Vaccinations! Are you harming your tiny by giving or not giving??

Hi everyone,

Thought I would give my 2p or 2cents on vaccinations for babies! I was prompted as Judy from 'itsjudytime/itsjudyslife' posted a picture on Facebook saying her 2 month old twin girls received five jabs yesterday. This drew very negative statements and pseudo Doctors came out of the woodwork condemning her decision. I thought I'd share my approach to it with Seb.

In the Uk 2012, they introduced the mandatory 'whooping cough' & Flu jab vaccinations for pregnant women. I decided against it, just following my 'gut' instinct as I knew i'd vaccinate the baby once he was out at some point.



While I was pregnant I stumbled across a very heated thread on 'netmums' about a lady who had 'done her research' and decided not to vaccinate her child. I read her stance impartially, but many others didn't! She was labelled irresponsible, selfish, putting her child at risk and already failing as a parent!

What I gleaned from the thread is this issue is totally up to the parent's discretion.

The thread made me reconsider the mandatory Vitamin K vaccination they give at birth. Instead, I opted for him to have it orally over a course of a month. I felt it was gentler than whacking a big ol needle in an hours old baby who would be acclimatising to life on the outside! I was given a screwface by my midwife, but I held firm!



At 7weeks old, Seb had an operation to fix his inguinal hernia and his first vaccinations were the next week. I cancelled that appointment as he needed time to heal. A week slipped into FIVE months later when I finally got round to giving him his second set.

What took me so long? Partial vaccination scepticism, partial over protection. I was so conscious of Seb's weight (he was born small at 5llb 7oz and his weight plummeted before his op) that I didn't think his body was 'ready' for the vaccination. It wasn't until I was satisfied that he looked healthy, that I felt confident to vaccinate him for the second time at 9months old.

His third set came just a month ago- the nurse went crazy at me, but again I held my nerve as over Xmas he was ill a few times and just wanted him to ride through it. He had those jabs in his little thighs and took them like a man. So proud.

He's due in two weeks (thought it was today :-/) the controversial MMR jab. Now the others for polio, etc I thought were ok. If I'm honest, I don't think i'll let him get the MMR. Links to autism have been found, especially in boys. There's talk of single vaccinations being better for boys, than combined but that has to be done privately with costs of up to £300...I wish I were middle class enough to spend that money on some jabs and not on household bills.



The window of autism being 'uncovered' in babies is apparently between 15&18months. Perhaps I may wait it out until the Summer before I think about MMR again.

Anywhooooooo, Parents it's ultimately your choice and don't lose sight of that because of pressure by friends or health professionals. As much as I admire docs, nurses etc, they tend to be at risk of seeing patients as bodies rather than people.


On that note, I need to get Seb's umbilical hernia looked at. It keeps gurgling :-/

Love Mama x

Vaccination gossip :

http://www.netmums.com/coffeehouse/advice-support-40/new-mums-support-262/1104858-10-week-old-immunisations-tomorrow-scared-advice-needed.html

http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/vaccinations/a1761810-Whooping-cough-vaccine-while-pregnant-worrying

 

Food for thought

Hi everyone,

From my last post I spoke about feeling down with starting work again. I cannot believe that I've nearly completed my first working week already! Time flies! Like seriously: the world needs to stop!

Just a quick update to say Seb's fine and well. The good thing with my job is it's in central, so it doesn't take longer than 30mins door to door :-) I feel good as I'm providing for Seb 'minimally' and still enjoying being a Mommy to him. Each night we've done something like going to the park, grocery shopping (highlight of the week :-/ ) and just sat in bed relaxing to our favourite nursery rhymes.


What lead me to this post is, I've met a lovely a girl at work who told me she has a few weeks old nephew who lives with her. She's besotted with him and there we were, instantly bonding over baby tips.

It suddenly dawned on me, that I need to incorporate more 'tips' within this blog.

I did start out wanting to, but didn't want to come across as 'preachy', a 'know it all' or 'perfect mom'. Look how Alicia Silverstone's new mummy guide was received and what about the tips that alienate the average Mother who is not absurdly rich or obsessive over organic items like on dear old Gwynie's 'Goop' 

People who know me in real life know I keep it 100 with everyone from all backgrounds and all races. There are some tips I told my work friend regarding acid reflux, baby bottle recommendations and milk formula that she really took on board.
That made me happy.

I read today a fantastic quote from the 'Humans of New York' project

"Having a child is constraining. There's a lot of things you used to do that you can't do anymore. But it's also extremely expanding."
"How is it expanding?"
"Because you suddenly relate to everyone else on earth who has a child. No matter what race, class, or creed."

I'll start sharing some tips very soon!

