4 Months postpartum

I've been a mum for 18weeks now and im still loving it there are time when I want to just run away when things are not working out but I stay strong and handle the jandle. With being a mum i have never had so much patience and never as strong, determined and consistent as I am now. You got to have all those qualities to get though the minutes, hours, early hours and day n nights. I moved my daughter to her room at 3 months and she doing so great at sleeping at night it very rare for me to get up in the mid of night feeding her. I'm also enjoying early nights too as she has a much earlier bedtime of 8:30.

Well I've had some difficulty these past few days because I decided to put Ella in her cot now and it been so hard to get her to have a nap during the day she cries and cries and yells it like she telling me off and being very stubborn. I used to rock her bassinet back and forth to get her to sleep but i can't do that in the cot as it has no wheel it all wood so there no way i can rock or make the sound of the bassinets wheels so now it just the radio, my presence and my touch for reassurance and my gosh 2-3 hours of a crying baby is draining. What do you do to get an infant to sleep during the day? It seems totally impossible! but it's do-able when you figure out what works for your baby. I have to totally tire her out by a lot of stimulation and time outside otherwise ill have a crying baby for ages in her cot.

I know it only been two days in her cot but it feels like it has been forever as her naps are not working but she sleeps wonderfully during the night. I can't complain about that but this mumma needs timeout during the day. Sometime naps work but half the time naps don't. Looks like playtime for my girl is going to get a lot more active so i get her tired out so nap time is easier so I can enjoy my own alone time even if it just 30mins. I go crazy because when i put her down for nap it takes 30mins to feed her read book to her and stop her crying. sometimes the crying goes for 40mins or more. I may be over doing it but I want a routine for her to sleep at 11am and 2pm everyday and i believe routine helps babies because it help them know what happens next. So to some this all up im trying to get my daughter to nap in her cot and not cry for 30mins straight. It should be this hard for a 3 month old right?

Part from sleep im also having problem getting her to breastfeed in the morning she wakes at 7am and doesnt want it she sucks 3 times then unlatches and it feels like im fighting then she shows signals that she hungry but she refuses. it not til 10am or even 12pm till she actually breastfeeds it worries me so much..I trying new feed times so her eat..Sometime she wakes at 5am for a feed so it could be why but it only just become a problem. All i can do is wait till she hungry so my feeding routine has flew out the window and it at any time though i still try to feed close to her normal 3 hourly times 6am 9am 12pm 3pm 6pm 7pm (sometimes 12am) 5am. I may be ranting on a bit but thiss is what on my mind and i thought id write something new on here

Facebook Mummy group

One day I was on Facebook and my cousin invited me to a closed group called Mummy Matters. I didn't even know there were such a thing as groups on Facebook. I couldn't believe it there were so many mums on it from all over the world commenting about what ever is on their mind about their babies and pregnancies. At the time I was about 7 months pregnant so many of the comments that were posted I could relate to. The group is a place for mother to just let their hair down and talk about what ever is bothering them without feeling misunderstood or judged and just mums getting along and helping each other out if one has a question about pregnant, babies, their annoying husbands/partners/sperm donors and any life troubles.

I found it do helpful when i had so many questions since i am a first time mum so I posted alot and have begun to get recognize some of the ladies name but i grew bored of mummy matters and found a new group called 203 October babies and I have been on it since it the best one so far. All sorts of ladies around the world even few New Zealanders too.

The support system for new mums these days has grown so much and is now so much stuff on the internet and even coffee group or parent hubs to go to to chill out with yours and other baby it great because being a parent is hard especially being a mum.

If you struggling never turn down help it is good to have help and with being a mum iv asked for hhelp a lot more than i ever have in my life.

14th Week as a Mother

Time keeps going by so fast, my baby girl is already 3 months old. I can't believe how big she is getting. I moved her into her own room but she is still in her bassinet, it a fair bit till she grows out of it of course. She has been sleeping so well all on her own. Her and I now get a descent 5 hours sleep at night. She wakes up 4am still. The easy baby I knew is no more. It been driving me crazy because it has interrupted her daytime naps, her feeds and playtime. Instead it's no morning nap and she naps at 1pm.

