Has Maternity Leave Made Me Addicted To My Phone?

When I left my job to go on maternity leave, I was living in quite a secluded place. I don't drive and our house wasn't near any public transport so I relied heavily on family and friends. I lived out of town though, so obviously I couldn't expect them to transport me around all the time. It was very lonely, I'd have days where myself & Isabella wouldn't even get out of bed. Because I just couldn't be bothered to sit and talk to a sleeping baby who didn't even smile back at me (oh the newborn days). Fast forward 4 months, we are back at K's mums which is a short walk from the town centre. I have more real life mummy friends than ever, however I can never put my phone down.

I am guilty. So so guilty of always being on my phone. It never leaves my side, and it's just too easy to pick up. My baby, as fun as she is getting now can't talk to me. If I'm by myself, I am pretty much just that; by myself. Bella smiles and sometimes giggles, but she can't have a conversation.

I am part of 4 different group chats, with 4 different groups of ladies all covering different topics. I have my real life mummy friends, I have my online mummy blogger friends, and I have 2 separate blogger friends chats. I am on so many mob like mum Facebook groups, where everyone judges each others parenting and argues with everything anybody does. I am also admin of my real life mum friends Facebook group. Then there is Twitter & Instagram. I instastory almost daily, I know it does some peoples head in but the amount of love and support I get for mine & Bella's daily life is unreal. I take a lot of photos. I post pictures of my daughter daily on Instagram and I never miss anything she does, ever. I'm always there with my camera snapping away. I watch youtube, all the time. Finally, I play games. I get bored, especially when Boo sleeps and I am having a sit down. Monopoly is my fave, I am obsessed.

I find it hard to switch off. K gets frustrated because I'm 'always on my phone' which is true. I struggle to just put my phone down for a long period of time, I really hate to admit. I couldn't even tell you why. Maternity leave has made me addicted to my phone & social media, and it needs to stop.

I'm going to try and stop relying so heavily on my phone. I need to stop picking it up every 2 minutes to check social media, because nothing will have changed. I wont miss out on some life changing news, if anybody needs to get hold of me they can call me.

My addiction needs to stop today!

Baby At 4 Months | Isabella's 4 Month Update

Sadly, I have slacked at the blogging malarkey since being on maternity leave. I had visions of me being this blogging goddess, but in reality my maternity leave has been far from that. When I left work before having Bella, I hated life (pregnancy struggs) and spent the majority of my days in bed feeling sorry for myself. When Bella was newborn, although she slept a lot, I spent most of my spare time just staring at her (honestly). Now she is 4 months old, she does still nap but not as much as she used to, and during her napping hours I am usually preoccupied doing other things.. and I regret it so much. I regret not having much of my girls life documented, other than Instagram posts and Facebook status', because I have nothing to look back on. I have pictures, I have thousands of pictures which I am grateful for but I have no written words on my blog except a lot about how much I hated pregnancy. So now on, I am making a conscious effort to write more about my baby! Starting from today.

So my child is now 4 months old, HOW? According to Wonder Weeks, Bella is in the middle of a long ole' leap at the mo. Usually leaps mean bad, baaaad things but honestly, this leap has been amazing to us! This past week or so, our little girly has come on absolute leaps & bounds!

At 4 months, Isabella is now rolling over (front to back on both sides, however she hasn't mastered back to front yet), we have started weaning (yep, early, shoot me. More on this in another post!), she's beginning to sit up, she's become very ticklish and is still the most happiest baby ever. She is obsessed with her jumperoo and her Lamaze toys too.

We are having hints of teething, it doesn't really seem to of hit her hard just yet! She hasn't* hit the 4 month sleep regression either, although I am fully prepared for it to come soon. Lets all keep our fingers crossed that she just doesn't reach it, shall we? If you follow my Instagram stories you'll probably be well aware that we moved back to K's mums recently and Bella went in to her proper cot, amazingly her sleeping hasn't been affected too badly. She slept through the night from about 2 weeks, however now she's got in to the routine of waking once for 1-2oz of milk at about 4am. I can deal with that! Long may it continue!

Any tips & helpful advice regarding traditional weaning is appreciated massively!

*I have 100% just jinxed myself. Cheers!

Daisy xxx

MY HAIR TRANSFORMATION @ NO.48 BURY ST EDMUNDS

Valentines Day was always more of a one sided thing for me & K. I mean, he isn't exactly the most romantic of people at the best of times! But this year he absolutely blew me away by surprising me with a voucher to have my hair done and not only that, he had actually booked me an appointment the same day. I had been dropping hints for ages, as one of my mummy friends had re-opened the salon. K has very selective hearing so I doubted that he took any notice but the boy came through!!! Major brownie points.

I had never actually been in the salon before but I can't praise the interior enough. I genuinely think it would probably be very similar to the way I would decorate if I had a salon myself. There are lots of different textures and patterns, which all work amazingly together and my favourite part, lots of rustic wood around the place as you can see from below.  

They are a small team, made up of 4 lovely ladies who all in fact knew each other before opening the salon which gives it such a lovely vibe as you can tell they are all genuinely good friends. I knew my stylist Amy from school so we just spent the whole time catching up which of course was lovely! Also, as if this place wasn't ticking the boxes enough, for Valentines Day they were offering prosecco & orange juice along with heart chocolates! WINNING!

