If you don’t have children, you might want to skip this post, because it’s going to be mainly about the mess that tots and weenies make— more specifically, poop.
…bye bye!
Ok, mums (and dads!), grab a cuppa, a seat and let’s talk crap. Poo. Faeces. Plop. There is no nice word to disguise that little (or often, not-so-little) present that your baby leaves you in their nappy. It stinks. Byron isn’t on solids yet, but I’m told things will get a whole lot worse when he is. Great! Luckily, being on formula means that he only has one dirty nappy a day— but let me tell you now, he makes it count.
I’ve lost count the amount of times that he’s leaked out of his nappy and on to his clothes. Kate witnessed a poo explosion once, which has probably put her off having a tot for life.
So not only does this special nappy package make you heave, it stains. Kind of like turmeric. (Sorry to put you off of your curry.) Byron has so many lovely clothes that would otherwise be ruined, had I not discovered the powers of Vanish! Seriously. I understand why it’s called “Vanish” now. I use the pre-treatment spray (although they have other stain remover too) and it’s like magic in a bottle! There have been so many vests that I would have otherwise had to throw away, but just a few squirts of this on the stain before chucking it in the washing machine and it comes out like new— no need for replacements! It’s safe to use on whites & colours too, which is good to know, as his wardrobe is all the colours of the rainbow!
It’s one of those household essentials that all parents should have, as I’m sure it’ll come in useful when he’s flinging bolognese everywhere in a few months too (not to mention when we make mess ourselves as adults!)
Do you have any must-have products for parents?
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Filed under: Frugal Mumma, Hints, Tips and Advice, Pregnancy and Babies, Sponsored Post |
One • New foldover tote from New Look. I bought this the other day in Westfield with a voucher my mum had given me for Easter, after walking past it three or four times. I ummed & aahed, as New Look have so many great bags in right now!
Two • Purple sunglasses from Primark.
Three • Nude & pink skull scarf, also Primark.
Four • The latest edition of Company magazine. I love their new look!
Five • Lovely notebook, housing my 101 in 1001 list and everything that goes with it!
Six • iPhone. This has been a lifesaver since having Byron, for entertainment while I feed him!
Seven • Cath Kidston cosmetics bag (with some everyday bits poking out!)
Eight • IPod. Not too sure why I carry this now, as I never have the opportunity to listen to it via headphones, and my car has a CD player.
Nine • House keys and car keys. Did I mention that I have a new car now? A Vauxhall Meriva. A proper family wagon!
Ten • Filofax— another lifesaver since having Byron. We seem to make some many more plans these days, that I can’t keep up!
Eleven • Umbrella. Because it may be May, but it’s also England.
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Filed under: Lists |
A few things have changed at aimeemarie.com, so if you’re reading through an RSS reader, take a quick jump out to have a look!
Layout
I’m so indecisive, that I’m forever tweaking little things on my layouts and then I realise they’re completely different! Oops. Hopefully you should be seeing something like this:
Portfolio
I’ve finally merged my portfolio with the blog, which can now be seen here! Long time readers might recognise the photos from my old portfolio, as I’m still going through some final edits of newer photos. They’ll be up soon!
Shop
Something brand new, is my shop! Currently for sale are advertising packages, but I’ll be selling secondhand jewellery and bags, as well as my photography prints. Photographing items and adding them to the catalogue is taking longer than I thought (especially difficult when there’s a baby hanging off your arm!)
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Filed under: Admin, Business, Photography, Portfolio |
It was a year ago this weekend that Ashley and I got married. Time flies! I can still remember rushing around posting invites and impatiently awaiting RSVPs. In fact, it feels like just yesterday that I was walking up the aisle (and balling my eyes out!)
We’re both people who like simple gestures— we’re not really into lavish gifts and uber expensive getaways— so we took the opportunity to have some baby-free time together and spent Friday in Westfield, perusing the shops and eating in Byron Burger, while our little Byron was with my mum and dad. How delicious are the Oreo Cookie Milkshakes, by the way? Very, is the answer.
