12 October , 20154 August , 2017 - Sarah 24 Comments

Review: Ardo Calypso double breastpump

When I was pregnant with Gabe I started thinking about whether there were any products I would need that I hadn’t had with Toby. One thing that I was considering was an electric breast pump. I didn’t have a great breastfeeding experience with Toby and I never really expressed any milk at all. I had a manual pump that was pretty rubbish and I’d stopped breastfeeding before I bothered to try any other kind of pump. This time I knew I wanted to give breastfeeding another go and I thought that an electric pump might be useful in the early days to help increase my supply, and then perhaps later if I wanted to express milk so Barry or someone else could feed Gabe.

There are lots of different breast pumps on the market and it’s hard to know which one to choose. When I saw a tweet from Ardo saying they were looking for people to try their pumps I had a look at their website and was impressed to see that their pumps are used in hospitals around the country. As well as information about their products there is also lots of fab information and advice about breastfeeding on the website. I got in touch with Ardo and was delighted when they agreed to send me a Calypso Double Plus electric pump to try, along with a great selection of breastfeeding and pumping accessories.

The Calypso Double Plus has an RRP of £129.95. The pump comes with a selection of different size breast shells (four different options), two bottles with lids and a bottle holder, plus a brush for cleaning. Ardo also kindly sent me some night and day breast pads, microwave sterilising bags, freezer storage bags and some lanolin nipple cream.

The pump was very easy to set up out of the box. It can be used as a single or double pump and it’s very easy to switch between the two. The pump can be used with batteries or from the mains so you can easily pump on the go if you need to. It has different settings for vacuum and cycles so it’s very easy to adjust to get the best flow – Ardo recommend you start with low suction and high speed and then when the milk starts to flow increase the suction and decrease the speed – this mimics a baby’s suckling pattern to achieve the best results. Because there are eight different levels for both vacuum and cycles which are individually adjustable it’s very easy to find a level which is comfortable and effective.

The Ardo pump is very quiet – very important to allow for pumping and watching TV at the same time! Since we started putting Gabe to bed at the same time as Toby a week or so ago I have been expressing milk in the evenings. If you read my recent post about how I think we might be nearing the end for breast feeding you’ll know that mostly just due to the practicalities of breastfeeding a baby who takes an awful long time to feed, alongside looking a toddler, I am now giving Gabe some bottles during the day. If I can manage to express enough milk in the evenings then one of these bottles can be breast milk rather than formula and I know Gabe is getting all the benefits of my milk, without me having to spend hours feeding him. I’m actually finding expressing milk oddly satisfying – I was very pleased with myself last week when I managed to pump 3 ounces in one session!

The Calypso pump is very easy to use and also easy to clean. As it is a closed system there is no possibility of any milk getting into the tubes or the pump itself. This means only the parts that come into contact with the milk need to be washed and sterilised. The Easy Clean microwave sterilising bags have been perfect for this and I’ve also used them when sterilising Gabe’s bottles.

Overall I have found the Ardo Calypso Double Plus Electric breast pump very easy to use, and although I haven’t been able to pump huge amounts this breast pump has certainly made the whole process a painless one. The only small criticism I have of the pump is that there isn’t a seal where the bottles connect to the pump itself. This isn’t really a problem as long as you use the bottle holder when putting the bottles down. I didn’t do this the first time I used the pump (which is entirely my own fault!) and because having the pump attached makes the bottles top heavy they don’t stand up on their own. I didn’t realise this, or that one of my bottles had fallen over and while I tidied up my hard won breast milk was slowly trickling away. Only a woman who has spilled expressed breast milk can know how truly devastating it can be! Having said that, as long as you are aware of this and use the bottle holder then it really isn’t a problem.

If you are looking for an electric breast pump then I would highly recommend the Ardo Calypso Double Plus.

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

9 October , 20159 October , 2015 - Sarah 3 Comments

A new nursery

Last week Toby left the nursery he has been at since he was 13 months old and started at a new nursery.