K had booked me in for ombre/balayage, which again I was surprised he remembered that was what I wanted. I'm not going to pretend I know anything about hair so won't be able to get very technical I'm afraid, but I know I had it curled and look how pretty it looks!! #HairGoals.

I am absolutely in love with my new hair, I'm going to be going back in a few months to get it even lighter but for now, this is as light as my hair will get without damaging it. You can find their website here, their Facebook page here, and the most amazing Instagram here where they are always posting the best before & after pictures which I am obsessed with!  

*Disclaimer - I haven't been paid  to post this, nor am I receiving anything in return  for posting! K paid for this in full

MY EXPERIENCE WITH RIGEVIDON CONTRACEPTIVE PILL

 I have decided to be a bit more me on my blog this year; when I say more me I basically mean just posting whatever the hell I wanna. If I wanna write about beauty, I will. If I wanna write about parenting, guess bloody what?! I will. I'm not a certain genre of blog any longer and I will be writing whatever I want. So, with this new found mentality I recently put a poll out on Twitter weather you'd like to see a post regarding my experience on the Rigevidon contraceptive pill. 

I feel like contraceptive pills, for some reason are a bit of a taboo. Its one of those things, I used to hate going to my local clinic/doctors to pick it up, I felt awkward, I don't know..maybe it was because I was fairly young but I mean lets face it, contraceptives of any sort are used by ladies of all ages and it shouldn't be a taboo subject. Recently when I was going through a terrible time (which I've since found out was due to the pill), I couldn't find very much real life information online other than doctors advice and I wasn't getting much response via social media.

Before having Bella I was on the Microgynon 30 pill, which is a combined pill that you take for 21 days and then you have a 7 day break which would be generally when your period would take place. Obviously, I have a baby now but I must stress this wasn't due to the pill failing. I was irresponsible with taking it and wa-la, a baby was made. Moving on..

To those who don't know, after having a baby mum has a check after 6 weeks to make sure everything is all okay mentally and physically. This is also the time where you will discuss your method of contraception with your doctor (or as I felt, an appointment literally to discuss contraception - boo). There was no doubt in my mind that I would be going back on to a pill of some sort. I wasn't having anything to do with needles so that was out of the question, I didn't know much about anything other than needles or pills and she didn't try to convince me otherwise. I was told that my doctor didn't stock the Microgynon however there was a pill called Rigevidon which was pretty much the same thing. Cool, I'll have that then - cheers! 

Off I went with my new pill and started taking it then next day. I took it for about a week or so and all was great. I had never had one problem with the Microgynon so I had no idea what kind of side affects these pills could do to you. After literally what could of only been a few days, maybe 4 or 5, I woke up on a Monday morning feeling very strange. The first thing I noticed was that I couldn't type or talk properly, it was like I couldn't find the words I needed to say. I was trying to talk (or in my case text) and it was gibberish, it made no sense. I still don't know what I'd call it, not memory loss quite but it was weird. I had numb and tingling sensation in my hands, mouth and nose. I was scared. K was at work and couldn't get home, my mum was half way across the world so I quickly rung my bestie who luckily is amazing, came and picked me & Bella up and looked after us both for the day. When I got to her house, I went for a sleep.. but when I woke up, I had a killer migraine. I managed to get an emergency doctors appointment because I was so worried, I spoke with my doctor who put it down to exhaustion. I didn't feel exhausted, my baby is amazing and sleeps all night, she never cries - was I really exhausted? I didn't feel exhausted, but I was told it might be more a sub conscious thing although I wasn't totally convinced.

K was working crazy hours that week, so on the Tuesday I decided to go to my nan's for a few nights to get a bit of help. I didn't feel right in myself so I was almost worried I wouldn't be able to cope on my own. The Tuesday I was absolutely fine but it was still nice to have a few extra hands. On the Wednesday I decided to take Bella to a weigh in clinic on my nan's estate and I also arranged to meet up with a few local mummies. Whiles out, my sight started to go funny... I had two big orbs in both of my eyes which was affecting my vision and I also got the same numbness/tingly feeling in my hands and mouth. I swiftly headed home to my nan's After I regained my vision, I had another killer migraine which I slept off. I stayed at my nan's for another night, until K finished work the next day and picked me & Bella up at about 9pm.

My mum was on holiday in Mexico for most of the week, normally she would help me out massively especially if I was feeling unwell. She was flying home on the Thursday night so I knew Friday, Saturday & Sunday she could help me if I needed it. I had no symptoms for the whole of the Thursday but I had a feeling it wouldn't be long before I wasn't well again.. Yep, the next day. Friday morning initially I woke up feeling fine, and had arranged for mum to pop over then we were going out for a drink however as the morning went on the worse I felt. I could feel my sight was going funny and a migraine was starting, so I rung mum and asked her to come over and whiles I waited, I took myself & Bella up to bed. I had about 30 minutes sleep, and I did that the minute it started which I think saved me because I didn't go in to full blown blind-numbing mode.

Then whiles I was sat talking to my mum that afternoon, something came over me. I had been taking this pill for a little over a week. It couldn't be that, could it?! I quickly googled side effects, and did a little research in to the symptoms I had been having. As soon as I read a tiny bit in to it, my mind was made up - it was the pill that was making me so poorly! I decided to stop taking it straight away, and get an appointment with my doctors ASAP. I managed to get one on the Monday, I went and explained everything that was going on. She agreed it sounded like this pill was giving me serious side affects and that I did the right thing by stopping taking it. I haven't taken it since then and to this day I've had no more issues. She also advised I probably shouldn't take any combi contraception, as it sounded like since being pregnant my body no longer agreed with it, which means I'm left with only two options now; mini pill or the injection. No ta!

