilliant when taking the dog for a walk an Baby B was very happy and content and feel straight to sleep!! For £15 this is a great buy, baby feels very secure and it's great quality! I was on the verge of buying a very expensive carrier and I'm so glad I didn't as I really can not fault this product!!!

Would recommend this to anyone!!!

Mummy B xoxox

Darcie at two weeks

Well it's been just over two weeks since Darcie's grand entrance to the world and I thought I would do a little update!

The first week of Darcie's life I found incredibly difficult. I'm not going to lie! When having a c-section, and an unplanned one at that, you don't realise how little you can actually do!! So whilst trying to get to grips with mummy hood, I also had to deal with being in alot of pain and being pretty immobile which made me feel pretty useless!! Also trying to establish breast feeding was alot more difficult than I imagined! Thank god for the midwives at the hospital who really supported me and now, luckily breast feeding seems a diddle!!

Due to breast feeding not being very easy to establish, Darcie lost about 11oz in five days- normal I'm told, but when your breast feeding it's completely soul destroying and you feel like you have failed as a mother! Though with the help of Jamie I persevered with breast feeding and three days later when she was weighed again she had gained 6oz!!! I was thrilled!!! Currently she is now 6lb 14oz so above her birth weight :)

Recovering from a c-section as I previously said, was very difficult. I think it was more coming to terms with what had happened than the healing process. My scar is healing nicely and the stitches were removed after five days, it's still a little bit tender but on the whole I'm pretty mobile, just need to make sure I don't over do it!!! The only thing that's still of concern is my blood pressure, I'm still being monitored for high blood pressure, it seems to be coming down slowly, but its considerably higher than what it was before my pregnancy. Hopefully it comes down by its self naturally otherwise I will be on meds to control it!

I really am enjoying being a mummy, it's the best feeling in the world!

More updates/reviews to come...

Mummy b xoxox

Darcie Irene Burgess

Darcie Irene Burgess arrived on the 2nd June 2012 by emergency c-section weighing 6lb 11oz

So as Darcie sleeps, and Daddy is watching the England v France game I thought it was time to tell Darcie's birth story. It has taken me a while to get over what happened, it was very traumatic and not the birth I had in mind (then again, birth plans never go the way you want them to!!)

So lets start from the beginning...

On Friday the 1st June 2012 a Midwife had been scheduled to visit me at home to check my blood pressure, over the last 4 weeks of my pregnancy it was slowly starting to creep up. At 9.40am she arrived and asked how I was feeling, I was completely fine I told her and really looking forward to the Jubilee weekend. She took my blood pressure and went very quite, 145/100 she told me, it had gone up considerably in two days. She called Triage at Norfolk and Norwich Hospital and told them she was sending me up there due to high blood pressure. She calmly told us it may be a good idea to take my hospital bag. I looked at Jamie who I could tell was going into his "sensible" mode, I think he knew I would be starting to panic.

Once the Midwife left it was a quick blitz to grab my bag and get Lady (the dog) settled. And then the loooongest car journey ensued. 

When we arrived at Norfolk and Norwich (N&N) we went straight the the Cley Ward and was shown to a bed told to do a wee sample and get comfy. The Midwife came and introduced herself and told me what observations would entail. They were going to monitor my blood pressure, take a wee and blood sample and monitor the baby. We were warned it may be a long day. Everything came back ok bloods were fine, so no sign of pre-eclampsia which was my main worry and baby was happy and content.

Then at around 3pm the doctor came to make a decision on whether or not I could go home, I was of the mind I was going home. She took my file, spoke with the Midwife and then examined my bump. I was already measuring small, and had an ultrasound scheduled for the 8th June to check baby's size. When she measured my she said I was measuring at 33 weeks at that point I was in fact 38+6. So she rang the ultrasound unit and managed to fit me in. I was told to go straight down there and then return with the results. This is were it got scary again. I had no idea that I was measuring THAT small, and was frightened for the safety of baby b.

