first time mum – Page 5 – NEW YUMMY MUMMY

Weaning is so much FUN!

2nd day of weaning and Chloe is like a real pro feeding herself totally on her own ! She even manage to get spoon in to her mouth 90% of the time 😊

We gave her today Strawbery and Banana Baby Porridge 🙂

We also ordered a book about weaning and baby food so we know more or less what we are doing 😊

Good advice ; read a lot before you start weaning ( I reed but not enough), make sure you have lots of memory on your phone, camera or camcorder 😊 ( we haven’t stopes taking photos and videos ) and ejoy it and it’s a really good fun for everyone.

… Do you believe in miracles ? …

MY BABY EXPERIENCE

Do you believe In miracles ? Fate? Someone up there giving you a helping hand?

From the moment I moved to UK (born and bred in Poland) me and my mum became really really close. We would be on the phone every day talking about anything and everything. My mum really wanted 2 things: to have a grandchild from me (& my husband 😊) and for us to buy house. She was waiting patiently for her grandchild, she wasn’t one of the pushy Mums, she would just from time to time say things like: I will come to London for a month when your baby is born, or would say that she would buy it for my child when she/he is bigger 😊. She was also playing lottery to try to win it so she can give me money to buy our own place.

We started trying for a baby when my mum was diagnosed with terminal cervical cancer. Me and my husband decided that life is too short to wait for the perfect time;we also really wanted for my mum to get to see our baby.. Unfortunately with the stress of my mum fighting this horrible disease, trying to balance work and going all the time to Poland to be with my mum nothing was happening. This became quite stressful in itself as I knew that I am running slowly out of time, I was hoping that the news of me being pregnant would give my mum even more strength to fight.

My mum has lost her battle with cancer on the 8 of November 2013 after fighting for 14 months. I was devastated, actually I don’t think that there is a word to describe how I felt. It was all made worst by the fact that I lost my dad 10 years ago, now I had to be the “mum” in our family (2sisters and 1brother).

My way of dealing with the loss was not to think about it and pretend that it didn’t happen. To try to help me with that Me and my husband started house hunting. We knew that we wouldn’t be able to buy anything till the end of the year (still saving for the deposit) but it kept me occupied and focus in my free time. We have seen few properties old and new builds and became quite frustrated with how bad our position was. We etcher had to buy new build, and all of the ones that we seen were in the middle of nowhere and have been so small that you can’t fit anything in to the room except bed (where the hell do you meant to keep your clothes?!). Second option was to buy a tiny old build which needed so much renovation that you would need lots and lots of money and time to make it lovely.

I came across a new build house in a place I never heard of, convinced my husband to just go and look at it (he didn’t want to go). It turn out to be an amazing house (very big) in an amazing location ( just of the high street, in London and 5 minutes walk to the forest). We ended up buying it and moving in to it 5 months later.

This was first miracle ! And I am sure that it was my Mums doing 😊 I found it just by a chance, just by a chance I convinced my husband to go and see it as he didn’t want to and was very sceptic about it. And just by a chance everything about the house was just perfect.

3 months later, while being back in Poland to sort things out my husband started going on and on about there being a chance that I may be pregnant (period late 2 weeks). I was sure that there is no way I was pregnant; there was not enough opportunities for it to happen.

I bought some tests just so I can stop my husband getting too excited. Got up in the morning, did the test and waited… Didn’t have to wait long to be told that apparently I AM pregnant ! Did another one just to check … And yes I was still pregnant !

This was another miracle! As I told you the was very few opportunities to get pregnant…. specifically only one !

Both me and my husband really wanted a girl. Yes I agree healthy baby is the most important, but if we could have a choice it would be a girl. We both knew that the chances of having a girl are very very very small. You see there are only boys in my husband family, his brother has 2 boys, and every person who saw my belly said its a boy …. I remember going to the 20 week scan and keep saying : don’t be disappointed when they say it’s a boy, don’t be disappointed! When the doctor said that it was a girl we couldn’t believe it, my husband kept asking if he is 100% sure that it’s a girl 😊 This was another miracle, I am convinced that it was my mums doing 😊

Those things has showed me that my parents are really looking down on me ! That they are taking care of me and trying to make me happy. I honestly don’t know how I would have coped with loosing my Mum if I didn’t have Chloe (and my wonderful husband) the amount of happiness that she brings in to my life every day, every hour, every minute …

…. It’s just such a shame that I can’t share those special , happy things with them ….

