Candyfloss & Dreams

Author: Kat Candyfloss

34 Weeks Pregnant Update

I am 34 Weeks Pregnant, how fast has this come around? The last routine pregnancy appointment I had with my actual midwife was at 24 weeks, and honestly time has just flown past since that point. I’ve seen other health professionals and I of course had my blood test and routine appointment at 28 weeks prefer we went on holiday but it’s been ages since I’ve seen my actual Midwife so it was nice to have a bit of a catch up.

How Am I Feeling?

Honestly, as the weeks go past I’m just feeling more and more excited about the birth. I feel really confident that I’ll be absolutely fine in labour, I have so much more education behind me this time around. My environment is completely different and I’m trying to let go of the fear of having a c-section. I’ve been watching a few really positive birth story videos on YouTube which has made me feel amazing. I’ve created some birth affirmations, have a solid birth preferences list and I’m practising my deep relaxation hypnobirthing techniques. I’d like to try and listen to them as many times as I can between now and starting labour.

I am experiencing back ache, especially when walking too far, too fast. I’m really glad I’ve not had to do the school run and I can stay at home if I want. I would have liked to exercise a lot more but it’s been too hot! I am finding myself staying awake a lot longer at night and actually sleeping in a bit which is nice. I’m noticing pressure lower down in my bump than previously which is then putting more pressure on my bladder. I’m still feeling loads of baby movements which is lovely. He’s particularly wriggly at night time.

I started drinking red raspberry leaf tea at 32 weeks to hopefully help my uterus contract as efficiently as possible which in turn might help to shorten the second phase of labour. I am also enjoying smoothies for breakfast to get some extra nutrition and from 36 weeks I plan to start eating six dates a day to help make that first stage of labour go quickly. I want to enjoy labour, but I also want to make sure my body is in a relaxed, stress free state and full of nutritional goodness. I am planning on investing in some Boobix cookies and lactation brownies too to help my supply. I’d make my own but I just don’t have the time!

32 Weeks Growth Scan

The scan went really well to be honest. We got to see Baby F again and he is gaining weight at the right amount. We saw a different sonographer so the measurement was slightly over the 50th Centile line but nothing to really worry about and still well within what they are considering to be ‘normal’ for me. However, there is always a margin for error with scans so he will weigh whatever he weighs when he is born.

Hypnobirthing Sessions

My first hypnobirthing session was fantastic. I had a private hypnotherapist come to my home to do two sessions for us as a couple. The first session talked about relaxing in labour, breathing techniques and a guided relaxation session. The second session included a longer relaxation recording and going through down breathing, pain relief visualisation and a general run through on labour and birth.

My hypnobirthing sessions were booked through Positively You Hypnotherapy which is run by a really lovely lady named Mandy who is based in Winchester, Hampshire.

How I’m Looking at 34 Weeks Pregnant

My 34 Weeks Pregnant: My Midwife Appointment

My 34 weeks routine appointment was on 8th August with my midwife Debbie at the local birth centre. I really get on with Debbie, she has always made me feel listened to and respected. She is such a lovely midwife and I feel really happy to have her on my side through this pregnancy. We talked about my meeting with the consultant midwife and went over my birth preferences which was great and she was really happy with everything I have decided on. We heard Baby F’s heartbeat and it’s always such a lovely sound. My blood pressure was fine, my HgB levels were 135 and my platelets where over 200 which was great. All of these things are really useful for labour! I was awarded a gold star for being so well hydrated too which was good. Our next routine appointment is at 36 weeks.

What’s Next?

August is a really busy month full of appointments and discussing different plans with everyone. I have an appointment booked in on 17th with the consultant midwife to discuss my home birth plan which I am still very confident about. After that I have my third and final growth scan to check all is well and baby F is still growing as expected. Then we are booked in for the NHS run Confident Birthing antenatal at my local hospital which is going back over hypnobirthing and I’ve been recommended this one as I’m planning a home birth. We are also going to attend an antenatal breastfeeding information and support class on bank holiday Monday which will be a great chance to meet the ladies that run the NCT breastfeeding group too. Then we are back to hospital to see the consultant again to just see how things are going on. By the time we go back to see him there would have been ten weeks between our appointments so of course things might change or I might have questions.

