5 things I have learnt as a parent business - guest blog
5 things I have learned as a parent business in Norfolk 2018
I went on maternity, I got made redundant, I found a wonderful part-time job but then my little one got poorly, and I found myself chucking it all in to give myself some breathing space because it got far too overwhelming … and @muffinandpuffinmarketing just sort of ‘happened’
It’s wonderful being able to flex my time and it’s awful trying to keep my spirits afloat as projects and clients chop and change and I’m never entirely sure what the following month will bring.
It has been a fruitful and eye-opening nine months and I thought I would share some of the things I have learnt
- Money makes the world go around, but kinship makes it kinder. Don’t always consider money as payment, sometimes collaboration with fellow businesses can get you just as far. Organising a photoshoot with a group of you who can all bring something to the table and then share that content. If you have a friend who is good at writing – ask them for content and bake them a cake. It doesn’t ever hurt to ask and more often than not you’ll lift one another up. Not drag each other
- Look at what you are doing, the energy you can waste in comparison can stop you going forward. We all know that social media shows only a certain truth, the best part of ourselves so celebrate it and know that there is always a #bts (behind the scenes)
- Always be inspired – remember who you are and create your own CPD – when I worked ‘before’ (as I like to call it) I had regular training and development goal settings with my team and directors. As a freelancer or mum worker, it’s easy to get tied up in the cogs of admin, work, child, repeat … take time to be who you were and who you are and always improve. Go to a gallery if you are creative, go for a walk if you are of the outdoors, see an exhibition, travel if you can, subscribe to a journal, be part of a Facebook group – there are endless opportunities. Don’t stop developing who you are because your business will only bloom as you continue too.
- It can be lonely working from home, don’t mistake me – I love working in PJs on the sofa, but I was someone who thrived in an office of like-minded and similar aged people. While I like my own headspace more than ever before, it’s important I touch base with people…. In Norwich we have an amazing mama movement on Instagram and I regularly have laughs and chats over DMs…it’s the closest thing and when we meet in ‘real’ life more often than not we become friends.
- I do not have a head for numbers, so it was important for me to be organised, have a great online bookkeeping system and engage with a local accountant. She has put my mind at ease and allowed me to make sure I am completely transparent as my little business grows its legs! I can’t imagine having to do a tax return after a year of ignoring your admin, so take a few hours every month. It will be worth it when HMRC letters pop through your door!
Sophie Lynn
Owner @ Muffin&Puffin
‘A mini marketing company’
07738533889
www.muffinandpuffin.com -> please note website not currently live
Instagram – @muffinandpuffinmarketing
Facebook – Muffin&Puffin
3 questions to help you confidently parent on your terms - guest blog
3 questions to help you confidently parent on your terms 2018
Parenthood is a rollercoaster of emotions and can be a time in your life when everyone has an opinion on what you “should” be doing, here I’ve suggested 3 questions to help you confidently parent on your terms. I often hear parents doubting their choices and decisions.
From the moment you announce your pregnancy onwards, it can feel like some of the social etiquettes seem to have been forgotten – your great auntie Dot’s next door neighbour seems to feel like they have a right to know the intimate details of any medical appointment you have, people in the supermarket queues feel it is OK to touch your stomach, strangers want to tell you their horror stories of birth and everyone you meet has an opinion on how you should be parenting (whether they have children or not!).
When you are tired, hormonal and learning this new role as a parent, it can become so confusing about which way to turn, what piece of advice to follow. The best antidote to this is to get really clear on the important things for you and your family unit.
- Get clear on how you want to be living life on your terms. What are your values and principles, that you want to be living your life by?
- Think about in years to come when your little people have grown up, how do you want them to describe you as a parent? How do you want them to describe your family?
- What are your key priorities for you and your family?
You can use these as your blueprint to guide your decisions and choices. When someone offers some well-meaning advice, or something causes you to question yourself, pause and ask yourself, “Am I acting in line with my values and priorities and how I want to parent?”.
