Breastfeeding Support

This week’s topic for the Keep Britain Breastfeeding Scavenger Hunt is Support. 


I always hoped to breastfeed when I had a baby and when I was pregnant I read about breastfeeding and went to a breastfeeding group in preparation but it wasn’t until my baby was actually in my arms that I could actually experience breastfeeding for myself as we began our breastfeeding journey.  I read about the physicality’s of breastfeeding, realised that my hormones would be all over the place post pregnancy and birth and that I most probably would be emotional and I also considered what I thought of breastfeeding in public but it wasn’t until I was actually ‘doing it’ breastfeeding that I understood that breastfeeding affects so many aspects of your life and in turn many factors affect breastfeeding.  Physical, hormonal, emotional and social factors are affected by breastfeeding and in turn have an impact on your breastfeeding experience.  Physically I never had any real issues with breastfeeding but I had to ensure I drank plenty and ate little and often whilst emotionally I found breastfeeding like an emotional rollercoaster and when I hit a rough patch and was upset and emotional I found breastfeeding was slightly less of an enjoyable experience as I was worrying too much.  How breastfeeding affects a mum’s life and how various factors affect breastfeeding varies for every mum.  Even though the breastfeeding experience can differ from mum to mum I do believe that all breastfeeding mums can benefit from support and that a good support network can be vital during breastfeeding.

All Fancy Dress Little Lion Costume Review

As well as providing a £40 gift voucher as a competition prize All Fancy Dress also sent us a costume to review.  Even though Lee would have loved a Batman costume for himself we decided instead of getting a costume for the ‘big kid’ of our family that we would get one for little kid in our family.  With a huge range of costumes for children it was really hard to choose which costume to get for little man.  Lee loved the Batman Dark Knight Costume but sadly it was out of stock in little man’s size. 

In the end we decided to get the Little Lion costume.  The Little Lion costume includes a fully lined velour brown bodysuit with a little tail, a headpiece with ears and a luxurious mane and booties with skid-resistant paw prints on the bottoms.

The beauty of breastfeeding.

During the month of June I am taking part in the Keep Britain Breastfeeding ScavengerHunt.  During this month a large number of bloggers, me included, will be writing about their own personal experiences of breastfeeding.  As well as being able to read a variety of posts about breastfeeding by lots of different bloggers during this month there are many competitions you can enter as well as a grand prize worth an amazing £500!

A Swinging Good Time.

With the nice weather we have been having little man and I have been enjoying the outdoors more than ever.  We have been going on lots of walks, having fun at playgrounds and enjoying the beautiful beaches we have on our doorstep.

Little man absolutely adores going to the playground.  His favourite thing at the park is the swings.  He giggles and smiles when he goes on the swings.

Love - See It, Snap It, Love It

This week's theme for Dear Beautiful Boys' See It, Snap It, Love It challenge was 'love'.

I've predictably chosen the love of my life, my world, my little man.

Rain free few hours

For a few hours on Sunday the rain said goodbye and even though the sun wasn't shining immensely bright and it wasn't that hot it was lovely and dry outside.  After seeing rain and yet more rain of late it was lovely to have the opportunity to go for a little walk without the risk of looking like a drowned rat by the end of the walk.

Tristan and I set off for a little walk down our track and off into the fields for a little adventure.  As soon as Pops (our favourite little Grandpa that John Crane Ltd kindly sent us) heard we were going on a little adventure he got all excited, jumping for joy and demanded that he come along with us.  

It was lovely to get some fresh air and feel the crisp breeze on my face as we explored the fields.  I always enjoy our walks and especially love showing little man things on our journey from the wildlife we come across to the flowing rivers to the blooming flowers and so much more we see along the way.

Pops was so excited about getting some fresh air as he has been down in the dumps of late with all the rain we have been having and he was like a little boy again running along in front of us.  At one point I thought we had lost him until I heard him shout 'I'm up here!'  Looking all around I still couldn't find him and then I suddenly caught sight of him high up in the tree smiling down at us.

Pops had a wail of a time recapturing his youth and reenacting his memories of tree climbing.  He was full of energy and was like a spring chicken.

Hopefully we will start getting more and more days of nice weather so we can go on a few more adventures in the countryside.

Water - See It, Snap It, Love It

This week's theme for Dear Beautiful Boy's weekly See It, Snap It, Love It photography challenge is water.  If I had to choose a theme I would have chosen water too so I am pleased that it is this week's theme.


