What's in Baby's Hospital Bag?

So I recently finished packing up mine and baby's bags for the hospital and thought I would share a peek into what I'm bringing with me! I don't have a huge amount as the hospital I'll be going to doesn't keep you in for very long as long as there aren't any complications.

I bought the changing bag on eBay from here and it's really good so far (although obviously has had no real use as of yet...). It's got loads of pouches on the inside for various bits and pieces and has a travel changing mat in the front pocket. Also the little clips on the side make it really easy to strap it to your stroller - so a big thumbs up from me!

So... the contents of the bag are as follows...

- 2 x blankets, one small waffle blanket and another thicker fleece blanket. You can't predict the weather here in Wales so best to be safe!

- A load of size 1 nappies and new baby sensitive wipes. I'm not sure what's provided by the hospital, but thought the best bet was to bring my own

- Tommee Tippee size 1 dummies. Not sure if he'll be into these, but packed just in case it does the trick at soothing him!

- Lansinoh Lanolin and Johnson's Nappy cream. Again, not sure what the hospital provides so thought I would bring my own. 

- 2 x Muslin cloths. Can't remember where these are from but chucking a couple in for quick clean ups.

- 3 x sleepsuits. I'm expecting a little baby so have brought 2 little ones incase one gets spoiled and another slightly bigger one in case he turns out to be a little larger than expected!

- 2 x vests. Again, have packed slightly different sizes just in case.

- 2 x hats. I didn't need to pack 2... but I want options!

- A pair of scratch mits. In case he's a scratcher!

- Bunny comforter by Gro company. Now I know he probably won't enjoy this much, but it's super cute and will make for some nice photo ops.

- LOTS of breast pads. These are tucked neatly into that little Birchbox bag in the top left corner. Can't be too prepared!  

So that's the contents of baby's bag, keep your eyes peeled for my bag in the next couple of days!

Any suggestions on what would be useful would be much appreciated!

Lyd

xxx

Growing a Human: The Third Trimester!

So, as I write this I am 40 weeks + 3 days pregnant and definitely READY to get this little guy out! 

I must say, I have had a relatively easy pregnancy and don't have too much to complain about. Over the last 10-12 weeks I have definitely had the most weight gain (cry) but I know childbirth, breastfeeding and an active lifestyle is right around the corner so I'm not getting too down about this! I've also since week 37 suddenly got lots of tiny stretch marks which made me a bit miserable, but I'm hoping these will fade pretty quickly and they already look a bit better from using Palmers stretch mark massage cream every night. 

We've had some lovely weather for the UK over the last few months and I've definitely been trying to make the most of that and get out and about so can't say the pregnancy had hindered me that much, although a gin & tonic would have been nice!

I've found myself very sleepy again so over the last month or so have been resorting to daily naps and I have experienced the return of the first trimester nausea which isn't too fun! 

The last week has probably been the worst, my hormones are CRAZY and I will cry over almost anything, I'm exhausted then energetic, struggling to sleep and my left foot has swollen to the point where the majority of my shoes don't fit! 

BUT it's the home stretch now.. little guy could show his face any day now (although he seems pretty happy just to stay in my belly forever at the moment) and I am SO excited to meet my little guy and not be pregnant anymore!

It's been a rollercoaster and not something I will easily forget about, but I know it will all be worth it when I see my little man!

Lyd

xxx

Tag: Get To Know Me

I (shamefully) haven't blogged in ages... For this I am very sorry! I thought I would upload a quick tag though and where better to start than the 'get to know me' one? Here goes...

1. Are you named after anyone? Nope

2. When was the last time you cried? Pffft, I'm not sure. However being 7.5 months pregnant I can cry over pretty much anything! Probably something stupid. 

3. Do you have kids? Nearly got one!

4. If you were another person, would you be a friend of yourself? Errr... I guess? I hope so anyway!

5. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Too much. An unattractive trait I've acquired from my mother.  

6. Will you ever bungee-jump? HELL. TO. THE. NO

7. What’s your favorite cereal? Special K with almond milk. MMMMM

8. What’s the first thing you notice about people? Hmm... their facial expression I suppose. 

9. What is your eye colour? Blue

10. Scary movie or happy endings? Happy endings most of the time. I watched a particularly upsetting episode of Dexter the other day and sulked for the following couple of days... 

11. Favorite smells? Old school herbal essences.... boyfriend... anything vanilla or satsuma!

12. Summer or winter? SUMMER. C'MON WALES SHOW US WHAT YOU'VE GOT!

13. Computer or television? I'd usually say computer... but think TV is getting more time these days. nesting?

14. What’s the furthest you’ve ever been from home? Portugal?? I've never left the EU :(

15. Do you have any special talents? Nope

16. Where were you born? South West England

17. What are your hobbies? bloggy type stuff, homey stuff, baking, cooking, being a domestic goddess etc tc

18. Do you have any pets? Not yet :(

19. Favorite movie? I can't pick. I'm more of a TV show kinda girl...

20. Do you have any siblings? 1 brother.

21. What do you want to be when you grow up? What... I am grown up?! A good mammy I hope. 

I tag whoever reads this!

Getting Organised

I've picked up a few bits recently in an attempt to get myself more organised, and I thought I'd share them with you guys.

I've mostly been hitting up Paperchase which is my go-to place for pretty notepads and the like!

I've picked up 5 notepads from there, 3 of which are in a school-book style and 2 hard back ones with a magnetic cover.

