My Sunday Photo: Tummy Time

For a long time A absolutely detested tummy time, so we haven't done it as much as we probably should. Now that she is almost rolling from back to front we've been practising a lot more, and she seems to be taking to it a little more each time. She has always had good head control but I hadn't realised how strong her arms were until I was taking this picture. As soon as she was put down she lifted herself right up so her chest was off the mat and held herself in that position for ages! She is such a nosy baby though, so maybe being able to have a good look around was her incentive!

Mummy and Me: January 2016

Please excuse the quality of the photo here- I wish it was better, but I'm too sentimental about this photo not to make it my Mummy and Me post for this month. As baby A gets older, she is becoming less and less eager to just sit and cuddle...too much exploring and toy-playing for Miss Independent to get on with! This photo was taken during a rare evening snuggle while D was on a night out, and of course we had to send him it to show him what he was missing out on! As much as I love her active, inquisitive nature I do miss those newborn snuggles so I have to make the most of every chance I get!

A Mummy Update: Three Months On

 

 

I am now fifteen weeks post-birth and overall feeling pretty good and almost back to my usual self. I had an emergency C-section which thankfully went perfectly and my physical recovery has been smooth-sailing ever since. I was up and about as soon as I regained feeling in my legs, out walking with the pram two days later and back driving after a week. I really can't recommend getting yourself up and about after a section asap enough, and I think that's what aided my recovery the most. The scar is healing well, and has just stopped feeling numb. I've actually caught it a few times on my jeans in the past week, I think I preferred it numb! 

In total I gained 3 stone during my pregnancy (I genuinely have no idea how!) and was gutted to leave the hospital with my 9lb 3oz baby only ten pounds lighter! I had banked on the amniotic fluid and placenta shaving an extra few pounds off. Between leaving hospital in mid-October and Christmas I lost approximately another stone, but this then stalled over the festive season thanks to all the yummy treats on offer. If you can't treat yourself at Christmas when can you?! Now we have a bit more routine I've started the battle against the bulge and have lost 9lbs in three weeks, bringing me to 10st 5lbs. My pre-pregnancy weight was 9st, but I had gained half a stone before that (happy relationships eh?!) so would preferably like to get back to that.

 

 

 

The downside of losing weight is that my stretch marks on my stomach are looking worse. I escaped them until 30 weeks pregnant but ended up with loads and the more my stomach shrinks the more they're joining together and look like wrinkles. Hopefully over time they'll improve. At the moment I'm undergoing physio because my tummy muscles split due to being so petite and having a large baby so I'm not allowed to do any sit-ups or stretches without supervision so can't really target my tummy area as much as I'd like but realistically I probably wouldn't do them anyway! My main issue is the stretch marks on my calves, if we get a nice summer I don't want to be restricted to jeans so if anyone has any recommendations for products to get rid of them then please let me know.

Emotionally I think I'm worse than I was at the start! Thankfully I escaped the Baby Blues and only had a few wobbly moments but when I look at A now and see how amazingly she's developing and just how generally gorgeous and scrummy she is I get so teary! At the moment I'm just feel a bit stuck in a rut. I feel as though all we do is go for a long walk around our area every.single.day and it's just become monotonous. I'm looking forward to A being a bit more aware so we can start going to some baby groups.

I couldn't have asked for a better recovery really, and I'm so thankful to have had such a wonderful pregnancy and birth. Now my only challenge is to get the rest of the weight off; hopefully in time to enjoy it for a wee while before it's time for the next one....

Meal Plan Monday

Minestrone Soup| Chicken & Broccoli Pasta
Chicken, Ratatouille & Cous Cous| Chilli

Last week we managed to stick to our meal plan for the third week in a row, although I found it a major challenge at the beginning of the week when I was exhausted and emotional after a few bad nights with A and just wanted big bowls of creamy pasta, toast and cheese and general carb-loveliness. Thankfully I managed to stick it out and ended the week 2lbs lighter which has given me a bit of a boost for the coming week!

This week we're planning to have:

Monday: Haggis, neeps & tatties (Burn's Night)

Tuesday: Cod, sweet potato wedges and red pepper sauce

Wednesday: In-laws for dinner

Thursday: Spaghetti Bolognese

Friday: Chicken Enchiladas

Saturday: Tuna steak, baby potatoes, baby corn and peas

Sunday: Stewed sausage, mash, broccoli and gravy

As usual, my lunches will consist of soup (roasted pepper and tomato this week), salads or eggs.