WEANING – I am so so so excited !!!

MY BABY EXPERIENCE

The day has come to start my little precious baby on solid food 😁 she will be only 5 months old but she is definitely more than ready for it (her mummy as well 😊). I know that the advice is to wait till 6 months but we will try and see how Chloe react to it. On the paper she is ready : she holds herself very well,she always stares at our food and tries to grab it.

We decided to start on baby rice as it’s the most similar to milk and shouldn’t be too shocking for Chloe 🙂

I was like a little kid in a sweet shop when u was buying baby rice and baby porridge! I am so excited about it !

You need to make sure you choos a time when she is awake and happie so that’s what we did. Straight after getting up we played a little bit and then started on outr first meal. I also have given Chloe her milk first and then the baby rice.

All of the cameras ready, camcorder in hand and off we went

I was expecting lots of spitting, food everywhere, mess … Non of it happened ! Chloe loved it ! She was opening her mouth and trying her best to eat of the spoon ! She ate almost everything !!!

I was so proud of her and so surprised ! She obviously has a apettite after her mum 😊 it’s pretty incredible seeing her eating something else than my milk . I still cannot believe how well she did !!!

Weaning is really exciting, but I also find it quite confusing. When to start on vegetables and fruits, when on meat?how much milk to give? When to move from one meal to two? What about drinking wather ? I will need to seat and revise very carefully:-)

For now though I am looking forward to tomorrow 😁 we will be trying baby porridge 😊

LETS PLAY A GAME : what is the reason behind crying ???

MY BABY EXPERIENCE

Just when I thought that things (I mean nights) are getting better …. they go bad again or even worst …. Welcome to Mums world 😊

What a horrific night and evening we had ! Chloe just kept waking up every few hours crying. I even have taken her to our bed in the middle of the night hoping that this would help …. But no ….

On top of not sleeping and worrying you start playing the famus and most hated game : WHAT IS THE REASON BEHIND IT ?

Nappy ? No

Hungry ? No

Teething ?

In pain?

Had a nightmare ?

Sore throat ?

Belly hurts?

Didn’t poo today can this be a problem?

And we can go on like that for good hour or so …. It frustrates the hell out of me !!!! I don’t mind not sleeping but I hate not knowing !!!!!!

Ps. Yes she was up at 6am smiling like crazy 🙂 I looked crazy due to the lack of sleep

BREASTFEEDING AN EINSTEIN

MY BABY EXPERIENCE

Breastfeeding an Einstein

One of the main stories on the news few days ago was about new benefit of breastfeeding. Aparently it has been proven that breastfeed babies stay in school for longer and get better jobs . Sounds great on top of all of the benefits that we know of … But it sounds great only if you are breastfeeding. What if you couldn’t? Or can’t ? This kind of news would just make you feel bad and guilty … Should we be speaking loudly about it or not? What do you think ?

I have been very lucky. Chloe has been born with my huge appetite which meant that she just latched on to my nipple and didn’t want to let go 😁 . It was very easy but I know how hard it is for some mums and the hell they go through when they can’t do it.

I do not agree with mums who choose not to do it (I am not judging you) I also don’t agree with advertising how amazing breastfeeding is as we all already know it. We should concentrate on how to help mums who want to breastfeed but can’t …

… I WOULD HAVE TO BE A SUPERWOMAN WITH SUPERPOWERS …

MY BABY EXPERIENCE

Trying to be the Yummy Mummy while organising christening abroad,organising christening party in UK, getting my driving licence done and planning to decorate the whole house …. It’s proving to be pretty difficult 😄

Before I became a mum I was prabably a workaholic who wasn’t capable of seating on her ass if there was the smallest thing to do. I loved doing things and seeing the end result.

