Me & Mine: A Family Portrait (September 2015)

This is our second Me & Mine picture as a family of four. Gabe is now six weeks old but we’re still figuring things out and trying to get ourselves into something of a routine. Although day to day life still feels quite hard when I look back at where we were a month ago it is already massively easier than it was then, and things can only get better, right?

Although Gabe is often unsettled during the day, and my Lillebaby carrier has become my new best friend, he is sleeping fantastically well at night which makes the days an awful lot easier to deal with. In the last week we have started putting him up to bed around 8 pm and he will then sleep until somewhere between 2 and 4 am, when he’ll have a feed and go back to sleep until 7ish. I am well aware that for a 6 week old baby this is amazing and it feels brilliant to have our evenings back again. I’m not counting my chickens too soon though – from about 10 weeks old Toby used to sleep from 6:30 pm until 8 am every night. I was so smug…and it lasted about two months. And then he had his last set of vaccinations, got a cold the same day and never consistently slept through the night again until about two months ago! So although things are going well so far I am well aware things could change at any minute.

Being a parent to two small boys certainly has its challenges and we were well and truly tested on our tag-team parenting on Saturday night when Gabe was awake at 1 am and then again an hour later, at which point Toby woke up and was sick all over his bed, and then again over himself and me half an hour later! He’d been up earlier in the evening not feeling well and we weren’t sure what was wrong with him….I think I got about 3 hours sleep that night. Not one I want to repeat in a hurry but we got through it and we will again if we have to.

Barry has been fantastic over the last month. I know he feels a bit ineffectual sometimes when it comes to Gabe because he’s still breastfed most of the time and so he only wants me. But I can only do that because Barry is doing everything else. After leaving for work at 6:30 am he comes home to a sink full of washing up, laundry to fold, meals to cook, Toby to collect from nursery…the list of jobs seems never-ending and he does them all without complaining. I simply wouldn’t be able to manage any of this without him, and not only for the practical stuff… he’s been a wonderful emotional support as I’ve struggled with breastfeeding, a baby who is almost permanently attached to me and a toddler who is coping with it all admirably but who is the source of massive mummy guilt for me as he spends another morning watching CBeebies (embarrassingly he’s watched so much he can now sing along to nearly all the theme tunes).

And so another month has passed and we are slowly settling into our new expanded family. This month’s photo was another last minute one, taken tonight on our bed after both boys had been bathed and dressed ready for bed in their matching sleepsuits (how cute?). I am once again grinning manically as I do a big ‘cheeeese’ trying to get Toby to smile, and Barry looks like he’s about to say something. Toby was very sweet and got hold of Gabe’s hand though which was just lovely. I think it might be quite a while yet before we can manage to get a photo of all four of us together where everyone is looking at the camera and no one is pulling a silly face so for now this will have to do…

September 2015

After we got this picture Toby wanted to have a go with the remote but couldn’t quite grasp that he was supposed to look at the camera, not at the button he was pressing. I still love this photo though so although it’s not perfect I wanted to include it anyway.

September 2015 outtake

Living Arrows 38/52 & 39/52 (2015)

Right, I’m going to take a cheat here and do two weeks of Living Arrows in one, otherwise I will be forever a week behind! Life goes on here in the Toby Goes Bananas house; Gabe is now six weeks old and things are starting to settle down slightly. For the last three nights Gabe has slept in his own crib, rather than next to me in bed, and we’ve even started putting him up to bed on his own in the evenings (with the help of Ewan the Dream Sheep who I have succumbed to buying)! I’ve also had some success in putting in his crib for a nap in the mornings too – I realised that maybe all his unsettled behaviour wasn’t hunger but tiredness and that he needed a bit of peace and quiet to be able to nap. On Saturday he napped for three hours straight. Hopefully if we can keep it up it will make my life with Toby in the mornings more enjoyable for everyone.

