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New Mum Baby Blog
Philips AVENT Marketing Manager Jo Simpson has just returned to work after nine months of maternity leave. Why not compare notes and follow her thoughts, concerns and experiences on being a new mum.
24th September 2009
Going back to work
They say time flies when you’re enjoying yourself. Sadly, that’s far too true. I rejoin the AVENT team this week, returning to work after 9 months leave with my beautiful daughter. It feels like only yesterday that I left to go on maternity leave!
We went for a week’s family holiday in Cornwall during my penultimate week, which was really lovely. The weather thankfully was kind to us and we spend a good deal of time making use of the beautiful beaches down there. Martha built her first sand castle … with a little help from her daddy! We also tried out lots of new foods – including some of the lovely fresh local fish.
I think like most mums returning to work, I’ve got mixed emotions about going back. I’m absolutely sure it will be good for both of us. On the positive side I really enjoy my job (honestly!!) but that certainly doesn’t stop me getting quite upset when I think about leaving Martha each day … even if it is just for just a few hours. I’ve got so used to our daily routine and going on little adventures with her. She has been a joy and I’ve loved every minute of it.
Just before I left to go on maternity leave last December, I agreed to share my experiences via the BLOG on mybabytalk. I had originally envisaged doing an update on a weekly basis – how wrong I was! I may be going back to work but I think most mums will agree that there aren’t many jobs that are as demanding as looking after a baby!
I hope you have enjoyed following my experiences. Good luck to all those new mums. I promise you it is the greatest experience ever!!
3rd August 2009
One milestone after another!
We reached another few milestones recently. Firstly Martha became 6 months old – yes, we thought about singing ‘happy birthday’ to mark the occasion but didn’t just in case she remembers and starts asking for two birthdays each year when she’s a bit older! And secondly, she’s now eating solid foods. We were concerned that she would need some persuading to take to her new menu, but in fact she took to it like a duck to water.
She now has baby rice for breakfast and then a combination of fruit and veg for lunch and tea. I’ve been trying all sorts of weird and wonderful combinations, most of which she’s happily cobbled down. I found the Annabel Karmel book has some great recipes to follow. Martha is also sitting up now, which makes feeding her a lot easier. It also means she’s able to play more easily with some of the hundreds of toys that she’s been given. We have also fallen into quite a successful routine that seems to suit everyone – one that Martha fell into naturally. We now get up between 6.30am and 7, have breakfast, followed by some play/learning time and then have a short half-hour morning nap at about 9 – that’s Martha having the nap, while mummy is busy running around clearing up all the toys and preparing her food! We then have lunch at about 11.30, followed by a good hour-and-a-half long sleep to build up some energy for more play or a trip out somewhere. Tea is served at 5-ish, she then has her bath and is in bed just before 7pm. We didn’t set out to impose a routine but now that its there – everyone seems happy about it.
And finally, we’re just about to reach another milestone which I’m not sure I’m looking forward to at all - my maternity leave is finishing soon! I’m back to work in 4 weeks so going to try and make the most of my precious time off with her. We are going to Cornwall for a family holiday in a couple of weeks time and are all hoping that the English weather improves between now and then. I have mixed feelings about going back to work. I will miss Martha like mad but I think it will be good for both of us. If I’m being honest she is becoming a bit mummified and me, I need some brain stimulation! There is only so much stimulation one can get from Baby Einstein!
8th June 2009
Planes, trains & automobiles!
Martha is nearly five months old and is already becoming a bit of a little jetsetter! A few weeks back we went to visit her grandmother in Portugal and I’m pleased to report it was a great success – so much so that we’re off to see her again next week! We were a bit wary about going on a plane and I was feeling a bit self-conscious in case she started screaming, but she was brilliant and drew plenty of attention from the other passengers … for all the right reasons! I fed her on take-off and landing and in between she slept for most of the journey. The ‘white noise’ on the plane seems to be naturally soothing. She’s also been brilliant on car journeys. The only thing we’ve yet to try is a trip on a train.