My Sunday Photo: Two Little Lines

Today I'm reminiscing about this time last year...

On the 24/01/15 we found out we were expecting a little munchkin! Fast forward a year and she is now a three month old smiling, babbling, milk-guzzling wee beauty! The past year has been the best of my life, and I can't wait to watch the rest of 2016 unfold and watch baby A grow and develop. Funny how two little lines can change everything!

Ava's Three Month Update

Last Wednesday Ava turned three months old. It's crazy to think that a quarter of a year has gone by so fast. We had an amazing first Christmas with our little munchkin, who was extremely spoiled! Luckily people were sensible and bought lots of toys which she will grow into. This should save us money throughout the year which is fab, although the attic is a complete state at the moment with everything crammed up there.

At twelve weeks old Ava weighed 13lb 4oz, and is continuing just below the 75th centile. We have just upped her milk to 7oz per feed, and she's currently taking between 6.5 and 7oz every three hours. We have also implemented a bedtime routine, and more often than not she is sleeping through the night. Generally she sleeps from 9pm-7am and I am absolutely loving it! We decided that when D went back to work after Christmas we would start trying to get her down earlier at night as we're both morning people and were finding staying up until midnight every night tough so we've been a bit stricter with her napping in the early evening and luckily she has fallen into the routine perfectly. She is better with sleeping through the day too, and tends to have an hour nap after her morning bottle, two hours late morning and two-three hours late afternoon/early evening.

We had her second lot of injections this week, and while they were still horrible they went much better than the first. She had stopped crying before I even got her dressed and was even giving the nurse smiles on the way out! Again, she had no side-effects and didn't seem too bothered at all.

Munchkin is still a little smiler and will readily give them out to anyone! She still loves being sat and held up straight to look around and has started spending some time in her Bumbo which Santa brought her. At the moment I'm only allowing her to have 5-10min in it as I think she's still a bit small but she loves it, and much prefers it to her bouncer. She has always had excellent head control, but can now properly hold it up, and is very nearly sitting up properly. Her little legs are like steel and she loves standing up. She has also started to kick off your lap too which I'm not enjoying as I'm terrified she's going to spring right off! As always, she enjoys lying on her changing mat, and has now started to try and roll. It looks mighty uncomfortable to me but obviously doesn't bother her and I don't think it will be long before she's properly over. She has really found her voice in the last couple of weeks and babbles constantly, even in her sleep!

Unfortunately Ava has started to become really clingy towards me. It has only been in the past couple of days, but I really hope she snaps out of it soon. She screams if anyone apart from me or her Daddy hold her, and will only allow me to settle her for bed. She sees other people every day and I've left her with my parents or D's parents a couple of times and she has always been absolutely fine so I don't understand her wariness with people she knows all of a sudden. If anyone has any tips on how to deal with this then please let me know.

Ava's Two Month Update

Sunday 13/12/15

 

 

Today my baby turns two months old! At her six week review she weighed 10lb 14oz, and has dropped slightly below the 75th centile, although is on the 91st centile for her head circumference and length. She now comfortably fits her 0-3month clothing and is in size 2 nappies.

 

 

Until six weeks Ava was taking about 4oz formula every three hours but all of a sudden she started leaving some, taking ages to feed and generally being a madam at milk-time so we switched to the stage 2  teats and the difference was instant! She's now guzzling 5oz every 3-4hrs and even sometimes taking an extra couple of ounces at bedtime.

 

 

Speaking of bedtime, we have had a few instances of sleeping through the night! Generally she goes down at about 10.30pm and sleeps until 8.30am with a feed at 5ish but has missed that out a few times and got up a bit earlier in the morning. She's still really good if she does get up at night, and just has some milk and goes straight back down. Usually if she wakes she only takes about 2oz so I suppose she doesn't really need it and is just peckish. She's still not great at napping through the day, and will only really have a long sleep if she is in her pram and we're out and about. Gives me an excuse to get out walking every day though and shift the baby weight!