I love the dungarees that Gabe wearing in this picture – they’re from the Little Bird by Jools Oliver range at Mothercare. I was a bit worried that they wouldn’t fit – I bought them in the sale a while ago and the only size they had left was newborn. Gabe has already grown out of most of his newborn clothes (I think he’s going to be tall like his brother) but luckily there’s still plenty of room in these. I think this is actually the first time he has worn anything other than a sleepsuit too!

38_52 15 1

Toby is still doing great – he was poorly at the weekend, being sick twice on Saturday night which wasn’t much fun for any of us but he appears to be fully recovered now. It’s going to be another big week for him this week as he is moving to a new nursery on Thursday. This one is slightly nearer to home, and also quite dramatically cheaper than the nursery he goes to at the moment, meaning he can go for four afternoons for the same price as three afternoons at the old one. My friend’s twins go to the new nursery and they really like it, in fact the only reason Toby didn’t go there originally was because it didn’t open early enough in the morning for me to get to work on time, but now I’m not at work that doesn’t really matter. I just hope the change doesn’t unsettle him too much.

This picture of Toby was taken when he was dancing around to the music on his Fisher-Price chair. He’ll quite often stop whatever he is doing when the camera comes out but this time he was quite happy to keep performing…

38_52 15 2

Living Arrows

Review: Theraline Plushy Moon pillow

If you’ve ever been pregnant you’ll know how hard it is to get comfortable in bed, particularly in the later stages. The Theraline Original Maternity and Nursing pillow was my saviour throughout my pregnancy and I reviewed it here. Although the original pillow can be used for nursing it is pretty big and can be a bit tricky to get arranged in a comfortable position. So when I was given the opportunity to try one of Theraline’s other nursing pillows I was delighted.

I chose the Plushy Moon pillow with a grey cover, and it arrived a few weeks before Gabriel was born. The pillow is filled with micro beads which make it really easy to squash into the shape you want. The cover is a super soft plush fabric on one side and stretchy fabric on the other. The whole pillow is machine washable which is incredibly useful when you’re dealing with a newborn.

While I was still pregnant I used the pillow behind my back for getting comfy on the sofa (and to be honest I’d recommend one even if you aren’t pregnant) but since Gabe arrived it’s really come into it’s own.

Plushy Moon

The Plushy Moon has the perfect amount of squashiness and supportive-ness to use when breastfeeding. I can get Gabe in a great position on the pillow on my knee and then it allows me to have my hands free for important things like playing Candy Crush or eating Maltesers. He’s then very happy to fall asleep on the pillow and sometimes I can even manage to transfer him next to me on the sofa and he’ll stay asleep – I don’t blame him, it looks super comfy!

Plushy moon nest

The Theraline Plushy Moon has an RRP of £23.95 and I think it’s worth every penny.

**Disclosure: I was sent the featured product in return for this review. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.

We're going on an adventure

Living Arrows 37/52 (2015)

So late this week I almost missed it altogether! I haven’t had much chance to do a lot of blogging lately and even when I do get time it’s usually only on my phone as I’m stuck under a feeding or sleeping baby. I’m hoping that Gabe might start letting me put him down for naps soon and then I might get a bit of time to get stuff done!

Anyway, needs must so we’ve got a couple of iPhone snaps this week. This first one is the infamous baby who, for now, will only nap on his mama.

image

The second is my biggest boy playing with his new camera – he always wants to take pictures when we get the big camera out but letting a two year old play with an expensive DSLR isn’t always the best idea so I got him his own wooden one to play with, which is a bit more forgiving of being chucked on the floor!

image

Living Arrows

Gabriel is one month old

One month old already, and what a month it’s been! I’m not going to lie, this month has been really hard, but I’ve already written about that here.

image

There have been some lovely moments this month too like seeing Toby giving his brother a kiss on the head is adorable, and he often does it without any prompting. Toby has also learnt to say ‘Gabe’ now too and when he sees him in the morning or after nursery he says ‘hello Gabe’ – too cute! And although they have been a bit few and far between, those newborn snuggles are very sweet too.