Breastfeeding has been difficult because she cries and flails about when I go to feed her even when she is hungry. She shows me all the signs. Dribbling, sucking hands, air sucking, lip smacking, turning to my boob like she smelling the milk. I've had problems with oversupply so I have been block feeding and pumping a little out so she doesn't choke and miss out on my hind-milk (the high calorie fat milk). If you don't know what block feeding is it's when you feed baby on one breast for a few feeds and pump a little from other breast if it like a rock melon (really hard) then repeat again but switch breasts. Other than that breastfeeding is painless and comfortable, well, it is when my baby isn't pinching or scratching me with her cute little hands.

My baby girl has been very picking she only like feeding off my right breast and not my left boob for some reason. She only breastfeeds on my left boob when she is tired.

I rang plunket and they suggested me to do a feed & sleep blog to see what time period she is fussy. After two nights I figured out that she fussy between 6pm - 9pm. It's the worse time because it when we all want to settle down for night time and instead we have a screaming baby. It's hard when your baby cries and nothing soothes them fast so you got to  try everything in the book. Night time baths is so helpful, it's the only thing that settles her enough to breastfeed her to sleep. Yes I nurse my baby to sleep else we will hear constant crying.

Three months of being mummy has been an eventful & exciting & tiring time for me but i have been enjoying seeing my girl growing up even though I want her to stay little & cute.

The milestones are the best. She can hold her head up really well. She likes sitting up and standing with me supporting her of course. She really liked the play mat with the dangling town by, she grabs & hits them (the sad thing is, is that she has grolwn bored of it) and she is alert of her surrounding by seeing & hearing. She is full of smiles and she is starting to giggle but it more of a squeak gargle sound. Whenever she cries i swear i her say mum but im not sure.

She is hitting all the milestones of a 3 month old part from rolling over because she absolutely hates tummy time i tried all i can so I give her small dozes of tummy time otherwise her arms and legs are quite strong.

She is weighing at 12lbs 5oz right now and she is fitting into some newborn and mainly 0-3 month old clothing now yay.

So I sum it up this has been a wonderful journey for me even if breastfeeding has been challenge. Life's all about learning don't cha think!

First Cloth Nappy

Yay I just brought my very first cloth nappy with 2 liners for baby Ella. The cloth nappy has come a long since the olden days. No more pins, it all domes now and no folding skills is needed. just put them on like a disposable. I still have not used this cloth nappy yet as I am doing the three soaks and 3 washes to get the liners really absorbent as it says on the instructions.

I am a newbee so this is a trial run for me to see what it like and if it works out, I may be a convert!! For 8 weeks I have been putting the disposable on my baby and she keeps getting crease line on her from them, now they not as bad because she is in infant size but she still gets a few lines on her..Does cloth do that? I wouldn't know if cloth does never seen or used them on any baby before.

I so excited about using them as I have heard wonderful things and they so cute with the patterns you can get. Yeah u gotta wipe or spray the poop off but it is easy enough to do that and wash in washer machine..

I'd save so much money as I will buy a certain amount of cloth nappy and then I never need to buy again. i'd save more than $2500 a year. sounds good to me i will rather wash them then throw out loads of disposable nappies that take 70-100 years to break down. I feel sorry for the planet. Im not a total saves the planet kinda person but I am aware.

So yay to cloth diapering and wash me luck !

Make a Stop To Mothers Being Judged

☆ First of all being a mother isn't easy at all especially when it is your first child. You do not know what to expect and how it will feel physically, mentally & spiritually. You ask yourself so many questions. You have mixture of positive and negative feelings.Your emotions go out of whack (mainly because of the hormones). You wonder if you'll ever get decent sleep again and time for yourself. Being a parent in one word it is HARD! Not only for the mother but the father too. It's hard but very rewarding to see your beautiful child develop and grow. Another thing is you will never be ready for a child until you have the child in your arms and start settling to the fact that it is not all about yourself now it's about looking after this helpless little human being. I tell you one thing you will never feel the same again, you'll still be you but you will change in some ways. I know I have and I feel like a better person because it. Going into labour and birthing a child was a life changing experience like no other that I ever felt. I sit here to this day wondering how i managed to push out a 8 pound baby in the bath without pain medication. I did it! And I'm happy to start and continue my journey into motherhood.