I have adapted very easyly to being a mum on maternity leave, and I love it, love every minute of it. Only thing which I crave is the feeling of accomplishment, knowing that I have done something. On the beginning when Chloe was few days old it was cooking a dinner. Most of the time now it will be cleaning the house , doing and putting away washing, going shopping etc …. Did you get the amazing feeling of achieving something really big and important after cleaning a bathroom when your baby was a month old ?? 😁 (heheheh times has really changed). Chloe is getting bigger and so is my need to complete and achieve things😊 as if being a mum wasn’t enough.

Chloe obviously comes first : keeping her entertain, going for a walk, playing with her and going to baby classes it’s a priority. That leaves me time when she naps, around 20 minutes in between the naps and some time in the evening to do everything what I mentioned above + everyday running of the house + trying to spend some time with my husband ….. As you can imagine it all was proven a bit difficult to achieve 😄

I needed to realise that I am not a superwoman with superpowers (Just a superwoman) .

With lack of superpowers I needed to step back, re prioritise, do one thing at the time and stay focus!

So of we went with organising Christning. Finding lots of restaurants and hotels in Poland while seating in Coffeeshop with Chloe sleeping. Then on her second nap if followed up on all of the RVPS and in the evening checking them and sending emails to all of them. Now because I did it on Friday night it it meant that i had to wait till Monday to hear back. It made me feel soooooo good ! ! !

Now we have to buy light stroller for travelling as I am not doing it again with out everyday pram (nightmare) highchair, travel cot and lots of clothes for Chloe. Get the driving lessons booked somewhere, finalise all Christning stuff and then fit in decorating 🙂

……. I will just have to prioritise 😄

……. One thing at the time 😄

First day / night with a new born baby.

MY BABY EXPERIENCE

First day / night with a new born baby.
After waiting for 9 months she was her! She was perfect and so beautiful (we all say that😊). Me and my husband were so happy, excited and high on adrenaline that there was no way etcher of us will go to get some rest (let’s remember that we haven’t slept in around 40 hours). We ended up just staring at Chloe who was fast asleep through the whole day.
I remember thinking this isn’t that bad, we are really lucky as our baby doesn’t cry at all …. I couldn’t be more wrong 😊
It all started as soon as we decided that we need to get some sleep after being awake for 40 hours. Chloe started crying so I feed her, when she finished I tried to put her down in to her cot but she would cry. She cried every time I took her off my breast. After 5 hours or feeding or should I say comfort sucking I couldn’t do it anymore, I had to stop or I would start crying. She was crying and nothing except my breast would calm her and I was in so much pain that I couldn’t nurse her anymore. It was a horrible night, I remember very clearly thinking : what have we done? Our baby is a cry baby! Is this how it will be every night? In the morning we found out that all of the mums been in this same situation. But no one tells you that this is normal, that’s what babies do. On my course I been told that Chloe and will be sleeping all the time for the first 72 hours. By the time we got home (best feeling ever❤️)I was sleep deprived but I just couldn’t go to sleep. Like all of us I got home, sat on the sofa with my husband and with Chloe in front of us and we both said: what do we do now? And like everyone we ended up just looking at her for the rest of the day 😊 First night at home wasn’t much better she cried a lot which is understandable : she didn’t have a clue where she was and what was going on. On the positive side we got some sleep here and there as we kept doing turns through the night 😊. At this point we started to worry, is this how it will be all the time ??!! Don’t worry it’s not. After that Chloe has settled a bit. No, you do not get lots of sleep but you get some 😊. Chloe just wanted to be on the chest most of the time, it does make them feel safe. Chloe would feed every 2 hours for the first month. I know that is sounds little but your body does get used to it.

