tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27336152075797529452023-11-16T14:31:51.908+00:00Sophie SaysSophie Sayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09278718627178606851noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2733615207579752945.post-78196087771437409482020-05-12T14:22:00.001+01:002020-05-12T14:22:22.433+01:00Fresh Strawberry Loaf Cake<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lockdown has well and truly re-ignited my love of baking. I'm not the best at presentation but the actual taste always seems to work out well (or it has up until now)! This is one of my favourites I've made so far - fresh strawberry loaf cake. </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's really pretty simple to make, doesn't require anything out of the ordinary and tastes amazing. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Ingredients are:</b> </span><br />
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<ul class="wprm-recipe-ingredients" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-block-end: 0px; margin-block-start: 0px; margin: 0px !important; padding-inline-start: 0px; padding: 0px !important;">
<li class="wprm-recipe-ingredient" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em !important; list-style-position: outside; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0px 0px 0px 32px !important; padding: 0px !important; position: relative;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="wprm-recipe-ingredient-amount" style="box-sizing: border-box;">3/4</span> <span class="wprm-recipe-ingredient-unit" style="box-sizing: border-box;">cup</span> <span class="wprm-recipe-ingredient-name" style="box-sizing: border-box;">granulated sugar</span></span></li>
<li class="wprm-recipe-ingredient" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em !important; list-style-position: outside; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0px 0px 0px 32px !important; padding: 0px !important; position: relative;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="wprm-recipe-ingredient-unit" style="box-sizing: border-box;">2/3 cup</span> oat <span class="wprm-recipe-ingredient-name" style="box-sizing: border-box;">milk</span></span></li>
<li class="wprm-recipe-ingredient" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em !important; list-style-position: outside; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0px 0px 0px 32px !important; padding: 0px !important; position: relative;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="wprm-recipe-ingredient-amount" style="box-sizing: border-box;">1</span> <span class="wprm-recipe-ingredient-unit" style="box-sizing: border-box;">large </span><span class="wprm-recipe-ingredient-name" style="box-sizing: border-box;">egg</span></span></li>
<li class="wprm-recipe-ingredient" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em !important; list-style-position: outside; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0px 0px 0px 32px !important; padding: 0px !important; position: relative;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="wprm-recipe-ingredient-amount" style="box-sizing: border-box;">1</span> <span class="wprm-recipe-ingredient-unit" style="box-sizing: border-box;">teaspoon</span> <span class="wprm-recipe-ingredient-name" style="box-sizing: border-box;">vanilla extract</span> </span></li>
<li class="wprm-recipe-ingredient" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em !important; list-style-position: outside; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0px 0px 0px 32px !important; padding: 0px !important; position: relative;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="wprm-recipe-ingredient-amount" style="box-sizing: border-box;">2</span> <span class="wprm-recipe-ingredient-unit" style="box-sizing: border-box;">cups</span> plain <span class="wprm-recipe-ingredient-name" style="box-sizing: border-box;">flour</span></span></li>
<li class="wprm-recipe-ingredient" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em !important; list-style-position: outside; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0px 0px 0px 32px !important; padding: 0px !important; position: relative;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="wprm-recipe-ingredient-unit" style="box-sizing: border-box;">1 teaspoon</span> <span class="wprm-recipe-ingredient-name" style="box-sizing: border-box;">baking powder</span></span></li>
<li class="wprm-recipe-ingredient" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em !important; list-style-position: outside; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0px 0px 0px 32px !important; padding: 0px !important; position: relative;"><span class="wprm-recipe-ingredient-name" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 teaspoon baking soda</span></span></li>
<li class="wprm-recipe-ingredient" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em !important; list-style-position: outside; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0px 0px 0px 32px !important; padding: 0px !important; position: relative;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="wprm-recipe-ingredient-amount" style="box-sizing: border-box;">1/4</span> <span class="wprm-recipe-ingredient-unit" style="box-sizing: border-box;">teaspoon</span> <span class="wprm-recipe-ingredient-name" style="box-sizing: border-box;">salt</span></span></li>
<li class="wprm-recipe-ingredient" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em !important; list-style-position: outside; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0px 0px 0px 32px !important; padding: 0px !important; position: relative;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="wprm-recipe-ingredient-amount" style="box-sizing: border-box;">2 </span><span class="wprm-recipe-ingredient-unit" style="box-sizing: border-box;">cups</span> <span class="wprm-recipe-ingredient-name" style="box-sizing: border-box;">diced strawberries</span></span></li>
<li class="wprm-recipe-ingredient" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em !important; list-style-position: outside; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0px 0px 0px 32px !important; padding: 0px !important; position: relative;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="wprm-recipe-ingredient-amount" style="box-sizing: border-box;">2</span> <span class="wprm-recipe-ingredient-unit" style="box-sizing: border-box;">tablespoons</span> <span class="wprm-recipe-ingredient-name" style="box-sizing: border-box;">plain flour</span></span></li>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Method</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Preheat the oven - My only problem is I made this on an Aga so I can't tell you what heat you'll need your oven at! However if you're making this and used to baking in your own oven, go with whatever temp you'd usually set it at! </span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Stir together the sugar, milk, oil, egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the sifted flour, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just mixed.</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Toss together the strawberries and the 2 tablespoons of flour to coat the strawberries. Gently fold the now floured strawberries into your batter.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once it's all mixed together, pour the cake mixture into a baking paper lined loaf tin. Bake in the AGA for 30 minutes (or until a golden brown on top). A skewer inserted in the center of the cake should come out clean once cooked. AGA's generally run hotter than electric or fan ovens therefore I'd give the cake 40 minutes before checking on it.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once baked, allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing it from the tine and placing on a wire rack to cool completely.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And there you have it. A very quick and easy fresh strawberry loaf cake. If you're feeling extra fancy you could create a strawberry glaze for the top which is really simple to make: </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Combine 2 cups of icing sugar, 2 tablespoons of melted butter, 1/3 cup of very finely diced strawberries and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract in a small bowl. Mix until it is smooth and pour over the top of the cake.</span></span></div>
Sophie Sayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09278718627178606851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2733615207579752945.post-65132558359227986992020-04-05T12:48:00.001+01:002020-04-05T12:48:46.118+01:00Four Berry Porridge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Another super easy breakfast that works well for adults and babies/ toddlers. Ottie is a month and a half into weaning now and this is her favourite breakfast by far!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Again it's a super easy one to make and can either feed the whole family for breakfast or could do 3/4 mornings for baby or two mornings for Mummy! </span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ingredients: </span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">1 cup of porridge oats</span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">2 cups of oat milk (or any other milk/ milk alternative)</span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">1 tsp ground cinnamon or nutmeg</span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">2 strawberries sliced into quarters*</span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">1/4 cup rasberries*</span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">1/4 cup blueberries*</span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">1/4 cup blackberries* </span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">*depending on what you have in the fridge/ freezer you can switch out these berries and bulk up others e.g. scrap the blackberries for 1/2 a cup of blueberries instead. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Cooking time is 20-30 mins beginning to end.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4L_rAsrKMIKCQGU9a_TvJx7tIg21Vmm8pG9Z0IgV8rZsB7KeLBX8SB66PBY8yeTvQgz8Ba-JJ7U43WFN72SrGvRl2Agl32Kd_4QTp2l6F0Sn-ceAWsNeoqrwu0zjp5QTm3HE-IZP8vcg/s1600/IMG_3115.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4L_rAsrKMIKCQGU9a_TvJx7tIg21Vmm8pG9Z0IgV8rZsB7KeLBX8SB66PBY8yeTvQgz8Ba-JJ7U43WFN72SrGvRl2Agl32Kd_4QTp2l6F0Sn-ceAWsNeoqrwu0zjp5QTm3HE-IZP8vcg/s640/IMG_3115.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mix all of the ingredients together in the pan then place over a medium/ high heat until it starts bubbling.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Once it starts to bubble move to a medium/low heat and keep stirring to help the fruit to break down. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We like our porridge pretty thick, especially as I then add cold oat milk post cooking to cool it down for Ottie to eat ASAP (you can't keep a hungry baby waiting!) so I usually cook for a further 15 minutes but if you are a fan of runnier porridge you could probably get away with 5-10 mins further cooking. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Serve up for baby as it comes with a little cold milk mixed in to cool down. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Serve up for the adults with flaked almonds and fresh fruit, desiccated coconut works well too! </span><br />
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<br />Sophie Sayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09278718627178606851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2733615207579752945.post-16879716471435384782020-03-24T07:00:00.000+00:002020-03-24T07:00:07.080+00:00Chocolatey Over Night Oats<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My favourite go to breakfast at the moment is my chocolatey overnight oats recipe. It's beyond easy, super quick and super tasty. I throw it all together on a Sunday evening and have breakfast for the next few days ready by the time I wake up the next morning. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ingredients: </span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #073763;">3/4 cup of rolled oats (you could use simple porridge oats too - there's really very little difference)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #073763;">1 cup of oat milk (slightly less if you like it very thick)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #073763;">1 tbsp cacao powder</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #073763;">1 tbsp chia seeds</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #073763;">1 tbs golden syrup (or honey)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #073763;">a drop of vanilla extract</span></span></li>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Method:</span><br />
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<ul>
<li><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Throw the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix together before adding in the wet ingredients and giving a good stir. </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Either cover the bowl and place in fridge to plate up each day or split into three containers, cover and enjoy a yummy, hassle free breakfast! </span></li>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Serving</span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I usually serve with banana or chopped berries on top along with some desiccated coconut. </span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I know its a bit more difficult to get hold of fresh ingredients at the moment so you could blend up some frozen berries instead to mix in on top. </span>Sophie Sayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09278718627178606851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2733615207579752945.post-44319264221177776702020-03-21T12:54:00.002+00:002020-03-21T12:54:52.875+00:00Baby Led Weaning<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I am making a promise to myself that I am going to get better at writing for the blog! Ottie is currently napping next to me so I'm going to use this little window of me time to tell you all about our first week of Baby Led Weaning!<br />
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We have been incredibly lucky to have had a relatively hassle free breast feeding journey so far, Ottie is so good at the boob that she actually refuses point blank to take a bottle (that's a whole other blog post in itself!) so I have been a little apprehensive about starting the introduction of solids in case it sent the breast feeding to pot as I am definitely not ready for that journey to be over yet but I've found the mantra of "food before one is just for fun" has really helped me combat this anxiety.<br />
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I've done a bit of reading and research around different weaning methods and decided baby led was the best for us. I like the idea of making Ottie's meals from scratch myself so I know exactly what she's eating, with no hidden nasties to worry about. I also am a big fan of the theory behind BLW that it teaches good food habits from a young age, babies learn about different foods and textures from day one as well as learning how to feed themselves and knowing when they are full, rather than being spoon fed until they've finished all of their food regardless of whether they are still hungry or not. There's also a body of research that suggests BLW leads to a lower likelihood of obesity and weight problems throughout childhood and later life. As I have documented on here before, I've always struggled with body image and not had the healthiest of relationships with food at various points in my life and I'd like for Ottie not to have to live through the same problems.<br />
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So, as reccomened we waited until she turned 6 months old (HOW IS SHE SIX MONTHS OLD?!) to introduce her to solids. She was definitely ready and if I'm honest had been showing signs of being ready for a good few weeks beforehand, trying to steal food out of mine and Mr H's hands and hoping along whilst watching us eat.<br />
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Ottie's six month birthday came around on 25th February which was of course pancake day, so I thought it would be rude of me to make her anything other than banana pancakes for her first taste of real food. They were super easy to make, just one ripe banana mashed up and mixed together with one beaten egg and then placed in the pancake pan with a little bit of coconut oil to make sure they didn't stick. I can honestly say I think she swallowed zero food but she had a great time putting them in her mouth, chewing them up, spitting them out and then throwing them on the floor for a very happy Speccie (he finally realises that her being here is a huge benefit to him!)<br />
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After our foray with pancakes, I went back to the more traditional idea of green veg first, I gave Ottie a combination of mushed up avocado on a loaded spoon for her to use herself and slices of avocado to pick up too. She had a great time rubbing it all over her face and hands and again throwing spoonfuls on the floor to a very happy expectant labrador. Again no food swallowed I don't think but a very happy baby learning about new textures and tastes.<br />
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We have also introduced broccoli or "mini trees" which seem to have gone down pretty well as well as carrots, mange tout (with the peas sucked out of them before feeding, just in case), banana and strawberries.<br />
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We made some breast milk porridge for her yesterday as we didn't have any blue top milk in the house and it was the most vile thing I have ever smelled, I don't think it tasted great either as my little milk monster ate 2 spoonfuls and refused any more!<br />
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I would say our most successful foods have been 1) bread, she LOVES it (clearly takes after her Mum!) 2) potatoes, she actually swallowed these for certain and couldn't get enough! 3) Meat, we've given her a small strip of both lamb and steak and she went to town on both. I've honestly never seen her so happy!<br />
