I am back! And a Little Bit on Home Birth

Well hello everyone!  I am back!  And my little one (lets call him Biscuit) is now 5 weeks old!  How time flies, and how chubby he has become! Things have really changed round here, I am gradually adjusting to a totally different daily rhythm, and it hasn't been an easy transition, and we aren't quite there yet, but things are starting to feel like the new normal now and we are coming out of the just-muddling-through phase and are entering the ok-lets-do-this phase.  It has been and continues to be a challenge at times and there have been many stressful and teary moments (and many more to come I am sure) but I am trying desperately to savor every moment while chasing my tail with photo taking an journal writing, but I guess that's just what it is like so I am trying to go with it and not get stressed about it.

Looking back to how I felt after having Boris couldn't be more different to how I feel after having Biscuit.  Boris was born in hospital and I came home feeling very sorry for myself indeed, but after a wonderful home birth experience with Biscuit I feel totally different, good, happy even.  I would even go as far as to say that I enjoyed it if you can believe that! I felt so much more in control and empowered by the whole thing and used positive thinking and breathing to get through the pain, I was lucky that it was quick, I was able to walk around, pee when I wanted, make as much noise as I liked and the little man came out in one contraction, I couldn't have asked for a better experience and am so thankful it went well.

For me, the things that really made a difference were:

• Knowing what to expect, (I didn't convince myself that it wasn't going to hurt this time!)
• Re-reading Ina May's guide to Childbirth (reminded me that my body was designed to do this, and remembered her mantra of "The creator is not a careless mechanic")
• Using positive visualization (I pictured myself breathing the ocean in and out to help with the breathing, but it also made me feel powerful)
• Being at home (sounds obvious but it meant I didn't have the inhibitions I had at hospital, I could totally be like a wild woman)
• Having a midwife who didn't interfere (this was pure luck, but she other than telling me how the labor was progressing, she did nothing which was exactly what I wanted)
• Saying positive words (I told myself to relax, told the baby to move down, said positive words like "love" and "relax")

It was also incredible nice to be able to have a shower in my own bathroom, a cup of tea in my own mug and the first day with my new baby in my own bed. 

Hopefully in the coming weeks I will be able to share a few more "fun things to do with toddlers" posts as well as a few "fun things to do with newborns" or something of that nature.  (We are having a lot of fun with fiber optics at the moment!) You can forget all about book reviews as I have no time for reading!  And cooking is out of the window at the moment, thankfully we have a freezer full of yummies and a cupboard full of tinned food!  Thanks to some lovely friends and the supermarket home delivery!  

I really hope you will stick around to continue sharing my journey. 

Important Announcement

I am so sorry for my unexplained absence.  I have a really great excuse honest.  I had a baby!
I know, doesn't time fly!  (Also he was two weeks early).  I was getting so tired towards the end of my pregnancy by the time my toddler was in bed I had no energy for blogging and could only sit in front of the TV or go to bed!
Now I am obscenely busy looking after a newborn and my beautiful nearly-two-year-old and have even less time for blogging, even though there is loads I want to say!  I miss it so much.But I am trying to enjoy and treasure these early days with my baby who was born last week Sunday in a wonderful home birth. (I am sure I will want to tell you more about that.) But for now I hope you don't mind if I am lost in the world of milk and nappies and sleepless nights for a bit.  I will be back!

Fun Things to do With Toddlers - Button Sorting

 Over the years I have amassed quite a collection of buttons from various places and they now all reside in this old lunchbox.  I had though it would be a fun activity for Boris to sort the buttons into different sections of an egg box or different pots and jars.  He is a bit young for this but he did very much enjoy looking at them, picking them up, throwing the about and taking them in and out of the box.  Hopefully when he is older we can use these buttons for counting games, colour and size sorting and crafts.  Until then however I am happy to let him enjoy the feel of them in his little fingers. It improves his fine motor skills and brings him pleasure through a sensory experience.

Getting the buttons out took no time at all, clearing up took a little longer because they were spread quite some distance across the carpet!  We had to end the activity when he got a bit over enthusiastic about throwing them and I had visions of fishing out buttons from between the sofa cushions for weeks to come.
He enjoyed this activity though with younger toddlers it does need to be closely supervised to ensure that no buttons are put into the mouth (or other orifaces!) I know in the not too distant future he will be able to play with them independantly without having to worry about choking of ingestion.