Nursing Bras

SO, 9 months into feeding my little girl and its sad to say that on days when I get to wear a normal bra, that is one without clips on the straps, it is a joyous day! Haha!

I have recently started back to work and have been able to regain ownership of my boobs for more than a couple of hourse twice a week. It is only since this past week that I have realised how unsupportive AND SHITE nursing bras are. At least for chestier babes like myself!

Since having Indie and beginning to breastfeed, I have searched high and low for bras that i could actually TRY ON to check for fit, and do you think I could find one that was supportive and didnt give me a uno-boob? NO!

I was so disheartened. In the beginning as i didnt know if i would actually be able to breastfeed, instead of spending €30+ on a nursing bra, I bought hook and eyes from a sewing shop, chopped the straps on a normal bra and used that.

Now, talking about bra size for a moment... I found a site called Boob or Bust.com which has made a huge difference to my... well, boobs. You can measure yourself at home, input the measurements and it will calculate a size for you.. my size changed from (pre-pregnancy) 34F to 32H. So off i went to a department store and tried the size, thinking no way would a band size of 32 fit me when I was a post-pregnant dress size 14. But it did fit, very well. Since I discovered this, i told my sister who then did hers and it also made a huge difference to her being a busty babe too. The idea behind this is going down a band size and up in cup size.. the band should be snug so as to give the most of the support. Support should not be coming from your straps- ugly red marks and sore backs are a thing of the past. Yay!

But unfortunately, for some reason its a hard thing to find a decent nursing bra in big sizes where you can try them on and be sure before you buy. For some reason smaller bra sizes contain underwire, and the larger ones do not.. can someone PLEASE enlighten me, and my boobs as to why this is. I know that underwire isnt recommended while breastfeeding for the first few months as your size can change so drastically, with the milk supply regulating etc, but really its so annoying having to buy a bra just because its the only one there is... trust me, if you do this.. you wont wear it!

So it took plenty of searching, ordering, sending back, re-ordering and trying on to find a bra i liked, so i bought several :) Its not cheap returning clothes when youve ordered them online from an overseas company (dont even get me started on that.. Cant you tell im not usually a fan of online shopping) The site I've been using is great, delivery is within a few days and theyre acommodating too. Its called Nursing Bra-Shop and they have lots of underwired bras for bigger busts (yay). Obviously its still not ideal having to order online and not being able to try on, but the company have been so helpful and are very understanding that new mums are busy, so they have a long returns acceptance.

Hopefully someone will find this useful.

If anyone has any other recommendations, i'd love to hear them.

Dont forget to follow me on Facebook HERE, Instagram HERE and Snapchat at 'Connikav'. Thanks for reading xoxo

Absence

Hello lovelies,

Hope everyone is keeping well.

So, it has been 7 months since I posted, and i cant believe how fast time has flown. It gives me a chuckle thinking that my blog is 'the average irish mammy', as im sure the average mammy really doesnt have time to be blogging, so I shouldnt feel too bad about the absence, right? My life since becoming a mammy has been so busy, not with anything in particular really, just with being a mammy! When I set up this blog, I had lots of ideas of how i'd have lots of time to write and update the blog regularly but it has kind of fallen by the wasteside.

Now that my maternity leave is coming to an end, and Indie is coming up to her 9month birthday, I thought i'd give it another go.

So, not much is new with me. Indie is thriving, shes crawling, chatting and is beginning to pull herself up to standing too. Shes a funny little thing, we can already tell shes going to be a character and i thank God every day for her. She is the best thing in my life.

It is impossible to explain to people who do not have kids just how much they change your life. Life has been completly turned upside down (for the better) and I have definitely changed as a person. Things that used to bother me, now dont. And things that I used to think were a big deal, really arent. Indie comes first, and thats that.

Life is good.

So, back to blogging... While I know it is a small little blog and not many people read it, its a little piece of me thats good to get out, especially when you spend your days talking baby-talk! So, if youd like to share my page and keep an eye out for upcoming posts, please feel free.

My facebook page is HERE and Instagram HERE. My snapchat is 'Connikav'.

Ill be sure to update again as soon as I can :) If theres anything in particular you'd like to see, please let me know.

Much love, Conni xoxo

Breastfeeding

Hello lovelies,

Hope everyone is keeping well.

So, when I was pregnant, I always just assumed that id breastfeed and it would all come naturally and it was easy. Afterall, breastfeeding is the what our boobs were made for, right?