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I am really enjoying introducing her to foods and watching her work out what to do with each new taste and texture. The hardest thing is sitting on your hands and not fussing when their gag reflex kicks in and remembering that red in the face and making noise is gagging and fine, it's only if they go blue and silent that you need to worry they are choking. I'd say if you're a jumpy person or a worrier then this may put you off BLW.Sophie Sayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09278718627178606851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2733615207579752945.post-5605720745378198022020-02-10T22:30:00.000+00:002020-02-10T22:36:05.495+00:00My Birth Story<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilaMK5o1S068d76QD-swNvqjud3ghcFO4YXWtNJZsSAvpM8BfH7Q1QRTusaSW7R9ysI0nLVLHjaT-3vubidDVYm5HrkuRKgmkoB9FNvIp8ymXO-Q667-9bi7RlZJDj33esOSa1zWvTuB0/s1600/IMG_2195.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="510" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilaMK5o1S068d76QD-swNvqjud3ghcFO4YXWtNJZsSAvpM8BfH7Q1QRTusaSW7R9ysI0nLVLHjaT-3vubidDVYm5HrkuRKgmkoB9FNvIp8ymXO-Q667-9bi7RlZJDj33esOSa1zWvTuB0/s640/IMG_2195.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">14 hours old Ottilie photographed by the Bounty team at the bottom of my hospital bed</td></tr>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #073763;">It’s taken me the best part of five months to get this written down as it’s still a real sore spot.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; text-decoration: underline;"><b>What I planned</b></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; color: #073763;">Pretty soon after I found out I was pregnant I decided I wanted as natural birth as possible with very little intervention. I read all of the hypnobirthing books, listened to the MP3s, did all of the affirmations and drew up my birth plan. We were going to have a midwife led, birthing centre birth,using only the birthing pool and possibly gas and air for pain relief. We’d use hypnobirthing terms “pressure” instead of pain, “surge” instead of contraction, the room would be dimly lit and we’d have a diffuser with my chosen essential oils. We would have delayed cord clamping and Nick would cut the cord. As it transpires, we had a very different experience.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">End of Pregnancy</span></b></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX1x8w5pW1HYY0b0nusnSH9vKhvaRsKIlF3wzeqEdC7rtwEX-Aeg1CwLD-K8xhPT13jazQmkN7WA5I8LQ7G44r1gcQV5s_1MuOTGgmrLvVv1vdF-HpNKOLfAjmxaZMLCx6KY9UAmm91sc/s1600/8392c49c-7f59-493c-b5a5-5b0eae933ff2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #073763;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX1x8w5pW1HYY0b0nusnSH9vKhvaRsKIlF3wzeqEdC7rtwEX-Aeg1CwLD-K8xhPT13jazQmkN7WA5I8LQ7G44r1gcQV5s_1MuOTGgmrLvVv1vdF-HpNKOLfAjmxaZMLCx6KY9UAmm91sc/s640/8392c49c-7f59-493c-b5a5-5b0eae933ff2.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #073763;">My last trip outside of the hospital before having Ottie! My face was about three times its normal size... look at that nose!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you follow me on instagram you’ll know the end of my pregnancy didn’t quite go to plan. As well as having horrendous swelling, at my 38 week midwife appointment my blood pressure had gone through the roof (150-160 over 90 - 100) so I was marched straight to the ante-natal blood pressure clinic. The high blood pressure coupled with the severe swelling meant pre-eclampsia was a concern. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I was put on drugs to take over the weekend and given a 5 litre bottle to fill with pee so they could measure the levels of proteins over a 24 hour period. We went back for a follow up on Monday and unfortunately the medication hadn’t made a dent in my blood pressure. The giant pee pot was sent off for testing and I was moved on to a new medication which started to bring my BP down instantly.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQGZs2Rt5z_-yfJpeyDlouaVe6O-TOp-FWLD7M6gc2uGXavC1nqoYhBUtGkfOLAh0ydGZuitzDazAzNWSSpD3WvYR6C5upIOX9LWk0lCXU8iq20Q5HLIcOrGWWcnh9oFGvBjM1YhEM44/s1600/b6217225-e31e-4b07-afef-0840ef51eac2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #073763;"><img border="0" data-original-height="694" data-original-width="925" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQGZs2Rt5z_-yfJpeyDlouaVe6O-TOp-FWLD7M6gc2uGXavC1nqoYhBUtGkfOLAh0ydGZuitzDazAzNWSSpD3WvYR6C5upIOX9LWk0lCXU8iq20Q5HLIcOrGWWcnh9oFGvBjM1YhEM44/s640/b6217225-e31e-4b07-afef-0840ef51eac2.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #073763;">So swollen, look at the size of those feet and the size of my face, the weird thing is it was mostly all gone within 24hrs of giving birth.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I had a follow up a day and half later where I was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia and told I would be induced the next day if there was space on the labour ward if not it would be Friday. I had already come to terms with the fact I wouldn't be able to have the birth centre water birth I had planed due to the high blood pressure, but being told I was going to be induced really upset me. I really didn't feel like the mini egg was ready to arrive yet and I felt guilty for making her leave her warm safe haven before she wanted to. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Friday - Induction</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Fast forward a day and a half and we called the Labour ward at 8am to be told to get to the hospital ASAP, so off we went flying round the house to get the hospital bags together and to call the taxi whilst still not quite believing that next time we’d be here together we’d have our mini egg with us!</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #073763;">Because of the pre-eclampsia mini egg an I were under hourly observation to make sure all was ok throughout the induction</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When we arrived at the hospital we were taken onto a ward and told to settle in as we potentially could be in our bay for a few days depending on how quickly the induction worked. Normally when you’re induced you get to go home afterwards and are told not to come back in until you’re in active labour. However due to the pre-eclampsia and needing hourly observations we weren’t allowed to leave the vicinity of the hospital. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At midday the induction began, we were told the likelihood of this one working was probably slim and therefore I would need a second one after 24 hours… and so the waiting game started. I’d been concerned that time would go really slowly however it actually wasn’t that bad at all, we spent the afternoon chatting about our imminent arrival and all the jobs we still had to do to the house. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBn76-q6X6_qhO6QyCP30wSfoS4yE82qeuCIOZ-FZlxvMxMfaJLZBCRHU0dwdQ_bEIw6vrlNaX8umch0PMH5Vm6uPp6w6-UF9lIWNznJwO6pwLk6gEP8SyQAW41wlPo6rcoClBQ3k3glE/s1600/5d81b738-ae08-4c26-9c8d-ff3cf25589c5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #073763;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBn76-q6X6_qhO6QyCP30wSfoS4yE82qeuCIOZ-FZlxvMxMfaJLZBCRHU0dwdQ_bEIw6vrlNaX8umch0PMH5Vm6uPp6w6-UF9lIWNznJwO6pwLk6gEP8SyQAW41wlPo6rcoClBQ3k3glE/s640/5d81b738-ae08-4c26-9c8d-ff3cf25589c5.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #073763;">Once I finally reached 3 in 10 we were taken to our own room which after 24 hours on a busy ward was a welcome relief</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I started to get contractions that evening and had a lot of pain in my back however I was adamant I could breath through the pain without needing any medication. We got to about 3am and I accepted it was time to say yes to at least some paracetamol as I was exhausted and couldn’t get comfortable enough to sleep, the midwives laughed when I asked for paracetamol and said they’d been wondering how long it was going to take me to ask for pain relief and that I’d be wanting something stronger than paracetamol so they gave me codeine instead.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At 12 noon the next day the doctors came in to assess how the induction had gone, my cervix was still only 0.5cm dilated however they decided to break my waters, I’ve heard people say this is painful but I honestly didn’t find it painful at all, I didn’t need any pain medication and it wasn’t at all uncomfortable. After my waters were broken my contractions started to become much more frequent and within three hours we had reached 3 in 10 and an excited Mr H and I were moved to our own birthing suite with a dedicated midwife just for us. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #073763;">Having failed to progress quickly enough I was hooked up to the Syntocin drip. This was the last picture before the epidural went in and the last time I got to stand up for about 48 hours! </span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Despite my contractions having really ramped up I wasn’t progressing so that evening the decision was made that I would have to have the sintocyn drip and therefore also an epidural. I was absolutely devastated, I’d managed to get this far just using breathing techniques and an epidural was the very last thing that I’d wanted to happen but I didn’t have much choice; my waters had been broken, I wasn’t progressing and therefore the mini egg needed extra help. The anaesthetist arrived to insert the epidural, she ran through the potential side effects with me which, let me tell you, is not enjoyable! The first epidural was sited wrong and went into a blood vessel so had to be removed and then re-sited… however try number two did the job. </span></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 18, 77); color: #20124d; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For all I was really upset at having to have the sintocyn and the epidural it did mean I got to sleep on the Saturday night which was a welcome relief having not slept Friday and having had very little sleep on the Thursday night either.</span><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 18, 77); color: #20124d; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFKXxUuQfkGkG3qjH_7mj2nlOnoij8Ma8mtwalf9hWkJRM4EgP1k0I4HQ3pwHbHVHeYruYPgT-_njcuMQhC9OTdyTUIcUkP7Mc32YBXc7e26SvjGlTNvg-J8Du1pYIQq4pPUsfSzrw3u8/s1600/2a666200-0522-4b69-9c75-fbf13e39dc3c.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #073763;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFKXxUuQfkGkG3qjH_7mj2nlOnoij8Ma8mtwalf9hWkJRM4EgP1k0I4HQ3pwHbHVHeYruYPgT-_njcuMQhC9OTdyTUIcUkP7Mc32YBXc7e26SvjGlTNvg-J8Du1pYIQq4pPUsfSzrw3u8/s640/2a666200-0522-4b69-9c75-fbf13e39dc3c.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #073763;">Because of the pre-eclampsia I had to have constant monitoring of both my BP and the mini egg's heartbeat once I was in active labour</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The epidural started very well, it kept the pain completely at bay and it was so effective I had to have help from the midwife to move my legs when she needed to check how I was progressing. However as we got to mid-morning on Sunday I started to notice I could really feel my contractions and I could move my legs despite topping up the epidural button. I flagged this to my midwife and she told me just to top up the button again. I explained that I’d been doing that for the past few hours and the contractions were getting stronger and stronger despite the fact. It transpired that the drug bag in the epidural had been allowed to run out and because it was a Sunday there was only one anaesthetist on the ward. The anaesthetist was busy for over an hour and a half with another patient, leaving me to deal with the sintocyn contractions with no pain relief - I wasn’t even offered any gas and air… not fun. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Once they refilled the epidural medicine bag, I explained that I could still move my legs and again no one listened, I was told it was because it would take the epidural a while to get back into my system. At 2pm, once the epidural started to kick in again re pain relief (I could still move my legs) the midwife checked to see how far I’d progressed. At 9am I’d been 5cm so we were praying for at least 7cm as I needed to progress 2cm every 4 hours to avoid intervention. We were SO relieved when the midwife announced that I had indeed progressed and was now 7cm. She was a little concerned about the position of the baby’s head as it hadn’t moved down and wasn’t engaged but I was progressing and there was still time for the baby to move so all seemed to be well. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #073763;">The epidural top up button, I knew there was a problem because no matter how much I pressed it I could still move my legs and could feel contractions.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As my waters had now been broken for over 24hours I had to go onto IV antibiotics as the risk of infection increases after 24hours but I really didn’t mind as I was progressing and hopefully it wouldn’t be long until we met our mini egg. It still makes me sad when I think about how we had the first outfit all laid out in our birthing suite ready for his or her arrival. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At 5:30 the midwife did our next four hour progress check. Whilst the afternoon had progressed, I sadly had not. She told me not to panic and went to find our Doctor for a second opinion. He was really great however, he believed I was only 5cm and had probably been that way for the last 8 hours…</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #073763;">We had Mini Eggs outfit laid out ready for their arrival in our birthing room. Sadly it ended up stuffed in a bag as we rushed off to theatre for the C-Section</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So that was it, emergency Caesarean Section time. The one thing I’d dreaded and desperately didn’t want. I was told I could wait an additional two hours but was advised that we should go straight to theatre given I hadn’t progressed in 8 hours I was unlikely to progress given an extra 2, the baby wasn’t engaged at all and was sitting at a very odd angle which meant they were unlikely to be able to drop and therefore could end up in distress. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Everything happened very quickly from there, the Doctor read out the potential adverse consequences of a Caesarean Section (prepare yourself they aren’t fun to hear when you’re in a panic!).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When we arrived in theatre I was moved from my bed onto the operating table and the same anaesthetist I’d seen earlier told me he was going to top up my epidural for the operation. He injected the additional medication and asked me to move my legs, up they went straight in the air. “oh” was his reaction. He advised me that I must just need an additional top up, so in it went. He asked me to move my legs again saying they definitely shouldn't move this time. You guessed it, right up in the air. They therefore had to remove the epidural and replace it with a Spinal Block. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to stay dead still when someone tells you it’s imperative you do but it’s really hard!!! Anyway, spinal went in and everything from my chest down went completely dead. It was a very very strange feeling trying to tell your legs to move and just nothing at all, it was actually a very different feeling to the epidural which I thought was odd as they ultimately are both doing the same thing.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As they prepped the theatre our midwife who had been with us all day took one hand and Nick took my other. I was still very upset and they both did a great job of calming me down, our midwife Dawn actually stayed past the end of her shift so she could stay with us until our mini egg was born. Just before they started the operation our surgeon asked me what music I’d like to listen to as our baby was born. Naturally I picked <i>Hamilton… </i>‘Wait For It’ to be precise. As the operation carried on they played more of the Hamilton cast album which I sang along to and this really helped me to keep calm and keep breathing. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Having a c-section is a very bizarre sensation. You don’t feel any pain but you can feel tugging and pulling, it was described to us as “like someone doing the washing up in your insides” during our bump and baby class and I’d say that’s a pretty accurate description. The procedure itself is actually completely ok, once I had managed to compartmentalise the panic of having to have an operation and the disappointment of failing to progress, excitement to meet the mini egg took over; the only disconcerting thing was the surgeon popping his head over the screen every now and then to ask if I was ok and hearing the surgical team laughing and joking away whilst cutting me open to let the mini egg out. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My feelings post birth</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The moment we first met Ottie will stay with me forever. One minute we were just Nick and Soph and the next we were parents, Mummy and Daddy, it’s a very special feeling. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There we are singing along to Hamilton and hearing the surgeons chatting amongst each other and next thing we know we were asked “would you like to meet your baby?” and there she was, lifted above the screen for us both to see. I just remember feeling this huge surge of love and relief that she was safe all in the same second.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXQZLo5XJ8y-LfiUU9AQ4J7ntbb3VA5wFK_decx_KC3ONXBvpmHdJKHbEC4Z2TFY3QGjz9YohtaQiC-1DVsq3W3aKC7fzj5L0v1KivR-rlcKxHu5oSHtyZn2AugKTrFapZnOnBVJw5SIc/s1600/fb75c2db-dd64-436c-ab2a-adac93c5ab82.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #073763;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXQZLo5XJ8y-LfiUU9AQ4J7ntbb3VA5wFK_decx_KC3ONXBvpmHdJKHbEC4Z2TFY3QGjz9YohtaQiC-1DVsq3W3aKC7fzj5L0v1KivR-rlcKxHu5oSHtyZn2AugKTrFapZnOnBVJw5SIc/s640/fb75c2db-dd64-436c-ab2a-adac93c5ab82.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #073763;">Whilst they put me back together again, Mr H and Ottie were taken through to recovery where they were given some time to bond.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I don’t think anything will ever beat that moment even though it was so far removed from how I’d imagined it would be. I was so relieved she was here and safe I actually hadn’t even stopped to look if she was a girl or a boy! As it turned out Mr H hadn’t realised she was a girl either and so we had to ask the Doctors, who had taken her away briefly to cut the cord (something I had wanted Mr H to do, I still don’t know why he wasn’t allowed), whether we had a son or a daughter.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #073763;">Less than an hour old and already the absolute centre of Mr H and I's worlds.No glam post natal shot for this Mama, safe to say I looked like absolute poop!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After they’d wrapped her in a towel they brought her round to us both so that I could have skin to skin with her. I was shaking a lot from the drugs in the spinal and was so panicked I’d drop her that the midwife kept her hand on her back just for my peace of mind. It was honestly the best feeling in the entire world, and whilst it was our first time meeting her, I felt like I’d known her my entire life. We’d been pretty much 90% certain what her name would be if she was a girl, one look at her and we both knew we’d stick with it, Ottilie Alexandra Bryony Hirsch. Ottilie for us, Alexandra my Mum’s maiden name and Bryony for Nick’s Aunt who sadly won’t ever get to meet the Otter. