Evie- 20 weeks

Evie-liscious is .almost 20 weeks old (or young!). This isn't 5 months. That will be March 18th.

Actually, what age do we stop counting in weeks? I'm guessing that it's around the 6 month mark?

I had a brief discussion about this with a lady who hasn't had kids yet and commented that the 'X weeks old' thing confused her. She has a pregnant friend who is also counting in weeks and I had to explain to her that, in pregnancy, come the 35/36 week mark, pretty much most women start to count in DAYS!

So, Evie. What have we learnt about her in this past month?

• Well she has found her voice. Boy oh boy. It's a loud one! A squealy, dribbly, shouty one. But I love it. 
• At her last weigh in she was 17lb 7.5 oz. This is pretty big. She's now just under the 98th %.
• Our Baby Signing Classes have come along leaps and bounds. When I say leaps and bounds, she's not aaaaactually communicating with me as yet, but I think she's grasped the 'splash' sign when she's in the bath. She splashes on cue rather than whenever she feels like it. 
• She's started to really grab things. Rattles on her play mat, her Sophie the Giraffe, my skin! There is a little baby dolly that she goes ballistic for and holds out both her arms. 
• There are all sorts of absurd faces being pulled as she discovers that she can suck her lips in and contort them as she blows raspberries.
• Thanks to Aunty Rebecca, she has learnt the power of accessorising.

• Bedtimes have got easier. She enjoys her bath and certainly knows that after bath time it is booby and then bed. The power of routine and repetitive actions. She's falling asleep after feeding from both sides, I then let her slip into a deeper sleep on my lap before placing her into her cot. The other night she made my heart explode by blowing a perfect raspberry in her sleep just before I left the room. :)
• We acquired a bumbo. Well, 3 to be precise. I bought 2 for a bargain £10 each on eBay, unbeknown to me, my Mum had bought us one as a present. So we have them scattered all over. They are a godsend. Her thighs are a little chunky and we have wedging issues when putting her in and taking her out but she seems unfazed!

I don't just plonk her in front of the telly, honest!

• We have introduced a little half portion of porridge in to her routine. I was so reluctant to do this as I was so fiercely proud of her being EBF (exclusively breastfed). The reasoning behind it was a conversation with a BF peer worker and it was an attempt to fill her up a little more in the day as her night feeds were getting more frequent as opposed to tailing off at all. Has it worked? I'm not convinced. She now occasionally drops one of the feeds but not consistently so I can't pin this down exactly. However I don't let this replace a feed as it doesn't come close to the nutrition and calorific goodness that breast milk does. She bloody loves it though! Those arms and legs shake like crazy when I appear with her bowl and little weaning spoon. This also means that she thinks every bowl is hers. So I feel cruel eating in front of her now. It tugs on the old heartstrings to see her lean in expectantly all open mouthed and wide eyed! I now eat my breakfast behind her, hiding the bowl when she cranes her head 180 degrees to see me!

This is the video of her first taste of porridge. I'd made it too watery so it was a messy affair but I think it's better it wasn't too thick for the first attempt.

• One of the most amazing parts of mummyhood I've found is watching my gorgeous little person learn and develop new skills. These can happen in front of your very eyes but more often than not you'll suddenly realise that she's been doing this all week but you never really see the first time. Except that tonight I saw Evie discover that she can in fact get the feet she's only very recently discovered, into her mouth!
  It was on the changing mat as I was getting her undressed for her bath that all of a sudden, the foot started to clumsily make it's way towards the dribbling, gaping, squawking mouth hole. Her eyes widened in fascination and then before I knew it, the toe was getting a good old suck! Daddy raced over with his phone (iPhone4 trumps iPhone3 camera wise) and we snapped this.

• We are also lucky enough to get regular open mouth wet kisses. She kisses with gusto and I love it!
• There are definite teeth making their way through. It's painful for me to see my little lovely suffering and this is only the beginning. I can feel the 2 bottom teeth moving closer to the surface. there's no guarantee that they're actually close to breaking through though. This process could take months. Her fist sucking has become much more frantic and she whimpers and strains with it, really chomping down hard and grabbing at her gums. I use homoeopathic teething granules and teething gel as often as I'm allowed to try and ease her discomfort. Calpol is only for a high fever, I've only had to use it the once. Awesome stuff though! I did buy her this Mam teether that I refrigerate. She grabs it and chews on it but not the actual cooled get part but the hard ring. Maybe she things it looks suspiciously like a rude mans part too?!