Labour – aren’t we all looking forward to it? 😳 NOT

MY BABY EXPERIENCE

Labour – aren’t we all looking forward to it? 😳
The most scariest moment of my life !!! I was petrified even thinking about it !! Reading and listening about it was making me feel sick. Why babies can’t just pop out ??!! Oh life would be so much better 😊
I think that the worst thing about labour was that I just didn’t know what to expect, not knowing is quite scary. I plan everything in my life so not being able to plan this little detail was freaking me out as I wasn’t in control!
You are expected to decide what type of labour you want … But how should you know when you don’t know, how you will fill, how long it will take, how you will deal with the pain….
I remember going to see my birth centre. There was around 20 of us making our way to one of the rooms when we seen a woman screaming in pain and looking pretty bad … I turned to my husband and said : I am not doing it !!! I am not going to give birth hehehe
Did any of you notice that all of the people who try to be “helpful” always tell you about the word labour scenario ? I did and this wasn’t helping at all.
Me and my husband decided that we will try water birth and if it gets too painful I will get epidural😊. I know that there is a lot of brave women saying : I will do it all natural, but I didn’t want to try to be brave😊.
Then there is the question of when?. When will the baby decide to come?😊. Everyone says that your first baby is always late and you usually have it in week 41 or 42. When when when when ……. I had a bet will almost everyone about my baby’s due date. I was admitted that she will come one week earlier which would make it 27 of October, everyone else been betting one week late or more. Guess who was right ?…….
Did you hear that most labours never go to plan ? They don’t ! neither did my.
My waters broke on the evening of Sunday the 26 of October which was great as this mean that I wan all of the bets 😁. My baby girl was one week earlier ! I didn’t have to wait any longer to see her !!!! So my water broke, what’s next? I didn’t have any contractions so I knew that my labour didn’t start yet. We called the hospital and we been told that I have to be seen by the doctor.
We went to the hospital and after monitoring baby for 30min to make sure that she is fine I was sent home and told that if my labour doesn’t start I need to be back at the hospital at 7pm (24 hours later). Obviously I didn’t really sleep, I keep waking up to see if I was having contractions 😊. By the morning my contraction has started but they were very mild and far apart. So of we went walking, out for a lunch (yes I did) and to the shop for pineapples ( apparently it helps). By the late afternoon I had contractions every 6-7 minutes. I remember seating on my exercise ball and saying to my husband : hun I have really high pain threshold, this isn’t bad at all ! I have called the hospital to confirm that I don’t have to go to go back there just to be told that I have to be seen by a doctor. While waiting for the doctor midwife told me that I will be induced … But why ? I am having contractions so why should I be induced? Apparently that wasn’t the proper contractions, I remember telling my husband that this midwife didn’t know what she was talking about, that I have a very high pain threshold that’s why I wasn’t in agony 😊…. I couldn’t have be more wrong 😊. We have waited from 7pm to 3am to be seen by the doctor (apparently very very busy night with emergences) and by this point contractions were much more painful, or my pain threshold has decreased dramatically 😊. Before you are being induced you always have to have a ultrasound done to check that the baby is ok …. Can you imagine my face when doctor told me that baby is sideways and I may need to have emergency cesarian ??!! I went from wanting a water birth to being induced to having cesarian ??!! Luckily he was wrong, his boss informed us that baby is fine, she is ready to come and I’m 4cm dilated 😊but I still need to be induced….. Once induced question asked by my midwife was: what pain relief ? We decided on epidural but because I really wanted to be mobile (thought of not being able to walk to the toilet was scary) and be able to feel when to push I didn’t want it straight away. I wanted to see how long I can last on gas & air. Plan was that once I can’t bear the pain anymore I will get epidural. Midwife said that the earliest baby will arrive will be 1pm so with that in mind waiting with epidural was a good idea….. As it turned out it wasn’t 😊 Around 8:30-9:00 am I couldn’t bear the pain anymore and asked for epidural but at this point midwife has discovered that I’m almost 8cm dilated (she was very surprised) She said that baby will be here very soon so there is no time for epidural. On the 28 of October at 9:24 Chloe was born 🙂 I can easily say that it was the happiest moment in my life 😊 My advice is take epidural earlier don’t try to be brave as I was 🙂 but considering that being induced is twice as painful as natural birth I am very proud of myself for doing it on only gas and air and I have to point it out I didn’t scream once !!!!!!!!! I also need to mention my husband. He was amazing throughout the whole time and I probably couldn’t do it without him . Even though he was trying to feed me banana while I was pushing (you can imagine what was my response)😁
My biggest fear throughout the labour …. not to poo … thats why I was only eating bananas 🙂