Everyone’s parenting journey is unique – each child you have is unique. One thing I confidently will say is there is not one size fits all solution. My parenting journey is unique to me and not a carbon copy of any of my friends. Each of theirs is unique to them. Yours is unique to you. By recognising and accepting that everyone will make different choices, and no-one is right or wrong, will allow you to enjoy being a parent on your terms in a way that feels natural and comfortable for you.
www.samjamescoaching.co.uk
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32 weeks and a bump shoot - guest blog
32 weeks and a bump shoot – guest blog 2018
Bridget Jones pants… maternity pads… Waterproof mattress protector… All very sexy things to buy when walking around the city with your other half! With 8 weeks to go, I thought I best start packing my hospital bag. There is an unbelievable amount of ‘equipment’ you need to bring for yourself and your little bundle. Luckily I’ve got a great friend who has been amazing at helping me with this, knowing she had been through it before with her daughter she could give me useful advice on what she wishes she had packed for herself and her little Mollie.
Learning you have to look after yourself is a lot more important than I realized, before birth and after, you should be congratulating yourself, after all you’ve just grown a Human! And then given birth to your beautiful baby! Well done you!
Jess kindly booked a bump photo shoot for me, I didn’t know what to wear so picked out a few favorites to show off the bump. I even fake tanned the night before to mask my snowman skin. We all have our reservations about ourselves on how we look and I have the ‘good side’ and ‘bad side’. Luckily Jess understood my weird request and i felt so comfortable changing outfits and poses and even stripped to pretty undies for a different look and I didn’t even mind strutting about as I’m falling in love with my pregnancy body.
My bestie had her baby shower at a surprise location, there were banners, bright balloons, homemade sausage rolls, scones and cupcakes, all delicious. I overindulged of course… i am pregnant after all, that was my excuse. She loved it and it was fab to get everyone together to celebrate the occasion. It made me think about how quick time has come around! I’m going to have a baby soon! Wow! I can’t wait! I’m getting tired quickly so i’m no longer at night owl but an early morning bird who likes to wake my husband up early too, i get bored, if i can’t sleep neither should he right?…
Single digit countdown…
Raising children to be body positive - The Honest Confessions Of A NICU Mum
Raising children to be body positive 2018
I have never been body positive, or confident in my own skin. Perhaps, that comes from my mum constantly criticizing me. I was always jealous of others and deemed myself not good enough. It has had a devastating impact on my confidence, one that I carried through childhood to now.
Self-confidence
I didn’t have the self-confidence of others, and I suffered from eating disorders as a teenager. It wasn’t until after I fell pregnant with Elijah and then again with Harlow, that I realised how much pressure and unrealistic expectation is really out there. There is pressure on is on a new mother to suddenly regain the body she did before she feel pregnant, despite growing and accommodating a human (or two, or three!) and giving birth.
Pressure
I had two fairly large babies and I found it perplexing that we were being pressurised by what we saw in the media, adverts, and magazines sometimes sadly ones aimed at parents that we were failing if we didn’t fit into our skinny jeans 2 weeks after giving birth. Even family members were telling me towards the end of my pregnancy that the weight will soon come off afterward. Every day I was told I was big, I was small as if my uterus was now up for public discussion.
‘Scummy mummies’
We are made to feel that if we don’t have a full face of makeup and sport a perfect up do we are ‘scummy mummies’. We as a society love to shame others. We are constantly bombarded with images of perfection that do not mirror real life. Even more now we live in the age of social media.
We are told we must change our bodies, our faces, our hair to look like this, to be that and to not accept and be proud of who we are. I am still a very self-conscious person, but I want my two boys to be comfortable on their own skin, to be body positive and to have the self-confidence I never had.
The zipper club
I knew it would be easy for me to pass on my insecurities to my children but I knew I had to be the one to set a good example. Especially with Elijah who has an incision ‘zipper’ scar running down his chest from open heart surgery.