When we were in Portugal we took her to the beach on several occasions where she got to put her feet in the sand and have a dip in the water. It was a bit cold but hopefully this time it will be a bit less of a shock for her. It was very sweet though.
She’s gaining weight steadily (now weighs over 11lbs) and at the same time is gaining strength. She’s managing to sit unaided for short periods (about 5 seconds at a time) and she’s also quite keen on standing – obviously with some help from mummy! Her sleeping patterns have also changed a bit. She went through a period of waking several times during the night, so we consulted our Health Visitor who suggested we introduce a ‘dream feed’ with a bottle of formula, which is working a treat. The next step is to introduce her to solids, which we will probably look at doing in a few weeks time.
The other big milestone over the last few weeks is that she’s no longer sleeping in our room at night. It felt very weird at first not having her sleeping at the end of our bed, but you do get used to it. When you see your baby every day though you don’t really get a sense of how much she’s grown. It was only when we looked down one morning at her lying in her basket that we really noticed it – when she first arrived home she was half the size of her moses basket, now her head and feet are touching both ends. At the moment she looks tiny in her cot – but at the rate she’s growing that wont last for long!
7th April 2009
Martha and Me
Martha is growing fast. She’s now 11 weeks old and has outgrown all her newborn clothing. It feels quite strange putting all those pretty little outfits away so soon, knowing she won’t be wearing them again. I’m only putting them away rather than getting rid of them since I’m hoping to put them to good use again at a later date when baby number 2 arrives - although I haven’t mentioned that idea to Ray just yet!!
Martha and I have been making full use of the lovely spring weather and getting out and about with friends. We’ve joined the local botanical gardens and have been on loads of lovely walks around the grounds, always followed by a good helping of tea and cakes! I took Martha in to see my work colleagues in the week which felt a bit strange being back in a business environment. That said, it was really lovely to see all my work friends again for a good catch up and a gossip, and they all enjoyed having cuddles with Martha. I also had my first girls’ night out on Friday night with my NCT friends. It gave Martha and daddy a chance to have some proper one-to-one bonding time – and mummy a chance to let her hair down! Ray and I gave Martha her first bottle of breast milk earlier in the week in preparation (incidentally, the expressing was much easier than I expected. I seemed to express a lot more first thing in the morning). She had obviously grown to like breastfeeding as she was very stubborn about changing her feeding habits and taking the bottle – it took us three attempts with lots of noisy objections, but we persevered and got there eventually. It does make life a bit easier now knowing that I can go out and leave Ray to feed Martha from time to time.
Martha has had her first set of immunisation jabs which, as I’m sure a lot of mums do, I got myself very worked up about! The first jab didn’t even concern her and I thought ‘what’s all the fuss about’ but when the second jab went in and she started crying, I was beside myself with guilt and worry! 5 minutes later, Martha had forgotten all about it and was back to her jolly self.
Waterbabies is going really well. Martha absolutely loves being in the water and is getting used to going under the water, although she gives me the impression that she still prefers being above the water than below it!
She is sleeping through the night now. Most nights she’ll wake for a feed between 6 and 7.30am each morning which we’re very pleased about.
We are all off on our first holiday next week – a proper big adventure. We’re flying out to see Martha’s grandmother in Portugal which we are all very excited about. Her passport came through last week and I have just started to pack the suitcase. I have no idea how I’m going to get everything we need in such a small space though!
3rd September 2009
No work – all play!
Martha is already five weeks old. I can’t believe where the time has gone, but I suppose they do say that time flies when you’re enjoying yourself. Motherhood is just wonderful and I could easily spend everyday just sitting and watching Martha.
She now weighs in at 8.10lb and is piling on the pounds just as she’s supposed to, according to the health visitor. That said, she still looks very sweet and dainty.
