Christmas is coming

Just a few more days and the Christmas is here. 

I'm already in the happy mood as I'm off from Wednesday till next week.
Alex's grandma and aunt are coming over so it will be fun.

We were trying to decide what type of Christmas celebration should we follow.
As I and my hubby are from different countries but with similar traditions and living in a country with completely different Christmas celebration we had to choose which way to go.

Alex is still very small and doesn't understand it much so we'll go with our traditions. We don't have a TV so no commercials with Santa are to be seen in our house. 

For us the main day is December 24th. We have a family dinner usually with some soup, either sauerkraut or chicken, and the main course is breaded fish, carp if possible, with traditional potato salad. As my hubby doesn't like fish that much we are having breaded pork chops instead and granny has a salmon. I usually get the carp for myself but this year I'm not the one who's cooking. It's my hubby's mum. 

We also get presents that evening after the dinner. They are brought by little Jesus to us not the Santa.

I'm so used to this way of Xmas that it's very difficult to imagine change it, but if Alex was bigger and all her friends would get presents from Santa we might change at least this part. 

She will have a sock with a little gift there and so will have her brother, even though he's still in my bump. But they both will have these socks for next years...

I'm glad that all the presents are ready to be put under the Christmas tree. It's true that the main ones for my hubby are only envelops as they are either online based or will be delivered later, but Alex's are all to be brought in on Christmas eve.

So here we go!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Mouse in the house

It was Sunday morning and my hubby was still asleep. Me and Alex we were already up, had our breakfasts and played a little. I had to use the bathroom and couldn't leave Alex in the living room alone as she would scream her heart out. There is no privacy in our house anymore. 

 
So that's why I usually try to explain to her what is going on and even put her on her potty to get her use to the routine. 

On Sunday though I went to the toilet alone just kept the door open.
As Alex was crawling to the bathroom when something caught my attention. 

A brown mouse was running towards her in the hallway. As it saw her in the door to the living room it decided to run to the bathroom instead. 

I'm not afraid of mouse, we had hamsters and now we have a gerbil and I love it, but this was such an unexpected event that I started to scream.

Alex sat down, looked at me with question mark in her eyes and was about to cry when the mouse run directly under my feet. 

I was still sitting at the toilet, my legs stretched up in front of me and I was trying to make Alex smile as I known what could this experience do to her. I didn't want to just stand up and walk away as I wasn't sure where the mouse was.

Well the mouse is gone now. I set up a trap and found it there this morning. 

I just need to work with Alex a little bit so she forgets this thing and won't be afraid of mouse in the future.

When I think about it now it's really funny, but at that moment it wasn't.

I'm not sure if I was afraid of the mouse or the possibility I will run to Alex and could scratch or bite her. It doesn't matter now, I just need to use the EFT technique to remove the fear from my mind and possibly from Alex's too. It worked for me before and helped me with my fear of beetles, so I'll try it again.

We need to set some more traps around the house because the cold weather outside makes the little brown intruders to come in uninvited.

New page published

Hi All,

I published a new separate page, Our kiddies illnesses

I will be updating this when something comes up. 

Currently there is a few information about ear infection, cold, fever and teething.

I hope you might find some information helpful.

Pregnancy update up to week 24+

It is already 24+ weeks since I got pregnant second time. 

My energy levels are low and I would love to sleep when I come home from work, but Alex won't let me relax. She's so happy when I'm home and wants to play with me all the time. I should probably start taking the iron supplements again. Will keep you posted if that helps.

The little one in my bump is as active or even more than Alex was at this stage of my previous pregnancy.

I think it could be because of a placenta that I feel it more. 

I had a 3D/4D scan at 22 weeks with Alex and was told that my placenta is low and at the front. We just had one with this baby and it's at the back, so what I thought was right :)

My hips and a tail bone hurt a lot. Also getting mild headaches. I didn't have them the first time.  And my breasts are very tender. Have to sleep in a sports bra to give them a little support while in bed. 

Night time trips to bathroom are not limited to one or two per night and sometimes I manage without waking up. I'm glad my hubby's waking to Alex if it's necessary. 

Luckily no stretch marks yet even though I'm not using the cream or oil as much.

I'm also having a heartburn at the beginning of this week it was very mild and not so often. I was really hoping it will last for a few more months like this. I suffered very badly the last time and nothing helped me when I got it. Not sure if there is any truth in the old wife's tale that if you have heartburn the baby has a lot of hair. Alex had a lot of black hair. So we'll see about this one. Past few days I have it nearly every afternoon and evening is the worst. Sometimes I feel like dragon. :(

They are saying get your teeth check as they can go bad during pregnancy. They are more sensitive and my gums are sometimes bleeding after brushing the teeth but it's same as before and my dentist said that everything is normal. I know it will get better when the hormones get to normal.

And BTW my hair is growing so fast, had to cut it very short and my skin got much better in past few weeks. These are the best things during the pregnancy, I had a lovely hair before Alex as well, but after giving birth and the change of hormone levels, I cut it short.

And I think I'm not that grumpy this time. Maybe it's the positive energy I get everyday from my daughter.

I would love to talk to my bump more but there's not that much time. But since yesterday we know who's inside. It should be a little boy :D So we will have one of each.

The 3D/4D scan was great, the lady there was very helpful and measured what she could and showed us everything. All is looking well so far, so I feel much calmer after getting all these information. 