When I arrived, I was seen straight away, and I got to see my Baby again! Yes she was measuring small, but not as small as the doctor first believed, they estimated her weight to be about 6lb. However the scan did show something else, I had very little fluid, which is probably why I was showing very small. So with the results in had off me and Jamie trotted back to Cley Ward. 

The results were given back to the doctor and she asked one of the Midwifes to do an internal examination. This terrified me as well.... something I knew was eventually going to have to happen... She examined and my cervix were closed and no sign that my waters were leaking. So with that the doctor came back to discuss induction.

WHAT?!?!

"I think it would be best to induce you, I wouldn't want to risk any harm to the baby or you if we leave it any longer". I looked at Jamie and could tell he was secretly excited to meet his little girl. Me on the other hand had herd plenty of horror stories about induction and again the fear kicked in. However the fear of anything happening to my baby greatly outweighed the fear of being induced.

So it was decided that I would go home to relax for the evening and that at 9am on Saturday 2nd June I was to return to be induced.

That night I barely slept. Yes I was scared, but also the excitement of meeting our little girl played on my mind.

SO at 9am we arrived back at the Cley Ward. the Midwife showed me to a bed, and told me she was just going to go over my notes and ring the consultant.  When she returned she told me that due to my complications they were going to move me straight to delivery suite as I would need to be monitored very closely.

We made our way down to the delivery ward and were meet by two lovely midwives (one was a student). They showed me to my room, and made me comfortable and explained what would happen. I was examined to see how "favorable" my cervix were... they were open and i was 1cm dilated!!!! The day before they were closed!!! 

Then the pessary was inserted. Oh my F'ing god... That hurt. "Right, this may take a very long time, it could take as long as 24-72 hours for labour to truly get going, best you go for a walk and have some lunch". So me and Jamie walked down to the cafeteria. Literally 5 mins after this conversation I had my first contraction. 

Whilst at lunch the contractions kept coming, they weren't particularly painful, but they were every 5 mins. I asked Jamie if we could go back. When we did they started to get very painful, my two Midwives that were looking after me shift had ended and they swapped with two other lovely Midwives (again one of them was a student). The student midwife asked if I would like a birthing ball as it may help with the pain. It was great I loved bouncing around! Jamie even cheekily took a picture of me and sent it to my dad. 

That was the last enjoyable moment of my labour!!

At 2pm my contractions were coming strong and fast, I said to Jamie that I don't think I'm going to cope. He was truly amazing throughout, rubbing my back hugging me etc. 

At about 3pm I was asked to go back on the bed so me and baby could be monitored closely. This is when it felt like it was getting too much. They examined me again I was 4cm and my waters were bulging. They said they were going to brake my waters and that the pain was going to get alot worse from here on. I asked for an epidural first. I always wanted to have a natural birth but gas and air was doing nothing, and my contractions were coming every 40 secs. It was just too much. The senior Midwife was also in the room at this point and she said she was going to fetch the doctor and the anesthetist.

 The anethetist came, and did my epidural, it was extremely hard to keep still, I had to tell her each time I was having a contraction, she had a 40 sec window between each contraction to get it done... No wonder it didn't work. At this point I was also given an injection to slow down the contractions and some medication "just incase" I would need a c-section. I then realised the epidural had not worked and the Doctor broke my waters and asked to attach a clip to babys head to monitor her more closely. I agreed. 

The doctor then looked at me and looked at the monitor (I don't remember this, this is coming from Jamie) and hit the alarm. The room filled so quickly. Just like one of them fateful One born every minuet episodes. 

All I can remember is seeing Jamie crying, the pain was so much I didn't know what was happening. Then the senior midwife told me to focus. "Your going to have a c-section, baby is not happy we need to get her out now, kiss Jamie."

Kiss Jamie... was this goodbye?! 

Was my baby going to be ok

What does she mean she is not happy?