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ottilie is the best thing that has ever happened to Mr H and I, she is beyond perfect and being a mother is everything and more than I can ever have imagined. However her birth was so far removed from the peaceful, quiet and intimate introduction I had planned for us, and in many ways I am still deeply upset and disappointed that Ottilie had to enter the world this way and I find it hard to get over the feeling that my body failed, especially given “failure to progress” is literally written all over our notes. All that being said, we are incredibly lucky to have our beautiful little girl here with us and safe I just wish she could have had a slightly less traumatic entrance into the world. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOUErLMEF1QkHGrAtvNnmmGn9hVpRKqeNKsgIuT5B5Ko-0WfAIhvavZDIxn50z3LVK5WFjHIXfF78MRJvYY5Kp0qmZ64g_y4_hF_3BY4EXzoXQRsv11p9wWMNW9u5OMBrD01oVhGovy6c/s1600/2c9272ba-8ec5-4d62-a7d3-78a9eb4ada54.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #073763;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOUErLMEF1QkHGrAtvNnmmGn9hVpRKqeNKsgIuT5B5Ko-0WfAIhvavZDIxn50z3LVK5WFjHIXfF78MRJvYY5Kp0qmZ64g_y4_hF_3BY4EXzoXQRsv11p9wWMNW9u5OMBrD01oVhGovy6c/s640/2c9272ba-8ec5-4d62-a7d3-78a9eb4ada54.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #073763;">Our first nappy change at home after 5 nights in hospital</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7nDCoJMBX6GDettthJc4Dcbt4TZxl4Sub4HBnd3Pxuu79r0rp6ohsWO15bcrZIabQsZSff6d3WrPYUHdAm56KZ_teS0ffxd_pRPrjizkX43SjmfhsVijsv5iLMkFDvb8zARxrBOf85eo/s1600/373ba1e4-8214-4f9d-bd51-cb5b85667302.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #073763;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="769" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7nDCoJMBX6GDettthJc4Dcbt4TZxl4Sub4HBnd3Pxuu79r0rp6ohsWO15bcrZIabQsZSff6d3WrPYUHdAm56KZ_teS0ffxd_pRPrjizkX43SjmfhsVijsv5iLMkFDvb8zARxrBOf85eo/s640/373ba1e4-8214-4f9d-bd51-cb5b85667302.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #073763;">5 months on and I don't know what I would do without my little best friend by my side everyday.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">My advice to anyone would be don’t have a strict birth plan, it places added pressure on you and crushing disappointment if it doesn’t go to plan. By all means have an idea of what you would like to happen in your ideal world but just be prepared for the eventuality of it not going as you’d envisaged. I would highly </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">recommend</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span></span></span><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">hypo-birthing, even though I didn't end up having a vaginal birth the breathing techniques were invaluable in getting me through early labour, active labour and keeping me calm during the operation.<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #20124d; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I’d also advise all soon to be Mums to read up on C-Sections and be prepared for the possibility just in case.</span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I also plan to follow up with the hospital and speak to someone about why my birth experience occurred the way it did, I hope this will offer me peace of mind and let me move past this birth experience. </span></span></div>
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Sophie Sayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09278718627178606851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2733615207579752945.post-49131009556040194442019-08-29T21:47:00.001+01:002019-08-29T21:47:40.733+01:00And the world turned upside down... Ottilie Alexandra Briony Hirsch. Born 25th August 2019. @rudbar84 and I couldn’t be happier. She is perfect.<img src='https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/vp/aff708779446d4fa19880da4ad9ff3f2/5E0B1AEF/t51.2885-15/sh0.08/e35/p640x640/67654478_2534764956747123_8437551856679525954_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent.cdninstagram.com' style='max-width:586px;' /><br />
<div><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B1wkO0fgybqIR7moqny02qsbUx0adI_vawuuNA0/">via Instagram</a></div>
Sophie Sayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09278718627178606851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2733615207579752945.post-15239135669036320672019-08-15T15:17:00.001+01:002019-08-15T15:31:51.553+01:00Hypnobirthing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Kje7KbNHCePvj54xps33DZuYsM0uyNO4QZ7f36iFUGXbo0hl56bhJkJyJVfNShyphenhyphendp5cVkIoi0uJCz9wc_NPi1WMhR4MOwFlVqISYTrp0CfwitiAqivIRCrcPKA7HtmiP2a7Bq6KZu40/s1600/Hypnobirtihng.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Kje7KbNHCePvj54xps33DZuYsM0uyNO4QZ7f36iFUGXbo0hl56bhJkJyJVfNShyphenhyphendp5cVkIoi0uJCz9wc_NPi1WMhR4MOwFlVqISYTrp0CfwitiAqivIRCrcPKA7HtmiP2a7Bq6KZu40/s640/Hypnobirtihng.png" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Hypnobirthing wasn't something I'd ever really heard of before becoming pregnant. It actually wasn't until we told my family that I'd ever really heard it mentioned. My cousin and his partner had a baby girl in October and one of the first things he said when I told him I was pregnant was to get booked onto a hypnobirthing course as it had made a huge difference to their birth experience. </span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I was initially sceptical but thought I'd give it a chance and started to do some reading around the topic and realised it actually made a lot of sense especially when you read into the chemical and hormone reactions within the body that trigger/ pause labour. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(58, 59, 60);">Hypnobirthing is a method of pain management which can be used during labour and birth. It involves using a mixture of visualisation, relaxation and deep breathing techniques supported by a knowledge of the physicality of labour and the hormones involved in the labour and birth process. It ultimately aims to provide women with a thorough understanding of birth therefore removing the fear of the unknown. In addition, hypnobirthing removes all words associated with labour which have negative connotations. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(58, 59, 60);"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(58, 59, 60);">For example:</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(58, 59, 60);"><strike>Contraction </strike> becomes <i>Surge </i>or <i>Wave</i></span></span></span><br />
<strike style="caret-color: rgb(7, 55, 99); color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Pain</strike><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(7, 55, 99);"> becomes <i>Pressure</i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(7, 55, 99);"><strike>Waters breaking</strike> become <i>Waters releasing</i></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqIoH4x3VGM7a4llaI7JsugxrydDV8J4fwxTCBBFchUwxXiwO8AuwR4Eigd6s-sTEK-WByLV2294vqguoqr5rt56sW72ejIMqbE0FTXSTnMo9z64Vqni4puIo0v2D57Ki4nqHhq-RwB8M/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-08-15+at+14.58.00.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="806" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqIoH4x3VGM7a4llaI7JsugxrydDV8J4fwxTCBBFchUwxXiwO8AuwR4Eigd6s-sTEK-WByLV2294vqguoqr5rt56sW72ejIMqbE0FTXSTnMo9z64Vqni4puIo0v2D57Ki4nqHhq-RwB8M/s640/Screen+Shot+2019-08-15+at+14.58.00.png" width="634" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We booked onto a Bump & Baby course, as they offered a discount if booking both their antenatal course (more about these </span><a href="http://www.sophie-says.co.uk/2019/07/bump-baby-classes.html" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">here</a><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">) and the Hypnobirthing course. Some of the hypnobirthing courses are eye wateringly expensive but even without the antenatal class discount I'd still say </span><a href="https://bumpandbabyclub.com/" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Bump & Baby</a><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> are the most reasonably priced option out there. </span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">What I would say is it is worth booking these classes a good while in advance. We left it until I was 5 months pregnant to book and struggled to get onto a class. The advice is to take the hypnobirthing course at around 26weeks however we didn't manage to book onto one until I was 36 weeks pregnant!!</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So with this in mind, I looked into various different hypnobirthing books so I could start learning and practicing ahead of attending the course. My top recommendation would be</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Hollie de Cruz, </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><span class="a-size-large" id="productTitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(17, 17, 17); line-height: 1.3 !important; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;">Your Baby, Your Birth: Hypnobirthing Skills For Every Birth</span><span class="a-size-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(17, 17, 17); line-height: 1.3 !important; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;">.</span></i></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihtcsJSXerOv0BNtfZogP3FMnUk1Hr1N1izw6TIt6Vyc2i-BAQfaifXQSCwfXedfRandWoTs-3DSAauqLiqYmbHaYAE0AcPgzQOp5Q40wfC3K2dTkQuX648CEz8HWDWhsTv5UQ2Q8VeMQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-08-15+at+12.23.11.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="754" data-original-width="604" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihtcsJSXerOv0BNtfZogP3FMnUk1Hr1N1izw6TIt6Vyc2i-BAQfaifXQSCwfXedfRandWoTs-3DSAauqLiqYmbHaYAE0AcPgzQOp5Q40wfC3K2dTkQuX648CEz8HWDWhsTv5UQ2Q8VeMQ/s640/Screen+Shot+2019-08-15+at+12.23.11.png" width="512" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="a-size-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.3 !important; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I can not recommend this book highly enough and I think it's something every pregnant woman should read whether they intend on practicing hypnobirthing or not. The book is written in a really clever way, it's full of facts and medical details but they are presented in a way that is easy to understand, follow and digest - at no point does it feel like a text book.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="a-size-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.3 !important; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24);"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span class="a-size-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.3 !important; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There are a number of exercises and breathing techniques for labour and birth (for me and Mr H), along with guided meditations to help keep you calm and engaged throughout the labour process. As an anxiety sufferer I can also say that I think these techniques will stay with me post pregnancy as they are a fantastic way of calming and focussing the mind. It's also really funny listening to/ watching Mr H try and keep a straight face whilst reading out the guided mediations and facial relaxing scripts. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihtcsJSXerOv0BNtfZogP3FMnUk1Hr1N1izw6TIt6Vyc2i-BAQfaifXQSCwfXedfRandWoTs-3DSAauqLiqYmbHaYAE0AcPgzQOp5Q40wfC3K2dTkQuX648CEz8HWDWhsTv5UQ2Q8VeMQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-08-15+at+12.23.11.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDHaLcsjxCq2O3r2-VDCJvQIRJTmQ1iM8EDRYjBEHVwES9HvpHxrMRiCxXEgAnC8n6PCrlddbgNWDbcfM_HVvsKLbvhxBaRtRFzcWIuFc1manni7Bi_T_tR40EjWygb-g7_MEJA51O4cQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-08-15+at+15.00.23.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="802" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDHaLcsjxCq2O3r2-VDCJvQIRJTmQ1iM8EDRYjBEHVwES9HvpHxrMRiCxXEgAnC8n6PCrlddbgNWDbcfM_HVvsKLbvhxBaRtRFzcWIuFc1manni7Bi_T_tR40EjWygb-g7_MEJA51O4cQ/s640/Screen+Shot+2019-08-15+at+15.00.23.png" width="638" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="a-size-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.3 !important; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">The book is full of positive (and very real) birth stories representing those whose birth went as planned (usually a birthing centre using only water and gas & air as pain relief) and those that didn't go to plan e.g emergency C-Section after a long and difficult labour. What I like about this was that it proved very few people have 'the perfect birth' but that doesn't mean your birth isn't positive. It also proved that no matter what happens, the time spent working on and honing hypnobirthing techniques won't be wasted. If anything, they become even more important if things don't work out quite as planned as the breathing and relaxation techniques help you to maintain a feeling of control.</span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24);"><br /></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="a-size-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.3 !important; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Most importantly, this book has given me the knowledge to trust my instincts, how to understand my body and baby and how to make informed decisions throughout my pregnancy and beyond. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">The book also really helped to prepare both Mr H and I for the hypnobirthing course with Bump & Baby, it was great to go into the workshop with an understanding of hypnobirthing and the techniques it employs as it allowed us to practice what we'd already learned and hone our techniques and skills as opposed to learning and trying everything out for the first time on the day. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The course was led by a midwife who was great, she was able to explain everything in really simple terms and helped us feel more confident in the skills we'd already learned from the book. Bump & Baby also provide a booklet which includes additional relaxation scripts, MP3 downloads and all the information you could want on essential oils (very helpful as there's all sorts of conflicting info online). </span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">We finished the day writing down three affirmations each which we now have stuck to the fridge in the kitchen. For once we actually took ourselves seriously and picked affirmations we knew would really help.... well with one exception "My baby is the correct size for my body" having discovered we're having a whale 4 days earlier this one might have been a little tongue in cheek. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">All in all, I'd highly recommend looking into hypnobirthing, it isn't as hippy dippy has the name would have you believe as it is actually based on science and an understanding of the physiological elements of labour. Whilst the books are fantastic, I definitely recommend also going to a workshop or class as it's helpful to put everything into practice before the big day arrives. The skills you learn will see you through not only pregnancy, labour and birth but life in general. </span></span>Sophie Sayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09278718627178606851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2733615207579752945.post-91022386582263560382019-08-11T18:29:00.001+01:002019-08-11T18:29:32.671+01:00What an excellent Sun(flower)day 🌻🌻🌻🌻 thank you @maiakavanaghwilliamson 💛<img src='https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/vp/c5834cece219b43a5828912cb87b85f9/5DD2C331/t51.2885-15/sh0.08/e35/p640x640/67533708_133188801243524_3765078501285385838_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent.cdninstagram.com' style='max-width:586px;' /><br />
<div><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B1B9Cwsg_bAoPIlaEx1Qxr6HtqMrkdPYrcMU280/">via Instagram</a></div>
Sophie Sayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09278718627178606851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2733615207579752945.post-55241733402002658932019-08-04T20:50:00.003+01:002019-08-04T21:05:16.214+01:00Week 36: pre-eclampsia. medical trials, a giant baby and a face plant in the street<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The (not so) Mini Egg</td></tr>
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It's been a rather eventful week and I had Monday off work! As Mr H and I <strike>walked </strike>waddled to the station on Tuesday morning to head to Kings for our 35/36 week scan (one of the biggest bonuses to delivering at Kings is they offer a 35/36 scan as standard) Mr H said he thought I should stop working this week rather than next as planned due to the SPD and Pelvic Girdle Pain.... I don't like to be defeated so I politely offered to think about it whilst in my mind firmly deciding that I would not be giving up a week early thank you very much.<br />
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We arrived at the Harris Birthright Centre excited to see our little mini egg on screen once again. However, it transpires the "little" mini egg isn't quite so little, measuring 7lbs already at 35 weeks and 5 days putting them love the 90th percentile... wonderful 😳😳😳<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left picture: Tuesday 30th Jul, left picture Sunday 4th August... mini egg is growing at a rate of knots and dropping pretty quickly too!</td></tr>
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We were told that we would be booked in for another scan at 38 weeks to assess the size of the mini egg as, if he/she continues on their current trajectory, or more, then the likelihood is I'll be booked in for an early induction. Not quite what we'd had planned but I realise we have to do what is best for the Mini Egg and given they put on an average of 0.5lbs per week, which would mean the alien is at least 9lbs at 40 weeks, I think an early induction could be best for all involved.<br />
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So that was the first piece of mildly stressful, although deal-able with news. As Kings is one of the leading foetal medical research centres in the world, you are offered the opportunity to help with research which usually means you have a few extra blood and urine tests done than normal and nothing else comes from it. So when I was asked if they could take my blood to help with their pre-eclampsia screening I agreed straight away - what's the point in benefiting from other people's willingness to take part in research if I'm not willing to do it myself.<br />
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My blood pressure has always erred on the higher side of normal during pregnancy but not above the worrying threshold, that was until this week when my BP was 145/80 (140 is the "high" threshold) however it was really warm so I didn't think anything of it. The trainees took my bloods and told me they'd be back with us in just over an hour.<br />
