Well it has happened, the nesting instinct has finally kicked in and this week we have been busily tackling and finishing off the baby's nursery.
Normally when I want inspiration and ideas for anything I turn to the Internet, but for creating a babies nursery there is such a thing as too much choice and too many ideas. In this post you will find everything that we've purchased to create our perfect baby's nursery. There will be additional posts to follow covering baby preparation tips including, what to put into your maternity bag, as well as birth plan suggestions and other baby related items. Creating your baby's first nursery is a really special time and we have really loved creating ours. After much procrastination we decided on a monkey and giraffe jungle themed bedroom.
The stickers from StickersWall(£24.99) are a lovely way to brighten up, decorate and transform a babies room. The only thing you will require is two people and patience to put them up and best of all when you are tired of them you can easily peal them off. Within the design we tried to create a room that would grow and develop with our baby into an active toddler (hopefully not a cheeky monkey). So we additionally added some educational numbers (£12.95).
Instead of a Moses basket we've opted for the Stokke Sleepi Mini (£445) not only is the Scandinavian design absolutely beautiful but it is also amazingly efficient in size, meaning that we can have it in our room for the first six months.
The cot has adjustable height positions too so we have the ability to adapt it as the baby grows, along with extra extention packs that can be purchased to fit a child up to 10 years old. To protect the mattress we have purchased from The Little Green Sheep an organic mattress protector for the Stokke (£17.95) and organic jersey fitted sheet (£13.95).
The wonderful animal mobile is from TinyLove"Magical Night" (£44.99). Now I am not going to lie, turning this on bought a huge smile to my face.
The mobile has three musical settings: Lullaby, Classic and Nature. Whilst the music is playing it projects animal scenes and rotates. You can see it in action here:
We have also purchased some additional things so that the little one feels a sense of security and is snug in the cot for the early days. To begin with we will use the Sleepyhead portable baby pod (£99) 0-8 months in the Stokke.
This might seem like a very expensive pillow but looks can be deceiving, any new parent will tell you how the first few months of sleep deprivation are hell. This is our attempt at trying to reduce this. The Sleepyhead is a complete bed in itself so perfect for travelling, can be used for tummy time and as a changing station. You only need to read the wonderful reviews for this product to see that it is money well spent. The only downside is that for many the Sleepyhead is outgrown well before eight months. I'm not sure that we will use this Mamas and Papas sleep bag (£24) from birth, I guess it will depend how big the 'little' one is.
Keeping with the animal theme we have also purchased the following: Monkey rug (£14)
Taking the stress out of knowing if the baby's room is too hot or cold. We personalised ours as a penguin with this additional topper.
Finding the right baby monitor I found incredibly stressful. I knew that it was an important purchase and one that I needed to do plenty of research on. There is just too much choice. Do you go for audio only, one with video, what about sound and movement sensors. One word STRESS! The only help I can give is to have an initial look at the options available, have a think about your living situation, what will work for you and then what is most important to make you feel confident in the product you have purchased.
We went for the one with two parent units which is more expensive, but this is because we wanted an additional unit for different locations in the house. If you don't then John Lewis at the time of writing this post cannot be beaten on the price.
Whilst we don't have a small baby to test the monitor on yet; one pearl of wisdom I will share is to set this up prior to the baby arriving. Whilst easy to set up you want to make sure that you have done it right, especially if you have chosen a movement pressure pad. Setting this up after birth having had little sleep and under pressure is not advisable. I promise when the baby arrives I will do an updated review on how I think the monitor performs in real life. Another purchase we made was the Tommee Tippee nappy disposal bin. Now nappies and which to choose is very personal so I am not going to get into this on here. But one thing that is shared regardless of the nappies you choose is the average newborn will need their nappy changed twelve times in a day.
That's a phenomenal amount of nappies and to be quite frank the potential of a very smelly flat or house. The Tommee Tippee is a great way to lock in odour, we purchased ours on Amazon (£12.49) which comes with one cartridge. Additional cartridges can be purchased separately and retail at about £10 for three cartridges.
