Parenting

People give you a lot of advice when you are a parent. And to be honest, sometimes the advice even starts before you fall pregnant. The best parenting advice I ever received came from my parent's group facilitator. But first I should explain what parents group is. I’m lucky enough to live in a fantastic area that provides government-run groups for first-time parents. I was placed in a group in my local area with parents that had similarly aged children. My daughter was nine weeks old at our first meeting, along with all but one older baby. There was a [...]

After a total of four nights in the hospital, I was I was finally discharged. Armed with my birth notes, and a referral for a colorectal surgeon, we left the hospital. And boy, was I surprised at how hard the walk to the car was. All up it was about 100 metres but felt more like a 5k! Physical healing After being discharged I kept an eye on my stitches so I could see how things were improving. Ten days after the birth of my daughter it didn’t look right down there. My mum is a nurse so I asked [...]

A while ago I caught a snippet from a morning show on Facebook where it was mentioned that it is not necessary to use the recommended amount when doing laundry. So I followed the advice and experimented a bit on my own. And the result was that I cut my laundry costs in half. Secret confession: Laundry is my favourite household chore. I put the machine on then get to do something else for almost an hour before I have to worry about it again. It takes me 10-15 minutes to hang it up (the right way), and it’s done! [...]

After childbirth, everyone wants to hear your birth story. What you expected, what you experienced and of course what pain medication you had. My number one goal for the birth of my daughter was to avoid a cesarean. The next goal was to avoid an induced labour. But I was given an induction date at my 40-week appointment. Which was 12 days after my due date. I honestly didn’t try to interfere too much but I felt confident that I could avoid being induced. I had two ‘stretch and sweeps’, the second being a bit more vigorous than the first. [...]

Going through IVF isn't easy. Three is so much new information about the reproductive system that you never learned at school. The added physical and mental strain of something so invasive. Not to mention all of the money involved. So here are the 6 lessons I learned from IVF. How the menstrual cycle actually works Sure I learned about the menstrual cycle at school, but that really only covers the basics. Now I know that your body often gives you signs of what’s happening on the inside. From hormonal acne to cravings to cervical mucus, I know my body better [...]