We’ve been doing quite a bit of socialising, which she seems to love. She loves going out for walks and car journeys. We’ve been to visit relatives ‘up north’, had lots of bonding sessions with her ‘nana’ and her aunty Em (my sister who absolutely can’t get enough of her), been on lots of shopping trips, on lots of walks with Maddie (our Springer Spaniel), been for several lunches and coffee mornings/afternoons, and we’re off to Portugal in a couple of months to visit Martha’s other grandmother.
Martha has just become an official member of the ‘water babies’ club. We had our first swimming lesson this week and it was just adorable. It was in a hydrotherapy pool specifically designed for babies, to help develop their confidence in water. There were six others in her class. Must admit though, mummy’s confidence was tested to the very limit when the instructor revealed our babies would go under water briefly as part of their lesson. Not one of the babies cried throughout the whole lesson and I know Martha absolutely loved it. Am really looking forward to going back for more next week.
We’ve just started to introduce a very gentle bedtime routine. We now try and give her a bath at about 6, followed by a gentle massage, a feed and then bed. Some nights it works better than others, but we’re not letting ourselves worry about it too much. She normally then wakes up again at around 11-ish when I try and give a good final feed of the day, which most nights sees her through until 3 or 4am. We’ve had a couple of nights where she’s slept all the way through until 7. We’re hoping in time there’s a lot more of that to come!
Can’t help but grin at how my life has changed since Martha. Two months ago I would have been busy preparing customer presentations and marketing plans and now I have a diary full of coffee mornings! No work, all play. I highly recommend it!
27th January 2009
A baby girl!
Martha Rose arrived on Sunday 18th January at 10.29pm. Weighing 7lb and with a head of jet black hair, she’s totally gorgeous. A week on and I’m still floating on cloud nine!
It was a bit of a long and tiring slog to persuade Martha to come out but worth every second now that she’s here. I arrived at the hospital at 2pm on Friday (16th) to be induced and Martha finally popped out two days later on Sunday evening. But, as everyone who has had children kept telling me, those painful moments soon become a distant memory when you have your little bundle in your arms.
We have been home now five days and it is still very surreal. Ray and I spend a lot of our time sitting and just staring at Martha, taking in every little expression and detail. We’re learning how to do things as we go along and are enjoying doing so together, and we seem to be getting a little better at it all with each new day. We’ve adopted a few tactics that have made life a little easier – like how to get a nappy changed without having to change the whole outfit at the same time! We’ve also begun to interpret Martha’s cries – one to tell us she’s hungry (which invariably she is!!), another that she’s tired, another she’s got a bit of wind or another that tells us she just wants to be picked up for a cuddle.
I’m feeling quite relaxed at the moment and trying to enjoy every minute – even the nights!! The midwives at the hospital were excellent and I made sure I asked lots of questions before coming home. They were great at offering breastfeeding support and advice, ensuring Martha latched on correctly before I went home, as well as talking me through the different stages and what to expect over the first few weeks. I did know quite a lot from having worked with mums-to-be and Vicki Scott for the past 16 months, but it is always a bit different when you’re doing it for ‘real’ and it’s your own. One thing I wasn’t prepared for was the size of my breasts – they were enormous, particularly when my milk came in! Best tip I was given was to use a Savoy cabbage - the cooling relief was brilliant, and almost immediate. The other thing that is really quite incredible is the bond I feel every time I feed Martha. It is so amazing how close I feel to her every time I feed her – and long may it continue.
We’ve been out on a couple of family outings to Winchester, which were great fun and quite exciting. That said, it took us forever to figure out how to assemble the pushchair on our first expedition (we’d had 3 months to practice but when it came to actually using it, we both had complete memory blocks!). It’s now all about ‘planning’ – it’s no longer just a question of popping into town for a quick visit, it’s now a planned and perfectly timed expedition!