Well, so far my hubby thinks this pregnancy is completely different, I'm not as sure as he is, but can see some small differences. And of course I'm getting bigger a lot faster as my muscles are still loose from the last year.

Alex is a big girl.

I'm sorry for such a long delay in writing another post. It was crazy busy time. I'm back to work, was getting ready for Alex's birthday and Christmas is just behind a corner.

Soooo, that's it. Alex is already one year old. 

 
The time is running so fast. It feels like yesterday when we brought her home and now she's one, has 6 teeth, is nearly walking and a babbling a lot.
She changed so much and grew so fast. I'm afraid she will be taller than me when she's 6 years old ;-) 

The parties were great. There was supposed to be only one but our great friends wouldn't make it so I made a small cake for their visit. It turned out to be the bigger party at the end as some other friends had either sick kids or work.
Alex absolutely loved her cakes. At the beginning she didn't want to touch it. But then she tasted a bit of cream and there was nothing to stop her anymore. We cut the cake and I wanted to keep the slice she touched for myself to finish it off. But there was nothing to finish. Our Alex ate it all. That night she couldn't sleep. Probably the sugar rush. So at the other party she got just a little piece. She was happy again and this time it didn't have such a big side effects.

She got some lovely presents and we already see what she prefers.
Interactive book with songs, a touch phone, of course a baby one, which tells her the numbers or colours etc and a wooden animal puzzle. She's not able to fit the animals back to their places but loves to play with them.
It couldn't turn out better. It's a pity that our families are so far, but our friends were enough for her to get out of her routine and use to new people.
I though she would love to tear the wrapping paper of her gifts, but she was shy. Maybe Christmas time....

Alex is probably realising that there is something in my tummy. As my bump is growing bigger, now nearly 24 weeks pregnant, she's sometimes lying on it like she is listening what's going on in there.
Then she starts jumping and climbing on me. We read her a book There's a house inside my mummy. It's brilliant. I absolutely love it. Great short rhymes that cover most of the pregnancy issues in a funny way.
I'm so happy that I bought it. 

We bought her another book about a being a big sister, but read this only once.

It's not in rhymes, but should explain to her what is coming.

I still can't believe how quick the year went by. 

The best feeling ever is to come home from work to my LO and see her smiling at me. 

I hope to write another post soon, so see you later.

Happy mummy ;)

Getting ready for Alex's 1st birthday

Alex's birthday is getting closer. 

I didn't think the time will fly so fast. I remember it like yesterday, the day when Alex was born. Even before I thought the time goes fast, especially after 25th birthday, but after having a baby or kids, it's even faster. You just turn around and the year is gone.

There were so many days, moments and unexpected things, that you try to remember. You want to remember every single one of them. It's difficult because nearly everyday your baby surprise you with something, even if that thing would be a wink, or smile or that your little one will actually pet a dog without pulling its ears or she might pee right at the moment when you took the nappy off. I wish I could keep all of these precious moments somewhere, where I could access them whenever I need a little bit of extra positive energy.

To be honest, I think having a baby was the best decision we ever made. I wouldn't change anything. I absolutely love being a mother and have somebody so precious to look after. Of course I look after my hubby as well, but he would survive if I wouldn't be around, but you mean the world to a little baby, you are the safe boat, you are their sun and they love you for that.

So as the time of Alex's special day is getting rapidly closer, we need to get ready. We already have a few presents a little ones, a lovely dress for her party, but nothing else.

We invited a few friends, mostly with kids, so we hope she will have somebody to play with that day. And I hope she won't be scared of them, or the amount of people around. Otherwise we have to think about plan B :)

I tried to bake a princess cake for her. My hubby said, it was nice even if that was only the first trial I made. Unfortunately the icing or topping or how to call it was too sweet and as we are used to more healthy eating, the amount of butter and sugar there made me sick.

I have to find another way how to do the frosting. It has to be like for cupcakes and when cold, it should hold the shape. Any ideas anyone? I searched a lot of pages here on Internet and still can't decide.

I love baking, but usually do everything without icing/frosting. It's easier and less time consuming, but for my little one I do exception ;)
The following week is Alex going to have a smash cake photo shoot and I am planning to bake a giant cupcake for this as well. A friend of mine is going to borrow me a mould, so I will probably make one on her birthday too, just to try how it goes and how it will looks like.

That day we should find out if the other one is going to be Alex's a little brother or sister. And that will be a lovely surprise present for my hubby's birthday, as he doesn't want to celebrate it. We will have a special family day with a lot of fun. At least that's the plan ;)

We need to get the house ready too. Buy some banners, maybe make a poster, get balloons etc.

I can't wait to get everything ready. 

Alex loves tearing paper and cardboard apart, so she might actually enjoy getting into the presents. We'll see if she likes the wrapping or presents more.

But I still can't believe that it's nearly a year now. And I really don't know why did we wait for so long to start our little growing family.

Hypnobirthing page published

So I published today another separate page. This one is for Hypnobirthing.

It has more details about it, so I hope you will like it. And of course any questions are welcome :)

To get to the page, you can click on the list of pages on the left hand side or most of the hypnobirthing words on any of my posts.

What is happening?

What is happening with me lately?

A little thought

Just yesterday when I was trying to catch Alex crawling around the living room in her nappy to put her pijamas on, I bent over towards the floor and my bump went into my way.