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An hour later we were met by a Dr at which point I thought maybe something was up. From a combination of my blood pressure, urine samples and hormone levels in my blood tests I have been identified as at a very high risk of developing pre-eclampsia. The national average is that 1 in 33 women will develop the condition, my likelihood is 1 in 6. Brilliant. I'm not going to lie I was rather panicked, pre-eclampsia as a term still has so many negative connotations and whilst I know Kings is one of the best place hospitals in the world to look after me if I develop the condition it's still a complication I would have rather avoided.<br />
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Having been identified as high risk, I was asked if I would take part in a current trial they are running. They believe that by using a very low dose of a particular type of statin (Pravastatin - which doesn't pass through the placenta) they can control the hormones responsible for pre-eclampsia and therefore ultimately prevent women identified as high risk from developing the condition. However, as this is a trial, 50% of women are given the statin and 50% are given a placebo with no one knowing which you're on until the end of the trial.<br />
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I really struggled to decide whether to take part. Part of me didn't need to think twice especially if it meant I was one of the 50% who ended up on the statin and therefore would, in theory, be far less likely to develop pre-eclampsia. The other half of me panicked that this is such a new trial, could they be 100% certain that there was no risk to the baby?! I did what I always do when it comes to anything medical and called my Dad (who has been a consultant for 26 years). He ran through the trial with me before speaking to a number of his colleague who after much discussion agreed that the pro's outweighed the cons and therefore they thought that, as long as I was happy and comfortable, I should take part in the trial.<br />
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The Dr coordinating the trial called me that evening to see how I was and I told him I'd like to go ahead with the trial. He was fantastic and arranged for me to meet with him and his colleagues the following evening after work to sign the paper work and pick up the pills. They also took an additional scan of both mine and mini eggs hearts to see if there is any link there to pre-eclampsia (I was relieved to be told we both apparently have very good hearts) and an additional ultra sound of my eyes to look at the blood flow through the arteries to the brain (this one felt a little weird!).<br />
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I've now started on the tablets which are HUGE, I am monitored once a week now either by my midwife or the research team to make sure my BP isn't exceeding the 140 threshold and that I'm not having any other pre-eclampsia symptoms. I also decided that as much as I hated to admit it, Mr H was right and I should give up work early so my last day was pulled forward by a week, a decision also supported by my midwife so I think it was probably the right thing to do.<br />
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After an already eventful week I had my last day at work on Thursday, all was going well - I'd gone through my handover with my maternity cover and I'd managed to only cry once when our lovely cleaners told me they'd bought me a present. It got to 1pm and off I went with two colleagues to pick up some lunch, we'd got about 100 meters from the office when I face planted in the middle of the street. I've still go no idea what happened (probably fell over my giant swollen troll feet) but I landed fairly heavily on my front and therefore bumped the bump. The only saving grace was that I'd put some shorts on under my dress that morning because otherwise the whole world would have seen my bum.. mortifying. I was pretty shaken and called the Maternity Assessment Unit who told me I had to go in to be monitored. So there is was, my last day of work for nearly a year cut short because I can't even walk down a street properly and to top it all off I really wrenched my pelvis which took the SPD pain to a whole new level.<br />
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My colleagues bundled me into an uber and off I went to Kings, I arrived at the MAU as instructed and hobbled slowly in only to be told that actually they were closing early and I had to go to Labour Ward instead which is in a completely different part of the hospital. At this point I started to cry thinking about how far the walk was an how much pain I was in.... the receptionists advise when she saw I was struggling to walk? "Oh you look like you're really struggling, just walk slowly"... helpful! By the time I got to Labour ward I was so wound up I was in floods of tears, worried about the Mini Egg and in a lot of pain with my pelvis.<br />
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Luckily the staff at the Labour Wars were amazing, they had me strapped to a monitor in no time and thankfully the Mini Egg is all ok, having not moved at all in the two hours after the fall (which is unusual) he/she was soon playing target practice with the dopplers attached to my tummy... typical!<br />
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I hate complaining about problems in pregnancy, I feel so lucky that we conceived so quickly and that we are expecting a healthy baby in just a few weeks time it's just this week was a hard one. But it's Sunday which means we can draw a line under this week and move on and we're a week closer to meeting our little one! Mr H, the Midwives, Drs and my parents have all told me I have to slow down now and rest, something I'm not very good at at all(!), so I'm hoping to use this downtime to get writing so I have lots of posts for you all when the Mini Egg first arrives!<br />
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<br />Sophie Sayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09278718627178606851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2733615207579752945.post-8891204822491674412019-07-28T19:55:00.000+01:002019-07-28T19:57:25.627+01:00The Wild Rabbit, Chipping Norton<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="s1"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">On my last post, we were off to the Cotswolds for the weekend to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Check in at our hotel wasn’t until 3 so we thought we’d drive up late morning from Sussex (where we’d dropped Spec off with Mr H’s parents) and go for an explore near Chipping Norton, based on a recommendation from Mr H’s Mum and Dad. </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I’m a big fan of the Daylesford restaurants in London, I went through a phase of having a lot of client breakfasts at their Pimlico store/ cafe so we thought we should try their gastro pub The Wild Rabbit near Chipping Norton (again recommended by the in-laws) for lunch and we weren’t disappointed. </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> The menu is seasonal and The Wild Rabbit are proud to post that they source organic fruit and veg from the market garden at their Daylesford Farm (which is a mile down the road) and all meat is sourced from the Bamford's</span></span><span class="s1"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Wootton Estate. All other produce is sourced from local artisan producers throughout the Cotswolds. I've attached pictures of the current menu, which we enjoyed, however as all produced is sourced locally the menu is subject to regular change depending on season and availability of produce etc. </span></span><br />
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<span class="s1"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> You can chose to go for either the tasting menus or A’ le Carte and the food doesn’t disappoint when it arrives. Nick opted for Rabbit and duck liver terrine with pickled mustard seeds, Agen prunes and fruit bread crouton to start followed by South Devon beef ribeye served with baby gem, Bledington Blue cheese, pickled walnut and triple cooked chips. I opted for the Wooton Estate lamb with market garden courgette and woodland mushroom (it was meant to come with sheep’s curd but awkward Mrs I cant eat dairy here asked for it without to be on the safe side) and obviously a side portion of the tastiest chips.</span></span><br />
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<span class="s1"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">After all of that we were very, very full so skipped on desert, however the desert menu looked wonderful so I've included a picture of it below for good measure! </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7YNRqTXwwtpM-iNvyfNHz_R9lWm_mhjH1AFyiywHQL8dzn1XWn1fX3tnzEu1zjemvbJ24bSq9zFkNqLlt2nfVO5ze5Oakmg1S2m5wf2NGeu0BUgGIcMR_IWH0wQmaojmdLLKiZVtrxuA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-07-28+at+19.41.50.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1384" data-original-width="1366" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7YNRqTXwwtpM-iNvyfNHz_R9lWm_mhjH1AFyiywHQL8dzn1XWn1fX3tnzEu1zjemvbJ24bSq9zFkNqLlt2nfVO5ze5Oakmg1S2m5wf2NGeu0BUgGIcMR_IWH0wQmaojmdLLKiZVtrxuA/s640/Screen+Shot+2019-07-28+at+19.41.50.png" width="630" /></a></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The food was amazing, one of the best meals we’ve had in a long while and the setting is beautiful, there’s a real sense of shabby chic luxury. The pub also has a gorgeous outdoor area and I believe they also offer a second menu outside that’s cooked alfresco, but as Mr H is the palest man alive we thought it safest to sit inside. </span></span><br />
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<span class="s1"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Unfortunately I’m terrible at food pictures... I only thought about it after we’d finished so you’ll have to make the trip to see for yourself, I promise you won’t be disappointed!</span></span><br />
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Sophie Sayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09278718627178606851noreply@blogger.com1Church St, Kingham, Chipping Norton OX7 6YA, United Kingdom51.912463 -1.624708999999938926.390428500000002 -42.933302999999938 77.4344975 39.68388500000006tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2733615207579752945.post-27158602675693579942019-07-25T18:21:00.000+01:002019-07-25T18:51:28.899+01:00The Artists Residence Oxfordshire<div class="m_1733725793280295948p1" style="background-color: white;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTlkCRjABoW3ThUHyf4j4jFy_JpEU4AJUp8NpLqQMOZz1UuhkssE_HnsvHI8k20prq1XKhM51dXtOS5V1B-LYiuM13YbrXfpvHnwyPercfrc0ymtK68sBAaZALPvawXeON6xGnreNvvRQ/s1600/a845a316-eca0-43a2-917c-3f38eaa8ae2a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTlkCRjABoW3ThUHyf4j4jFy_JpEU4AJUp8NpLqQMOZz1UuhkssE_HnsvHI8k20prq1XKhM51dXtOS5V1B-LYiuM13YbrXfpvHnwyPercfrc0ymtK68sBAaZALPvawXeON6xGnreNvvRQ/s640/a845a316-eca0-43a2-917c-3f38eaa8ae2a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span class="m_1733725793280295948s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span><span class="m_1733725793280295948s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="m_1733725793280295948s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We decided on a weekend away to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary and given our anniversary is pretty much exactly a month before Mini Egg is due we thought it would double up quite nicely as a Babymoon too. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4kFplqW_niYW54CKcC4xHRErL-BWiH2fo3Ml6JDkKnW5xVUPF_umWdWz4Jq3xrVmBZNbdlM9tGG0aZN6jPpd5KMHyo7eh7Hltnz3D4IcbKxN30rFKigVFRrJG3EuOuoOWOu2OxnklkEA/s1600/4E58DA1E-23DE-4D2B-9AFB-FB39E21C78B7.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4kFplqW_niYW54CKcC4xHRErL-BWiH2fo3Ml6JDkKnW5xVUPF_umWdWz4Jq3xrVmBZNbdlM9tGG0aZN6jPpd5KMHyo7eh7Hltnz3D4IcbKxN30rFKigVFRrJG3EuOuoOWOu2OxnklkEA/s640/4E58DA1E-23DE-4D2B-9AFB-FB39E21C78B7.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span class="m_1733725793280295948s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We wanted to stay somewhere no further than 2 hours outside of London so that we didn’t lose precious time on the journey and so I didn’t have to sit in the car for too long. We decided the best areas would be Sussex, Kent or Oxfordshire/ the Cotswold's as all are easily accessible and beautiful areas of countryside. What we didn’t factor in (stupidly) is that it is of course wedding season! This narrowed down the number of available hotels considerably, which was a blessing in a way because it made decision making much easier. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq2AMCblLPk25TVO0zlJA5wSbUhLyeYGF8cLwoQ3njGdqpYDTD6QEQ1uxa4wQyuzQt2q_QZvofWqoMMYbswkVeW3LGXVU7T6YqDtf-maN9BoDh1NSFQ6eaDHE-Boih5KOEwt7Wt8oTnbI/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-07-25+at+16.15.32.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="956" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq2AMCblLPk25TVO0zlJA5wSbUhLyeYGF8cLwoQ3njGdqpYDTD6QEQ1uxa4wQyuzQt2q_QZvofWqoMMYbswkVeW3LGXVU7T6YqDtf-maN9BoDh1NSFQ6eaDHE-Boih5KOEwt7Wt8oTnbI/s640/Screen+Shot+2019-07-25+at+16.15.32.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span class="m_1733725793280295948s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I used my go to - Mr & Mrs Smith - to see what was available. I love that website, I trust it much more than a Trip Advisor or <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://booking.com&source=gmail&ust=1563974752502000&usg=AFQjCNHhA8hUpoxRgzXBWqF6Amenoke-VA" href="http://booking.com/" target="_blank">booking.com</a> as it’s a little more up market and the ethos of the business is that they wouldn’t recommend somewhere they wouldn’t stay themselves. </span></span></div>
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<span class="m_1733725793280295948s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">After a fair bit of research we settled on The Artist Residence Oxfordshire, aka The Masons Arms. The hotel looked quirky and cute with a great selection of rooms and my sister and her boyfriend stayed when it first opened 2 years ago and had great things to say. We opted for the Stable Room which is in a converted stable building (what a surprise!) and features a lovely seating area, huge double king size bed, an amazing rain shower, a roll top bath and our own outdoor terrace. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4WqcM-rONkIfaVz6ncp08mTfwxcRVJSpe91SK1yfokm2fXtSb7OBkxynrVVAJv6KbBeWGwctTMyjofoEQht1as7_sd5vUkOX7OQ6oUPKrd261pch0cPVCe5PDmYomYod2tShp6QoK4R4/s1600/40F42BD0-B75C-49BC-85CA-2CB7AB03D9D3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4WqcM-rONkIfaVz6ncp08mTfwxcRVJSpe91SK1yfokm2fXtSb7OBkxynrVVAJv6KbBeWGwctTMyjofoEQht1as7_sd5vUkOX7OQ6oUPKrd261pch0cPVCe5PDmYomYod2tShp6QoK4R4/s640/40F42BD0-B75C-49BC-85CA-2CB7AB03D9D3.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="m_1733725793280295948s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="m_1733725793280295948s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The staff were super friendly on arrival and made sure we had a table booked for dinner that evening before showing us to our room where we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and making plans for the Mini Eggs arrival. I made the most of the giant roll top bath using the gorgeous Bramley bath products and spent a good half an hour doing my best basking whale impression. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPKUIYTh9hpGEHk4ZJF5oljlAJMAPnRmdP-6ZGFwWq2ufiu_kwhpubBWHAGN005XiuaHUGN8XGan_kl3-OlAYPsFaPc3Ed-usTGRh3tEH5lUUS1q_C3frytkXpjbFz0ITYcWDQ2EblOIM/s1600/A042F744-1598-459A-9519-3B5AEFA0C68C.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPKUIYTh9hpGEHk4ZJF5oljlAJMAPnRmdP-6ZGFwWq2ufiu_kwhpubBWHAGN005XiuaHUGN8XGan_kl3-OlAYPsFaPc3Ed-usTGRh3tEH5lUUS1q_C3frytkXpjbFz0ITYcWDQ2EblOIM/s640/A042F744-1598-459A-9519-3B5AEFA0C68C.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div>
<span class="m_1733725793280295948s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="m_1733725793280295948s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Dinner at the Masons Arms was ok, not the best meal we’ve ever eaten but the staff were again lovely and it was very reasonable priced so we couldn’t complain. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx3NnvEdQaX_SBxuUQEyBvT5t1_jucpq41iFsDKSAJBR2sLugP2VWEcR2FwkRUyFcGs-_xkrnstDdObY8EotFnBGPM2pwwzjdX6NYIafKFC1pDOIojxd2p5OZHzOK6sOxhZ0Sn3iVXTeY/s1600/3B5C0A6D-85A6-411D-A2DE-5A5DC2BCAD12.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx3NnvEdQaX_SBxuUQEyBvT5t1_jucpq41iFsDKSAJBR2sLugP2VWEcR2FwkRUyFcGs-_xkrnstDdObY8EotFnBGPM2pwwzjdX6NYIafKFC1pDOIojxd2p5OZHzOK6sOxhZ0Sn3iVXTeY/s640/3B5C0A6D-85A6-411D-A2DE-5A5DC2BCAD12.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span class="m_1733725793280295948s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="m_1733725793280295948s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">After dinner we headed back to our room. I’ve not been sleeping well at all at the moment, I think due to a mixture of needing to wee 50 times a night, pelvic pain, achey back and general “oh my god I’m going to be a mum and I have to keep another person alive” anxiety. I’d packed my trusty pregnancy pillow and lavender pillow spray, set myself up in the super comfy bed and prayed I’d get at least 3 hours of solid sleep for the first time in a few weeks. It worked! I actually had one of the best nights sleep I’ve had in a long time. I mean don’t get me wrong I still had to wee 50 million times but at least i managed to get back to sleep between each loo wake up because the bed was so comfortable!</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzOf6IjV6EO0JTtCGM6WEpfRpoQ-WHcuM6GjkL5X2fYVsagCZlGMLnCyaE0XdJAggzMuCvBPdzCaJVsF3ZVt6rjdL9DNRPZQxm3Q63AuuaBUwFlEKIld9THRF-e-_qwE5rRAJjAql050o/s1600/32F20768-A598-4D0B-B135-766E4C535094.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzOf6IjV6EO0JTtCGM6WEpfRpoQ-WHcuM6GjkL5X2fYVsagCZlGMLnCyaE0XdJAggzMuCvBPdzCaJVsF3ZVt6rjdL9DNRPZQxm3Q63AuuaBUwFlEKIld9THRF-e-_qwE5rRAJjAql050o/s640/32F20768-A598-4D0B-B135-766E4C535094.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div>
