Mammy Monday : Our Positive Breastfeeding Journey

I thought I'd never in a million years breastfeed, I thought 1. I was too much of a prude and 2. Why should I do all the night feeds. As soon as I found out I was pregnant  on my first daughter I knew it was what I wanted to do.

 

I always looked on it with an open mind. I'd give it a go if it worked out it worked out if not there's nothing wrong with formula. Luckily for us we took to it like ducks to water!

The first few weeks were the hardest, Lauren fed almost constantly. Which led to a lot of discomfort. But once she got the supply up it was plain sailing. I am so lucky, I've never had any problems and have for the most part enjoyed the experience. 

 

I naively went into this journey thinking I was in charge lol how wrong was I! I had first said 12 weeks that's it we'll be done breastfeeding by then, wrong! Oh when she has teeth I'll stop nope wrong again, we ended up feeding until my first was 16 months old and my second was 5/6 months old (we only stopped sue to a change in my circumstances not because I wanted to)

 

 

Now don't get me wrong I enjoyed every day (almost) I've learned a lot on this road and the main thing I've learned is that I wanted to make my daughters happy as they are my number one concern.

 

 

I used to get asked a lot when would I stop breastfeeding and I used to have the answer, I used to have a time frame, but then I decided that all that was important wasn't what anyone else wanted but truly that my only concern was that my child's emotional and nutritional needs were being met, and not to be worrying about what "Mary" from down the road thought or anyone for that matter!

 

 I mean no one would ever ask the mother of a 10 month old when they were taking the bottle from them or when they would stop formula! I just wish the same respect could be given to breastfeeding mothers too. No one really has the intentions of breastfeeding a child until they are 16 lol but when they are still a baby its completely normal and I'm saying well done mama if you have fed your child till they are way past the baby stage and fair play to you for doing what is right for your family. Its a hard road so give yourself a well deserved pat on the back.

 

It's been a mostly positive journey for me,  I've met loads of breastfeeding mammies who can advise me and me them. I had no problems feeding her in public but that's been mainly thanks to my nursing cover, it's been the best €30 I've ever spent. I'd highly recommend buying one, especially for when you are out or you have visitors that you aren't 100% comfortable whipping your boobs out in front of ha ha ha.  I got mine in boots similar to this one here Boots don't seem to stock them on their website so that's a link to Bella Baby who are a fantastic baby shop.

 

 

If you pregnant and thinking of breastfeeding my advice is do your research, have an idea what to expect but for the most part just relax you'll be amazed at how much they teeny tiny person might already know. There are loads of support groups on facebook and in the community. At the time I attended a class which was organised by the public health nurses in my area so check that out, ask when the come to visit when you get out of hospital. Ask your own mam or a friend if they breast fed. Also have a back up plan, what will I do if it doesn't work for us. There are also lactation consultants in the maternity hospitals, so just ask for help.

 

I did use a pump for times when I was away from the babies or wanted to attempt bottles (which my first daughter point blank refused and she ended up never having a bottle.) I would say wait until you know if its going to work out for you or not before purchasing one as they are quite expensive, don't throw your money away. And for the first couple of weeks anyway you wont use one as you and baby will be getting used to things yourselves.

 

I'm not an expert by any means, but I found the following items really helped me :

 

An absolute essential : Multi Mam Compresses

Nursing Pads: I used both disposable (these were my favs) and the reusable ones which were so soft. I was given mine as a gift but there are loads of places online where you can buy some and boots have some here

Nipple Cream :) this was the one I used

Nursing cover as I mentioned above.

 

So like I say, I'm by no means an expert, far from it, I'm just a mammy who has a positive breast feeding story. Try relax, go into it with an open mind and remember, once your childs emotional needs and nutritional needs are being met that's all that matters and that can be achieved by breast or bottle or both.

 

Lots of Love

 

Donna

XXX 

 

 

Review & Product Rave - Botanics Radiance Balm All Bright

Hey Dolls,

Where do I start. This product has been a saviour for me. I have really dry skin on my face, which can be an absolute pain, especially when your favourite foundation is Estee Lauder Doublewear. It can make your skin look so old!!!

 I was about to give up on my beloved foundation when my sister suggested mixing it with some of the balm. At the time too Boots had them on offer and I got it for half price so it was a total steal.