Where did it come from? I know I had a little bump already, but since yesterday it feels like I gained so much weight there so fast, that I didn't even realise and puff and it was here.

It felt so uncomfortable bending over and my hormones decided to come out as well, so while feeding Alex I shauted to the bathroom at my hubby, that he should hurry up, then I wanted to cry again, because I didn't let him to have his shower.

It also less comfortable to put Alex into her cot, her matrace has to be at the lowest level, so she can't get out, but because I am short, I nearly can't reach over there due to my bump.

I just put her down for her nap and I wish she has a different bed ;)

Hmmmmm, seams like the second half of this pregnancy will be really interesting.

Sorry my co-workers, I might be more grumpy than usuall :)

BTW: Alex is grumpy as well, yesterday two teeth decided to come out at once and she's biting everything and everyone who might come to her way.

We might be able to give her a steak soon if the teeth will come that fast and without warning.

Daddy's point of view as a staying/working home dad

When I returned to work, my hubby stayed home with Alex.

I gave him all the instructions, but didn't write anything down for him, so I received a few phone calls with questions like, how long should she sleep, what should he give her to eat, when, how much milk etc.

She didn't want to eat as much as she usually does with me, but that's OK. The important thing is that she's eating, she's happy and she sleeps well.

Actually he managed to get her sleep four times during the day, that's twice that much as I usually did. She usually slept only once in the morning and once early afternoon. Now she sleeps twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon, but when I found out, I told him that it might be too much and he managed to keep her up during the afternoon.

Of course I don't know what they are doing home while I work, but he usually tells me what happened. How they played together, walked, how she pooped into nappy instead of potty and what mess did she make.

The house is not in a big mess, it looks usually OK.

Today she managed to climb up the sofa. That's a first time she done this. She knows how to get down and usually manages fine, but sometimes instead of landing on her feet, she falls on her butt. Luckily she doesn't go head first, but we don't leave her alone on sofa or chair. I think I would keep an eye on her while she sits somewhere higher than floor and my hubby too.

I usually ask if he was able to work that day. The answer so far was not much as Alex keeps him busy. On one side I'm glad, because he sees how it is, that it's not just nice and quiet time and that she can be very demanding and noisy, on the other side, he wants to start working from home and it would be great if that will pay off.

But he's happy to be home, I just would like to see what everything is he not telling me ;)

I'm very grateful that even during the night he wakes up and go check on her. Unfortunately he doesn't have the reflex to wake up when he hears a little squeaks she makes, so they usually wake me up and I wake him. It's better for me, because I don't need to get out of the warm bed and usually fall asleep within a minute or so. If I have to get up, I walk to the bathroom as well and it might take me even 5 minutes to sort everything out, then I'm wide awake and it takes me even half an hour to go back to sleep.

He feels so far that it isn't that difficult as he thought it might be, he just doesn't have time for everything what he wants to do, even though Alex sleeps for him twice that much ;)

First few days back at work

So I was working already for 3 days.

How do I feel about it now? Still confused and emotional. The evening before my 1st day I cried a lot. I couldn't even read the bed time story for Alex. I was so nervous,  that I couldn't fall asleep. Alex woke me up twice during the night and I woke up at 5am and couldn't fall asleep again. While leaving the house I wanted to cry again!  Alex was still in bed so she didn't see me go. I was glad, because I wouldn't be able to leave that easily if I would see her that morning.

I started at 7am at work. Managed to get an access to the building quite fast. I asked the security if I need to submit any form and was told that I'm fine until April. That made me laugh because I'll be on maternity leave again by then.

When I arrived to our new office and to my desk I nearly cried again. My hubby left Alex's photo on the desk. I went to the kitchen to get some water and went back to my new seat. I was a little bit calmer already. The office was nearly empty. Only a few people start that early. 

Nothing was working except for the phone. I wasn't able to log in to the computer until the afternoon, so I went a few times to see some colleagues, get a priority parking permit etc.

I was happy that I finished early and could go home when Alex would be still up. I called home and got a few calls from my hubby asking what to give her for lunch etc. But that wasn't enough for me just to hear them.

When I opened the door,  they were waiting for me there. Alex wanted to go to me immediately and she held me tight around my neck. Smiling and looking at me. She didn't want to have her nap that afternoon,  maybe she was afraid I might go away again.

The next day I started at work later. So when Alex woke up I was just getting ready. We cuddled a little, then she had her breakfast with daddy and I left while she was still busy eating. I didn't feel that bad, but still wanted to stay home. My PC access got sorted and a few little things too so I finally did some work.

But during that day I didn't feel well. The chairs are very uncomfortable especially for someone with softer joins etc. My tailbone really hurts. It was the same during my 1st pregnancy, but it was OK this time until now. Then my bump hurt and I didn't know why. When I walked it was better. So I had to change my position often. 

The day was long even though I had plenty of things to do. My arrival home was similar to the previous day. Only this time Alex patted my shoulder like she was telling me that's OK, that she loves me even if I am not there. She didn't even let me go to the bathroom alone, but I didn't mind. I was so happy to be home with her and daddy.

You know, I always liked my job. From one point of view I'm happy to be back. Be in contact with new people and my great colleagues, but my priorities changed. My carrier is not that important to me anymore, family comes first and I wouldn't want it any other way. 

Every day away from them doesn't feel right. I wish we live closer so I could go home during the lunch break. 