Gabe is mostly still just feeding and sleeping (although mostly feeding!). We are still breastfeeding, but have introduced a bottle of formula at about 7pm so Barry can give him that while I put Toby in bed. We might have to give another bottle of formula during the day too as although Gabe is gaining weight it’s not quite as much as we would like. He was 7lb 3oz yesterday which is only 6oz more than when he was born and he has dropped from between the 9th and 25th centiles down to the 2nd. Considering the amount he is feeding he should really be putting on a bit more weight. I really do want to carry on with the breastfeeding but if he needs formula then I’m not going to beat myself up about it. I went to see a lactation consultant yesterday and she was great. She checked Gabe for any issues and basically said it seems like I’m producing quite a lot of milk but because Gabe isn’t that good at getting the milk from me yet that’s why he’s always wanting to feed and isn’t gaining that much weight. She gave me some things to try to see if we can improve matters and hopefully as Gabe gets bigger he’ll get better at feeding too.

We still think Gabe has silent reflux as well – he’s now on ranitidine (which is the same medicine Toby has) but it’s difficult to know if it’s really making any difference. We found he was starting to bring up most of the feed when we used normal formula so have now switched to anti-reflux formula which is much better.

So there have been a few issues to contend with, and probably one of the hardest months of my life, but Gabe is starting to be awake and alert a bit more now and I know it won’t be too long before he will start interacting more too. It makes the difficult bits a lot easier to deal with when you at least get a smile for your troubles!

Review: Bravado nursing bras

Whilst I was pregnant with Gabe I was sent two maternity/nursing bras by the lovely people at Bravado. I wore both bras through the rest of my pregnancy and you can read my review of what I thought of them as maternity bras here.

Now Gabe is here I am, so far, managing to breastfeed and this boy likes his boobs so my nursing bras are getting plenty of use! I thought I would write a quick update on how I’m finding the Bravado Essential Embrace and the Body Silk Seamless nursing bras.

I’ve found both bras very easy to use as nursing bras. The clips are easy to open, and I’ve almost mastered closing them with one hand! Both bras also have cups that drop down fully which I prefer as it makes for easier access. I find this particularly important in the early days of breastfeeding when getting the baby in the right position and latched on is hard enough without having to push bits of bra out of the way!

Body Silk Seamless Nursing Bra

The absolute star bra for me in these first few weeks though has been the Body Silk Seamless. If you’ve read my first review you might remember I was a bit concerned that it wasn’t very supportive but the soft, stretchy material has been an absolute godsend in these first few weeks. I have pretty much lived in this bra day and night since Gabe was born as it is so comfortable. The stretchiness of the Body Silk Seamless was invaluable in the days when my milk came in and my boobs were bigger than my head and very uncomfortable. There’s no way I could have squeezed them into any of my other bras.

Essential Embrace Nursing Bra

Now things have settled down a bit in the boob department I am also wearing the Essential Embrace bra more – particularly if I’m going out in public as I do find it a bit more supportive.

The Body Silk Seamless has just launched in a new colour – the lovely Silver Belle. This silver grey colour is lovely and makes a change from boring black. In fact I love this bra so much I’ve just ordered another one myself!

image

 

 

**Disclosure: I was sent the featured products in return for this review. All opinions are my own.

We're going on an adventure

Living Arrows 36/52 (2015)

Another week done. This week was my first on my own with both boys as Barry went back to work on Monday. Toby is still going to nursery in the afternoons but as Barry leaves for work at 6:30 am I’ve had to get both of them up, dressed and fed on my own and then had to try and occupy Toby while feeding Gabe for half the morning. Actually, it’s been much better than I expected. I’ve been able to put Gabe in the sling for a large part of the morning most days, and Toby has been really good getting his toys and playing by himself if I’m busy with Gabe. There has been rather more CBeebies than is probably healthy but for now I’m not too worried about that!

