My First 6 Months with Baby Carly

I have been meaning to write an update on baby Carly for awhile now and what better time than on the eve of her turning 6 months old (so scary how fast time is flying by these days!).

Brother and Sister

I can't quite believe that six months ago I was calmly ignoring the fact that I was in labour whilst picking Cameron up from nursery, cooking dinner for everyone and watching the new series of The Big Bang Theory. I was three days overdue and, due to awful migraines and high fluid levels, booked in for an induction in four days. Tim had bought me a session of reflexology after I had told him it was meant to help bring on labour and it had actually worked, my contractions began during the treatment and slowly intensified throughout the evening. I refused to believe I was actually in labour until 10pm due to a lot of annoying false starts over the past couple of weeks. It was only, after going for a walk around the block and barely being able to stand up straight for the pain, that I admitted defeat and called the maternity ward who told me to make my way in. When we arrived I was examined and told I was 3cm but that I could stay in and try out the pool etc to get things going a bit more. Everything went quite quickly after that and soon I was 4cm and in established labour. Once my waters were broken (and I subsequentally flooded the room), things went extremely fast and I was pushing just 45 minutes later.

Just after birth

At 4:34am on Friday 16th November 2012 my beautiful baby daughter was born and placed into my arms. Carly weighed just half an ounce under 8 pounds and I immediately felt such an overwhelming love for her. Due to Carly's birth being straightforward I was able to go home just 4 hours later and Cameron loved having his little sister in front of him rather than stuck in mummy's tummy.

Cameron helping bath a newborn Carly

I won't lie, it has not been smooth sailing going from one to two children and anyone who says it is must be either really lucky or be lying... but I am thankful everyday for my two amazing children and I can't wait for them to be a bit older so that they can play properly together (as opposed to Cameron trying to play with Carly by pulling her by her legs....).

Cuddles with mummy after a bath

I struggled a fair bit after Carly was born with breastfeeding, which didn't work properly to begin with as we weren't latching right and my nipples bled and were so sore I felt like ripping my boobs off (yes, it was THAT bad). I also had after pains that felt like I was back in established labour. I even vividly remember asking Tim for gas and air in the middle of the night a couple of days after Carly was born. I felt exhausted most of the time as I couldn't sleep when the baby slept as everyone kept telling me to as I still had a lively toddler running circles around me.

I was diagnosed with PND a few months after having Carly, something which didn't surprise me as I had PND with Cameron as well as having prenatal depression during his pregnancy and depression throughout my teeens. I have still yet to see a counsellor. I was given tablets straight away despite telling the doctor I did not feel comfortable taking antidepressants (which is why they are sat unopened in my drawer). I will beat this depression, as I have beat it in the past, and working has helped me a lot.

Her first photoshoot at 5 days old

I learnt with my first child to trust my own instincts and so when Carly reached four months, despite the governmnet guidelines now saying six months for solids (they change their mind all the time!!) I started her on pureed food which she loved. She is a very hungry baby and I knew she was ready for more. I am excited now that she is at the six month stage to try out baby led weaning, she tries to grab everything I eat so I think she will love the independence of it.

At her happiest, with food all round her mouth!

Enjoying a rusk

As for breastfeeding, I have managed to hang on in there until this week when I gave in and bought Carly her first tub of formula. When Carly was around four months, we started giving her a bottle of formula before bed and she slept through from 8pm to 7am every day which was amazing, but I have been buying the ready made cartons for the past two months so as not to stop breastfeeding her completely. I said to myself I wanted to reach six months and I am proud to have got here as it hasn't always been easy!

Laughing!

Carly has started to really show her personality now and I think I am in for a tough time as she is quite the little madam! She has big tantrums when I finish feeding her (even when she has had more than she technically should have) and if I don't give her milk on time she will scream the house down. Most of the time she is such a lovely baby though and she puts up with so much from Cameron who is so over the top with her always hugging her and kissing her and pulling her hands or feet. She just sits and watches him most of the time and I know she will love it when she can move around more and play with him.