These past few weeks have seen my Evie turn from a baby into a little girl. Her personality is really showing through. She's happy, content and the very joy of my existence. I didn't think it was possible to love her more now than I did when she was born but every day my heart grows more as she fills it. As lame as it sounds I can't help but gush. When she finally starts to talk and says 'Mummy' for the first time, I honestly believe I will spontaneously combust.

Until next time xx

A new phone.

I am one of the millions and trillions of people who own an iPhone. I've been reasonably happy with it for the 2 years I've had it but now it's time to change.

My needs are different now I've got my Evie.

Before she came along, I wanted my phone to have most of the usual features- E-mail, Facebook, a few games and the odd novelty app. I've disliked the keyboard from day 1. Too many mistakes get made too easily.

Now when I look at features, I'm really only interested in 2 things. Camera and Video. I don't want a useless blurry one like the iPhone. No. I'm talking sharp, crisp photos. I want mega pixels to rival an actual camera. I'd forsake all other features for the best camera possible. Well, maybe not my ebay app....but all the rest ;)

Because it seems that I've turned into one of those Mums who tries to document every single movement that the poor child makes. I can't stop myself! She's changing SO quickly and I'm scared I'll forget a tiny morsel. To be fair, I do have people requesting daily and weekly updates so the photos do get a lot of use and I do find myself scrolling through the 370+ photos that I've already taken of her up until now. I love looking at the changes, the difference in her hair from one week to the next. But now she's doing much more. She's making more noises, blowing rasberries, making funny faces. This calls for video!


I've searched and searched and I think I've decided on the Samsung Galaxy (as recommended by my Sister).

Although, if I'm honest, what I really want is this ----------->
with a tiny phone stuck onto it somewhere.

Or, a BBC cameraman to follow us everywhere. Then I'd just use his phone. Problem solved.

Lots of love

Katy x

It is true what they say...

Throughout my pregnancy, I lost count of the numerous pieces of advice and gems of wisdom I had donated to me on a daily basis.

One subject that was rife for discussion was The Labour. More specifically, the Pain of Labour. All manner of stories were told in varying levels of detail and gore. Some told of small manageable pain, others of near death like agony. However, more often than not the end of the story was always the same, that it was So Worth It.

The pain? Forgotten. Oh yes, apparently, we forget this pain quite quickly!

That part always stumped me... How can pain be erased from the mind? And I thought about this in the days after my labour, had I forgotten? Not yet.

However, fast forward 16+ weeks and it appears that I have!

I stubbed my toe yesterday. Really bloody hard. And declared, loudly
"HOLY MOTHER OF ALL THINGS...FUUUUU***IN JEEEZ! Stubbing your toe is the most painful thing in the world ever!"

There you have it.

A slightly purple little toe overshadowed 40 hours of labour. No really.

Yours, dramatic as ever

Katy x

Hula Hoop Hoo Ha

My post pregnancy work out regime was something I'd already planned (in my mind) in the first trimester. I was quite sure it would work and I was even a little excited. Of course, at this time, I had NO IDEA a) how unbelievably tired I'd be or b) how little time I'd actually have to execute this 'regime'.

However, my idea was to hula hoop to music around the flat. In this ideal scenario, Evie would be content to sit in her bouncer on the floor, I'd put on MTV grab the hoop and dance my self into a frenzy. This would increase my heart rate and give me a little cardio workout and the hoop would work my core to whittle my waist back down to pre pregnancy glory.

In my mind, I had visions of me getting down with my bad self a la Beyonce.

The rather upsetting reality is that I can't actually keep the hoop up for more than 2 spins. I don't remember it being difficult in the school playground? What's up with that?!

I will try it again, if not it'll get put into the outdoor gym (this is actually a shed with all the unwanted exercise equipment I've bought in the past, including a ballet bar...Wtf?)

Yours, lacking in coordination and core strength,

Katy x

Dictionary Definition

If there is ever a time when you want a wet wipe to ease out of the packet gently and without any fuss it's when there is a serious poo issue.