Yesterday Barry had the day off work (so I only actually had to do four days on my own) and we all went to Glasgow to see In The Night Garden Live. It was brilliant! Toby loved it, shouting and cheering when his favourite characters came on and clapping and dancing to all the songs. I think Barry and I enjoyed it as much as Toby did too. Gabe slept through most of it only waking up towards the end and I managed to feed him sat on the floor in the auditorium. I think I’m getting the hang of this breastfeeding business!

After the show we had paid the extra £15 to meet Iggle Piggle (expensive, but irresistible) – Toby was a bit shy but he did give Piggle (as he calls him) a cuddle and then we all had our picture taken together. So, although this is just an iPhone picture of the the photo we got I couldn’t not use it as this week’s Living Arrows picture…

36_52 15

 

Living Arrows

Review: Tots Bots PeeNut

Regular readers among you will know I am a massive fan of cloth nappies. Toby has been wearing cloth since he was about seven weeks old and Gabe was just three days old when he wore his first reusable nappy! We have a few brands of nappies that we use regularly – after a bit of trial and error in the early days we found what worked for us and have pretty much stuck to it ever since. Tots Bots Bamboozles have been our go to night nappies since we started with cloth so when we were given the opportunity to try a brand new nappy system from Tots Bots (and before it was even available to the public!) I was eager to give it a try.

PeeNut packaging

So what exactly have we been trying out? The new PeeNut from Tots Bots is a birth-to-potty, day-to-night nappy system. It is made up of a waterproof cover with pop-in inserts. The wraps and inserts will be available to buy separately or as a set (I will include some pricing info at the end of this post).  The wraps come in two sizes; size 1 fits from 6-18lb and size 2 from 9-35lb. Both sizes have Velcro fastening and poppers on the front which allow you to adjust the rise to fit smaller babies.

PeeNut size 1 and 2

The day-to-night inserts are a set of two bamboo boosters with poppers at one end. One insert is bigger than the other and this clever system allows you to use either of the inserts on their own or popper them together and use both, depending on the age of your baby and how heavy a wetter they are. The wraps have flaps at each end to keep the inserts in place and a wipe clean inside, so if the nappy is only wet you can change the inserts and reuse the cover – meaning less washing to be done!

PeeNut inserts

With two boys in cloth nappies we were sent two size 1 covers, four size 2 covers and eight day-to-night insert sets to try, along with a pack of fleece liners and a roll of disposable liners. Although the size 1 cover is suitable from 6lb it is still too big for my very skinny-legged boy so we haven’t been able to try the PeeNut out with Gabe just yet.

PeeNut on the bum

We have been using the PeeNut nappy system with Toby for a couple of weeks now though and so far I’m very impressed. Toby weighs 30lb at the moment so is towards the top end of the range for the size 2 covers but they are a great fit and probably will be for a good while yet. For daytime we have been using both inserts together and they have easily lasted three or four hours with no leaks. The real test for us though was night time. Toby usually sleeps for about 13 hours so his nappy really needs to be able to cope with that. As I mentioned before our usual night time nappy is a Tots Bots Bamboozle using the included bamboo booster and a hemp booster, covered with a Tots Bots Stretchy Wrap or a Blueberry Coverall. By morning the nappy and boosters are usually soaked and we quite often have small leaks from around the legs. I was slightly skeptical then that the PeeNut would be able to cope overnight with Toby’s toddler wees. However, I was pleasantly surprised. I used both inserts, with the top one folded in half towards the front and our usual hemp booster underneath and we haven’t had any leaks at all! All the inserts have been soaked by morning but we haven’t even had a slight damp patch. Toby seems very comfortable too – the PeeNut is very slim fitting, even with an extra booster, so I would imagine it is more comfortable for Toby to sleep with than his normal bulky night time nappy.