The 3rd day started same as the 1st one. Family still sleeping while I left. I didn't feel that sad and because I knew, I will finish early and be with them whole afternoon.  Only the next day will be tough. Starting late and working until the evening. We'll see how it goes.

Unfortunately I didn't arrive home early at all. I already had to do an overtime, due to a training which took longer than it supposed to. At least I can finish another day earlier and will definitely use it next week ;)

So only one long day and the weekend will be here. Can't wait to spend whole day with my little one :)

Pregnancy #2 - first 20 weeks

I already wrote how did we find out in my previous post: From 6 month to 11 and something baby #1

Since we found out, nothing really change. If I got sick maybe twice during the whole 20 weeks I would be probably exaggerating. 

I don't know why, but I didn't feel pregnant at all. Sometimes I completely forgot, that I have a little one growing inside me. 

Like the day we went with Alex for an X-Ray. I stood there next to her, holding her leg down, so they can make a picture for us and didn't even think about anything else than her. Don't worry nothing is wrong, she's fine. She was born with an extra digit on one of her toes and we wanted to find out if we have to do anything about it now, or if it's OK to wait. They don't want to do anything yet, so we are happy about it.

It hit me just when I was shopping and Alex was with her grand-grand-mum and aunt. I called my husband crying what have I done. I was so scared. I called his other aunt who works in the hospital and she was the first one to know the news. She said I shouldn't worry, should take a bubble or salt bath or long shower and wash myself well. In a half an hour she called granny's phone that she checked that for me with the radiologist there and that the strength of the X-Ray was like walking through airport control twice in a row. 

I calmed down, called my hubby to calm him down as well and I forgot about it and about being pregnant again. No signs what so ever. I ate everything what I liked, but sometimes realised I shouldn't probably have that, so I was looking for excuses not to eat certain food I got. 

Just my bump started to grow. When I came visit my parents I went to my gynaecologist and he confirmed what I knew, even got a little picture of the 6 weeks old embryo. 

My mum always went outside the apartment block to talk to her friends and she took Alex with her. One of her friends just started to ask one day if I am expecting. Of course not I said, I didn't want anyone to know yet, it was too early, but she was constantly asking the same question. In a few days my mum started to annoy me with talking to Alex about my big belly. I got really angry, my hormones started to work and I had to tell her. So there were 3 people who knew (my mum, sister and hubby's aunt). I didn't want to tell to anyone in the family or friends. By the end of our holidays, two more people found out, my second sister and my best friend.

The only sign of pregnancy except for the growing bump I had was the tiredness. I'm still quite tired but otherwise well.

When we came back home I felt much better, didn't need to hide anything from anyone. And the time was running fast, but my bump growth slowed down a little. I thing I'm smaller than I was at the same time during pregnancy with Alex. 

The change of environment after so many weeks away payed it's toll on me. I was sick 3 times in 2 months each time for at least a week. Same Alex and my hubby. He was the only one who actually took pills, antibiotics etc. Alex had cold twice and stomach bug. I had abscess in my throat, then cold and the last time I got stomach bug from the little one. That was the worst thing I ever experience. I mean the combination of being pregnant and having stomach bug. The pain in my belly, constant visits to the bathroom, lack of sleep, diet and the hormones. Really not funny. I'm glad it was over in 5 days, but I didn't know what to do. If I wouldn't be pregnant I would take some pills, be on diet  and be done with that in a few days. 

Now it's probably the longest time when all three of us are healthy at the same time. I just hope that there won't be many sick people at work, otherwise, I might catch something again....

We even managed to have our family photo-shoot and prepared our pregnancy announcement with a help from our photographer. Finally when I was 16 weeks everyone from the family knew.

So I'm a half way through my second pregnancy and as I felt very lucky during the first one, I feel even luckier this time. I could feel baby moving around 14 weeks each time, now this little one is kicking more and more. 

Alex is going to be a big sister and we are trying to prepare her for it. I'm not sure if she understands what is going on, but we read her story about House in Mummy's tummy and she's lifting my T-shirts every day to see my belly. I think she's more interested in my belly button at the moment, but when she would be able to feel the baby, I think she might want to know more.

As our hospital does only one scan at the beginning of pregnancy and one towards the end, we booked an extra one, the 3D/4D scan. We had it last time as well and absolutely loved it, we came out of the clinic and our cheeks hurt from so much smiling. This time Alex will go with us. Can't wait to see her reaction. She will be already 1 year old :)

Maybe you asking why did we go to the hospital if there is such small amount of scans. Well we life in the middle between a capital city and this hospital. If we go to the city centre, we might get stuck in a traffic and I wouldn't be happy about giving birth in a car on a side of a road. Our hospital is a bit further away, but it takes us same time in a car to reach it and as we go to the middle of country there is no traffic at any time a day. Also the health care, midwifes etc are very good and the rooms are smaller so you don't share it with that many new mum's. We are really happy with our decision and I have to say if I wouldn't like it there with Alex, I wouldn't go there second time. :)

I didn't have time to bond with my bump during this pregnancy yet, but this will change when I'll be at work. I know I will be thinking about Alex and daddy home, but during my breaks I would be able to think about the little one inside as well.

From 6 month to 11 and something baby #1

The summer was here, and we spent most of the sunny days at the back garden. All our big umbrellas open around the picknick blanket, so Alex would be in a shade. We even had a small swimming pool a few times out and she loved that there, of course there was like 5 cm water because I couldn't carry so many buckets there. It was a great time.

