Daniel's 12 Month Update

I haven't been able to blog much the past month or so due to personal circumstances. Unfortunately I lost a very close member of my family to cancer, so as you can imagine, I have been very busy grieving and helping out with funeral arrangements etc. Now, I'm ready to come back and start again!

So let's start with a 'Mummy Monday'

Daniel is now 1 year old. Where has my baby gone?!

Sleep routine: Things for us seem to have changed once Daniel hit the big '1'. His sleeping has been a bit more erratic. He currently has no routine and only goes down when he's ready now. I still try to have him in bed for 8pm but some nights he refuses and won't go to sleep until nearer 10pm! Whenever he does this, he usually sleeps till around 9.30/10am the next morning. Other nights he'll go to bed at 7/8pm and sleep through till 8.30am. His naps are very varied now too. He's started having morning naps again on the odd occasion, but very seldom will he sleep if we're out and have things to do. If he doesn't sleep in the morning, he usually has a nap around 1-2pm and will sleep for 2hrs.

Eating: Daniel's eating habits haven't really changed much. His favourite is still sausages, although now he's a bit more adventurous with food, he's more willing to snack than to eat a meal. A habit I most certainly want to drop soon!

Sizes: Most of his clothes that he wears are all 12-18 months. Some of his 12-18 month clothing are still too big but I suppose each brand is different. His feet are still chunky that I struggle to find shoes to fit him. Although we had his feet measured in Clarks and he is a size '5 and a half F'. So I attempted to buy him some Flossys and Converse which seem to fit him quite well despite his chunky tooties! He is in size 5 nappies but I'm not sure that it'll be long before he's moving to the next size up!

Milestones: DANIEL IS WALKING!!! Not long after my last post, he went for it! Now there's no stopping him. So technically walking should be in his 11 month update as he was 11 months when he started but I thought I'd share it in this post with you all. He still says 'dada' for the most part but he has experimented with his sounds and I have heard 'mama' once or twice but not often. His current favourite is 'gaggen, gaggen, gaggen, DA!' whatever that might mean! Also, he had his first haircut! I miss his curls like mad!! So here is a photo of him a week before he became 'a big boy'.

Fakeaway!!

Salt and Pepper Chicken Bits
Just like the Chinese takeaway!

Ingredients:
2x Chicken breasts
1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
2x green chillies
1 teaspoon sea salt flakes
1/2 white ground pepper
1 small onion
1 egg
1/3 packet of smash
Soy sauce

Method:
1. Pre-heat oven to 200c (Gas 6)
2. Chop chicken breasts into small chunks
3. Beat eggs in a bowl
4. Mix smash and sea salt together in another bowl
5. Dip chicken chunks in egg, then cover in smash mixture. Once all chunks are dunked and dipped, place onto an over tray covered in fry light.
6. Put chicken in oven and cook for 20mins.
7. Chop onion and green chillies.
8. Add onion, chillies, white ground pepper and chilli flakes together in a frying pan and cook until onions have browned.
9. Once chicken has cooked, add together with the spice mix. This is where you can add soy sauce to your own liking.
10. Serve with boiled rice, fried rice or homemade chips!
11. ENJOY!

Mummy Mondays

A new weekly addition to my blog I've decided will be 'Mummy Mondays'.

Right now, my little boy Daniel is 11 months old. We've gone through the sleepless new-born stage, the reflux stage, the four month sleep regression, the initial teething and now currently going through the 'I only want my mummy' phase. Unfortunately I haven't had my blog long enough to have done a monthly update since day one, so I'll start now at 11 months.

Sleep routine: Just now Daniel is usually going to bed anywhere between 7.30pm and 8pm. He wakes once or twice looking for his dummy or his bottle but is usually sound asleep again straight away. From around 9pm he is usually in a deep enough sleep that he'll sleep right through to 8.30am or 9am. He was having 2 naps a day up until a week or so ago where he seems to be slowly dropping his morning nap and only napping around 2pm-ish every day now.

Eating: Daniel has been on solids from around 5 months. We slowly started to introduce those baby jars then gradually by the time he was 6/7 months, he was on more solids. Now at 11 months, he eats pretty much whatever we are having! His favourite foods at the moment are sausages, bananas, toast, and Weetabix with banana and cinnamon.

Sizes: He has some 9-12 things that still fit him but most of his clothes that he wears are all 12-18 months. His feet are so chunky that there's hardly any shoes that fit him right now! He can't wear any high topped shoes or wellies but any shoes that do fit are around a size 5 or 6. He is in size 4+ nappies although he's slowly moving into size 5.

Milestones: Daniel has been crawling now for just over 3 months, so just before he was 8 months old. He's now at that stage where he is pulling himself up and letting go and standing for a few seconds before falling over. He will walk along the furniture but he's not really making much attempt at walking properly yet! As for speaking, all I seem to hear from him for the past month or so is 'dada' His first and so far, only word.



"No measure of time with you will be long enough, but let's start with forever "
 - Edward Cullen, Twilight

Labour, birth and beyond!