The little brown ones have been being used for my degree studies and the purple and red ones are for Welsh notes! The quality of the paper is really good and the price isn't unreasonable at £3 for the brown notepads and £8 for the hardbacks.

I've also picked up the teeniest diary ever from Moleskine. I picked this up because I wanted something I can fit in handbags for when I'm out and about so I can jot down appointment's and whatnot. I picked this one up on Amazon for 5 or 6 pounds and think it's just adorable. They have a little pouch in the back for notes as well (although they would need to be pretty teeny to fit in there)

Any suggestions you have for helping me to get organised would be much appreciated!

What have you guys been loving?

Lyd

xxx

Bourjois CC Cream Review

Today I am doing a review of a recent purchase which has really taken me by surprise - the Bourjois CC Cream. I didn't have too high hopes after everyone but me loving the Healthy Mix foundation but after seeing several promising reviews I thought I'd give it a go. I've never tried a 'CC' cream before so unfortunately don't have too much to compare it to in the colour correction department but, hey, you've got to start somewhere right?

I'm quite pale so was skeptical about there only being 3 shades, but the 'Ivory' shade suited me just fine! It's quite a matte finish which I really like and claims to correct colour on the face. I suffer from redness so for me this is just great and I can actually tell it makes a difference for evening out my complexion - just a bit of concealer under the eyes and I'm ready to go! My skin type is (currently...) an awful combination of oily T zone and dry spots and this doesn't seem to be aggravating that at all.

I've been applying this with my Real Techniques Buffing Brush and it glides on really easily.

I think this retails at £9.99 and in my opinion, this is totally worth it!

Have you guys tried this? What do you think?

Lyd

xxx

February Favourites 2014

So February has been pretty disappointing favourite-wise - I've mainly been enjoying everything featured in my January favourite's still! So it's a pretty poor turn out for this month but, nevertheless, I've picked a few things I've been enjoying. 

1. Ciate Polish in Red Hot Chilli

I was sent this in a Glossybox and have been really loving it, it's the perfect orangey-red colour and since we've had a bit of sun this has been making a few appearances!

2. Botanics 'All Bright' Cleansing Toner

This is the first product I've tried from the revived Botanics range and I must say I've been really impressed with the results. I've been using this toner in the morning and it really feels like it freshens and brightens the skin - unfortunately I think this is due to the alcohol content in the toner but that doesn't bother me too much. And the best part is, it's cheap!

3. VO5 Plump It Up Mousse

I have misplaced the lid for this and hope aesthetically it doesn't offend you all too much in the above photograph! I have really flat hair naturally and since having a considerable length chopped off recently it's felt even more limp. I don't blow dry my hair too often, but when I do I've been scrunching this into my roots and doing a little upside-down blow dry to inject some life into my hair! This doesn't feel like you've put product in your hair after using it which is great, yet it still gives some bounce! 

4. La Roche Posay Anthelios XL SPF 50

As I mentioned above, THE SUNS BEEN OUT! Don't get me wrong, it's still freezing, however we've been blessed with some lovely crisp sunny days over the past few weeks. I dug this SPF out as I felt something a little more protective was required and I've been using it daily over the last few weeks. It's non sticky and I can just pop my make up straight on top and it has a super high SPF so I don't need to worry about damaging my extremely fair skin!

5. Blistex Relief Cream

Finally, this little guy has rescued my lips this month. I think a lot of people have been suffering with sore chapped lips over the past couple of months and I haven't found anything that really made much of a difference. I picked this up on a whim in Boots thinking it might do the trick and saw pretty much instant results. I'm not 100% sure what the deal is with this, it almost seems medicated and it smells pretty horrific but cracking this on once a day has been enough to keep my lips smooth.

Hopefully there will be a few more favourites this month! My 21st is coming up soon after all!

What have you guys been loving this month?

Lyd

xxx

Weekly Round Up #2

Whoops... well I may have missed a few weeks there. Life got the better of me, for which I must only apologise. This post was ready to go up last night but I forgot to click post - my bad!

This week has been pretty unexciting. I have finally finished at work, so have SO much free time on my hands! Unfortunately I have been ill pretty much all week and have only felt better today, so I couldn't really use that time productively...

I've started suffering with a couple of annoying pregnancy symptoms, the first being heartburn. I have never suffered from heartburn before so didn't really know what to expect. I can't say it's painful, just uncomfortable. And Gaviscon is REVOLTING. No one warned me about that! (Yes, you are allowed this whilst pregnant as far as I'm aware)

Secondly, dry eye syndrome. I can't leave the house without my eyes streaming (and I mean really streaming) and they just sting constantly. I can't really wear eye make up at the moment because I'll just wipe it off in about 5 mins. Unfortunately eye drops freak me out a little bit too much, so I'm having to just suffer with it at the moment. Sigh.

Finally just some general uncomfortableness. I've always suffered from ligament pain when walking since having the bump, but it's now so much more painful. I'm also cramping up pretty bad in the legs and getting some awkward back pain when I lie down!

My little man has started kicking VERY hard. This is both adorable and, at times, slightly annoying (drifting off to sleep and being booted awake isn't too fun...)

It was St David's day on Saturday and we briefly caught a bit of the parade in the city centre. Not gonna lie, it was all pretty weird. Saw this giant Nessa floating through the crowds towards us!

Other than generally trying to recover from my cold, my week has mostly consisted of domestic chores, baking and watching too many re-runs of The Office.

I apologise that this week has been so dull, I promise I will attempt to be mildly more interesting next time (but I doubt it)

Hope you all had a fab February!

Lyd

xxx