<span class="m_1733725793280295948s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="m_1733725793280295948s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The biggest disappointment had to be breakfast on Sunday morning. We decided as it’s our anniversary we’d treat ourselves to breakfast in bed/ outside on our private terrace. Nick called and put in our order at 7:30 with the food arriving just less than an hour later (breakfast doesn’t start until 8am so fair enough) however I wouldn’t say it was great value. I’d ordered bacon and eggs which arrived with 2 of the smallest pieces of bacon I’ve ever seen and no toast, Mr H ordered smoked salmon and scrambled eggs and it was a pretty tiny portion, especially after he gifted me one of his two slices of toast (happy anniversary to me!)... who cuts the carbs out of a pregnant ladies breakfast?! We’d also ordered an orange juice each which when it arrived was about 200mls each and clearly from a carton for £3 each... it was less of a breakfast feast and more of a quick bite to eat before embarking on your day. Not overly impressive. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAhX9O0ptJ6AyzcHIVFJYg-XrIlkSvAU_6vnVkLZ0Cq61W3JBxSeMigUXUdQh0RqQbPBroBywDI1EE_Nw9THFT3XUrOexxGjEbTsf_WJFPk9WoMpTI8jCclZ4pOllgrgP5uYWU0HF-VEE/s1600/56772794-CFA5-40C0-9665-A3180BC209CE.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAhX9O0ptJ6AyzcHIVFJYg-XrIlkSvAU_6vnVkLZ0Cq61W3JBxSeMigUXUdQh0RqQbPBroBywDI1EE_Nw9THFT3XUrOexxGjEbTsf_WJFPk9WoMpTI8jCclZ4pOllgrgP5uYWU0HF-VEE/s640/56772794-CFA5-40C0-9665-A3180BC209CE.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="m_1733725793280295948s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="m_1733725793280295948s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We had been booked in for dinner again on Sunday evening but we decided we’d cancel and branch out a bit instead after the breakfast experience. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">For breakfast on Monday morning we ventured into the main dining room hoping breakfast would be a little more inspiring, sadly we were wrong. However whilst the food was disappointing the setting was not. We asked if we could sit outside in the garden and it was well worth it. The garden is festooned with strings of lights and features a stunning middle eastern inspired bedouin tent. I think if they put a little more effort into the food this would be a fantastic five star boutique hotel but at the moment with the food as is, I'd say it's a top end four star. </span><br />
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<span class="m_1733725793280295948s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">That being said, I would recommend the hotel, the room is gorgeous, the staff are really friendly and they offer bikes for hire, welly boots for those who want to go wandering through the sprawling fields and the attention to detail in the rooms is second to none. From the beautiful Bramley bath products to the quirky tea and coffee mugs, not to mention the best stocked mini bar snack basket I’ve ever seen, no expense has been spared. </span></span></div>
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Sophie Sayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09278718627178606851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2733615207579752945.post-29170642527098504622019-07-21T09:30:00.000+01:002019-07-21T15:21:31.219+01:00Our first anniversary<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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On this day one year ago, I married my favourite person in my favourite place. It really was the most perfect day, whenever I think about it, it makes me smile.<br />
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We both knew pretty quickly that we wanted to hold our reception at my Mum and Dad's house, we actually asked them if they would be happy with the plan within 2 days of getting engaged and luckily they said yes.<br />
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It was a lot of hard work however it was so worth it on the day seeing our friends and family enjoy themselves. I just can't believe it's been a whole year already. I'm going to post a lot more about certain elements of the day from choosing my dress to the flowers to tips for organising a marquee wedding but for now I thought I'd focus on my favourite pictures from the day and three pieces of advice for any soon to be brides & grooms:<br />
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1) Take five minutes out of the day to step back just the two of you together to try and soak it all in. (We tried to do this and our dog ended up standing on a bee which sort of ruined the moment but if you don't have a knob of a labrador to look after it'll work well) The day is over in the blink of any eye and everyone wants their chance to chat to you plus the pictures take FOREVER so having a five minute breather to just appreciate each other and the moment is something you won't regret.<br />
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2) If it isn't done by the morning of the wedding, it doesn't need to be done. I was up at 3am running round with flowers, lanterns, fairy lights etc when we realised all of the batteries in the house had been water damaged. I sent my poor Dad off to the 24 hour Asda at 6am to buy new batteries after having a minor melt down. When he got back he sat me down and said<br />
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<i>"Soph I know you want the fairy lights but no one is going to notice if they aren't there. Go and sit down, have a coffee and start to get ready, if it isn't done by now it doesn't need doing and not one guest will be aware anything is missing"</i></div>
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Whilst in the moment I was wildly offended, the fairy lights had been planned out like a fine art, when I actually took five minutes to think about it I knew he was right and actually it's the best advice I could give to anyone, especially if you don't have a wedding planner. </div>
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3) Make sure you have a great group of Ushers who are well briefed on the day. Ours were invaluable and we're forever grateful for them. Not only did they help Nick get ready in the morning (and made sure he was at the church) they spent the day rounding up guests and making sure everyone knew where they needed to be and when. For example, as mentioned above the pictures took FOREVER and trying to get my family in the right place at the right time was like herding cats but the Ushers did a great job of keeping everyone together and making things run smoothly.</div>
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And now, time for a lot of photo spam!</div>
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Sophie Sayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09278718627178606851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2733615207579752945.post-42205386307902991552019-07-16T21:13:00.002+01:002019-07-17T08:56:24.755+01:00Bump & Baby Classes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Everyone talks about NCT classes and how important they are when you're first time parents so Mr H and I decided this was something we had to look into. After a bit of research I found Bump & Baby, an alternative to NCT that covers much of the same ground but in a slightly more relaxed manner and, importantly for us, included a full class dedicated to infant first aid. Given Mr H and I have had no first aid training at any point this was the clincher for us (and was proven right when Mr H pissed himself laughing whilst giving mouth to mouth to the fake baby... real comforting).<br />
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We went along to our first of five classes not really knowing what to expect. The classes were held in a local community venue and we were greeted by our fantastic teacher Charlotte, a qualified midwife with over 20 years of experience. The group was a great size with ten couples all with due dates from end of July to end of August. I'm always slightly apprehensive in these sorts of situations, there's a lot of pressure to make friends with these people as everyone tells you they're your life line when on maternity leave especially when, like us, you don't have family close by. However, Charlotte made everyone feel at ease as we went round the group introducing ourselves with a fun fact about our names (as someone who has the most run of the mill always in the top 20 baby names of the year name, this is not an easy task!).<br />
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The first class covered the physiological side of labour which, for most of the women in the group was reviewing information we'd already spent hours and hours pouring over in books and "The Bumplett" guide provided by Bump & Baby ahead of the course. I think this first session seemed to be a little more helpful for the Dad's who arguably seemed to have done slightly less reading, I think quite a few were a little disappointed it isn't all high drama like you see on TV!<br />
<br />
Before the course started we were sent each others contact details, so following the first class one of the couples set up a Whatsapp group chat which helped break the ice a little ahead of the next class however, having 20 first time parents in one Whatsapp group is not conducive to getting any work done as there are A LOT of messages A LOT of the time to read through! It turns out 20 parents to be have a lot of the same worries and concerns and it's nice to know that you're not the only one worrying about things that probably seem menial to lots of my non-pregnant, non-parent friends.<br />
<br />
The remainder of the classes flew over, with topics covered including:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>complications and interventions in labour</li>
<li>life after birth</li>
<li>infant feeding (Dad's are there for the first half of the session and then are sent off to the pub)</li>
<li>infant first aid</li>
</ul>
<br />
I'd say the highlight of the course is the Afternoon Tea which takes place after all the classes are completed. One couple offer to host all the Mums and Bump and Baby arrange for Afternoon Tea to be delivered from Gails Bakery. It was such a lovely afternoon and the perfect way to round off the course (much happier than the final infant first aid class). As the Mums drank pretend G&T's and ate their body weight in scones and sausage rolls, the Dads went to the pub where they drank. A lot.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXmw0KyaI1FXbvE4sQImHy-1PfMbD_ayDN0sAyEHI-Vm3-auoS85-wYBR2i5TC1psYOmqpMgxh-VScnoe3uCmoJNISpGWUTBSAbNsfPSASyY0Jx9VJIgP9Qw0dfHMR8O8tc4_pAVF6CyA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-07-16+at+21.05.52.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="604" data-original-width="1212" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXmw0KyaI1FXbvE4sQImHy-1PfMbD_ayDN0sAyEHI-Vm3-auoS85-wYBR2i5TC1psYOmqpMgxh-VScnoe3uCmoJNISpGWUTBSAbNsfPSASyY0Jx9VJIgP9Qw0dfHMR8O8tc4_pAVF6CyA/s640/Screen+Shot+2019-07-16+at+21.05.52.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I think we were lucky that we had such a great group of people who are all pretty out-going and sociable, I've heard of NCT groups who haven't kept in touch at all during the course let alone post course which definitely isn't the case with the group we've met.<br />
<br />
As an added bonus, Bump & Baby also offer a great deal whereby if you sign up for their antenatal course you benefit from a £50 reduction in the cost of their Hypnobirthing Course and, given these cost more than the earth at most places, it's another reason to consider Bump & Baby if you know you also want to go down the hypnobirthing route (just make sure you book the Hypnobirthing class well in advance, we didn't and are completing it quite late on in pregnancy!)<br />
<br />
I'd highly recommend Bump & Baby, the classes weren't at all preachy, they felt like great value (+£100 cheaper than NCT as well!) and we've met a great group of people from our local area who I think will be a vital life line for me once Mr H has gone back to work.<br />
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<br />Sophie Sayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09278718627178606851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2733615207579752945.post-47119722197133645522019-07-10T12:13:00.000+01:002019-07-10T15:34:49.902+01:00Body Confidence<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMmffbc8VCGsmFDflZ3LaAW1l20N_AZgPPhuLED4JBqcX0mHb3zsOLf_J6BLMz51NPVsZ9V5QmWTY7nMJCzYO5N0HZlMoyrHRLGd3n8PurJLfDCMNR8_YKL9y4_Kbe8K4FSJGgXgui24Q/s1600/5A53177E-5858-490B-86C8-A21808C51505.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMmffbc8VCGsmFDflZ3LaAW1l20N_AZgPPhuLED4JBqcX0mHb3zsOLf_J6BLMz51NPVsZ9V5QmWTY7nMJCzYO5N0HZlMoyrHRLGd3n8PurJLfDCMNR8_YKL9y4_Kbe8K4FSJGgXgui24Q/s640/5A53177E-5858-490B-86C8-A21808C51505.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Right picture 10th July 2018. Left Picture 10th July 2019.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="m_901516712158777365p1" style="background-color: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="m_901516712158777365p1" style="background-color: white;">
<span class="m_901516712158777365s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I’ve always had a difficult relationship with my size/ figure/ weight - whatever word you want to use.</span></span></div>
<div class="m_901516712158777365p1" style="background-color: white;">
<span class="m_901516712158777365s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="m_901516712158777365p1" style="background-color: white;">
<span class="m_901516712158777365s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I think it all started when I was about 10 years old and I put on a lot of weight which I struggled to shift throughout most of my teenage years until I was about 17. The problem was by that time I only knew myself as fat. Even when the weight had come off I still saw myself as the fat one, or the chubbier one compared to my friends. When I looked in the mirror I saw a little chubber looking back and no matter what anyone said they couldn’t change my opinion of myself. </span></span></div>
<div class="m_901516712158777365p1" style="background-color: white;">
<span class="m_901516712158777365s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="m_901516712158777365p1" style="background-color: white;">
<span class="m_901516712158777365s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Throughout university and life post uni I would go through cycles of being very slim and a little chubby yet I never could really differentiate between the two, in my mind no matter what everyone else said, all I saw in the mirror was chubby Soph. </span></span></div>
<div class="m_901516712158777365p1" style="background-color: white;">
<span class="m_901516712158777365s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="m_901516712158777365p1" style="background-color: white;">
<span class="m_901516712158777365s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I moved into my own flat in London in 2012 and the flat came with a pair of scales. Disaster. We’d never had scales in the house growing up and now I understand why. I’d weigh myself everyday sometimes twice a day and get so upset if the needle on the scales shifted the wrong way. If I wasn’t seeing anyone for the evening I’d eat a bowl of peas for dinner after having had salad leaves for lunch and maybe some prawns if I was feeling generous to myself. I lost a lot of weight, too much weight but I still thought I was fat. </span></span></div>
<div class="m_901516712158777365p1" style="background-color: white;">
<span class="m_901516712158777365s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="m_901516712158777365p1" style="background-color: white;">
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="m_901516712158777365s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I’m not sure at what po</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">int it clicked that at 5ft 8 with hips and boobs I was never going to be a size 6 but it did. It was a step towards accepting my body more, accepting that I didn’t have to be a size 6 because it wasn't physically possible. However the way I looked at myself in the mirror still hadn’t changed, even when at my slimmest I’d still think I looked chubby. </span></span></div>
<div class="m_901516712158777365p1" style="background-color: white;">
<span class="m_901516712158777365s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="m_901516712158777365p1" style="background-color: white;">
<span class="m_901516712158777365s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Which brings me to these 2 pictures. The one on the left is July 2018, 2 weeks before our wedding. I was gymming for an hour before work, lifting some pretty heavy weights and then going on a three to five mile run pretty much every evening. I look at that picture now and think Jesus Christ I was slim, so slim and yet at the time I just couldn’t see it, I still thought I was chubby and flabby. I was taking pictures each day to make sure there was no extra weight creeping back in and if it looked like I was a little bigger I'd restrict what I ate that day.</span></span></div>
<div class="m_901516712158777365p1" style="background-color: white;">
<span class="m_901516712158777365s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="m_901516712158777365p1" style="background-color: white;">
<span class="m_901516712158777365s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">One of my biggest fears about being pregnant was getting fat, I’d say it to Nick all the time. “Oh god I’m so fat” or “what happens if I get really fat and then I can’t lose weight afterwards” he’s very good at dealing with me when I’m like that and telling me “you’re not fat, you’re pregnant and you look beautiful” and gradually the message has started to sink in. </span></span></div>
<div class="m_901516712158777365p1" style="background-color: white;">
<span class="m_901516712158777365s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="m_901516712158777365p1" style="background-color: white;">
<span class="m_901516712158777365s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As pregnancy has progressed and the bump has got increasingly bigger I’ve found a whole new respect for my body and all it can do. I don’t look at it and think I hate my tummy or I hate my thighs, I look at myself and think I can not believe this body I’ve hated and given grief to for the last 15 years is growing a human. I think and I hope that being pregnant has helped me deal with some of my demons when it comes to my body and given me a new found appreciation for all it can do, especially as I don't ever want our little alien to go through the same struggles I have with my size. </span></span></div>
<div class="m_901516712158777365p1" style="background-color: white;">
<span class="m_901516712158777365s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="m_901516712158777365p1" style="background-color: white;">
<span class="m_901516712158777365s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">That being said if one more person asks me if I’m having twins I might club them. </span></span></div>