I love water and Mother Nature has created some stunning rivers, waterfalls and oceans which are beautiful and amazing.  I have always been fascinated by the oceans and the creatures who inhabit them.  I love the sound of running water, the sound of a river flowing is a calming noise and there is nothing quite like being curdled up at home listening to the sound of the rain outside. Not only does water look and sound great but it has other amazing qualities too, it replenishes us and gives life to plants and animals.

Cloth Nappy World Record Attempt

I have been meaning to write this for a few days now but haven’t managed to get around to doing so until now.  As I mentioned last week I planned on attending a Great Diaper Change venue last Saturday to participate in the World Record Attempt of the most cloth nappies changed simultaneously across the globe.  I managed to get along to my nearest location hosting this event and had a great time.

My mum had the day off work so we decided to make a day of it and have a look around the shops in the day before going to the event at around 4.30pm in time for the change at 5pm.  My sister moved away last year, she didn’t moved terribly far but far enough that I don’t get to see her as much as I used to so she decided to pop down from her house about 20 minutes away from the location of this event to meet up with us for the afternoon.  We had a lovely day and it was great to spend some time together and for Tristan to see his Aunty Boo.

Whilst we were in town I visited Nappy Go Lucky, Bum Deal Nappies and the council who had a stall which they had set up in the town during the day to promote cloth nappies.  The stall looked lovely and colourful with gorgeous cloth nappies hanging attractively at the front of the stall with pink and purple balloons adorning the stall too.  They seemed to be quite busy at the stall, talking to lots of people about cloth nappies including lots of people from the older generation who were reminiscing about how nappies were in their day and how fabulous the nappies are nowadays.

After a lovely afternoon it was time to head over to the location ready for the event.  As time was getting on I went to the location by myself with Tristan leaving my sister and mum trying on clothes in Monsoon.  When I arrived there were already a few parents outside waiting to go inside and as we waited more and more people started arriving and it started to look like we would definitely have the 25 babies needed for the world record attempting change.

Once they were ready inside we queued up to enter and on our way in we had to sign a consent form allowing pictures to be taken and the first 25 babies were given a goody bag and number.  Inside the goody bag was some reusable wipes and nappy booster from Bum Deal Nappies, a pack of Bambino Mio disposable liners and a sample of Sheepish Grins wipes solution provided by Nappy Go Lucky as well as some leaflets.  They had provided food and drink for little ones and there was a good selection of snacks to satisfy their hunger.  The room was rather small and as more people entered, most of us with pushchairs and buggies it got more crowded and a tad hectic.

As I was sat there with Tristan talking to the other parents my sister popped in to say goodbye as she was heading home and mum said she would be back in a bit as she was taking her shopping bags back to the car.  With about 15 minutes to spare it looked like we would be short of a few babies and not have the 25 needed at every location.  Ella from Bum Deal Nappies took to the street looking for parents with babies willing to take part.  The rules of the change meant that parents who currently used disposable nappies could take part as long as the baby was changed from a disposable or cloth nappy into a cloth nappy, Bum Deal had nappies on hand for this.  By allowing disposable nappies to be changed from into cloth nappies it was also a way of promoting cloth nappies and introducing parents to cloth nappies.

In the midst of the panic at not having enough numbers those of us who were ready to take part once it was 5pm got ready in the designated area and found a place on the floor to change our little ones.  I was sat next to a woman from the council who was going to change another woman’s little baby girl as the mum was one of the adjudicators for the event.  The little baby girl was not very happy, as she was crying the woman was trying to comfort her and then all of a sudden the little baby was sick.  Sick all over me sat next to her.  The poor woman who was trying to comfort her was apologising profusely saying sorry she’s not even my baby, so sorry.  I just laughed it off and like I told her it’s not like it’s the first time a baby has been sick all over me and I’m sure it won’t be the last time.

Luckily a few more people with babies turned up and we only needed 2 more, and then Ella found a lovely lady who had two little ones in nappies who said she would take part but she was by herself and they need someone else to change one of her children.  It was in the midst of this hectic-ness and me having sick all over me that my mum walked in.  Even before I realised that my mum was back she had been asked to help out and had agreed to change a baby’s nappy.  With time to spare my mum and the lady with 2 little ones sat next to me with the woman’s babies.  The woman who had agreed to take part so we had enough people and who was happy for mum to change her son was a tad overwhelmed by it all, telling us that Ella had come up to her on the street and explained what was happening and pleaded for her to help out.  As a disposable nappy user the woman didn’t know about cloth nappies and was provided with some from Bum Deal nappies for the change.  Her son who my mum was changing was fast asleep and my mum was dreading that he would wake up mid-change and not know who she was but surprisingly he peacefully slept through the whole thing.

