life lately - sick, sick and much more sick

Hugo managed to wriggle and bang his head on Monday, I won't go in to the full story, but it's safe to say I felt like the worst mother ever. Later in the day he was violently sick so I was worried about them being linked. We decided better safe than sorry and took him to A & E. Four nurses (to find his heart rate), one consultant (to say he's fine) and five hours later we were home.

The next morning the sickness continued and by sickness I mean like nothing I've seen or smelt before. Projectile vomiting, splurtung and choking. Still concerned, I rang the 111 line who promptly sent an ambulance, so Hugo and I were whisked off to hospital again! A quick check up and we were soon sent on our not-so-merry way.

The next day I booked in to see the doctor. Although we were sure it wasn't anything to do with the bump, we were worried about the amount Hugo was being sick, now for the third day. We were told it must be a bug and to come back in five days if it persisted.

A couple of days later it was still bad and I really didn't feel like I could wait until after the weekend to start thinking of solutions. It was very difficult seeing Hugo so poorly, pale, lethargic and out of sorts. Mum came up so that we had an extra pair of hands and between us we started thinking about what could be causing the sickness. We were sure it wasn't a bug, because he wasn't at all hot with a fever, he wasn't ill overnight and he was only ever sick immediately after a feed, as if an intolerance. 

We all felt like Hugo's tolerance to milk had weakened over time. He's always been a sicky baby, more so then others, but I've had very little to compare him to. Likewise, his poos have always been quite dark and liquidy, but again I wasn't sure what was normal. Putting everything together, we think he was struggling to keep the milk down during the day when he's very active, but was able to during the night when he was very calm.

We switched his formula to an anti-reflux milk of the same brand and it worked instantly. He's not had the sickness since, apart from the odd bit of spit-up. We saw an instant relief in Hugo, he was much happier taking his bottle and his poos started forming more like I'd been told baby's should (pastier, like thick korma). We checked it with the doctor who agreed it was likely to be reflux and said to continue on the milk. She also prescribed gaviscon, however we haven't used it yet as it can't be used with the new formula and I'm reluctant to keep switching. 

We're currently on week two of the formula. Today he suffered with severe constipation, but from what I've read his stomach should get used it to over the next week. In the meantime I'm going to keep offering water when I can and make sure he isn't going too long between poos. 

Seeing your child properly poorly is horrid. You'd choose yourself to be ill over them any day. I didn't care at all about the vast amounts of milk on me, the sofa, the floor and clothes, I just wanted my bright and perky Hugo back. Here's hoping his stomach settles.

This was all happening while the situation in Gaza has been dire. It puts everything into perspective and makes you realise just how minor a reaction to milk is. How lucky we are with our first world problems.

the routine - moving to the cotbed and big bath

Two weeks ago we moved Hugo into the cotbed in his own room. I felt really emotional. It was such a big step. I know all of the advice is to have him in our room for the first 3-6 months, but he was starting to outgrow the crib and it was waking him up when he hit the sides with his arms, or had them dangling between the rods. A few friends said that they had put their baby in their own room from 6-8 weeks, so around 10 weeks didn't seem too early. It also means that he wasn't too aware of his surroundings when we made the transition.

Because the nursery is so close to us it hasn't been a problem with hearing him, if anything it's good because I'm not quite as quick to jump up and make a bottle and sometimes he'll go back to sleep. That said, I have to be much quicker getting the bottle when he is ready!

He has slept much better since being in his own room - not having Adi snoring must help too! Sometimes he'll sleep for a 6 hour stint and other times he'll wake every 3-4 hours. To encourage the long stint through the night we've started waking him between 11 and 12 to give him a last nappy change and feed. This means that an average night now is sleeping from 8-11-5-8 - give or take.

He also outgrew the baby bath so at the same time we started putting him in the big bath. He absolutely loves splashing about, with no restrictions on the sides.

the routine - a few weeks on

Starting a routine when we did was the best thing we've done so far! Any sooner and it just wouldn't have worked, when he was a teeny tiny newborn he was sleeping more sporadically and it made sense for him to be downstairs with us in the evening until we went to bed. 

We started the routine just as he was able to take a little more food and sleep for longer stints. For the first week he was going down between 10pm - 12pm and waking twice during the night. We managed to put him down while he was awake to fall asleep on his own a couple of times but it was hit and miss. The difficult part of the routine was transferring him from me to the crib without him waking, and I knew that I didn't want to keep this up. We thought that the cold crib unsettled him after being in warm arms, so we decided to introduce the grobag (a sleeping bag for babies) - he was just big enough for it. 

