Lactation Boosting Flapjacks

I've been breastfeeding Eben but in the last week we've given him a formula feed at bedtime so that I get a bit of a break and so daddy can have some time with Eben. Although I'm not having that much of a break as I'm expressing so we can stop the formula and just give breast milk. At least when expressing I don't need to burp and then settle my breasts off to sleep after! So it allows me a few hours sleep early one in the night, which definitely helps me to function. Anyways I'm not really worried about my supply as my boy is growing rapidly before my eyes but if I could increase it so I can get a little supply stored in my freezer I'll be very happy! This led me to look online for ways to increase milk supply. I found that the main things to increase supply are drinking lots, eating oats, brewers yeast and linseeds (aka flaxseeds). I then found a recipe for lactation cookies and decided to try baking something of my own. So below is my recipe for lactation flapjacks. I've used the basic flapjack recipe of 125g of sugar and margarine and 250g of oats and 2 tablespoons of golden syrup and adapted it.

Ingredients

regular flapjacks on the left
 lactation flapjacks on the right

250grams of Porridge oats
1 teaspoon of Cinnamon
2 tablespoons of Brewers yeast
1 handful of Sunflower seeds
1 handful of Flaked almonds
50grams of ground Linseeds
125grams Sugar (any sugar soft brown is great but I just use regular caster sugar)
125grams Margarine (can use butter if you prefer)
2 tablespoons of Agave syrup (any syrup is fine ie: maple, golden etc)

Method

First preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line your tin. Weigh out all the dry ingredients apart from the sugar into a bowl and combine. Weigh out the margarine, sugar and syrup into a sauce pan and gently melt together. Once melted add to the dry ingredients and thoroughly combine, it is quite a dry mixture if you prefer gooey flapjacks add more syrup. Once combined flatten into the greased and lined tray. To insure they don't crumble I then cover with clingfilm and really press down with my hands so there are no cracks and it's nice and flat. Then bake after removing the clingfilm, for about 15 minutes or until golden. When they are cooked remove from the tray straight away, I usually ensure I have excess greaseproof paper when I line my tray so I can gently lift the slab of flapjacks out. Then cut into pieces, I usually cut into 15 small pieces. Leave them to cool for a bit on the greaseproof and unseparated, once cooled lift the individually onto a wire rack to continue cooling. This ensures minimum breakage and crumbling.

As I said before this is just based on a simple flapjack recipe so you could add or take out whatever you like. Brewers yeast isn't the most pleasant tasting to you definatley want some spice to disguise it but you could use ginger instead of cinnamon or try adding more sugar.

What to buy a new mother

So my newest tiny human is nearly 6 weeks old and it's been the hardest work having 2 children! I take my hat off to single mums and families with more than 2, I really don't think I could cope with any more, 2 is definitely hard enough for me. Eben has been feeding constantly and only really settling to sleep on me, which is hard work. I've been using my sling a lot to get things done around the house and I'm trying to take him out in the pram so that he's not permenately attached to my boob. in the last couple of days I've managed to get him to sleep in his pram for a couple of hours at a time so I feel like hopefully this is a break through! Any how I thought I'd write a post about what gifts a new mum really wants! I know people love to buy clothes and toys for babies and I've loved all the gifts I've been given but the best gifts I have been given haven't really cost anything just time.

So if you know someone who is due to give birth soon by all means buy them something pretty and cute for the baby but also consider the following:

• A cooked dinner. Something like a cottage pie, a lasagne, basically something that can be reheated or frozen and ideally is large enough that there are leftovers! Having said that finding it hard to ever have my hands free I would even have been grateful for some sandwiches! They're easy to grab and eat when you only have one hand free whilst you're trying to feed a baby. Or order them a takeaway or buy some ready meals that can fill the fridge or freezer. Food will always be happily received.
• Offer to babysit. I don't mean the newborn as until the babies older it's unlike to settle easily without its mum and mum won't relax imagining her baby screaming! But if you can take away any older children it will give mum, dad and the new baby quite time to bond together. It also means a fuss can be made of the older children who probably feel a bit put out and would like some attention.
• Do their laundry. This is something that when you offer to do it will probably be declined. My lovely mother in law offered and we declined but luckily for us she was persistent and made us fill a bag for her to take away. So be persistent and keep asking I'm sure the new parents want to say yes but just don't want to put you out!
• When you visit be the host. Offer to make tea etc and if you're feeling especially lovely do a bit of washing up or whatever needs doing in the kitchen whilst you're in there!
• Look after the newborn at their home. As I said earlier mum and baby won't want to be far apart but there are things she may want to do without having a baby attached to her like have a bath or a nap. So offer to go over for a couple of hours so mum can have a break.

