I always knew I'd get varicose veins! I have giant veins, my mum has them and at 20 I could feel one already starting to bulge. Fast forward 3 pregnancies, a lot of running and 15 years and I hated my legs so much I didn't every wear shorts or skirts, even with tights. I put off having the operation because I couldn't imagine how on earth I could cope with the recovery with a young family and with running a business too (so no sick leave). I've had loads of questions from other women on it all so I thought I'd do a blog to explain how I found it all. Arranging the operation I'd spoken to my GP who...
It was a bleak time before the internet, when we had to rely on asking friends or family or consulting encyclopedias to answer life’s questions. Now we have google and we can shamelessly resolve any query without embarrassment! Parenting poses a lot of challenging issues and our (often late night) google searches reveal a lot about the experience. Here are a few of our follower’s most relatable searches: The Very Real Struggles of Pregnancy “Can your unborn baby's kicks break your ribs?" Yes ribs can be broken, and just parents generally. "Are hot baths ok in pregnancy?" "How not to poo when in labour." “Is my baby clawing at my cervix?” Relationships “Why is my husband more annoying...
As such a personal thing, all women have different aims for breastfeeding. The great thing is we can all decide for ourselves what we hope for and want. The bad side is unfortunately our journey through breastfeeding doesn’t always line up with the one we had planned for. The Scottish Maternal and Infant Nutrition Survey in 2017 found that three quarters of those who stopped breastfeeding would have liked to have continued for longer. With these outcomes, a lot of us can feel disappointed with how breastfeeding turns out. We’ve heard from a lot of women about this and some common themes have been feeling like a failure and feeling guilty for stopping. “… the stress and worry I put...
There’s a lot of advice out there about how to cope with being labour and if you’re approaching this time you could be feeling a little overwhelmed or anxious. Books or websites can provide an explanation of what is happening to your body physically but the guidance for how to actually survive the experience can seem quite matter of fact or, often I found, wildly optimistic. We collected some tips from women who have recently given birth and can still remember the experience and what helped them to cope. Think of sustenance It’s important to keep your energy levels going with some healthy snacks… or sweets. Marshmallows, my husband fed me marshmallows. And the toast and tea right after was the greatest...
A milk bath is a bath which has milk added to the water, this could be cows or another milk or it could be breastmilk, or is often a combination of these. Milk baths are not a modern invention, this soothing and nurturing practice had been around for centuries but the idea is making a comeback. Using milk in a bath can leave skin feeling extra soft and the milk creates a mild exfoliating action and the fats within the milk are great moisturisers. Many women have used their breastmilk in baths for their babies to provide these benefits and more due to the incredible qualities of breast milk! We love how beautiful babies look enjoying their milk baths. Apart from...