Love Mama x

 

 

A Sad Mama

Hi everyone,

Today I'm sad. You may not know, but for the past three months I've been at home taking care of Seb. The reason for which came out of the blue, but turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Since taking that time away from the working world for the first time (i've worked since age 16 and studied for a degree), it's been lovely seeing Seb flourish into the wonderful toddler/baby he is.

I start a new job this Monday and am only going because funds are low, if money was no issue, i'd stay with Seb all day, everyday! I'm not one for signing on and taking benefits, despite being a regular taxpayer so the little savings and overdraft I had are allllllllll spent. Still the cost was worth it.

Mama's sad today as returning to work spells Seb going to nursery too! I mean, the nursery i've chosen is a brand new, converted mansion with a small number of babies there so he'll get the attention he's used to getting with added companionship. It has a huge garden, so he'll be able to go out everyday as he's used to doing so with me. There's also a lovely park across the road which he and I often go to, so he'll be in familiar surroundings and of course the nursery staff seem lovely. I'm confident in it, however, just sad that our time is ending :-( :-(

Ok, i'm going to put him down for a nap so I can cry quietly whilst looking at these pix (no joke)



Love Mama x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hand Painted Easter Eggs

Hi everyone,

In my last post I spoke about what Easter means to me and my family and mentioned the usual schedule. It went as planned! Chillin', loadsa eating, family party, seeing friends & just having a nice time!

This time we were at family in London, so soon I'll do a post on packing for a weekend away with a teeny: what I find useful on our travels and what I leave at home!

It was lovely as I even staged a mini Easter egg hunt for Seb, which wasn't too complex or taxing and he loved the round of applause he received after finding each egg! It was lovely.

Onto the eggs...here are the finished articles!

Seb painted them himself and I filled in the blanks. It was so exciting for me, as i'll be able to keep the eggs as a reminder of his first real Easter!

Hope you all enjoyed your Easter and created new traditions and new memories!

Love Mama x

Easter Traditions

Hi everyone,
 
Easter is nearly upon us and the weather right now in Birmingham, England is just so beautiful!

 

 

 

 

The past week was very busy for this Mama, including job interviews and general Mama duties, so sorry for the silence!
 
Easter is a time for most Christians to reflect on Jesus' death and resurrection. I would consider myself more 'spiritual' than 'religious' as such, but still, traditional values are important to me and will play a vital part in how I'll raise Seb.
 
Usually Easter for us involves eating Fish and spending time at home on Good Friday. Chilling on Saturday. Sunday going to Church and visiting family where we have a big Jamaican meal and share jokes. I know a lot of young people go out on Sunday night, but even before Seb, I always felt a bit 'disrespectful' so stayed in. On the Monday I usually devour any left over Easter eggs and watch the TV!
 
I never really grew up with the 'Easter bunny', but used to look forward to receiving huge Easter eggs. My favourite was Smarties and Mini Eggs! Obviously, Seb is too young for Easter eggs now at 15months old, but I found these cute little eggs to paints with/for him!
 

 

 
I'll show you what faces or patterns we'll paint in another post. An absolute steal from a store called 'Home Bargains' for only £1.49 and the bucket to 'hunt' them was a mere 79p!!!


 
As your little one grows, it's important to start to create memories and traditions with them.

What does Easter mean to you and your family? Do you have certain traditions?  

Love Mama x

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baby Fashion: Styling plaid shirts with jeans

 

Hi everybody,

 

This post is about how I style Seb in his plaid shirts.

 

I love checked or plaid shirts because they give off a smart casual vibe, perfect for a meal out, a stroll around town or visiting relatives.

 

I like to pair them with jeans from Next, but if we need to be smarter, I'll choose some chinos.

 

These shirts were gifts hence them being similar in colour and style, but I love them equally.     

Ted Baker shirt | Next jeans

 

 



Mexx shirt | Next jeans

Asda George Jumper | Mexx shirt | Next jeans

 

 

There are fewer plaid shirts for baby girls around, but the ones that are give off a super cute country casuals vibe!

 

 

Do you like to style your little one in check?

 

UPDATE: 'Supermom' or Kourtney Kardashian and her lovely little girl were papped today wearing MATCHING plaid shirts and jeans combo! Soooooo cute. Check it out on my instagram: zenafash1 x

 

Love Mama x

Happy Mother's Day

 I'm happy to have a Mother who's always stood by her convictions and raised me 'the right way'.

I'm happy to have a Mother who constantly challenges me and doesn't accept my BS!

I'm happy to have a Mother who is always rooting for me and wants me to succeed.

I'm happy to have a Mother who has taught me how to be compassionate, loving, FEARLESS and to be real.



I'm happy to be a Mother to my Sebastian. 

Today is my second Mother's day and I can say that this day is more special than Christmas or my birthday, because it signifies the reason for my being.

I love you, Seb.

Love Mama x

 

 

 

 
 

 

Mama Ponders: A degree in Nursery Rhymes?

