Maternity wear life savers!

Topshop Maternity 'Leigh' Jeans 

The Topshop Leighs are my non pregnancy favourites I have four pairs that I wear on a constant rotation so I was over the moon to find out that they did a maternity version, exactly the same but with the belly band rather than the zip and button, I think I prefer the band option for non pregnancy as well it's just so much comfier who needs buttons??? They come in a variety of colours and most importantly leg lengths which is great especially when you are 5"2' and they are cotton rather than stiff denim which makes them more of a sturdy jegging than a jean great for warmer weather and so, so comfortable! I wore my pre pregnancy size up until 36 weeks and then bought the size up to see me through to the end as the band was getting uncomfortable. I'm 5 weeks postpartum now (actually 9 weeks pp now this post has been sitting in draft for a while!) and still wearing the size 10 pair although the 12's came in handy a couple of days ago when I made the rookie mistake of sitting a naked Finn on my lap and he decided it was the perfect place to poo! haha!

H&M longline vests

I will be forever grateful to H&M for the existence of these vests! I was lucky enough to discover these early on in my pregnancy and for £3.99 each I stocked up on every single colour at minimal expense. I wore size large in these all the way through my pregnancy (I'm a size 10 usually) I either wore them alone or underneath non maternity tops for guaranteed bump coverage, unlike other vest tops that I have they never rode up exposing the bottom half of my tummy, they just seemed to adapt to my bump and accommodate it leaving me comfortable and never without a back up top at every stage of pregnancy.

Boohoo.com maxi dresses

I love shopping on boohoo it's so affordable and although I have had a few crappy items from them in the past, overall I'm a really big fan! They actually don't have a maternity range which is a shame but I found the maxi dresses worked really well if I got the next size up and ended up with three towards the end of my pregnancy that will also still fit postpartum due to the stretchy material so I don't feel like I have wasted money. It's worth knowing that I probably ordered 6 or 7 in total and had to send a few back as they made me look like a potato but returns are free and they refund you nice and quickly.

Primark

Who doesn't love a good rummage around Primark? To be honest I didn't get too much from here during my pregnancy but it's definitely worth having a look for inexpensive sized up items to add to your pregnancy wardrobe that you wont really care about not fitting afterwards I got a couple of size 14 tops that I wore a lot I also picked up some maternity bra's that were pretty decent and I found some great things for my hospital bag (fluffy socks, dressing gown, skincare mini kit etc.)

ASOS

I spent hours browsing the maternity wear on here during pregnancy, however I only bought a pair of maternity work trousers (which were crap !) and a pair of jeans which were way too long, to be fair the range of brands is huge and they have some gorgeous items so my experience shouldn't reflect badly on them at all, it wasn't the reason I didn't make another order I just found it kind of expensive and there wasn't anything i wanted badly enough to part me with my cash (Im not actually tight I promise ;)) definitely worth a browse though!!

Now that I'm a couple of months post pregnancy I'm happy that I didn't spend a fortune on maternity wear and that I picked up some good staple pieces that I am still able to wear in an 'oversized' fashion and don't care too much if they end up covered in poo and milk....#glamlifeofamummy ;)

What are your maternity wear must haves? 

What Finn wore Friday

Jacket- H&M 

Jeans- TU at Sainsburys 

Bib- Primark (pack of 3)

So Finn is now 1 month old and yesterday was the day he met his Great Grandad for the first time, this is the outfit he wore for the occasion! Annoyingly I can't find links for anything he was wearing here but everything was purchased recently so should all still be available in shops.

I really love this little outfit, especially the jacket which I bought mainly because his surname begins with the letter R, I also love Grey, White, and Blue and have found myself dressing him in these colours more than any others.

I bought the 'little gentleman' dribble bibs in Primark the other day (£3 for a pack of 3) I've noticed that when buying bibs in a multipack there is usually one that is awful but in this case the designs on all 3 are adorable, there is also a plain Grey and Navy striped one and one with a large bowler hat/moustache combo that says "Daddy's little man" all are plain backed, reversible and so cute!! 

Happy Friday everyone! 

xxx

Review- Babymel slouchy tweed changing bag.

When it came to picking out a changing bag I was on the hunt for one that had Four things, it needed be gender neutral so Bob wouldn't feel like too much of a tit when carrying it, I really wanted it to match our pram (Mamas and Papas urbo2 in Chestnut tweed) which we are in love with!! I didn't want to spend a fortune, and it should be spacious/functional for ease of use. 

After an easy search because there's basically only one tweed changing bag in existence and I happened to like it, I ordered the Babymel slouchy tweed changing bag from House of Fraser which actually isn't stocked on their site at the minute however it's available from lot's of other's, the cheapest I can see is Direct to mum (link)

I put the bag to work as soon as it arrived by using it for the baby's hospital bag. My initial thoughts were that it was quite small, but no it turns out I had well and truly overpacked (Finn didn't need 8 changes of clothes!!) I'll save that for another post.

After using it now for almost Two weeks I'm more than happy with how spacious the bag is for day to day use with a baby. The main body of the bag is nice and big and is lined with pockets on the inside plus it has a large outer pocket and also a pocket on each side, all of which make it great for keeping the essentials to hand. 

It comes with a handy portable changing mat which wipes clean and folds up neatly, and speaking of handy it also comes with an insulated bottle holder.Brilliant! 

As taking a newborn out with you involves near military organisation not to mention having to carry with you what feels like everything you have ever owned and more, my handbag has been having a Harry Potter moment and is being ignored under the stairs, as this bag fits my essentials in as well as Finn's there is just no point in taking out any more crap with us!