With all these suggestions keep asking and offering, and sometimes don't take no for an answer! I know I find it hard to ask or accept help but sometimes need it.

Surviving Post Partum Pain

So my gorgeous new tiny human Eben is now 3 1/2 weeks old and other than having a bloody annoying sore throat that won't go away I'm actually feeling like my normal self! But if someone had told me 'don't worry you will feel normal again' in the days after giving birth I wouldn't have believed them! I was in a lot of pain. Mu first being a premmie maybe made the pain less or it could have just been that survival having to get on with it thing that meant I didn't notice the pain? Any how this time I felt it! I had to have 2 stiches due to a second degree tear this time whereas last time I had a graze. Both are painful but the stitches being on the outside probably make them slightly more painful. When I posted ion instagram about the pain from stitches I got lots of helpful tips, so for those mummies suffering or for those who maybe giving birth soon try these!:

* Lavender and Tea Tree oil in the bath, first put the drops into a small glass of milk as this helps the oils to disperse in the bath rather than sit on the top and evaporate. I used about 5 drops of each.

* Try to bath twice a day and let yourself air dry down there, it's good for your stitches to be as dry as possible to heal. I know this is easier said than done with post partum bleeding but if after your bath you can lie down on a towel on your bed for just 15 minutes it will help.

*Take painkillers, Paracetamol and Ibruprofen are fine to take and both together if needed. Just remember when you take them, I suggest writing it down as my brain definitely turned to mush for a few days and they work best when taken continuously.

* You could try using Sudocrem or another barrier cream such as Weleda Calandula Nappy Change Cream (which you could then use for your baby when you no longer need it). it maybe better to wait until the post partum bleeding stops or eases off. if you're feeling constipated it may also be soothing for your bottom!
Weleda Nappy Cream
Sudocrem

* I was also recommended Arnica tablets, which help with the bruising down there.

* Going for a number 2 definitely helps ease the pressure down there and the first time you go can be scary! Until I went for a number 2 which was actually quite soon after giving birth I felt a lot of painful pressure in my bum! It felt almost like I had given birth from my bottom! As soon as I went that pressure/ pain did ease. If the constipation is bad you can take a laxative but check with your midwife/ doctor or pharmacist first as you don't want to take anything that may effect your baby through your breast milk.

* I didn't try this myself but another recommendation was putting your maternity or sanitary pads in the freezer as the cooling effect helps to soothe.

* Some hospitals provide rubber rings to sit on, so you don't have to put any pressure on your stitches. Mine didn't but I've been told you can also get them from your local NCP centre. I found I was ok once I was sitting it was just the moving around and changing of positions that hurt.

* For the backache and the afterpains (which get worse with each subsequent child) I used feminine heat pads as well as painkillers.

I think that is everything I can think of! Please comment below if you have any tips to share. And remember the pain won't last forever. I would say after one week there was significant improvement but I won't lie that week was awful being so tired and in so much pain all I wanted to do was sleep but I had next to no sleep due to breastfeeding. I can see how for some the pain and tiredness can be too much and bottle feeding means that they can rest and their partners can help with the feeding. I'm really glad I stuck it out though as there are so many benefits to breast feeding.

Here are some photos taken in the last few weeks, looking at your baby always makes the pain more bearable! follow me and my boys on instagram here

