Status update on the night-feeding/breastfeeding saga: Ted is now taking bottles. Of formula. Guzzles them right down, has a burp, looks very pleased with himself. In the end, it was simple necessity that did the job – I had to go away for work, and although I wasn’t staying away overnight, I was gone from…
I expect you’ve realised that things are a bit crazy at the moment; I have barely had the time to go online at all, let alone write anything, and when I do get a spare minute to myself I am so knackered that I can’t type a coherent sentence! So I’ll keep this brief but…
I’m thinking of giving up breastfeeding. And I know that the phrase “giving up” sounds both defeatist and perhaps a little overly-dramatic, but I do feel defeated and it does feel quite dramatic. The truth is, I’m rather at the end of my tether with everything at the moment (hence my – hopefully notable! – absence here on The Uphill)…
Just a little life update that I know you’ll find absolutely riveting: I’m back on the old “breastmilk expressing” regime. Which means that the (approximately) one spare hour that I get every day (between 9pm and 10pm) is spent connected to a wheezing, vibrating gadget having my nipple repeatedly sucked down a funnel. You might…
I’m pretty sure that my breasts weren’t this enthusiastic with the milk production first time around. Is it some sort of phenomenon that on the second baby they go into overdrive, squirting milk at any and every opportunity, turning on like leaky taps the minute you even dare think about your baby’s cute little hungry…
*NOTE: this post was written on December 13th 2015 and I have only just found it, unpublished! So I thought it fitting to publish it an entire year later, to the day. Reading it has brought back many memories and sent me into a mini panic about the fact I’m about to do it all…
Wah! One year! This time exactly twelve months ago (approximately 11am, as I write) I was lying on a trolley in the maternity unit, crying because I had done twenty four hours of early labour followed by a complete cease-fire in the contractions department, followed by a show of meconium, followed by an internal inspection…
Today is the first day that I will be with the baby but do absolutely no breastfeeds. Tomorrow she is one and our little breastfeeding journey seems to have come to a natural, contented end. I have to say that I would be more than happy to carry on with feeding her – I’ve really loved it, even…
This month can mainly be characterised by separation anxiety (mine) and growth spurts (baby’s). Last week I did a three day stint in France followed by a two day stint and I had worked myself up into such a state before I went for the first press trip that I considered flying the baby out with…
A month of discovery: if you put a baby down in a cot during the daytime then they might just nap. Who knew?! I mean, it takes a bit of perseverance at first, and there’s the mandatory sixty-second screaming session to grit your teeth through, but after that? People: WHY DID I NOT DO THIS…
I’m writing this on the train because – as usual – I’ve run out of time and I have a proper thing about getting these update posts out on the right day. Fortunately I have one of those gargantuan iPhone 6+ things, so typing on it isn’t too bad, but my left hand does keep…
Ooh. New breast pump discovery. Granted, this news isn’t going to turn everyone on, it’s pretty niche, but I’m quite excited because this particular breast pump was a bit of a surprise. I’m not sure why, but I had it in my head that the Philips Avent Comfort Single Electric Breast Pump had really bad online reviews,…
A very Happy New Year to you all. I’m kicking off 2016 with my first bit of video content for The Uphill: My Top Breastfeeding Essentials. I hope that you enjoy this and that it provides another little “dimension” to the blog – I’m aiming to try and make one video a month that’s just…
That in the photo, my friends, is 95ml of the most labour-intensive dairy product in existence on the entire planet. Only something like, I dunno, Starfish Milk would be more precious. Unicorn tears. That there breastmilk in the picture only took twenty minutes to gather, but mentally it has taken me months. I’ve had quite a…
(Just in case some of you think my grammar has gone down the pan, I Can’t Get No Sleep is a reference to the well-known Faithless track “Insomnia”. Though I don’t have insomnia, not by any stretch of the imagination: in fact it would almost be quite helpful if I did have insomnia, mildly, because at least I wouldn’t…
As I write this I am breastfeeding and being periodically smashed in the face by a small, perfectly formed hand. When they’re not trying to tweak my nose, the podgy little fingers are pulling on my bra strap, trying to free the nipple that’s not in use and winding themselves into my hair so that they…
I thought that this t-shirt was rather appropriate, considering my passion for all things beauty. I’m not quite sure whether the huge letters on the chest distract attention away from my rather matronly bosom or make a feature of it: either way, I like this t-shirt and (as is my way) will probably wear it non-stop for the rest…
After a long gap in which I had made no attempt whatsoever to do any breastmilk expressing, a bout of mastitis the other week (see here) forced me to have another go. Talk about being thrown in at the deep end! Foggy-headed and feverish, messing about with boobs and pumps was the last thing I…