Kiddicare Woodland Baby Collection

A little while ago Finley and I were asked if we would like to try out and test some of Kiddicares lovely new woodland range! Knowing Kiddicare and their great products we of course agreed and were sent three lovely items. When I was pregnant I turned to Kiddicare and bought a lot of my little newborn essentials from Swaddle Blankets to a his Thermometer :D 

We were kindly sent the Woodland Playmat, Woodland Chime Ball and my favourite the Woodland Snuggle Blanket *

Our trusty postman delivered them and the first thing that we dived in and opened was the playmat, of course I had to let my little helper join in...I don't have a choice these days...he sees a letter, package and card and he has to open it! 

It is sooo much bigger than I imagined, when Finley was tiny we had a Lamaze foam mat and it was tiny in comparison to this. The mat itself has different textures for babies little fingers to explore and beautiful little characters dotted all over. Plus its patchwork...who doesn't like patchwork? We are currently using it as our reading mat in the living room, our floors are wooden throughout downstairs and its perfect for us to sit on whilst playing and reading our stories. Its lovely and plush so would definitely keep those little baby arms cushioned during tummy time....and may even encourage those tummy time tinkers (Finley was one) who aren't the biggest fans. I could see this being a perfect playmat to take you from newborn all the way through to toddler'hood.

When I saw a picture of the chime ball online I imagined it to be one of those spongy balls you can attach to a pram, about the size of a orange maybe but it is almost the size of a football! This really is to its advantage, Finley is loving it and is chasing it all around the house. He has since discovered throwing and I am so glad we have this, its light weight, soft and saves me chasing after him grabbing his humongous singing penguin off him before it lands on the cat! Its no wonder they want to be outdoors 24/7. The ball itself is squishy, and has all the same textures as the playmat, plus the little taggies and ropes that all little babies love....the same kind off attraction that they have to remote controls, telephones and keys??

My favourite of the three items was the Woodland Blanket - just look at that little owl face! Does anyone else have that one little animal that so appeals to them? I love the way they look, their round faces and squishy bellys...even our bedside table lamps are owls! So as you can imagine I was extremely happy to see this in the parcel, begrudgingly I parted with it for Finley....it was for him after all! What can I say, he has fallen in love. He used to have a little teddy blanket he slept with (I say used to because 'Teddy' has now been relegated to the bottom of his cot) but Little Squishy Owl has become his firm favourite. It all ties in with the theme and sports the same patchwork style and even and little hole underneath so you can use him as a puppet! I have been spying on the Kiddicare website and I am eyeing up a matching owl beanie teddy...which may just happen to end up living on my dressing table!

  

I was really impressed with this range and although everything is targeted from Newborn Finley is 16 months old and still getting some great use out of every item, I just wish they had been around when he was that little wobbly bobbly baby. 

I would highly recommend this range to all new mums, especially those who are expecting a surprise as the prints and colours are suitable for either a little boy or girl! A great idea would be if you are having a collection for a new mum in the office buy a few items from the set and present them as one big present bundle! Perfect!

 Here is a little secret for you, if we were to have had a little girl her room would have been a vintage woodland theme, with a massive tree wall mural hiding podgy owls and tiny robins. Bunting hanging allover the place and of course a giant patchwork bedspread! This set is perfect for anyone who is planing that theme or already has something similar.

Hope you enjoyed the review and thank you to Kiddicare for letting us get the chance to play and test a wonderful collection.

Love Kayleigh x

Forcep Delivery...dont be scared!

I really wanted to write this post because one of my biggest fears when I was pregnant were the dreaded forceps. 

My problem is I like to do my research a little too much and when it came to labour and delivery that was no exception, I watched every possible episode of One Born Every Minute, looked at all the labour and delivery posts online and on Youtube. I think I must be a qualified midwife the amount I learnt in that 9 months hahaha. 

I wanted to prepare myself for any and every possibility whilst in labour, but somewhere in the back of my mind I kind of always knew I would need some help. Call me psychic if you like, I also predicted Finley's arrival 3 days before he was born, I was talking to my dad and said that he would appear before the end of the week and he arrived that Sunday at 11:45pm!