We got up bright & early on Saturday and made our way to Portsmouth. Neither of us had been before, but I’m sure we’ll go back and see more of it, as it was lovely— and only an hour & a half on the train! If you haven’t been, you should go. We only walked around Gunwharf Quays, but it’s full of lovely little outlets, great places to eat (we munched at Jamie’s Italian) and things to do. We love a viewpoint, so a quick trip up the Spinnaker Tower was a must! It was a sunny and clear day, so the views were amazing and it’s a decent price too, considering you can spend as long as you like up there.
I think we’ll have a look around Southsea next time and also visit The Tenth Hole, as we missed it this time around!
Where’s your fav UK destination? We’re always looking for new places to visit!
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Filed under: Days Out, Travel |
I’m sure I’m preaching to the converted, when I talk about how amazing Moleskines are, so I won’t bother (although if you don’t know what I’m on about, check ‘em out!) They’re the notebook of choice for creative types all over the world, including my husband— he used them at college when he was studying Fine Art & he still uses them now for song-writing a& ideas, not to mention his Moleskine diary for planning! We’re big old stationery geeks and love the rule on the Moleskine (not too wide!), new pens & generally hoarding notebooks. Yup, we’re sad.
When I started looking for a traditional paper gift for him for our one year anniversary (today!), I knew it had to be a Moleskine. We’re not into massive gestures & agreed it would be more of a little something to mark the occasion. I found lots of craft-types who made covers for notebooks and etched beautiful designs on to them, but they were either hideously expensive or you had to have a big minimum order. I was ready to give up, when I stumbled across MoleskinePress.co.uk. It’s simple & straight to the point! No fuss. £14 (inc. P&P) for a large, hardback notebook with your own message debossed between the elastic & right hand edge of the front cover. Brilliant! The notebook itself retails for £12.50, so it’s a bit of a bargain if you ask me.
If you’re looking for a personalised Moleskine, I’d definitely recommend Moleskine Press. I ordered it at 3pm on Monday & it arrived Tuesday morning. Impressive! I simply went for Ashley’s name on the side (rather than an anniversary message that might look a bit rubbish & potentially embarassing!), so he can actually use it. I now want a set of my own with “Photography”, “Blogging” & similar stuff on the side… I don’t need them, but my god, I want them! Damn you for feeding my addiction Moleskine Press!
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Filed under: 101 in 1001, Geekery, Reviews |
Moo is always my first choice for business cards. I’ve had the minicards and standard business cards in the past, so this time I went for the latter with rounded corners— not everyone’s first choice, but I love ‘em!
The colours are always so vibrant and punchy! I usually go for contact details on one side with a photo on the other, but they weren’t always applicable to the person receiving it, so I’ve kept it simple this time!
If you fancy it, you can get 10% off your Moo order, by clicking here— and remember, that doesn’t just mean business cards, as they have postcards and other products too!
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Filed under: Business, Geekery |
I look forward to the day when I can decorate and renovate a house that I own— complete with knocking walls down and other drastic measures! I love a traipse around furniture stores as much as the next person, but if you’re looking for longer-lasting, better quality furniture and bits & bobs for your home, than some Swedish stores have to offer, look no further than Fashion For Home!
How lovely is that? I have a thing for white furniture. It just looks so clean and crisp! They’ve got a great selection of sofas, beds and larger furniture, as well as some beautiful lighting and smaller pieces, that would make great gifts!
Look at the pile on that rug! I want.
The great thing about Fashion For Home, is not just the amazing products, but their concept too. Their fancy pants business model, means they manufacture to order. So, you place your order, then they’re produced and shipped directly from their factory to you, meaning no one burdens the cost of storage, letting or wholesale, plus they don’t have to wait for products to clear before making new ones, so their designs keep up with the times! You can’t say fairer than that, can you?
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Filed under: Inspiration, Interiors, Life and Love, Shopping, Sponsored Post |
I do love me a cuppa tea. In fact, I still remember my first cup that I enjoyed! I was about 10 years old and at my then best friend’s house. She was making tea for her parents & herself and offered me a brew— I’d tried it before at home, but it was strong and bitter, thanks to my Dad’s technique of leaving it to stew for ages. Blergh! But this was milky and sweet! Even now I barely let it brew before whipping the teabag out!