Sophie Sayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09278718627178606851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2733615207579752945.post-7258531264541261872019-07-05T20:26:00.000+01:002019-07-05T20:45:15.555+01:00Pram Shopping<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgzGhpwTj-UuM9h1wvgdiqOAZSJssqw3mQVE6fMU5gh1R5SxFiIXiccVAG7cb-CyD5r1rhcWShKzjHBa0J_XaNWUz7ku0Eiiui60xzGUnrf05EHQ3FR0JZSypG8rgRm5qN4hF77hu5MOM/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2019-07-02+at+09.29.23-7.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgzGhpwTj-UuM9h1wvgdiqOAZSJssqw3mQVE6fMU5gh1R5SxFiIXiccVAG7cb-CyD5r1rhcWShKzjHBa0J_XaNWUz7ku0Eiiui60xzGUnrf05EHQ3FR0JZSypG8rgRm5qN4hF77hu5MOM/s640/WhatsApp+Image+2019-07-02+at+09.29.23-7.jpeg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>iCandy Peach Cerium Special Edition</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We've been very organised so far with planning the alien's arrival however, there's a particular activity Mr H and I have been putting off for a while now and that's the dreaded pram shopping. Every time we started to research online we felt so utterly overwhelmed we just stopped looking full stop because it felt like there were so many options, so much conflicting information and so much expense!</span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I decided I wanted to try each pram out to test their weight, usability and design and compare them against each other, with this in mind I booked a two hour personal shopper experience with Mother Care dedicated to pram and car seat testing as they offer the broadest range of brands and pram options all under one roof. I also thought expert advice would be helpful and with such an important (and expensive) purchase.</span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We arrived at Mother Care and were greeted by our brilliant personal shopper Sophie, she asked us a couple of questions re budgets, lifestyle and what sort of pram we might be looking for and off we went!</span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">After chatting through the basic options, we decided a travel system would be the best option for us as it would see us through until the alien is a fully fledged toddler (a scary thought!) and that a pram which could turn into a tandem was also a sensible idea as we currently plan to hopefully have another alien within the next few years.</span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2avLjDNl0B0FLCz-kGIzHHa2AIgAPG16-WIPk8xUZbJpJ9sdr-AM4EW3ZtdzNcShgiOTax_BwYAY6FwgtAw-SSnFhCCEqPIj4V8Rt30kgGGWnMpPVZjndFAQmcqeDDukVednT41zw2cA/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2019-07-02+at+09.29.24.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2avLjDNl0B0FLCz-kGIzHHa2AIgAPG16-WIPk8xUZbJpJ9sdr-AM4EW3ZtdzNcShgiOTax_BwYAY6FwgtAw-SSnFhCCEqPIj4V8Rt30kgGGWnMpPVZjndFAQmcqeDDukVednT41zw2cA/s640/WhatsApp+Image+2019-07-02+at+09.29.24.jpeg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Please excuse my make up free face and VERY swollen ankles</i></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We started off with the <a href="https://www.mothercare.com/pushchairs/?q=peach%3A">iCandy Peach</a>, I quite like the design of the pram and the colour choices however felt the frame looked a little plasticky (is that a word?!) and I wasn't a fan of the folding mechanism - you had to be quite rough with it to get it to collapse. Add that to the fact that the pram was £1,000 excluding the car seat for the standard version or £1,300 for the <a href="https://www.mothercare.com/pushchairs/?q=icandy%20cerium%3A">Cerium special edition,</a> we decided this wasn't the one for us.</span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig18k5dszTaZYxchxIsehR7AicWarh6sek-78L3Z9oHF6BEEMhXAcg2jxacaxixRj5QjYlbaODul6Iv-x5AClZ0WNJVuVjPXuiK2HMo3NlSBjxeWnWCBR1bzqNLTq6LdNOwb1HI7KMXsk/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-07-05+at+20.10.11.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1144" data-original-width="1068" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig18k5dszTaZYxchxIsehR7AicWarh6sek-78L3Z9oHF6BEEMhXAcg2jxacaxixRj5QjYlbaODul6Iv-x5AClZ0WNJVuVjPXuiK2HMo3NlSBjxeWnWCBR1bzqNLTq6LdNOwb1HI7KMXsk/s640/Screen+Shot+2019-07-05+at+20.10.11.png" width="596" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Bugaboo Fox</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Next up was the <a href="https://www.mothercare.com/bugaboo/bugaboo-prams-and-pushchairs/bugaboo-fox/">Bugaboo Fox</a>. Not a tandem pram but everyone raves about the Bugaboo and it has some cool features like being able to move the back wheels so it can be dragged through sand/ snow so we thought we'd have a look... if I'm being entirely honest I really didn't like it. I thought the carry cot was very boxy and ultimately quite cheap looking (which it certainly isn't with a price tag of £1,100 excluding the car seat). Another con was that despite the outer materials of the pram being made of recycled materials, the internal cloth elements are 100% polyester Added to the fact the pram can't be made into a tandem this one was definitely a no.</span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFTmGp6RAIi9uLltCFafIZ8eKK4ajLU-0awvMA2eF9EDO6nHkVJFW_uvNzp6j6_ieNpDJ9eZ3YDbZUgjL_nUfNYbFehOwCLRZVyKjExL6S0caEWkPF-X9Y0le8_B8k8NOy569dNwrfjic/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2019-07-02+at+09.29.24-2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFTmGp6RAIi9uLltCFafIZ8eKK4ajLU-0awvMA2eF9EDO6nHkVJFW_uvNzp6j6_ieNpDJ9eZ3YDbZUgjL_nUfNYbFehOwCLRZVyKjExL6S0caEWkPF-X9Y0le8_B8k8NOy569dNwrfjic/s640/WhatsApp+Image+2019-07-02+at+09.29.24-2.jpeg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Egg - we had such high hopes for this one!</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Our personal shopper swiftly moved us on to the <a href="https://www.mothercare.com/pushchairs/?prefn1=brand&sz=36&prefv1=Egg">Egg</a> which Mothercare offer in an exclusive pewter grey. Given that this can be made into a tandem and is called The Egg (which is what we call Mr H because of his bald head) we thought this could be the one. I must say it's a pretty lightweight pram with a one handed folding system however I didn't feel like it was all that sturdy and the handle was awkwardly wide so it felt a little uncomfortable. Again I thought this pram was very plastic looking and the material parts of the seat & carrycot were 100% polyester, with a price tag of +£1,000 excluding a car seat I wasn't convinced.</span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO9Z9qKWwyC7aQjz6mOvFebTcyDau2VUwNsXu9MDGl3U2M_O8qLmudyKz_p8pGT5V36E4xYRaOAqdD0lJDAV_1I7Mzd41oWAr3e2JYzfhn7xOmN59IBBbNrpwrtYBrZuFowzrVAQ2s2EY/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2019-07-02+at+09.29.23.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO9Z9qKWwyC7aQjz6mOvFebTcyDau2VUwNsXu9MDGl3U2M_O8qLmudyKz_p8pGT5V36E4xYRaOAqdD0lJDAV_1I7Mzd41oWAr3e2JYzfhn7xOmN59IBBbNrpwrtYBrZuFowzrVAQ2s2EY/s640/WhatsApp+Image+2019-07-02+at+09.29.23.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Silver Cross Wave in Granite (left) and one of last seasons colours (no longer available)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Then we came to the S<a href="https://www.mothercare.com/pushchairs/prams-and-pushchairs/?prefn1=brand&prefv1=Silver%20Cross">ilver Cross collection</a>. I'm not going to lie, I love these prams not only do I think they look beautiful but I love the history of this very British brand.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipQhOWCBt55fV9daOm0__FT1PZ7NUUv4lsLZsVFiwobm9Ppi3QGRXDPZrb74SoBD1pRiim77m47ChpmUHFdsZaLlNiM4is1KmpXGo-2FWTRLaBVprz4gDpoY8QtPgelBn4T_ZACSW-meQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-07-05+at+20.14.28.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1076" data-original-width="1136" height="606" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipQhOWCBt55fV9daOm0__FT1PZ7NUUv4lsLZsVFiwobm9Ppi3QGRXDPZrb74SoBD1pRiim77m47ChpmUHFdsZaLlNiM4is1KmpXGo-2FWTRLaBVprz4gDpoY8QtPgelBn4T_ZACSW-meQ/s640/Screen+Shot+2019-07-05+at+20.14.28.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Silver Cross Camden (influenced by <span style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">contemporary open plan London interiors and embraces urban living)</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I loved the look of the <a href="https://www.mothercare.com/prams-and-pushchairs/silver-cross-wayfarer-camden-full-exclusive-capsule-collection/psND215.html?cgid=prams_pushchairs#prefn1=brand&prefv1=Silver+Cross&start=9">Silver Cross Camden</a> which is another Mother Care exclusive. The pram is a gorgeous grey light grey mix textured colour with a tan leatherette handle (my favourite) and a chrome chasis. It looks ultra stylish and had a very easy collapsing mechanism, like all Silver Cross prams it is slightly on the heavier side however not so heavy that it isn't manageable. Mother Care had a special deal on which included the chassis carry cot, pram seat, Simplicity car seat & iso fix base plus the matching changing bag for £1,225 - which worked out less expensive than a number of the other prams we'd looked at once you added the cost of the car seat on top of them. This pram ticked all of our boxes except for the ability to turn it into a tandem. I still put it at the top of my list of wants and reluctantly moved on to look at the next pram....</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEG1mqfk1rE0PWGAsbuqL1DqJ-mJwXlZGFsuVayzDIrnYCJF3iNddoc4-eHcxbS12rOy_xhfZACj4koPfsLfu813C47yP_L6Q-hLEXAhX6Ovhc-HU0BSyb3W0VJ4BlG15cQnZMUXlfFlE/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2019-07-02+at+09.29.23-4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEG1mqfk1rE0PWGAsbuqL1DqJ-mJwXlZGFsuVayzDIrnYCJF3iNddoc4-eHcxbS12rOy_xhfZACj4koPfsLfu813C47yP_L6Q-hLEXAhX6Ovhc-HU0BSyb3W0VJ4BlG15cQnZMUXlfFlE/s640/WhatsApp+Image+2019-07-02+at+09.29.23-4.jpeg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Silver Cross Wave in Granite</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And I am so glad I did! Next up was the <a href="https://www.mothercare.com/prams-and-pushchairs/silver-cross-wave-pram-and-pushchair/LRC283.html?dwvar_LRC283_color=granite&cgid=prams_pushchairs#prefn1=brand&prefv1=Silver+Cross&start=7">Silver Cross Wave</a> and I knew almost straight away it was the one! The pram is beautiful, very classic in shape and design, it has a tan leatherette handle and we opted for the gorgeous granite colour which is a gray/navy. The pram has an easy collapse mechanism which doesn't involve any handle slamming (my biggest bugbear with the other prams we saw excluding the Silver Cross Camden) and is very smooth to push. </span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The carry cot and seat are made of luxury jersey material and the carrycot has a bamboo lining and mattress and can be either parent or world facing which I really liked. Another selling point is that the carry cot is ventilated which means it's suitable for occasional over night sleeping when visiting family. Given whenever we travel we'll have not only our stuff and all the baby paraphernalia but also everything for Spec our dog, anything that saves space is a winner! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq2mX4czIAmVapCAF4xukIUG4W_MyXiieDJLo85e6dg5FgvFt5AIwU4uZIQz6mxhr_LwCOy6OTHvheWW0HTaV1_CFoMqBVYa3V_SznG_QrgE-wy1lGv5Zac-by1e5smCwWYxWC8bEk0oE/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2019-07-02+at+09.29.23-5.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq2mX4czIAmVapCAF4xukIUG4W_MyXiieDJLo85e6dg5FgvFt5AIwU4uZIQz6mxhr_LwCOy6OTHvheWW0HTaV1_CFoMqBVYa3V_SznG_QrgE-wy1lGv5Zac-by1e5smCwWYxWC8bEk0oE/s640/WhatsApp+Image+2019-07-02+at+09.29.23-5.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The biggest selling point for the Wave though, is that it has the ability to become a tandem pram with 16 possible configurations, it's also very sturdy feeling and looks very well made - I didn't have any doubts it is made to stand the test of time.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjri4Ohi0IznDgaCl-Tsw7OHmB0iXE7AVjXw_3Z8QuflQ6iUcZljQRbTgIax2Icm8ugHfs_9UuT-DluzgEs_gErGZRvS6FEJIssjEncx-FV7yYRRvIWxcYDcQ8JRlRru8hHWMCbyRBguCE/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2019-07-02+at+09.29.23-3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjri4Ohi0IznDgaCl-Tsw7OHmB0iXE7AVjXw_3Z8QuflQ6iUcZljQRbTgIax2Icm8ugHfs_9UuT-DluzgEs_gErGZRvS6FEJIssjEncx-FV7yYRRvIWxcYDcQ8JRlRru8hHWMCbyRBguCE/s640/WhatsApp+Image+2019-07-02+at+09.29.23-3.jpeg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Again sorry for the no makeup and fat ankles!</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Mr H looked rather nervous as prior to the trip I'd talked a lot about how much I like the Silver Cross prams but how expensive they are in comparison to others on the market. Luckily, Mother Care had an amazing sale on and we got ourselves a mega bargain. The Wave normally retails at £1,450 which includes the carry cot and the pram seat for 6+ months, however we managed to pay £1,100 for all of the following: </span><br />
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<ul>
<li><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Chasis</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Carry Cot</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Pram Seat</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Simplicity Car Seat</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Isofix Car Seat Base</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">2 x rain covers </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">2 x mosquito nets</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">2 x aprons</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Cup holder (as a coffee addict this was a major plus)</span></li>
</ul>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT1IOld4SuwwRwCQ_CGzIHxheYpnmLapNwr1E0ZQfKECMOesy0V37AsaSvd98Ipkpla9BJrhsStEnS1TSfoAXZzvdH8TVnNObOK8BytzhnhY-BKfbE2J0CDn2e5A7wZBmMMGtU2Pkq5Po/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-07-05+at+20.23.53.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1088" data-original-width="1002" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT1IOld4SuwwRwCQ_CGzIHxheYpnmLapNwr1E0ZQfKECMOesy0V37AsaSvd98Ipkpla9BJrhsStEnS1TSfoAXZzvdH8TVnNObOK8BytzhnhY-BKfbE2J0CDn2e5A7wZBmMMGtU2Pkq5Po/s640/Screen+Shot+2019-07-05+at+20.23.53.png" width="588" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Wave in granite bundle buy to include pram chassis, carry cot, pram seat, car seat and isofix base</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">To top it all off, we found we could buy it for 10% less at an online retailer, although they couldn't match the price they also included the <a href="https://www.mothercare.com/pushchair-and-pram-footmuffs/silver-cross-wave-luxury-footmuff---granite/958007.html">luxury foot muff </a>which retails at £95 and we would have had to buy anyway... winner!!! </span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I'd definitely recommend the Mother Care personal shopper experience, it made the whole pram buying process feel a lot less overwhelming and our personal shopper Sophie was really knowledgable of all the products and great at highlighting what would and wouldn't work for us given what we'd told her about our day to day lives/ routines. Final winning point was that they arranged for home delivery so we didn't have to carry all the boxes in the car back down to London and less than 4 days later the whole delivery had arrived at home. </span></div>
Sophie Sayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09278718627178606851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2733615207579752945.post-12364572483647707872019-06-27T21:57:00.001+01:002019-06-27T21:57:23.465+01:00Nails did 💅🏻🌸🌼🌺💁🏻♀️<img src='https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/vp/826e30a9b4795a8f9463bae435bfcdc4/5DA3E7EC/t51.2885-15/sh0.08/e35/s640x640/65300434_175036613510970_9126289765800301416_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent.cdninstagram.com' style='max-width:586px;' /><br />
<div><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BzOeCeVAvoaGBPgCAuhOLXAvtdniFO-0BRdKOo0/">via Instagram</a></div>
Sophie Sayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09278718627178606851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2733615207579752945.post-44248663095022463082019-06-25T19:12:00.000+01:002019-06-25T22:03:05.953+01:00London Theatre - what’s on?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2DxCaisYgG-WKFbMLFYqSfurOcOexAtB820VUIMefaX23zq0w0IyByeM7xezBQoQtMv3HDPkAnUYOY0Y7NJSb-cS1jwcZZ9nzbFntWjZCyRDM_PUeal3EInWkue0vC5cYeQn0QDydI3c/s1600/ellen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2DxCaisYgG-WKFbMLFYqSfurOcOexAtB820VUIMefaX23zq0w0IyByeM7xezBQoQtMv3HDPkAnUYOY0Y7NJSb-cS1jwcZZ9nzbFntWjZCyRDM_PUeal3EInWkue0vC5cYeQn0QDydI3c/s640/ellen.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">For as long as I can remember, I've been a huge fan of musical theatre. I think it stems from being a little girl and watching Rogers & Hammerstein films with my Grandmother, with my favorites being <i>The Sound of Music </i>and <i>The King & I.</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Musical Theatre has played a huge part in my life, I took part in productions throughout my time at school and at university and in later life having moved to London. In fact, if it weren't for musical theatre I wouldn't have met some of my closest friends. </span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">One of my favourite things about living in London is having the amazing theatre scene right on my doorstep, in fact I'd probably say I spend more money on theatre tickets than I do anything else (I've seen Wicked 14 times now and I still cry every time!) We're lucky that we've got a number of amazing shows running at the minute and a huge number about to open over the next 6-12 months so I thought I'd post a round up of my current favourites and those soon to open which I'm most excited about. </span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>Come From
Away,</i></b><b> Phoenix
Theatre London’s West End, booking until February 2020<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Irene Sankoff and David Hein's
musical <i>Come From Away </i> tells the beautiful tale of the passengers grounded
in a small town called Gander in Newfoundland following the closing of all
American airspace in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. 7,000 passengers found
themselves stranded, with no idea of when they would be able to return home or
what had become of their loved ones. <i>Come From Away</i> celebrates islanders
who opened their front door to perfect strangers – or in Newfoundland parlance,
"come from aways” and examines the bonds created between the frightened
passengers and the islanders who so kindly take them in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">My favourite stand out moments include Rachel
Tucker’s rendition, as pilot Beverly Bass of ‘Me and the Sky’ and the whole
Company number ‘Somethings Missing’ which includes a heart breaking performance
from Cat Simmons as Hannah, a Mother whose son is a New York fire
fighter. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I can't tell you how much love I have for this show. I broke my heart and laughed my self silly too. </span></o:p></div>
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<o:p><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Its musically beautiful, the story is both heartbreaking and hopeful and the whole production overall, set and cast included is stunning. </span></o:p></div>
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<o:p><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p> </o:p><b><i>Waitress</i></b><b>, The Adelphi Theatre London, booking