So where I'm at now. I'm currently taking nothing as I am waiting for another appointment to be prescribed a new pill. I have also been referred to a specialist eye clinic at the hospital, due to the sight loss, they would like to investigate it further as it could be a deeper issue with my eyes. I have my appointment in a few weeks.

Have you had any bad experiences with a combi pill? I would love to hear your stories! 
xxx

BLOGMAS | Christmas with I Love...

Available from Boots, Argos, Sainsburys & Asda - not online

I was super lucky to be sent some of the gorgeous Christmas range from I Love... I remember I Love from when I was in school and I always got the gift sets for Christmas. I think I even got my youngest step sister one of the sets for Christmas last year. They really are great for any age. All the scents are SO mouth wateringly delicious! 

I think my favourite is the Raspberry & Blackberry scent. I've tried this before so I'm very familiar with this set, I love it. 

I've never tried the Strawberries & Cream range, but if you're a lover of sickly sweet scents this one is for you. I'm a sickly sweet lover (think snow fairy x10) so this is one I love.

Lastly there is the new (I think?) scent, Chocolate & Caramel. You should all probably know I'm a bath bomb lover so these are right up my street, and in fact these smell so chocolately, my dog was licking them when I got them out. The Miniature treat box are also such lovely gifts, they would make perfect secret santa presents! And how gorgeous are the heart shape soaps?! They'll keep you going for a while! 

Unfortunately I'm not sure of the prices of these, and I can't find them online anywhere! Most of these are exclusively available to buy from Boots.

xxx

BLOGMAS | Introduction & Christmas Decorations

NOEL WOODEN DECORATION | RED PHONE BOX BAUBLE | SKIIER BAUBLE | PINE CONE DECORATION | GOLD PINEAPPLE BAUBLE | LONDON BUS BAUBLE | GRAND CLOCK BAUBLE

So, call this a massive cop out but I really didn't think about how hard Blogmas would be with a newborn. I'm not kidding when I say I've been trying to write this post ALL BLOODY DAY! It's not even a real post! How has it taken me so long?! Anyways, I promise I do intend to make the rest of Blogmas better so please bear with me... oh and if you haven't already realised, I'M DOING BLOGMAS!! 

(how nice are all these decs????)

xxx

My Labour & Birth Story

Isabella Jayne Nicholls 13.11.2016

I'll start by apologising if this post is very long... I was induced over 3 days so of course lots of things happened over those days. I've missed out small bits that don't really matter, but please bare with me!

For a bit of background, after a few complications throughout my pregnancy and mainly towards the end, I was booked to be induced on my due date (15th November), however the last 2 weeks of my pregnancy was the worst and I was in hospital every single day so they decided to bring my induction forward to Friday 11th November. I had been having stretch and sweeps in the last 2 weeks too, I had a total of 3 sweeps however they didn't affect me. I will just also mention here none of this post will be particularly glam, sorry about that.

I had to call the hospital at 8.30am on Friday 11th November to find out what time they wanted me in for. I gave them a ring, and they said to be in between 10.30-11am. This was perfect as it gave me some time to get everything ready, take the dog to a family member and even manage to get a last minute Costa! I made my way to the hospital for around 11am, I ended up being a bit late although it didn't matter. I was shown to my bed, which happened to be by the window thank god and was told to make myself comfortable. I knew that inductions were known for taking a long time so it was well over an hour before the midwife came back to me. When she did come back, she explained to me how everything would be done, step by step and all the processes they would try. She also explained all the bad bits which did scare me a little, but she was just following procedure of course. 

First of all I had the 24 hour pessary. The midwife examined me internally to check how I was getting on. I was really disappointed to hear that I hadn't made any progress from my sweep, I was still 1cm dilated and my cervix wasn't soft. Damn. The pessary was essentially a small tampon (with a string and everything) which is put up you *I did warn you, not glam* behind your cervix. It was uncomfortable but not unbearable. Once she had done this I was told to go for a walk to the car to get my bags. I got my bags and made myself more 'at home' in my little bed on Bay A. As I suspected, nothing was happening so I told K to go home as I wanted a little rest anyway. We had discussed and decided there wasn't any point in him staying over night with me, he could just stay at his mums which was 1 minute down the road and I'd call him if I needed him so I didn't expect to see him until the Saturday. I had a rest Friday afternoon and had my checks every 4 hours; b o r i n g.

Friday evening my mum, nan and auntie came to visit me for some company. We were sat in the cafe just having a drink when some pains started happening. It took me quite a while to notice they were anything - after all I didn't have a clue what I was really waiting to feel as I hadn't suffered with braxton hicks much. After a while of them happening every few minutes, my nan decided to start timing them. They were very random, lasting anything from 20 seconds to 1 minute and coming between 3 minutes to 10 minutes. Although I knew this was nothing, I had hope that it was the start of something at least! I let K know what was happening so he decided to come back as he felt useless sitting at home, bless him. I also started to time them on my app where they were becoming more frequent, lasting a minute at a time and coming every 4-5 minutes. As I was talking, walking and acting totally normal quite a few of the midwifes told me it was nothing except probably braxton hicks. 