When we took Elijah swimming for the first time I was worried that people would stare, they would look at him and make comments about his chest. A friend of ours at the time was very blunt with me and said, who cares? He should be proud of it. Ever since then I have always promoted body positivity in both of my children.
Brands
Slowly, some big brands have cottoned onto the fact that they are responsible to promote body positivity, but we still have a long way to go. The language we use, for example, phrases like ‘plus size’ I believe are still detrimental when actually they are likely to be of an average size that many of us can resonate with.
Real women
I don’t think it was until after I had children that I realised how important it was as a parent to promote body positivity. I do not hide my body in front of them, as I want them to know what a real body looks like, one that has had two children and given birth twice! I want them to know a woman doesn’t need to wear make up to look pretty, she doesn’t need an elaborate hairdo to fit in with everyone else. That it is okay to feel comfortable being who you are, looking like what you do.
Acceptance
I want to teach them to be accepting of everyone and to never judge anyone just by looks, or by societies expectations of them. I want them to know the adverts that they see and the images on social media aren’t necessarily the real world and to never compare themselves to them.
Most of all, the gift I want to pass onto my children is one I didn’t receive myself, I want them to be truly comfortable in their own skin and proud of who they are.
Vicki Cockerill is a Freelance Content Writer and NICU/CHD Mum to two boys, she authors The Honest Confessions Of A NICU Mum Blog and co-founded the @KnackeredandNorwich Social Club and campaigns for NICU and MMH issues. You can contact her via her blog or social media;
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Vicki regularly blogs for me, along with other guest bloggers check out some here !
Jess x
Everything I haven't learnt guest blog Muffin and Puffin
Everything I haven't learnt guest blog Muffin and Puffin 2018
Experts, solicited advice, parenting blogs, books, more advanced parent friends, my own parents… I’ve consulted all of them at one time of another and through every ‘phase’ that our daughter goes through – I should be graduating with a first-class degree, maybe even three - because this has been a 2-year slog of a 24/7 study - yet I frequently feel like I may be the dunce here sitting with a cone hat on whilst dribbling slightly and speaking incoherently as yet, another 5am wake up rolls around.
This feeling, whilst a daily creeping one, is poignant now as I’m in a reflective mood. As our little munchkin reaches her second birthday - and in the process of booking a cake smash shoot to mark the occasion - I got thinking about the last two years and all that I haven’t learned. That is not a typo… I truthfully don’t think I know more about parenting now than I did when I first held that snuffly little bundle in my arms. One thing I do know… the goal posts change the minute you think you may just have cracked this parenting malarkey.
After the initial shock of a new-born routine, we quickly fell into something comfortable - life will have changed forevermore but you knew a newborn wasn’t an easy option and it really is just a phase... you expect to be tired and emotional and loved up and exhausted and not finish any sentan ….
Then it all changes and teething happen.
Then they start sleeping through… for a day…. And you get smug and tell your friends about your ‘methods’ that work only for it to all go to pot the following night whereby you consult google and rush to buy lush sleepy cream, throw lavender oil around like holy water and pray like you have never prayed before.
Then weaning happens and you prepare food from scratch and clap gleefully whilst they have their first tastes of foods and you vow you will never succumb to Ella’s Kitchen… and then months later you will weep with happiness that fruit and vegetables can be mixed together in a pouch!
Then they HATE all food and water and milk and will only eat crumbs that may or may not have been on your kitchen floor for three weeks.
Then they crawl and it’s amazing but having yearned for that day you have to re-learn how to get showered, dressed and generally do normal daily admin with a crawling ninja that is seemingly faster than the speed of light.
Then walking – I’ve never been so proud and in all my learning I thought this would make life easier… then you realise you can no longer pop them in a pram and go shopping because they have legs and they want to use them… so you have to learn again how to negotiate life with a tiny thing that is now upright and running away from you.