We bought her a pitch with small balls and tried to teach her how to sit there. The good thing was that if she fell the balls always stopped her from hitting herself. The first time we put her in she hated it, she was scared, lying on her back and she didn't moved at all, she even wanted to cry, but we took her out and tried again later. She got used to the balls in a day.

She was already eating a lot of different stuff and when she saw us eating something, she wanted to taste it. She was now able to drink from a beaker and cup if I held it for her. The life got easier this way, but she need a lot of attention and teaching.

Alex's aunt and uncle (my sister in law and my hubby's cousin) arrived for summer. Now Alex had all the attention she wanted. 

And we were still hoping for the second baby. I stopped breastfeeding when Alex was about 6.5 months old. She didn't drink that much milk from me anyway as she had her solids. She took the transition from breastmilk to formula very well, only I was crying for a few days. But on the other side I hoped that this could speed up the next pregnancy. 

As our visitors were here, we were planning holidays for me and Alex. We wanted to go to visit our families, introduce Alex to all grand-mums, grand-dads, aunts and uncles and also her cousins. As we would need to visit two families in two countries we decided to go for at least 4 weeks. Also we planned to visit some doctors over there. So I got a little bit stressed out, because my hubby would stay in work. That meant if I don't get pregnant before the holidays, we would need to wait another month before we'll have a chance to try again. We did what we could with sleeping baby next to our temporary bed in her bedroom and family members behind a thin wall.

The day before our departure I went to see my doctor. I did a test that morning. Looking at it constantly wishing for the second line to appear. I saw there something very faint. My hubby was next to me brushing his teeth so I asked him to have a look. He said, that I am imagining it :( I was sooo sad again. Still couldn't stop looking at the stick and the line got brighter. I showed it to him again and he saw it there as well. I felt suddenly rush of happiness and tears. We hugged  and kissed and both were really happy that it happened before we left. I drove him to the work as I needed the car to see our doctor. She was happy for us and sent a referral letter to our hospital. 

All bags were packed and Alex's aunt flew with us, so I wasn't that scared of the long journey with a 7.5 months old baby. Alex took it well. She cried a little in the plane, but calmed down and slept, then cried again and slept, but at the end I was very proud mum to have such a brave girl.

The time with the family flew. We were driving between two countries to see everyone and give them same chance to spent some time with us. The weather wasn't what I expected, but it was similar to our home weather, so no temperature shocks etc. 

Alex absolutely loved the people around her, was afraid of men at the beginning, but got used to every single uncle and grand-dad she saw. To our big surprise she started to crawl. It was an army-crawl. She didn't want to go on her knees, but I really didn't mind. 

One day we were lying on a blanket in a garden where a bit beetle appeared just in front of her. She wanted to touch it but it started to run away. I didn't know that she could be so fast. She tried to catch it and was crawling behind it bit by bit. It was faster and it run away, but she crawled all the length of the blanket.

By the end of our holidays she was able to sit up by herself and she stood up twice alone too. She was also drinking her milk while holding the bottle without my support so that gave me a little extra time to do other stuff.

We came back home when she was exactly 9 months. She didn't recognise daddy at first and he took it quite personally. Well she saw him only through PC, but heard him everyday. A few days after the arrival she started to crawl on her knees and was getting really fast. The funniest thing we saw was the time she tried to run away from us, usually to bathroom or our bedroom as those are most of the time closed. Now she's standing and walking by furniture or with walker, I think it won't take long and she will do her first few steps alone.

The weather got colder and we stayed home just the two of us again. We went to visit some friends and kids.

The days got shorter, nights longer and I thought it might help Alex to sleep longer, it didn't. She still woke up quite early, but sometimes slept through the night without waking up, but most of the time she woke up once or twice a night to find her soother or cuddly bunny. I wouldn't mind that at all if I wouldn't be sooo tired as well.

The time flew and now it's time for me to switch places with her daddy. He's going to stay home with her for a while. In the meantime I go back to work until another maternity leave will start. I can't believe how the time runs away between my fingers since we have Alex. During the past few days I cried a lot. It's difficult for me to go away. Well, we have to wait and see how it goes. 

Today my new phase starts. I hoped I would get a good night sleep, unfortunately was too nervous to fall asleep and woke up very early. We'll see how it goes. ;)

2nd 3 months with baby #1

When Alex was 3 months old we started to go for the baby swimming lessons.

What a great time! Every Saturday morning we sat into our car and drove to the nearby hotel for her lesson. One week went daddy to the pool with her, another week with myself. At first she was a little bit scared. We trained her a little in her baby bath, splashing water over her etc, but because she couldn't feel the sides of the bath in the big swimming pool she was holding onto us like a tick.

It was great for her muscle strength and her movements. By lesson 3 she wasn't afraid of going under the water. Well under the instruction from the trainer, we first had to splash the water over her face, with a signal we agreed on. The second time we dipped the babies little bit under the water and brought them straight back up. By the last lesson she was able to swim under the water if we pushed her between us for 1 meter. She was able to lie on her back and kick her feet for a few seconds without support. She got well use to the water temperature, it was colder than in her bath, but she had her neoprene swimming west. She wasn't sick at all even if the changing rooms were quite cold and some babies got sniffles after every visit.

Then the summer was coming and we were planning our holidays, so we didn't sign up for second course. We should probably do it now so she gets use to it again.