Having spent the past year revisiting Nursery Rhymes and singing them with an 'Adult's' perspective, I have become interested in the origins of nursery rhymes.

Seb preparing his dissertation on Nursery Rhymes

 

I haven't looked into any backgrounds yet, but thought wouldn't it be cool to do a post grad module in Nursery Rhymes for either an English Literature or Sociology degree?

I come from a moderately socialist background and that attracted me to study English Literature as that in the main focuses on the language and modes an author uses to explain what is happening around them. From reading, for example, a romantic piece written in the 19th Century, we can often grasp what life was like and take note of the political and social climate in the background, giving a rounder context to the story.

I'm no scholar (yet) in nursery rhymes, but some seem to be quite depressing and use cheerful melodies to disguise the gravity of despair. For example, the famous 'Ring-a-ring-a-roses' which is talking about the bubonic plague where people sneezed (a tissue) then died (we all fall down), had their ashes spread in the water (ashes in the water, ashes in the sea) then the ascent to heaven (we all jump up with a 1,2,3). Sad!!!!!!

Other sad ones to check out are: 
Ladybird, Ladybird
Oranges and Lemons
Mary, Mary quite contrary (describing Mary I's method of torture to Protestants!)

Thanks God for 'Old MacDonald had a farm'!!

For any parents or nerds (or both) who want to understand a little more of what these songs mean, check out this channel on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/user/NurseryRhymeHistory

Love Mama x 😖😖

 

Baby Fashion: Your style or mine?

Who doesn't love shopping for baby clothes? Say no and I'd call you a liar. Even Dads and uncles are secretly in on it with the old 'I had to return some socks and chanced across this pair of baby jeans that err happened to be next to customer services'. A likely story!

The problems can arise however, when that top or jeans clashes with your baby's 'style'. As superficial as it sounds, many new parents are fashion conscious when it comes to their tiny! Not just anything can touch this newborn skin yanno...



Mom of two, Kourtney Kardashian is open about choosing stylish items for her son Mason and daughter Penelope
 

A few celeb Moms have spoken publicly about choosing or at least moulding their child's fashion choices. Kourtney Kardashian, Rachel Zoe and even UK reality TV-ite Chantelle Houghton have expressed the importance of dressing their babies in a style that reflects their budding personalities.

That's all well and good, but for many of us young Mom's with a limited bank balance, the reality is that we rely on gifted items for the little one.

The question is: what do we do when the item isn't 'our' style?

 

My advice is to prepare yourself for receiving such items. Grin politely, sing out a fake 'thanks' and try to 'work' them. It's bad practise to discard or give them to Charity when people have spent money on your child. Even if inwardly you feel like:

 
Put it this way, I vowed that Seb would escape the grip of Disney and wouldn't have any associated merchandise. In his first year, he received countless Disney pyjama sets and now sports a snuggly Mickey mouse bathrobe. I use them but, for example, make sure his Disney sets are the very last ones in rotation; you know worn on wash days, so they aren't seen too often.

Here are some practical tips for working unwanted baby items:

• If it's a top that you don't like, layer over it with a jumper or cardigan.

• If it's a coat you don't like, get the baby involved in some age appropriate messy play. The quicker it gets dirty, the longer it can stay in the wash basket ;-)

• Funky looking socks could make great hand puppets. They were funny to begin with and now can perform in front of a drooling audience!

• Trousers or skirts are more tricky, but just take them out once in a blue moon and be grateful baby will outgrow them soon!

Love Mama x

Full Circle : The Best is yet to come

If you would like to know the background of what teeny and I have been through in the year leading up to today, scroll down and read the four posts.

This is where the fun part begins and below are the themes which this blog will centre itself around!

Stay tuned for:

Teeny Tiny's Tummy: Food! A run down of Seb's favourite meals, tips how to prepare them and progress on his eating skills. Also a retrospective look on breastfeeding and ways to make it work for you and baby.

 

Baby Fashion: Staple items for teeny tinies, favourite designers/shops, tips on how to buy at the most cost effective times. Possibly, some OOTD's from the Tiny.

Chicken Run: Ideas on experiences you could create for your toddler, recommendations of places we've been to. How Seb likes to burn up energy before his naps.

Beauty- Young Moms have to look good too! Product recommendations which help to keep me looking human at best, alive at worst. Reviews, wish lists etc.

Yay!

Love Mama x

Ups and Downs, Smiles and Frowns

Seven week old Seb after his op
 

Five weeks after Seb was born, I found a lump on his groin. It was very big and had appeared from nowhere! In a panic, my Mom and I went to A&E where we were seen straight away. He is diagnosed with an inguinal hernia which will need operating! *Cue tears and panic*

I was so stressed and worried, I lost half a stone in about three weeks.