Then suddenly 2 is looming and you have a small thing with a personality, with words, with understanding and it is with profound pride and pleasure that I witness this every day… but also with profound fear that I know the answer to nothing. My husband and I are constantly looking to one another for reassurances and it really is the blind leading the blind, but we are blind together and we support each other daily and we make those decisions together (really, so no one can be blamed for any poor outcome)
What I have learnt is more about me, us, humans, relationships. No one can tell you how to parent, you can pick up handy hints and tips but ultimately every small person is unique… with unique needs, with unique feelings and there are no books for that.
So, while I may not have learnt anything about what the next day will bring, I have learnt this. Take it easy on yourself and just do your best. Every day that you have kept your small alive is a win, every cry you have is because you care, every shattered wake up is because you are needed. And for days when it just feels like you have reached a brick wall there’s always gin and Instagram.
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Mollies cake smash is in November so watch out for Jess’ social media!
Check out Sophie aka Muffin and Puffin !
Norfolk Parent Event Businesses
Norfolk Parent Event Businesses 2018
Norfolk Parent Event Businesses, when you are a parent, days and nights out aren’t quite the same as pre-children are they? Where you would crave a long pub lunch by the river, you now want to know where the baby changing facilities are.
Nights out, come with the inevitable hangover and somehow cramming into the pre-baby night out mini skirt and going to a club doesn’t have the same appeal.
But, how and most importantly where do you go to get the much needed me time, playdates and night out that are parent-friendly (accompanied by a few gins of course!)
Below you will find some amazing Norfolk parent focused companies who arrange amazing meet-ups with or without children, day and night so everyone will find something for them. Best bit of all?
They are all based in Norfolk! if you know of any more please comment we'd love to discover more!
@NorwichMumbler
Your one stop shop for all things parenting. Family fun days at Norwich Castle? An active Facebook community? Reviews and information of all the best days out and family-friendly facilities in the area? Norwich Mumbler really does have it all in a non-judgemental and welcoming environment, both on and offline.
@KnackeredandNorwich
Okay, I may be slightly biased with this one as I co-founded the social club but it is a monthly meet up in and around Norwich’s amazing coffee shops for parents, small businesses, freelancers and anyone else who wants to come along! It is a great platform to connect and network with other likeminded people and meet those people you’ve been following on Instagram for ages! There is normally talk of sorts or skill share and highlighting causes close to our hearts like Harper’s Little Helpers and period poverty, most of all it’s a great chance to get out of the house, enjoy some great coffee and company!
@Wegotthissometimes
Emma has put together an amazing event company specifically targeted at giving parents the night of and bringing them some of the glitterati of Instagram right to their doorstep in Norwich. From Mother Pukka, The Unmumsy Mum and who can forget The Scummy Mummies? Unforgettable nights out for parents is the name of the game and Emma has certainly delivered again and again. Don’t forget to sign up for priority notice of new ticket releases!
@Mummaandmore
A local events company run by the lovely Sarah to showcase local small businesses and support working parents. With some brilliant events like Mumma Jumble and Mumma Market and not to mention the frankly amazing Women Supporting Women Facebook group this is one mumma on a mission to empower the working parents of Norfolk.
@TheParentandBabyShow
Baby shows seem a slightly outdated concept. The Parent and Baby Show have turned that on its head by bringing a regular, fun, and interactive show. With on hand advice, baby changing and feeding facilities, and some amazing local and national brands normally with a brilliant festival theme. There is also a PABS Business Hub over on FB and upcoming awards supporting local businesses!
With so many events, days out, and communities on offer in the local area you really are spoilt for choice and will find it hard to fit it all in!
Do you run or host a parent event business or organise regular meetups?
We want to hear from you so we can add it and share it with our readers too!
Vicki and Jess - contact us!