Well around 3 months our Alex started teething for the first time. It took nearly half a year before her 1st tooth came out, but all the signs where there very early.

She started to babble, laugh and was much more communicative. Talking to me with her own language.

We started her on solids at 18 weeks. She got a little bit of baby rise in the evening, to help her sleep better, but that didn't work as fast I we would love to. After a few weeks we tried some single pureed vegetables and fruit. She loved that. When she started to eat more solids we started to mix the vegetables together. She was great. She was eating almost everything, except for cauliflower and broccoli. She didn't like them at first, but she's eating it now. To be honest, sometimes after her lunch she didn't looks like that she ate her food, she had it everywhere else. Sometimes even behind her ears, I'm really not sure how it got there.

She also rolled over from tummy to back and to tummy again by 6 months. I was very proud, but she didn't want to crawl. We really thought she would skip this milestone as her daddy did, because she managed to get where ever she wanted by rolling around. It was so funny. She preferred to roll to left side more so if she got stuck somewhere like next to the wall or chair, she started to get really frustrated. She didn't cried, but she was very noisy :) Sometimes she was able to roll to the right side as well, but when she moved a little bit from the chair or wall she started to roll to the left again and was stuck again.

I tried to teach her how to crawl. I supported her legs, so she can try to push away, but she usually started to kick around and nothing happened. I was crawling in front of her, even did the army crawl and changed that a little, so she starts to get interested in it too, but no help. Even one afternoon, me, daddy and Alex were lying on a floor and she was watching us to crawl around the kitchen. We looked like a giant caterpillars, but she still didn't move.

She got really good at her tummy time, she even pushed herself up on her arms and while lying on her back she managed to suck her toes. Her legs were by her mouth as many times as her hands. I was amazed how flexible she was.

Her lovely baby hair all fell down and by six months it finally started to grow again. It wasn't dark anymore. Her eyes changed colour as well and we knew that the final one will be brownish. We still wait what shade it will be, but it's not changing much anymore.

She finished her first 6 months with the greatest thing ever. She laughed out laud. It was sooo funny, but I managed to repeat that only after a few weeks.

My official maternity leave finished when she was 5.5 months. The worst time ever, I was still breastfeeding and didn't plan to stop yet, and I couldn't even imagine putting her in a creche or some strange childminder, so I took the maximum of unpaid maternity leave I could and added my saved holidays on top of that.

Alex is 11 months old now and tomorrow will be my first day back to work. Am I looking forward to it? From one point of view yes, I'll get back to contact with other adults, but on the other side, I'm afraid of leaving my daughter. Well a good thing is that she will stay with her daddy home as he's finishing in the work, when I come back there. I really hope I'll survive the separation. I know babies develop the separation anxiety, but I think I developed a very bad one :)

New page about breastfeeding

Hello All,

I just published a separate page about breastfeeding. I hope you will find it useful and I'm always open to answer any questions you might want to ask.

New page about Hypnobirthing (with more details about the whole process) will be published in a few days.

I am planning to publish a separate page for some questions/answer, baby illnesses (we didn't have that many yet, but I will put down what we experienced and will be updating when something new comes up, hope the number will not grow too fast :) ) and maybe some more in a future.

1st 3 months with a baby #1

Every beginning is full of trials, tests and sometimes mistakes.

That was my biggest fear when I brought home our little daughter Alex. 

I couldn't stay in a hospital for long, I wanted to be home in my environment, my bed and with my husband.

The hospital wasn't bad, don't get me wrong, I even liked the food we had there. Just the room there is shared with 3 more ladies. One waiting for the baby to come and two after C-sections, so they were there for a few days already.

When I arrived, I felt like my baby is the only one crying. The mums with the kids already knew what to do, but everything was completely new to me. I tried hard, but couldn't get Alex attached for her feeds. She was eating from me but just like for 5 minutes, then she let go and I wasn't able to get her back. I was lucky, I had plenty of the first milk and my real milk started to come after 3 days, but by that time I was home alone and much calmer. I wasn't under pressure to keep the baby quiet because somebody else was sleeping next to her. 

It took me only a day home to get use to the breastfeeding and Alex was getting better in it too.
In a week or so, she was feeding regularly every 2-3 hours for about 20 minutes.

The public nurse visited us a few times and was very pleased with Alex's weight gain. So was I.

I did everything with my husband. He was a great help. I had the baby blues so I was a bit more emotional and he had to look after me as well. I know, I should have been strong, but say this to your hormones. The baby blues were a bit longer than what they told us in the hospital. I cried a lot, then started to laugh. I just had to look at Alex to feel all the love. 

When someone told me she's beautiful, I cried, of course from happiness, but I also couldn't believe how well did we mix our baby :)

When we saw her on the 3D scan she looked exactly like me, but when she was born, she was completely different, I could see my hubby in her, he could see me in her and nobody was able to tell who she looks like more.

During the first weeks I was afraid of hurting her. I didn't want to change her clothes. Change the nappy wasn't a problem, but to put a body suit over her head was the problem. I was scared for a few days but got use to it, the stronger she become, the better I felt to do everything with her.

She hated to lie on her tummy, so there wasn't much of tummy time, she was able to roll herself back to back, well it didn't last for long, but then I had to go to physio with my little problem of stress incontinence and she checked Alex as well and said we have to do the tummy time more, that our little one wasn't holding her head properly, she had weak muscles.

