Nearly New, Nearly Out Of Control

I'm beginning to think that I have a bit of an unhealthy obsession with nearly new sales. There’s just something about them that draws me to them. I'll be honest, I love a good bargain but I wouldn’t be seen dead in a jumble sale, and these baby nearly new sales are pretty much just the same but for some reason buying baby bargains is acceptable in my head. It could be because baby things are so expensive and before you know it they've grown out of them or don’t fit into them.

My first experience with nearly new sales was this time last year when I was about 20 weeks pregnant. I thought I'd go and see if I could get a Bumbo at a bargain price as they're about £45 new and I'd heard on the mummy grapevine that a Bumbo was a must. I'd arranged to meet another pregnant friend at the Nether Kellet nearly new at 9.45am as the doors opened at 10am and it finished at 11:30am. There was a queue to get in already and I could see that people had various 'Bags for Life' stuffed under their arms, in their pockets and in the hands of their spogs they'd brought with them – damn those experienced nearly new shoppers! I scowled at them thinking “Hmmm...must note this for my next nearly new – prompt arrival and plenty of carrier bags”. I bet they will get all the good things before I get in. I tried to figure out who would be likely to be my competitors Bumbos, who would I have to wrestle for one?? There were one or two that I'd probably let have the Bumbo to be fair!

The doors opened and the queue made it's way inside and it was like a bun fight. This was a whole new experience for me! I could see one pregnant woman giving mini lists out to her friends and sending them off to look for their designated items whilst she browsed the clothes. Having not thought about the fact that this wasn’t like your local supermarket with baskets at the front door, and not having any bags with me, I had to brave with the prospect of balancing items on me whilst I browsed. Sadly there were no Bumbos, or at least by the time I found the area where they'd be there were none however I did pick up an Avent Electric Steriliser for £15 and an Avent Breast Pump for £5 – not bad I thought.

I didn’t feel to disheartened by my lack of purchases because there were 2 other nearly new sales that day too. We headed off to Burton in Kendal for the sale there where my friend got a giant bag of baby boy clothes bundle 0 – 3 months for some ridiculously cheap price of about £10. Her theory was that even if half of it was rubbish it was still a bargain. Turns out there were lots of nice things in there too so it really was a bargain. Me and Ste didn’t know what Louie was so I couldn’t really buy anything but neutral things but I picked up some baby sleeping bags and a set of stripy 'Trumpet' socks for £2 – these retail for about £15. I managed to pop my head in to the St Thomas Church nearly new sales in Lancaster on my way home but as it was quite late there wasn’t much there.

That was it – I was hooked, nearly new sales were my new drug and I needed to know when I'd get my next fix! Well, not quite as dramatic as that, but needless to say I was looking forward to my next one :) Since then I've been to a great sale at Brookhouse, Warton Pre School sale, a few at Bolton Le Sands (these are fab!), another Burton one and one at Lancaster and Morecambe College.

I have to say, the one at Lancaster and Morecambe Collage was no where near as good as the others. At this one people rent a table and sell their items purely for profit which means you having to make your way round each and every store looking at their items unlike you're average nearly new which is usually a case of all the items are labelled with a seller code and when you go to pay they mark off who's items have been sold and a percentage goes towards a cause, like money for the Pre School, and the rest goes to the seller. I prefer these kinds because they're more logically organised. All the clothes are together, toys and books are together, baby equipment and nursery stuff are together and prams and car seats are together – perfect if you have a particular item you're after, you can easily make you way over to the right area when you get there. I shouldn’t moan too much about the College sale as this was the place I managed to get our Bumbo with a tray from for £20....even though Louie didn’t actually like it and spent all the time he was in it thrusting to get out of it which was amusing to watch if nothing else.

My latest lot of bargains came from the Nether KelletBritax Duo Plus Isofix seat in great condition for mum's car for £40 (brand new about £150) and a Hauck stroller for £8 – WHAT A BARGAIN!! Brand new these are about £80 - £100 and even on ebay these are up for a Buy It Now of £40. Along with these I got a spinning musical drum for £1, a Fisher Price singing Cookie Jar for £2 and some Next Dungarees both £2 each.

All you nearly new virgins, you REALLY are missing out. You need to track down your next one and get your bags for life ready and take on the world of nearly new sales to grab yourself a bargain!

For you lot local to Lancaster reading my blog there is a great site called Baby Maze which along with general advice and baby group sessions being listed on there, they advertise nearly new sales: http://www.babymaze.co.uk/. Another good place to find out what’s going on is a Facebook group dedicated to local nearly new sales: https://www.facebook.com/groups/260758687326835/

Enjoy!!! xxx

Living life in the fast lane

I spent quite a bit of time looking at entertainment centres at Christmas as had heard lots of positive things about them, the Fisher Price Rainforest Jumparoo being one of them. I was however, concerned about the amount of space they took up so was hesitant to purchase one in a hurry. Don't get me wrong, we have got plenty of space for one but at the end of the night when Louie is up in bed I like to tidy away anything 'baby' and feel like our house is fit for adults for a couple of hours. Anyway after hours of deliberating and various Facebook debates with other mums I decided against an entertainment centre. The next step of the process was to find a suitable baby walker. One with longevity and an inoffensive design was preferable. Unfortunately for me I have quite a dislike for coloured plastic, fortunately for Louie nobody seems to care about that and continues to get him lots of coloured plastic - good for him obviously as that's what he likes.