I couldn't eat or sleep properly and was burnt out.

Fortunately, I had my Mom and her friends who rallied round and really helped.

More A&E & a drastic drop in weight later, he is finally admitted to hospital for his operation. It was 45 mins and took him a few weeks to recover fully. 

Thankfully, we noticed a change in Seb for the better. He was no longer in pain and started to gain weight and strength. :-)

This, however, was the time when the cracks appeared in my relationship.

As my boyfriend was in his final year of uni, he was putting his studies first. To make things worse, he lived in another city and didn't come every weekend as we had planned. I didn't argue or make him feel bad about not being there for me, because I empathised with his situation too. Deep down I just hoped everything would come together in the end.

Sadly, they didn't. In the Spring, a few situations took place when I knew that we couldn't work anymore. I knew that I had to put my son's happiness even before my own.

In the Summer, he left for his home country abroad. That was ok as the original plan was for Seb and I to join him. Again, a few situations took place that showed me staying in the UK was best.

It struck me yesterday, that it's been nine months since I last saw him and two months since I last spoke to him. Time has flown by.

It was weird because for all those years, i'd been 'happy' with my boyfriend. I was in love...with the idea of being in love. This situation is not all his fault, I admit.

The good news is, I'm a good Mother and come from a line of good Mothers who have passed down the art of self sacrificial love.

My focus is raising Sebastian to become a wholesome, responsible, moral, socially aware, well educated and loving man.
 
Ultimately, I'd love to find the right man who wants to marry me and who loves Seb as his son. I'd love to have more children at some point, but likely not until my thirties.

Anyhoo, as I said to one of my best friends last night: I know i'm doing the right thing by Seb because I'm the first and last person he sees everyday. It's my name he calls as soon as he wakes up; no one else's.

As long as he's happy, I'm happy.

Love Mama x




January 16th 2013: It was like an episode from ER

After the day I wrote the 'Nostalgia, Ultra' post, the hospital had decided to induce me on the 16th January. Had I realised that Michelle Obama, Muhammad Ali and Benjamin Franklin RIP had birthdays too on teeny's original due date, Jan 17th, I may have left it! Anyhoo, I was too fat and cumbersome to care. I was ready to meet my tiny!

At 8am, I arrived at the hospital like Mariah Carey with a matching amount of luggage and entourage to boot!
 

Checked in, obs taken, pessary in; we're ready to be induced into labour. LET'S GET THIS!

 

The contractions began and oh la la! For anyone who has yet to experience it, my contractions felt like a blunt kneeding pain somewhere in the back of my hip and above my bum. I got my boyfriend to massage it, which helped but that hour went by slowly! 

The nurse comes in and reads tiny's heart rate monitor when it had 'decreased' for the second time in four hours. Apparently, this was cause for concern but I was relaxed. I had my heart set on a water birth and it was GOING to happen.

 

A Senior Consultant came in and said I had only dilated 1cm within three hours and they were concerned about the baby's heart rate, when the possibility of a C-Section came up. 

Woah - This was nowhere in the birthing plan! 

It was for the best and as soon as I uttered 'yes', that's when it was like an episode of ER!

Nurses, Anesthetists and Consultants burst in the room. They wheeled me into the theatre and administered an epidural.

My boyfriend, looking utterly bewildered joined me, wide eyed the whole time. I on the other hand (high from the drugs) started to crack jokes with the surgeons about going there 'more often' for a free bikini wax!!!

One hour and a massive pull and tug later, tiny was out!!!!! 

Apparently, he weed and pooed on the staff as soon as he left me! 

When I heard his first cry, I cracked up in hysterics.  (Blame the drugs!)

My boyfriend now looking even more bewildered and teary held our son for the very first time. 

5 llbs 7oz was our Sebastian.

 

And so began the start of my new life, with my teeny tiny.

 

Love Mama x

 

'Nostalgia, Ultra'

The title of Frank Ocean's debut album. 

My boyfriend introduced me to Frank's first album 'Nostalgia, Ultra' around Sept 2011. During the Autumn in England, we tend to have Indian Summers so hearing that album takes me back to a tiny, insanely hot student dorm room.

Being 38weeks pregnant has prompted 'Nostalgia, Ultra' within our lives. All the fun we've had together; the parties, the kisses, the Christmas celebrations...

However, today I'm using his music to de-stress as I've had the news that miniature is... well just that :-(

Apparently my bump hasn't grown in 3 weeks, so have been called into hospital for a growth scan with the threat of induction if they find anything 'concerning'. I feel a bit bad for calling miniature, miniature now. 

Perhaps my boyfriend's superstition that the nickname would jinx the baby was right!
By the end of today it's possible we could become parents!

I'm sure it's only a routine check though.


Maybe it is only right that I think of Frank Ocean today.

Love Mama x