All the help you can get

Whilst breastfeeding Blossom I have come accross some superb products that have really helped me. And lets face it, breastfeeding can be tough, and sometimes you feel you need all the help you can get.Anything that makes you feel more comfortable and confident can only be a good thing.

The breastvest has been invaluable. Any Mum will tell you, when baby is still new, your gut is....well...JELLY! The thought of lifting my top up and exposing my gut leaves me far more concerned than exposing my boobs!

If you are worried about exposing your postnatal tummy when breastfeeding, as I was then this is the product for you.

Here is the blurb:

Created, designed, tested and approved by breastfeeding mums, breastvest is held in place by specially designed straps and sits just below your nursing bra, comfortably covering your postnatal tummy whilst offering a comfortable layer for support and modesty.

Born out of frustration with boring, expensive breastfeeding tops and stretched necklines, breastvest was invented to make breastfeeding in public easier and to let new mums open the doors to their pre-pregnancy wardrobe while still doing the best for their babies.

I literally wash and wear this product day after day. My only annoyance with it is that I do find the straps slip down my arms slightly. But I am willing to put up with that and keep my tum hidden.

Reasonably priced £14.99 each and available in many great colours.Check them out on their website HERE

Thanks to breastvest for the use of their image.





Another fab find is the MAMASCARF

Mamascarf is an award winning breastfeeding scarf that not only allows mothers to breastfeed stylishly and discreetly but also provides essential support without the need for a cushion. This was something I found extremely useful as it's great being able to feed with your support cushion at home, but this helps when you are out and about by lifting the baby up to you.

It covers you before and after feeding. Which is great for getting baby latched on properly with out Tom, Dick, Harry and everyone they went to school with seeing your nipple!

I find this useful when feeding at my Grandparents house as although they are completely supportive of my feeding, my poor Gramps does blush if he accidently see's a flash of tit!

Well worth the £17.99, this lives in my change bag and I use it regularly.

Thanks to mamascarf for use of the image.

Roll up Roll up! I have an announcement to make!

So I finally have got round to officially announcing Blossoms birth to family and best buds with the this gorgeous artwork created by the fantastic DANDELION LOUNGE
We thought something official was required as even in this modern age twitter, facebook and text is a bit of a poor way to holler to the world that you have had a baby, no?

Actually no it's not as I loved having my hundreds of birthing partners on twitter but you know what I mean. Something pretty and tangible was required to mark the occasion.

I mean with a shiny postcard that can be stuck on a fridge and cooed over. Perfect.

Isn't it yum?

It was so easy, I simply emailed the photo's, and the wording that I wanted, and super quick this stunner winged it's way back to me. CLEVER!

I love the fact that I will have this little beauty to keep forever as a keep sake.

They are providing artwork only designs for just £19.99.
Printed postcards, folded cards and other items are also available at
www.dandelionlounge.co.ukhttp:///

Blossom hits the bottle!

So the time has come to introduce a bottle to Miss Blossom. She is exclusively breastfed but I cannot deny I was looking forward to giving the girls (Salutes the boobs) a well earned break. Plus I have a hen night to go to in May and a wedding in June so the bottle will need to be established by then so that I can have a jolly (ahem I mean a break!)

I am lucky enough to have been sent some bottles from BABYBORNFREE to review.

I have reviewed their toddler cups before HERE where I have commented on the use of BPA chemicals in infant cups and feel passionate about the Baby Born Free product. You can read more about BPA in this fantastic post written by MUMMYTIPS. It makes extremely interesting reading and I have certainly had my eyes opened to what goes into our infant feeder cups and bottles since researching the subject on the internet. They have banned the use of these chemicals in infant bottles and cups in Denmark, hopefully it will also happen here, but until then we need to make an informed decision as to what products we use.

So, I expressed the milk and being the control freak that I am decided that I wanted to give her her first bottle! Which is bonkers as it kind of defeated the whole aspect of me having a break but there you go. I wrapped myself in the Husbands dressing gown to hide my milk smell and got on with it. I have to say I wasn't sure how she would take to it as the bottles teats aren't particularly nipple like. But she took the bottle no problem!

Success. She took no exception to the teat and had no sign of gas afterwards, I was chuffed and she was full! Happy days!

I'll continue to use these bottles for Blossom, and Monty continues to use the cups. And I am happy in the knowledge that they are BPA free.

So to the hen night I shall go, leaving my Husband with a freezer full of my house white!