The Mothercare website was my next stop and crikey there's a large variety of baby walkers! I suppose I eliminated quite a few at the start due to their garish colours, heaven knows what kind of noises they made (another thing on my list!). So after quite a few hours I had finally selected The 3 in 1 Lights and Sounds Car Walker in red as a gift from his Grandad. A few days later after placing the order a giant box arrived. Speedy service from Mothercare meant it made it's way into Santa's Grotto upstairs until Christmas Day when is was opened by a 4 month old Louie (and a little bit of help from us). Daddy set to it, building this amazing red contraption so that the little man could have a go. Sadly when he was building it he noticed a bit was broken but a phone call to Mothercare on Boxing Day soon resolved this and we were able to swap it for another the day after. They only had blue ones in stock at the Preston store but that wasnt an issue for us, we were happy that they could sort it out for us quickly and there were not quibbles about if it had actually broken in transit. We brought the blue one home and personalised the number plate with the alphabet stickers that came with it – very exciting LOU1 :)

The reason I chose this walker was that I felt it offered a bit more than you're average walker. There are 3 stages:

• The first being a bouncer option where you can set the top half to be springy and have a foor support bar underneath baby's feet so that it can push up and bounce. The baby walker doesnt need to move at this point.
• The second option is a fixed top half at one level so it doesnt bounce. You then push the support bar underneath back so that baby's feet are lowered onto the floor and they are able to begin the fun of trying to walk. I found that ours worked better when I removed the buffer bits on the bottom as our carpet is quite thick so the rubber bits on the bottom seemed to catch more. Once I'd taken these off it glided better.
• The third we have not yet experienced but you can remove the back part and seat of the walker and push the support bar right to the front and baby can use this as a support to begin trying to walk. I would imagine that it would be advisable to put the rubber buffers back on at this point so that it doesnt move to fast to begin with.
• The walker also has an activity bar at the top with a steering wheel and horn, furry dice, a map and some radio buttons with 2 tunes on. Louie loves pressing all the buttons making sounds and flashing lights. Another great feature is the peddles on the foot support bar – these rev like an engine setting off and play a fun little tune.

We had a little problem with the activity bar after a week and it became faulty which was dissapointing but again, after another quick call to Mothercare we were told we could swap it for another one no questions asked. I must say, despite there being 2 problems with this walker since Christmas I cannot fault the customer service offered at Mothercare.

Having had this walker for 2 months now, Louie is whizzing around the kitchen on our tiled floor. I cannot believe how quickly he has come on in the last few weeks. Initially he was stepping slowly backwards not realising he was doing it, now he's walking forward at quite a speed laughing at the fact that he's so clever he can move himself forwards. If you're looking for a fun baby walker thats a bit different then this is it!

http://www.mothercare.com/My-First-Convertible-Car-Walker

My 10 'Must-Haves' For A New Parent – Survival Kit For Those First Few Months

Let's face it, at first you're sleep deprived, exhausted from the chaos that you now call your life. Minutes turn into hours, hours turn into days and before you know it a week has passed and you have no idea what date it actually is. We've all been there, and if anyone ever says to you “Oh I found it quite easy really”, they're probably lying! The first few months of being a new parent can be such a shock to the system and if there's any good buys out there that help you get through those first few months and stumble out of the other end with a bit of sanity, they really are worth the investment. Here are my ten 'must-haves' that I couldn’t have done without.

Lansinoh Nipple Cream

I was adamant that I wanted to breast feed. I had this vision in my head that I'd 'get it' straight away and I'd be comfortable feeding my baby where ever I was, after all it's milk permanently on tap, why wouldn't I? – how wrong was I?! 

Louie had quite a traumatic and long-winded entrance to the world. His head was bruised and sore and as a result of this he got quite distressed being manhandled to latch on. He kind of got it by the time we left the hospital but he wasn't 100% but when you're milk hasn’t come in you can't really tell if its working properly, or so I think anyway. My milk arrived by the gallon! I felt like a milking cow and poor Louie ended up with a face full of milk every time he was hungry, a bonus for him, not such a bonus for me. 

Louie became lazy with his feeding. He literally had to look at my boobs and milk would just pour out and he didn’t even have to latch on correctly and suck, he could just loiter there with his mouth open, a bit like how you would expect a man to be if you left him behind a bar with a beer tap :) This caused my nipples serious damage as he was hanging off them at whatever angle he felt like. Even 2 visits from the breast feeding midwife didn’t help things. The only thing that made this whole experience bearable for the time I breast fed was Lansinoh Cream. The purple tube with magical contents sent from above to help all breast feeding mums! After applying this cream my nipples seemed to magically heal themselves ready for the next feed where Louie would do his best to make them pack up their bags and run off. The trick is to always apply it after a feed, I only realised this after things had got quite bad but the magical cream did it's best to help me on my way. Lansinoh....I salute you!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lansinoh-Cream-Sore-Nipples-Cracked/dp/B0006JLIFG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330285290&sr=8-1

Good Discrete Feeding Tops

Keeping with the breast feeding topic, I think the next thing to mention would be the need for decent feeding tops. I consider myself a 'young mum' and I think generally speaking (and I may be wrong) that most young mums don’t feel 100% comfortable/confident to pop their boob out for baby to feed in public. I certainly found it much harder to do than I thought I would. Nobody wants to look like their a big floaty frump wearing a tent just so they can wriggle baby up there for its lunch without showing any bit of skin whatsoever. 