Pregnancy- most wonderful 9 months … and 9 months of annoying comments and question :-)

MY BABY EXPERIENCE

Pregnancy – my story
I loved being pregnant ( most of the time ) and been lucky enough to have only few side effect like indigestion, feeling sick in the evening.
Only thing trying to destroy my happiness – other people !!!! Did you find that everyone had something to say or an advice to give?!
7 most annoying comments and questions :

Nr 1:
Most annoying from all was the question
Q- what do you want to have a boy or a girl?
Me- a girl
Q- it doesn’t matter as far as it is healthy.

Obviously it doesn’t matter buy you just asked me what I would prefer!!!! Why ask ???? !!!! So enjoying.

Nr 2:
Q- what are you having ? A boy?
Me- no, a girl.
Q- are you sure it isn’t a boy ? I think that it is .
Really??!! Do you really think that you know better than me(mum) and ultrasound scan?? I actual got paranoid that I will have a boy not a girl and have been panicking what I will do with all of those pink clothes 😊

Nr 3:
Q- when are you going on maternity leave ? Soon?! (3months pregnant)
Me- no I’m planning on working right up to week 38
Q- really? Don’t you think that you should be resting?
I understand that some people want to go on maternity early and there is nothing wrong with it, but I’m not one of those people. I love my job and I was fit enough to work right to the end. My question is : why do you ask me if there is a big chance that you won’t like my answer?

Nr 4: you shouldn’t be doing all of those things (go out, go shopping, decorate house(we just bought our first home) walk etc. YOU SHOULD BE RESTING as you won’t be able to do it once baby arrives.
How can you do nothing all day long ? How can you seat in front of the tv all day long ? For me that is just being lazy !!! I think that you expect me to do nothing so you can justify why you are/was lazy. As a pregnant woman yes I did get tired quite easily and needed more rest than normally but that’s it!

Nr 5: Soon you won’t be looking that good (when you get big bump)
That was when I was 3 months old. This enjoyed me big time! I work in fashion ( nothing very posh I’m Visual Merchandising Manager ) and I like to look good and decided to prove everyone that being pregnant doesn’t mean that you have to dress like a old lady with no fashion sense! I agree that a lot of maternity clothes are very mumys but you don’t have to dress like your mum or wear tracksuit! More about it later 😊.

Nr 6: your bump in very low (in a tone of voice which suggests that I will go in to labour any minute now.
Really? And you are a classified midwife from when ? Going by those comments I should have given birth at 6 months!

Nr 7: You are not allowed to do it!!!
This one was getting on my nerves but I couldn’t do or say anything as it came from a good place. I’m very independent and like to get things done so having to ask people at work to do things for me was killing me! Having people not allowing me to carry a box of tissues was drawing me mad! 😊
Did you experience exactly this same? Seems like pregnancy and new born babies makes everyone very opinionated ….

Yummy mummy to be 😊

MY BABY EXPERIENCE

Yummy mummy to be 😊
I mentioned before that I decided to prove wrong everyone who told me that I can’t be fashionable with my baby bump ! And I did😊 I have been posting selfies of me while pregnant 8-9 months pregnant to prove it. I will attache some of those .
A lot of maternity clothes are …. Well how to put it …. Awful!!! But it’s slowly changing as retailer starts to understand that we want to look good !!! Really good one for maternity fashion is ASOS . Sometimes quality may not be the best but choice is great and it’s very current !!! H&M does some nice pieces. I personally didn’t find anything in Topshop which was very disappointing as I have had a very high hopes.
I did end up buying normal clothes in bigger size. This came handy after my gorgeous baby was born as I didn’t (still don’t) fit in any of my old clothes 😊 Only maternity clothes I bought was some dresses, tops(by the end when my bump was pretty big) & denims ( tried few company’s but H&M is definitely the best and most comfortable one). I also ended up wearing lots of my old clothes like Blazers, Jumpers etc.