The grobag is now my best friend! I put him down to sleep every night in his grobag and he'll settle himself to sleep without any cries! 

After a week we were able to move forward the time we put him to bed by a couple of hours, so he was going down between 8pm and 9pm. This was because we could see the signs of him getting tired such as rubbing his eyes and felt able to put him to bed upstairs and use the monitor to watch him. As he was now sleeping less in the day and more alert we could make sure he was tired out without having to go for a walk in the evening. We also tried blacking out the room by putting towels over the curtains (we do have a blackout blind to put up, but that's on a long to do list for when Adi's off work!).

He'd wake about 3 times during the night at first and this gradually reduced to twice and now it's often once. On an average night he'll sleep for up to 6 hours, then wake after another 3 hours and then will go down for another couple. 

Due to introducing the bottle and starting a routine Adi has done some night feeds so I've had more sleep and enjoyed a couple of baths without having to jump out to see to Hugo! Bottle feeding definitely has it's upsides! 

bottle feeding - the guilt

It took a while to settle into bottle feeding. There are lots of hassles as you can't simply put the baby to the boob and have an instantly satisfied baby! Instead there were the dos and don't of making up bottles to get my head around - how to heat them up, whether to keep them in a fridge in advance, use of a microwave, taking bottles out with me, sterilising, which formula to use, and so on, all while looking out for new signals of hunger to prevent unnecessary crying! 

I'd just settled in to it when I had a wave I guilt over me. At the mums and babies group some mums were breastfeeding babies older than Hugo. Although some were also bottle feeding, I just felt disappointed in myself. I hated sitting there bottle feeding and was thinking that I should have carried on and persevered. It wasn't as bad for me as for some people and looking back I had thoughts that I could've made it work. I was also thinking that it would've got easier, which is possibly true, but how could I ever know?!

The truth is yes I could perhaps have persevered, but would I have been happy? Would I have even made it to that group if I was as tired as I had been? Probably not. I wouldn't have had as many happy times as I've had I'm sure.

Before I breastfed I hadn't quite realised just how much is would stop me from doing as much. Not because I was afraid to breastfeed in public, I truly mastered that, but because of such frequent, long and tiring feeds.

I breastfed that night thinking I'd start it up again, but was instantly reminded of the reasons that I'd stopped. My boobs were very sore and starting to bleed, my arms were incredibly achy from trying to hold him in position to get a good latch, and he simply wasn't as satisfied as with a bottle and wanted another feed straight away.

Instead I thought I'd try to get as much expressed milk as possible so that I could at least be happy that he was getting breast milk. I borrowed a friends electric pump, but couldn't get as much as I did with a manual and realised that even with the manual I was getting a lot less than before. I'd just been so busy that my supply had diminished as I hadn't been able to keep on top of expressing.

So, to cut it short, my breast milk has pretty much dried up. I feel very frustrated at myself as I so wanted to breastfeed for longer, but I need to think of the positives and the healthy, happy little boy I have.

breastfeeding - my summary

We intended to mix breast and bottle for a while, but I was struggling with knowing how much milk he was taking and decided it would be easier to encourage him to get into a more manageable routine if we used just the bottle. As I'm finding expressing okay at the moment, I'm giving him the majority breastmilk with one formula feed a day. I'll gradually increase the formula over the coming weeks. This will also make it easier for me to go away for my first weekend without him when he'll be 12 weeks.

So, has breastfeeding been worth the emotional and physical roller coaster? In a word, yes. Focusing on and working at breastfeeding was my priority and I knew it wasn't going to be easy. Despite only solely breastfeeding for a month, he's had the best possible start and he'll continue to get expressed breastmilk as long as my milk supply allows.

The best bits:

• Looking down at my satisfied baby, knowing that we worked at it together - an amazing feeling.
• Post-feed cuddles with his satisfied face and the satisfied sigh.
• A special bond, lots of time for close contact.
• Sensing him stirring and putting him straight on the boob before there is any need to cry.
• Feeding on the go, not having to spend time and money on formula.
• Weight loss - it's really true what they say, I could feel my uterus contracting and I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight by week 3, still eating whatever I liked within reason!
• That's without all of the proven health benefits to both of us.

