I have been using the Maya Wrap for short outings over the last couple of weeks, in fact I haven't even got my pram out of the boot of my car. Yesterday I took Babychair to the local shopping center and as it is a big busy place decided to use my pram instead of the sling.

We did a small amount of shopping and I also fed and changed her whilst being out, so I know she was comfortable but I couldn't calm her, she was lying there shouting in her pram. So in the middle of queuing to pay for a nursing bra in a baby shop, I gave up and grabbed my sling out of the pram's tray and stuck Babychair in it...quiet resumed, just like switching on a light.

The other customers were amazed that just wearing my daughter was so effective/calming and asked me where I got the sling and how it was used etc and I ended up sticking the shopping in the pram and wearing my daughter all the way back to the car, where I woke her up transferring her to the car seat.

I think Babychair has decided that she prefers to be worn rather than wheeled around...I hope my back can take it

Why do I get so upset about Babychair's birth ?

This afternoon I realised that I had less than 40 minutes to get to a Physiotherapy appointment at the local hospital and with a small baby wasn't going to happen. Life is a cycle of feeding, changing, cuddles and naps and if I don't leave the house at the right moment, I have to wait another hour or so until another good moment appears.

So I rang the Physiotherapy woman to cancel my appointment and apologise for the short notice etc. She gave me a verbal appointment instead and dug out my medical records etc and talked me though pelvic floor exercises and some other related things and things were going fine.

Then she mentioned something about my labour and I couldn't speak as I was overwhelmed by the feeling of helplessness, failure and upset that I always feel when I have to think about that time. Even now just typing about it makes me cry, I just wish I could wipe it from my mind and replace it with better memories like the first few hours of my daughter's life.

Why is it that I am forced to remember the worse bits of labour and the so called best bit of giving birth i.e. the first few hours after labour when you and your husband bond with your baby and I remember nothing of that all I have is pictures which trigger nothing but upset.

I have talked to TigerFeet and my sister about things when I was in hospital but to be honest I think I was still in shock then. My sister has made it clear she is here for me but I can't talk rationally about it in real life. I have tried talking to Deckchair and though he is usually wonderful I just get more and more upset, he suggested that we don't talk about it, if it upsets me so much and I wish I had that option, I have tried my best to not think about it but it pops into my mind unasked for.

I don't understand why I get so upset, it is not like logically I can or could do anything about what happened, Although I think that is WHY I get so upset, I hate being out of control of having things done to me without my permission or request but they are the medical experts doing their job, we had no choice.

The last straw was Deckchair making light of what happened to a mutual friend saying we just ended up with a hospital birth and when I tried to point out that things were terrible and not to make light, he didn't understand. I agree the staff bended over backwards to be helpfull and friendly and yes, if I had lost all that blood at home we could of died. But what we went though was not a normal hospital birth...if I was allowed to move off the bed, used the toilet properly, sat on a birthing ball, had a shower/bath/birthing pool when I wanted...that would be a normal hospital birth.

I think a lot of the problems happened because I was terrified strapped down to a bed so I couldn't move and that virtually guaranteed the endless interventions we ended up with. I coped with the early contractions fine at home and if I had laboured at home I know I would of done better. Even at home lying down made the pain of natural contractions so much worse..the induced contractions started off worse, if I could just of moved around and/or been able to get up out of the bed whilst being induced, I wouldn't of felt so imprisioned and out of control.

The Physiotherapist asked me if I had been referred to the Birth Afterthought program, where the local hospital staff take you though your medical notes and let you ask any questions you want about what happened and why.
I told her my midwife had referred me but I hadn't heard anything yet. The nice Physiotherapist chased up my referral and it looks like my midwife hadn't referred me but I am on the list now.

Though to be honest I am wondering if there is any point, surely looking at this again is just going to get me more upset and it won't change a thing about what happened.

I suspect all the hospital will keep saying is that Babychair was born healthy (and taken away straight away) but while I am very grateful that she is healthy...that does not change how horrific the labour was and had I had a normal hospital or home birth, Babychair would of been just as healthy and I wouldn't cry everytime I think of her entry into the world.

