pregnancy – Thegrlwithredhair

You are not super Woman… or are you?

Bump and Baby, healthy living, Household, lifestyle, Mental health

You Are Not SuperWoman, You are NOT super Mum.. This is a phrase I have recently had to repeat to myself. Sometimes over and over. I think as new mums we put immense pressure on ourselves to function ‘normally’ I know I did. But lately because I’ve been feeling a little overwhelmed as well as almost feeling guilty thinking about everything getting on top of me. I know we’re in lockdown and it feels like I must be the only person in the world who feels like she doesn’t have all this free time on her hands. I feel like I now have not one but two babies to look after and entertain all day.

I felt pressure to join in with the country walking the roads (not really wanting to admit I’m actually petrified of meeting people and not sure of the whole road crossing etiquette) I have started a 21 day plan that I do enjoy but it’s tough.

I also got very bored and very frustrated with the whole baking fade too. And I normally love getting the good olde Kitchenaid out for some serious baking. but since gluten free flour was 1- Super hard to find in the shops and 2- Nothing is ever simple( or nice for that matter) without adding a ridiculous amount of weird named gels and gums. NOPE not for me right now. I did attempt numberous recipes but they were just below the bar looks and taste wise.

I’ve tried umpteen hair and makeup looks that have all been a bit on the crap side of things, I’ve recorded numerous hours of substandard hairstyle footage. It’s taken me over two weeks to edit an 8 minute clip, and that’s only because half of the footage has went walkies. And i’m still not happy with it.

I put immense pressure on myself to turn up (virtually) to Baby sensory. With both Emily and myself immaculately presented. Just so I can feel slightly better about myself and take a few fun photos of Emily dressed up.

I still haven’t logged on to the open university to start the creative writing course I signed up for the very first day of lockdown! So therefore I still haven’t started my awesome best seller book! If I get to ‘work out’ a day and manage a shower the house is in ruins. It took me until today to prime photo frames for the Salon that I had intended to do before we were even talking about lockdown. Not to mention getting started on miss Emilys room revamp. and possibly the length of time its taking me to getting around to finishing this blog!

I’ve cried because we can’t open our salon, and it feels like that possibility is getting further and further away, I miss our clients so much! I miss coffee dates with the bump buddies, I miss a drink after work with my friend, I miss real life book clubs and I miss my mum!

But you know what I have done? I’ve had so many lazy mornings just the three of us, That we will never have the chance to have ever again! I’ve got to watch Emily play and see her character grow. She’s had unlimited cuddles and fun. I’ve started spoon feeds, something I was dreading, and you know what I’m enjoying the time to sit down with her and take our time experimenting. We’re Spending proper time together as a family. and its felt like we are back in that newborn bubble we were in when Emily was just born. And I’m so thankful that we can be at home together safe. I don’t know how other people do it when I’m still sacred to go to the shops.

I was feeling so sorry for anyone that is pregnant right now with what they’re facing. And I was taking pity on someone I seen with a tiny baby in a pram when I realised I also had a tiny baby in a pram! And it dawned on me that us new mums are literally bringing up our babies in a pandemic! When we could do with all the support and help that we can get but we can’t get it from our friends and families right now. We’re already making it up as we go along never mind making it up and not being able to compare stories about poo and over coffee and cookies because of corona.

So even though I have a loooong list of to do’s, deep down I have a feeling that I and pretty much every other mum in similar shoes am/are supermum (you have no idea how many times my laptop has tried to change that to superman) I am superwoman… We’re all supermums and super women. Literally running our world while we’re cleaning up the kitchen. Even more so making it up as we go along. Especially in this scary world we live in! Here’s to you!

xoxo super mum … I mean OfficialJudeMitch 😉

Free Stuff at your Fingertips

Beauty, Bump and Baby, Household, makeup, shopping

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So with Christmas fast approaching (and my little ones arrival) I’m conscious about saving money and spending less! But I still like treating myself and I still like the finer things when it comes to Makeup and Health & Beauty products. So when I discovered Latest Free Stuff I was thrilled!

It’s been a great way to discover new favourites and I’ve been introduced to brands I’ve never heard off. From nappies to skincare! Shower gels to socks! even feminine care (seriously who wants to spend money on that?)

I’ve received perfume samples that I’ve fell in love with and went on to purchase. I love sample sizes for traveling and now they are going towards my hospital bag stockpile.