Had I got the energy to look right at the beginning for some nice feeding tops I might have got into the swing of feeding out and about more easily. Instead I panicked about when Louie would need feeding, where I would feed him, would I sit in the car and feed him, would there be breast feeding facilities, and so on, and eventually I'd decided it was better to not venture too far so that I could go home and feed him. Enough was enough! I couldn't do this until I stopped breast feeding, this was silly, I could end up being a hermit until he was 1 at this rate. I searched the internet and found that Mamas and Papas had some lovely feeding tops with wrap around straps, hidden behind them were little slits that you could easily manoeuvre a nipple out of and attached baby without anyone even seeing a bit of your flesh...BRILLIANT! I bought the top in 4 different colours and instantly did a sigh of relief. Just so happens that these tops double up as Maternity tops too, cover your bump and are on 3 for 2. Well worth the investment!

http://www.mamasandpapas.com/product-short-sleeve-nursing-top-red/s0007822/type-s/

Feeding Pillow

Newborns really are tiny, some more than others, but even the bigger babies are teeny weeny to begin with. I was quite shocked at how small Louie was considering he was 8lb 4oz. What surprised me more was how difficult it was to balance him when he was feeding. All these experience mums make it look so easy when they are comfortable feeding their little ones, balanced in one arm, some of which reading at the same time! Now I only tried to feed him a couple of times in the hospital before I sent Steven out to the car for my feeding pillow to make my life easier. 

I struggled towards the end of the pregnancy with getting comfortable at night so I took myself off to Mothercare to look at support pillows. Whilst browsing the aisles I came across a 'Dream Genii' and remember thinking “what on earth is that!?” when I looked at the pictures and diagrams. This support pillow doubled up after the birth as a feeding pillow. I thought at the time that I probably wouldn’t need it to assist with feeding but decided that it was a good choice as it was a 2 in 1 solution and I'm so glad I purchased it!

When I was pregnant it had two parts, one bit that supported under the bump and one bit that supported my back when I lay on my side. After Louie had been born it wrapped itself around me providing a nice, squishy ledge for him to lie on whilst he fed. It worked in whatever position I wanted to feed him too, whether it was across me or in the 'rugby ball' position as they call it. It was an absolute godsend as it meant I didn’t have to balance this tiny person on my arm whilst trying to get him to latch on, without milk going everywhere, clutching a cloth in case he was sick. I think this pillow helped restore some sanity that I'd lost along the way! Another great buy if I don’t say so myself and this has been lent to a pregnant friend to help her on her pregnant way.

http://www.dreamgenii.com/

A Baby Swing/Bouncer

We deliberated between a bouncer or a battery powered swing for a while. I've heard many a parent swear by swings but I was concerned that my baby might get too used to rocking to sleep in there and I'd be stuck being a human swing at night time. Swings are generally more expensive too – what if my baby didn’t like it and I've wasted all that money? In the end we went for a regular bouncer and I was happy we did, despite the fact we later bought a swing at the Mamas and Papas discount store 50% off – my thoughts were confirmed, Louie didn’t really like the swing that much anyway.

We went for the Mamas and Papas Once Upon A Time Wave Rocker, a neutral colour theme as we didn’t know the sex and it was such a cute design. This would be the place where Louie spent most of his early life chilling out, taking in the world going by. It was great for him to snooze in, he was strapped in safely and he could see everything going on, meaning that mummy could pop him in there and make herself that well deserved cuppa she'd been meaning to have ALL morning, or get some of that mountain of washing that has accumulated over the last 24 hours washed.

The other great thing about this rocker was that it collapsed easily so that it could be popped into the car to be taken anywhere. We used to take it to the Grandparents if we were going there for the day so our little man could snooze wherever we were without getting prams out and stuff. It also had 3 different heights that the back reclined to so Louie could be upright, halfway up or lying flat, useful for snoozing.

http://www.mamasandpapas.com/product-wave-rocker-once-upon-a-time/460216001/type-i/

Nappy Disposal System

Now you may see these as a 'luxury' item but believe me, if you can get one they really are worth the money. Yes, the refills are quite costly, but they can last up to 3 months per refill and I'll say it again...really worth the money. 

Its 3am, baby is up for a feed, then you smell it...baby has pooed. There goes the plan of feeding baby in the dim light of the bedroom and popping him back down as to fall back to sleep undisturbed...great! You change baby, bleary eyed and half asleep and are left with a 'not-so-fresh' nappy hanging around the bedroom. Nobody wants to go outside to the bin in the middle of the night and you're not too sure whether you want to be the person who throws nappies out of the window into the garden in the middle of the night...although needs must sometimes! The perfect solution for this is a Nappy Disposal System, however I'm going to refer to them as nappy bins in this because I fear if I refer to them with their correct name they may sound too pretentious to convince any of you to buy them. 

I picked up our nappy bin at an Asda Baby Event, it is a Tommee Tippee Sangenic, reasonably priced and doesn’t look too offensive. In the beginning it sat in the corner of our our room and was used for all nappies that were changed upstairs at any time of the day. The clever little thing individually wraps each nappy you put into it stopping any smells escaping and tidily collects them inside. When our little chap was evicted out of our room and into his own his bin went with him and slotted into the corner of the room quite happily. I now only use it for wet nappies around bedtime but am still very happy with my investment and don’t begrudge parting with my pennies for it. Another little tip is to buy the refills and nappies on www.amazon.co.uk as they are much cheaper on here than anywhere else!