If you're squeamish, don't like the 'nitty gritty' details and don't like talking about lady parts, then this might not be the post for you!

 

The 2nd August 2015 started off just a normal day, up early with Stewart leaving for work, up having my usual breakfast of toast, bowl of fruit and a yogurt. Washed, dressed, hair done, makeup done. I went to Asda then went about my daily routine once I was home. I wasn't feeling great and hadn't been for a couple of days now. My Braxton Hicks were getting worse ever since the two days previous, I could feel huge pressure down below, mainly when I was walking or sitting down. I had been told a week before this that I was in slow labour but could be for up to a month.

 

The slow labour was most definitely, agonisingly slow. Most days I was taking 3 Evening Primrose Oil capsules orally with water, 1 in the morning, 1 in the afternoon and 1 before bed. This is apparently supposed to help soften the cervix, and since I had already been told that my cervix was already starting to soften and open up, I thought it couldn't hurt. I used to drink Raspberry Leaf Tea which is supposed to tone the uterus (womb) so that it helps your labour progress at a steady pace, but it used to give me bad heartburn and make me sick, so I was one wives tale down and wanted to find something to help ease on the labour even more.

 

I was sat on my birthing ball every day when I was watching TV, eating dinner, just relaxing etc. so there definitely no difference this day. Stewart finished work at 6pm that Sunday so he picked me up when he finished and we went to his mum's for dinner and stayed the night.

 

I, being a typical woman, had been asking if we could try the most common remedy to bring on labour, sex! For ages though he was scared as he didn't want to encourage labour too early as I was only 38 weeks pregnant and still technically had another 2 weeks till our baby was fully cooked. So that Sunday night when he said yes but then fell asleep before it, I obviously went in a huff, lay as far to the opposite side of the bed as I could and read my book until 1.30am. I was adamant that I'd show him how pissed off I was in the morning...but then 3.30am came!

 

 LABOUR

 

3.30am - I woke with a huge gush of water pouring from my hooha I instantly knew I hadn't just peed myself. I lay for a minute wondering if I was dreaming so I stuck my hand down my trousers (classy) and realised I was actually soaked. I woke Stewart with an almighty shove shouting 'Stewart my waters have gone!!' I just lay there as I didn't know what to do, do I get up and soak the floor as well as the bed? Every time I even moved an inch, more fluid was coming out. Stewart went and woke his mum and they got towels for me to waddle with between my legs. I phoned the midwife and she told me to go to the hospital to be examined.

 

4am - We arrived at the hospital where I was taken to triage for an internal exam to find out how dilated I was and to confirm my waters had in fact gone. They had. Result!

 

4.30am - I was told that I was only 2cm dilated and was asked if I was having any contractions, as I said no, I got sent home. The worst part about this? I got off the bed and more fluid came gushing onto the floor with a plop. But no contractions. Then I looked back to the bed to find some gooey mucus plug laying there. Baby was definitely on his way! The midwife gave me some old paper knickers to wear along with a hayuuuge pee pad to catch anymore fluid and gave me a leaflet that told me that if my contractions hadn't started by 8.30am the following day, I was to go back in to kick start my contractions.

 

 

5am - Half way home in the car, I felt them start. Contractions. They were noticeable, but very bearable. Until I got home. I was sat on the couch, with a bin bag and huge sanitary pads under me that normally go on a bed, and 2 hot water bottles. One on my bump and one at my back. I had taken some paracetemol but by the time it got to around 8am I couldn't bear the pain much longer and the midwives told me to come back to hospital.

 

8.30am - Almost instantly upon arrival I was taken to a triage room and given gas and air, which at first made me chuckle and I felt as if the pain was just a tickle, but admittedly the contractions started to get 100 times worse.

 

10.15am - Eventually after only a couple of hours of taking gas and air and being sat in triage as I wasn't classed as being in 'established labour' just yet, I was examined and told I was 4cm and could be transferred to a delivery suite. In the delivery suite I was given an injection of Diamorphine which knocked me to sleep for an hour or so. Once I woke up, I realised it wasn't a dream and the contractions were very real and very sore but I got through them.

 

4.20pm - I asked for another injection as my last one had worn off completely, but the second injection never took effect. So I had no pain relief except for gas and air. The last few hours are still a blur as I was pretty much out of my face on pain relief that I go by the memories of Stewart and my mum. I do remember struggling after the second injection was ineffective and screaming at my mum for an epidural and yelling at the midwife telling her to 'just cut me open'.

 

5pm - I told the midwife I felt like I needed the toilet, at which point she told me it was my baby almost ready to make his way out, he was on his way down so she told me to start pushing. 

 

BIRTH

 

5.30pm..ish - Pushing for the last half hour, I felt like I was getting nowhere. I kept telling the midwife that I was done and wanted to go home as obviously my baby wasn't coming. Until I felt his head, with my hand. It was my only motivation to keep going as I finally knew I was making progress as I kept thinking everyone was lying to me when they said they could see my baby's head. I don't remember the 'ring of fire' but I do remember a 'POP!'. Apparently that was his head  A couple more pushes after feeling his hairy little head... 

