Parenting

I recently read an article about why Sarah from Sarah’s Sage Advice waited to have children. It got me thinking about what my plan was for when I wanted to have children. I never wanted to be an old mum. When I was a kid I always considered my mother to be old. But in comparison to my friend's parents, she wasn’t old. She is around the same age as most of them. She is the same age as my mother in law. In fact, they are only 5 days apart. Mind you I never saw my dad as old, [...]

I was one of the lucky ones. I had it really easy, with no pregnancy surprises. I didn't have experience high blood pressure, gestational diabetes or Hyperemesis Gravidarum. You could even say that I enjoyed it. That's not to say there weren't a few things that surprised me about being pregnant. Morning Sickness For me, morning sickness was not what I was expecting it to be. I only actually threw up about 10 times, and only once did I throw up twice in one day. But I constantly felt sick, like I was going to throw up. This made it [...]

Pregnancy is different for everyone. It's even different with each child. Here are some of the common things women experience during pregnancy that I didn't encounter. Cravings Sure I had cravings. But it wasn’t a case of "I must not stop until I get this". It was more like a regular craving that would pass without having to give in. And while I don’t think it’s considered a craving, I found milk was often the only thing that would satiate my thirst. I would get up in the middle of the night and chug some milk. Being warm I did [...]

I always wanted to breastfeed. But am ashamed to admit I honestly thought those that said it was too hard or hurt too much weren’t trying hard enough. How amazing is hindsight? I now know how hard breastfeeding is. I left the hospital with cracked, bleeding and scabby nipples. When the midwife visited, she was able to leave me with a loan great pump to see if that would help. After returning the loan pump to the hospital I borrowed one from my sister in law, and it was a godsend, especially when I returned to work. Breastfeeding Advice The best [...]