When morning sickness is 24/7 guest blog
When morning sickness is 24/7 Norfolk guest blogger Emma from Adventure of Adam and HG reality Instagram
2018
My first pregnancy
I craved for the pregnancy sickness to start. I didn’t feel pregnant until I had that first wave of nausea. At first I reveled in the fact that I felt sick - finally, I was pregnant and going to be a Mummy. However, as the days wore on, the nausea became more and more debilitating. Then the vomiting started. I would vomit all night long, battle my way into work, vomit in my classroom cupboard, vomit all the way home, sleep for two hours and then repeat the process again. I tried everything - sea sickness bands, ginger, not eating, eating little and often but still the vomiting wouldn’t stop. I couldn’t believe that this was normal. Surely the human race wouldn’t have continued if women felt this ill. In desperation, I went to my doctors. It was the first time I was introduced to the word Hyperemesis Gravidarum - extreme pregnancy sickness.
Hyperemesis Gravidarum
Or HG, is a rare complication of pregnancy that affects around 1% of pregnant women. Clinically, the condition is diagnosed as extreme nausea and/or vomiting that leads to dehydration and weight loss of more than 5% of the pre-pregnancy weight. For me, it felt like I was poisoned. I was unable to eat, drink, function in any way and I needed round the clock care. I was vomiting over 30 times a day. I started on anti-sickness medication but by week 11 I was hospitalised due to dehydration.
My pregnancy with Adam was difficult to say the least. Although pregnancy sickness usually eases after the first trimester, my HG lasted for the entire 9 months. During the 245 days of nausea and vomiting, I took over 2,200 anti-sickness tablets, spent a month in the hospital and was bed bound due to nausea. Any slight movement would lead me vomiting for hours. As a result of the difficult pregnancy, I suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
I have always wanted a large family. During my pregnancy with Adam, I was resigned to having to go through HG again in order to have another child; HG returns in 80% of sufferers. However, my fear of not having another child outweighed my fear of HG. After 5 years of planning and mentally preparing to be ill for 9 months, I fell pregnant with Willow. I took a pregnancy test on a Saturday and started an anti-sickness medication that night but ended up in hospital on the Wednesday for IV fluids. The nausea/ morning sickness and vomiting started much sooner and progressed much quicker the second time around.
HG is not only physically debilitating but also mentally. Nine months is an extremely long time to feel so desperately ill. I couldn’t be a Mummy to my son and was fully dependent on my family for everything. I had suicidal thoughts during my pregnancy - I just wanted the morning sickness to end. Thankfully, this time round I was able to access steroid treatment which eased the vomiting. However, it did not ease the nausea which was still unrelenting day and night. To add further complications, I had pelvic pain (which required crutches and a wheelchair), Gestational Diabetes (where I needed insulin) and Sepsis (which led to hospitalisation). Needless to say I do not thrive during pregnancies!
I documented my HG pregnancy over on Instagram and you can see the reality of what HG sufferers have to go through in order to have children. I now have two beautiful children but know I am not physically or mentally strong enough to withstand another pregnancy.
If you or a friend is suffering from morning sickness I would recommend using the services available at Pregnancy Sickness Support charity. The UK charity works on improving care, treatment and support for women suffering from Nausea and Vomiting in Pregnancy (NVP) and HG. They can provide one to one support through their network of volunteers, online support via their forum and assistance on their telephone line.
I would not have been able to get through my HG pregnancies without the support of my family, a lot of medication and without help from the Pregnancy Sickness Support charity. I became a trustee of the charity a few years ago and hope that women do not have to feel alone during this debilitating illness.
You can contact Pregnancy Sickness Support via their website, on Facebook, Instagram or access their telephone information line on 024 7638 2020.
Useful websites:
https://www.instagram.com/hgreality/
https://www.pregnancysicknesssupport.org.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/PregnancySicknessSupport
https://www.instagram.com/pregnancysicknesssupport/
10 Ways To Help A New NICU Parent
10 Ways To Help A New NICU Parent 2018
Becoming a new parent is a life changing time your life. Chances are you will be sleep deprived, unwashed and in need of desperate need of a homemade lasagne.