The bad:

• Establishing the supply - engorged boobs.
• Leaking boobs through breast pads.
• Cluster feeding taking up each evening - absolutely exhausting!
• Physically tiring from holding him up, arm and back ache. 
• No ability for someone else to feed and no rest for more than 2.5 hours between the longest feeds.
• Not being able to have a drink or leave Hugo!
• Feeding in public - trying to be discreet with huge boobs and a wriggly baby!

I didn't think I'd mind taking him off the boob, but I do miss the closeness and need to ensure we have some tummy time to make up for it!

starting a routine

Last night we started a bit of a routine. As Hugo is now over one month and we've switched to bottles (mainly expressed milk with the odd bit of formula) it's easier to manage how much milk he's getting and when, so it feels like the right time.

Yesterday I tried to feed every 3 hours and let him fall into a natural sleep routine by staying in the house so that he didnt fall asleep in the car. This was a challenge because his feeding has been so frequent until now so he wanted food much more quickly.

We managed a few feeds 3 hours apart and then the last one before bed was 2.5 hours from the previous. I did use a swing seat to put him to sleep when he was fractious in the afternoon, but he was awake for most of the day.

Our new bedtime routine is as follows:

8.30pm - evening walk or activity to keep him awake! (weather permitting)

9.30pm - stretch out on the play matt to burn off any energy

9.45pm - bath

10pm - bottle

10.20pm - storytime in rocking chair

10.30pm - sleep!

8am - woken up for day to begin!

At the moment I'm letting him fall asleep on me before putting him down. At some point I need to encourage him to fall asleep on his own, but I'll wait until the routine is more fixed. At that point I intend to use music to help too.

Night one went well, he slept from 10.30pm until 2.50am - the longest stretch yet and the earliest he's gone to sleep. He then woke at 6am but didn't manage a whole bottle so was up again at 8am.

Here's hoping we can keep this going and gradually increase the stretches between feeds and put him down to sleep earlier!

breastfeeding - the struggle

Breastfeeding really has been a rollercoaster that starts and stops, jerks forward and back with lots of upside downs along the way. 

Pre-tongue tie

Hugo was latching on well but he was feeding really frequently - up to 18 times a day! I coped through the days of building the milk supply, but on other days, unless we were out or he was asleep he’d want to do nothing but feed and the evenings were particularly exhausting. I felt like things should have calmed down so thought about how I could encourage him to feed less frequently and for longer each time.

I realised that he was falling asleep on the boob. I tried to wake him and keep him going so that he'd take more, but despite me trying to wake him and keep him going, he’d fall asleep and then want more not long after. I think he had to work doubly hard because his tongue-tie made it harder for him.

The bigger he got, the more difficult it was to keep him in a good position and he was also very wriggly, perhaps sometimes out of frustration. His latch also got gradually worse and I was constantly having to re-latch him. The more tired I was, the less mental and physical strength I had to constantly take him off the boob and re-latch him, so sometimes I'd let him feed with some discomfort. Because of this my nipples have become red and tender so breastfeeding has become more and more unpleasant.

I built up to the tongue-tie in my head and coped with the discomfort and exhaustion, hoping that things would improve after the tongue-tie snip.

Post tongue-tie

The doctor told me to re-train him to make sure he didn't fall asleep at the boob, but that's pretty difficult in practice! To start with I thought things had really improved as I was encouraging him to feed for longer, the latch felt good and there was longer between feeds, (apart from the first day of constant feeding to re-build the supply) however his latch soon went back to normal, as did his habit of falling asleep on the boob.

I feel like the tongue-tie snip came too late, as he was already in his own routine. I did everything I could to wake him but he went back to feeding little and often and his latch started hurting. I was becoming exhausted and didn't have the energy to hold him up properly and support him in a good latch. 

After a week of persevering after the tongue-tie snip and a month of breastfeeding, Adi and I decided that we should introduce the bottle for some feeds before I hit rock bottom. We intended to mix breast and bottle if he would swap between both, so that Adi could do the odd feed and give me a longer break to help with my tiredness and breast discomfort in the evenings. We also thought it may help us to ensure he had a good evening feed, being able to see the amount of milk he was taking.