Unfortunately, it wasnt as simple as that.

I had taken a 4 hour breastfeeding class while i was pregnant, I had watched countless youtube videos on how to get the perfect latch and read several articles on the subject. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, prepared me for how difficult those first 2 weeks were. I even described to my husband that the worst part of all of having a baby, labour included, was the pain of my nipples. SERIOUSLY!

I genuinely thought that baby would just snuggle up and feed like it was the most natural thing in the world. Boy was I wrong.

I used the Multi-mam products for those first few difficult days and they were fantastic (thanks to my midwives for hooking me up with both products! The products were so good that i sent the hubby and my own mam to stock me up for at home!) I also went on Daktarin- on the nipples and in babys mouth after feeds due to the severity of the cuts on the nipples and risk of bacterial or fungal infection

Dont get me wrong, now I love feeding Indie and it really is such a wonderful experience. We have such a close bond that I never even dreamed of, we know eachother, we're already best friends. I can calm her down like no one else. She comes to me and just goes quiet, burrows into me and nods off to sleep. Its my favourite part of becoming a mammy.

I really do wish more people knew how hard it was going to be for the first 2 weeks, and i wish more that everyone knew how lovely it is after that first stage. Maybe breastfeeding would be more accepted in society. I really noticed the lack of breastfeeding talk/ acceptance/ normalcy when I tried to find nursing clothes. Clothes to make it easy to breastfeed in public, or even just around family wihtout having to practically strip down to the nip.. literally! I trawled through shops and websites trying to find clothes that didnt cost a bomb (Dont even get me started... H&M are a good bet, and ASOS too)

I really feel so lucky that I have been able to feed Indie this long (Shes 6 weeks old tomorrow). When I started, I thought "This is never going to last", even giving her a top up of formula on night 2 to give the poor nips a break, then my milk came in on day 4/5, and finally my sister and public health nurse suggested nipple shields. Hallelujah! I had bought a pair of shields during my pregnancy, but never knew how to use them and they didnt enter my mind while i was crying in pain worrying how I was ever going to be able to continue to feed; until the public health nurse arrived- mid-feed: the latch was good, baby was guzzling away, swallowing, but why was I in so much agony. Once baby finished feeding, the nurse had a look at my bleeding, bistered (yes blisters) nips and she realised that my nipples were flat.

I didnt realise there was such a thing. Growing up youre always told that 'everything is normal', we all have different bodies, big and small and theres no such thing as 'normal'.... except, now I know, when breastfeeding. Indie was latching fine but loosing suction on the nipple as it wasnt inside her mouth far enough. This caused excessive suction and loss of suction, causing friction which meant i got horrid blisters, which burst and bled. I know, it sounds glam! As you can imagine, it was excrutiating! This is where the nipple shields came in. They have been my lifesaver. Made of thin silicone, they create a barrier between babys mouth and the nipple, but also they help to draw the nipple up into the shield, allowing baby to get better grip, suction and therefore a more successful feed. Overtime, the natural nipple tissue becomes more pliable and the nipple shield is no longer required. Im now getting to this stage, where I have began to wean Indie off the nipple shield and occasionally feed her without the shield at all.

Theyre so simple to use, you just place them on the nipple, and feed as normal, though you may need to hold the shield in place. I'm so delighted they worked for me and I hope this will help any mammys out there wishing to feed past those first difficult weeks. Trust me, it gets easier! Theres a great page on nipple shields use and care HERE. This post is only my personal experience!

If anyone out there has any questions about it, feel free to ask. Follow my facebook page HERE, Instagram HERE and on Snapchat at 'Connikav'.

Chat soon, Conni xoxo

Whats in my hospital bag

Hi lovelies,

So I spent countless hours watching youtube videos on what to pack in my hospital bag while I was pregnant, and made several lists, and packed and re-packed my bag countless times!

The truth is, that youre never going to know exactly what to bring on your first baby. None the less, I took some photos to write a blog post of whats in my bag, and now that I have the experience, Im going to share with you what I did or did not need. Hopefully it'll help some of you with your own hospital bags.

I brought 2 bags with me for my hospital stay. One for during labour, and another for the hospital stay post-labour.

I'll start with the bag for labour.

Firstly, I brought fluffy socks, slippers, a dressing gown and 2 nightdresses. I brought one for labour (navy) and another for just after labour so id feel a bit clean. Your feet can get a bit cold during labour so I'd recommend the fluffy socks!