At 5pm exactly we were told to change our little ones nappies and everyone had their heads down, getting on with the job.  Nappies changed, with clean, gorgeous fluff on all the babies’ bums we had done our attempt at being a part of the World Record for the most cloth nappies changed simultaneously across the globe. 

After the change they held a raffle and I was lucky and my number was picked and I got to pick from a selection of nappies and accessories and I choose a Rumparoo one size as I’ve never tried that brand before.  After talking to a few people as Tristan was very tired I said my good-byes to Ella from Bum Deal and picked up my order from her which she had kindly brought along with her to save on postage.

It was great fun and brilliant to see an event like this happening around my way as living where we do in the Countryside it’s very rare that events happen and I usually miss out on things that usually only happen in the big cities.  It was fabulous to see cloth bums and cloth nappies being promoted. 

Bouncing, Spinning Fun!!

One of the presents that Tristan got from mummy and daddy for his 1^st birthday was a Fisher Price Bounce and Spin Zebra and he loves it!  He has a Fisher Price Rainforest Jumparoo and has loved that from the first day we got it for him and I hoped he would like the bounce and spin zebra too.  So far the cute little zebra is a huge hit too!!

My Little Star.

Now that Tristan’s 1^st birthday has been and gone the time for his next lot of vaccinations was nearing and we had been sent a time and date to little man to get his jabs next week on Thursday.  I was apprehensive about his jabs as he is older now I imagined the experience would be so much worse, that he would be looking at me with his big blue eyes all teary, accusing me of letting the health visitor hurt him.

Ella's Kitchen Munchy Biccies Review

We are fans of Ella’s Kitchen and have used a lot of their products; we even reviewed their First Taste pouches.  As Tristan loves their food, devouring the yummy-ness and I love that their products are healthy and organic I jumped at the chance to review one of their new products.

Ella’s Kitchen have created a new range of snacks for toddlers, suitable from 12 months, called Munchy Biccies which are according to Ella’s Kitchen “great for little hands and mums and dads on the go!”  These "gently baked wholegrain, cheese and apple biscuits" are 100% organic with absolutely no concentrates or refined sugars and are suitable for vegetarians.  There are 3 varieties available – Cheese and Apples, Cinnamon and Orange, and Bananas.  They come in a big bag which contains 5 x 20g bags.

Bye bye baby.

My little baby boy is no longer a baby, he is a little boy.  In fact he is now a 1 year old little boy.

We had a lovely day on Tristan’s first birthday.  He had some lovely presents and seemed a tad overwhelmed with his new toys.  I wanted to make an effort and bake him a birthday cake rather than just buy one and I made a big 1, with Happy Birthday and a number 1 candles and then small individual cakes that spelt TRISTAN.  It wasn’t the best cake in the world and my mum could have made something loads better as she is a brilliant cook but I wanted to make his first ever birthday cake myself.  Tristan’s Aunty Boo, my sister, came home for the day to visit little man on his big day and it was lovely seeing her as we don’t see her that often anymore as she has moved away.

I still can’t believe how fast the past year has gone; it only seems like yesterday that my little man was born.  I feel a little sad that my son is growing up so quickly but I am so proud of the amazing little boy he is.

A year ago.

This time last year I was at home in labour.

It seems unreal that a year ago today my son was born.  That a year ago, after 9 months I was finally holding my baby boy in my arms and now a year has passed and he is no longer a little baby, he is a little boy.

 

I have been watching him sleep this evening and I feel so lucky to have him in my life.  I am a very proud mummy; he is such a good little boy.  Thoughts of the past year have been roaming my mind as I watch my beautiful boy sleep.  Quiet, precious moments breastfeeding Tristan, witnessing him master new milestones, his first taste of food, his first toothy pegs; so many memories that I will always cherish in my heart.

I love you Tristan.

Ah-choo!!

My little man has been ill over the last few days and its so horrible seeing him ill.  He has only been under the weather and I feel like I am not doing enough to make him feel better, I can’t imagine how parents of very ill children must feel.  All you want to do is make it all better, if only we could snap our fingers and the illness would vanish.