He took the first bottle of expressed milk really well and went back to the breast very easily for the next feed so we will see how it goes mixing both.

tongue-tie

Hugo was born with a tongue tie. It's something that affects 1 in 10 babies and is more common among boys. 

Midwifes used to check routinely when babies were born and simply tear the tongue tie themselves using a nail or such like. Obviously this led to infections and so now it's done using a sterilised pair of small scissors. It's an incredibly simple procedure.

My midwife noticed the tongue tie on her first visit - the day after Hugo was born. She said that this could be affecting how easily he was able to latch on to the breast so could make breastfeeding more difficult. She referred us that day and said it should be up to 10 days for an appointment. 

10 days later and we were still waiting for a letter or phonecall. Breastfeeding was indeed difficult because he struggled with his latch and my boobs were starting to get very tender. He was having to work harder at the boob so was sleepy and taking a long time at each feed. I was constantly re-latching him and this was the only reason that I was able to last so long, as I didn't put up with pain.

It can make is near on impossible for women to breastfeed when a baby has tongue tie and the professionals were astounded at how well I was doing. It's therefore incredibly frustrating that throughout the pregnancy and birth, all health professionals in the nhs are guided to drill in to you the importance of breastfeeding, yet they can't do a simple snip of the tongue as a routine post-birth check which could make all the difference.

When my health visitor came on the 10th working day since the referral she called to follow up and gave us a number to call as well as a number for a complaint which she advised us to do. 

We called the following week and were told that there was a delay due to the one(!) doctor in the region qualified to do the procedure being off sick. They had apparently had a 'crisis' meeting and were holding extra surgeries to keep up with the demand. 

We were booked in for the following week - so Hugo was 3 weeks and 3 days. That's 3 weeks and 3 days of unnecessarily frustrating feeds if the procedure could be done at birth.

The doctor was an hour late, but luckily Hugo is a very content little man! I was getting stressed as I hated the idea of inflicting any pain or discomfort on to Hugo. I needn't had been, as he barely flinched. He was understandably a little resistant as the doctor and nurse opened his mouth, but the snip lasted a couple of seconds and he didn't feel a thing. The doctor simply dabed it with a cotton wool pad to soak up any blood and passed him back to me.

I was led into a room to breastfeed in private and the doctor advised me to make sure he doesn't fall asleep at the boob, to rid of old habits. He was able to latch straight away and I saw signs of improvement, but was just relieved that he wasn't in pain and could feed. 

Adi and I are fully intending to do something to help put tongue tie on the agenda. Something so simple can be all the difference between breastfeeding and not. Tongue tie can also lead to speech problems, yet is often not picked up until such a time, when the procedure does become a bigger thing and inflict pain. 

Why can't all babies be checked for tongue tie by the doctor who does the routine post-birth check? Why can't that doctor be trained to do the procedure? Why isn't there more than one doctor able to do it in my region? Why does it take so long for the referral? Why do different regions have different standards, with some refusing to do it all together unless it affects speech?

Answers on a postcard. 

breastfeeding - the gush

Just when I thought I'd cracked the colostrum, the baby had to re-learn everything when the milk came in as the density of my boobs and feel of the nipple changed. It was an incredibly difficult night, for hours no matter what I did, he could not latch.

The feeling of not being able to feed your baby, when you can see they are hungry is awful and incredibly frustrating. It tests your limits. I think Adi was ready to crack and if we'd had formula in the house we'd definitely have used it, but I'm so glad we persevered. I rang the F.A.B. helpline and they reassured me that I was doing everything I could and it was probably the tongue tie, which made Adi and I consider snipping it ourselves! 

In the end Adi was able to take the baby and calm him while I used a hand express pump (invaluable) to express some of the milk, which helped to soften them as they were rock solid, and get the flow going. I also had a sleep which gave me the energy to try again. When I did Hugo latched on straight away and fed well. To help me and Hugo, I was very conscious to remain calm and keep my heartbeat steady even when he was struggling and I was exhausted. Having the support of a partner was invaluable, as he simply wouldn't have settled had I not been able to pass him over away from the smell of milk at times.

I kept massaging the boobs between feeds to loosen them as they were hard and lumpy, and fed little and often (on demand) which helped to establish the milk supply. This stage was the most painful, but only the pain that all women experience as their milk is 'letting down'. 