I got stressed out, we supposed to go for another development check to the nurse and I was afraid what she's going to say about it.

I started to exercise with Alex on her tummy, even if she was on my belly, every free minute I tried. The development check was 5 days from the physio and surprise, Alex was perfect. She got so much better and we knew we have to continue, like this. 

I was still breastfeeding. It was hard sometimes, especially at the beginning before my nipples got use to the sucking, they got sore, even bleeding a little bit. I bought the silicone cups to cover them during the feed, but I couldn't use them. Didn't know how and it was more painful with the cup than without, so I put it back into the box. The next day everything was OK, the pain was gone, the baby was happy and I was happy and calmer too. I used the Lanolin nipple cream and I think that was one of the things that helped with the healing.

During the growth spurts it was a different story. I was really exhausted, Alex was feeding nearly every hour during the day and night. I thought about expressing and let my hubby give her the milk in bottle, but then I remembered that the growth spurts last only a few days and are very important for the milk supply as the baby is adjusting the quality and quantity of the milk. The less she would feed directly from me, the longer is can take. The longest growth spurt we had with her was about 3-4 days. Once she got the right amount and quality of the milk she slept longer and sometime stretched during the night for 4 hours. That felt like blessing.

During the first 3 months we had some family visits and everyone loved her. She started to smile at us and searched for us around the room with her eyes. It was the greatest moment of my life when she found me the 1st time and smiled at me. 

We even tried the communication nappy free technique. It was great at the beginning. We could recognise when she cried for food and when she wanted to use the bathroom, so we trained her to do her wee and poop to the toilet. Of course it doesn't work like with big kids or adults, you have to hold the baby above sink, toilet, bucket or outside as they do what they want to do. We saved a lot of money this way, because she didn't use so many nappies. Unfortunately towards the 3rd month she started to get very active and heavy as well, so we stopped. It was for better good of all. But I'm glad we tried it and we saved her from nappy rush etc.

Alex loved her bath time, we set up our bedtime routine with feed, play, baby massage, bath and another feed. It was great and she loved splashing in her bath. We were always completely wet after her bath, that most of the time we had to change as well. That time we decided that it will be great to take Alex for baby swimming lessons, but about this later.

My hypnobirthing experience

I would say about myself, that I am very positive and sensitive person.

I love studying and am interested in everything new.

I completed a few foundation courses to massage, aromatherapy, Indian head massage, reflexology, hypnotherapy, NLP, EFT and some energy healing courses, also a little bit of counseling, psychology etc.

So from the beginning I was looking for some alternative pain relieve during the labour.

That's how I came across the Hypnobirthing. I knew I could do it home and don't need to go for a course. Another reason was that the course available to me was quite far away and I don't like driving much, so I found all I needed online.

I purchased a book and full download of CD collection with positive meditations for it.

I listened to the mp3's nearly every night and when the book arrived, I read it from the beginning till the end within a few days. I made notes, consulted some stuff with my hubby as I needed him to help me with that. The book was like my bible. Everything perfectly described and explained. What is happening to the body, why, how to ease the pain with breathing and relaxation.

I felt I found the way how to do it. (More about hypnobirthing will be published on an extra page, I will add links through the text)

Nearly everyone I told this to said that I should ask for Epidural as soon as I arrive to hospital and stop this nonsense.

I didn't listen to them. I hate needles and would not allow anyone to put one in my spine. I can survive blood test etc, I am a blood donor, but really not in favour of getting injections.

Towards the end of pregnancy instead of listening to the meditations and affirmations more often I usually went to bed and straight to sleep.

On the way to the hospital at the back seat of our car I listen to them again and again. It helped me get the breathing on the right truck.

I wanted to listen to them during the labour in the labour room as well, but I manage to get to the bath first, and I just enjoyed the warm water and talks with my hubby and when I came out it was nearly time for me to work hard and have the baby. I wasn't in a mood to listen to anything, just my thoughts.

The midwife who was assigned to me had some experiences with hypnobirthing and even water-births, so she was very helpful. Unfortunately we couldn't have a water-birth even if we wanted.

Of course I started to ask for some help, I had gas at the beginning, but didn't feel it working like a painkiller, it just kept me breathing deep and slow, the way I supposed to do it.

Our little one was back to back as one of the midwifes told me, she said it's the worst position for pushing the baby out. I didn't think my water broke, so I asked them to check and break it if it's going to speed up the process. To the surprise of all my water was gone, so there was nothing more to do than breath and wait and push. It didn't take long and our baby was born. Healthy and beautiful.

I'm really glad my hubby was there with me. He didn't want to watch all that, afraid he might faint if he looks down there, but he said, he couldn't stop looking there. He remembered that I asked him to remind me of some stuff from the book if I do the opposite. He did and it helped a lot.

The midwifes then asked me how many kids do I have. I said it's the first one and was given thanks for restoring faith in a natural birth from them.

I knew there and then that I will be coming with another one soon.

Pregnancy #1

It's still fresh in my mind, it wasn't that long ago when I was carrying around a big bump.

I cried the first month when I found out it didn't work. I wanted to have a baby so much, I tried positive affirmations every evening and every morning, but it didn't work. Then we got sick with some bad cold. Both of us, but my hubby was out of it sooner. As soon as I felt a bit normal we tried again, but I didn't believe it's going to work so fast. To our big surprise the test was positive in 4 weeks time. Such a heavy stone fell of my shoulders and I was happy and ready to enjoy it all.