So why is it that, just when I need a smooth wet wipe transition, it doesn't happen?

Either I can't get a purchase on the bloody edge or I grab a chunk and they all come out welded together. Both situations require me to drop Evie's feet to either prise the 200 wetwipes I've yanked out apart, or frantically pick at the edge like Sellotape at Christmas.

This is now known as Wet-Wipe Rage. Screw road rage, this is a million times worse!

I use Huggies Pure and I think these are particularly bad for inciting mouth foaming rage. Because if there is ever a time not to piss me off, it's when I'm *literally* up to my elbows in poo.


Rant over...for now.

Katy x

An incredibly touching breastfeeding article

This is a link to an article written from a babies point if view on breastfeeding. I wish I'd read it at the very start of my bf journey. A teensy bit cheesy in it's style but easily forgivable.

http://theleakyboob.com/2011/08/baby-explains-normal-newborn-behavior/

Let me know what you think?

K x

The Dreamfeed Challenge

I've been hearing from a lot of my Mummy friends that they give their baby a Dreamfeed to help them to get a little bit more sleep. The theory behind it is you 'top up' baby at about 11pm to help them to sleep a little longer, as it's their little tummy being empty that wakes them. The main thing with this is that you don't wake the baby. NEVER WAKE A SLEEPING BABY!

Now I'm exclusively breastfeeding Evie and booby dreamfeeds are a little harder than when using bottles. However, I had 3oz of expressed milk that I had to use up and I was, without wanting to sound dramatic, dying of exhaustion from the previous few nights of barely any sleep.

Now this was new to me. Evie was asleep and I kid you not, I was shaking at the thought of waking her and her not going back to sleep!
:-O

I popped my hand gently under her head and the other under her little bottom and lifted her out of her cot. Problem was, my right hand felt a little damp. Her nappy was huuuuuuuge and a change was very necessary.

So now I had to do a dream feed AND a dream change? The pressure!

Husband fetched the nappy and the wipes. We were doing this on the bed. No way I was going to risk leaving the bedroom! The temperature change along would wake her! All hands on deck.

We worked together like a well oiled machine, I undid the nappy, he wiped with the wetwipe, I slid the new nappy under whist he held her legs. Between the 2 of us she had the fastest nappy change ever. And she stayed asleep :)

So I gathered her sleepy little body up into the crook of my arm and bought the bottle to her mouth. She flinched slightly at first but stayed asleep. I let her take the milk for about a minute at a time and then stopped and let her settle back down because the more she drank, the more she seemed to stir.

It took about 10 minutes to finish the 3 ounces. I'm really conscious of how I feed her the expressed milk, I read an article on respectful bottle feeding which struck a chord with me. For a breastfed baby, a bottle is an entirely different sensation and flow. The baby has to really work for the milk on the boob and a bottle is much easier and can often end up overwhelming the baby. The bottles we use are the Dr Brown and are anti colic so I don't have the stress of winding her afterwards.

So, having made sure that I wasn't literally pouring the milk into her face, she fed and I kept her in my arms for about 10 minutes. Enough to ensure that she went back into her deep sleep, not enough that the settled only in my arms.

Next came the hardest part, I had to get her back into her cot. WITHOUT WAKING HER!

This is the part of the night time routine I struggle with after a normal feed. Evie sleeps next to me in her cot with the side totally down, however, the mattress isn't totally flush with mine, nor is the side of the cot quite low enough. So I can't do the slide across motion I'd like to do. Instead I have to lift her and then lower her down, which almost always stimulates a baby's moro, or startle reflex (when they flay their arms out like a starfish...cute but not when you're trying to be a stealth ninja mumma!).

Eventually she was lowered down, my left hand trapped under her head. I removed it finger by finger, holding my breath the whole time!

My right hand slid out from under her bottom and I gently placed her blanket back on top.

I kid you not, I was sweating. This was the Mummy Skill version of a task on the Crystal Maze!

You'll be pleased to know it was a totally futile task. She ungraciously woke an hour later as hungry as if she'd never been fed. And again 2 hours after that. Repeat for the rest of the day until mummy goes quite literally mad.

Until next time

Katy x