There are many things you can do to help a new parent. But when a new parent is facing the emotional rollercoaster of the Neo Natal Intensive Care Unit how can you help?
You may feel you don't even know where to start or how to approach a new NICU parent. But with 1 in 10 babies in the UK being admitted to NICU at some point you may find yourself, a friend or family member needing support whilst they undergo this journey.
It doesn't matter if you are admitted to NICU with your baby for 2 hours, 2 days or longer than 2 months. It is a time that is fraught with worry, anxiety and fear over the health of your baby (babies).
Here is 10 ways you can help a new NICU parent (written by a parent who was a NICU parent).
Listen
- You may not know what to do or say to a new NICU parent. You may not understand the more complex nature of some medical conditions or effects of prematurity. But you can offer support, check in and always be ready with a cuppa and a listening ear.
Visiting
- Don't be offended if you are unable to visit at the hospital. It is an extremely private and vulnerable time for a new family and they may not want lots of visitors. And there are normally rules associated with this too. Lots of exposure to visits may increase risk of infection.
Celebrate
- Help celebrate the small things. Being able to take over feeds, dress them, moving into a cot may not seem a lot in the great scheme of things but when you’re in NICU it's these achievements that get you through. Help them celebrate and gloat for a while they've deserved it! It really does bring a sense if normality.
Keeping Busy
- Keep them busy. Chances are even if the parents have been discharged then they will still be spending considerable hours at their baby's side each day. Help them keep busy by giving them a book, a colouring book or even your Netflix log in! Time goes very slowly. If they don't want to leave the baby on their own but you want to help them take a break. Offer to sit with the baby while they get out of the hospital and go for a coffee or even a meal.
Home cooked meals
- Drop off some home cooked meals or even some packed lunches to take to the hospital. Some hospitals offer food vouchers for NICU parents but it can get expensive eating there every day. And it's unlikely they want to cook when they get home drop them off a food parcel to help them out.
Running the house
6.Help out with the running of day to day life. Cat need feeding? Dog needs walking? Washing or shopping that you could do? It will relieve the stress of the jobs that need doing back home whilst they are in the hospital.
Communication
- Offer to be the spokesperson to update friends and family. It can be extremely time consuming and difficult to update friends and family every day on the progress. You can take on the job so the parents are constantly having to repeat themselves and update every one.
Clothes
- If baby is born early chances are it was unexpected and clothes, nappies etc all need finding that actually fit. Help by finding what baby needs and that way mum and dad don't need to be stressing. A lot of supermarkets now stock premature clothing and nappies.
Germs
- Be understanding of why a NICU parent may not want to see visitors straight away after they get home. And never visit if you are ill or under the weather as the risk of passing it on could be very dangerous especially during cold and flu season, they may also just want to soak up time as a family and finally be home.
Seeking help
- Going through NICU affects people in different ways and make sure mum and dad are doing okay. NICU is one of the most emotional and traumatic times a parent can go through and 70% will go on to develop some form of PND or PTSD. Keep an eye on them and if you believe they are struggling guide them and support them to seek some help.
This list isn't exclusive to what can be done to help a NICU parent and it is just a few ideas to understand how you can help whilst they are in NICU.
We would love to hear how you helped a NICU parent and if we can add anything else to the list.
thanks Vicki for writing this really helpful blog !
check out my other blogs too!
Self-Care Isn’t Selfish
Self-Care Isn’t Selfish- guest blog by Vicki 2018
When you’re a parent your needs certainly take a back seat whilst you are looking after your little person's every will, demand and tantrum.
It can be overwhelming and sometimes all you want to do is have a hot coffee and pee on your own.
Self-care today is still seen as a selfish but honestly, taking some time to do what you want to do and how you want to do it can bring back a frazzled parent in the blink of an eye.
