Hello! I went into pregnancy with incredibly low iron readings that were a concern to doctors and soon, naturally I was offered iron tablets, infusions and asked if I wanted to block my periods yet not once asked about my diet or lifestyle in general. I didn’t feel comfortable with any of the options presented and took the readings as a sign I needed to make some changes.

My favourite ethical and sustainable maternity essentials for pregnancy so far!

We all dread those incoming sniffles as the temperature drops off, so here are some of our immunity go-to’s that I always have on hand/are nourishing our bodies with so we feel prepared if that time comes. I grew up thinking Calpol was the holy grail, not because my mum had told me so, but because what was better than receiving a gooey pink sugary substance through a syringe at 6 years old?

It can be so overwhelming when you have a baby to not think you need a wipe warmer and every singing and dancing toy going to pacify your baby all hours of the day.

The truth is shops wanna sell, but do you actually need it? I found we didn’t need a lot, I learnt that from doing without but also from having things that went unused or made the house feel cluttered. So, I hope this helps.

I can’t quite believe it, but September is fast approaching which for us means my daughter is starting forest school (ARGH). Alongside me, parents and carers across the country are handed kit lists, school supply lists and are probably googling something along the lines of ‘what do I really need for nursery?’…

I was a little surprised when I saw how captivated Heppy was by the simple act of hanging up scraps of fabric with a peg, taking them down, folding them and putting them in the basket, only to then repeat the whole task again a few minutes later! All you need is some string, some pegs, some scrap fabric (old t-shirts or towels)- you could even go as far as cutting into the shape of items of clothing, and then maybe a little bag or basket for it all to be kept in.

On the 7th September at 6.51am we welcomed sweet little Moses Archippus into the world. How you even capture a birth story in writing I don’t know but I’d love you to join me as I try. Ps. You can read Hephzibah’s birth story over here.

I started contracting at 2.30am on the Tuesday morning, 5 days past our due date. I’d experienced a ton of braxton hicks in this pregnancy, something that I believe is more common with multiple pregnancies, so when I started contracting that morning it was hard to know if I truly was in labour. The contractions were coming every 6 minutes, so I began to track them with an app, but then there would be a pause and I wouldn’t contract for 10 minutes then they’d come every 4 minutes then I’d have a contraction 20 minutes later?! While they were irregular, the contractions were intense enough to need to focus and breathe through them so Joseph took the day off so he could be with me whilst Heppy was taken care of by my hero of a mum-in-law.

Back in mid- April just before Hephzibah’s second birthday it suddenly crossed my mind that lockdown was the perfect place to potty train.

Hephzibah had shown zero signs that she was ready to potty train. She hated having her nappy changed, seemed unaware of when she needed a poo or wee and would have happily hung out in a diaper with either of those in all day!

6 weeks into lockdown I committed to the thought that was flying around my head to start potty training Hephzibah. There had been no real signs that she was ready to potty train I just thought it would be worth a shot because we were at home all day with no where to go and liked the idea that there was very low-expectation so we could just see how it went.

On the 28th of April, a week before Hephzibah’s due date, at around 3/4am in the morning, I remember getting up multiple times to go to the toilet in a little bit of discomfort. It hadn’t really crossed my mind that I was in labour as I had no idea what contractions should, or would feel like, and at the time I thought they were probably just braxton hicks.

Elvie pride themselves on bringing women’s technology out of the dark ages, wanting to improve women’s lives through smarter technology. Elvie is only their second product so far, standing alongside a Kegel trainer, that helps women to improve their pelvic floor. Earlier last month they released their new silent hassle free breast pump and everything kicked off!

I’d NEVER even considered it wouldn’t be an option to breast feed. I skipped the free breast feeding classes, and, wanting a breast reduction all throughout my upper school years to lighten the load, didn’t go any further with it only because there was a possibility that the operation could have meant I wouldn’t be able to breastfeed.

I remember sat on the floor of our bedroom crying, confused how I would ever make pumping work whilst also dealing with this deep grief I felt at the reality that it was seeming less and less likely that she would begin to breastfeed from me again however much I was believing she would.