All of this was running through my mind as the ran me down the corridor to the theater suite. They got me into theater, and I could see the lights over head of me. "I'm the surgeon, I'm going to make sure you and baby are safe, and soon you will be holding your baby". "I'm now going to put you to sleep, there is no time for a spinal and your epidural failed".

I can feel the iodine being painted on me.

"why am I not asleep" I ask.

"You will be darling".

When I woke I was in a recovery room. "what happened?" "You have just had a baby girl"

"She is ok?" "She is perfect".

The Jamie walked in with Darcie and her placed her on my skin. I have never felt so much love before in all my life. Jamie kissed me, that kiss was the most special kiss I have ever had. We were all safe. We were together. Perfect. 

My first moments with Darcie

It took a few days to get over what had happened. I had missed the first hour of my daughter life, something I would never get back. BUT I HAD my daughter, she was safe and well, and to me all of that nightmare was completely worth it.

Now me and baby are really well, my blood pressure is still being a bit erratic and so I'm being closely monitored to make sure it comes back down, but I'm healing nicely and becoming more mobile everyday. Darcie is breast feeding well and gaining weight, she is slightly jaundice, but its completely normal apparently. 

Daddy and Darcie snuggle time

Will update soon with further progress.

Also keep your eye out for some product reviews coming soon!!!

Mummy B xoxox

Food Crave!

I have recently become rather obsessed with Pintrest, and it has given me lots of inspiration in the Kitchen! I'm a sucker for anything banana related and when I saw a recipe for American style banana pancakes I HAD to give them a try.

This was my first attempt at making any American style pancake, I often make regular pancakes which are alot thinner but never tried the thick style of pancakes. The recipe I used was actually really easy and they tasted absolutely fabulous! So if you fancy this banana pancake give this recipe a try.

Makes 12 pancakes

Ingredients

Two cups of all purpose flour

Two teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup of brown sugar

One teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2/3 cup of milk

One tablespoon vanilla extract

Three large ripe bananas, mashed

Two tablespoons butter, melted 

Method

In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix in the milk and add the vanilla extract to the dry ingredients, stirring to combine. Then add in the mashed banana to the mix. Once these are combined then add the melted butter until the batter is smooth.

Heat a frying pan with a little oil and add some of the mixture to the pan, cook until bubbles form on top and then flip and cook for about a minute or two more. Serve hot with maple syrup or ice cream... YUMMY!

Mummy B xoxox

Week 38 Update

Didn't feel like a bump photo this week, but here is my fur baby Lady

It has been a strange week, I have in myself felt pretty good, albeit tired but from my latest Midwife appointment there maybe some issues. Safe to say I'm now worrying like mad! Please continue to read to find out more...


Weeks: 38


Total weight gain: I have no idea... I still refuse to jump on them scales... might as well wait till after the birth of my baby girl to see what I have got left to tackle!!!


My body:Still no real stretch marks worth writing about, so have been quite lucky. At my 38 week Midwife appointment some issues did arrise, my blood pressure has gone a little bit high and baby has not grown for two weeks and is still measuring at 35 weeks. As you can imagine the alarm bells started to ring in my head! I'm due another midwife visit tomorrow to check my blood pressure and then next Friday (8th June- two days before my due date) I have been scheduled for a growth scan. So for now I'm left waiting and worrying if baby is ok, I'm sure it is otherwise I would have been taken up alot sooner, but my Midwife did say, depending on what they find they may induce me early or at least wont let me go over 7 days instead of the usual 14. 


Maternity clothes: Nothing new to report, no point buying anything now!


Cravings: Fruit, cant get enough of it in this hot weather!


Baby items bought/received:See my latest haul post. 


Things to look forward to: I guess the 8th of June, and hopefully the scan will come back fine!


Worries: As you can see from this update alot! Worrying whether there is something wrong with baby, or the placenta or cord. But I'm trying my hardest not to worry as I'm sure that is no good for my blood pressure! 


Mummy B xoxox