  ☆ So I guess you are wondering. Why did I start this blog? I wanted to have somewhere to write a diary to look back on, share my story about my pregnancy, labour and birth plus what it is like being a first time mum. I would like to get my story out there to make other mothers and young ladies find out what is like. I know there are many mummy bloggers out there that do the same well this is my story and it is different to all the others. All pregnancies and woman are different. No one is the same. We all have our different views, beliefs and opinions, different situations and lifestyles, different body types and cultures.

  ☆ I may not be a teenager but I would like to say this. There are so many teen mums out there who are solo mothers with an absent fathers of the child or don't know who the father of the child is. There's teen mums who are co-parenting because they are not with the father or they're still living with their parents. Most of them still go to school and some dropped out to look after their baby. Some teen mums put there child up for adoption and some have abortions. But there are some teen mum who are with the father of their child. Every case is different and just because their teens doesn't mean they are not capable of being a mother. Teen mothers are just as good, or even better!!

What ever the situation, what the ever lifestyle, no matter what the age... a mother is a mother and she makes the decision on what sort of mother she is or will be. Mothers have the most hardest job in the world. Yes being a mother is a job. They shouldn't be judged by the way they do their job. Do you go judge the husbands, fathers and boyfriends out there working? No! so why should woman be treated differently. Mums do what is best for them and their child(ren) and they certainly do their best that they can to financially support themselves to give their baby the best life they can whether she works or the father of baby works. I'm very lucky to have what I have.

So please be thankful for what you do have even if it is not the best. Be thankful because there are many who aren't as well off. What im trying to say is the motherhood is not easy no matter what situation you are living in.


So this is me a first time mum who is doing her best to learn how to be a mother as she goes along with the help and support of family, friends, midwife, mummy bloggers/vloggers, plunket nurse and maybe your fellow supporters reading this. I don't expect anything just somewhere to share my story and may be make one other lady out there feel not so alone.

If I can do it and many other can I'm sure you can be an awesome parent too :)

please leave a comment below and tell me what you think about mothers being judged


--Pictures from google.com

6 Weeks old Immunisations

On the 28th of November my daughter was 6 weeks old.
I can't believe how fast the weeks have gone by.
It mean't that she is old enough to get her first set of immunisation shots (vaccines).
I was immunised and I think that my daughter should get it too.
There are many parents out there delaying getting there children immunised because they have fears of what it being injected into there innocent child or because of the pain of the needle. I understand that.

When it came to the time of her being injected I was super nervous and scared for her but I held her. Suddenly the needle was slowly injecting the fluid into of the INANRIX -hexa vaccine into the side of her left thigh and then the next injection SYNFLORIX in the other thigh. . She was screaming and crying loudly as it was happening. I was holding her tight. My baby was in pain. It made me cry along with her but before we both knew it, it was over and done with. She crying and moan for a bit but once she got home it was like it had never happened. She is the same child that went into the doctor but with only one difference she is protected from Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Polio, Hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type b and Pneumococcal disease.

I was quite nervous and scared for her getting it done but I prefer for her to get these few injections and be prevented from being sick with a the many diseases that are floating around. I would want her to experience the time in hospital and feel the pains and aches of what these diseases can cause.
That is the reason why I wanted her to be immunised.

  I didn't go to the doctors without research.
I made sure I knew what was going into my daughter soft chubby thighs.
The Infanrix -hexa in one thigh and the Synflorix in the other.

 These injecions prevent babies from getting them nasty diseases in New Zealand
 The first set of injections are there stated below

Diphtheria/Tetanus/Pertussis/Polio/Hepatitis B/Haemophilus influenzae type b
1 injection (INFANRIX® -hexa)

and..

Pneumococcal
1 injection (SYNFLORIX®)


Don't get me wrong though these diseases may not be easily caught or let alone be here in New Zealand but do you really want to risk it. I don't.

So at the end of the day I'm happy to say my child is immunised and I'll ave no problems taking her to day care and pre school.

Many of you may disagree with me so please tell me your thoughts and opinions abut this.

Pregnancy Weight Lost

I cannot believe I am already fitting into my jeans. I would say  that my pregnancy was pretty easy going as I had no complication only a few spotting scares but they turned out harmless. Was only uncomfortable near the end as I felt huge. I have had no shame with how my body looked and I am still happy with how it looks now.