Anyway, the amount of horror storys I read about forcep and assisted deliveries was unbelievable, it was like there were no positive experiences out there. Even the episode of One Born Every Minute shown a week before my labour was a horrific forcep emergency that I couldn't even watch. I wont go into detail because if your reading this you have probably already seen/read or really do not want to know.

On the 15th January 2012 and after 2 hours of pushing with no sign of Finley making an entrance the decision was made for me to have a forcep delivery. 'oh crap'.

But it was far from what I expected, I had already had an epidural so I couldn't feel any pain and I was led back so my eyes were averted.

The doctor came into my delivery suite and chatted about what he was going to do, no rushing or any pressure. I wasn't wheeled off anywhere, I just stayed in my room which really helped because the environment was familiar and the same midwife stayed by my side the whole time.

I will go into a little detail here (do not read Dad if you don't want too much information) Skip this if you just do not want the details. 
My legs were raised for the doctor but by this point you really wont be bothered, I had been examined by 4 people 2 of them men....crikey!My dignity was definitely left at the door and picked up a few days later on the way out.

They advised me they had to do a small cut to allow room for the forceps, jeez people - they said it was the equivalent to a 2nd degree tear. Then calmly they advised they were inserting the first forcep - No pain at all. All I felt was a strange squeaking and rubbing sensation, imagine getting a teaspoon and running the edge along the roof of your mouth. Not painful just weird. Then within what seemed like seconds the 2nd forcep was on and we were ready. You still have to push but the doctor does most of the hard work to get the head out. It probably took less than a minute for Finley to arrive, I couldn't believe how easy that was. 

All I wanted to say was don't be scared by the thought of having an instrumental delivery, people are hardly ever shown or told about a happy assisted birth but I'm here to start a trend. 

Finley does have a little scar near his ear but it looks more like a dint, nothing major. He had a cone head but that was more down to my waters going early and was wedged in my cervix.

I will put a few pics of his little cone head and forcep burn below. His rash went within a week or so and his head settled down after a few weeks. He now has the roundest head ever hahaha. 

I really hope this gives at least one person that 'yes, its not that bad' feeling and gives you the courage to not panic and enjoy your labour and delivery regardless :) people only ever tell you scary stories about their friends sisters cousins labour but make sure you tell them about this one and how it was so much better than expected.

I would love to hear your stories and also if you had a similar experience to me? Comment, email or tweet me at beautylifebaby.

You can see the slight forcep line on his cheek

Nothing too major - just a little mark

3 days old with his cone head - the dried blood was from an internal monitor

Finley now with his tiny scar by his left ear

Love Kayleigh x

Our Little Finners

I thought I better make a post to properly introduce you all to Finley. 

Finley Christopher Derek Bamber was born on Sunday 15th January 2012 at 11:45pm.

He was a little eager to meet us all and ended up being just short of 3 weeks early. He weighed in at 5pounds 15ounces (which has always baffled me because I thought the scale topped off at 14 Ounces?) Anyway he was a lot smaller than expected, I think the highest weight guessed on the sweepstake at work was knocking on 11pounds! Crikey - I must have that look about me haha. 

Anyway I will write a more detailed post on the lead up to labour and the delivery itself soon :) 

I will leave you with some lovely snaps of the one and only Finley

Love Kayleigh x

Only a few hours old - look at those milk spots :)

A couple of days old - wrinkled and crinkled

     

Cheeky Chops 6 months later

Am I about to talk about Christmas in September...

Well the answer to that question is yes, im sorry but im just too darn excited. 

Im not sure why but for some reason this year I have had the 'Christmas Urges' (yes that is a condition) since around June. A very new experience for 'lets wait till December pay day' me, I am assuming that once you have a baby a Christmas switch in your head is switched to overdrive. 

Finley will be only 11months this year but I think he will love all the fussing and paper scrunching...and of course the obligatory fancy dress and matching family pyjamas.

The thing I am most looking forward to is passing on little traditions and creating new ones as a family. I always think about the moment he understands and truly believes in all the magic of Christmas, that Christmas Eve when he can't sleep, the little letter written in crayon and that look of pure joy and happiness on Christmas morning where he cant speak for excitement.

Expect more posts on Christmas in the coming months for ideas on pressies, decorations and just general Christmas greatness. 

Do you plan Christmas months in advance or are you a last minute shopper?  

Love Kayleigh x