There were a few reasons for this; there were always a few niggling issues with his old nursery, nothing that was serious enough for us to move him but things that given a choice we would have changed. The nursery he has moved to was actually my first choice when we were putting Toby into full time childcare when I went back to work. The only reason we didn’t send him there was because it didn’t open early enough for me to drop him off and still get to work on time. Obviously that isn’t an issue now so it was no longer a reason to keep him where he was. The other main reason we have moved him is because this nursery is a lot cheaper than the old one! This doesn’t seem to have any ill effect on the care the children receive, and it means we can afford to keep Toby going four afternoons a week for the same cost as three afternoons at the old nursery. The other thing that influenced our decision was that the old nursery doesn’t receive council funding to provide children with their free hours of childcare when they are three and the new nursery does. Although we are planning to move back to England in the next year there’s a chance we’ll still be here when Toby turns three and it was easier to move him now than wait until he is three and there’s less chance of getting him a space.

Anyway, last Thursday we went along to the new nursery for a settling in session. We had told Toby what was happening but I don’t know how much he really understood. I think he was pretty confused when all the staff were giving him cuddles when he left his old nursery on Wednesday! On Thursday Barry had taken the afternoon off so we all went along. As soon as we got there Toby went off and started playing. I spoke to his key worker for a while and then we went and sat in the manager’s office for half an hour and left him to it – I don’t think he even noticed we weren’t there! When our hour was up we headed home again, Toby seemed like he’d enjoyed himself and we told him he would be coming back again the next day.

On Friday we went again. The plan was for Toby to stay at least three hours but that I would phone after two and if he was doing OK then he would stay to have his tea and do the full afternoon. When we pulled up in the car I told Toby we were at his new nursery – ‘new nursery’ he said and seemed quite happy to go in. In the hallway I was explaining to Toby that he had to change into his special ‘inside shoes’ (he didn’t have to do this at his old nursery), and I showed him the cool slippers that look like trainers that I’d got him. One of the staff came out and at this point Toby started saying ‘home’ and trying to pull me towards the door. He’s only just learnt to say home and what it means so he likes to use it, even if it’s not necessarily what he really wants. I told him we weren’t going home and we went into the toddler room where he’d had so much fun the day before. At first he clung on to me and refused to go and play. Then he had a spell of lying on the floor. After ten minutes or so he decided to go off and have a look at what there was to do. I stood up and he came back to cling to my leg again. Then he found something else to do. I probably could have sneaked off without him noticing but I don’t really like to do that, so I said goodbye, and he cried as I knew he would. He has been going his old nursery full time nursery for well over a year and still cried at least half the time when he was dropped off so I wasn’t too worried. I left him to it and sat in the car outside for a while just in case they rang me straight away to say he wouldn’t settle. No call came though so I headed home. I called them a couple of hours later and he was absolutely fine so we left him there to have his tea and do a full afternoon session.

Unfortunately this week hasn’t such plain sailing. It’s been a struggle some days to even get him in the door. Yesterday when we pulled up outside he started crying and saying ‘no nursery’ and then ‘me home’. When I left him he was really crying for me (and it was the same on Tuesday) but there have been no calls to collect him early and we’ve gone to pick him up they said it’s taken no more than five minutes for him to calm down. I’m sure there’ll be plenty more tears of drop off but as long as he continues to settle down quickly I know he’ll be fine. It doesn’t change the fact that leaving him crying is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, and it doesn’t really get any easier.

I’m so proud of my biggest boy though. There have been a lot of changes in Toby’s life recently and he’s coping with it all so well. I guess he’s not my baby any more, my little boy is proper toddler and he’s a total superstar.

5 October , 201530 November , 2015 - Sarah 2 Comments

Living Arrows 40/52 (2015)

It’s been a fairly quiet week here, we’re slowly settling into some sort of routine. We’ve started putting Gabe to bed at the same time as Toby now which means we’re getting our evenings back and that couple of hours makes all the difference. Gabe is still sleeping really well at night too, although he’s not a huge fan of the daytime nap. I remember Toby was the same though – I spent a lot of time taking him for walks to get him to sleep in the first few months but from about three months his daytime sleep improved and he started napping in his cot without any trouble. I’m just hoping Gabe follows in his brother’s footsteps!

Speaking of Toby, he has moved to a new nursery this week. After a short settling in session on Thursday he went for a full afternoon on Friday and apart from a few tears when I dropped him off on Friday he was an absolute superstar. I hope he’s still so settled when we go back again tomorrow.

I managed a successful trip to toddler group with both boys this week too. I put Gabe in the carrier and he slept the whole time, and I had both hands free to play with Toby so it was much less stressful than the week before when I’d just been holding Gabe (after optimistically assuming I would be able to leave him in the pram!).