I am very new to baby wearing, I have a Maya Wrap (Ring Sling) which I have got to grips with last week and as Babychair falls asleep every time I put her in it, I am assuming she likes it too

We recently got an unexpected refund from the bank recently and we decided to spend the money on fun things, as we only live once.

My husband bought boring computer things with his share of the money and I invested in some real nappies and I have a bit of money left over to spend on another sling.

I want to buy a Mei Tai, as I thought it must be good to have the weight of the baby over both shoulders and they just appeal to me for some reason.

So my online research has been narrowed down to the following Mei Tai’s

1. I love this Free Hand Mei Tai but can’t decide if stone or black straps would work best with this design.

2. Annika Catbird Baby Mei Tai looks great but I worry about dirt on the white straps. On the positive side Deckchair prefers this one and if he likes it, he’ll wear it. (well the solid green side rather than the flowers)

3. Anna Carrie Baby Mei Tai. I love the colours on this one only disadvantage is that this is an auction so there is no set price or guarantee I would win  EDIT. This sling is only available to the USA customers, I might email and ask if that is flexible or not.

4. Happy Pouch in Pink or Blue silk, great looking slings but silk doesn’t wash well.

5. I love this Sachi Carrier but this material is temporarily out of stock and I am too impatient to wait for it to come back into stock.

I am leaning towards the Annika Catbird Baby Mei Tai at the moment…Mmmm too many choices

Well, she has been smiling since birth but those have been wind induced smiles which are often followed by sick.

So it was wonderful to watch her being encouraged by her daddy (Deckchair) and after looking confused and getting more and more excited by the attention, she actually gave him a real smile. To be honest she went though all the possible facial expressions but she really did smile and with dipples as well !!!

I can't wait until she smiles regularly and hopefully, we'll be able to get a picture very soon.

Watch this space

1. Baby sick is warm when first produced and stains ALL clothes light and dark.

2. The first layer of skin actually peels off like a sunburn...use olive oil or vaselin to help the dry skin.

3. Baby poo is very liquid and can be projected a good foot away from the baby !!!

4. Babies wee one minute after removing one nappy to put on another.

5. Babies are so sweet smelling and huggable, even when covered with all the above

In fact there are currently no laws to protect women who wish (need) to breast feed their babies in England.

Breastfeeding Law Petition

Lets hope they pass the Breastfeeding Bill due to go though parliment in October 06

I have tried a few real nappies recently....well my new born daughter has

I have decided to buy a set of White BumGenius One Size Pocket nappies, as out of the three nappies we tried I just like the Bumgenius best and we got a unexpected refund from the bank so it didn't really cost us any money !!!

So we are now impatiently waiting for my Birth to Potty kit to arrive, which hopefully will be with us at some point next week

I decided on this nappy as it is easy for non-cloth nappy people to put on, like grandparents and nurseries.

It is easy to clean - shove in washing machine at 40 or 60 and line dry. The cover dries so fast, it is nearly dry when you get it out of the washing machine. The inside bit just takes a few hours on the line or less time inside or in the tumble drier.

I only need to buy one size/set of nappies, as these nappies adjust in size and so these nappies should last my daughter until she is ready to be toilet trained.

I hope I like them as much when I am using them fulltime

I have bought the nappies from Nappy Mania An English site and at the moment they have an 'buy and try one Bum Genius nappy and if you hate it, you can get your money back' offer on.

So watch this blog and see how we get on with full time cloth nappies

Babychair is one month old TODAY !!!

Oh my how fast does time fly when you are having fun. I can't even remember what we did before Babychair was here...how did we fill the time ?

Babychair is so beautiful and kissable, one look from her and my heart melts.

In celebration of her one month birthday, we are starting a new tradition. Every month we are going to take a picture of Babychair on our sofa with the beautiful teddy TigerFeet bought her and at the end of the year we can see how she grew up.

