Birth story #1

In celebration of my eldest's 5th birthday I thought I'd share my first birth story! :)

On the 11th August at 9 days overdue and 2 unsuccessful sweeps later; my husband and I and our friends decided to take the dogs and go over to a local country park for a picnic. I was uncomfortable and fed up at the idea of a c-section and quite frankly thought that she was never going to vacate on her own. Our friends who came for the picnic were also expecting but were due two weeks after us and at this point I was sure their baby would arrive before Miss H made her appearance. 

It was a lovely sunny day so we'd taken our beach tent to sit under and as we were packing up I bent down to pack up the tent when I got my first contraction (OUCH) thinking that it was just a stomach ache from the food I carried on and didn't say anything. I had another two pains walking back to the car and still ignored it. Anyone whose been in labour will understand this, but I actually thought that I just needed the toilet. I waddled over to the toilets before getting in the car to go home. Waved goodbye to our friends, got in the car and told hubby that my contractions had started but was okay. At this point I was in denial! 

We got home, called the hospital who informed us as a first time mum it would be a while. Their words were "put a film on, maybe titanic". Safe to say I lasted half an hour before we were back on the phone to the hospital who agreed for us to come up and have a look at me. At this point I was having contractions every 5 minutes but the hospital were still very unconcerned but still agreed to look at me. The midwife took one look at me and grabbed a wheelchair and took me straight into a delivery room. I was 10cm dilated and her head was in the birth canal! 

I was so lucky the midwife that looked after me seemed to understand straight away that I didn't want any fuss and I wanted to do as much as possible on my own. By this point it was getting dark and I was able to get into the birth pool with the lights out and just relax (as much as I could anyway). I remember clearly asking for drugs so many times and being told that it was too late for anything apart from gas and air, which I loved it was so relaxing and after 20 minutes of pushing my beautiful baby girl was born! 

My midwife was very no nonsense and as we were in such a rush to get to the hospital and they were so convinced they would be sending me back home, we hadn't brought any of our bags up so she sent hubby back to the car to get them; then gave me baby and started stitching me up! Honestly the stitches were the worst thing about giving birth. I'm there lying on the bed clutching baby in one arm and the gas and air in the other! By the time hubby got back (because obviously he'd been calling everyone we knew haha) stitches were done and I was showered and dressed like nothing had happened! 

I love reading birth stories, so thought I'd share mine! x

It takes a village (10 things about me) #blurtselfcareaton Day One

As the saying goes 'it takes a village' but what happens when that village is just not there?

We are all living busy and complicated lives and while the majority of us have friends and family we can reach out to. They are living busy and complicated lives too so what happens when your village is 'busy'?

In the absence of 'village' help I've been realising more and more recently how important self-care is. Inspired by The Blurt Foundation's (find them on twitter here) Self Care-athon, I thought I would join in with a blog a day!

Day One: 10 Things About Me
1. My worst habit is procrastination. Something I am really trying to tackle this year!

2. I had singing lessons and studied Musical Theatre from the ages of 11-20; and I miss it so much! Although these skills do come in useful when asked to sing a Disney song by my girls a hundred times a day. 

3. I am a potter head! Meaning I love Harry Potter. Check out my previous blog post, where I completed the Harry Potter challenge. I even have a massive collection of Harry Potter memorabilia in my parents loft, one day when I have a mansion hopefully I'll have somewhere to display it. 

4. I have two beautiful little girls, who are definitely by biggest achievements to date. 

5. I love to write stories and one day I hope to be a published author. 

6. I'm also studying for my English degree and work as a tutor. 

7. I love period dramas and get serious wardrobe envy. Reign and The Tudors are my absolute favourites!

8. I am far too trusting of people.

9. I can never say no to people and always have way too much on my plate. You know what they say if you want something done ask a busy person to do it!

10. Christmas is my favourite time of year. I love the whole holiday; the lead-up, the busyness, the shopping, wrapping, decorating, cooking, Christmas films. 

Please check out the blurt foundation and the amazing work they do!
Vicky x

A-Z of babies...

Miss C - 2016

A - Amazing, let's start off with a good one because let's face it babies are amazing!

B – Baby blues, normally hit you on day 3 and you’ll cry at everything the good bad and the ugly. Don’t worry it passes! 

C – Cuddles, oh god the baby cuddles! Make the most of them because it won’t be long until they’re a wriggly 6 month old who won’t sit still for more than 5 mins.

D – Daddy, no matter how much is snoring during night feeds annoys you bare with him he’s your team mate and you need him. 

E – Eyes, most babies have blue eyes when they’re born. I was constantly checking all the time to see if they were changing. 

F – Feeding, ALL THE TIME. 

G – Grandparents, if they visit take the moment to pee uninterrupted or take a shower, maybe even a nap if you’re really lucky! 

H – Hair, that beautiful first baby hair. Most baby hair falls out and grows back sometimes a different colour. Or if yours are anything like mine it won’t fall out and they’ll have a mop! 

I – Immunisations, as horrible as it is to see your baby have their first imms with lots of cuddles they’ll never remember! 

J – Jaundice, most babies suffer with jaundice a few days after birth. Nothing a bit of sunlight normally should fix. 

K – Kisses, smother them in baby kisses but only mummy and daddy. Everyone else has germs! Haha. 

L – Little, little everything. 

M – Mummy knows best, need I say more? 

N – Nails, don’t cut them, you will cut the baby, baby will cry then you will cry. Especially if it’s on day 3. 

O – Outfits, save your money. Unless it’s for a special occasion those cute little outfits are never worn and baby’s love their babygrows. 

P – Pillow, a nursing pillow is the best investment I ever made. Even if you’re not nursing they are so comfortable for feeding and naps. 

Q – Questions, there are so many questions the books don’t cover. You will be googling, probably while sleep deprived and up at 3am.

R – Responsibility, so much responsibility bringing the baby home. You almost looked at the midwife like she was crazy when she said you could go home. 

S – Sick, so much baby sick. 

T – Toilet, never going to the toilet alone seemed like such a luxury. 

U – Ups and Downs, it really is a roller coaster. Some days you will feel like super mum others you’ll stay in your pyjamas and eat biscuits. 

V – Visitors, those lovely visitors that bring lovely little presents for the baby and sometimes for you. Just make sure you say no if you’ve had a bad night and that they make their own tea and coffee! 

W – Wind, nothing more grouchy than a windy baby. 

X – Expect the unexpected, (I know not technically an X) babies are pros at knowing when your comfortable. Whether that be drinking a cup of coffee or in a nap routine and will change it up just to mess with you. Don’t get comfortable! 

Y – Yellow, supposedly a neutral colour, if you dress a boy in yellow they’ll think it’s a girl if you dress a girl in yellow they’ll think it’s a boy. 

Z – Zzzzzzz’s, it will feel like you’ll never sleep again but you will. Maybe. 

I hope you found it funny and I’ve had a few requests for different A-Z’s if there’s any you’d like to see comment below and let me know! 

V x