Twinings kindly offered to send me a box of White Tea to try out, recently. How could I refuse? If it’s good enough for Stephen Fry, it’s good enough for me! Fruit tea, green tea, chai and earl grey are all familiar to my kitchen cupboards, but white tea is evidently something I’ve bypassed completely! I followed the suggestions on the box and let it brew for a few minutes, before drinking it without milk and it was surprisingly delish considering my idea of tea isn’t far from hot, milky water! I must admit, I added a sweetener, but each to their own.
If you’re a tea lover, headover to the Twinings Facebook page & spread the love!
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Filed under: Reviews, Sponsored Post |
So, here it is. The story of how my first baby came into this world! It’s long (very, very, very long), frank and to be honest, it’s just as much for me as anyone else, as I wanted to write it down before I forgot any details myself! Feel free to read on if you’re interested / bored / pregnant yourself (delete as applicable!) and if you’re a mum who’s written a birth story, I’d love to read it!
If you’ve been following my pregnancy, then you may remember that our baby boy was due on February 28th of this year. However, like most in their first pregnancies, that date came & went without so much as a twinge!
I was due to be induced on Monday 12th March, but luckily, my contractions started naturally at about 7:30am on the Friday before. Well, at least that’s when I realised they were contractions! You see, there are many things that can (& do) happen to a woman in pregnancy, that they don’t really advertise. It’s not all nice, big, round bumps and glowing skin. Or even morning sickness! Nope. Sometimes pregnant ladies suffer from, err, excess gas. And I’m not going to lie, I thought it was trapped wind. Lovely, eh? I had two or three pains throughout the night and didn’t think much of it, because they were so sparse & mild. When I woke up in the morning when Ashley left for work at 6am, the pain was still there and coming and going a little more often. Everyone who I’ve spoken to who has had a child before, told me:
When contractions start, you’ll just know. You will.
Well, evidently, I didn’t! It wasn’t until I spoke to my mum on the phone a few hours later, that I thought this could be the start of my labour.
Contractions are really hard to describe, but the closest thing that you might be able to relate to, is period-pain-like-cramps. I had them low down in my womb AND across my lower back, which was really generous of my body! At this point though, they weren’t excruciating at all. I had breakfast, watched TV and ran myself a bath. By 10am, when I was more sure of what was happening, I thought I’d better tell Ashley that I thought things had finally started. He was surprisingly calm and managed to stay at work all day— & it’s just as well he didn’t rush home, because the pain didn’t really get any worse for the rest of the day, so we wouldn’t have been rushing to the hospital.
By the time Ashley was home at 7pm, they were coming and going quicker, but they weren’t regular at all and only lasted 30 seconds or so. I’d been noting down times, but Ashley took over and he phoned the hospital to check when we should think about coming in, to which the midwife said when they’re every 3 minutes and lasting about a minute. That felt like bloody ages away, seeing as it’d taken me all day to go from 15 minutes to around 8! We pretty much got there though and at 2:30am, my parents came to take us to the hospital. Before I was examined at around 3am, the midwife told me that if I wasn’t dilated enough and didn’t have three contractions in the 10 minutes that she was monitoring me, I’d be sent home. Not what I wanted to hear! I was there and I wasn’t leaving without my baby! Luckily Byron felt the same, as I was 2cm & had four contractions! She did a membrane sweep and stretched me to 3cm, which is just as disgusting and uncomfortable as it sounds I’m afraid, but it was over in a flash.