http://www.sangenic.com/uk/index.php

Baby Bath Seat

The midwife made it look so easy in the hospital! Wrap the baby up in a towel, hold him head down towards the bowl/bath of water, wash his head whilst out of the water, then hold him gently in the water and give him a quick sloosh. Literally took her a couple of minutes if that...wish my first experience of bathing a baby was that easy. My mum had volunteered to assist me in doing this. We filled the bath with water, I worried about the temperature as I balanced my Whinnie the Pooh bath thermometer purchase at Poundland in the water. To be fair I deserve everything I get if I can't be bothered to splash out more than a quid on a bath thermometer! In the end I decided that the reading was ok, despite it only feeling lukewarm and insisting to my mum that I had been informed that babies skin is very sensitive so it would feel warmer to him...ha!! I bent over the edge of the bath and lowered Louie into it, trying to hold him so he didn’t slip out, ensuring that he was actually in the water whilst hoping that I didn’t get cramp in my leg from the ridiculous angle I was balanced at. He cried a lot...probably because it was so bloody cold – stupid Poundland thermometer! This wasn’t going to work I thought.

Luckily we had purchased a bath seat from Mamas and Papas. We hadn't intended on using this until Louie was a bit older, but now at the grand old age of 6 days old seemed as good a time as any. Mum ran a bit more warm water into the bath and I scurried off into the spare room with a soggy Louie to get the bath seat. Once positioned in the warm bath I popped Louie into it and he lay there happy and more relaxed than before. Why I even attempted to bath him without this is beyond me! I now had two free hands – one to make sure he didn’t suddenly have the ability to leap out and escape and the other to wash him with. This fab little chair has lasted him until he was 6 months old where we have upgraded him to one where he can properly sit up. Its been fantastic and has made bath time enjoyable for us all. We have taken many a happy photograph of Louie in his bath seat, all of which I will embarrass him with by showing them to the first girlfriend he brings home!

http://www.mamasandpapas.com/product-acqua-bath-support-pearl-whitesoft-lime/4552499/type-i/

Baby Sleeping Bags

I never really figured out the whole swaddling thing. Either I was really rubbish at it or Louie was really wriggly. Either way I gave up quite quickly. We went against all the rules but decided that we would put Louie in his sleeping bag at night in his Moses basket. I couldn’t really figure out why this was a bad thing to be honest but it seemed to be written in various places not to do so. I was always fretting whether he would be warm enough at night with blankets. He wriggled sometimes and they'd come off a bit. In fact if I wasn’t worrying about him being too cold I was worrying about him being too hot – this has continued on until this day to be honest. The poor little bugger doesn’t get a break from me reaching inside his top and feeling how warm he is whether he's awake or asleep! 

We purchased a few 'Dreampods' from Mamas and Papas when we ordered all our bits from there. They really have been a great purchase. I don’t have to worry about if his blankets have come off in the night, he's buttoned in there and is nice and snug and that all he needs. Now he's in his cot I can be happy that he's ok and covered up for bed, giving me one less thing to worry about anyway. Whoever thought of these little sleeping bags is a genius, I just wish they made them for grown ups as we are always fighting over who has stolen the cover!

http://www.mamasandpapas.com/range/dreampod-sleeping-bags/5425/

Muslin Cloths

My god you need these by the dozen! A friend recommended I got these when I was expecting. I dubiously looked at miserable looking bit of cloth she had in her had whilst feeding her baby and thought that it didn’t look very inspiring. I decided I was better off listening to my mummy friends for advice, after all, they knew what they were talking about, and on a shopping trip to Mothercare I found a big bag of muslin cloths. Straight in the basket they went, all clean, pristine and white (that didn’t last!). These cloths work in a multitude of ways: burping cloths, wiping up dribble and sick, protecting your clothes from sick, cleaning up spillages, wiping snotty noses and drying your hands on!

Who would have thought something so simple would be such a useful thing. I never leave the house without at least two of these and they are scattered around my house all the time. In fact I think at one point they were the only 'accessory' you saw around my neck, better than any necklace! Sadly unless you have the time to soak them in whitening solutions on a regular basis the do begin to look a bit grey and miserable but that’s a small price to pay for something that will rescue you in your hour of need time and time again. To put it simply.....every mum needs these by the bucket load!

http://www.mothercare.com/Mothercare-White-Muslins-12pk

Baby Sleepsuits with Folding Mits

I know I probably shouldn’t favour one particular brand but I absolutely ADORE Next sleepsuits. The quality is great, their sizing is about spot on and the designs they come up with are brilliant. The thing that swings it for me with their sleepsuits is they have built in, fold over scratch mits A-MAZ-ING! For all of you out there that are already mums you will all know how difficult it is to keep scratch mits on a baby. I recall trying to make Louie wear them as he kept scratching his face, they didn’t last long, a couple of flaps of his hands and they'd flown off. 

Next were ahead of the game, they saw this coming and created sleepsuits with foldy mits already on. That was it, Louie was trapped inside his sleepsuit, hands covered, toasty warm and unable to scratch his face to pieces. Finally he wouldn’t look like the cat had given him a good run for his money! Yes, they're about £14 for 3, but if you work out how often your bambino will wear then, especially in the first few weeks when they live in sleepsuits, they really are good value for money. The quality is that good that I've vacuum packed the ones Louie has grown out of for our next baby (ambitious I know, but I'm thinking ahead!). There’s no sign of them wearing thin anywhere or any fading...top quality purchase!