Some of my Baby and hospital bag Freebies

So every day they update the site (and Facebook page) with different links to claim free goodies. This saves you the bother of looking yourself and introduces you to different brands. It also takes the hassle out of trying to decide what to buy when you can sample a selection for FREE! Just this week they have had: free dog food from tails.com , kitten food from royal canine, St Tropes face masks, Mac and Clarin’s foundations, as well as a whole host of other great freebies to claim. and not only that, there are also fun competitions to enter. anything from Original Sources goodie bags to laptops! (fingers crossed)

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You never know you could stumble across a new favourite brand or product that you never knew existed. Or you could get the chance to try something you’ve been meaning to try but never wanted to fully commit to buying a high end product when you weren’t 100% sure you were going to like it.

It was a no brainer when I signed up. I spend enough time on my phone or laptop never mind on Facebook so why not get some free stuff while I’m at it? It’s so simple to Join and you get to decide what freebies you want to claim! It has became one of the first things I check every morning!

click on the links below to join now:

Free Stuff Facebook Group

Free MakeUp

Free Health & Beauty

I hope this helps you guys! I know it helped me, I only wish I knew about it sooner!!!

XOXO OfficialJudeMitch

Does my bump look big in this?

Bump and Baby, lifestyle, Mental health

So I wasn’t going to publish this as I though it was just a hormonal rant but after seeing a post by Soulfullyaisling I thought why not?

Soulfullyaisling Instagram

Does my bump look big in this? Is a question my husband is often faced with along with the classic ‘do I look fat or pregnant today?’ I’m unsure if I ever get an actual answer but usually I’m left with a settling enough response.

But more than once I have been left more than a little hurt and upset, now I may not have shed actual tears in public but definitely in the privacy of my own company I have gotten upset again or cried over the amount of people that have commented on the size of my bump. I’m asked ‘are you sure it’s just one baby in there?’ Or ‘O you’re definitely going to have a BIG baby’ or any variation of these numerous times, taking away the pride I had originally felt when I noticed my growing bump.

I already know my bump is bigger than some, I have been comparing it from the minute I see anyone else’s either online or in person.

The first time I noticed my stretch marks I felt both happy and sad, it was a weird mixture of feeling pride that I was growing a little miracle inside and feeling upset at my changing body shape, knowing I was now marked in some way or other for life.

This has all left me wondering , When did it become ok to comment so freely about the size of someone’s belly? You wouldn’t comment on a non pregnant ladies belly would you? Or on our body size after baby is born? We have enough going through our heads worrying if we’re doing everything right never mind if our bump is too big or too small? We hear and see so much now about being body positive and celebrating our body shape, Shouldn’t we be bump positive as well as body positive?

xoxo OfficialJudeMitch

We bought our PRAM!!!

Bump and Baby, lifestyle, shopping

We did it. We finally settled on a pram. This has got to have been one of the hardest decisions to date. I never thought I would have been googling all sorts of safety features and reading EVERY single review I could find of prams of all things.

Obviously it had to look the part. and then there is the issue of me having not the most practical car (and I’m not to enthused about changing it any time soon) so boot size could be an issue. (*update I did end up changing my car after being convinced two seats was not the way forward) the check list was almost as long as my arm and I had little hope of ever finding a pram to meet all my needs and wants.

The market seems to be saturated with grey or navy prams with the odd crazy Kaki green thrown in for good measure. Shocker that’s just NOT me. I had initially went to have a brows shortly after I found out I was pregnant to gage what sort of pram I liked the look of and to get a rough idea of price and other important features I should be looking out for.

But when I had called into Kiddies corner in Omagh I was being shown every possible pram and colour choice, out of the corner of my eye there was a pram just catching my eye every time I looked near it. I needed to know more!! I snapped a pic and sent it to my Hubby and to my surprise he liked the look of it too!!

I knew I wanted to buy local as it just makes things handier for picking up etc. and after my first visit to kiddies corner I knew I would be buying it there. They Know their stuff!! And I was pretty sure my extensive check list could be ticked off. Now I did look elsewhere as I wanted to be 100% sure we were going for the right one especially if I’m going to be pushing this thing about for a few years it’s got to be perfect, practical and durable. (and they’re not cheap either) I didn’t want to miss out on the perfect pram just because this one was pretty.