Then, just as we thought we'd cracked the milk, it would appear that my body was just teasing. The milk comes in gradually and each feed is different from the one before. Suddenly my boobs were less hard and lumpy and just huge and soft, full of milk which was leaking everywhere! The milk flow was far too fast and too much for baby to cope with! I used the hand pump to express to help get rid of the access fluid to make it easier for Hugo.  For a good few feeds we seemed to have cracked it with me expressing a little before if I felt the boob needed releasing.

Finally, the milk flow settled and he got used to feeding without me needing to express before. By the end of the first week I was still taking it a feed at a time, but he was latching well and the milk supply had settled. 

breastfeeding - the colostrum

Just like my desire to have a natural birth, I had a real desire to breastfeed. Formula is a wonderful substitute for those who are unable to breastfeed, but if possible, I wanted to do what nature intended.

I myself have a weird relationship with milk. I have an intolerance to cows milk but do have the occasional goats milk. I'm not convinced we (humans) are designed to drink milk at all after our mothers. The idea of giving my baby something unnatural, unless I had to, was therefore something I didn't want to do when he was so little. 

That is until he starts teething, which is perhaps natures way of saying that he shouldn't be guzzling at my boobs for much longer! 

Although I knew that I wanted to breastfeed, the idea of a baby suckling at my sensitive, big boobs wasn't appealing. I was really unsure if I'd be able to get used to the feeling and was half expecting to give in at the first hurdle. Added to which, the copious amounts of stories about the baby not latching on properly and causing bleeding and bruising petrified me. Formula was always going to be a good alternative if I needed.

Because of these stories, preparing for breastfeeding became my main focus in pregnancy. It was the initial reason for attending NCT classes and my main reading topic. I am pleased to say that my research and determination has paid off (for now!).

I decided not to buy any emergency formula so that I wasn't able to give up easily. I ensured that I had the support of my husband and that we together would set out to try to make it work. In my head, if the baby was hungry and my colostrum had come in, surely there would be a way for him to feed. As a back up there was always a 24hr asda not far away in the worst case scenario!

Latching on:

While in hospital I struggled to latch the baby on, but with the help of the F.A.B. breastfeeding specialists and lots of different positions I managed to successfully feed. The research I did really helped as I knew instantly whether the pain I was feeling was normal or due to him not being latched on properly, because of the positioning of his chin and lower lip. 

As he was so sleepy on the first day, there weren't many issues as he didn't require much, so although I wasn't fully confident, we went home knowing that I had fed him and therefore should be able to feed him again.

The first night was difficult as the positions that had worked in hospital weren't working as well at home. I managed to feed lying on my side with him lying next to me, but then that wouldn't work the next time, I'd try the cross-cradle, but that wouldn't work again, rugby ball hold, same again and so on. 

He was also sicking up lots of mucus, which he would have swallowed during the birth, so over the first 36 hours or so he wasn't taking much down until he'd got rid of that. 

The midwife came the following day and I was really anxious. Although he had taken some colostrum it felt like he wasn't able to take all of the colostrum that he needed. Because you can't tell how much colostrum/milk breastfed babies are taking, the anxieties are heightened. 

The midwife helped position him and reassured me that the positions I was using and the latch were right, but discovered that he had tongue tie which could be restricting him. Because of this we hand expressed some colostrum and fed him with a small spoon to ensure that I knew how to do this if he wouldn't latch when the midwife wasn't around. 

The midwife meanwhile referred him to have the tongue tie snipped, which can take up to 10 days. (More of that in another post).

Later that morning one of the F.A.B. specialists popped round to see how I was getting on. She again reassured me that the positioning was perfect and he fed well. She also reminded me that his stomach was the size of a marble, so it may seem like not much was taken, but he was fine. 

The following day both the midwife and another F.A.B. lady came. I'd had a successful night of feeding and seemed to have cracked it but accepted their support anyway, as I was taking things feed by feed. The F.A.B. lady gave me a great tip to help him breath through his nose, which was to lift his legs high to ensure he was horizontal. The lady in the hospital had said to use a hand on the boob, but that had actually been hindering the latch, without me realising. Each woman has tips on what has worked for them and others they know, so it pays to accept all advice, whether or not it works for you. 

So, thanks to the incredible support of the F.A.B. breastfeeding charity and my midwife and husband, we cracked the first stage - colostrum, which meant that no matter what came next, he'd had the most beneficial first feeds. 

life lately - paternity

One week paid paternity leave simply isn't enough. Adi had two weeks off, using annual leave for the second week, plus the weekend, making 16 days leave in total. For me it felt like two months, but for Adi it went way too quickly.

