Are we coming to the end of our Combi feeding journey?? | Blog

If you have read my blog previously then you will know that I am currently Combi feeding my little baby Smidge. He is just over 2 months old so for the past 9 weeks I have been expressing, formula feeding and doing some straight from the boob feeding. It’s been a hard journey and one that we have had to go on for a number of reasons. But I can’t help but worry that our journey will soon be at an end... 

My milk supply is dwindling. A month ago I would pump first thing in the morning and get 4/5 ozs off. Now I am lucky if I get 2 and I have tried a few things (sporadically) to increase it. Oats, special cookies and smoothies, massage, power pumping... nothing is having a huge effect but I haven’t been too consistent with any of it. It’s helping me produce slightly more but not what Smidge needs. I’m told that the most effective way to increase your supply is to feed baby more but it isn’t that easy for us. My nipples are tiny which means Smidge has never been able to latch on and suckle properly without nipple shields. This means that every time I feed him he is fighting so hard to get the milk and it’s just not coming quick enough thanks to my low supply and the fact he has to work harder with the nipple shields. He is feeding from me, draining the 1 or 2 oz that I have and then desperately seeking more. That’s when I am topping him up with formula as what else can I do?? 

I don’t want this to be the end of our journey though. I don’t feel ready for it to end yet. I feel that Smidge and I have both worked so hard to get to where we are that I don’t want to be forced to stop just because my supply is low. Smidge is my last baby so I want to give this the best shot I can. 

So I have a plan! 

My plan is to pump every three hours... without fail! I have a hands free bra and a wireless pump so I don’t have an excuse really. And if I am out and about then I will just make sure I put Smidge to the breast. I’m going to go back to eating 2 of the boobix lactation cookies each day. Every night at 9pm I’m going to have a power hour where I pump to replicate cluster feeding. I am going to start every feed off by putting Smidge to the boob and letting him get what he can before giving him the bottle. I am going to do this religiously for 10 days. If at the end of 10 days I haven’t seen an increase then I will admit defeat but I won’t go down without a fight. 

Keep your fingers crossed for me! 

Feed with Confidence Awards 2018 with Lansinoh | Collaboration

If you follow my Instagram or Facebook page then you will know that recently I was asked to be a Feed with Confidence Ambassador by Lansinoh. I was a bit flabbergasted when I was asked as this is my first time breastfeeding and I didn’t think I was a role model or confident but it turns out that others think that I am. Lansinoh told me that they loved how positive I was about feeding in public and how I was an advocate for expressing milk (I didn’t breastfeed Smidge for the first 2 weeks as he wouldn’t latch). The more I thought about it, the more I realised that Lansinoh were right. I had received numerous messages from mums and mums to be asking how I breastfed in public and how Combi feeding was working for us. Just by talking about what I was doing and by posting pictures of me feeding on Instagram, I was raising awareness and I am so proud of what I have done. 

This leads me to the point of this post... the Lansinoh Feed with Confidence Awards 2018. Lansinoh want you to nominate the places and the people that make or have made breastfeeding a positive experience for you. They want to know if you visit a cafe or restaurant where you know you can feed with confidence. They want you to nominate a friend, family member or healthcare professional if they have really supported you and helped you on your breastfeeding journey. 

The awards were held last year and they were so successful that they have introduced two new categories. There are now three categories in total:

Feed With Confidence Venue – a place where mums can breastfeed in comfort, feeling supported and respected. It might be a cafe or a museum, a department store or a pharmacy. It’s a place that goes the extra mile to make breastfeeding possible.

Feed With Confidence Supporter – a friend or family member who has helped you to overcome your breastfeeding hurdles.

Feed With Confidence Champion – a healthcare professional who champions the cause and has made you feel breastfeeding is worthwhile.