I was monitored at about 11pm and thankfully my contractions were showing on the monitor. I felt like I had to prove they were real and not just braxton hicks, so I was relieved they were showing up well. However, they were too far and not consistent enough to be labour and I was informed this was early labour. That night I didn't sleep. I was offered pethedine which is a relaxant, however I'm so petrified of needles I turned it down. I had a bath at about 2am, which helped massively however it really slowed them down which isn't what I wanted so I got out pretty quickly. K went at about 7am to get some sleep and said he would be back for my examination which was to be done 24 hours since the first, around midday on Saturday. I had mild contractions every 10 or so minutes all morning, until they went to every 20 minutes and eventually fizzled out to pretty much nothing. 

My next examination was a bit better. I had dilated a bit more, only to about 2cm but she did inform me she could break my waters if they needed to. I wasn't 100% what she meant, but yay, it sounded like we were heading in the right direction. I had my next pessary, a 6 hour one inserted and once again was told to walk. My mum came up and we got some lunch, did a bit of walking but there is only so many times you can walk the hospital corridors! The contractions were back but again, a bit random and nothing to get excited about. On our last walk around, I felt like I had a lost a bit of fluid however upon telling the midwife when we got back, she basically told me that it wasn't anything and to 'keep an eye on it'. GREAT!

My third examination was at around 11pm, by which point I was having bad contractions lasting up to 2 minutes every 4 minutes or less. She put me on the monitor and came to do my examination to give me another 6 hour pessary however when she done the examination, I could tell by her face something was wrong. She quietly told me that there had been quite a bit of blood loss, and during the examination babies heart rate was going up to 210 (which is crazy high) so I had to have a doctor come out and check me. Babies heart rate base line was much higher than it should have been, the doctor said it could be down to dehydration so they decided I would need a drip of fluid. I had also gone a bit weird at this point, everything was orange tinted, my eyes were rolling and I was swaying. I could barely talk which again could have been down to dehydration. The doctor decided that I was having pethedine as I was so exhausted my body wasn't coping well at all so I had the injection and managed another hours sleep. It was a stressful few hours to say the least! 

During the night, my contractions were getting stronger and stronger, I had 2 baths that night but each time the bath was slowing them down so the midwife was certain it wasn't labour as the bath shouldn't slow them down. At around 6am, I was laying on my side during a contraction and I decided to try and turn over when I felt a pop. It wasn't loud, like I was expecting but I felt it. Followed by water. Lots and lots of warm water - my waters had gone! I made K go and get the midwife, and he returned to tell me she wanted me to put a pad in and she would check in half an hour... check?! Check what! My waters had gone!! After half an hour she came and checked my pad, but as I hadn't lost any more fluid there was nothing to show and she told me my waters hadn't gone. Oh but yes they had, I got up and showed her my bed which to her shock I was sat in a puddle. Yep, they had gone. 

After my waters went I felt like the contractions had ramped up massively. It was like as soon as they went, it started. I was in massive amounts of pain and felt like I was pushing already. The midwife that didn't believe me finished her shift at 8.30am and it felt like she was holding off checking me for some reason. I'm glad she did though, as I didn't like her! The next midwife to come on shift came straight to me and I explained everything that happened. She told me a doctor was coming straight away to check me, had a feel of my tummy and confirmed I was in labour. The doctor came out pretty quickly and sat down with me to tell me I'd probably need another pessary as I wasn't going to be far enough along to be taken to the labour suite. She examined me, and to her amazement I was actually 5-6cm dilated and this baby was coming soon. I was rushed to the labour suite within about 5 minutes of her examination! K made a panic call to my mum to get her to the hospital, as none of us were expecting it to move this fast! Kayne didn't even get a chance to tell anyone I was in labour it was all so quick.

I was taken to my room, room G and given gas and air. I was being told to breath through my contractions, however these weren't just contractions like before, I felt like I was pushing. I can't even describe the feeling, it was horrendous. The delivery midwife told me I'd probably be monitored for 2 hours then I might need a hormone drip if they werent strong enough, because I was still able to talk they thought I was still all okay. I'm not sure how long I was on gas and air, it wasn't very long at all, but I was laid on my side when they asked if I had any pressure in my back and felt like I needed to push. I had needed to push since my waters went! Little did I know my body was already doing the pushing. Yikes!! 

The doctor had to come in and quickly change the plan, as I was giving birth and she was coming!!! I started pushing near enough straight away. If you know me, I can't even have an injection without having a panic attack, I had planned to 'take all the drugs they offered' (as everyone told me to), I was also desperate for some time in the birthing pool during labour but sadly, I had no choice. I was actually falling asleep during pushing, my mum kept having to wake me up and talk to me to keep my eyes open! It's so strange how your body deals with certain pains. It was a pain like I couldn't even describe, but it really is true when they say something takes over and you just forget it all.