I had another outing on my own with both boys on Friday too. We went to the cafe in the big park in our town to meet up with two of the girls from our original NCT class. They both have toddlers the same age as Toby, and they’re both pregnant too. I wouldn’t say it was entirely stress-free – Toby was being a bit clingy and didn’t want to go into the little soft play that’s there, and then he was being a bit picky about the food I’d got him for lunch, and Gabe was crying while I tried to sort Toby’s lunch out because he wanted feeding, and Toby knocked a whole pot of yoghurt all over the table…but do you know what? We all survived, we went out, I did manage to talk to my friends a bit, everyone got fed and no one was hurt so I’m chalking that one up as a victory. Every time I go out with both boys on my own, whether it’s to toddler group, or a cafe or the supermarket, I think of ways I can make it easier for next time so things can only get better from here!

Anyway, to this week’s Living Arrows pictures…the first is Toby – today we went to one of those ceramic painting places near where we live. We didn’t do any painting but it’s got a nice little cafe and a small soft play area that is free and that Toby can just go and play in on his own. He was having so much fun in there and seeing him off playing on his own gives me a little lump in my throat – it really shows me how much my baby boy is growing up.

Of course my new baby boy is still very much a baby. He still looks really like Toby did when he was the same age, especially when he’s wearing Toby’s hand me downs. This sleepsuit was Toby’s before going to my friend’s twins, and now back to Gabe again. I reckon Gabe is even longer than Toby was though, his feet are at the bottom of this sleepsuit already and it’s 0-3 months! I wonder if he’s going to end up even taller than his brother?

3 October , 2015 - Sarah 13 Comments

Breastfeeding: The beginning of the end

I’ve tried. No one can say I haven’t tried. But as I sit here at 5 am having been feeding a baby for the last hour and twenty minutes I think this is the beginning of the end for breastfeeding and me.

In fact, the beginning of the end was probably when I gave Gabe formula when he was just a day old. Or maybe it was when I started using nipple shields on his second feed. Or perhaps when a second or third bottle in the day became the norm rather than the exception about a week ago. Who knows?

I think maybe though that breastfeeding and me are just not meant to be. For me it’s just not the wonderful experience all the breastfeeding literature and baby books tell you it’s going to be. In fact, dare I say it, I simply don’t like it. I don’t feel any special bond with my baby as we sit ‘enjoying’ those breastfeeding cuddles. What I often feel is pain (because yes, even seven weeks on, with nipple shields, it still hurts half the time), and frustration that it takes so long to feed a baby in the way nature intended when I could bottle feed him in a third of the time. I don’t know, maybe cave women didn’t have much to do with their days so they could sit around feeding all day but I have a toddler to look after and a house to run and I just can’t sustain breastfeeding my baby for endless hours of every day.

I know everyone talks about the convenience of breastfeeding; no bottles to wash and sterilise, no formula to prepare, no need to plan ahead because you’ve always got milk on tap, and I suppose it is all those things but when every feed takes over an hour, feeding in public involves trying to get a baby latched on to a nipple shield without showing everyone your entire boob…then suddenly it’s not that convenient after all.

So I don’t really know where we’re going to go from here. I guess I’ll just take it one day at a time. Gabe is already getting half his feeds from a bottle and I reckon by the time he gets to 8 weeks old we won’t be breastfeeding at all.

And yes, it makes me a bit sad. I really hoped that breastfeeding was going to work out for us this time. By Toby’s six week check I wasn’t breastfeeding him at all so we’ve already made it further than that. So Toby was formula fed from about five weeks and he’s turned out OK and I’m sure Gabe will too. There’s still plenty to be proud of; that we made it this far, that I’ve managed to breastfeed in the park, and in the Night Garden(!), that I’ve tried my best to find a balance that works for all of us. I think I just need to accept that breastfeeding and me are not meant to be. But no one can say I didn’t try.

30 September , 201521 December , 2017 - Sarah Leave a comment

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…

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.

28 September , 20152 December , 2015 - Sarah 6 Comments

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!

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…

21 September , 20154 August , 2017 - Sarah 4 Comments

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.

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!

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.

20 September , 20152 December , 2015 - Sarah 1 Comment

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.

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!

17 September , 20152 July , 2016 - Sarah 2 Comments

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.

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!

13 September , 201524 October , 2018 - Sarah 21 Comments

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!

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.

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!

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