In her bumbo watching tv

Carly loves television (though I try and limit how much she watches) and could quite happily sit and watch it in her bumbo for ages if I let her. I have taken Carly to swimming classes for the past six weeks and she has loved being in the water. I probably won't be able to carry on the classes due to time and cost restraints but I will definitely keep taking her in the pool as she enjoys the water, even with bath time she beams at me and kicks her legs around. I am so proud of her already being able to swim underwater at six months! I am looking into classes for when Carly is a little older and will be taking her to baby ballet as I wish I had had more hobbies as a child.

Going swimming!

Carly can roll over from front to back and back to front, she still isn't sitting up unaided but she can sit for around thirty seconds before slowly falling forward- I am putting it down to laziness from her daddy's side... She has been trying to crawl for ages now but hasn't the strength to get herself going properly, I think it won't be too much longer though before she becomes unstoppable!

trying to crawl!

Carly loves toys but prefers her brother's toy cars to her pink and fluffy stuff (I am thinking she might be a tom boy, nooooo!). I take the kids for walks around the area we live in and Carly loves to look around and always wants to know what is going on. Carly has been making noises that sound like hi for a few weeks, I looked it up and she could be saying it but obviously doesn't know what she is saying yet!

Eating jelly!

I am so excited to see what the next six months has in store for us and how Carly will have developed in that time. It is crazy to think how fast the past six months have gone by and that in just nine months time she will be celebrating our wedding day with us, most likely walking and talking!

Baby Carly Olivia Moore is Finally Here!

It's been just over a week since my last pregnancy update and I am so pleased to be able to finally say that baby Carly is now here!

I went into labour last Thursday 15th during a reflexology treatment. My contractions slowly got closer and closer together and I finally allowed my mum to persuade me to go into the maternity hospital at 10:30pm by which point my contractions were 3/4 minutes apart and I was 3cm dilated.

I had the gas and air after about half an hour and tried out the birth pool, although I had to get out quite quickly after the baby's heart rate slowed and I needed to be attached to a monitor for awhile. At around 3am I was examined and had my waters broken (I definitely still had high fluid levels as it went EVERYWHERE!) which really sped things up.

On gas and air

I was in a lot of pain and had a shot of pethidene to help me cope. I went from 4cm to 10cm dilated in around an hour and the midwife didn't believe me when I told her I was feeling pressure and needed to push. I had to stop using the gas and air as the pain was so intense and I needed to concentrate on getting my daughter our. After she eventually examined me it was time to push and within ten minutes I had my baby girl in my arms!

She was born at 4:34am weighing 7 pounds 15 and a half oz. It all went by in such a blur that I was pretty overwhelmed and couldn't quite believe I finally had my baby girl! Tim and my mum were amazing birth partners throughout and so encouraging. Tim cut his daughter's cord and got very emotional. I had a bath and got changed and we left the hospital at 9am, it was all very straightforward.

Our perfect little family <3

Since she has arrived I have been settling into being a mummy to two children. Cameron is loving being a big brother and keeps giving baby Carly lots of kisses and cuddles. I am so happy to have my little family complete and am looking forward to our first Christmas all together as well as finishing planning our wedding (just got to slim down before dress shopping!).

My Nan Turns 80!

This weekend was a pretty eventful one. My nan turned 80 yesterday and we had planned on spending the weekend in Bridport to celebrate. On the way there on Saturday I started getting contractions, which got worse as we got closer to the farm houses where my nan was due to be staying.

By the time we had arrived, they were three minutes apart and lasting just over a minute. We had no phone signal at the resort and my mum's car had started making awful noises on the journey down the long dirt track there, so we ended up having to call an ambulance! When the ambulance arrived, the paramedic felt my stomach as I was having a contraction and became concerned that I was having such a strong contraction at 32 weeks pregnant.