If you're lucky enough to get hold of these in the Next Sale then buy double – you can never have enough sleepsuits! Especially if it's 'one of those nights' and you have 3 outfit changes!

http://www.next.co.uk/x49902s1#815056x49

Decent Changing Bag

The world of changing bags is a very daunting place. There are so many brands ranging in so many different prices, I really didn’t know where to begin! I made a list of all the desirable that my dream changing bag would have but because we didn’t know the sex of baby bump I had to be quite sensible about what colours I was going for. That made that decision up quite quickly, no pinks or blues, something neutral yet stylish. Next on the list....size, and in the case of changing bags – size DOES matter! If you think about all the things you have to take around with you in the first few months: nappies, wipes, nappy bags, change of clothes, bibs, cloths and the list goes on..... I needed something that was a good size! Last on my list was a good strap. I wanted a strap that would fit over the handle of the pram so I didn’t have to carry it myself. Right, that was my list compiled, now for a Google search. What would we do without Google eh?!

I came across a website with a review of a changing bag made by 'Pacapod'. “Hmmm...a name like sounds interesting straight away, what do these Pacapods look like”. Off I went to www.pacapod.com to see what all the fuss was about. Well deserved fuss might I add! These nifty changing bags had been designed with not only my complete list of requirements, but more! Not only do you get a strap that fits over the handles but there are pram clips too – WOW!!! Pacapods have been designed with hidden 'pods' in the front zipper compartment where you will also find a changing mat. There is a feeding pod, insulated to keep food cool, and a changing pod with built in mini compartments for each of your changing items – these pods also come out and have Velcro straps so that you can attach just a pod to your pram if you are just popping out for a quick stroll. “This is brilliant!” I thought. There is a main compartment to the bag for changing of clothes, your purse and any other bits you fancy taking with you and a zipper compartment on the back of the bag ideal for your phone, diary or other small bits you may want. I quickly emailed the link to my wonderful mum...and the rest is history!

www.pacapod.com/

Capturing life's special moments

I knew from the start when I was pregnant that I wanted to get some decent photographs taken. I remember as a child looking through family photographs and being amazed that there seemed to be only one photograph of my mum pregnant in existence. I found this really odd and because of that I decided that if needs be I would pay to get some done. To be honest I thought there would be lots of pictures of me pregnant. We have quite a busy group of friends, we are always off doing things and there is usually at least one camera in circulation. It soon became apparent to me why there were so little photos of my mum pregnant - I couldn't be bothered to be in pictures! I felt full, uncomfortable and hippo like at some stages so the thought of cracking a smile and trying to look remotely flattering in spur of the moment photosnaps taken by friends was a complete no-no! The image on the right is me at Take That with about 6 weeks until due date....hippo!

It just so happens that I have a friend, Bec, (who also has a blog - http://jenniferthebook.wordpress.com/ in case any of you are interested in another mummy blogger) who's daughter won the Next model baby competition last year and she had made friends with a local photographer to do her daughters portfolio work. The images he produced were top notch and he certainly has taken more and more stunning photos of her to this day. I decided this was the man I wanted to document the bump!

On a warm, summer's day in June, I made my way with my 36wk bump, Bec and baby Jennifer in tow to Gary Hill's studio. He is currently based in Kirkham, near Preston, which wasnt too far to travel. I had previously emailed Gary to see what kind of shoot we could do, I wanted something tasteful but I still wanted bump on show. He reassured me that all the photographs would be tasteful and we would only do what I felt comfortable with so I took a bag of suitable underwear, vest tops and some baby bits we'd already bought bump and thought I'd see how I felt on the day.

We took a variety of photographs in all sorts of styles and I can definitely say that within 5 minutes of arriving, and a good cup of tea, I felt very comfortable being around Gary and knew that we would get some great photos. I had my heart set on getting some nice images for the nursery so we balanced some booties and a teddy on my tummy as I lay on the floor. I have to say I felt a bit like a tortoise when I had to get up off the floor we I dont think I managed with any grace or elegance but never mind. The day had most certainly been a success!!

Gary had mentioned that he would really like to get some tiny newborn babies for his portfolio and having seen the quality of the images he produced from our bump shoot I was more than happy to offer my baby up for a bit of modelling. Louie arrived on Sunday 14th (2 weeks late might I add!) and because of how he was born I had to stay in hospital until Tuesday afternoon for observation of my blood etc. I threatened that I would make something to lower myself out of the window with my bed linen if they didnt let me out! We got Louie home and settled and I got in touch with Gary. At 5 days old Gary came to our house and my little man made his modelling debut - he seemed to quite enjoy himself. Another sucessful shoot with Gary if I dont say so myself :)

 

By this point I could feel myself wanting to have Gary take every single photograph of Louie, an exspensive addiction, but a bloody good use of money! I'd have liked nothing more than to make Gary live under the stairs, Harry Potter style, and take him out on a daily basis to capture what was going on. To be fair Im pretty certain Louie thinks the camera is another member of the family as he sees it that much!
A couple of months passed but I kept in touch with Gary, who I now consider a buddy of mine, and just before Christmas I decided that it would be nice to get some pictures of all 3 of us so once again I called upon Gary's services. Ste, myself and a 2 1/2 month old Louie set off back to his studio to do a family photoshoot. We took some photos of all 3 of us, Ste and Louie, me and Louie and some of the little guy on his own - plenty of variety to choose from and all of them were stunning.
Louie had always been able to hold his head well from an early age but it was around this time that he appeared very strong so we did some pictures of Louie on his front which I think amongst these is one of my favourites taken of all time so far. These photos would then be dished out to everyone as Christmas presents in a variety of shapes and sizes and loved by absolutely everyone.