 

5.55pm - Baby was born. Finally out. He was placed on to my chest and the first thing I thought was, I still have something hanging out of me! Then I remembered it was my placenta.

 

 

 

6pm - My baby got handed to someone, I can't remember who, because I needed more gas and air for my placenta as I felt intense pain and my contractions started up again.

 

6.45pm - After half an hour to an hour, my placenta still hadn't delivered and I had lost around 2 pints of blood, and most of it was blood clots. Eventually a doctor came, tugged the cord, and snapped it! There I was, being rushed to theatre for a manual removal.

 

7pm - In theatre, the anaesthetist wanted to keep me awake and give me a spinal, but due to the amount of blood loss I felt really unwell and faint so they put me under and done it while I was asleep.

 

10.45pm - I'm awake and I've woken up with an oxygen mask on, tubes hanging out both arms, a catheter in, and a tube feeding me blood. I had no idea where I was or who I was. I didn't even realise my baby was lying in a cot next to me. The midwife on shift that night done all of my baby's feeds, changed his nappies and also bathed him for me as I wasn't allowed out of bed and I couldn't lift my arms at all from the tubes.

 

3.15am - I got my first proper cuddle with my baby, and we had our first photo taken together. Absolute perfection 

 

 

 

3.30am - I phoned my mum and dad and woke them up crying telling them how perfect my little boy was and that I loved them and that they could go back to sleep haha.

 

7.30am - I managed to sleep on and off until now, but when I was up and wide awake a midwife took me to a delivery suite so that I could shower as I was still covered in last nights blood! I looked like a monster in the mirror and my skin was blue from the cold and lack of blood.

 

It was that morning that I found out what had happened. My placenta was firmly stuck to the wall of my womb and wasn't for budging. So I had to get it manually removed with lots of pushing against my stomach and a doctors fist in there trying to tug it out!

I was losing gallons of blood, mainly in the form of clots. When the clots eventually stopped, I had lost 5 pints in total. More than half of my body's blood supply. I've been told, had I been left half an hour longer, I would have been in a critical condition and rushed to intensive care.

 

BEYOND

 

9.30am - We were finally taken to the labour ward where we could get settled in and get to know one another.

 

11.30am - Me and baby were reunited with Stewart, daddy. It was that morning that we decided on his name. Daniel. Daniel William George McGhee.

 

 

 

He's my perfect, handsome, comical little guy who I would gladly do it all over for again. My world has been turned upside down since having him, but only in a good way! I would change absolutely nothing about him, the way he arrived or anything in between. He's my heart, my soul, my world.

 

Whether being pregnant and having your own child, or even for the women who play step-mother roles, your priorities and your life change drastically. Completely for the better may I add. Friends change, routines change, you change. Being a parent is the best thing in the world, to me any way. It makes you more responsible, more mature, and makes you appreciate the little things in life a lot more than you previously did. Time and memories become more precious, but the best thing of all, this little person is yours. Your

creation. Life will never be the same again, and I'm alright with that.

 

 

 

Gillian.x

Being a mama is tough!

They say life goes downhill once you reach the age of 21 - I have never believed this. The things life brings you at 21 are in no way, shape or form...bad.

My life pretty much began after reaching 21. The best thing I can name to date, the birth of my son.
But...being a mama is hard. No matter how many anti-natal classes you attend, no matter how many baby books you read, and no matter how many 'friends' give you advice, nothing prepares you for the sleepless nights, the reflux, the colic, the clinginess, the changing from breastfeeding to formula because your body isn't producing enough milk due to blood loss. The list is endless.

I bought one or two baby books, with an open mind of course, and read them cover to back. I also attended numerous 'recommended' anti-natal classes to prepare me for labour, birth and beyond. Yes I understood how baby comes out, yes I understand my medicinal choices once in labour, all of which is forgotten about once in labour may I add!

None of the books, advice or anti-natal classes (that I have experienced) explained what to do when your baby wakes in the middle of the night, inconsolably screaming. None of the advice tells you that it is okay to have five minutes of weakness to cry to yourself when the going gets tough.

My little boy is almost 11 months old and I still have nights where I think, those damn books and anti-natal classes never taught me about how to soothe a screaming baby when he is crippled with trapped wind.

It's tough! My son's routine has changed probably around five or six times since birth, once we get a nice routine established, it changes and causes mayhem, and usually upsets my little one.

It is undeniably the most rewarding and satisfying job in the world. And I call it a job whole heartedly because, it really is hard work. There are no sick days, no holidays, no days off, no 'end of shift', no toilet breaks, no time to eat alone, no time to pee alone. Just mama and baby, twenty four seven.

So although this first blog post might seem a little more of a rant than anything else, for any other mama's who feel like they struggle sometimes. Please remember, you're not alone, we ROCK as mama's and we're all doing an amazing job. Just hang in there and cherish every moment with your little blessing.

Gillian.x