I could write about my story for ages and ages. After everything I went through during my pregnancy, I had the most amazing labour and birth which I am SO thankful for. Well done body! I requested an early discharge and was released home the same day! I was in Tesco the next day doing the food shop... I just can't believe it is all real and my baby girl is now here with us. Isabella was born on her daddy's birthday and is now the 5th generation of ladies on my mums side. She is my whole world.

xxx

My Baby Shower

When I found out I was pregnant, a baby shower was (I hate to admit) one of the first things I thought about. The thought of having all my family and friends around to celebrate my baby was an exciting thought. I'm not sure when you usually have a baby shower, I have seen anything from about 28 weeks but I was pushing it fine being nearly 38 weeks pregnant at my baby shower.

Initially it was all going to be a surprise, all organised by one of my best friends Dani, however she knows I'm a complete control freak and I love things like this, so when she asked if I would prefer to help arrange it of course I said yes. Although I would have loved a surprise, I'm glad I got to be bossy as it was all exactly how I wanted it. 

The venue was my mums house, which was never even a question as they've just had a huge kitchen renovation and it was the perfect place to host it. I have several large families, as well as a large friend/family friend base as I have my parents, step parents and then K's family too so the space was perfect. 

I had been pinning tonnes of baby shower ideas and decided to try and make some of the DIY treats I had seen so many times on there. I made oreos, marshmallows, pink wafers and doughnut cake pops. They all looked so lovely and actually didn't taste too bad either! 

My mum put on a huge spread which was enjoyed by everyone. There was so much food! 

We had a pink and gold theme, of course. The lovely people at www.talkingtables.co.uk SO kindly sent me over loads of things, including these hat props, loads of plates, cups & straws, bunting, and the gorgeous pineapples. I am so grateful as honestly it wouldn't have looked at pretty without having all the extra bits there! 

We had a few games like guess my waist size, which one of my childhood friends won. We also had baby shower bingo, which was really fun. We had a 'guess the babies arrival date', which I am excited to see who wins that. Somebody had guessed today, but I'm afraid there hasn't been any signs yet!

I am SO grateful for everybody that came to my baby shower, I received some gorgeous gifts (which I'm thinking of doing a separate post on?) and generally had a lovely day. Little baby Nicholls is super spoilt already, what a little madame! 

Have you had a baby shower? Did you choose not to have one?

Daisy xxx

The WORST Things To Say To A Pregnant Person

When you become pregnant, one thing I wasn't warned about was the amount of unwanted questions and comments you would get. Don't get me wrong, most the time they are completely unharmful and the person saying it doesn't mean anything by it but everyone seems to think they know what your pregnancy is going to be like, and everything you will go through. Every person is very different and no two pregnancies are the same (please, take note!). I wanted to share a few of the worst things you could possibly say to a pregnant person, and probably even worse, a heavily pregnant lady counting down the hours.

Have you not had that baby yet?!
Nope, you caught me! I'm still huge, complaining every day about symptoms but yep, she is sat at home without me! Ooops.

Wow, your huge, are you sure your not having twins?
Strangely, I've had this one quite a lot. I think I look 'big' because I'm quite small naturally, I'm not sure, but I find this one so rude. Unless over the 5 scans I've had, they've missed something, there is only one baby in there, trust me.

Have you thought of a name yet?
Yep, we have a few in mind but I'm going to tell you 'no' because I don't want to tell you. Nosey.

Get your sleep whilst you can! You won't be sleeping when she is here.
I cannot count how many times I've been told this recently as I've got later in my pregnancy. Pregnancy insomnia is a thing and a lot of my mummy blogger friends suffer too. No matter how many times I am told to get sleep now, it won't make me suddenly fall asleep. So just don't say it. All I'll reply to you is 'I can't'.

Was it planned? Have you been with the dad for long?
K & I recently went to a family party and I was asked this a lot. I think its probably a huge stereotype, as I am 20 years old and about to give birth to a human. No, she wasn't planned, but I'm not sure if how long I've been with the dad is any of your business..... but in case you did wonder, we have been together for 5 years.

You shouldn't be eating that...
Luckily I haven't had this much as everyone around me knows I'm a very fussy eater, so their view is as long as I eat something its better than nothing (thanks family).

However, I will never forget when I was around 30 weeks pregnant during our heatwave, strolling round a car boot and I got a screwball ice cream (if you don't know what that is, essentially a Mr whippy in a plastic cone with a bit of bubblegum at the bottom). I had read all about avoiding Mr Whippy ice creams, but decided I wouldn't bother as there isn't actually much evidence to show its harmful... I was happily eating my ice cream when some fat, bald, old man comes up to me and says 'just to let you know, you really shouldn't be eating that'. He didn't even say it in a nice way, which made me even angrier. I simply replied 'I will eat what I want, but thanks for the concern'. If it isn't bad enough being judged for everything you eat/drink by your closest family, some complete stranger has just come up to me and told me what I should and shouldn't eat. Safe to say he got a death stare and he quickly popped off.

Baby will come when she's ready!
Thanks for reminding me. I dare you to tell me, a heavily pregnant very fed up hating life whale lady, that baby will come when she's ready. I am very aware she will take her time, and come, WHEN SHE IS READY!!

Now I've got that off my chest, I am feeling better already. PHEW.
Did you get any of these whiles you were pregnant? What was your worst one? Would love to hear your experiences!

Why I've Hated Every Minute Of Pregnancy

Okay, maybe a bit of an exaggeration but I can't be the only person to say I really, really dislike being pregnant. I never for a minute thought I'd be one of those people who loved every minute of pregnancy, but I can't really remember a minute I have enjoyed. I think I peaked at around 26-28 weeks when I felt normal, but before that and after that it's not been a good run.