It’s so simple to nominate AND you could be in with a chance of winning a family friendly mini break too. To nominate all you need to do is follow the link below - https://lansinoh.co.uk/feed-with-confidence/

To my Husband... we’re in the thick of it | Blog

To my Husband, 

Do you remember 8 years ago when we live in our little flat with the stained glass windows? We’d go out every weekend, get drunk in pubs we’d never dream of going to now, spend all day laying around on Sunday watching films and rubbish TV in our pjs all day? We used to book holidays based on how long the all inclusive bar was open for or how hot it would be. Remember when we used to have BBQs with those awful disposable things on the tiny grass verge and make “punch”’that had way too much vodka in it? Can you remember a time where we just went food shopping without a meal plan or a list? You used to make me romantic meals with candles and cocktails. We took so many photos of each other... selfies together, pictures of one another, our phones were full. We used to hold hands, attempt romantic baths together (which never would really be that comfortable), kiss every morning and every night without fail... 

Do you remember how it was when it was just you and me?

Our life is so different now. 

Now we live in our home which has scuffs all over the skirting boards from the baby walker and holes in the wall from the baby gate and it’s filled with toys. A home we love but are constantly trying to improve yet never have enough time or money. Our weekends now consist of swimming lessons, gyms sessions (why is it so much harder to keep fit now!), washing thousands of babygrows and pants and taking walks to the woods or park. At night we collapse on the sofa and attempt to watch a film whilst I am hooked up to a breast pump. We never both see the ending of the film though as usually one (or both of us) end up falling asleep. We now book our holidays based on travel time, convenience, saftey and on how much the kids will enjoy themselves. BBQs are pretty much non instant now as it’s too dangerous, too hot and Pickle doesn’t eat any of it anyway and as for the punch... well one glass of that and I’d be on the floor! Food shopping is now done online with lists and plans and back up plans... ain’t no body got time to juggle Tesco’s with 2 kids!! Our phones are still full of photos except I don’t think any of them are of us together. Our photos rolls are filled with our beautiful, happy children (with an occasional picture of a nappy or poop thrown in!). We never hold hands anymore because as much as I’d love to hold your hand it’s usually filled with a baby, a pram or a childs hand now days. And kisses... well we would never let the boys go to sleep without a goodnight kiss so when don’t we do the same? Oh yeah.. the mind numbing triedness that comes with raising an almost 4 year old and a 8 week old that’s why. 

But... I promise you that this is temporary. We are in the thick of it right now and one day we will look back and say “wow... that time in our life was hard... how did we survive it?!?” The sleepless nights, the nappies, the school runs, the immunisations, the tantrums, the teachings will one day all stop and our boys will be grown. They won’t need us anymore and the haze will lift. When it does and we see our 2 babies are gone and living their own lives I promise you that then we will hold hands again. We will stay in bed till whenever we want and we will kiss all the time 😊 We will become us again and put us first but for now let’s just muddles through the thick of it because it really won’t last that long ❤️

The proudest family portrait | CanvasChamp Review

I love nothing more than displaying my happiest moments around my home. Snaps from our holidays that bring back the the smell of the sea, tiny moments caught in frame that bring an instant smile and huge momentous occasions immortalised in a still picture. So when the final piece to our puzzle came along two short months ago I knew I needed something special to add to our collection of photos and prints. That’s why I chose a beautiful Canvas from CanvasChamp. 

Designing and ordering this canvas was unbelievably easy. I headed over to their website in my phone, picked the size canvas I wanted, uploaded my chosen photo from my camera roll and that was it! Within moments I was reviewing my design and ordering my canvas. Within a couple of days it was delivered and I couldn’t have been happier. It is just perfect. 

The ease of designing and ordering from canvas champ isn’t even the best bit... the canvas I have only cost £7.19!!!!! How amazing is that!! I certainly know where I will be heading at Christmas for some gifts for the grandparents!! Head over to the Canvas Champ website now to grab your very own Canvas Prints at this amazing price! 

Note - this is a collaborative post