6 Ways Of Using A Swaddle Blanket

 Hello Everyone ! 

Aren't swaddle blankets the best ? 

They help keep your little one snug and comfy, and you can be trendy with the designs.

 So my post today is all about them! 

 

 

Here are my top 6 uses of a swaddle blanket.

1. A Basic Swaddle 

Well, that's what the blanket is for! So one way to use it is to swaddle the baby. Swaddling a newborn creates that snug feeling of still being in their mother's womb. It also helps against baby getting jittery and getting up at night. Elena slept like a breeze when swaddled during those early days. But she quickly (by about 8 weeks) grew aware of it and started pushing her hands out. 

And that's here trying to push her hands out. 

2.  Photo Background

This is one of my most favorite uses of a swaddle. I love photographing Elena whenever I can. You will probably doing this a lot too. I try and take pictures on my phone and my digital SLR.one after the other. So that i have something on my phone to share quickly with my friends and the Hi res images from the DSLR go into my laptop later for editing if needed.
unfortunately during my first few weeks with my daughter, I wasn't able to capture pictures of her on my SLR as she was really sensitive to lighting. She would just wake up if I turn the light on or keep her near the window. So I worked with my phone for any pictures possible. It's not visible here due to some filtering that I did while capturing this picture, but there are pin stripes on the blanket in baby pink.

3. Summer Blanket

This is another use of a swaddle blanket. No matter if it is a angular swaddle or a rectangular one, they always make great summer blankets because they are light and airy. If you are using a muslin one, that's even better! There are so many options available these days its just amazing.

4. Tummy Time Blanket

It is recommended to give your baby tummy time after about 3 months. I wasn't very keen on it but the good effects of tummy time made it totally worth the effort (more on that later).

So using your swaddle blanket for tummy time is great. They are light and if baby drools or brings out a bit of milk, that would totally save ur carpets and floors from getting messy and it will give a soft base for the baby to rest on. 

5. Pram / Car Seat Canopy

During those sunny days you will probably need a little canopy to save baby from direct sunlight on their face or body. You can easily use ur swaddle for covering your pram or car seat to stop the direct sun. It's breathable and if you leave some room to the sides for air to pass through it's even better.

6. Nursing cover

In an emergency, when you have forgotten your actual nursing cover and need to feed, swaddle blankets can be used as make shift nursing covers. I have done it, its not the best of things but it is good enough.

So that's the end of my list ! If you have any more suggestions I would love to hear them. 
For now, that's it from me. 

Namaste 🙏🏻 

Xo

PJ 

Delivery Diaries - Day 1

From what i have heard, giving birth is always going to be a unique experience for every woman, even if you have done it before. This being my first, I was thrilled and nervous at the same time.
It has taken me a long time to pen down my delivery story, my first priority being my baby girl.
But here I am! Better late than never isn't it ?

If you are wondering why am i calling it delivery "diaries" - "Day 1", well I am among those women who had an awfully long labor. If i calculate from the time I started to have my first real contraction at home till baby Elena came out, it went on for about 35 hours to be exact.
I was under so much pain that we didn't think about taking any pictures (hopefully next time :D if that ever happens)

So here it goes

Since I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes in the 8th month of my pregnancy, I was to be induced on the 20th of Feb 2016, we picked that date because it was a Saturday and hubby could be home and such, without wasting any of his paternity leaves.
Last few days had been very difficult to go by for me and my family. We were all excited that the baby will be here soon and I for one, wanted my contractions to start naturally.
I had a disappointing phone call on the 19th of Feb from my hospital saying - my induction will have to be moved to 22nd of Feb due to overbooking and lots of unplanned inductions that happened that day. Since I wasn't as high risk I had to be moved. Since the NHS provides free maternity care and my hospital is considered one of the best ones in the county , I couldn't do much than to say yes.
 But little did i know.... that my wish was about to be granted and granted good !

By late evening on the 19th I felt like having Pizza! Yes ! Pizza !
I told my husband , "This baby isn't coming out until it has had that slice of pizza ! "
And we had it ... Dominoes to the rescue !
Later I went to bed around 10pm British time, slept maybe for a few hours when my contractions started.

20 Feb 2016,

 2:00 AM 

I woke up with a lot of pain. It was probably going on for a while but this was when the real contractions started to kick in and woke me up. My first instinct before i woke anyone up was to record the time and gap between the contractions. I used the mothercare app , which has a contraction timer . At this time the contractions were coming and going , i would fall asleep and suddenly wake up with a lot of pain.

4:00 AM

By this time things got more intense, the pain was a lot more than before but it would last about 8-9 seconds and go away.

9:00 AM

This was when i finally gave in and woke my husband up , he took my hand and together we started counting the contractions. The pain was coming and going in waves like it should but the duration between two contractions was still not enough to go to the hospital.

12:00 PM

By noon I was feeling much better and i could walk normally and I was back to my normal self . The pains still came and went but the duration between two was getting longer. By this point I thought it was a false alarm.

5:00 PM

Had tea and toast , The pains were back again with much more intensity than before.

6:00 PM

It was hard to stand , and I found it difficult to manage the pain.

8:00 PM

I had my Dinner , and now the pains and the intensity was much increased. Little did i know that this was just the beginning ! My husband called the hospital to report my situation we were advised to stay at home and wait it out a bit. I was to continue my day as usual and practice breathing exercises ! Our collective feeling at that time was FRUSTRATION !

10:00 PM

By this time I was in horrible pain, we called the hospital again , they asked me if there was any sign of water breakage and there wasn't , so I was advised to take a hot bath and keep doing the breathing exercises at home. I did take a warm bath and it did feel nice to be honest, but it didn't last, as soon as I came out of the shower all the comfort was gone.

11:00 PM

An hour later it was just unmanageable pain ! I couldn't stand without support and I was constantly bending forward keeping my hands on a table and swaying from side to side to relive the pain , after a few minuets when i went to the loo , I saw the mucus plug going down and I knew it was time. But there was still no sign of water breakage but i couldn't be sure. Hubby called the hospital the 3rd time and said "that's it she is not going to hold on any longer !" and we were asked to come to the hospital.

11:10 PM

A taxi was called , I had no time to change, thankfully I was in my yoga pants and a large comfy Tee. I could see the panic in my husbands eyes... as i mentally prepared myself that this is going to happen now and by morning I will be meeting my darling Elena !

11:30 PM 

We reached the hospital and went to the labor ward , where I was taken into a assessment room . After a few assessments and about 30 mins of monitoring of contractions with baby heart beat It was determined that I was ready to be admitted! I was almost 5 cm dilated already, half way there.
I was already on Gas and Air to relive the pain. It was quite helpful.

12:00 AM

It was time to move to the Delivery suit.


To be continued .....
The rest of the story is coming soon with an introduction of Baby Elena ! :)

Cheers
PJ

Welcome!

Hi everyone ! 

I am PJ from United Kingdom and I will be documenting my first time mommy life on this blog. 

Right from my pregnancy to delivery and beyond. 

I hope this little blog will make me and my baby laugh one day :) and prove to be a source of information on some of my experiences as a pregnant lady and a new mom ! :) 

Welcome to a new chapter of my life ! 

Welcome to "My Mommy Life "

Xo

PJ