I will always recommend Gary Hill to anyone and everyone and since our shoots we've had a few friends who have also had family photographs taken with amazing results.
And I bet within the next few months I'm pestering Gary for another shoot, but for now I'll let you lot have a look at what he can do and let some other people sit in front of his lens :)



http://www.gdhphotography.co.uk/

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Where it all began - A Lengthy Tale

I've made a few new friends on Twitter since the arrival of Louie, all of which are new mums too and at times have been a great support when I have a baby query. Its amazing how sometimes someone who is technically a stranger can be the voice of reason in a time of need. Having read some of the blogs about their experiences I have been mustering up the motivation and emotional strength to write my own. I suppose watching One Born Every Minute last night has kind of re-awoken some things I put to the back of my mind. Timings in this are an estimation - the whole experience is a bit of a blur that has been blocked out of my mind!

Finding out
My pregnancy itself was fine however 2 days after we found out we were expecting, the company I worked for went into administration due to being carelessly run by someone with a need for spending money when they shouldn't (that in itself is another story). Our excitement was very short lived. We had planned this baby, knowing we could afford to bring it up comfortably and ensure it had everything it needed, but being told that I could be made redundant at any point suddenly made everything seem not so great. I was only 5-6 weeks pregnant so couldn't say anything either, so I had to keep quiet and go with the flow at work. Luckily for me I didn't suffer with morning sickness or anything that would mean me taking time off work, I generally felt quite ill in the evening, nausea usually and I didn't really cook or eat much - poor Ste! Aside from work being bought by another company and relocating to Skipton, resulting in a 100 mile round trip for me, there were no actual issues with my pregnancy. I took all my years holidays in one go and started my Maternity Leave after they'd run out so had plenty of time to chill out and enjoy being pregnant.

Baby Louie at 20 Weeks - at this point we didn't know he was a boy :)

Clearly you are too comfortable!
Due date was 1st August and although I apparently didn't look too big, I really was! I felt uncomfortable and wasn't getting much sleep. In the picture below I had 2 weeks left until due date.

You can imagine that after 2 sweeps and 12 days overdue when I arrived at the hospital to be induced I wasn't exactly a happy camper! Me and Steven got there at 9am (later followed by my Mum) and I was taken to the Maternity Ward of RLI and popped into a private room. It was a good thing we were in a private room as Ste started balancing the cardboard bowl things you use to go to the toilet on his head - at least this gave me an insight into how he would cope with the birth.

Late morning they popped a pessary in to see if that would start anything happening. Aside from the odd twinge here and there nothing really hurt until late afternoon, I was in the hospital canteen with my Mum as Steven had gone home for something to eat. The pain was like a more intense period pain, 'Finally something is happening!' I thought, so we headed back to the ward to get one of the midwives to examine me...only about 1.5cm dilated. I can remember thinking that my Midwife who examined me at the sweep said I was 2cm....this certainly did me no good for motivation. At that point in went another pessary, this was around 7pm and Mum had left. Me and Ste sat in the room listening to the radio and it was then that I realised Ste would have to go home and I'd be left on my own. I started to get upset about this and panic but the Midwives said that if anything started they'd contact him straight away. He left at 9pm.

I can't quite recall much from the night apart from being very uncomfortable (the second pessary was obviously doing something) and having to keep asking when I could have some pain killers. I was woken up by a lot of noise coming from the room next to me around 1am and then when I popped to the toilet at 4am I bumped into a woman bleeding heavily looking quite distressed. This was the woman from the room next door to me, something was clearly wrong as she'd only arrived a few hours earlier and shouldn't have been bleeding.

Morning eventually came after my night of broken sleep and Ste arrived promptly at 8am. I don't think I'd ever been so happy to see his face and have a cuddle. That night felt like the longest night of my life....little did I know. The Midwife popped in at 9am to do an external examination and said I was 3cm dilated and that they might be able to break my waters, they would just get the doctor to check, which he did and it was a yes. I was due to be taken down at 10am to delivery so I called Mum who arrived just before, but an emergency took priority (the woman from the next room) so they were going to try and get me down to delivery as soon as possible, it wasn't until 4pm that I eventually got taken down and throughout the day I have continued to have pains from the pessary but I wasn't dilating at all...oh the joys!

Hook me up to that drip!
My mum is a Sonographer so babies are kind of her thing which is one of the reasons why I wanted her around. She had a medical knowledge that neither Ste or I did and would be able to explain things if I didn't understand. She is also very focused and calm when she needs to be so would be able to tell me to shut up if I was being unreasonable...which I frequently am and often need telling! A Midwife called Claire was looking after me and began to try to break my waters. I was surprised at how I didn't actually feel anything when this happened. I always thought I'd feel some kind of twinge or pain, but no, nothing at all. Apparently barely any water came out despite the fact that a Midwife up on the ward described my bump as 'squishy' and said I'd be 'sure to gush' - charming! Claire asked if it was OK if she tried again as she thought they may not have broken properly, I obviously said Yes, didn't want to be hanging round here any longer than I needed to be! Again, no water, so they assumed all was OK and proceeded to attach various cannulas into my hands and hook me up to a drip, by this point it was about 5pm.

After about 40 minutes the pain started to kick in but at least now I knew that something really was happening. Claire explained that because I was being induced the drip brought contractions on very quickly, with very little break between and it would most likely be painful - she wasn't kidding. The gas and air soon canister soon became my new best friend and it was a friendship that would nearly see me through to the bitter end...nearly! The following few hours were what I expected a standard induction delivery to be like and Claire, who was due to finish her shift at 9:30pm, continued to reassure me that this baby would arrive before her shift ended...it did not, but I thought she was being fairly optimistic but her positivity kept me going none-the-less.

