Wednesday 1 November 2017

Life Update - Meet Oliver


Well it's been a long old time since I've sat at my computer to write something for you goes...it feels kind of odd to be back but I've been itching to do this for a while, so I thought I'd just bite the bullet and do it. As you can probably tell, my life has change a lot since my last post, so here goes...


I had a baby!! When I left the blog I was 8 months pregnant and had just started my maternity leave. I had a few problems towards the end of my pregnancy, and was in hospital pretty much every other day, hence the lack of posts in the lead up to my due date. In the end I was booked in to be induced on 15th March, but that was not needed, as Oliver arrived of his own accord on 13th March, weighing 7lb 5oz - quite a good weight considering I was expecting to deliver an elephant thanks to my gestational diabetes! I had a relatively smooth labour, but I'll go into more detail on that in my labour story, which will go up soon.

Oliver didn't exactly have the best start to life, as he was quite poorly. He was constantly being sick and was extremely unsettled. After several doctors appointments and hospital visits, it was decided that he had a cows milk allergy, and his formula was switched. Unfortunately this did not make any difference to his sickness, so we were back to hospital again where we were asked to try Carobel in his feeds, which thickens the milk up to help it stay in the stomach. Whilst this hasn't completely solved the problem, he has been a completely different baby since we started using this. Finally, after over two months of torment, was had a happy baby!

Since weaning him, which we were advised to do early at five months due to his reflux, we have come to realise he may not have a cows milk allergy after all. We are currently working with a dietitian to try and work this out before switching him back to regular formula. Unfortunately he is still a bit sicky, but we have been told that due to the severity of his reflux, this may not fully go away until he is a year old.

I had a bit of a shaky start to motherhood, another reason for the lack of posts until now. Having such a sick baby, and not knowing what I could do to make it better, took its toll on my health also, something which I may going into more detail on at a later date. Since Oliver's health improved, so did mine and now I am absolutely loving being a mother. I dread when the day comes to return to work and I can't spend my days with him anymore.

One regret I have of not coming back to blogging sooner is that I haven't been able to share some key milestones. As already mentioned, Oliver is now eating solids (and loving it!), but the rolling over and sitting up milestones have also passed. He's on his way to crawling, he just needs to learn that he has to be up on his hands and knees at the same time first! He's also sleeping in his own room and going through the night which is something I'm very grateful for as I love my sleep! As I'm a mummy now, there will be much more baby related content up on the blog, as well as my usual beauty & lifestyle, which I hope you don't mind.

Another big change that has happened in the last few months has been that we've moved house! It was never our intention to move with a newborn, but unfortunately our landlord decided that he wanted to sell the house - two months after signing a one year contract extension I might add! He found a buyer and we agreed to move out in the summer, with an offer of compensation from the landlord for breaking the contract. It turned out to be for the best actually, as we now live two doors down from my gran and pay less rent, so despite all the initial stress, we are now better off from the situation. My auntie and two year old cousin also live with my gran, so it's been nice for her & Oliver to spend more time together.

We are now into the last couple of months of my time off with Oliver and I intend to make the most of it. I know he won't remember any of it, but I intend to make the run up to his first Christmas really special as I'll be at home with him. It's going to be such a magical time, and I intend to start lots of family traditions that Oliver will grow up with.

I've had a bit of a think about what I want to do going forward with my blog. Obviously I have a lot less spare time than I used to, so I can't commit to as much as before. I've decided that I'm going to post on Wednesday's & Sunday's. Two posts a week should be enough to manage, but if I get some extra time, and have something to write about, there may be the extra bonus post now & again. I'm also considering doing Blogmas, so watch this space.

Hope you're all well, and I'l see you again on Sunday!


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