Having a postpartum body isn't easy to look at but you got to remember it didn't happen for nothing you have a beautiful baby and that's all the matters. My weigh before pregnancy was 68kgs and I was a little over weight but I was happy with my curves.

With this baby i gained 14 kgs, I think that was a healthy weight, don't cha think? I do. Now that I'm nearly 8 weeks postpartum I feel really good.

Just with a few walks and breastfeeding I have lost...
                                                                                                         12kgs....

  I cant believe how quicky it has melted away Im now 70kgs and fitting into my pre-pregnancy clothes. This is awesome. A woman that can fit her jeans is a very happy woman. We love our jeans.

My hips are wider and I still have a bit of back roll going on under my bra line but that is okay I'll a able to tone. I hope..

There is no need to be down on yourself about your appearance. Because somethings aren;t meant to be the same, things do change. With effort or without the effort you are doing what's best for you. It takes time to heal. I still have quite a bit of healing do and I don't just mean physically, I still healing mentally as well.

Be happy and enjoy every step of the way with your baby no matter what :)

1-7 Weeks Postpartum - Baby Obstacles

As you know from the last post, the first three days with a baby is all about breastfeeding. To be honest it is mainly all about breastfeeding, and it will be for as long as you breastfeed. I plan to continue breastfeeding my daughter til she is one years old, if I can. I want to give her the best start in life and I'll just put up with leaky boobs and the wet patches on my bed sheets and my clothes. My first week with baby was defiantly a challenge because breastfeeding didn't come easy to me or my baby. I had a visit from my midwife everyday to see how well I was doing or where I was going wrong. Having my midwifes guidance was very helpful. She showed me how to latch my daughter on the proper way and had shown me the different position so I could find what was comfortable for me. I was given information with and without pictures which were helpful when my midwife wasn't around. Each day that went by I was really making some progress. I was getting better and better by the minute.

A big bonus was that my mum stayed for 3 weeks to help out and I so glad she was here. She did all the housework for me and a bit of spring cleaning too. My mum was happy to help as she knows what it like. Mum was in those shoes three times with my two older brothers and myself. With mum doing the housework all I had to do was look after my daughter and of course ME.

The fuss of a newborn had finally worn of a bit so the crown in my lounge was no more so I had the space to slowly concentrate on feeding Ella and take it one step at a time and before I knew the first week of the long haul was over and I had breastfeeding established. I wasn't a pro, hey I'm still learning, but I finally got her latched and suckling happily.

I tell you one thing the first week is mainly a blur to me it had happened so fast but it didn't at the time though because I had a bad case of the baby blues so I was really emotional and was crying a lot as I couldn't just simply feed my baby. I hand expressed and eventually got a pump just to help me with my sore nipples but I didn't stop trying breastfeeding. The bottle was mainly there to give me reassurance that I was still feeding my child and not starving her and it also boosted my confidence.

As the weeks when by breastfeeding became easier and I bottle fed her less as the days went on. Now days I only pump when my boobs are engorged, when I just want to have break and get Daddy to feed her or when I want to go out without baby.

I may be going on about breastfeeding but it had a big impact on me. Come to think about it, breastfeeding for me is so much more harder then delivering a baby and that was HARD.

It's an amazing experience watching your child grow and seeing the milestones that happen along the way. Every week my midwife would visit me at home and she would weigh and measure my baby. Ella was born at 8 pound 4oz and within the first week she had lost 1 pound oz but as the weeks when by she was growing & gaining weight healthily. Her newborn clothes was getting smaller each week but not by much. She still fits newborn clothes and she is now 7 weeks and 1 day old

My body has changed so much my hips are so much wider with stretch marks and stretch marks on my tummy plus a few on my boob. My boob aren't as perky as they used to be and belly is like jelly. I weigh a bit more than i used to and down below just doesn't feel the same. Im surprised how much a female body can prepare and stretch for a baby. I still look back and wonder how i did it.