My mum always says that I'm a drama queen (obviously this isn't true *princess emoji*) and pregnancy probably hasn't helped that. The problem is, you become a worrying wreck during pregnancy. Any kind of movement (or lack of in my case), any strange coloured liquid that comes out of you TMI or anything that feels slightly different is a panic. I, and a lot of pregnant people I know have been back and forth to the hospital like its our second home. 

I've been blessed to not have too many symptoms, except constant exhaustion. At the start, I had constant nausea, which although it isn't nice it is manageable. I haven't had sickness, my nipples haven't leaked yet, I haven't had any stretch marks (except my boobs), and I have had a fairly smooth ride. I have developed SPD, which is crippling so I guess it makes up for the other symptoms. But I really do feel for those who have suffered with anything and everything, as I've struggled with my few symptoms. 

When I lay in bed having woken up for the 194357th time that night, sweating buckets whiles being very uncomfortable and struggling to breath I do wonder what on earth was going through my mind when I decided this baby would be a good idea. I can't wait for her arrival, don't get me wrong, but I can't lie and say I've enjoyed the run up to it. The best bit has been buying cute clothes and I can't say I'd recommend pregnancy to anyone, EVER. Just don't do it to yourself.

Are you pregnant? Did you enjoy your pregnancy? 

Daisy xxx

My 4D Scan Experience

From the minute I found out I was pregnant, I knew I always wanted to have a 4D scan. When I was researching in to it, my brain was mushed by 3D/4D scans, all the different packages, all the extras you could buy, all the places that do them I honestly didn't have a clue. I asked on Twitter and a few baby groups on Facebook and like everything else, everyone had their opinion and I was no further forward picking a location to have my scan. If I'm honest, I completely stopped looking for a good few weeks because I was so overwhelmed by it all.

I knew time was ticking as they won't do 4D scans after a certain amount of weeks so when I was around 24-25 weeks I started to look in to it again. I found a place in my own town, which I didn't know even existed, with Ultrasound-Direct (Baby Bond). There was a package called 'simply 4D scan', which was the cheapest I had seen a scan anywhere. It was £59, with the option to add on extras (photos, DVD etc). I booked it without even thinking twice. 

I was able to pay half and then the rest at the scan, which I think is really lovely as it can sometimes be a lot of money to pay out in one go. I also chose to add on a USB stick of pictures which was an extra £15 which I didn't mind as I would always have the pictures of my baby.

When we arrived we were shown to a lovely little room, it was very dark and quiet which was really relaxing. I decided to take K and my mum, as she hadn't been to any of my previous scans and it was something I really wanted her to see. The lady came out to let us know she was running a bit late but I didn't mind at all, I was so excited I had barely slept the night before! I can't remember exactly but I believe I was around 26+1 when I actually had my scan. The Simply 4D scan only offers from 25-28 weeks so I was perfect timing. 

The package included a 15 minute appointment, about 10 minutes of that is actual scan which doesn't sound like a lot compared to some packages where you get a lot of scan time but we all agreed when we came out that you couldn't have had much longer scan because we had seen all there was to see, I really don't think I could've sat there for much longer seeing it all over again! 

Luckily baby played nicely and let us see her really well, and also confirmed the sex as I still didn't believe she was a girl (and yes, she really is a girl, I saw her bits!!!!). We saw her beautiful face, hands and feet. She looks like her daddy already which is scary. I always thought people were mad when they compared a scan to a person but honestly, she has daddy's big nose and pouty lips like mummy! 

Baby Bond have studios all over the UK and offer so many different packages (although it can be scary picking them!). Everyone has their own opinions on 4D scans, some say its a waste of money however I would happily spend that money again to see our baby. I am actually desperate to have another scan before she arrives but I am running out of time!

Have you had a 4D scan? What did you think?

Daisy xxx

What does a baby actually need?

When I found out I was pregnant, before even knowing the sex we went to our closest Mothercare which is quite a large one. My baby was going to have e v e r y t h i n g brand new, everything. I wasn't going to compromise, she was only having the best of the best. 

The buggy we picked was £840 for just the base, it didn't come with a car seat (or anything else for that matter) and that was an extra £200+ on top but it didn't matter, that was the buggy she was having. 

I picked the furniture for her room, a room she didn't actually have as we both still live with our parents, but again that didn't matter because at least she would have nice furniture, and her room would one day be pretty. 

After a few months of picking up bits and pieces, an opportunity for a house came up. We went to visit the house about a month ago and fell in love with it. I was having the house weather it meant struggling, believe me. Now with just over 9 weeks to go, moving in to our first house with nothing and still lots to get for our little princess the reality is setting in fast. I can't afford that £1000 buggy, I can't afford the £700 three piece furniture set I so badly wanted and I am going to have to compromise.

The problem is, these days there is far too much to choose from. My mind is mush with all the gadgets and technology you can buy, but what does a baby actually need? Lots of people will tell you as long as your little one has a roof, clean clothes, food and love they have everything they need. I'm beginning to realise that this is very true, and although we will never struggle to support our baby, for the first few years she might not have everything in the world but that is okay, as we will be a family and at the end of the day thats all that matters. 