But, after putting ourselves on the back burner does anyone really know how to enjoy a bit of "me time" and what you could do?!
Here are some self-care ideas to help you find your mojo again!
- Take a long bath on your own. It really is amazing to take a bath on your own surrounded by candles and not bath toys or an inquisitive toddler!
- Read a book. When was the last time you put your phone down and turned the TV off and just read a book?
- Go make yourself a warm drink! Yes, warm... as it was meant to be enjoyed!
- Bing watch a series and no we don't mean Paw Patrol!
- Enjoy a treat! Box of choc? Your fav sweets? A cream cake? What's your vice? The only rule you don't share it!
- Listen and dance to a song you love (no baby shark!).
- Take a nap! It is literally perhaps one of the best feelings in the world to wake up from a well-rested nap!
- Go shopping on your own. Can you remember what it was like to go shopping on your own with no little people and just for yourself?!
- Light a candle it is funny how something so simple can help alleviate the stress of a tiresome day with the kids!
- When all else fails, grab your favourite tipple because at times only a gin will do!
We want to hear what you do to give yourself a bit of me time and self-care?
How often does it happen? Not as much as it should?
Then start today!
Look after yourself, you need to if you want to look after the tiny demanding versions of yourself you created!
Vicki Cockerill
25 Weeks - Pregnancy yoga
25 Weeks - Pregnancy yoga in Norfolk 2018
Time to try Pregnancy yoga in Norfolk. Every Wednesday i whip on my ‘over the bump’ leggings and borrow my husbands plain grey t-shirt and head out. I bring a bottle of water with me and snacks, thinking I'll be working out a sweat. But in reality, I join a group of ladies sitting cross-legged on mats with pillows and blankets and we introduce ourselves and share our experiences so far within our pregnancy. We chat, discussing birthing techniques and breathing exercises. And then we practice our yoga poses and finish with a treat biscuit. It’s really great to know your not alone with any pain your suffering, and any fears you may have. As in reality only pregnant women know how pregnant women feel, it’s good to have a network, it makes you feel empowered.
I treated myself this week (well partly). For my birthday friends brought me a ‘mum to be’ massage at the ‘Imagine Spa Blofield’, I finally booked it and I decided to add on a facial too. The beautician was great, she discussed my needs and desires, of which I replied… ‘Make me feel brand new!’ and I do! With still slight wrinkles but I look a lot less tired! I can tell the baby loved it too as I felt lovely soft kicks and tumbles under my belly button throughout the whole spa experience. It felt like we had somewhat quality time together where I could really connect, it was beautiful. Such a TREAT! and I felt like a new woman strutting to my car.
Our Nursery is coming together wonderfully, we had 2 plasterers working on the nursery on a very hot sweaty Sunday and we’ve now had it painted a beautiful pale grey which will go great with our new white furniture. Dad to be is now very excitingly beginning his ‘mural’ on the wall above where the cotbed will sit. We decided on ‘old school’ original Winnie The Pooh, consisting of Pooh holding onto a blue balloon floating up into the wavy branches above to find the honey nested around flowing leaves. We’ve loved reading the stories to our little one and I’m sure baby knows our voices as I can feel loving hugs becoming stronger each day.
As with many other baby mumma’s i’m sure we would all agree it’s been lovely to have sunny skies, despite the numerous fans I had scattered throughout my house on every shelf i couldn’t regulate my body temperature with my little bun keeping me toasty. So I’m definitely happier it is cooler as I can sleep better, I feel healthier and I’m back to my perkier self.
I’m now excitingly awaiting our nursery delivery from the amazing ‘BabyPages’ in Necton. They were so knowledgeable on all of their products and didn’t hesitate to answer any ridiculous question i may have conjured up. Top Marks! Fully recommend checking them out if you want a good deal on kitting out your nursery!
Now onto our 28-week appointment...
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