Posted on by — Leave a comment

Paper Trail … This Mummy’s Pregnancy Journal

Hey all!

Hope you’re having a great day! 

I thought I’d share my experience of keeping a pregnancy journal with you. 

I kept a pregnancy journal from once I had had my first scan (at seven weeks due to a bleed).  I was really worried to do it beforehand just incase something went wrong and I became attached to the idea of having a baby.

Continue reading Paper Trail … This Mummy’s Pregnancy Journal

Posted on by — 9 Comments

Baby Santa’s Winter Wonderland! … DIY Home Transformation for our Baby’s First Christmas!

Hello all!
 
I’ve finally managed to find some time to put together a few bits from Arjun’s first Christmas. 
As a part time event planner and the lead for employee engagement at work, since being on maternity leave, I’ve really missed organising and planning events. Its my forte! So naturally, I need any excuse to throw together a party and what better excuse than Arjun’s first Christmas! We made a small fuss on Halloween and we weren’t going to fall short on Christmas! Especially with all the temptation of cute decor surrounding you at every store! 


We started Christmas Eve off  by wearing matching Pyjamas to bed.  I thought this was a cute idea and they were cheap and cheerful from amazon and made for great family pictures when opening presents the next morning. We spent £27 on two pairs of pyjamas and Arjun’s sleepsuit. We went for a vibrant Christmas tree print and surprisingly the quality wasn’t bad!: 
Posted on by — Leave a comment

Young Martyrs … My Sikh Roots – The Chaar Sahibzaade

Hello All,


Hope you had a great Christmas! We are slowly recovering from our food coma!!


Being British born and growing up with lots of festivities during Christmas, we celebrated Arjun’s first Christmas in full force and we had lots of fun!


At the same time, we have never been allowed to forget our Sikh history and particularly at this time of year, in the Sikh calendar, this period also marks a tremendously important time where we commemorate the courageous martyrs known as the Chaar Sahibzaade. 


In a nutshell, Sahibzada Fateh Singh and Sahibzada Zorawar Singh at the tender ages of 6 and 9 sacrificed their lives for their faith and the right to remain Sikh. Sahibzada Fateh Singh is the youngest known martyr to sacrifice his life for the right to practice their religion and faith without the coercion or threat of terror. Read here for a full account of the history. 

 
It was important for me to share this for two reasons: I am a mother and I am a proud Sikh. As a mother, I’d want to teach my baby to be strong willed and stand up for what he believes in at the very least.  Sahibzada Fateh Singh showed courage, determination, fearlessness  and free-will – all traits which I hope we as parents can instill in Arjun. As a Sikh, sacrifices like these are why we are able to live the life we do today.


Thanks for reading x
Posted on by — Leave a comment

A Grain of Sense … DIY Cheap and Cheerful Baby Sensory Kit

I loved this gift that my sisters made Arjun for Christmas – a baby sensory hamper. Great idea! The usual toys are always great but it was lovely to receive something so thoughtful and different.
Arjun loves exploring with “real life” things and this little kit is a great way for him to do so.  He’s been playing with the sponges and paint brush all morning!
The hamper includes:
  • A wooden spoon and paint brush for him to develop and strengthen his coordination and to learn to hold real life things in the right way.
  • Bottles filled with coloured water and a lava bottle which create waves and ripples when moved.
  • Sensory spike balls, a rough bristle floor brush and coloured sponges to explore different textures and colours.
  • Different sized containers containing different things including pasta, lentils, rice crispies, and nuts which all produce different sounds.
In addition to this they also bought a multi coloured LED fibre optic lamp which he loves!

Continue reading A Grain of Sense … DIY Cheap and Cheerful Baby Sensory Kit

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Festive Foot Fun! … Homemade Baby Christmas Keepsake Decorations

Hey guys! 
Hope you’re having a great evening.
I’ve had a busy one! I love making home made decorations with Arjun where possible. With Christmas coming up, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to create a keep sake for Arjun’s first Christmas! We went for a robin and a reindeer. 
Posted on by — 5 Comments

My Birth Story

So after a rollercoaster pregnancy, it was decided that I would be induced at 39 weeks given my risk of pre eclampsia. My consultant was brilliant and comforted me with all my anxieties (lots of them!). 

We decided that I was to be induced on a Sunday with hope that I’d be in established labour by the Monday or Tuesday when my consultant would be on duty. Things didn’t quite go to plan! 
So I was admitted on the Sunday morning and was given a pessary. My contractions came on pretty much straight away and I was getting five contractions per ten minutes within three hours. By this time my husband had gone home to let Bruno out and my sister was with me. The midwife decided it was time for me to go down to the labour ward as the baby was on its way. “WHAT?!?!” I thought, “I thought I’d get at least a day to chill!!”  I was rushed down to labour ward with my terrified little sister who had not planned to be with me in labour.

Continue reading My Birth Story

Posted on by — Leave a comment

My Pregnancy … My Story, My Journey – The Good, Bad & The Ugly!

For some reason sharing the news made it feel a whole lot more real. I suddenly felt a huge amount of pressure to ensure all stayed ok.

My pregnancy overall was classed as high risk due to having high blood pressure even pre pregnancy therefore increasing the risk of pre eclampsia. Therefore I was under consultant led care. Most would panic seeing “high risk” sprawled over their maternity notes. I saw it as a positive – it meant I would get extra care and extra scans which meant extra reassurance.
First Trimester

Continue reading My Pregnancy … My Story, My Journey – The Good, Bad & The Ugly!

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Our Festive Baby/Pregnancy Announcement Ideas (Christmas 2013)

We decided to share the news with our parents and siblings straight away despite the GPs advice to not until three months had passed. We made the call to share the news with our families as we wanted them to be a part of our journey and if something were to go wrong, we would need their support anyway.

We shared the news with our immediate family by preparing a personalised save the date card with a message from their unborn grandchild/niece/nephew.  It was a cute idea and they were thrilled when they read the message.  They were extremely emotional that they were about to embark on a new journey of grandparenthood! Not only a new chapter in our lives but also in theirs – their babies were going to have a baby!  

Posted on by — Leave a comment

OMG WE’RE PREGNANT! (October 2013)

We’d recently returned from India and I was convinced my constant fatigue and dizziness was a combination of jet lag and a bug that I must have picked up.. Little did I know! 
 
After almost fainting at Sainsbury’s and feeling repulsed by the smell of freshly baked cakes at work which would have once had me sucked right in, we decided it was a sensible idea for me to take a test. And BAM at 5am the next morning I did. We found out we were pregnant in mid October 2013. 
Excuse the picture quality!

 

Seeing the big blue cross when I checked the test result – I felt a mixture of emotions; surprise, excitement, panic, joy, anxious, nervous, fear, ecstatic! It was all so overwhelming and I was so shocked! My husband was cool as a cucumber in comparison!
 
I was over the moon that we were blessed enough to be given the opportunity to become parents but I was also terrified of embarking on the journey of motherhood and having a precious tiny little human dependent on me. Would I seriously be able to do it?! Well it was too late by then!! 
 
I called the GP that same morning who quickly deflated my excitement by telling me that things don’t always end happily and to not get too excited. That set me off in to a panic frenzy. It soon went from self doubt and questioning myself to my maternal instinct kicking in and doing everything in my power to protect my little bean. 
 
I decided to keep a pregnancy journal to record my thoughts as I knew each day would be different and I felt it would be a way for me to communicate to my unborn child – even though he couldn’t even see the journal let alone read it!! It gave me a sense of comfort. I would highly recommend it!