I was lucky not to have many days with morning sickness. And I found out I felt sick usually when I didn't eat anything and sometimes due to some smell.

We all were laughing at our colleague when he farted and pretended it wasn't him, until I was pregnant. My husband called my nose K9, I could smell everything at a long distance and that day it wasn't that far away when he let himself go. You can't even imagine how fast I run to the bathroom. I had to stand on the corridor for 10 minutes until the air-conditioning cleared the air out.

I'm kind of skinny person, so the pregnancy showed on me quite soon. I had to buy maternity clothes around 12th week and I gained 16 kg by the end. It's a lot, but I said I'm going to get rid of it soon when the baby comes.

My bump wasn't the only sign of the pregnancy, I was soooo moody. They called me Grumpy and when I had a good day and was smiling everyone thought something's wrong. I now have to laugh at this, just getting a bit scared as I'm going back to work next week after a long break with my sweet daughter Alex, and I am pregnant again! Muahahaha!!!

So actually I felt very good and was happy, especially home, just towards the end I started to have swollen legs, fingers, tingling in wrists, I was more tired than usual, due to lack of sleep and sometimes felt like a big ball with legs and arms. But I still loved being pregnant.

I could feel the baby moves very early for 1st time mum. I think it was around week 14. Some lovely flutters. But the baby was very active and kicking a lot. As she got bitter, I felt it more and my whole belly moved in the direction where she pushed. It was funny and the best feeling I ever had. I could even feel when she got hiccups. And that was at least once a day. She still has it quite often.

I knew she'll come earlier than the Dr. said, but I wasn't scared, I was ready. I'll write about it later.

So she came to the world 4 days earlier. As I knew from friends and family how it should looks like, I didn't even realise she was on the way. My previous training payed off and I didn't feel so much pain. I had to call my friend to check if that's it. She said I should probably call the hospital and they confirmed as well.

Just a few minutes before the hospital car park my mother in law called my cell. I didn't pick it up, I was working hard on staying calm and breath deeply. Just some seconds later I got text from her: Are you alright? I was getting angry, and the phone rang again. I threw it at my husband who was still driving at the carpark and said to him to speak to her as it's HIS mother.

He picked up and just said: Not now! He hang up again. I think she must have been frustrated, but she knew what was going on even if we said to everyone that our little one will arrive 2 weeks later than my due date ;)

And that day my pregnancy finished with the most beautiful present of our little daughter.

To put it all together. There were some challenging times, but I absolutely loved it. I wouldn't change it for anything in the world. 

It was worth it!

How did it start ;)

This time last year I was nearly at the end of my first pregnancy.

Did I enjoy it? Yes, I felt great, except for the tiredness, swollen legs and fingers, constant changes in my mood and temperature. But even so I knew I want to have more kids.

I was lucky that I didn't have morning sickness that often. Only a few times at the beginning, but usually due to hunger.

Two of my best friends were pregnant as well during my pregnancy.

I read a lot of baby books, got emails every weeks about my baby's development and searched Internet for every question I found in my head.

One of my friends was the complete opposite. She had books, but didn't read them. She had a lot of questions, so she asked me. I might write about some questions in one of my next posts.

The birth of my little girl wasn't that long and I managed well as my hubby says :) It might have been because of my preparation.

I read a lot about birth, took the antenatal classes etc and was looking for something not that scary as a lot of people wrote about. I found the option of hypnobirthing and straight away decided, I'm going to try this.

Why? I hate needles and just a thought about epidural makes me shiver. There is no way, I 'm going to take that. Well I didn't and I didn't take other painkillers, I just had a bit of gas, but it worked well just to keep my breathing the way I needed.

Everyone said to us, sleep while you can. When you have the baby there won't be enough sleep for either of you. I hated all these information. How can anyone tell me what will my baby look like, what will it do, how will it sleep during the night or day, etc. Also I really didn't like all the questions like, do you feel sick yet, do you have swollen legs yet, why they can't ask me how do I feel, so I don't need to think about the negative stuff.....

I managed to get my friends ask me the right questions in positive way. That was what I wanted. Stay positive and calm. With the family it was more difficult. Questions like: Are you big, fat, like a bus, do you have stretch marks yet, etc were coming from all directions.

I decided to try breastfeeding, but when I mentioned this to my mum, she said, that I probably won't have enough milk, because she didn't have any and had to bottle feed me and both of my sisters.

Of course I didn't believe in it.

Well some of the information we got from family and friends were kind of true. Yes, it's more difficult to sleep towards the end of pregnancy with constant visits to the bathroom, but I would say if  it is possible, sleep as much as you can.

The first weeks were difficult for us, but I was lucky enough to have my husband home with me, so he was looking after our little one up to 3am and woke me up only to feed her. But with the time and some more experiences we managed well for first time parents.

It was about 3 months after our princess was born when we started to think about another baby.
We want them to be close, so smallest age gap as possible.

After a few weeks of listing pros and cons we decided to try it.

Some people say it's more difficult to get pregnant while breastfeeding, but we went for it anyway. Of course it took us while. Actually as per our doctor it happened the day I stopped breastfeeding for good.

Our little one was around 6.5 months old at that time, so our wish is coming true. We are going to have two kids with 16 months age gap between them. 

So here we go 2 under 2 coming soon!