So we done the usual Mothercare, Mamas and Papas, Kings & Tony Kealy’s to name a few! as well as trailing online reviews and blogs! and asking copious amounts of new and experienced mums. It was settled! We finally went for the iCandy Peach Nectar. It ticked all the boxes and loads more we had never even thought about. It folds up nice and compact, the cary cot is safe for overnight sleeping and its relatively easy to convert to a pram (well it looked it when I was shown how to) One thing I would say though almost every single shop we were in mentioned the compatibility of said pram with certain car seats for doubling up for the next one (more than once). So get ready fo that. It made me break out in a sweat every time.

But anyway we ended up getting a really good deal with a few accessories to go with the pram, along with the adapters, I already knew I wanted the duo pod (foot muff) and obviously I needed the coffee cup holder (Who doesn’t!!) and in along with the deal was a parasol, and the clips to go with them. As well as a really handy basket bag.

So now we wait patiently for our new arrival. Kiddies corner will assemble our pram and do all the safety checks before we pick it up, which I think is a really good idea because the thought of us trying to assemble a pram makes me very nervous! This is one of the reasons I didn’t purchase online.

Kiddies Corner held our pram for us until about 10 days before our due date and had everything assembled and explained everything for us again. And I know when we are converting to the push chair stage they’re there if we need a hand.

So one month in and I have to say I LOVE our pram! It is super easy to pop in and out of the boot, the car seat slots in quickly and handy. It still makes me smile every time I look at it. And Baby Mitch seems to think it’s comfy too! We use the carry cot as our day time Moses basket and for when we get out and about for a long day or walks about.

The one thing I will say is the adapters for the car seat and carry cot have to be removed before you can fold it down. But hopefully we’ll get the hang of remembering that soon!

I hope this helps someone on their quest for the perfect pram.

XOXO OfficialJudeMitch

The ‘first eight weeks’

Bump and Baby, Mental health

Ok so for anyone who is pregnant or it is trying to get pregnant, this one is for you!!

So you’re pregnant! Now what? If you’re like me when you took your test at home, you just couldn’t believe the result. And had to hot foot it to the doctors for a ‘proper test’.

Then waited a day or so for the results… even though you knew the answer! When you are finally told that you are in fact actually pregnant! The first question in my head was… ‘now what?’

Well the lady on the phone laughed…. she actually laughed at me and eventually said ‘good question’ as if even she didn’t know what to do next. I found this both strange and very frustrating, as obviously I didn’t know the protocol or rules about what to do next.

Eventually I found out that there was a form to be filled in, and that goes to the midwives.

And now you wait! Until you’re at least 8 weeks. This is the most frustrating few weeks of your whole pregnancy! You know you are pregnant but every now and again you question if you really are (like the sickness and all other pregnancy symptoms isn’t enough of a clue)

I googled almost every day the statistics, downloaded possibly every pregnancy tracking app! Bought (and spent a fortune on) every possible pregnancy vitamin or supplement! I bought books I watched videos!

But I could not settle until I had my appointment booked! Now the midwives I spoke to were not always as helpful as you would expect or want. And didn’t fully explain why they couldn’t see you sooner, but anyway this is a list of things I chose to do when I started to feel anxious or was worried about the wait.

1- Planned what I was going to ask when I got to see the midwife. You have a bunch of questions and if you’re like me you’ll forget once you arrive to your appointment. (One thing I hadn’t thought of was what hospital I wanted to go to)

2- I Tried my hardest to eat a healthy diet to feed and grow little baba to the best of my ability.

3- Slept! A LOT! you are very tired, so get all the sleep you can! You’re growing a tiny human!!

4- Relax, I know, I know it’s easier said than done! Try to Read books, preferably ones that will distract you from wondering how little one is growing and doing. Watch Movies, start a new series. this all distracts you from the wondering.

5- Plan for the Future. I was researching prams and car seats from the minute I found out I think, and they aint cheap. So I was planning saving up and hoping I had a stash for when I took some time off.

6- Enjoy some time with hubby, when you DON’T talk about baby. this is definitely hard to do.

When you have your First Appointment with the midwife take all the leaflets and booklets this will also help to feed your curiosity in the weeks coming up to your next appointment.

I hope this helps someone in the ‘first eight weeks’ If you have any other tips let me know!

XOXO OfficialJudeMitch