Giving Ella a bath is a big highlight for me because she likes it a lot. She enjoys the water and no wonder why she was born in the water. I enjoy doing this every night as I know it make her sleep better at night and trust me it does work because when I don't give her a bath I end up having broken sleep at night. When I give her a bath I'm blessed with an awesome baby that sleeps from 10pm to 6am though throughout these whole 7 weeks she has been a great night sleeper anyway. I took Ella out in the pram when she was only days old. She look so tiny in the pram and also in her carseat whenever we went somewhere in the car. Going out for a walk with her in a pram is another highlight for me it's a chance for me to get out of the house. I have many highlights with her. I enjoying her smiles, her baby talk, her wriggles, her grunts and most of all I enjoy the great bond that we share with each other. The way she looks at me is priceless.

I take everyday as it comes and enjoy every minute of my daughter. She make my days worth living and I'll never be bored again. I look forward to tomorrow and what it will bring. I love you my baby girl forever and always.

Day Three

It was my first day at home with a baby well day two i was home with baby but at 5:30pm. The night before was so hard, feeding her in middle of night it was harder especially being half asleep in the dark. It was a game of Latch on latch off latch on til I got her breastfeeding comfortably. It wasn't comfortable enough though because my nipples were crack & blood blistered.  I was having a really hard time in pain. I came to a point when I refused to breastfeeding.

First of all I could not handle the pain, second of all she would not latch on and would fight & cry and third of all I was having the baby blues. My hormones and emotions mixed was horrible. I never thought it would of felt like that, an uncontrollable feeling. You just needed to cry. I was like that since baby arrived. Being at home with baby was a shock to me physically, emotionally and mentally. I was happy to be home but oh my gosh I have to feed this baby and care for it. It harder than it looks. Sleepless nights or broken sleep being woken every 2-3 hours. It's torture. Things mums do for their children. Never taking my mother for granted ever again.

As I may of said, a lot of the early days with baby is breastfeeding/bottle feeding, sleeping and of course nappy changes

For the first week with baby my midwife would visit and help me out with breastfeeding and anything about my body I was concerned with. She was great. The thing that annoyed me was my daughter would only latch on to feed properly when my midwife was here and when she wasn't Ella was back to not latching on and fighting me. So midwife came back several times a day to get this breastfeeding better established.

The first three day to a week is a huge challenge with getting breastfeeding right. don't give up keep trying even if you express or pump your milk into a bottle it still giving you baby a great start. When I was learning to feed her on the breast i hand expressed til i got a manual pump. It took ages, an hour, hand expressing but it gave my nipples time to heal from being crack and blood blistered. When it was time to breastfeed I would have a bottle waiting beside me if breastfeeding didn't work. It help boosted my confidence and lowered my anxiety and anger. I would never hurt my baby so I did have times where I hand her to her daddy and went outside for a breather or a walk with my rottweiler dog.

Never give up on breastfeeding keep at it and you and your child will benefit from it.

Big smiles from
Avril

Day Two

Most of us would stay in hospital over night to get breastfeed established, all rested up and adjusting to the fact that you are a MOTHER. On this day realisation kicks in and the daze that you were in the day before has faded but your happiness of having baby with you will never fade, he/she is your child and always will be till he end so you might as well give he/she a good life. You baby would have had tests done day before. Day two your baby will have a hearing test if not done day before. My baby hearing was perfect. The hearing machine thing intrigued me. But that's me I really like medical related stuff. Biology fascinates me a lot. I thinking of becoming a midwife because of it. Okay I'm going off topic. Day two, you still feel pretty fatigued at this point and by now you'd be sick of changing your pad every so often. It's like change baby nappy and change mine. Bleeding is what you have to deal with after giving birth and it sucks big time but it natures way of healing the body. I spent the whole day in hospital getting use to breastfeeding and I could say I learnt the ropes of it but every now and then had difficulties getting comfortable and baby was wriggling around or would fall asleep. It made me happy that I wasn't starving my baby. Reason I say that is because on day one I didn't have the confidence to face more pain on my nipples as they were really sore. My heart hurt because I refused to feed her. I cried and was scared. With encouragement I was able. At 5pm I decided to go home just because of the fact that I could. My partner mentioned it and the nurse said okay if really want to. I wanted my own bed. Hospital beds are not comfortable. She look so adorably tiny in her car seat. I'm surprised she fitted in it. Off we drove me and my new family. Time to do it all my own. That scared me a little but I had my partner and my mum here at home with me so it gave me comfort knowing that if i nee help. mainly encouragement. My journey of motherhood had began that day.