Top Picks of the Bury St Edmunds Food & Drink Festival 2016

After I wrote this post about the Bury St Edmunds food & drink festival (which was highly viewed, so thank you if you read it!) I promised that I would also tell you my top picks from the weekend. With so much going on, it can be confusing and overwhelming to know what you want to see, so I’ll help you out! 

Starting with Sunday 28th August, obviously the main act to see is Galton Blackiston. He will be doing 3 demonstrations, all completely FREE to watch! They are at 11am, 1pm and lastly 3pm. And, if you like anything you see Galton cooking, you can even get the recipes here to make at home! Couldn’t be easier.  If you aren’t able to make Galton’s demonstrations, there are several other local shops with cooking demonstrations including; Palmers Coffee Shop kicking the day off at 10am, the one I’m most looking forward to - Casa Del Mar at 12pm and Maison Bleue in the afternoon at 2pm. 

On Monday 29th August we have the lovely James Tanner joining us, again doing 3 demonstrations at the same times as Galton; 11am, 1pm and 3pm. You can find his recipes for the day here. We also have some great demonstrations from the brilliant Malcom Harradine at 10am, The Northgate Cookery at 12pm, new kids in town Giggling Squid at 2pm and finally Bens at 4pm. It puts me in a food coma just thinking about it!

If the cooking part isn’t for you and you much prefer the eating and drinking, over the whole weekend there will be over 100 food & drink stalls across town throughout the whole day with a local farmers market on Angel Hill too. All produce on the farmers market is from within 30 miles of BSE - right from your own doorstep! Like I mentioned in my previous post, it is a real day out for all the family as there is so much going on for the kids. The towns favourite pop up beach will be ready for some sandcastle building in the Arc, alongside fairground rides and a punch & judy show at 11am, 1pm and 3pm on both days. You will find a mini-farm on Abbeygate Street, and in Cornhill Walk you will be able to get your face painted too! 

The Cathedral grounds will play host to BSE’s very own Mad Hatters Tea Party with lots of Alice in Wonderland themed activities and although we may not have the heat of Brazil, the atmosphere will be alive in Langton Place where you will be able to get a feel of Rio. Speaking of Rio, how well did we do in the Olympics?! Amaze!!! Pop down there to get henna tattoo or two.

Hope to see you there!!

*Collaboration with Our Bury St Edmunds

Bury St Edmunds Food & Drink Festival

You may (or may not) already know that I live in the lovely little town of Bury St Edmunds, a small floral town in Suffolk situated between Ipswich & Cambridge and not too far from London*, and its an absolute delight living here!! It’s beautiful. 

We’re very lucky to have tons of events going on throughout the year, but one of the very best of the bunch has to be our annual food & drink festival which truly gets bigger and better every year. This year, not only do we have celebrity and local chefs, food & drink stalls and a farmers market, we also have a taste of Rio coming to Langton Place. With lots to look forward to, this years bank holiday is looking set to be a tasty one! 

Here’s what you need to know:

DATE- 28th & 29th August

LOCATION- Across Bury St Edmunds town centre 

COST- Absolutely FREE!

TIME- 10am-5pm

With a Rio carnival atmosphere, themed food, drink and dancing there will also be mask workshops throughout the day over at Langton Place.  Not only is there a huge selection of things to see and do for the adults, there is also a mini-farm, fairground rides, punch & Judy, henna tattoos, street entertainment, the beach in the Arc and a picnic area by Halifax. Phew, thats a lot to fit in! 

Celebrity chef Galton Blackiston joins us for the second year running on the Sunday. Galton is a regular on the BBC’s Saturday Kitchen and has appeared on many other TV shows. Can you believe he has held a Michelin star for over 14 years?!

If you are a regular Lorraine viewer, you will know resident chef James Tanner… He will be joining us for the first time on the bank holiday Monday. You may also remember him from Ready, Steady, Cook.

Next week, as it draws closer I’ll be sharing my top picks of the weekend and what you cannot miss!   

*a complete lie by the way, its just the easiest way to explain where it is!

Collaboration with Our Bury St Edmunds

Baby Girl Clothing Haul

I have been so excited to do this post for such a long time. I've made it no secret I was very very shocked when I found out we are having a girl. I wasn't disappointed, I had just thought for such a long time my baby had to be a boy, it just took some time to get used to. K is awful at baby shopping, he hates looking at the girls stuff so I wasn't very excited about all the cute baby clothes. This, added with the fact she isn't due until November and the only thing in shops is summery, I couldn't really buy much. 

However, a few weeks ago I went shopping with my mum who obviously got me very excited. She loved all the little girls stuff and loved looking around for it (YAY!! Shopping partner!). I have got so many gorgeous bits which I would love to do more hauls with so please let me know if you'd like to see more!

Trousers & Bomber Jacket from Next

All above from M&S

Dribble bibs from Next \ Socks from M&S

Daisy xxx

Duty Free/Airport Haul

I recently went to Greece flying from Heathrow. I went to the airport with intentions that I was going to treat myself. I didn't go craaaazy, but if you've followed me for a while you'll know I have next to nothing in the way of 'high end' makeup (I didn't even really own anything MAC before this) so I wanted to get a few bits.