until 19<sup>th</sup> October</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Another one of many Broadway
transfers to hit London this year, it’s not hard to understand why <i>Waitress</i>
has been such a phenomenal success. With music and lyrics by Sarah Barellies, <i>Waitress</i>
tells the story of Jenna, a waitress (played by the other worldly Katharine
McPhee) in a small town who bakes her troubles away into pies. Pies include
”Betrayed By My Eggs Pie" baked as a result of her unexpected discovery
that she is pregnant by her vicious, abusive husband Earl. ("I got drunk
and slept with my husband," she sobs.) and the "Life's Just Peachy
Keen Pie" for the moment she falls in love with her handsome, charismatic
and kind, gynaecologist Dr Pomatter, (played by the wonderful David Hunter who
has made a home out of the Adelphi after a hugely successful run in the theatre
as lead character Charlie in Kinky Boots). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Another of my absolute favourite shows, this is a musical with so much heart. The story is uplifting, the music gives you goosebumps and the cast are phenomenal. There's been a bit of an odd casting decision made recently with the phenomenal Laura Baldwin who plays Dawn replaced for the summer by Ashley Roberts, I haven't seen Roberts in the role so she may be great, but if you've got time to wait go and see it come the Autumn when Baldwin is back because she is a masterclass in vocals, acting and acting through song. </span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Dear Evan Hansen, o</i>pening at the Noel Coward Theatre in November, booking until April 2020</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of all the shows due to open I am THE MOST EXCITED about Dear Evan Hansen (DEH). With music by Pasek & Paul (see Greatest Showman & LALA Land) this show is a heart-breaker with the most stunning score. I love this show so much, our first dance at our wedding was to 'Only Us' one of the most beautiful love songs in all of musical theatre (in my humble opinion)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">DEH opened on broadway in 2016 and has been a huge hit. The show tells the story of a teenage boy who finds it difficult to talk to people and make friends. However, following a tragic event involving one of his classmates, he finds himself drawn closer to a group of people for the first time in his life. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This is another show that will break your heart but also give you a number of laughs. It's a story that will hit home with anyone who has ever felt like they don't fit in or like they don't belong, I think the raw human-ness (is that a word?!) of the story is a real factor in it's success. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">My favourite songs from the show are 'You Will be Found', 'Waving Through a Window', 'Requiem' and 'Words Fail'. Download the original broadway cast recording which features the unbelievably talented Ben Platt (Pitch Perfect) in the title role of Evan, I promise you won't be disappointed. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>Frozen, opening at the </i>Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Autumn 2020</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So this one is quite a long way off but I am super excited for this to open! The broadway show has been a huge hit so it's no surprise this Disney favourite is being given a West End transfer. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">The show recounts the story of the 2013 film which had 7 original songs, when the film was adapted for the stage, the award-winning husband and wife team who provided the music and lyrics for the film</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"> created 12 more original songs for the Broadway musical. The songs mostly focus on deepening the relationships between the shows fan favourite characters. The arrangements and songs from the Broadway show will be used in the West End </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">debut of Frozen plus there has been talk of adapting and tweaking the show prior to its arrival in London.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">No news yet as to who will be staring in the show but they have held open auditions for all lead characters so we might hopefully see some exciting new talent! </span></span></div>
Sophie Sayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09278718627178606851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2733615207579752945.post-68934248922267565792019-06-18T13:38:00.001+01:002019-06-18T13:38:19.056+01:00Weddings!<h3 class="_3tkn1 _208Ie blog-post-title-font _2l-2w _2J4pr css-1pq57dj _2p1aK _158eo _3_7DB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: futura-lt-w01-book, sans-serif; font-size: 22px !important; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 30px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />I got married in summer last year and planned the whole thing myself which was amazing but also really quite stressful/ exhausting at times. I thought I would write a couple of posts about our wedding planning process as well as the big day itself in the hope it might just help some of the brides to be out there!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>CONGRATULATIONS YOU'RE ENGAGED!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So, the moment you may (or may not) have been waiting for has arrived, the big question has been asked and you have said yes! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If you're very newly engaged, my advice would be to take at least a few weeks to bask in the happiness and the post engagement glow, there's plenty of time to start wedding planning so just take a moment to soak all the happiness and excitement in. See all your important family and friends, enjoy the champagne, the congratulatory bouquets of flowers and words of wisdom and advice from loved ones before sitting down and starting the planning!</span></div>
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Most people will tell you you need at least 18 months to plan a successful wedding. I wouldn't entirely agree with that. It very much depends on the individuals situation, there is no "one size fits all" when it comes to wedding planning (or there definitely shouldn't be!) depending on what you want there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to plan the wedding of your dreams in the space of 6-9 months (or shorter if you're planning something much more intimate). I planned my husband and I's wedding in 8 months with no help from a planner or venue, so believe me it's do-able! </span></div>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm going to do a few posts on different aspects of planning and the big day itself but to start off with my advice would be: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">1) Spend a few weeks soaking up the engagement excitement</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">2) Sit down together to discuss how you both envisage your big day, is it a big church wedding followed by a reception in a marquee or is it an intimate gathering for only your very closest friends and family. Having this chat early on will make budgeting/ venue searching much easier!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">3) Discuss what is most important, wedding date or wedding venue. I.e do you want to get married in nine months time no matter what venue that means you end up in or do you have your heart set on a particular venue that isn't available at all for the next 2 years but you're happy to wait for it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">4) Let the fun begin! Start setting a budget, booking venue visits and working on that all important guest list! </span><br />
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Sophie Sayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09278718627178606851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2733615207579752945.post-61747842551853523302019-06-13T23:08:00.001+01:002019-06-13T23:08:28.300+01:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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Today was a good day, I had a great client lunch, Mr H was home on time and I started reading a new hypnobirthing book (that’s going to get a post of its own) which was great because yesterday was pretty shit. </div>
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I have been really struggling with one sided severe back pain which spreads into my left thigh causing it to go numb, then feel like it’s burning, then feel like I’m being stabbed with daggers. It’s pretty frustrating as it’s brought on even just by standing up for 5+ minutes or walking for 10+ minutes which means I can’t even get to the office from the station in the morning without being in a lot of pain. </div>
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I was referred by my midwife to see a physio. I got to my appointment full of hope that they could give some exercises and some sort of explanation/ solution. I was wrong. </div>
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I was seen by a trainee physio who hadn’t treated a pregnant woman before. He said he didn’t know what was wrong but maybe I could do some general back ache exercises and keep active. At which point I pointed out to him that keeping active is what I’m trying and failing to do due to the pain. His next response was “hmm yes, maybe you could not go to work?” Or just take paracetamol when it hurts. Then he packed me off and told me to come back in 4 weeks time. </div>
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All in all not really that helpful and it just made me feel utterly hopeless. I cried on the train into the office. I cried when I got to the office and my colleagues asked how the appointment went. I cried sitting on the sofa waiting for Mr H to get home after work and I bawled my eyes out pretty much as soon as he walked through the door. </div>
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I’m so happy to be pregnant and excited to be a Mum, it’s all I’ve ever wanted, but yesterday just got a bit too much. </div>
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I’m not looking for any pity or sympathy I just want to make sure people know it’s ok to feel like shit some days. We shouldn’t feel ashamed or embarrassed about it and just know better days are always round the corner. </div>
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Sophie Sayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09278718627178606851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2733615207579752945.post-55737204047239951662019-06-11T20:15:00.003+01:002019-06-11T21:14:05.393+01:00Spectre Ryan Hirsch<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As I mentioned in my last post, it's been a busy few years in our household. Back in 2017 I'd decided to move job and was placed on 8 weeks of gardening leave. The first thing Nick and I decided was that meant we were getting a dog.<br />
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Both of us have grown up in labrador families since birth so it was a no brainer when deciding what dog we wanted. However, we felt that despite my 8 weeks of Gardening Leave a puppy would be a little too much to handle and wouldn't be able to be left through the day once I was back at work.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGhHQJzKc7_qut8HJ7Vs4YEp5nBJV7hz8QVqQNsxnDbjJ789QAlD-QBF3z0gL6_98c-JX065MZ-fNSv-2MoFJ02rdm76mH-nePWebgBrsyGuAbEoC7W4OsiG9Y9eX0tOHRiLincb8ueqU/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-06-11+at+19.52.58.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1194" data-original-width="1110" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGhHQJzKc7_qut8HJ7Vs4YEp5nBJV7hz8QVqQNsxnDbjJ789QAlD-QBF3z0gL6_98c-JX065MZ-fNSv-2MoFJ02rdm76mH-nePWebgBrsyGuAbEoC7W4OsiG9Y9eX0tOHRiLincb8ueqU/s640/Screen+Shot+2019-06-11+at+19.52.58.png" width="594" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not entirely convinced he enjoys fancy dress, but I do....</td></tr>
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So we set about looking to adopt an older lab who was looking for a new lease of life. We tried all the dog re-homing charities however were told we weren't eligible due to our working hours so realised we'd have to cast the net a little wider. That's when we discovered Preloved, a site where owners can list their older dogs that they can no longer look after.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTF4D8oZHTzsG8com1arf2bRYvB5UcL0UMSuSjSSbi4mUeFDzZqyxMHRSmYqtWUPsAyg08seVe2C4VMZLoTqhFAaJyXqZzMLGRGLwjY6Rgnt8nAs1Ne26nGkoIhRDnfTQJeUcTP1D6bKs/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-06-11+at+20.08.17.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1186" data-original-width="1042" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTF4D8oZHTzsG8com1arf2bRYvB5UcL0UMSuSjSSbi4mUeFDzZqyxMHRSmYqtWUPsAyg08seVe2C4VMZLoTqhFAaJyXqZzMLGRGLwjY6Rgnt8nAs1Ne26nGkoIhRDnfTQJeUcTP1D6bKs/s640/Screen+Shot+2019-06-11+at+20.08.17.png" width="562" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We spend more on Bonios than we do food for ourselves...</td></tr>
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We spotted a lovely 8 year old chocolate labrador being advertised alongside his son so decided to go and visit...<br />
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We arrived in the middle of nowhere and were introduced to Spectre... It was love at first site. Sadly his son had already been re-homed however Spectre was still very much available and ready to retire from life as a working dog.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv8gawJsIZwzck1ahTtiE7V60PIb9FNdSOcb4_eUENbqhT51fO_RrPheCh1LLXVlBPvxhcOt4j2bO7BcWZU1sfNJsWaS3IacH6B2YBeghEx262DdGNXOnixhuPz3I7yX9CBtralJliD9k/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-06-11+at+19.54.35.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1174" data-original-width="934" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv8gawJsIZwzck1ahTtiE7V60PIb9FNdSOcb4_eUENbqhT51fO_RrPheCh1LLXVlBPvxhcOt4j2bO7BcWZU1sfNJsWaS3IacH6B2YBeghEx262DdGNXOnixhuPz3I7yX9CBtralJliD9k/s640/Screen+Shot+2019-06-11+at+19.54.35.png" width="508" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not sure when or why it happened but he loves Nick more than me these days...</td></tr>
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We scooped him up, put him in the car and have never looked back. He was in a terrible condition when we first re-homed him. A male labrador should weigh on average 28kilos... Spec weighed under 21kg, you could see every rib, his paws were burnt from where his previous owner had cleaned out his kennel with bleach and hadn't watered it down enough. He devoured food like he'd never been fed and he followed me everywhere. Safe to say he was a broken dog in need of much love.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUsrIU_npH2JcklpBoFCai66idt3kUFfOD1_ozllhPLred34rRzAdnfI2VInw68nVPBVukADRWv-0p34yGg_-NLK7aaMivXYnfwp51MQeVytnBtLhhL8JOhaSis6oRmz_McXQwask1nKI/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-06-11+at+19.56.01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1188" data-original-width="1156" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUsrIU_npH2JcklpBoFCai66idt3kUFfOD1_ozllhPLred34rRzAdnfI2VInw68nVPBVukADRWv-0p34yGg_-NLK7aaMivXYnfwp51MQeVytnBtLhhL8JOhaSis6oRmz_McXQwask1nKI/s640/Screen+Shot+2019-06-11+at+19.56.01.png" width="622" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I left the room for two minutes...</td></tr>
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Spec had lived outside his whole life so found the idea of being in the house a little unusual to start of with... we bought him a lovely bed to sleep on but he'd just sleep next to it on the floor, not used to any luxury, that was until Nick taught him how to jump on the sofa. It's now Spec's sofa and we are invited to sit on it when he deems suitable.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMVTHkGIbNVVjZ-qSEAHYVBNPwU4PDewUB5QDCDagahFp6zlKAPSmMVYh5j5hCE43QhBO_caR3eaS946HdbmPxMbvuOkN8ywF1S4abEafZiYmHJqtirWevnc2lqwnP43S3RTh-Vvmc3Lg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-06-11+at+19.57.20.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1086" data-original-width="1116" height="622" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMVTHkGIbNVVjZ-qSEAHYVBNPwU4PDewUB5QDCDagahFp6zlKAPSmMVYh5j5hCE43QhBO_caR3eaS946HdbmPxMbvuOkN8ywF1S4abEafZiYmHJqtirWevnc2lqwnP43S3RTh-Vvmc3Lg/s640/Screen+Shot+2019-06-11+at+19.57.20.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I miss the days where he followed me round like my little shadow!</td></tr>
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The highlight of Spec's early life with us has to be his first birthday, he'd had such a miserable life that we decided he deserved to be spoilt. So we ordered him a doggy birthday cake, bought him a party hat and a birthday badge and had a mini birthday party for him. Not entirely sure he was convinced by the hat or the badge but he loved the cake!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE7iLddWgZZGEmW38drYebXBh-UD_bURr7OzANXHY2Fl-YmhIEYWg5T7mfMxtb9_Ixnx53GhmS889SJc6wGdOZ0OSpNxpT4goZpr9-beC4MpziQG4XRgZ8X2e9kRI-XyMFM5utYooWsNc/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-06-11+at+19.57.02.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1138" data-original-width="958" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE7iLddWgZZGEmW38drYebXBh-UD_bURr7OzANXHY2Fl-YmhIEYWg5T7mfMxtb9_Ixnx53GhmS889SJc6wGdOZ0OSpNxpT4goZpr9-beC4MpziQG4XRgZ8X2e9kRI-XyMFM5utYooWsNc/s640/Screen+Shot+2019-06-11+at+19.57.02.png" width="538" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spec's first birthday</td></tr>
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Fast forward two years and not once have I ever regretted bringing home our little brown bear... even when he ate stones in the garden and cost us two months worth of mortgage in vet bills. We always say Spec is our first child, he was at our wedding (in a bowtie obviously) and goes everywhere with us (sorry to our friends who now only get to see us in dog friendly pubs!) I just hope he doesn't hate us too much when we bring home the mini egg!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnP6tz1wOyiOXVidG31eqVL4A4FD2BKiJ_frQBnLuGolKEFXl7-79JrQLf_2GvbTXTsu1qZO7qjFW8nb_BLEGrdG0ZwHG76raHLo2fUa4GZBKYSgJEWBIOPq2fd_y1CH14h00g8Sf_aVw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-06-11+at+19.58.02.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="944" data-original-width="812" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnP6tz1wOyiOXVidG31eqVL4A4FD2BKiJ_frQBnLuGolKEFXl7-79JrQLf_2GvbTXTsu1qZO7qjFW8nb_BLEGrdG0ZwHG76raHLo2fUa4GZBKYSgJEWBIOPq2fd_y1CH14h00g8Sf_aVw/s640/Screen+Shot+2019-06-11+at+19.58.02.png" width="550" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Day 1!</td></tr>
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For those of you who are interested in rehoming a dog, a few pieces of advice:<br />