Showing off PeeNut

Although the PeeNut system is designed so you can just change the inserts and reuse the cover, I have to admit I have changed the whole nappy every time. However, this is just personal preference and because we have plenty of nappies so I don’t really need to reuse the cover. If you are planning on doing so though I would recommend you have a new cover with the inserts already popped in ready to go and then give your used cover a wipe and leave it to air a bit before using it at the next nappy change. The PeeNut wraps and inserts have washed well with the rest of our nappies – the inserts can be tumble dried on low (and I have to admit most of our nappies have been going in the drier lately, a combination of Scottish summer weather and a newborn means there hasn’t been much chance to get them on the line!). I did dry some inserts on the airer inside to see how long they would take and they were dry in under 24 hours which is what I would expect from bamboo – it’s super absorbent but that does mean it takes a while to dry.

PeeNut bum

Overall I have been really impressed with the Tots Bots PeeNut nappy system. Most importantly we have been able to use it both day and night without any leaks, but it is also a great slim fit. Because you don’t need as many covers as you do inserts the PeeNut is also a really cost effective way of using cloth nappies.

The PeeNut nappy system has an RRP of £15.99 (plain) or £17.99 (print) for a wrap and day-to-night insert set. Wraps are available separately with and RRP of £10.99 (plain) or £12.99 (print). Extra inserts are £6.99. There is also a mini pack which includes 2 wraps and 4 sets of inserts (RRP £42.99) and a complete birth-to-potty kit which includes 8 wraps, 16 insert sets, a laundry bucket and mesh liner, a wet bag, Tots Bots Potion detergent and a roll of disposable liners (RRP £195.99)

**Disclosure: I was sent the featured products in return for this review. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.

Living Arrows 35/52 (2015)

It’s been another week of just making it through the days here. Toby is getting more used to Gabe every day and I’m pleased to say he hasn’t shown any signs of jealousy yet, despite so much of my time being taken up with the new baby. He’s still not entirely sure of him though, especially when he’s crying – newborn babies are loud!

We managed to get this snap of them together this week. Toby still really likes stroking his brother’s head and giving him kisses which is adorable…

35_52 15

Living Arrows

Nobody said it was easy. . .

I’ve just spent another day sat on the sofa trapped underneath a feeding baby. When, after several hours, I finally seem to fill him up he sleeps, but wakes the minute I try to move him off my lap. And so I sit, playing endless games of Candy Crush or refreshing my Twitter feed for the hundredth time. 

Barry has been doing a fantastic job of getting Toby up, dressed and fed, of playing with him, of deflecting his never ending requests for apple. I try and encourage Toby to sit with me for a cuddle, or get a book for us to read together, but it seems that while mummy is constantly hidden by a baby who never seems to move from her knee, Toby prefers to keep his distance. Sometimes he can be persuaded to give me a cuddle before he goes off to nursery for the afternoon but often a quick ‘bye’ from the doorway is all I get. 

And so I sit some more, I sit while my husband brings me sandwiches, and biscuits, and cups of tea that I drink luke warm for fear of spilling them on the baby. He goes shopping, does laundry and spends what seems like hours of everyday keeping on top of the endless washing up. 

In the early evening I usually manage to snatch 15 minutes to put Toby to bed, after Barry has done the hard part of getting him ready, and then he spends the time I’m with Toby trying to comfort a crying baby who won’t be comforted because daddy doesn’t have boobs to provide milk on tap. 

After some more sitting, and eating my dinner from a plate precariously balanced on the edge of a feeding pillow, I spend the night trying to catch snatches of sleep in between moving a baby from one side to the other and sleeping without moving, constantly tense in case by letting my baby sleep next to me I some how end up hurting him. If we’re lucky Toby stays asleep, but if not I have to listen to him crying for me whilst his daddy does his best to calm him and get him back to sleep. 

And then the morning comes and we start all over again. 

Barry goes back to work on Monday and I have no idea how I am going to get myself and the two boys up, dressed and fed, entertain Toby all morning and then get him to nursery in the afternoon. I anticipate a lot of tears from all of us. 

We didn’t come into this situation with our eyes shut. We knew having another baby, when Toby was only just two, would be difficult.  

Nobody said it would be easy…I just didn’t realise it would be this hard.