Our final baby purchase was a night light so that I could see my way in the corridor between the nursery and our bedroom.
Whilst not essential, I thought that this might help prevent me breaking my neck when I am in search of nappies, baby wipes etc. I hope that this post was interesting to read and helpful. If you have any questions do ask in the comments below. If you were to design your dream nursery how would you decorate it?
As you already know I love Lush and when their shops fill with festive pampering, I know just one thing that Christmas is just around the corner. Lush Christmas products are always in store for just a few months, so when they land I am keen to quickly try them out and stock up on those that I love. This year Lush have extended their Christmas range so much that sharing everything in a post is just not possible. So in this post you will find a selection of my favourites so far. Last year there were a few items that I loved and some of these have made their way back (Golden Wonder, Butter Bear, Lord of Misrule). Sadly they didn't bring back Northern Lights which for me was a highlight, but this probably had to do with transportation problems as they were forever breaking. Golden Wonder(£3.95), makes the perfect gift, lets just marvel at how pretty it looks and if you shake it you'll hear the hidden contents jingle inside.
I love bath bombs that are beautiful in colour and last a while. This bath bomb whizzes for ages releasing a wonderful blue hue and best of all it smells wonderful with my favourite scents of sweet orange and lime; delicious! Everyone needs a couple of wise men in their life and with the Star Dust bath bomb (£3.95), if you follow its trail you might just find one. It might seem like a dull Bath bomb to start with because unlike many Lush bath bombs it stays white but inside is a little treasure trove of brightly coloured stars and the wonderful smell of vanilla and rosewood.
No Christmas would be complete without Santa Claus and remember that leading up to the special day he is always watching. Peeping Santa (£3.95), is always on the look out to see who has been naughty or nice.
Now it's probably the foodie in me but the Peeping Santa reminds me of a macaroon with cream. When crumbled under warm water the bubble bar makes a beautiful red bath, giving off wonderful scents of shea butter, chocolate sweet smelling Bergamot and geranium. Lord of Misrule: The outside colour of this bath bomb is very deceiving; this little beauty becomes a wonderful claret colour as it whizzes and spins, leaving a lovely peppery and vanilla scent.
Whilst it turns your bath into a kaleidoscope of colours it also has popping candy to liven up any bath. If you like the smell, Lush have also released it in a shower cream. Yog Nog (£3.95); yes this is reminiscent of the Christmas drink; it gives off a creamy foam and the bath bomb has a yellow shea butter jelly, that is left to moisturise your skin.
Cindersbath bomb (£2.95), is a favourite every year; I just wish that Lush would make it a permanent fixture and increase it in size.
The Magic of Christmas is a new reusable bubble bar (£5.95); the only way to describe it is Christmas in a bath, with warming cinnamon and clove it creates a spicy festive bath.
When it reaches the end you can also stick the cinnamon stick in the bath. If baths are not your thing, Lush also have some wonderful Christmas shower products.
Santa's Belly shower jelly (£3.95); with a wonderful smell just like mulled wine, it has scents of apple and Star Anise; what a little Christmas treat! Lord of Misrule shower scream (£4.95); if your not keen on Snow Fairy because it is too sweet then this could be for you. This shower cream is far more masculine in smell with patchouli, peppercorn and black pepper. It also has the added benefit of vitamin E to make your skin Christmas ready.
Dishoom restaurant in Shoreditch has been a breakfast favourite of mine for quite a while, if you haven't read my earlier blog post take a look here. Who would have thought that Indian cuisine when mixed with British staples like bacon and sausage could be a winning combination for breakfast.
But naan bread, a little cream cheese, chilli tomato jam and fresh herbs (£5.20) is a winning combination. Dishoom is also really popular for dinner too, the only challenge is you have to book in advance. It is for this reason that I haven't previous been, but I was organised this week and managed to bag a table. The inside of the restaurant is like stepping into a Bombay Cafe.
All good meals begin with a good drink and whilst I might be skipping the cocktails due to pregnancy my other half isn't. He opts for an East India Gimlet a 19th century naval "health" drink, Bombay Sapphire, lime and bitters (£6.50).