As you can image, we’re taking lots of photographs, just to make sure we can hang on to each and every moment just that bit longer - Martha meeting grandparents and friends, Martha arriving home from hospital, her first trip out in the car, her first bath, her first smile (I know it’s wind but still very cute!!), and so it goes on.
I’m meeting up with the girls from my NCT group tomorrow for coffee, which will be the first time I’ve seen them since Martha’s arrival. The others all had their babies a couple of weeks before me, and I’m hoping that they will be able to give me some top tips on what to expect in the coming weeks!
26th January 2009
On my way to the hospital!
I am now two weeks overdue and am booked in for an induction today! I have mixed feelings, including feeling quite nervous now that the day has arrived, mixed with huge excitement of finally knowing we will be meeting our baby. The last two weeks have been quite strange – wondering every day whether today will be the day. My hospital bag has been packed for a few weeks but I unpacked it all this morning and repacked it. I have also been into the nursery about 5 times this morning making sure everything is in order!!
Am I ready? I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. Looking forward to sharing my next blog when I will be a mummy!
19th January 2009
No sign of baby yet
Well ‘D-day’ has been and passed and no sign of baby yet. Every day I wake up and think ‘today could be the day’, but as everyone keeps telling me, the baby will arrive when he/she is ready. So I guess mummy will just have to carry on being patient!
All of the girls from my NCT group have now had their little ones. I can’t wait to meet up and compare stories. I’m just hoping that baby Simpson arrives before the NCT reunion which is in 10 days time.
Christmas was lovely and very relaxing and lots of ‘me’ time, with everyone fussing over me. New Year was certainly quite different from what we are used to – a quiet night in with a lovely meal and Jools Holland on TV for entertainment!
The nursery is now ready, the house is fully child proof and the hospital bag is ready and waiting. We’re almost there on names too. If it’s a girl we’ve settled on one we both really like, and if it’s a boy we’ve now got a shortlist of about 3 names, one of which we are hoping will be a natural fit as and when we meet our baby. We’ve kept the choices to ourselves since from experience everyone has an opinion on them.
We took delivery of our TENS machine last week and had a practice run – I got my husband to try it first just in case it hurt!! We had a laugh about it as I stuck the pads onto his back.
Although I am taking each day as it comes, mentally I’m ready. Anxiety has now turned to excitement. On that note, I’m off to make myself another raspberry leaf tea!!!
22nd December 2008
Just starting maternity leave
I’m the Marketing Manager for AVENT and some might say that I am going the extra mile to live the brand and try the products for real! Well you could say that as I have just started my maternity leave to have my first baby. I thought I would log my experiences over the next few months via a BLOG – for those that are interested, read on.
I’ve finally finished work and they say I am now supposed to put my feet up, relax and spend some time on me. But the truth is I need to get organised for the imminent arrival of my baby…nursery needs to be sorted, final bits and pieces need to be bought (like a bed for the baby to sleep in!) and most importantly…get my head around the fact that this is actually happening!
The girls at work gave me a great send off a couple of weeks ago with a baby shower. Got lots of lovely presents for baby Simpson and some wonderful pampering treats for me - which I really must get around to enjoying while I still have the time to.
I’ve got just over 2 weeks to go (if all goes to plan!). Last week I experienced a wake up call when I was admitted to the antenatal ward at Winchester hospital with suspected early labour signs! Thankfully, after being strapped to a fetal monitor for a few hours and an overnight stay, it was a false alarm. The funny thing is neither of us could remember any of those useful hints and tips that we learnt at NCT – made a mental note to re-read my notes before D-day!
So more time to get organised. Its made me realise I need to pack my hospital bag because when I sent Ray (my husband and very excited father-to-be) home to get my overnight bag he came back with enough cosmetics to last me a year, including a face mask – like when am I going to have time for that luxury! He said he just went into the bathroom and collected everything in sight! Yep, I need to get that hospital bag packed!!
Anyway, off shopping…again! Quite enjoying this free time I have and going to make the most of it.