WIN A BABY MONITOR WITH SUMMER INFANT

Valentines is just around the corner so I thought I'd share a little baby love by running a competition <3 <3 <3 
I've teamed up with Summer Infant who are giving away a WIDE VIEW 2.0 DIGITAL VIDEO MONITOR worth £134.99 to one lucky Nicole in a Nutshell reader.

Breastfeeding - my one negative (that isn't sooo bad)

I planned on writing this post AGES ago, when I assumed Ripley would happily alternate between boob and bottle without fuss. Fast forward 4 months and this so hasn’t happened.  We are basically Siamese.

Not that I am complaining. I am so grateful that I took to breastfeeding really easily (after the initial tough bit). I love it so much and have no plans to stop anytime soon.  And Ripley has no complaints; it's champagne on tap for him.

I guess I just thought it would be nice to have the flexibility of expressing every now and again so that I could accept a party/dinner/birthday invitation (sans baba) once in a while. I mean hello, I’d already had a 9-month detox. He is totally worth it of course.

My Hummy - Portable White Noise Wonder

I’d previously written a post about Whisbear and the benefits of white noise but wanted to get a more portable device that would keep Ripley settled during car and train outings.

Car journeys usually send babies to sleep (great) but Ripley would usually wake the second we turned the ignition off (not so great).  Since we’ve been using MyHummy, he tends to snooze for ages and I can actually get sh*t done!

Can we talk about my leopard print baby wrap?

I am now the proud owner of a leopard print baby wrap. I repeat, a LEOPARD PRINT baby wrap.

This gorgeous baby wearing item was created by Artipoppe, a Netherlands based company that create luxury baby wraps and ring slings in the most stunning designs.  All products are made from premium, natural, breathable fabrics carefully sourced around the globe from Mongolia to Scotland. 

I'm so happy to have discovered a brand that enables me to keep my own personal sense of style whilst wearing baby in a close, practical and comfortably ergonomic way.

Do women fall pregnant just so they can own one of these? The answer is probably yes.

The Recyclable Moses Basket

My sister says it looks like a giant Croc.
My mum thought it was a stylish laundry carrier.

I'm talking about Ripley's moses basket.

First Class Travel for Babies

Whilst shopping around for the perfect car seat, I was advised that newborn babies should only stay in them for a maximum of 30-45 minutes at a time.  This is due to research funded by The Lullaby Trust who discovered that babies traveling in a 40° upright position for long periods of time are at risk of developing breathing difficulties.

Now considering I have absolutely no sense of direction and am useless with sat-nav, most of my car journeys end up taking at least 20 minutes longer than necessary.

Sleepyhead zzzzzz

So, let me get straight to the point.  If I didn't own a Sleepyhead, I would not have the ability to write a sentence.

This blog post (and probably all future posts) are only possible because Sleepyhead actually gets baby to sleep. Which I guess is the purpose of the product.

As soon as I announced my pregnancy to friends, the "congratulations" were swiftly (and quite seriously) followed by "and definitely get a Sleepyhead".

My Water Baby

On the 17th September 2017 at 01:26am, I gave birth to my 7.4lb little boy, Ripley Kit, after a beautiful and intense 24 hour natural labour.

NLDS Wedding - 1 Year Anniversary

Today is my 1st wedding anniversary.

It has flown by.

Dan and I had been boyfriend and girlfriend for about 15 years before we tied the knot so I didn't think getting hitched would feel any different at all - we were basically married before we 'officially' got married. But actually, something is different...I feel more in love.

Our wedding at Trinity Buoy Wharf has already been documented on Rock My Wedding and Smashing The Glass so I'm not gonna go into too much detail but I thought I would post a selection of images from the day.

Project Nursery

The nursery was painted last weekend - something I've been looking forward to for a while.

At this stage, we haven't decided what we're doing with the floor, shelves and curtains and the radiator still needs to be installed...but we have moved all the furniture in.  With baby currently 6 days overdue, I was eager to have it set up in time for nappy changes, feeding, etc

I actually really like the floor in its current state but our house gets very drafty come winter time.  If the temperature starts leaning towards the arctic side, we'll lay down a big rug or carpet.

So baby, I just wanted to say thanks for holding out.  We're ready whenever you are now...
 

S-T-R-E-T-C-H-M-A-R-K-S?

I'm currently 1 day over my due date and have so far steered clear of developing any stretch marks.

It's probably because I have literally drowned my body in oils and lotions every single day since discovering I was pregnant.

I'd been using Lucy Bee's Coconut Oil pre-pregnancy and increased the amount when my skin started getting a little itchy (due to boobs/bump slowly growing, etc).
It does take a while to absorb and Dan said I felt like a slippery fish whenever I got into bed.  I put so much on that it turned the bed sheets an odd colour so you do need to allow it to sink in (but I'm too impatient for that).