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<li>There are a lot of dogs out there who are older and in much need of a friendly, caring home. These dogs offer all the love of a puppy whilst being much happier (generally speaking) to be left at home during the day, as they mainly sleep. </li>
<li>Make sure you have a local dog walker you're comfortable with letting into your house so they can let themselves in, in the middle of the day to keep your dog company/ go for a walk. There are some fantastic websites out there, we have used: Tailster, Rover (formally Dog Buddy) and Pawshake</li>
<li>The big animal charities such as Battersea, The Dogs Trust etc. will not let you re-home a dog if you work full time (which again generally speaking is ridiculous) so try looking in the classified section of your local paper or on websites such as Preloved. </li>
<li>My final point would be, think carefully before adopting a dog, it is a huge responsibility and commitment and whilst I think it's 110% worth it you need to make sure you have researched and are fully prepared for bringing a dog into your home. It's expensive and time consuming but so incredibly worth it when you come home to a smiling face after a really shit day at work.</li>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiedsl4_CAlZnKR6iMWPc0Z7p0YG0cmXHRO195oyGHvg5qur40w92c-_myr_HXSiLlIC0KRKayvp6s9awKNzhldD1YudQI6dKsUjdEeWzaX81jNRm_IJIpFx5xIV2ZyhWsKcuObwNRqOSg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-06-11+at+20.07.47.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1106" data-original-width="1118" height="632" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiedsl4_CAlZnKR6iMWPc0Z7p0YG0cmXHRO195oyGHvg5qur40w92c-_myr_HXSiLlIC0KRKayvp6s9awKNzhldD1YudQI6dKsUjdEeWzaX81jNRm_IJIpFx5xIV2ZyhWsKcuObwNRqOSg/s640/Screen+Shot+2019-06-11+at+20.07.47.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first family portrait</td></tr>
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<br />Sophie Sayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09278718627178606851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2733615207579752945.post-266332583668892352019-06-08T10:16:00.005+01:002019-06-08T11:03:00.138+01:00I'm back!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPk4dEkXrbOMvhHfXf_Ybj0pN5AHxZJTMqNd6p66T8gVo4hbDfhJygCRS4odJ3vHyQKWPyJzeKrskmEX4lTpXVLxQWhAo1YL-WcA3SJC-mKZn7uW2WNvcoRaUVHYlSK_YBkGYvqdzaKp0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-06-08+at+10.53.11.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1196" data-original-width="950" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPk4dEkXrbOMvhHfXf_Ybj0pN5AHxZJTMqNd6p66T8gVo4hbDfhJygCRS4odJ3vHyQKWPyJzeKrskmEX4lTpXVLxQWhAo1YL-WcA3SJC-mKZn7uW2WNvcoRaUVHYlSK_YBkGYvqdzaKp0/s640/Screen+Shot+2019-06-08+at+10.53.11.png" width="507" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So after two years of writing absolutely nothing, I'm back! </span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A lot has changed since my last post in 2017, which was just after we bought our first home. To give you a quick overview:</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">1) June 2017 we rescued a 9 year old chocolate labrador called Spectre</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">2) November 2017 we got engaged</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">3) July 2018 we got married</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">4) December 2018 we found out we are expecting a Mini Hirsch/ Mini Egg/ Alien/ Orangutan</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Safe to say it's been a busy few years...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I suppose point number four is the real reason I've got my act together and decided to dedicate some time to the blog. <span style="background-color: white;">I’ve decided there’s not nearly enough bloggers out there who depict what life’s really like... </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">I find my Instagram feed full of stunning homes, insta “fitspo” twenty somethings and perfect looking, beautiful women with the “pregnancy glow” and here I am looking like shit 85% of the time, failing at our DIY projects and having to drag myself to the gym on a regular basis. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So I thought I’d start writing on the blog again, focussing on real life, starting with going into my 3rd trimester whilst balancing a full time job, doing a house up, being a dog Mum and having a husband who I love dearly but is really shit at DIY.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">I promise I'll try and be better at updating you all on life!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Sophie x</span></span></div>
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Sophie Sayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09278718627178606851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2733615207579752945.post-18663287031604620322017-06-26T12:59:00.003+01:002017-06-27T10:40:33.448+01:00Buying our First House"Buy a house" everyone said, "it'll be easy" they said.... the first house fell through. "The first time never works out" they all claimed, "the second one will be much easier" they proclaimed again.<br />
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Well after 18 months of searching, fielding estate agents calls, crying, believing we were never going to be able to buy a house it finally happened! Nick and I are now the proud owners of a beautiful 1900's terrace house in Eltham (near-ish Blackheath is the suffix that comes with the place name).<br />
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I haven't really used this blog for well over a year now having been kept occupied by work, rehearsals, family, friends and life in general however I've suddenly found myself with 6 weeks break between jobs so thought I would start blogging about Nick and I's new house adventure!<br />
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I have three main tips/ pieces of advice for 1st time buyers:<br />
1) you will see 100's of houses that aren't quite right, eventually you will realise no house is perfect and you'll have to compromise somewhere<br />
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2) where possible NEVER attempt to purchase a house in a chain. It is a long, long, long messy process and should be avoided where possible.<br />
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3) everyone will tell you that you're in a strong position and the sort of buyer every vendor is looking for - this does not mean you will get thousands of pounds of the asking price, if anything it means you're pushed around and bullied because estate agents don't think you know what you're doing. Stand your ground and stand up to those bloody irritating but unfortunately necessary estate agents.<br />
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I sound bitter, but I have to say it was one of the most stressful experiences we have ever been through. However, there is no other feeling quite like picking up the keys and walking into your very own home. (Until you walk through the door and realise there's no hot water, the sink is broken and the heating system comes from some space-age time in the future and is pretty much impossible to work... but more on that later)<br />
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Over the next few weeks I'm going to keep a track of all of our adventures as we start to create our first home!<br />
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<br />Sophie Sayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09278718627178606851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2733615207579752945.post-20055031711187715162016-03-20T18:23:00.001+00:002016-03-20T19:02:16.138+00:00TEFAF Maastricht 2016<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I write this whilst sitting in Brussels airport waiting to fly to Basel for Baselworld having spent the past 4 days immersed in all things TEFAF. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">TEFAF (The European Fine Art Foundation) is universally <span style="letter-spacing: 0.4000000059604645px; line-height: 24px;">regarded as the world’s leading art fair, setting the standard for excellence in the art market. TEFAF atendees include collector, museum director and art world professionals as well as art lovers from across the globe. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4000000059604645px; line-height: 24px;">The items on show in the fair itself are the finest works of art with 275 of the worlds leading gallerists bringing their most prestigious and valuable pieces to the show. </span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4000000059604645px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alongside the traditional areas of Old Master Paintings and antique Works of Art, at TEFAF Maastricht you can see and buy a wide variety of Classical Modern and Contemporary Art, Photographs, Jewellery, Twentieth Century Design and Works on Paper.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.4000000059604645px; line-height: 24px;">The thing I love most about TEFAF is that it is a truly eclectic mix of art, something for all tastes be it jewellery, old master paintings, drawing or contemporary sculpture (each year the fair showcases emerging contemporary artists in the 'TEFAF curated' collection). Whilst I am a die hard old master painting fan, having specialised in the area for my MA, i can still appreciate modern and contemporary masters and it is fantastic to attend a fair which has both in equal measures. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.4000000059604645px; line-height: 24px;">I am lucky enough to have job which allows me to spend four amazing (although very long) days at this incredible fair. These are just a few of my highlights from TEFAF 2016. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Alexander Calder at Bailly Gallery</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4000000059604645px; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>Sophie Sayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09278718627178606851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2733615207579752945.post-44266740201727516852016-02-28T18:48:00.000+00:002016-02-28T18:48:34.107+00:00Elephants GaloreFor a very long time, my family and I have had somewhat of an obsession with Elephants, whether it's watching them on tv, looking at pictures of them on Instagram or decorating our houses with hundreds of statues of them. Therefore when my parents suggested we took a family holiday to Thailand to stay at an elephant camp I bit their arms off!! This wasn't just any trip, this was a trip to celebrate my parents 25th wedding anniversary so obviously the entire thing was to be done in style!!<br />
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My Mum, Dad and Sister flew from Newcastle to Heathrow on an early Saturday morning, where I met them in Gordon Ramsey's Plane Food. We all had the obligatory glass of champagne before taking a quick spin around the duty free shopping!<br />
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We settled in for our 11 hour flight with yet more champagne before nodding off to wake up when the plane landed in paradise!<br />
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Once we landed in Bangkok we had to collect our bags and find the check in for Bangkok Airlines and our transfer to Chiang Rai. Bangkok airport was an absolute dream... Heathrow could learn a lot!<br />
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After a three hour wait in Bangkok and another hour long flight we landed in Chiang Rai and were pretty exhausted having been traveling for almost 24 hours. However the greeting that awaited us at the Anantara Elephant Camp was well worth the wait...<br />
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Each guest is greeted with a cold towel, ginger and honey tea and a shoulder massage to work away the knots from the long journey.<br />
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The rooms were beautiful with bath tubs big enough to take a swim in and a view over the grass lands, Mekong river and elephants grazing the day away!<br />
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Once unpacked we wandered down to the beautiful Colonial style bar for yet more bubbles before our first sampling of some real Thai food! The hotel offers 2 restaurant options - Thai or Italian - we opted for Thai and weren't disappointed. The food was authentic and not only beautifully cooked but also beautifully presented.<br />
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After plenty of Prosecco and Thai curry we all retired to our beds ready for the excitement our first full day in Thailand would bring.Sophie Sayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09278718627178606851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2733615207579752945.post-46570477874260774052015-10-17T12:34:00.001+01:002015-10-21T22:30:12.111+01:00Frieze Week 2015If you're in need of something to do in London this weekend make sure you don't miss Frieze & Frieze Masters both taking place in Regents Park. <div><br></div><div>Undoubtedly one of the highlights of the international art calendar both shows provide the opportunity to see breath taking art in a beautiful setting. </div><div><br></div><div>Highlights at Frieze Masters include:</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPgb5TJ-tEirfViCLlA6_W-9isSGJCTzynm6LnkFsmwQOoFVV0DbAnLzCdjAsJFr_oFYNEQ1P2v9h8M8pBptjidAp6AqgFmTnAK0A-itGG86FopxOwKtioqVkdkTO_zAmOm1QbDyRvbws/s640/blogger-image--1931692722.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPgb5TJ-tEirfViCLlA6_W-9isSGJCTzynm6LnkFsmwQOoFVV0DbAnLzCdjAsJFr_oFYNEQ1P2v9h8M8pBptjidAp6AqgFmTnAK0A-itGG86FopxOwKtioqVkdkTO_zAmOm1QbDyRvbws/s640/blogger-image--1931692722.jpg"></a></div>Picasso's 'Guitare, Verre, Bouteille de Vieux Marc' 1912, at Dickinson Gallery £4,250,099</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj_iqau83B7fySFXaEslMpWIzxkyi9KHvkoOdEdeMevWcDpgddXjBltj4GwIXd3WVlR0R7fanOEq9SzEYKpdexbOxuru9RWwaQz7CFLnVwPGQGK4jDBbEbYR1Egj6lrmje1HcDQSQ_29E/s640/blogger-image--1636007019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj_iqau83B7fySFXaEslMpWIzxkyi9KHvkoOdEdeMevWcDpgddXjBltj4GwIXd3WVlR0R7fanOEq9SzEYKpdexbOxuru9RWwaQz7CFLnVwPGQGK4jDBbEbYR1Egj6lrmje1HcDQSQ_29E/s640/blogger-image--1636007019.jpg"></a></div>This beautiful and clever exhibit at Robilant and Voena Galleries stand D2</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyfl9DAdJGEwGkzWN8DzFW14Bbfl_Q6ZPWQoeCv-TDg_Lj7RLEAExNj5CYU5ysW3B1gzUOxhApZtP-LRtwlh116V90gbv4vhUQ4vKqCbeFpowr7HjQIKQJYP3y-srrvhBOUXkd8ZPLspE/s640/blogger-image-652269098.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyfl9DAdJGEwGkzWN8DzFW14Bbfl_Q6ZPWQoeCv-TDg_Lj7RLEAExNj5CYU5ysW3B1gzUOxhApZtP-LRtwlh116V90gbv4vhUQ4vKqCbeFpowr7HjQIKQJYP3y-srrvhBOUXkd8ZPLspE/s640/blogger-image-652269098.jpg"></a></div>Tang Dynasty figures at Berwald Oriental Art stand G19</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH7m3cH5TBBycqKVUv_97BrU8RpaMmcV1y725AjESFOM_ysgE3QP5B1HgIRltN2CnqFu5beFK-afkQijQXB_VGKY5UYYuwRW_zmGVXv9lpr9ZuF_k8NXnStJlRVZyUaMSYe2R51OiuJmQ/s640/blogger-image--243710978.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH7m3cH5TBBycqKVUv_97BrU8RpaMmcV1y725AjESFOM_ysgE3QP5B1HgIRltN2CnqFu5beFK-afkQijQXB_VGKY5UYYuwRW_zmGVXv9lpr9ZuF_k8NXnStJlRVZyUaMSYe2R51OiuJmQ/s640/blogger-image--243710978.jpg"></a></div>Old and new juxtaposed at Hauser & Wirth and Moretti Fine Arts stand D1. This is a fine example of Alexander Calder's work. </div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzI4Z8wAM_-ngpyvvi5Hdomwn6LueunvM8sTeO3P5kEtz05nqWdUbGqER7IhlBkx_ystbk-WosDGqLtsw-h3153e5G4kCjJHdMRmxaaS7zEzDl2rjZK7RB_T6gpqOnS8GEBfH3H1URxbw/s640/blogger-image-974236448.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzI4Z8wAM_-ngpyvvi5Hdomwn6LueunvM8sTeO3P5kEtz05nqWdUbGqER7IhlBkx_ystbk-WosDGqLtsw-h3153e5G4kCjJHdMRmxaaS7zEzDl2rjZK7RB_T6gpqOnS8GEBfH3H1URxbw/s640/blogger-image-974236448.jpg"></a></div>Visit Daniel Crouch Rare Books to see a huge, impressive map of London! I managed to find the street my office is on - this is just a tiny snap shot of the actual map! </div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>If you are more of a Contemporary Art fan then Frieze may be the best fair for you. Hop on a shuttle bus outside Frieze Masters and you will be delivered outside Frieze in next to no time! </div><div><br></div><div>Frieze is more than a little manic, you enter the fair down a dark corridor with chalk boards on the walls and slogans such as "welcome to purgatory" scribbled along the way. This is just a taster of what awaits inside the fair....</div><div><br></div><div>Highlights include: </div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibmTANXHNIociENbMpJSTTVFb5-i4-thtcOd4_PvWqVIzTs5lGIkF_e-A0QZOPJwMgvh9BJJQzzMVT4YakS3xZFa23-vFPUmBTYlvHGl99EdoVWsMyEsfo3k-I7LwGU8SozF0rKgjha2U/s640/blogger-image--1140176197.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibmTANXHNIociENbMpJSTTVFb5-i4-thtcOd4_PvWqVIzTs5lGIkF_e-A0QZOPJwMgvh9BJJQzzMVT4YakS3xZFa23-vFPUmBTYlvHGl99EdoVWsMyEsfo3k-I7LwGU8SozF0rKgjha2U/s640/blogger-image--1140176197.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>Jenny Holzer at Spruth Magers Gallery</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHWrbhCbeUmbPAaVRP-4kb_crOfAYTCIr9cOOAh4I8STFPDnwzGi5HzpBlIKLKhDM0IOqEddfP5nrVEsCTTybvy2UETHsvzFR2ipZKT6JZqTwSThu1EMgykGL877dNzq_zCHOQsNKXloI/s640/blogger-image-1501579452.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHWrbhCbeUmbPAaVRP-4kb_crOfAYTCIr9cOOAh4I8STFPDnwzGi5HzpBlIKLKhDM0IOqEddfP5nrVEsCTTybvy2UETHsvzFR2ipZKT6JZqTwSThu1EMgykGL877dNzq_zCHOQsNKXloI/s640/blogger-image-1501579452.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>Tracey Emin 'My Favourite Little Bird' at Kim Kukje Gallery </div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPV-pF6IUARKOuYeLdXxRHONWcuVLu03pxg7FoAayyXYxH0e6FDZL-UJ1eqkimn7ktb_VsHunLoMZ6y2hX6IxuH-4k0Moc3YTuYNYum9x7JMOBTC3Kn3ozR-7rvKDNNu5ys6ZUKgd1cug/s640/blogger-image--481314442.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPV-pF6IUARKOuYeLdXxRHONWcuVLu03pxg7FoAayyXYxH0e6FDZL-UJ1eqkimn7ktb_VsHunLoMZ6y2hX6IxuH-4k0Moc3YTuYNYum9x7JMOBTC3Kn3ozR-7rvKDNNu5ys6ZUKgd1cug/s640/blogger-image--481314442.jpg"></a></div>Another fantastic Tracey Emin on White Cube Gallery's stand <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8hF0hramygF7NGsMiFPY_Rco_nvDXYUVUqu6l7c3hLL3pMqPXOZwpuzX1xNkigCWx3DGlBqOsgma36jPNONVxB4t023F5dBLdh6vit1yedq5wbaP0zXbz9bP2RQaFxrmDNysUfuDhrwQ/s640/blogger-image-556017681.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8hF0hramygF7NGsMiFPY_Rco_nvDXYUVUqu6l7c3hLL3pMqPXOZwpuzX1xNkigCWx3DGlBqOsgma36jPNONVxB4t023F5dBLdh6vit1yedq5wbaP0zXbz9bP2RQaFxrmDNysUfuDhrwQ/s640/blogger-image-556017681.jpg"></a></div>Daren Bader at Sadie Coles HQ</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">There is plenty more to see and this is only a tiny selection! The fair ends tomorrow so don't miss out! </div>Sophie Sayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09278718627178606851noreply@blogger.com0London London51.535524 -0.149727