My contractions weren’t strong enough yet to go onto the labour ward, so I was put on the antenatal ward at 5am and told to try and get some sleep (fat chance.) I wasn’t allowed anyone to stay with me, which was horrible. I understand why it’s done, but it can be a bit of a lonely place, and I think you really need & want familiar people around you at a time like that, especially when it’s your first baby! I couldn’t understand why the other women on the ward were able to sleep through their contractions, until I realised that this was the ward that I would have been going to on the Monday to be induced, had labour not started spontaneously— so their contractions hadn’t even started yet! I did try and sleep, but it wasn’t happening. One of the midwives suggested going on all fours, but really, who can sleep like that?! My centre of gravity had shifted & I felt like I might topple over. Another suggested paracetamol. Yeah, PARACETAMOL. I think I gave her my “Are you kidding me?!” face, because she explained that it takes the edge off for some women, so they can catch some shuteye. I was against it at first. My rationale was that the pain would seem (and probably be) even worse when it had worn off and I’d be in an even worse situation. I gave in eventually though & said I’d try it. She was handing over to the day midwives and I was told they’d bring it to me, but it never came. Typical! I didn’t ask anyone about it though and took it as it was probably meant to be!
Ashley and the rest of our families arrived at about 10am and that’s when things start to get a little hazy. Being in the same building for such a long time and not seeing daylight can really throw you, so I had no sense of time! Contractions were definitely getting worse & I could no longer talk while I had them, but I had my own way of breathing through. Apparently I was dealing with them really well— perhaps a bit too well! The midwife would pop her head in now & again to see if I wanted pain relief, but I always refused it. It was this that lead them to think I probably hadn’t progressed much yet. We basically waited around all day and I expected some sort of internal examination to see if I was dilated, but understandably they want to intervene as little as possible. This seems a bit risky though— what if I had a really high pain threshold and was almost 10cm?! As soon as I purposely made a bit of a fuss about the pain though, they examined me, and if my memory serves me correctly I was around 5cm. Walking up and down the corridor to speed things up was getting tiresome and the pain was getting worse, so when they offered me gas and air, I took it. Let me tell you now:
Ashley, I feel all… flippety-floppedy.
Thankfully, it didn’t make me feel sick! The midwife told us that we’d be moving to the Birth Centre shortly, which was good news as we wanted to go there rather than the labour ward— and also because there was a really loud & annoying woman next to me, who was screaming blue murder despite only being 1cm. Up until that point I’d been dead against water births, but now I was having second thoughts! Once again though, there was some kind of breakdown in communication with their hand over and we were told it’d be safer to go to the labour ward, as our baby was big. We got there late Saturday night (I think!) and I soon decided that I wanted an epidural. I just couldn’t fathom how that was going to come out of there, with just gas and air. It’s just as well I had it too, as I wasn’t allowed to use my beloved gas and air when I was pushing! Not cool.
Ashley stayed with me in our private room, on potentially the most uncomfortable chair, ever. When the anaesthetist came to put in the epidural, he ran through all the risks, one of which was “it might not work.” HUH?! I’d set my mind on it, so it HAD to work. Luckily it did, after his THIRD attempt of putting it in my spine. I wasn’t impressed, as it’s not exactly a comfortable procedure (although the midwife putting the canula in my hand hurt more!), particularly the bit where an electric shock goes down the left side of your body. I had to have that three times. I crossed my fingers on the third one and it seemed to do the trick! We both managed to get a little sleep, but I have NEVER seen anyone as tired as Ashley. At one point, he walked across the room for some water and actually fell asleep. Walking. Who knew that was even possible?!
The midwives changed shifts at 8am and soon after I was told it was time to start pushing. I could feel my contractions again, but they weren’t painful, which was great, as it meant I didn’t have to be told when to push & could do it of my own accord. I think I was pushing for about an hour, when she decided to get the doctor in to help me out. A whole team of them came in at one point while I had my legs up in the air, but I genuinely couldn’t have cared less! I gripped Ashley’s hand and pushed with all my might, until it felt like my head might actually explode, but baby wasn’t budging. In one contraction, you’re told to push, take a quick deep breath, then push again & repeat a third time if you can. That’s great if your contractions are lasting a minute, but mine had started to dip to 30 seconds long, so I had ventouse aka a suction cup, put on Byron’s head so they could help to pull him out. I’d been dead set against ventouse or forceps, but in the moment, I think you’d give anything just to get the baby out!
