Secret Squirrel

We have a secret! I'm 20 weeks pregnant with baby number 2!

We had a half way scan yesterday, and our daughter is growing perfectly. 

We've kept the first half of our pregnancy on the down low as I'm still on maternity leave with Rosie, and I had to tell my work, which I did at about 15 weeks, so we thought we'd wait until 20 weeks before sharing our good news!

 

The first half of this pregnancy has gone so quickly. We started trying in December but missed my ovulation, we then bought some ovulation sticks and we fell in January and we found out we were pregnant on Valentines Day. 

As with Rosie, I've felt quite nauseous and tired, but I wasn't actually sick (I was with Rosie but only twice at 16 weeks) I started to feel more my normal self around 18 weeks, just in time for me to go back to work! 

What I'm surprised at is the lack of midwife appointments with number 2! It's like, ok your first pregnancy was ok, just get on with it for your second!

We obviously had the 12 week scan, I was only 11 weeks though as I ovulated 3 weeks after my period, so I lost a week.

  

But the sonographer was amazing and was able to get all her measurements (same thing happened with Rosie, but I had to go back a week later)

Then one midwife appointment then 20 weeks scan, and next appointment isn't until 28 weeks!! 

 

Little foot!

As with Rosie, I'll probably spend the next 20 weeks wondering if actually the baby is in fact a girl! The sonographer said she couldn't see any boy parts so here's hoping she's right! 

One thing I would say, and the midwife said it is a thing, is that I'm massively showing already. Apparantly your body remembers what it needs to do and in my case, it probably hasn't shrunk back to what it should be yet. 

Here I am on the left with Rosie at 20 weeks and with number two on the right last week at 19 weeks:

 

No escaping it! I just don't know where it comes from! I've not changed my diet, still eating healthily, walking everywhere and the baby only weighs a little 11oz! I've put on about 6Lbs so far, which I'm quite pleased with. I put on 2 stone with Rosie (she was 8.4) so aiming for the same or less then I can get my arse into gear and get back down to my wedding weight! Although I'm under no illusion that my body will never be the same again.

Got a consultant appointment next Thursday to discuss my bad back (I've got degenerative disc disease) and the complications I had whilst giving birth to Rosie, so I'll report back when I've had the appointment. 

 

Written this entire post with my thumb as having last day of maternity lay in snuggles with my baby. 

My heart hurts. 

Jx

Lifesaving Products!

I love this product!

So I think I've mentioned this before, but I just don't have time to dry my hair anymore. And this stuff makes it presentable. All I need to do is wash, towel dry, comb and apply. 

 

It's called Smoothing Lusterizer by TIGI. It's a cream and it smells divine, kinda fruity. It does what it says on the tin, tames and defrizzes. 

TIGI says:

Product Description

Give unruly hair sublime smoothness and a silky touch whilst defending against humidity.

Scientifically blended ingredients make this the perfect product for sleek, smooth, silky hair, softening roughness and fighting humidity. Great for blow-drying smooth styles, TIGI S-Factor Smoothing Lusterizer tames fly-aways and smooth’s the hair surface for a perfect finish.

It honestly makes my hair so soft and manageable, even if I don't have time to condition in the shower. Non greasy too, best product for on the run mum's. 

You can get it here:

http://m.feelunique.com/p/TIGI-S-Factor-Smoothing-Lusterizer-200ml-57970?url=TIGI-S-Factor-Smoothing-Lusterizer-200ml-57970&slang=EN&option=0&gclid=CPGExJrfiNQCFYYV0wodXr8Orw&gclsrc=aw.ds&pp2=y

Let me know if you try it!

Jx

Heartbroken for Manchester

This morning we all woke up to the devestating news that a suicide bomber let off a bomb at Manchester Arena in the foyer as a pop concert finished. 

22 people were killed during the attack, some of them children. I feel so sick that this has happened. No one should go to a concert and never come home. 

This is a parents absolute worst nightmare. I'm holding my baby a bit tighter today. I fear for my daughter and the world that she is going to grow up in. Heartbroken. 

If these terrorists are know and are on a watch list, why aren't we getting rid of them? What is it going to take for action to be taken against these vile humans?

I just don't understand... 

 

Not so Baby led weaning?

Rosie is very nearly 8 months old and the only finger food I've had the courage to give her is melty puff crisps. I'm so worried about her choking that I even took a Baby first aid course! 

Today we went to see Jamie's parents in Essex, and as we were sitting down for a delicious roast dinner, Rosie woke from her nap so we put her in her high chair to join us at the table. 

She is always so interested in what you are eating, so today with encouragement from Nanny Tina, I roughly mashed up some of my dinner and gave it to Rosie to feed herself. It helped having the support of several people around, and also my husband was still at football as he massively panics about it, which doesn't help me at all. But she loved it! 

 

We sent this photo to my husband as a joke! She didn't really eat this huge Yorkshire pudding, just had a little nibble!

 

But as you can see she was loving life and sat in her high chair for nearly and hour and a half just munching away! This has given me a bit more confidence to let her get on with baby led weaning now. Slow and steady wins the race, just got to move away from those purees now...

Has anyone got any BLW tips? Best things to give them?

Jx

We're all going on a summer holiday!

So we have just booked our first holiday as a family of 3! We are going to Cornwall in the summer and I literally can't wait! 

We started off looking at going abroad but it was just too expensive (I won't just stay in any old place, I'm too old for that now) self catering in a decent accommodation was minimum £1500 for the 3 of us, and we just didn't want to spend the money this year, so we looked at going away in this country. 