On Sunday he started sneezing and by the night he was coughing and his breathing was a tad wheezy when he was asleep.  Over the past few days he has been sneezing like mad, coughing and his little eyes have been watering and look irritated.  Not only has he been under the weather and suffering with sniffles but he has also been teething.  This is the first time he has been ill, only ever having been in discomfort and a little ill due to teething and after jabs until now but he has been a little trooper and has been having lots of cuddles with mummy when feeling very bad.

Yesterday he was better, hardly any sneezing, he is no longer coughing and his breathing sounds so much better.  I am glad he is better especially as it’s his first birthday.

A lovely sunny day.

It has been a lovely few days here in Wales, so lovely to see the sun shining and clear blue skies.  As it was such a nice day on Saturday, Lee suggested that we pop to the beach for a little bit.  I love the beach and see us spending a lot of time there with Tristan, dependant on the Welsh weather.  We took Tristan to the beach a few times last year but he was so little he couldn’t truly experience the beach and have fun.

As soon as we arrived at the beach Tristan wanted to go down.  With a big grin on his face Tristan was squiggling his feet deep into the sand and playing with the sand with his hands.  He loved walking on the sand and was screaming with delight he was having so much fun.  Daddy took him to see the sea and watch the wave’s crash onto the beach.

It was lovely seeing Tristan have fun on the beach.  Fingers crossed we have a lovely summer and many days spent on the beach having lots of fun.  

Wonderful walks in the country.

Over the last few weeks before the weather before the weather got very warm Tristan and I have been going for lots of walks in the countryside.  It has been lovely walking through the beautiful country, witnessing signs of spring blossoming and the weather getting nicer.  Tristan has loved being out as he loves being in his sling or in his pushchair looking at everything as we go on our walks.  It has been so nice to get some fresh air and enjoy being outside when it isn’t freezing.

Tristan watches everything with his eagle eyes and I enjoy showing and telling him about things we see during our walks, such as the beautiful flowers blooming, the little river flowing and animals we see.  I hope the weather stays lovely for plenty more walks so that we can see lots of nature’s wonders and beautiful views.

Number and Play Session 1

I’ve recently started going with Tristan to a local baby and toddler group and as well as being a drop in centre in my local town with various activities, events and groups happening throughout the week at the centre they also do Satellite sessions in surrounding villages for parents within the community to get together and benefit from what they have offer. 

Mother's Day

Last year I wasn’t even sure if my little man would have made his appearance into the big wide world or not for Mother’s Day.  My little man’s due date was the 30^th of March with Mother’s Day landing on the 3^rd of April. 

In the end my little man was right on time, being born on his due date.  It felt like a dream on Mother’s Day that I actually had a baby and I was a mummy.  It was lovely that he was born before Mother’s Day and that instead of still being inside my bump he was cradled in my arms.

Lee had been super organised and got two cards, one for Tristan to give me if he was born and another that said from Bump.  I also got a lovely teddy bear and cute mug set and some beautiful flowers.  It felt very special with it being my first ever Mother’s Day as a mummy.

With Mother’s Day tomorrow I just want a lovely day with my little man.  Even though all the lovely Mother’s Day gifts you can get are gorgeous I don’t expect anything like that as I think just like Valentine’s Day it really is just another day.  I get lots of love everyday from Tristan that makes me feel like a very special mummy to have a lovely little son every single day and Lee shows me that he thinks I am a good mum. 

I realise that as he gets older Mother’s Day will be important to Tristan, he will be proud to give me cards he has made with Daddy and at school and help Daddy make me breakfast in bed and I look forward to this as a cute, homemade card from my son will mean a whole lot more than anything expensive you can buy.

Eye Spy....

Eye spy with my little eye something beginning with T…

Tiny toes??  No

Tummy??  No

Teeth??  A big fat YES!!

As I mentioned the other day after months and months of teething troubles with no signs of any teeth appearing from Tristan’s gums we were at last being graced with the appearance of his first tooth and even then the progress was very slow.  It has since been 3 weeks since we first saw that white speck adorn his gums and it still hasn’t fully popped out but after months of teething woes I am thrilled to see this little toothy-peg make its way out.

I am a proud mummy getting all excited about my little man’s first tooth and the excitement grew when three days ago I noticed another white tooth cutting on his top gum.  This new tooth is making slow progress too.  It is lovely to see another tooth joining the first one however it is not so lovely to see a very unhappy little boy suffering from the teething discomfort.

Hopefully there won’t be much more discomfort for him as they make their way out of his gums and I am sure there will be more white teeth joining them soon.