At 9:30pm we got a new Midwife, Michelle, who was just as lovely as Claire thankfully, that was the one good thing about the whole labour experience, the excellent staff at RLI. At 10pm after about 3 canisters of gas I gave up and requested an epidural which I was quite disappointed in myself for but the pain was so intense and there were no breaks between contractions so I didn't even get time to recover. I can remember inhaling so much gas that my hearing went a bit funny, I felt very spaced out and couldn't even respond when Ste asked me a question, I think that's when I realised that it was a bit too much for me. The epidural arrived within minutes and once it was all in I suddenly felt a feeling of calm run through my body and I turned from being a spaced out grumpy person to a more tranquil pleasant person to be around. I think at this point I was only about 5cm dilated - not far enough to be denied an epidural but too far to see the light at the end of the tunnel! The relief was slightly short lived as I soon realised that I could still feel my contractions through the epidural but they were no where near as bad as what they were before.

Into the night
Basically throughout the night I only progressed to 6cm and got stuck there for a very long time. Whilst all this was happening the tachometer thing that was monitoring my contractions broke and Michelle had to feel for each and every one of them and note them down, the poor bloody woman didn't even get to leave for a wee! Somewhere in the middle of the night a doctor came to examine me and confirmed that there wasn't much progress and uttered the words "I'll come back and see how you're doing in 4 hours"....4 hours?!? Surely this baby should have arrived by then? Exhausted and still in pain I looked over to my Mum (and Ste who was snoozing on the floor under some coats) and tears rolled down my cheeks. I'd kept my cool I think throughout the whole process to this point, but it was now that I just felt like giving up, I didn't see an end to it all and had been in the delivery suite for over 12 hours now with very little progress. I think after that my drip got turned up a bit and a few hours later Michelle and the Matron in charge called for the Consultant to come and get involved.

Surely not much longer now?
I had now been at the hospital for nearly 2 days, I was considering redirecting my post! At 8am, before the Consultant arrived, the doctor examined me and said I was between 7cm and 8cm, so we were getting there slowly, and he suggested trying to push to see if that would help me dilate a bit more. This made me feel a bit better as this was kind of the next stage of the process, however I was completely shattered as I hadn't slept so I wasn't in the best of moods. Claire, the midwife from when I arrived, clocked back on for her next shift at 8:30am and was very surprised when she walked in to see that I was still here and without a baby! That next hour seemed to pass quickly and when a new face appeared in my room at 9am ready for business I thought things were going to pick up. This new chap was the Consultant, Mr Mahendren, and he quickly examined me and announced that the baby was back to back and stuck which would explain why it wasn't for coming and why I wasn't dilating. The baby's head wasn't applying pressure in the right place to make me dilate and the widest part of the head was trying to come out which is bigger than 10cm. No wonder I could still feel the pain. He instructed the midwives to attach something to the baby's head to monitor its heart beat and asked me to continue to push for another hour in hope that the baby would turn itself natural under the pressure and be able to be delivered. I knew then that an hour of pushing wasn't normal for a delivery, let alone the previous hour as well. I was well and truly exhausted now and it was a struggle to keep my eyes open.

That hour passed and still no baby. In came the consultant with some paper work for me to sign and he explained that we were going to have to go to emergency theatre. The on call staff had been paged and were all en route. He explained that he was going to try a procedure using Kielland's Rotational Forceps which was tricky but he was confident that he'd be able to turn the baby with the forceps and deliver it - failing that they would have to do a C-Section, he just needed me to consent. I didn't even read the paperwork I just signed and Steven was taken away to put on his medical scrubs. I looked at Mum, she'd gone quite pale by this point, I think her medical knowledge had kicked in but she wasn't for talking about it, she remained quite silent and teary until I left for theatre around 10:15am.

My bed was wheeled through the corridors to theatre and everything was just a daze now. Steven was next to me all dressed in scrubs and there were lots of bodies bustling around. The anaesthetist told me she'd topped up my epidural and also pumped me full of morphine in case the procedure didn't work and they had to do a section. My legs were propped up, a towel/cloth was pinned over the lower half of my body to cover up what they were up to and they began. Luckily for me I couldn't feel or see a thing, Steven on the other hand said he could see a lot of blood on the floor, which later resulted in me being very anaemic, with a blood level of 7.1 and living off iron tablets for many weeks.

The consultant told me he had got the forceps in an had hold of baby's head and shoulders and they were going to try and rotate it but could only try this 3 times and if it wouldn't budge by then they would have to do a section straight away. I remember feeling very nervous and anxious at this point. The first two attempts didn't work but on the third they finally rotated baby and then the told me I needed to push, they pulled and at 11:23am our baby was born. Steven whispered to me "It's a boy". He struggled to breath when he was delivered and was described to be 'grunting' so the Paediatrician was called to examine him but he was given the all clear and after I'd been stitched up all 3 of us headed back to the delivery suite.

Louie Steven Armer weighed a healthy 8lb 4oz and after 2 sweeps, 2 pessaries, 3 canisters of gas, an epidural, an episiotomy, Kiellands forcep delivery and 2 very long days at the hospital our lovely little man was here safe and sound! 

Someone asked me the other day when I was having the next one.........ha!