He's here! - My birth story and the following weeks

Our new addition baby Eben made his appearance on Thursday 11th February at 5.25am weighing in at a healthy 7lbs 6oz. I was 39 weeks and 1 day and I didn't have any signs leading up to the labour. I had been looking out for signs such as loss of appetite, diarrhoea, Braxton hicks, lose of mucus plug but I had none of those! I had an appointment with my midwife the previous day and we put a plan in place for me to have a stretch and sweep for the following week. Maybe it was finally having the end in sight and me being able to relax that led me to going into labour. Anyway I went to bed as usual but Reubie my 3 year old was in bed with us as he was ill with hand, foot and mouth. At about 1am he woke up not feeling well and at 1.50 I went to the loo thinking I needed a number 2 but instead my waters broke on the toilet! it wasn't a massive gush but I knew it was definitely my waters. I hadn't had any contractions but rang the maternity hospital anyway and we arranged for me to go in at 8am unless I started having regular painful contractions. As soon as I got off the phone the contractions started and were 5 minutes apart and reasonably painful. After half an hour we decided we better go into hospital so my husband rang his mum to get her to look after Reubie and then rang up the maternity hospital to let them know we were on our way in. We got to hospital at around 3am the contractions were more painful but I was worried I might be in labour for ages so didn't want to take pain relief too soon. After about half an hour I definitely needed the gas and air. Last time I had two lots of pethidine and diamorphine before I had gas and air but I decided against any this time as they made me feel quite sick and out of it last time. Before I had the gas and air the midwife examined me and said I was about 5cm dilated. I felt a bit disappointed I wasn't more dilated but the midwife reassured me that second births can happen much quicker. Dilation of a firstborn can take up to an hour per centimetre, luckily for me I only had about 2 hours more to go not 5 hours. The contractions were becoming closer and closer and there soon was barely a seconds break between each one. Finally it was time to push my midwife was lovely and really encouraging, she told me she could see his hair and it wouldn't be long only a few more pushes. it was painful but that relief once the head is out is indescribable, one more long hard push and out  he came! He had his hand by his face and the cord was wrapped around his head and hand twice, so it was lucky his hand was there. I had a lovely cuddle whilst delivering the placenta. Then I was examined and had a second degree tear so I had to have 2 stitches, I was given the option of an injection down there to numb the pain or more gas and air. I opted for gas and air, the pain was bearable. Then it was all over! Daddy got a cuddle whilst I went to have a bath. Then we moved down to the ward for breakfast. It all happened so fast it was so strange to think that 6 hours before Eben was in my belly!
I had forgotten about the after pains was soon  reminded of them, apparently they get worse with each child, luckily this is our last! I honesty think I would have preferred to give birth again than have the after pains and the pain of the stitches! The after pains lasted about 4 days and the pain from the stitches eased after about 1 week. Now that its been 2 1/2 weeks the pain from stitches has completely gone. If I didn't have a bloody annoying sore throat and cough I think I would actually feel my normal self, even if sleep has been lacking a bit!

38 weeks/ false labour

So I made it past 37 weeks!!! Yippee! I'm so happy that this little boy has made it to full term! I'm now 38 weeks and 2 days!! I have definitely had a few signs that have made me think birthday might be soon but I also know that you can have a million signs that labour is immanent but can still go weeks pasts your due date! the first hint I had that I thought labour was on it's way was some consistent contractions. They started at 7pm on Sunday night when I was 36 weeks and 4 days and were about 7 minutes apart. I've suffered with a lot of Braxton hicks this pregnancy and usually I go to bed and the stop so I thought the same would happen this time but no! they got closer together, every 5 minutes and seemed to be lasting longer. By 4 am I started to worry that even though they weren't painful that they might turn painful and then we'd have to travel to the hospital in rush hour traffic. So we rang the hospital up and they said to come in and they'd take a look at me. Luckily my mother in law doesn't live far and has been on call for us since 31 weeks! She very kindly came to look after Reuben and take him to nursery in the morning. I got to hospital and they checked my cervix, which they said looked about 1cm dilated but they also said that as I had given birth before that could just be how my cervix is. I then had all the usual blood pressure taken, temperature and I was put on a monitor to check my contractions. They were every 5 minutes as I had thought but there wasn't really anything they could do but monitor me and wait to see if anything happened. It was a long boring day of sitting around the contractions eased to around 8 minutes apart a couple of times only to return to 5 minutes apart an hour later. I felt like nothing was happening so asked if they could check to see if my cervix had changed or not, I figured if it hadn't there wasn't much point in sitting in hospital. I thought it was strange that they hadn't suggested that they take a look earlier. Anyway they looked and said 1-2 cm so basically no change. So we went home. The contractions carried on the rest of the evening but hen suddenly disappeared as soon as I went to bed!! The same thing happened again the Friday after when I was 37 weeks and 2 days but this time I didn't bother going into hospital and after about 12 hours of regular contractions they stopped again when I went to bed.
Since then I've had a few occasions where my back has had period like pains and my pubic bone has been really painful but otherwise I seem to have had less Braxton hicks! I'm starting to feel like maybe he's going to go past his due date! We shall see, I am starting to feel uncomfortable but I'm so relieved that I won't be having a premature labour that I don't mind the wait, oh I'm just so excited to meet him!!
On another note, I have found myself nesting but I'm the sort of person that permanently nests! I've also found myself buying lots of clothes online that I can wear after I've given birth! I think I've ought about 10 dresses in the last week!! I wonder if it's a subconscious way of me thinking about getting my pre pregnancy figure back?