I started with MAC as I knew I wanted to get my first ever lipstick. I didn't even bother looking at the shades, I just asked if they had Velvet Teddy (£12.50) as I had tried my cousins a few months ago and loved it. She found it for me straight away and I was super pleased. Secondly, I wanted a highlighter. I was browsing them but if you've ever been to a duty free MAC, especially Heathrow North terminal, they are normally quite small with very few assistants so as soon as she was free I just asked her recommendation... She said the Mineralize Skinfinish in Lightscapade (£20ish) was her fave, I swatched it and liked it, so didn't even think twice and purchased it. It was quite a rushed, panic buying experience! 

If you haven't seen Benefits new releases, you must have been living under the rock. I had the Benefit Brow Zings a few years ago and loved it, although since something put me off buying it again (I think it was the price...), however my mum bought it a few months ago in Duty Free and I always use hers so I decided to pick a new one up. I went for Benefit Brow Zings 04 (£20) which I wasn't sure would be the right shade as I haven't tried the new shades but its fine, it matches perfectly. The only thing I would say is I'm sure they have changed the product as it doesn't overwhelm me like my mums does when I use hers....

I got Bourjois Bronzer & Highlighting Duo (£7.99) from Boots, in the airport so it counts, but I really don't like it, soz. I know its every bloggers fave bronzer but nah, I don't like it :(

And lastly, just to sneak it in, I actually FINALLY bought Mary Lou Manizer (£17.50) (before holiday but it also counts). I've been eyeing it up for the longest time, but when FeelUnique sent me a discount code I ended up buying it for about £12!! BARGAIN!! And I ADORE IT! I actually have a full review coming soon so look out for that. :)

Have you picked up anything from Duty Free recently? Let me know if you've done a haul!

I just wanted to mention the new blog design and a slight name change too, I love love love it so would be grateful for any feedback! :)

Daisy xxx

22 Week Pregnancy Update & GENDER REVEAL!!

Ahhhh how the devil are yah? I read back on my 13-14 week update post just to see what kind of things I wrote about, and I said at the start I wanted to do WEEKLY updates!! Pahaha, who was I kidding. It's been 8+ weeks since my last update (which was actually my last blog post, I am terrible!!), so grab a cuppa as you know how I like to babble on.

So as I write this I am 22+1 day. If you follow me on Twitter you should already know as I haven't stopped talking about it but we are having a GIRL!!! As you can imagine this was a huge surprise, after the amount of times I said I would put money on my baby being a boy. He turned out to be a she, which was the biggest shock I've ever had in all my life and if I'm completely honest it still hasn't sunk in. 

I am obviously so over the moon to have my own baby girl, but I hadn't even looked at anything girly as I was so set she was a boy. I thought I would be obsessed with buying clothes straight away but if I'm honest it was the last thing I wanted to do. I liked girls clothes, but I loved boys clothes. I had already picked out bits I liked from certain shops so I had to take a while to get used to not going straight to the boys section. I have also realised I'm very fussy when it comes to picking her clothes so she hasn't actually got much so far, poor baby. 

I went shopping with my mum on Saturday just gone (haul coming soon...) and I tweeted that it was the first day I felt completely happy I was having a girl. I can't lie and say I wasn't a teeny, tiny bit disappointed (well, more shocked than anything) when she told me it was a girl but I am finally over that and I'm ready for my little lady.

We recently got back from our pre-baby holiday to Greece. It was stupidly hot, and I only managed two days in the sun before I had to retire to most the day under shade. I still really enjoyed it though, all I kept thinking about was next time we go away we will have a child in toe. The picture was taken at nearly 21 weeks but I feel I had a massive growth on holiday. I am now over that 'are you fat or pregnant?' stage, and have actually been asked a few times when I'm due. I love when people notice I'm pregnant, as before I used to just get looks of confusion. I haven't grown much since the picture, and I am forever being told how small I am, although I'm not convinced anyone can actually tell.

I have put on nearly a stone, and in my last update I said I had put on 4 pounds so its gone on quite quickly since then. I'm not too worried as Ive had people tell me they put on stones and stones, and I needed a bit of extra weight.

I still haven't had any cravings. I try and explain at work whenever somebody asks me... A craving to me is something you HAVE to have there and then. I've been told I would wake K up at night because a craving was so bad he needed to get me it, but i've had none of that. I've fancied stuff, but never NEEDED anything which I think is the true meaning of a craving.

My sleep is up and down. The past few nights have been awful. I have been getting 4-5 hours sleep, then I will wake up, usually at silly o'clock ready to get up for the day. It's like my body is just rejecting sleep and I don't know why. The thing is, I don't then feel really tired during the day, I just feel normal. It's really odd and I hope my pattern goes back to normal soon!

My sickness/nausea has gone completely, I never ever get it anymore *touch wood*. I have been getting acid reflux on and off, but I've only really had it about 3 times properly. It's a strange old thing! My back has been terrible but as I've mentioned so many times I do actually have back problems. And my boobs/nipples have been SO itchy I can't do anything to get the itch. Asides from those little bits, I have felt the most normal I have felt in 22 weeks. Everyone said to me I would start feeling better but did I believe them? Did I heck! 

I can't believe how much I've wrote for this 'small' update, I guess thats what happens when you don't do an update for such a long time!! I'll do better next time, I promise.

I also feel like my blog is becoming very baby based, which is just because I've had no time to do anything else. I love writing the baby posts, and I can write and write and write, however I promise I will be doing some more other posts soon. I want to get back to blogging as I miss it so so much!! And maybe a make over is on the cards too...

Daisy xxx