We started looking firstly in Devon and at Caravan parks, really fancied that! But I decided I wanted to go to Cornwall as I've never been. We looked at various different accommodations including chalets, caravans and airbnb's. I reached out on FB and asked if any one had any recommendations and I got a great response. My friend James private messaged me saying he had an airbnb property he'd just set up and he sent me the link. IT WAS AMAZING! 

It is overlooking Lusty Glaze beach about 10minute walk from Newquay town centre, it was perfect. As I wanted to go somewhere where we didn't have to drive everyday, and this seems just wonderful. It's a bit big for us being 3 bedrooms but James gave us a brilliant discount and it fitted perfectly within out budget and needs for location. 

 

 

This is Lusty Glaze bay that we are going to be able to see from the balcony. I can't wait to spend a week with just my husband and baby girl. It's going to be so good to switch off from normal life for a week. I'll have been back to work a month when we go away- so I'll defo be in need of a break by then haha!! 

Has anyone been to Lusty Glaze/Porth/Newquay with any recommendations of things to do?

Jx

Baby Remedy

My poor little Rosie Posie has suffered with her fair share of skin complaints in her 7.5 months. 

She was born with jaundice and that didn't go until she was about 3 weeks old. 

 

Then at about 4 weeks she developed neonatal acne, and it was horrendous, see below photo...

 

Bless her! I took her to a pharmacist and he frightened the life out of me saying he thought it was chicken pox! So I immediately took her to the doctors and she was lovely and said the pharmacist didn't know what he was talking about and it was neonatal acne, which is very common in babies, all to do with your hormones still in their body and it leaving. She told me to try Aveeno cream, so off I trotted and purchased some.

 

It says not to use on babies under 3 months. But the GP said it was fine to do so. And within less than a week of using this several times a day, her little spots had almost cleared up.

 

She still gets the odd spot now, and I put some of this on it, and the next day they are usually gone. Bloody brilliant stuff. 

Now, the point of this post is that about 6 weeks ago, Rosie got a rash under her chin and I put some Aveeno on it for a few days and it just wasn't getting any better. I took her to the doctor and she wasn't concerned (I didn't think she was well as she'd been showing signs of a cold and she was sad and not sleeping) the doctor put the rash down to dribble and teeth. She told me to try Sudocreme as a barrier for the dribble. So we tried that for a week and when we put it on her in the evening, by the morning the redness had gone, however by the end of the day it was back again. We went on to try Vaseline and then E45 and nothing was making it better. I even bought some baby Aveeno...

 

This made it worse!! Red and flaky! But it is a lovely moisturiser for the body, just not on rashes.

So I went to Boots and saw a pharmacist there and she told me that E45 is no good, it's not thick enough and it's never something a doctor would prescribe. She thinks it is ezcema, and it needs a thicker cream that won't disappear off as soon as it is applied.

 

Pretty unflattering photo of Rosie but you can see the rash, and it was all under her chin, almost spreading up to her ears with a few patches on her neck. 

 

The lovely pharmacist told me to try the above cream. Diprobase Pintment Emollient. And I swear to god it's a miracle cream. We got it yesterday lunch time, and the below photo was taken 24 hours later, don't get me wrong, it's still there, but it helped so much. 

 

I reckon a few more days of this and it will have gone completely. My poor little poppet! 

Has anyone else got any remedies they swear by?

Jx

Botanicals Fresh Care by L’Oréal Paris

I can't remember the last time I did a beauty related blog! But I just purchased these beauties so I felt compelled! I spend a fortune on haircare, as my hair doesn't agree with a lot of products, especially since getting pregnant - my hormones have been all over the place! 

 

L'Oréal say Botanicals is dedicated to crafting luxurious haircare infused with botanical ingredients and fresh aromas.

At every step of development, each maker, farmer, botanist and chemist applies their passion and expertise to create high quality formulations free from silicones, parabens and colourants.

Our search for finer ingredients of natural origin, more sustainable processes and more delightful textures enables us to help make hair beautiful and find its better nature.    

Botanicals Coriander Strength Cure Shampoo by L'Oreal Paris is infused with a concoction of coriander, soya and coconut oils.  The formula strengthens and revitalises the feel of hair from root to tip.  Infused with a fresh, invigorating aroma.  Carefully crafted for fragile hair. 

OUR COMMITMENTS:
• Free from silicones, parabens and colourants.
• Packaging made from 100% recycled materials, please recycle after use.

I chose the coriander range for strength:

CORIANDER – strength source for damaged hair:
Spicily scented, reinvigorating textures reduce breakage and fall-out, and promote new growth to help even the weakest hair find its better nature.

As a new Mum, I literally can't remember the last time I had my hair cut and I feel it does need some TLC. I was keen on trying a shampoo that was was on the more natural side, and as this had no nasties in it, I thought I'd give it a go. 

 

Love this pump first and foremost, just a nice touch. I also really like the packaging. The brown plastic seems really professional and expensive. Now, I really don't like coriander. However, when I smelt this, it doesn't smell of it at all really, just really fresh and herby maybe slightly spicy. It reminds me of the smell of a nice hairdressers. 

The consistency of this shampoo is a thick gel and it is clear. It lathers well and my hair felt really clean. 

 

Same lovely scent with the conditioner. It is creamy white in consistency and felt really smooth as it went on and rinsed out really well. 

I don't blow dry my hair now, I just don't have time! But my hair felt soft and smooth and nourished with these products, and the scent lingered. And the ends felt a bit more repaired. 

 

But the strength potion is amazing! 

Really cute packaging, it dispenses with a pipette! You can use this on towel dried hair before combing, and I also used it on the in between days on dry hair on the ends. It seals split ends even if only temporarily. It's not at all greasy but makes hair feel smooth and soft and refreshes hair with that beautiful natural scent. 

I just really hope my hair continues to agree with this until the end of the bottle! 

Has anyone else tried this range? 

Jx