Bringing Up Baby

This weekend I went to get some new jeans and tried a few sale tops on as well while I was out and about.  My body has changed quite a lot since I had Charlie, particularly the breasts! In fact I ended up feeling like a sack of potatoes and came home feeling quite deflated (ironic I know!). I have always been quite athletic, I have always used exercise to manage stress and anxiety and to be honest I have missed It!  I also don't appreciate my new bulging muffin top and ever inflating bust which seems to be my biggest issue at the moment!  I know that a lot of that has to do with the boredom and loneliness I have felt being a mum as well of course as breastfeeding.  I don't eat that healthy and am guilty of grabbing whatever is quick and easy and I also go out for lunch or a coffee and cake (a lot!) just so I feel like I have done something with my day and to get out of the house! So after feeling hopeless and sorry for myself and after reaching for a packet of...

I have bipolar, I have suffered with it since I was a teenager.  Like many I wasn't diagnosed until I was in my twenties.  By the time I was diagnosed my life had effectively stopped.  I couldn't leave the house, I was frightened of everyone and everything.  It started out with a bit of paranoia, that the person across the street was looking at me, that everyone was judging me, that people were talking about me.  It grew and grew into something that was out of control.  I started to think people were bugging my house; listening to me, recording my conversations, that there were people following me, watching my every move, they wanted to hurt me.  Looking at it now with the knowledge about mental health that I know have I can see that my anxiety was causing my mind to have these glitches, moments of irrational fear,  But at the time it was so overpowering and I was so alone that it just kept growing until I could hear and see things other people co...

I have always been shy and easily embarrassed. I was one of those teenagers that liked to keep things covered up not on display so breastfeeding in public was not just something that worried me it was a real fear.  For me breastfeeding had got off to a bad start anyway as my little one had a tongue tie , meaning he couldn't latch and feed without the use of nipple shields. Well my friends if you have tried nipple shields the slippery little blighters are enough of a challenge in your own home let alone in a public place!  So my first public breastfeeding was a planned affair - I had a walk round my local town with the pram and then headed to a relatively quiet cafe to feed.  I decided not to try and fit the shield in public and pottered off to the toilets to fit them.  As I left the toilets looking like Madonna with my two pointy nipples I felt the embarrassment blush creeping up my neck. I was looking to see who was looking and to my horror they were all lookin...

We were eagerly anticipating the arrival of our bundle of joy and were looking for our little ones moses basket when we stumbled across a new concept in mamas and papas ; the side sleeping cots which allowed co-sleeping with safety.  There were two options available in-store the Snuz Pod and the Chicco Next 2 Me .  Both offer the benefits of the baby sleeping close to mum with a drop down side and larger bassinets than the moses baskets. Initially I liked the more stylish shape of the Snuz Pod with the wooden frame, and its ability to rock certainly would have come in handy. However, one of its selling points was the ability to remove the bassinet and use it round the house - something that I didn't intend to do as I had already purchased a pram with a bassinet that could be used downstairs. The Chicco had the advantage of being easily collapsable so it could be used as a travel cot too. The Chicco Next 2 me had straps to secure the base to the bed and to me ...