This product has been raved about all over the net and also said to be an excellent dupe for Mac's Strobe Cream and I tend to agree. This is a beautiful product, when applied to the skin it does exactly as it says, it gives a beautiful glow and highlights the skin fabulously.

I use it in two ways, as a base for my foundation when I am heading on a night out or looking for full coverage and for every day make up I mix it in with my Estee Lauder Doublewear. Using it this way has meant I've been able to continue my love affair with my all time favourite foundation.

If you are lucky enough to have good skin this would be lovely even on its own for summer. You would need to apply SPF as this doesn't contain any.

Its a total bird on a budget product which does all that Mac Strobe Cream does at fraction of the price at €8.59. Its something I use daily and have repurchased time and time again. You can purchase it from the Boots website here.  

I've loved this product so much I've purchased the day and night cream from the same range.

Let me know if you have used this product.

Lots of Love

Donna
XXX

Mini Boots Haul/ NYX Micro Brow Pencil Review

Hiya,

So its been a really really long time since I've done a post on here. But I am now getting back into what I love.

Just thought I'd share a little haul with you guys and do a review of one of my absolute must haves NYX Micro brow pencil.

So my haul is a wee boots haul. I love Boots but its one of those places when you go in for an eyeliner you come out with 3 bags full and €100 euro gone from your bank account lol. It's another Penney's, go in for socks come out with an entirely new wardrobe ha ha ha.

 

I've started doing my boots shopping online, far less temptation and so much more convenient for me as a full time working mam to two under 4. I get them delivered to the boots across the road from my job.

I was so happy to see that there was a free gift with purchase online, you needed to spend €60 to get it and it has €75 euro worth of free products to try. And they are all full size too. Unfortunately I cant see this deal on their website now but you can be guaranteed that they will have some sort of freebie or deal you can avail of.



So I didn't go mad with my purchases kept it simple and just bought the essentials. These are really my holy grail items with the exception of the mascara (Maxfactor calorie 2000). Its a really disappointing mascara and I have to say I wont be purchasing again.

I'm in the market for a good volumising mascara. One that's preferably waterproof, my eyes smudge a lot.

NXY micro eyebrow pencil was something I picked up on a whim one day while I was in boots in Liffey Valley. FYI my all time fav boots and the NYX stand is amazing. So happy to see this brand get some recognition as its been a favourite of mine for a long time. The first one I picked up was in a shade that had some red undertones in it, so I wasn't 100% happy with the colour (which might I add was my own fault, when the girl asked me if I needed any help I done the thing we all do......No thanks I'm ok......Lesson learnt) so this time round I went for the shade Ash Brown. Its perfect. The product itself reminds me of the Anastasia of Beverly Hills brow pencil but with a more affordable price tag. At €10.50 I was delighted.  You can purchase from boots.ie here

It is a double ended pencil, one end is the pencil the other is an spoolie / eyebrow brush. It has a fantastic colour pay off and with the tip being so thin gives a really feathered look to the brow. I normally get my brows done by my sister who is a HD brow tech and this NYX product is perfect for filling in in between my HD brows appointments.

I would highly recommend you get out an buy this product. Its by far the best brow product I have used. And I have used the Anastasia of Beverly hills one.

Let me know what your holy grail brow product is.


Love
Donna
XX

Sneaky lunch time, teeny weeney haul

On the way to get my sambo at lunch time I have to walk by boots :). So as I had a few minutes to spare I dropped in. This Boots is only small but they still manage to pack in a lot of goodies all the same.

I went straight for the sale aisle with all the little leftover items from the Christmas gift sets. There wasn't much left but I did pick up the 17 eye crayon gift set reduced from €13 to €6.50, sure I couldn't pass that one up!

It comes with 3 eye crayons and a little smudge thingy.

The colours are all really wearable and they are super blendable (on my hand anyway, I've yet to try them on the eyes)

Can't wait to give these crayons a road test.

I also picked up a mini Soap and Glory Hand Food (€3.50) for my desk in work, I don't know how on earth this little gem of a hand cream never made it into my collection. Before Christmas I bought the boots star buy "the best of all" from Soap and Glory. I had tried their shower cream and body butter before but never bought any of their other products before, delighted with most things so far. So when I saw the mini  Hand Food it  had to come home with me too :).

Any other soap and glory recommendations for me leave them below :)

Love

Donna
XXX