We're incredibly lucky that I didn't need much time to recover. We were out and about from 3 days after the birth and haven't stopped since! I can't imagine how people cope who have had caesareans or other complications which require more recovery, I guess that's when the support of family and friends is vital. 

I perhaps should've milked it a bit more and be waited on hand and foot, but I felt the more I did by keeping on top of housework and getting out and about, the quicker I healed, even if I did push myself to my limit somewhat. It also meant that Adi could be focused on Hugo rather than me.

We packed so much into the first two weeks, so here's a bit of a summary with some would haves/ could haves along the way.

First day:
On the lead up to the birth it's impossible to know who you'd like to visit you and when, as you can't imagine what it'll be like. Lots of people warned us that we'd be bombarded with visitors and that Adi should keep on top of it to ensure it didn't get too much for me. 

As much as we wanted time on our own, having my family around on the first day turned out to be fantastic. I knew I could speak my mind and tell them all to bugger off if needed, but having them around was a great support. 

I was high on adrenaline and couldn't contemplate resting, I just wanted to focus on the baby, feeding and relaxing. Adi was shattered, so while I had company downstairs, he was able to go and have a good sleep. I was cooked for and waited on, and managed to have a sleep while Hugo was in the best hands.

By the time my family left in the evening, we were rested and ready to go it alone. I couldn't sleep much that night, so if I hadn't had the 2 hours and if Adi hadn't had so much sleep we would have been exhausted, but that support got us both off on the right footing. It was also special to have my family there on the day he was born. Adi's parents also saw Hugo when he was a few hours old and his brother and family came the following day.

My top tip would be to try really hard to get some sleep during that first day. It can be tempting to just spend hours staring at the baby but you'll need all the energy you can to breastfeed constantly over the following days and weeks. On that first day the baby required very short feeds and not much else, so sleep and be woken by someone each time the baby needs feeding!

Visitors:

Each day onwards was filled with visits from the midwife, breastfeeding advisor's, family and friends. I was so proud and still had all of the endorphins flowing, so I wanted to show Hugo off to the world and didn't mind visitors at all. I knew all of them would take me as they found me and I was confident enough to breastfeed in front of everyone.

The only thing I would do is ensure there was time in-between visits and not too many in one day so that Hugo wasn't passed around too much. It didn't matter while he wasn't feeding much, but as the week progressed and his appetite increased, I was trying to juggle feeds with passing him around for cuddles, which stopped me from ensuring he had a proper full feed each time.

Too much, too soon:
The times that we didn't have visitors were great to chill out, but we also wanted to get out and about. While Adi was off, I wanted to go to normal places and do normal day to day things so that I could do trial runs for when I was on my own. 

On the third day we went to the White Rose centre to shop, then popped in to Adi's mums and back to ours for visitors. For the first trip out, I had totally overdone it. Because Hugo was asleep throughout the shopping trip, he'd been too long between feeds and wouldn't settle to feed at Adi's mums. We learned from this and I realised that I now have to go at Hugo's pace, not mine! That was hard over the first few weeks because feeds took so long and it seemed to be all I was doing!

Hugo's first two weeks:
By the time Adi went back to work we:

• had been shopping to the White Rose centre 
• registered him as a proper person in Wakefield
• had a baby photoshoot
• walked to the cafe in the village for lunch
• walked to the pub for a drink
• travelled to see family in Nottingham twice (due to a poorly Nanna)
• popped over to Adi's parents three times
• had a day out at West Bridgford Park (where I grew up)
• took Hugo to our friends house 
• ate out twice (Hugo's first Nando's and Pizza Express experiences) 
• had four visits from the midwife, three visits from F.A.B. breastfeeding charity and one visit from the health visitor
• enjoyed a picnic at Rufford Country Park 
• had visits from lots of family and friends!

So, I think maybe we overdid it a little, but I loved the chance to introduce Hugo to so many people and do normal things. Yes I was incredibly tired, but the hormones and endorphins helped. I was also sore but I just went at my own pace and had a bit of a waddle! I think doing so much has helped us to have a placid baby who is used to going here, there and everywhere.. or maybe it's having a placid baby that helped us!

(24th March - & 6th April 2014)