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With the impending arrival of baby number two, I can't help but feel nostalgic of the first few months with Ella & how much motherhood has taught me. Often it takes some reflection to truly appreciate the situation & as I prepare to make some decisions about feeding, birthing plan, pain relief etc I had a good think (and laugh) to myself about my breastfeeding experience with Ella. There are so many hidden truths about feeding that I wish I'd known before I started, although it didn't put me off since we exclusively fed for 14 weeks and combination fed for a further few weeks after that, here are the realities of breastfeeding.

1. It Hurts

2. Congratulations, you have another limb

3.  Save money or sanity?

4. Towels are the enemy.

5. Mind that spray.

6. This isn't an all you can eat...

7. What a waste! 

8 Self Education 

9 Who's Formula then hmm?

Like some sort of insanely jealous ex-girlfriend you'll hate the fact that your baby will enjoy spending time with formula milk. They might take a little time to get used to the bottle but the milk will be like pure joy and their full tummies are bound to keep them content & sleep for aaaages. Mummy on the other hand is feeling very inadequate, thanks for that Aptamil ...

10 Must. Go. On

I know it seems like a pretty odd milestone week to do a pregnancy update but I feel like I should start now because if my memory serves me right, at this stage with Ella the changes from week to week were so vast that if I leave it until my 8 month update so many things may have happened.

So without going into the fine detail over the past 7 (and a bit) months I've been keeping fairly okay. I say this even though most people would say I've had yet another horrible pregnancy but all I can compare it to is my first one with Ella and for those of you who know how things were then - anything is better.

I suffered from Hyperemesis Gravidarum; (HG) 'complication of pregnancy that is characterised by severe nausea and vomiting such that weight loss and dehydration occur.'  It's often summarised as 'acute morning sickness' which is slightly amusing since that would only be accurate if it was restricted to the morning as the title suggests. How about morning, noon, night and 7 months later sickness? Or at least that's what I had to deal with in my first pregnancy. I can sense the ability to go off on a tangent here on my experience with HG, there's so much content I could write on it despite it being almost 2 years ago. Let me know if you'd be interested in knowing my story I would happily write a dedicated post or film a chatty video for my channel.



So as much as the severity of the HG I suffered from this time around was moderate in comparison, it was still horrendous. Add a baby into the mix and some days were unbearable. It was a vicious circle of:
 1.Throwing up
 2. Lack of appetite/scared to eat in the fear of throwing up some more
 3. feeling drained of energy because of points 1 & 2

Luckily (if you can call it luck) my doctor is very aware of how I suffer from HG and as recently as 2 weeks ago prescribed me with some more anti-sickness medication. I can go for a few weeks sometimes feeling pretty normal and then it just hits me one day and I'm way back at square one. I'm back on top of things now so let's keep our fingers crossed that I'm not going to go through another blip anytime soon!

Since I'm still working, albeit part-time, I'm shattered most evenings. I say this on the rare occasion where I'm actually awake to see past 10pm but that's because I'm not long home. Had I been sat on the sofa all night I can almost guarantee I'd be presently studying the back of my eyelids having failed yet again to watch through an episode of I'm a Celebrity - Get me out of Here! I'm just trying to  listen to my body. When I'm tired I sleep - where I can.. I'm fortunate that Ella is in a good sleep routine. She goes to bed around 8pm and sleeps for 12 hours so often I like to copy her sleep pattern or at least that's what I like to call it. I can tell the Ash 4 months in the future is going to look back at this post with complete envy at the written evidence that I used to have 12 hours sleep - or even sleep at all?!

At my last appointment my midwife said baby boy is 'breach'. As soon as that word is mentioned, naturally alarm bells start ringing. It only always has negative connotations so I was a little confused why she thought that with this long to go it was even worth describing his position as breach. He has lots of time to turn. If nothing else it explains the constant annoyance that is acid reflux. Honestly I'm sure if I was to breathe hard enough fire would come out my mouth like a dragon. The only thing I could say that is keeping me going is my best friend Eilidh (here's her blog) suffered with horrendous heartburn & acid reflux in her pregnancy and little Oliver was born with the most impressive head of jet black hair, seriously check out her blog for the pictures he's adorable! So if the old wives tale is true then I could be set for sharing the hairdryer with another man in this house sooner than I thought!

I'm definitely feeling bigger second time around. So far I've put on half a stone which I think is fairly average at this stage. Although they say baby is probably weighing around 3lbs at this stage when you take into consideration the extra water weight etc I think I've actually been quite fortunate! It's probably all just damage limitation for the free reign I plan on giving myself over Christmas, the diet start in January, right?

So far so good on stretch mark watch. I practically glide into bed every night having applied every lotion and potion I have. If Fraser were to give me a cuddle I'm sure I'd scoot right out of his arms!! Instead I'm enjoying being the big spoon & baby likes to give his daddy little kicks on his back. I'm not going to hold my breath though, realistically there's only so much you can really expect your skin and body to cope with. The odd stretch mark or whatever on my tummy really wouldn't both me, I'm not sure I'd really suit the Christina Aguilera 'dirty' low rise chaps and belly top combo even if it came into fashion anyway!

We are going to be starting the little one's room shortly. I'm going to vlog the whole transformation as it's a total rip out! We are having an attic nursery that you access through a staircase in our bedroom. I've been going a little overboard on Pinterest with ideas, I just can't wait to get everything finished now - it's so exciting!! So stay tuned for the first instalment of Project : Nursery on my channel here!