Next I brought a cellular blacket for wrapping baby in, babys first outfit packed in a sandwich bag to make it easier for the other half to find :) And also a cardigan, but I didnt end up using the cardigan as its plenty warm in the maternity ward for baby. Babys first outfit consisted of a vest, babygrow, hat, and nappy. But since we did skin to skin, all we needed was the hat and nappy, but the vest and babygrow came in useful once we got back to the maternity ward.

Snacks are always important! Labour can be a long process, especially when youre induced, like i was. Lucky Indie was born less than 20 hours after I arrived to the hospital, for some people it can be a full 2 days or so! So I brought some chocolate(of course), rice cakes, sucky sweets, breakfast bars and mixed nuts. And not to be too TMI, but the nuts did come in handy for keeping the post-labour bowel moving.

Lastly, I packed a toiletry bag with a few essentials. Underwear, a facecloth and the elastics for my belly-trace (I only have these because I had been in the hospital the week previous being checked out and they gave me these to bring along with me for next time). I really recommend bringing a facecloth with you, it is what came in most useful during labour. It is so damn warm in the maternity ward, and they really crank up the heat right before you begin pushing. It was great for keeping damp to cool me down, and mopping up sweat. Nice!

In the toiletry bag: Tissues, lens solution, deodorant, mouthwash, toothpaste and brush, lady wipes, water spray, vaseline and hair bobbins and clips. The mouthwash was useful as your mouth can get so dry and when your huffing and blowing, its nice to know youre not knocking people out with your stinky breath. The water spray was also brilliant- I got mine in Dealz- because of the heat, it was really good for cooling me down.. and my hubby too. Also, the vaseline was handy due to dry lips from using the gas and air.

Also not pictured here are maternity pads.. needed for obvious reasons

Next onto the hospital stay bag:

2 dark coloured towels for post-labour showering, I got these ones in Penneys. Moses basket sheets for the cot during the hospital stay, theyre cosier than the pillow cases used to cover the matress in the hospital. And a hooded bath towel for baby- this one is from the Baby Elegance package I posted about earlier.>

Clothes/ outfits for the baby. I didnt even use the outfits, except for her going home outfit.. You change nappies, vests and babygrows so regularly that its best to just pack them all seperately instead of in 'outfit form'. My hubby ended up bringing in a bunch of separates for during the stay and i didnt use these packs at all.

Jammies for me during my stay. I picked up these all in Penneys. I got the button down kind thinking they'd be handy for breastfeeding, and were nice and light, but i never wore them. It was way too hot to wear long sleeves. The best thing I found to wear was jogger style bottoms and a string top or vest. String tops were handy to just pull down to feed without having to completely strip off.

I also brought some extra toiletries for my stay. In this toiletry bag i brought:

A shower puff, Arnica tablets, Hand sanitiser, tissues, face wipes, feminine soap free wash, moisturiser, lanolin nipple balm, shampoo and conditioner, hairbrush and a razor.

I didnt use the arnica tablets, while they were recommended in several blogs and youtube videos I just never thought of them, once baby arrives, you have more on your mind. I also didnt use the shampoo and conditioner, as my hair was quite dry during my pregnancy i could go a few days without washing it.

The lanolin nipple balm is from Boots brand, but i didnt like it. Its really too thick and baby didnt like the taste of it. I had a lot of nipple problems beginning to breastfeed, I can see how people give it up so soon. Luckily I had great midwives who gave me the multi-mam compresses and nipple balm, which were my saviour.. and funny enough, baby actually liked the taste of the balm. I think the boots one was just too thick and greasy. So if youre thinking of breastfeeding, I recommend getting the multi-mam products; they can be more expensive, but they are so worth it. I dont think I would still be breastfeeding almost 4 weeks later if it wasnt for them (and nipple shields, but ill talk about these again)

I also brought a small stand up mirror, and basic makeup products. I got a tester of bb cream from my local pharmacy and it worked fine for the few days when i was having visitors and wanted to feel a bit more like 'me'.

Lastly, I brought water wipes, breast pads, and maternity pads (boots brand).

Unfortunately, I ended up getting an infection around my stitches following the labour and I really think it had a lot to do with the maternity pads I was using. The Boots brand have plastic sticky backs on them, like most pads, to stick onto your underwear.. and this stops your down-there from getting some air, especially when you spend a lot of your time sitting and lying in bed in the days following labour. So I really recommend getting the ones which have no sticky back on them. The hospital gave me a packet of them to use for the remainder of my stay and after just one day, my infection had cleared up almost completley. They look like this:

Sexy right? But trust me, these will feel amazing when youre so swollen down there.