For more pregnancy content please head to my hub post which contains links to all my relevant pregnancy based blog posts. My second High Bmi Pregnancy.

August 16, 2018
Why Cruising for Families is a Great Choice

Cruising for Families

Cruising for families is a great choice for a holiday. I love a good cruise and can not wait for Baby F to reach that six month milestone so we can take him along too. There is so much excitement about cruising because the moment you get on the boat you’re already on holiday. You can start taking advantage of the food and drink, find your cabin and get yourself sorted, rip open the welcome pack and start getting familiar with the layout of the ship. It’s probably best to avoid jumping in the pool until you’ve had the safety on board talk. Onboarding is usually a simple process and, in my experience, even when we have turned up early, we’ve been processed and got on pretty quickly.

Getting on board a cruise ship is great for families because you’re not often waiting around for ages and if there is a delay and you’re already on board it doesn’t stop you from using the facilities. You drop off your bags, head into the cruise terminal, wait for your letter or number to be called, get in line where there are usually only two or three families in front, check in, have your photo taken and wrist bands put on the kids before walking around through security and getting on board. The process takes around 30 minutes. That’s it. We’ve had it before where our check in time was 3.30pm but we turned up around 1pm in the afternoon. We were on board and in our balcony cabin by 2pm easily which gave us time to start navigating the ship. Having your baggage taken to your cabin is brilliant too because you don’t have to worry about lugging heavy suitcases around and can keep hands on children.

Main Course of Beef Wellington cooked Medium Rare

Cruising for families is fun because most ships go out of there way to make sure there is something on board to cater to everyone. These can include supervised kids clubs, childrens entertainment, family films, family splash pools and swimming pools. The food options are great too, and the ships I’ve been on have had a special children’s tea slightly earlier than the main buffet opens. I have found that in the sit down restaurants there isn’t usually a kid friendly option so the buffet style places to eat are great choices for families.

It really all comes down to choosing the right cruise length, ship and company when it comes to cruising for families. It’s so easy to compare cruise lines online and find a ship that would be perfect for your family depending on the facilities on board. If you have never cruised before then a mini cruise could be a great way to show you just how fun cruises can be and give you a taster of what cruising for families is really like. You can then gradually increase the amount of time you spend on a ship in future cruises to 5 or even 7 nights before seeing how you would fare on a longer 10 or 14 night cruise. We have done a mini cruise and a 7 night one which we absolutely loved and had a lot of fun with. When Baby F is here we will be looking at another shorter cruise so that we can see how we like cruising with a young baby. Generally, cruises will allow babies of six months on board but if the cruise has more than 3 days at sea or is transatlantic, for example, children need to be at least 12 months.

August 14, 2018
Kumi Kreator Cool Maker Review

We have been using the Kumi Kreator Cool Maker from Spinmaster Toys to design our own friendship bracelets. The Kumi Kreator Cool Maker is designed for children aged 8+ and with Evie turning 8 in just a few weeks I thought this would be something she would love. You always need a few rainy day activities and toys during the school holidays too and today being quite grey and stormy gave us the perfect chance to set it up and have a play.

Whats In The Box?

The Kumi Kreator Cool Maker Kit has enough products to make up to ten bracelets. It includes blue, pink, magenta and purple thread spools, the twisty friendship maker, clasps, end stickers and a bracelet measuring guide so that you can make your bracelets. It also comes with a handy design booklet, instructions and a leaflet pointing you to www.coolmaker.com which has a series of helpful videos helping you set you the Kumi Kreator Cool Maker. We found these really helpful alongside the instructions booklet which has a helpful checklist on making sure you are setting up the machine to prevent any jams.

Setting Up The Kumi Kreator Cool Maker

With the video and instruction checklist we found setting up the Kumi Kreator Cool Maker quote simple. Threading through the spools was a little bit fiddly but it didn’t take us very long at all. We followed the video instructing is to make the “Dream Beam” bracelet which features pink, magenta and blue threads. You first need to line up the two blue spools which remain empty and then follow the colours in the design booklet instructions. You bring the thread up and through the clear spool, through the small blue clip at the top and then into the white clip that holds it in place. Turning the spool will tighten the thread that you want just below the white arm.

When everything is threaded through you tighten it all up, check the checklist and that everything is in order to prevent any jams and then you begin turning the Kumi Kreator Cool Maker at a steady pace which starts braiding the bracelet for you. You keep turning until the three red lines are aligned and the white arm has flipped back.