Oh, did I mention I finish for maternity leave in 4 weeks...? I. CAN'T. WAIT.

I can't quite get my head around how fast this pregnancy has flown in. This week marks my 29th week meaning I'm well into the third trimester and our little boy's impending arrival is much sooner than we think! In a bid to create a close prenatal bond with baby I have been making a conscious effort to caress my tummy a little longer when I'm applying my lotions because I feel that's like I'm giving him a comforting touch and we have been talking to him using his name too! These are the things we practiced when I was pregnant with Ella & it really helped us to create a sense of identity with her.

PRETTY SILVER BOLA - £32 *

I was looking for other ways I could try to connect with our unborn son so when I was offered the opportunity to work with 'Blooming Lovely Jewellery' I jumped at the chance.

Blooming Lovely Jewellery blossomed out of the tradition of the Mexican Bola: a chiming pendant also known as a 'harmony ball' which is worn low across the expectant mother's blossoming bump. The soft calming chimes of the harmony ball are heard by the unborn baby in utero and the reassuringly familiar sounds create a sense of security from birth & beyond.

After wearing the pendant for a period of time I can begin to feel the calming benefits of the soothing chimes, they make for an addictive sound. Admittedly, I thought that after a while of wearing essentially a small bell could take it's toll however it's quite the opposite. Even Fraser commented saying that the sound was really nice & Ella loves to listen to it too. It's a very inconspicuous and elegant music it plays.

There are many different styles to choose from, I opted for the Pretty Silver Bola with Silver Chain, I felt the dainty design complimented the delicate tones of the bola charm.

This would make for a perfect special gift for an expectant mother, something she can always keep and look back on, particularly coming up to Christmas where us pregnant ladies are not the easiest to buy for! I was so impressed with the gorgeous packaging that the pendant was received in & a beautiful little jewellery bag to keep it safe when storing.

I will be interested to see how our little boy reacts when he hears the sound of the charm when he is born, I've read that sometimes the calming sound of the Bola can settle babies to sleep as it makes them reminiscent of their time in the womb. I will update you when he arrives in the New Year.

*this product was kindly sent to me for the purposes of review, all opinions are my own.

If you're reading this, welcome! You have found your way to my little corner of the internet. For anyone who doesn't know me, I'm Ashleigh, 24 from Glasgow in Scotland where I live with my Fiancé Fraser & our Shar Pei dog, Lola. We have a little girl Ella who is 18 months & are expecting a baby boy in February.

I started an Instagram account over a year ago now when Ella was around 3 months old. It began pretty organically, I set the account up initially because contrary to my initial plans I'd become 'one of those mums' who constantly posted pictures of their baby on social media. For me, that's not a problem at all, the more the merrier I say! But I couldn't help feeling like I was bombarding everyone with photos of Ella.

In a bid to have all of her photos in a timeline format, I decided to sign up to a brand new Instagram account where I could document her development in on a 'guilt-free' platform. Don't get me wrong, despite doing this I couldn't help but still share photos on my personal accounts but the volume was significantly less!

From there it grew into something of a baby fashion account where I would post outfit of the day style photos like those you would see from fashion bloggers. It was all a bit of fun and I started to chat to other mums who were doing similar things, the sense of community was so lovely. I was often asked where many of Ella's clothing items were from so I started to tag the relevant stores in the photos. Before long I was offered brand representative positions for Ella with a number of online stores. We were delighted! A little hobby that was simply a mummy & daughter playing dress up was turning into something that was paying a little dividend too. It was a win-win situation & so long as Ella was happy to have her photo taken, I was happy to continue.

After such a long time on Instagram, I wanted to branch into other platforms like a blog and YouTube channel. I love watching vlogs, hauls, reviews & tutorials on YouTube so I took inspiration from there and decided to take the plunge! Admittedly, I was expecting it to be one of the most nerve wracking things I'd done, but I think once you become a parent you seem to adopt this care-free attitude and the opinions of other people no longer become your self-validation. So with this in mind I filmed by first video. The only way I can describe the whole experience was 'odd'. I felt so strange speaking to a camera lens, well, that would have been the case if I could stop getting so distracted by the viewfinder since I pretty much watched myself the entire 1st video. Fourth video in and I think I can see a steady improvement already!

Throughout the time I've have reviewed many products, clothing companies and much more. We are just your average young family, making mistakes & learning as we go ... because let's be honest - it's probably the best way! My intention is to recommend products that I can't live without and be honest enough to say things I'd steer clear of 2nd time around. Particularly when you're shopping for your first baby, it's so easy to get sucked into all of the gimmicks and added extras that you just don't need!

My first year of motherhood has taught me many things. The biggest lesson of all is how much time I used to waste! Long gone are the days of hour long showers and taking until lunchtime to perfect my make-up. Trips to the toilet is often with the company of tiny toes & no morsel of food makes its way to my mouth without a little voice exclaiming 'please, thank you!..' followed by a presumptuous open hand as she patiently waits for you to practice what you preach and share.

I'm looking forward to sharing the next chapter in this crazy journey that is parenthood. Having 'two under two' is going to make for some comedic viewing I can tell! I can't say I'm going to be an expert. I'm not the 'eco-mum' or the 'routine-mum' or the 'everything-organic-mum' but I'm going to try and be the best mum I can be to these two little monsters (well, one & the other is half baked) and hopefully I can keep my sanity along the way...