The first ambulance leaving the farmhouses with me in it

On the dirt track we ended up getting stuck in a cattle grid, which meant having to have another ambulance come to get me and my mum- talk about drama! By this point the contractions had already started slowing down and luckily by the time I reached Dorchester hospital (20 minutes away) they had almost stopped completely. I was hooked up to a monitor and the baby and me were observed before they did a test to see if I was at risk of going into labour properly. Luckily the test came back negative and I was allowed to leave. My aunt came to collect us, telling us about a drama they had whilst we were at the hospital (my aunt nearly got tipped into the water when going for a boat ride!)and we managed to make it back to the resort in time to have fish and chips and watch X Factor with everyone before going back home.

On Sunday I was feeling quite apprehensive after the events of the day before but luckily nothing went wrong and we met up with my nan, aunt and cousins at a lovely little country pub near Bridport where we had a nice meal for my nan's birthday.

After the meal we went back to the resort again and had a group photo and my nan blew out the candles on her (rather amusing looking) 80 birthday cake.

It was lovely being able to spend time with everyone together as it isn't often it happens with people working and living in different areas of the country. My nan had a brilliant time.

On Monday everyone came over ours before going back home and we had another cake and I gave my nan a present I had been making for her over the weekend- a book filled with personal messages from everyone, photos of us all with my nan from over the weekend, and poems about nans that I had found online. She loved it!

I still can't believe how good my nan looks for 80, I hope I look that good when I get to her age!

How to Write a Birth Plan

Somebody on one of the many pregnancy related Facebook groups I belong to at the moment was worrying as she was late on in her pregnancy and hadn't even thought about writing a birth plan or packing her hospital bag.

Now, without trying to sound smug, I am ridiculously organised in everything and have literally been having to stop myself from writing my own birth plan until I reach 20 weeks! Of course, a birth plan isn't essential. You can go into labour without one and often even the best made plans can go out the window when the time comes as baby is firmly in charge (Cameron's labour was totally different from my original plan).

However, I think it is always a good idea to have at least some idea of what you would like to happen in labour in regards to pain relief, birth partners, cutting the cord etc. When you are finding it near impossible to even breathe through the pain of contractions, you won't be in a fit state to start reeling off your requests and might not even be able to answer basic questions. Having a written plan will ensure that as far as possible, the medical staff will be able to do things the way you want.

Writing a birth plan can be daunting, especially if it is your first baby. I would advise going online and doing a quick google search. This is all I did and I came up straight away with two templates which I have printed out ready for when I let myself start thinking about the birth!

I like how in depth the NHS template goes as it allows you to think about aspects of the birth which you might not have even considered such as delivering the placenta and vitamin K injections. It also includes a section on special requirements such as religious customes, special needs or the need for a language interpreter during labour.

Another good template is the HiPP Organic one which, although shorter, still has a lot of detail and is great as it looks a bit less scary and more down to earth. I aim to fill in both templates as a starting point and then from there write up my own personalised plan which I will make sure I have a copy of with my notes.

Also, don't be afraid to speak to your midwife about your birth plan prior to the birth. They will be able to answer any questions you might have about things such as the vitamin K injection (which can be administered to the baby via drops rather than the injection if you wish) and what pain relief would be best suited to you. It might also be comforting to talk to a friend or family member who has been through labour before (just make sure you let them know you don't want a horror story but advice on what you might want to write in your birth plan!).

10 Day Friend Challenge: Day 9: A lifechanging event a friend shared

This one was easy to do! My best friend Aimee was there at Cameron's birth! That was a pretty lifechanging event I would say! She was an amazing birth partner, alongside my mum, and I wouldn't have been able to do it without her help.

Excuse the face, I was having a contraction at the time!!

She even got to see all the gory detail when the midwife suggested she go down 'that end' as Cameron was born! She is one of Cameron's Godmothers and I hope she will always be in his life as she is a great influence and a great friend. I cannot wait until she has a baby herself and they can be the best of friends!

Such a natural