Day One

After being up all night and early morning in labour with my child from 10pm I was so tired and worn out. Being in labour is hard on the body but giving birth to a child is even worse.
Your whole body becomes so weak afterwards.
My body ached all over but we all know were I was aching the most.
The only thing I could do was rest and sleep. Honestly the hardest thing of day one is starting breastfeeding. Both you and baby have to learn how to do it.
Latching baby on right is what you need to get right so you don't end up with more pain on top of what you already have.
I ended up with cracked and blood blistered nipples because of  baby not latching on properly.
 You have to make sure baby mouth is around most of the areola (the dark part around the nipple) and has a good suction. Breastfeeding seems so easy until you actually do it yourself. It's harder than it looks.
I broke down. I was ready to give up on breastfeeding.
Deep inside I was determined to get it right but my frustration, tiredness and pain overruled. My baby and I were crying along together. Make the most of the nurse midwifes in the hospital, use them, you'll need them especially when your partner and family have left. They helped motivated me. Adjusting to having a baby was very hard as I was so exhausted from what my body just went though.

When baby arrived after the first skin-to-skin & breastfeeding of your baby will get weighed, measured and a full body check to see for abnormalities. My baby got the highest score in the apgar test (may called something different other countries) 10/10 but had an extra buttocks crease but nothing to worry about.

To sum it up day one is all about rest, sleep and feeding baby. Most of all meeting your new baby after the long 9 month wait. Don't give up to easily on breastfeeding. Give your baby the best start to life. Breast is best.

My Labour & Delivery Story

It all started at 8pm on the 16th of October. What first were braxton hicks had turned into contractions that went on at 20-30 minutes intervals for two whole hours. At 10pm everything came to a stand still. Pains had vanished. Later on I attempted sleeping in my bed but I was kept up by contractions starting up again. Things were progressing and the pain was increasing. All I could feel the pain of baby pushing down on my pelvis & hips bone, period cramps, pressure on my lower back and anus. It felt like I had a tummy bug cramp and diarrhea cramps too. It was nothing like any pain I have ever felt before. It was beyond my pain tolerance. After constant contractions since 10pm it was 12:40am. My partner had arrived home from working night shift. By the time he had finished his refreshing shower all he could hear was me screaming & crying loudly in pain. He did his best to calm me and tell me that it was going to be alright. I told him the baby is coming, ring your parents. We had a plan that when I go into labour we were to ring them so they could pick us up and drive us to the hospital. Within the 20 minutes of waiting for his parent alot had happened. Contractions were coming on longer & stronger. My water had broke then 5 minutes later they broke again at 2:30am. I had to change my pants twice.

Finally his parents arrived. It was a lengthy car ride with mostly straight roads. It took 30 mins to get to the hospital. I was screaming and crying with contractions the whole time. My partner had rang the midwife on the way there. I don't know how my baby's grandad was able to drive as I was in the front seat screaming. To my satisfaction I saw the hospital building, my partner wheeled me through the doors in a wheelchair and followed the nurses into the birthing room. Time of admission was 3:15am and I was 4cm dilated. Before I knew it I was on the bed sucking on gas with contractions that were extremely painful. The bed become so uncomfortable I had to move to the bath. After few hours of contractions, back rubs and comfort from both Grandmother and babys daddy I was fully dilated at 4:40am. At this point the pain was more intense. The clock hit 5:19am and babies head was born and then a few gentle pushes later out came babies shoulders. I felt a quick release and there baby dove into the water and was lifted out and instantly put onto my chest. My partner cut the umbilical cord then 20 minutes later I pushed out the placenta but a few bits of placenta membranes were stuck so my student midwife did a great job of gently plucking them out.  After that I was moved to the bed breastfeed baby for the first time and baby latched beautifully.

I was in labour for 6 hours 40 minutes and the birth of baby & placenta was for 61 minutes. My baby girl was born on October 17th at 5:20am, weighed 8lb 4oz. She was born in the water and is perfectly healthy. The birth turned out as planned and I had a great recovery with no stitches, no tears. I'm overjoying to be a new mummy.