I didn’t scream at all throughout labour, which I was impressed with! I did shout “Fuck!” as his head came out, but that pain only lasted a few seconds and then Ashley could see his head! By this point we were both crying and things got even more emotional when in the next few seconds the rest of his body followed and our little gem was plonked on my chest. I have never cried so much in my life! It is the best, most indescribable feeling in the world. After he was given a little wipe over, he was given back to me for some skin-on-skin and lots of cuddles. It was only then that I realised the doctor was sewing my stitches and getting rid of the placenta and other nice things! It was completely painless, partly because of the epidural, but mostly because after 41 weeks and 5 days of being pregnant, our boy was finally here and he was a great distraction!
After a lot of waiting, a bed bath (I have never felt so sweaty and disgusting, ever), putting Byron in his first little outfit and visits from family, we were taken to the post-natal ward, where I had to stay overnight (again, without Ashley) so B could be monitored, as the little tyke had pooed inside me. This was the least enjoyable part of the whole ordeal. I felt skanky and tired and wanted my own bed at home. The midwife didn’t come around to see me until midnight and we spoke about how I was getting on with breastfeeding. I’d tried to feed him again a few hours before, but he didn’t want it and just slept instead. My maternal instincts told me that this was fine, but she wasn’t having any of it and made me push his head on my boob, while he was screaming and crying. She made me blow in his face to keep him awake, and it was just a horrible, horrible experience. I’d expected them to be pushy about breastfeeding if I’d decided to give him formula, but not if I was actively feeding. In the end she left me for a while and asked if he’d fed, when she came back. I lied, just to get her to go away! Her and another midwife also argued in front of me about whether my catheter should still be in or not, which wasn’t so reassuring. To make matters worse, I’d originally been told I’d be going home at 11am the next day, but they made me wait around until 2pm. I was so pissed off & tired, that I cried my eyes out when my mum & Ashley got there!
Despite the aftercare, giving birth was amazing and I’d do it again & again! And that my friends, is the story (well, essay) of the beginning of our family.
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Filed under: Life and Love, Pregnancy and Babies |
It’s been a while, hasn’t it? What can I say? Newborn babies are very time-consuming! Some days I can just about find the time to shower, let alone blog! I can’t believe he’s three & a half weeks old already (despite the fact it also feels like he’s been a part of our lives forever!)
We’ve learnt so much about him in this short space of time, like how he prefers to be held like you’re burping him over your shoulder, rather than cradling; he loves to bury his face (much to my worry about suffocation!); he likes to lean on his hands & hates his arms being strapped down; he’s not a fan of the shackles of the carseat but loves a car journey; he LOVES milk (probably bought on by my milk cravings in pregnancy!); he hates having his nappy changed & screams in the bath; he loves suckling on Ashley’s face!
More recently, he’s able to hold his head up, grab the bottle or my hand when feeding (because god forbid I should remove his milk supply!) and roll over on to his front when you put him on his side. He knows mummy & daddy’s voices & is so alert now, following us around the room. I might be biased, but I’m pretty sure we’ve created a genius.
We’re establishing a better routine now that we can identify when he’s hungry or tired, which means me & Ashley are getting more rest than before. Hopefully the dark circles that are forming around my eyes, will start to subside soon!
As you can imagine, life has been all nappies, burping, milk, cuddles & visitors and I’ve taken hundreds of photos of B – I’ll spare you the Project 366 posts full of the same (amazing) little face, for the last 3 weeks! Keep an eye on my Flickr set if you are interested though – I have a lot of updating to do!
I’ve managed to find the time to take Byron out on my own a lot too. A couple of people have said that taking a newborn out of the house is the first big hurdle, but I haven’t seen it as a big obstacle like that, I’ve just done it! I really enjoy parading him around in his pram & he seems to like it too! I went into town the other day to do some clothes shopping. Surprisingly, I can fit back into my pre-pregnancy clothes already… There’s just a few lumps and bumps that weren’t so big before!
All in all, motherhood is brilliant. Tough at times and very tiring, but totally worth all the cuddles & cheek-pinching! I don’t think I’ll ever understand people who hate the idea of having kids! It’s early days I know, but babies are brilliant and rewarding, and everyone should have (at least) one!
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Filed under: Life and Love, Pregnancy and Babies |