They are available from Boots,Mothercare and amazon.
Prices start at £12.99 for two 5oz bottles.

*I may have scarred Monty for life, he saw me expressing and eyes wide said :

"MUMMY! WHAT.ARE.YOU.DOOOOOOOING???"

hmmm.

What they don't tell you about breastfeeding

1. Around day four, you wake up and your boobs look like two bald heads, adult bald heads.

2.Cabbage leaves help engorgement. True. Cabbage leaves stink. Also true.

3.You're other half walks in on you expressing. Bang goes your sex life, he'll never see you in the same way again.

4.Before you get into your breastfeeding groove (and it still hurts) after every feed you are on a countdown to the next one...A COUNTDOWN TO PAIN!!

5.If anyone wakes baby before they are due a feed, so that you end up having to feed early, that person is quite honestly off your Christmas card list. In fact all they will be recieving is a dog turd. (Not the fake joke kind)

6. If that person is male and they make any kind of comment about your disgruntlement, they are met with :
"HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF EVERY THREE HOURS A SPARROW CHEWED ON YOUR TESTICLES???"

7.Anyone making the comment that baby needs a feed (with that annoying sorry smirky face) you are mentally counting the ways you could murder them ,bury them, hide the evidence and get away with it. Or something like that.

8.When you are feeding in the middle of the night and other half is sleeping like a baby next to you, you actually consider smothering him with a pillow. But realise that is a tad dramatic. So you turn the tellybox up loud instead. Hah.

9. Your let down reflex put quite simply is like a hose. If baby stops feeding and you don't realise, you will most probably spray their face, maybe the chair, and yourself a little bit. I did this once in a Mothercare feeding room> And a cafe> And a doctors waiting room.

10. When you are due to feed you boobs start to fill and then go rock hard, as if someone has sprayed freeze spray on them. A kind of boobie ice age?

11. You will wake up, panic you have pissed the bed, then think you have knocked a drink over yourself, then realise your boobs have just exploded. A breast milk crime scene has occurred and the duvet is wet as are you.


All of this is normal.

And it does get easier.

And when it does it is awesome.

And thats how Mo see's it!

All these little gems were uttered by Monty in the space of one day. I had to write them down for fear of forgetting them and these little Montyisms are far too precious to be forgotten.



"Quick Mummy Blossom crying, get your boobies"
(On hearing Blossom waking up from a nap)

"It's tidy up time in five minutes, if you wanna make a mess, do it now"
(Cheeky bugger)

"My hair looks brilliant Mummy"
(On catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror)

"It's too loudy"
(noisy I think he means!)

You need this

Since having Blossom I have used many newborn products, some of which have been fantastic.

In the next few months I'll be sharing the best stuff in my YOU NEED THIS posts.

This beautiful swaddling blanket comes from the fantastic website MANUKA BABY, founded by the brilliant Alaina Morris.

It is gorgeous. And it is the quality and detail that set it aside from your run of the mill swaddlers. I have a white one with a cute little rose on the front. Too flipping sweet!

They are made from organic New Zealand cotton and are not cheap but make a great luxury baby gift. If you are pregnant, I'd drop hints now!

Blossom is only loosely swaddled in the picture, but at bed time she finds being swaddled comforting and I find it helps to settle her, it's also great for preventing wake ups from the startling morro reflex present in new babies.

An artistic trip(up my bum)

I'm standing in the kitchen making breakfast whilst simultaneously trying to stop my contact lenses falling out from the not sleeping. I'm also silently asking myself if I am tired or if perhaps I have had a stroke as the left side of my face seems to have dropped somewhat.

Monty bouncily trundles into the kitchen jumping down the step and trips into me. He falls over,landing flat on his front on the floor.

If this was me I would have lay face down and screamed until someone showed me some sympathy. But I guess when you're two it's less far to fall? He springs up. I carry on buttering toast.

Then his little voice pipes up "LOOK MUMMY LOOK! IT BEHIND YOU"

So I turn, I look.

But he jumps behind me.

Again "Look Mummy Look!"

So I turn around again, but again he's moved behind me.

We repeat this what feels like twelve no, even 13 times (ok probably three times but I am shattered and prone to exaggerate)

Now I am an incredibly patient Mummy especially early in the morning. (Previous sentance big fuck off lie)but even I was getting annoyed. And then I realised. He was standing staring at me with a stub of mint green chalk clutched in his mitt.

He was referring to the massive chalk line he had drawn down my arse as he fell over.

Sigh.