Here is the first picture

I got everything down my clothes today...wee, poo and sick. I nearly gave up on clean clothes, after the third change !!!

I bought my mum some flowers to thank her for helping Deckchair (DH) and me out this week.

Thank you so much for helping out this week, it was been a wonderful time, all girls together during the day.

I miss you already

Mum was staying with us this week and she offered (insisted) that she would babysit so Deckchair and me could get out for the evening.

We went for a lovely meal at the local cinema complex and I managed to get though the starters before I had to phone home to check how Babychair and my mum were getting on...'very well' my mum said and no noise in the background seemed to confirm this.

Deckchair snatched my mobile to prevent further checks We had a lovely meal and a big glass of wine which actually got me complete tipsy, seeing as I have had nothing to drink since our honeymoon last November !!!

We went to see a film at the cinema and dashed home to see Babychair.

Deckchair and I were elbowing each other out of the way in order to be the first to rescue Babychair from the evil gripes of my mother (joke)...she was peacefully sleeping in her moses basket...I was so gutted.I missed her so much and here she was asleep and not missing me.

My Maya Wrap arrived today

Though I am unsure why it is referred to as a wrap, as it is a ring sling but that is the trade name so I'll use it.

It is harder than I thought to adjust, though I bet it gets easier with practice and I am so pleased with how it looks and it will be much easier to 'wear' Babychair when I need to pop out to the shops, than having to lug the pram everywhere...much as I love my pram.

Babychair falls asleep when I put her in the sling, so although she looks squashed she must be comfortable and it is interesting how many people stop me to discuss the sling....Hillsborough obviously isn't used to babywearing mummies.

Here is a picture of me (BabiesEverywhere) with my Daughter Babychair in her Maya Wrap
The first attempt at putting on the sling and my poor daughter is leaning too much...opps


Better sling position, as I had a couple of practices tries by now.


Doesn't she look happy

I have been toying with the idea of moving to real nappies, as I hate the thought of all the chemicals in Pampers et al being next to Babychair's skin and I am very shocked at the amount of nappies my three weeks old daughter has gone though at the moment, plus real nappies are much cheaper in the long run.

I recently bought one Cotton Tot Bot and one Bamboo Tot Bot with a PLU cover and one green BumGenius nappies to try out.

So far the Bamboo Tot Bot has only been used once and is still damp from washing, which is a shame as I loved how soft it was. The Cotton Tot Bot has been used/washed once and should be dry enough to wear again this afternoon. Amazingly the Bumgenius has been used and washed twice and is nearly dry enough for a third trial.

Bamboo Tot Bot


Cotton Tot Bot


BumGenius


Due to the speed of drying the BumGenius is my favourite so far but do I love it enought to invest £200 and a lot of laundry time over the next two years. It would also have to be a set of white Bumgenius's as the green one is just too bright in real life and clashes with her little pink vests ...Mmmmm I'll have to think about this...

We went to get Babychair registered at Sheffield Cityhall. We were so late, trying to get out of the house with a newborn baby and two disorganised parents and she wanted feeding. I gave her one breast and then we dashed out if the house.

The register still saw us and said she liked the fact we apologised for being late, something other late parents don't do apparantly. Babychair was relatively good considering she was hungry and I was so nervous about where and how I was going to finish her feed, as there was no way that she would wait until we got home again.

We decided to sit in the Peace Gardens, a public area with benches and fountains right next to the city hall.
I was so nervous and got my boob tent out and began to feed Babychair. One lady came over and said it was nice to see a young (?) mum breastfeeding her child and smiled at me, no negative comments thank god.

Went out for lunch at local pub, I had a cheese burger, chips and salad and it was so tasty. Babychair slept in her pram and only woke up when we had finished our meal...fantastic timing

We had such a lovely day.

So far Babychair gets called.....

Little Miss Stinkums (By her daddy when he is on nappy change duty)

Little Darling (By her daddy on cuddle time)

I call her, Little Girl, Baby Girl and Little Tree Frog (when she curls up on my chest on a frog position)