I fail to come up with a negative for this bag, it really does tick all of the boxes for me, I've been absolutely loving throwing it over my shoulder and heading out with it! 

10/10!!

xxx

5 funny things that happen after your baby arrives.

You become a master of contortion (kind of)!

After months of being unable to bend and having simultaneously developed an unfortunate case of the butter fingers your immediate reaction to dropping anything on the floor will still be to sigh/grunt/roll eyes, until you remember the bump barricade no longer exists and you are free to bend, in fact once you realise this you may find yourself purposely dropping things just so you can demonstrate your kick ass bending skills!

You will pick up ultra cool new nicknames.

Top of this list will more than likely be 'Silly Mummy/Daddy.' As you try and navigate your way around a cycle of feed, change, play, repeat, complicated instructions for baby equipment and welcoming visitors all while keeping your own basic needs met on less sleep than you are used to, you will more than likely become understandably scatterbrained. 

In our case the nicknames are perfectly justified!

"OMG I'm in labour"

 I think this one might depend on how far past your due date/how anxious you were about giving birth (for me it was 3 days/very!!) but any little twinge in your tummy will have you thinking "its go time! Then you will have a labour flashback, call yourself "silly Mummy" and feel grateful that it's all over.

The TV will become redundant.

Bob and I didn't switch the TV on for 5 days after we bought Finn home, the overwhelming love and amazement that he was finally here made it almost impossible to take our eyes off him, we eventually dusted off the remote to show willing, and we may be biased but we still think our little man is much more entertaining than an episode of extras! 

Finn vs Ricky
Hands up if you are the King of comedy!

You identify with Rachel...

...soooo much in this episode of Friends! 

and I'm sure your husbands/boyfriends completely understand Ross' point as well!

xxx

Let's start with a Labour story!

Hello! So I wanted to start a new blog on life with a newborn (clearly) as Finn is now the grand old age of 8 days and I feel that we have already learned so much from having him around, so much in fact that my poor tired brain needs to spill it out because it might just explode if it doesn't and exploded Mummy brain all over the place does not adhere to the guidelines when it comes to having a newborn in the house. 

So where do I begin?? Labour has got to be a good start right? I'll keep it brief!

23/06/15 

40+2 weeks pregnant baby's head so far engaged that we needed a marriage license! Gave in to having "the sweep" as the hour long round trip twice a day to pick up Ben from school was nothing short of torture and the fear of going into labour on a country road with no phone signal was giving me anxiety.

39+6 last bump pic!

24/06/15

40+3 weeks pregnant, 4:45am awoke to bright red blood and clots, freaked out, woke Bob and called L&D who told me this was normal and not too worry unless blood loss was heavy, feeling reassured I had a coffee and relaxed....

...for about 30 minutes...contractions started and they were strong, lasting about 40 seconds and taking the p*ss as the 'gap' between them was barely noticeable, so much for my early labour pampering and last minute tidy up! Called my parents to collect Ben, rang L&D who ummed and ahhed about whether I should go in but decided it was time as the pressure was steadily increasing...

7am arrived at L&D barely able to walk as the pressure was really intense, we were put in a cubicle in triage and told to wait as it was the shift change over (ahhhhhhh!!) midwife arrived approximately 3000 years later and asked for a urine sample which I wasn't able to do, I just needed to push, Bob was laughing nervously at this point and it was the only time I swore "If you're going to sit there laughing then you can F*ck off!" then felt bad and apologised! I was examined and told I was 8cm I knew from obsessively watching labour stories on You tube that meant I was having no pain relief! I also knew it was pretty much go time and did a silent cheer!

The time escapes me for the rest of the story but in a nutshell, my waters were really low and needed to break hence the extra pressure but I was told not too push as there was a cervix issue, I don't know what and I couldn't help pushing, felt naughty! I had about 3 puffs on the gas and air around this time but it made me feel light headed and weird so I made a fist and sucked the air out of that which worked so surprisingly well I would recommend it if you end up with no other option!

My waters finally broke and there was meconium in the it which meant baby had poohed and needed to come out sharpish or we would have to go to a consultant lead room as it is dangerous for the baby to inhale too much! At that point a Paediatrician, a Sister, Two more midwives and a student arrived, I freaked out again but was reassured all was fine! Twenty minutes of hard pushing and at 9:22am Baby Finn was finally here! The Paediatrician checked him, weighed him (8lb 5oz) looked happy and said "Give him to Mum" which are the best four words I have ever heard! We had a bit of skin to skin then he went off to Daddy who looked fit to burst and was given help to feed him (we bottlefeed) by the midwife, so cute to watch, and a great distraction while I was being stitched up!

He's here!! Proud Daddy moment #1

When Ben met Finn! <3

We were told that we would be discharged shortly as everything was fine but because of the meconium in my waters Finn had to be observed for 12 hours which he was and after watching the ever so patronising 'Don't shake the baby' cartoon on DVD which is compulsary apparently, the song does get stuck in your head though so fair enough, we were given the green light to leave at midnight, being as we live 10 minutes from the hospital we decided to pack up and head home, I don't think Bob was over keen on spending the night in a chair, again fair enough!

2 days old, we call this 'carseat face' 

So that's the first little instalment, I loved reading labour stories at the end of my pregnancy so I hope mine is helpful to any of you reading and watching the clock/calender!
 Please feel free to share your birth stories in the comments!!

xxx