I am very jealous as gin is a definite favourite of mine, so I opt for Limca a lemon and lime Indian soft drink.
I always find curry rather filling so this is one place that as a foodie I will have some self restraint, opting for a selection of main meals to share. First to arrive on the table is Dishoom chicken Tikka, a family recipe using a marinade of sweet vinegar rather than yoghurt. Laced with ginger juice, turmeric, garlic and green chilli (£7.50).
Delicious the green chilli however did add a kick. Probably not so wise to have this so near to labour as I certainly don't want to put the old-wives tales of inducing labour by curry to the test. Next up was Sheekh Kabab, minced lamb marinated with lime, coriander and cumin then grilled (£7.90).
I love Biryani if done well, slow cooked rice, layered with aromatic seasoning. We opt for Awadhi Lamb (£9.50), where the meat is prepared in stock and spices, then layered with rice and cooked in a traditional "dum" style.
The lamb was perfectly cooked and melted in my mouth. No curry would be perfect without daal, and Dishoom do a signature house black daal (£4.90).
Simmered over 24 hours the daal is rich and flavoursome. It is perfect for dipping naan bread (£2.20) fresh from the tandoor or mixed with a tasty bowl of rice (£2.20).
A wonderful meal that is as authentic as it is delicious, we will certainly be back to sample the rest of their menu. What is your favourite Indian dish?
When I found out I was pregnant, I knew that the potential of getting morning sickness was possible. However, I didn't know or expect that morning sickness from week six of pregnancy would mean all day sickness. I wanted to share in a post my experiences so that anyone who is in a similar situation might find some comfort in my story and find help in some of my survival techniques. This post is more serious than my normal posts but happy pregnancy posts will follow. For those of you who haven't been pregnant, morning sickness is not a given; if you are unfortunate enough to suffer then for most people it lasts a few weeks and is gone. For an unlucky few they develop Hyperemesis Gravidarum a severe form of nausea and vomiting. I unfortunately had severe morning sickness from week six of pregnancy, which on the bright side is the only thing I am likely to ever have in common with the Royals. As soon as I got out of bed I would feel sick, I would travel and feel sick, if I didn't eat I would feel sick, if I eat I would feel sick, if I smelt strong smells I would feel sick. If I wasn't feeling sick I was being sick and this lasted till I went to bed. Bed became a haven with it being the only place that I felt any form of normality.
At fourteen weeks pregnant it ended up with a stay in hospital when tablets didn't work to reduce the sickness.
I was seriously dehydrated, I couldn't keep anything down including water, my body started using up fat stores and I developed severe Ketosis and ketones in my urine. To be totally honest I felt horrendous. It was grim :-( The sickness only really disappeared around 22 weeks; I really can't tell you how grateful I was. It is only now that I can write about it and see the funnier side of the experience. Here are some tricks that I learnt and that helped me through: 1.Crackers will be your new best friend, have a packet by your bed. Before you get up in the morning slowly eat three they will do wonders to help reduce the feeling of sickness.
2.Be prepared when you go out as the thought of being caught short and being sick in public can be really stressful and make you anxious. Pack sandwich bags and tissues; You will be amazed at how discretely you can be sick if you need to be. Just having them in your handbag will make you relax. 3.Try travel sickness bands, they did help with reducing my sickness. 4. Eat small meals often rather than three big meals. Think grazing rather than a huge feast.
5. Sparkling water worked really well, the bubbles helped to settle my stomach. 6.When I felt I was going to be sick I would smell an Olbas oil inhaler, now I have no idea why this worked but it did. 7.If you are still feeling sick and vomiting don't be afraid to seek help. There is help and support available.
Having Hyperemesis Gravidarum truly was a test of endurance, everyone tells you that pregnancy is not an illness but during the sixteen weeks that I was constantly sick it certainly felt like I was ill. The trick is to find things you love, rest when you need to and get support from those that love you. It's also not advisable to be on a boating holiday whilst going through this (you can read all about it here).