Putting Your Friendship Bracelet Together

Firstly, tightly wrap a sticker around the top of the bracelet and then measure the wrist of the person the bracelet is for. Line this up with the braid and tightly wrap another sticker just underneath the right number. This will show you where to cut the thread and attach the clasps. The next step is removing the braid which is simple to do. You hold the braid in place and gently remove each thread from the remaining spool and pull through. You then cut the loose threads and attach the clasp for your finished bracelet.

What does Evie think?

Evie gives the Kumi Kreator Cool Maker two thumbs up. She really likes it and is looking forward to making her next set of bracelets. Most of the action she could do herself but having an adult nearby to help her was essential and to remind her of the next steps. She enjoyed twisting the bracelet into place but struggled attaching the clasps so I helped her with that.

Anything Else?

The Kumi Kreator Cool Maker retails at £ and is available to buy

You can also buy top up bracelt booster packs which make a further 12 bracelets for £ which gives you so many more designs to try and make with the Kumi Kreator Cool Maker

Disclaimer: We received a Kumi Kreator Cool Maker in exchange for this feature. All opinions remain my own.

August 10, 2018
Hypnobirthing with Positively You

Hypnobirthing is something I was really keen to find out more about early in my second pregnancy after having a difficult first birth and wanting to do as much as I could to make my next birth a really positive experience no matter how it happened. I came across hypnobirthing as a technique used to help mums labour naturally and then found out it had so many more benefits such as making labour shorter, less need for medical intervention and just helping women have better births. I contacted a local hypnotherapist Mandy on her Facebook page Positively You and queried about hypnobirthing sessions. This was done such a long time ago that when I initally booked them in for July and August I felt that was such a long wait. However, that time has flown by as I’m now 33 weeks pregnant and that due date is creeping so much closer.

I had an initial consultation over the phone with Mandy discussing my previous birth and expectations for hypnobirthing. She informed me that the sessions could be done at my home with my partner with a small increase in price to cover travel expenses which lead to £95 per 90 minute session. There are lots of other options for hypnobirthing such as classes that you can attend and if you are able to attend a Confident Birthing NHS antenatal class this does have an element of hypnobirthing – I am booked in to this at the end of August and really looking forward to just having another session to reinforce all those positive birth messages in my subconscious. I found Mandy really lovely and easy to talk to. She was so honest and open about how hypnobirthing could be used to really help me have a much more positive birth. She is really into mindfulness too which is something I’ve always been interested in and this lead to me booking in the two sessions with her. I was really excited and felt that hypnobirthing as well as hiring a doula could be really beneficial to me.

Hypnobirthing: First Session

The first session was on Friday 20th July and both Adam and I were there. We went through a few basic questions about ourselves and Mandy went in depth about hypnobirthing and hypnotherapy. Adam was a little sceptical at first thinking it would be a bit more ‘WooWoo’ but actually it was really nice to get a feeling of understanding more. Hypnobirthing is all about helping mum get into the deep relaxed state that really aids childbirth and to give the birth partner a chance to help keep a peaceful environment and be able to be my advocate so I could be left to birth as undisturbed as possible.

We discussed the power of positive visualisation and really getting in my mind the best birth experience possible and what a positive birth would mean to me. I think a lot of people get fixated on how unpredictable birth can be and Mandy agreed. She said that’s the time to really focus on mindfullness and being in the moment, taking each contraction and breathe at a time because that was going to keep me in that relaxed state and being relaxed, calm and confident would help me make any decisions that needed to be made when it came to childbirth. We did a lovely, calming breathing exercise and then went on to do a the first of our relaxed hypnobirthing sessions of which I know have the recording and Adam and I are going to try listening to it as many times as we can between now and labour. I think I read once it takes doing something 16 times to form a habit and then continuing to 30 times really gets that positive reinforcement message through to the subconcious. Of course I can listen to the session without Adam but it is nice to have that time together and connect with each other.