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Can't really say that we have done a great deal of exciting things over the last few week. Time seems to have been spent drinking cups of tea and eating cake in various locations such as my Nan's, Barton Grange and The Potting Shed in Bolton-Le-Sands, most of which with Gabi and Logan, or finishing off the Christmas shopping. I am pleased to say that all my presents are wrapped and ready to go under the tree :)

On the 19th however, I went on my first night out since pre-pregnancy. Not exactly an adventure with Louie but worth a mention non-the-less. The evening was spent with a collection of fabulous girl friends that I have made along the way ready to 'wet Louie's head' as such. The boys get to do it, so why shouldn't we? Having drunk a large amount of wine in The Sun Hotel we made our way to some other establishments....one of which being Yates's. It even bugs me that they put an apostrophe S after their name - that's not correct grammar! Yates's consists of ever trollop in town wearing next to nothing (see girl in the background wearing gold in the photo below), dancing on the poles, a permanent fixture in Yates's...Classy, for free bottles of 'Champagne'. I use the word Champagne loosely as I am 99% certain that it will not have been made in the Champagne region of France. More like Chateau de Shit! All in all this place is a shit hole where you are likely to catch an STI just by touching a door handle, but for old times sake, as I was out with some of my original drinking buddies from way back when, we took part in a chavvy drink of VK and took in all that was going on around us. Then I demanded that we left to go somewhere more suitable!

After more wine in Dalton Rooms, singing along to some decent music and a cocktail in Revolution we all decided that we had had enough and set about heading home at 12:15! Shocking I know, what is wrong with us all. We had been out since 7:30pm though and a hangover and a baby don't mix well so that was it. Can't say I miss going out in town but it was great to spend the evening with the girls child free!

As Ste is off at the moment we went on adventure up to South Lakes Wild Animal Park yesterday which was bloody freezing, slightly wet but lots of fun. Louie was wrapped up snugly in his snow suit ready to see the animals.

Upon arriving at the zoo we were greeted by a very elegant monkey balanced on a pole practising some ballet moves (or so I'd like to think). The good thing about here is that a lot of the animals are allowed to run about freely so this allowed for me to get some really nice, close up pictures of the little critters. They were all so tame and used to people watching them, but not touching to my disappointment as they will evict you from the park if you do!

If you go in the afternoon you can watch the tigers, lions and jaguars being fed, which sounded fun but I was slightly disappointed that there wasn't much action. The meat is balanced at the top of the pole and the cats climb up to grab it and chow down. They were all absolutely beautiful, even when gnawing through the bones of the carcass that they were munching on. The tigers that are at this zoo are Sumatran and apparently these are only about 300 left in the world - poor buggers :(

All in all a fun day out that I would recommend to anyone, especially as its free for visitors until February!

To poo or not to poo that is the question

After the second visit to the swimming pool the other week, which ended unsuccessfully with one very grumpy Louie screaming, I decided to purchase a very dapper wetsuit for my little chap. This my friends is a godsend! I'm slightly annoyed that I hadn't thought about it earlier to prevent the chaos that unfolded the previous week. Who would have thought that they'd make such mini, teeny weenie swimming cossies for babies - god bless www.amazon.co.uk and www.solesupfront.com. Louie the fashion guru extrodinaire now gets to float around in his cosy and stylish wetsuit - quite the trend setter I think you'll agree :)

Thursday was the impending doom that was in the form of 2 giant needles. Yes thats right, Louie's second lot of injections. Steven couldn't attend this appointment *gulp*, so who do I call in as back up...mother of course! Good old mumsy would hold the little man down whilst they stabbed him. Ok, so its not quite as dramatic as that but I find the whole ordeal traumatic. Mum initially said I was being soft, then after experiencing the bottom lip wobbling and high pitched squeek/squeel that came from him I think she is now on Team Holly for not wanting to be involved in injections again. Can't believe that there's another lot in a few weeks :( On the plus side, Thursday also saw the long awaited arrival of the lovely Katie Thompson (bestest bud from way back when) and the first introduction to Louie. Theres always a silver lining I guess to a crappy day!

After much persuasion I managed to get Mumsy to consider having a more reliable and prectical car now that she's a Nanny. Yesterday we went on a journey up to see the lovely Emerson Smith at www.batemans.toyota.co.uk in search of a new, shiney brum brum. You might notice I used the word persuasion, it was quite an effort to convince Mum that she needed to look at other cars and part with the silver baked bean can she currently drive. I think the icing on the cake was when we loaded up her car with me, Mum and Louie plus everything that goes with him - car seat, pram, chaging bag etc. The scene below was enough for Mumsy to commit to purchasing a new Yaris :) And yes, she does have a fetish for plastic bottles in the boot of her car. I hope she doesnt hord as much crap in the new one!

And tonight...never have I been so happy to have a poo-filled nappy! Why? Well Louie decided to go on poo-strike from 5pm Thursday and wasnt quiet about it at all - lots of grimaces, grunting, straining and crying. After countless tummy massages, knees being tucked up, cooled boiled water and cooled boiled water made that little more exotic by adding fresh orange, I gave in. At approximately 30 hours sans pooey nappy I called the NHS helpline who then got a nurse and a doctor to call me. We were told to go to the hospital for an appointment with a doctor who examined Louie. Obviously Louie was an absolute darling to the doctor, cooing and smiling without a grunt in sight. To cut a long story short the suggestion was continue with everything we were already doing and give him some Lactulose as a last resort. At approximately 72 hours and 10 minutes since the last poo we had some action! Hurrah, and I can now relax and stop worrying about shit! :)