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  • What not to say to a NICU mum - photo of baby holding onto Mum's finger
    Parenting

    What Not to Say to a NICU Mum – 9 Things to Avoid

    January 8, 2021 /

    Having had two premature babies, each needing weeks of neonatal care, I thought I was just about qualified to write a list of what not to say to a NICU mum or dad. Hopefully this will help if you have a friend or family member who is going through this tough experience. 1. “When will you get home?” This is a tricky one to answer. Do you mean when will I get home or do you mean when will baby get home, because the chances are I will get home much sooner than baby. In the worst cases, mum and dad might not actually be sure baby is going to…

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    Harris’ Arrival – Having A Premature Baby During A Global Pandemic

    May 30, 2020 /

    Having a premature baby is hard, but having one during a global pandemic was on another level. Harris arrived 9 weeks early. He just had to do one better than his big brother by arriving even earlier and during the coronavirus pandemic. During my pregnancy with Dylan, I developed pre-eclampsia which led to him being born ahead of schedule. This meant that when I was pregnant with Harris, I had extra monitoring and was seen by the consultant throughout my pregnancy. Aside from a bit of sickness early on and some back/hip pain as the pregnancy progressed, my blood pressure was behaving and everything seemed to be going really well…

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    Challenges of Breastfeeding a Premmie

    September 3, 2018 /

    The Plan Dylan was born 6 weeks early. I’ve always wanted to breastfeed and during my pregnancy read numerous books and browsed countless websites looking for breastfeeding advice. I was always expecting the first few weeks to be difficult – all the books tell you that it will be – but nothing prepared me for how hard it would be to breastfeed a baby born as early as Dylan was. I’d always imagined that as soon as my baby was born, he would be placed on my chest for skin to skin and would start breastfeeding within a few hours of birth. That’s the way all of the books tell…

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    Ahead of Schedule

    August 6, 2018 /

    Welcome to the World Introducing our little Dylan James. July 10th 2018 5lb 0.5oz 45cm long Labour Dylan arrived 6 weeks early when I was just 34 weeks, 2 days pregnant. I’d been in and out of hospital for the month beforehand with high blood pressure and some symptoms of pre-eclampsia. I spent the Saturday night before Dylan arrived in hospital and as I was leaving on Sunday was told that I would likely be induced at 36 weeks. However, Dylan had other ideas and my waters broke at 3.30am on Tuesday 10th July. The day before my hypnobirth classes were due to start – typical (although at least we’d…

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Welcome to The Tartan Leeks

Hello, I'm Helena. Mum to two beautiful boys and wife to Mik. Born and bred in South Wales but now living in North East Scotland where I've given up my job as an engineer to be a stay-at-home Mum. I hope you enjoy following along with our parenting journey here.

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Feeding Harris at 5 months old (3 months corrected Feeding Harris at 5 months old (3 months corrected), at the park while Dylan played. It was around now that I started to feel like a "normal" breastfeeding Mum.We'd gotten through NICU, tube feeds and the gruelling pumping schedule. I had finally stopped pumping to try and increase my low supply due to IGT. He was still getting formula top ups at this point but I'd made my peace with the fact that he'd never be exclusively breastfed.For so long I felt ashamed that I wasn't able to exclusively breastfeed either of my children, but I've finally accepted that I did my best and they are happy and healthy which is all that matters.Harris is still going strong at 11 months and he's not showing signs of wanting to stop breastfeeding yet! I've loved feeding both of my boys, it's been well worth all of the challenges โค๏ธ#thebooblife #breastfeeding #breastfeedinglowsupply #breastfeedingnicu #tubefed #ngtube #neonatalunit #neonatalunitfeeding #igt #breastfeedingigt #lowsupply #lowsupplymum #mumofboys #mumblogger #mummyblogger
Painting with 11 month old H (9 months corrected). Painting with 11 month old H (9 months corrected). I tape the paper into a plastic wallet and he loves the crinkly noise it makes. An artist in the making I think! ๐ŸŽจ I love this activity as D (2-1/2 years) can be painting at the table with H so they are both entertained.
#babyplay #babyart #11monthsold #playathome #mummybloggeruk #mumandbaby #mumoftwo #babyandtoddler
A morning by the sea ๐Ÿš #toddleroutside #toddler A morning by the sea ๐Ÿš
#toddleroutside #toddlerfun #beach #seaside #aberdeenshire #mumofboys
Another beautiful day for a walk ๐Ÿ‘Ÿ #toddler #2y Another beautiful day for a walk ๐Ÿ‘Ÿ
#toddler #2yearsold #walking #aberdeenshire #scotland #outside #familywalk
Today we had a long overdue Dylan and Mummy mornin Today we had a long overdue Dylan and Mummy morning @castlefrasernts. Exploring, hot chocolates and sunshine โค๏ธ
#mumandson #motherhoodmoments #motherhood  #toddlerdayout #castlefraser #2yearsold #getoutdoors #outsideplay #thatmamaclubig
Helping to sweep and clear the patio in the sunshi Helping to sweep and clear the patio in the sunshine ๐ŸŒž
#toddlerlife #practicallife #practicallifeactivity #springcleaning #mummyblogger #mumofboys #thatmamaclubig
Muddy knees, catching bubbles and the remnants of Muddy knees, catching bubbles and the remnants of our snowman ๐Ÿ˜„
#toddler #gardenfun #outsideplay #mumsofinstagram #mumandsons
Feels like spring is around the corner finally. Fo Feels like spring is around the corner finally. Found a swan at the pond so I had a very happy boy this morning! ๐ŸŒธ
#aberdeenshire #dunechtestate #toddler #toddlerwalks #littlelegs #outandabout #outdoortoddler #mumofboys #mummyblogger #mummybloggeruk #steppintosppring
Climbing in the sunshine at the park yesterday - a Climbing in the sunshine at the park yesterday - almost felt like spring if you ignored the snow on the ground and the biting wind ๐Ÿ”†
#sunnyday #wintersun #playground #climbing #toddlerfun #outsideplay #mummyblogger #mummybloggeruk #mumofboys
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