Hypnobirthing: Second Session

Mandy arrived again at our home on 3rd August to complete our hypnobirthing sessions. There was a two week break between sessions as recommended by Mandy to give us a chance to start putting the tools into place before moving on to the next stage which was going in more depth about labour, birth and pain relief. I was really excited about the session because I really want to avoid having an epidural if I continue to have a VBAC birth so tapping into those natural endorphins was a skill I really wanted to focus on. Since then I’ve been focusing on finding positive birth stories, positive birth affirmations and trying to play the relaxation recording in the background. Everything helps to get those positive messages through.

This time we talked much more about labour, birth, expectations, managing pain as well as breathing techniques. It was great for Adam to do as well because hopefully it can help him guide me in labour and avoid him feeling like a third wheel so to speak if he has something to focus on. We ended the session with another relaxation script and I really felt myself relax so much deeper this time. It was really enjoyable and now I feel pretty good actually. I feel like these sessions really help me to feel good, calm and relaxed. I sent over a few positive birth affirmations before hand for Mandy to include in the script which I feel are really relevant to me. Our plan now is to try and listen to the relaxation scripts as many times as we can. I am going to try using them with a drop of my favourite essential oil as well so that I can anchor the relaxation with a scent. The hope is that with the scent my mind will be able to get into a deeper relaxed and calm state.

Hypnobirthing: Is It Worth It?

I will obviously give more of an update in my birth story but for my pregnancy, I really recommend hypnobirthing. It has taught me a lot about labour, what to expect and ways to naturally relieve pain. I feel it’s given me some great tools to help me anxiety and to help me be a bit more in control as well as making more informed decisions. I feel that no matter what type of birth I have it will generally be a positive experience but I really believe that I will spontaneously go into labour this time around. I don’t feel the need to rush to induce, I don’t feel the need to worry about when it will happen and I am just looking forward to the last stage of my pregnancy. I can’t wait to share my birth story soon!

For more pregnancy content please head to my hub post which contains links to all my relevant pregnancy based blog posts. My second High Bmi Pregnancy.

August 9, 2018
Enchantimals Cosy Deer House Review

The Enchantimals Cosy Deer House review is a Mattel toy suitable for children aged 4+ and it has been a perfect treat on this long, hot summer holiday for my daughter. We received the Enchantimals Cosy Deer House as part of the Mattel Play, Rate and Review team which was really exciting and this is our first time reviewing as part of the team! Keeping children entertained over the summer holidays especially at 34 weeks pregnant can be a real challenge and the heat has made it difficult to get out so this really came at the perfect time for us.

Available to buy on Amazon (affiliate link) https://amzn.to/2ARRO0n

I was really surprised by the size of the box the Enchantimals Cosy Deer House came in, I really didn’t expect it to be as big as it is and did, at first, feel a bit daunted at the idea of building the toy up with the plastic frames as it all comes flatpacked. I am, however, really pleased to say that it was easy to put together and the instructions were clear and really easy to follow. This isn’t always the case so I always appreciate when I can put a toy like this together in fifteen minutes or less with as least frustrations as possible. Already the Enchantimals Cosy Deer House is a winner in my eyes. Even though my daughter is 7 I put it together myself. It was mostly slotting the plastic into other bits of plastic and all of the places fit exactly right. There was a clear click to be heard when everything was in place and it kept it really nice and sturdy. I haven’t had any trouble putting this together and it hasn’t come apart either which is great.

Playing with the Enchantimals Cosy Deer House

My daughter loves imaginative play and I have to say I’m a fan because it’s the type of play she can do easily on her own with her lovely, vivid imagination. The Cosy Deer House came with plenty of accessories including the Danessa Doll and her pet Sprint. There are lots of lovely home furnishings to extend imaginative play and all of them fit really nicely into the house. The house is fairly light weight and easy to transfer from room to room without the fear that it’s all going to fall apart. It has a lovely big front door that opens too which is just a nice finishing touch really. Despite the size it’s really easy to store in my daughters bedroom and doesn’t actually take up too much space.

Other Enchantimals Characters

There is a huge range of other characters in the absolutely adorable Enchantimals range of toys with all different price ranges. These include small sets with the dolls and the larger playsets too. I am really impressed with the Enchantimals Cosy Deer House and I would happily buy more in the range for my daughter to play with. It’s really age appropriate for her too and as she loves animals it just seemed liked the perfect toy.

<br />

Disclaimer: We received the Cosy Deer House in exchange for a review, however, all opinions are my own. This post may contain affiliate links.

August 8, 2018