So thats really it for my hospital bags, please feel free to comment or mail me on facebook if you have any questions at all.

From me and Indie, chilling on the couch having cuddles while writing this; Chat soon xoxo

Dont forget to follow me on Instagram HERE and of course Facebook HERE. You can also follow me on Snapchat at 'Connikav', if I get enough followers on snapchat, I'll begin to post more on there.

€999 Baby Package

Baby equipment can be so expensive, and having my first baby, I really wanted to buy new pieces as opposed to getting hand-me-downs, as hopefully we will be lucky enough to have more children in the future. So I really wanted to have my own products!

I came accross this package by chance when i first became pregnant, and headed into Baby Elegance in Blanchardstown to have my first look around as a mum-to-be. There were no other products I looked at after seeing this deal, as it is such good value and the buggy travel system looked great.

Now that I have bought it, and using it these past 3 weeks I cannot reccommend it enough. The travel system really is fantastic, and the buggy opens and folds easily with one hand, plus it comes in lots of colours. I went for the light grey colour, its fab! The moses basket is sturdy but easily transportable. And the high chair folds down to be really compact.

One of the best points about this package is that you place a deposit and can pay it off gradually.

Check out www.BabyElegance.ie

Promise to write up a "what to pack in your hospital bag" soon. Chat soon, Conni xoxo

She has arrived

Hello lovelies,

So my last blog post was the day i went to be induced, and despite the last week of being pregnant feeling like i was going to be pregnant forever, baby Indie Anne Murray was born on the 19th August at 2.39pm weighing 7lbs 7oz and measuring 50.5cm long, after a labour of 12 hours.

I will do a post on being induced and my labour another day, as i have had a few mails from pregnant princesses asking for information on my experience, so ill be sure to share soon.

So, here is my baby girl:

Don't those lips just break your heart? I know i am biased, but I think shes the most gorgeous baby that ever was created :) That second photo was about 1.5 hours after Indie was born, and I just love it <3

Indie is 3 weeks old today, and I cant imagine my life without her now. It has been a really emotional time, but the happiest and most wonderful of my whole life. I never knew I could love something or someone as much as I love her. And how much more I love my husband seeing how he is with her too! I love our family, its my favourite!

I will write a post on what i packed in my hospital bags next, and what i actually needed and didnt need so keep your eyes out.

As always, dont forget to check out my facebook page HERE and Instagram HERE for more updates and baby overloads :)

Chat soon, Conni xoxo

Induction Day

Hello lovelies,

So today is my induction date. A date I hoped I'd never have to keep! My due date was August 9th, and hoped baby would be here by August 12th when I had my next hospital appointment. But here we are 9 days late, and heading for an induction this evening.

I've been feeling mixed emotions about it. While the older generation think its great that we mums now know everything thats happening at each stage in pregnancy and labour, sometimes its not the best... As there are a million horror stories for each good story.

Being induced was the LAST thing i wanted to happen, as I know several people who had horrible induced births. Also, any information given by the hospital or healthcare advisors include 'what can go wrong' with being induced. Its easy to focus on that part! Of course, there are lots of people who also say that they had a quick and easy induced birth.

The hardest thing about having a date and time for induction is waiting for it! This week has felt like the longest of my life, waiting for each day to go by and getting excited at each and every twinge or movement thinking I was going into labour myself. It has been exhausting! I have been counting down the hours, feeling like i have so much to do, but not wanting to do anything at the same time.

I know that each labour is different and all I can do is wait and see how mine goes. If anyone is interested in hearing my labour and delivery story, please do let me know in the comments below/ facebook or instagram.

PLease send me your prayers and good luck <3 Stay tuned to my Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat for more frequent updates.

Faceboook HERE Instagram HERE and Snapchat username at 'Connikav'

Last night cuddling this little one from the inside in our own bed. Will spend tonight in the hospital beginning my induction and will hopefully have my baby girl in my arms tomorrow. Feeling nervous, anxious, excited and overwhelmed all at once! Having a date and time to count down to makes things harder, each hour feels like a lifetime, and each hour can be filled with overthinking and worrying about each little detail of what might come. The scariest part is the unknown! Having wonderful family and friends around make it easier, keeping me and my mind busy. I'm looking forward to this entire new part of my life and new little addition to my family ❤