 

She had her first injections on Wednesday at 8weeks 1day and they were horrific! Her little face just broke my heart and to have to watch it three times was awful. That was the first time I had heard her properly cry and the first time she produced tears. She did calm down quickly though and slept for a good 3hrs afterwards. That evening she was pretty upset but was fine the next day and didn't seem to experience any side-effects so we were lucky.

 

She still prefers to just lie on her changing mat but is getting better on her playmat, although it very much depends on her mood! Her bouncer is starting to get more use and she loves being sat or held up straight so she can have a good nosy! She is also loving the Christmas tree, and seems very confused about whether to watch that or the TV at the moment!

 

 

Again, I can't believe how quickly the past month has gone and I can't wait to spend her first Christmas season with her. I have a feeling Santa has gone a bit mad, although don't tell Daddy!

 

 



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Ava's One Month Update

Sunday 15/11/15

 

 

On Friday Ava turned one month old! I just can't believe how quickly these past few weeks have whizzed by, but at the same time I feel as though she has always been here in my arms! Her little personality is beginning to shine through now which makes every day more enjoyable and I just love figuring out all of her little quirks!

 

 

 

At birth Ava weighed 9lbs 3oz, which had dropped to 8lb 14oz by day three and back up to 9lb 1oz by day six. She was last weighed at three weeks old and was 9lb 10oz so is gaining well. Unfortunately breast feeding didn't work out for us, and we started bottle-feeding on day 3. We're using Aptamil first stage, and luckily haven't had any problems so far. When we got home she was taking roughly 2oz every 2hrs and now takes 3-4oz every 3hrs.

 

 

Ava is uncurling herself now and it's obvious she's going to be tall like her daddy! She is still in her newborn and up to one month clothes but her little leggings are beginning to ride up her legs! She is also still using first size nappies.

 

 

The first thing everyone comments on is her hair! She was born with lots of dark hair, and seems to have held on to the majority of it. At the moment it is straight, which I hope continues as I remember how unruly my hair was as a child! Her eyes were dark blue to begin with, but have now started to get a bit lighter and she also has her Daddy's dimple chin which I could just nibble on all day! (Ava's not Daddy's!)

 

Ava is starting to find her voice, and giving us little coos and gurgles. She started smiling at exactly three weeks (06/11/15), which is just the most wonderful sight to see! She always gives me a huge smile when she wakes up in the morning, which makes it so much easier to get up! She absolutely detests her playmat but will quite happily just lie on her changing mat on the floor for ages instead and is beginning to become a little telly-bug... oh oh!

 

 

Sleep-wise she does really well at night and only really gets up once at around 3am (after going down at about 11pm). We're really lucky in that she will just take her bottle and go right back off to sleep and we can put her straight down. Through the day she's not so good though, and will only sleep if she's in someone's arms. At the moment she isn't fussy whose arms they are so at least I can pass her over and get some things done!

 

She has just slotted perfectly into our lives, and we can't remember what we used to do without her!



Meal Plan Monday

On January the 4th, both D and I kick-started our resolution to lose the baby weight. Before having baby A we were really good at cooking all of our meals from scratch and eating (fairly) healthily but we've been really lazy since she was born and having lots of ready meals and takeaways. Then of course came Christmas, with the result that my weight-loss not only stalled, but started to creep back up!

Now that A is in a routine, I find myself with much more time to cook so we've been able to stick to our meal plans easily for the past couple of weeks and I've really loved getting back into my cooking. We already feel much better and have begun to see a difference which is a fab bonus, and a major incentive to keep going!

Here's what this week's meals look like:

Monday: Cod, pesto pasta with sundried tomatoes, broccoli

 

Tuesday: Chicken breast, roast peppers and cous cous

 

Wednesday: Going to the in-laws for dinner

 

Thursday: Venison burger, sweet potato wedges and salad

 

Friday: Salmon, quinoa, broccoli

 

Saturday:  Baked meatballs and spaghetti with own pasta sauce

 

Sunday: Going to my parents for dinner

I usually make a big pot of soup on a Sunday (this week is butternut squash) which we both have for lunch a couple of times through the week. Other lunches for me are usually salad or scrambled/boiled eggs and D will usually just buy something while at work.

If you are interested in any of the recipes posted then let me know and I'll get back to you asap!