Earlier this year I went to the Baby Expo in Brighton and there I watched a fantastic product being brilliantly demonstrated. I fell in love. I also felt disappointment that this product was not around when Esther and William first … Continue reading
So today I am 17 weeks pregnant and I am feeling fat! Just today have started needing the loo a lot! Think Baby must have changed position and be putting pressure on my bladder? My bump is definitely looking bump … Continue reading
David and I always eat healthy dinners but breakfast and lunch are a very different story. For dinner we often have fajitas. I love fajitas and would eat them every day if I could. As it is we usually eat … Continue reading
On Monday 29th August 2011 I went on a spa day at Eastwell Manor’s Dreams Salon.
I had been organising and reorganising the day for the past week with the girls on reception who were incredibly helpful and understanding, particularly someone called Alexis. Their customer service was excellent. I could not fault it.
When I arrived at 9.00am I was warmly welcomed, shown around the spa facilities and then given complimentary tea and pastries (not continental breakfast as advertised!) whilst I filled out a medical questionnaire and my lunch order.
My first treatment was at 11.00am and so I had some time to enjoy the pool and spa area. I swam for 20 minutes and then had a relax and a bit of a giggle in the hydro pool. It was like a giant bubble bath and made me feel very relaxed. I was the only person in both the swimming and the hydro pools, so it really was a peaceful start to my day.
At 10.15 I showered and used the Molton Brown products (very nice!) before heading up to the relaxation lounge where I had hoped to enjoy a lovely frothy hot chocolate, a glass of water and some highbrow magazines. The lounge was a disappointment. A very cheap coffee machine offered okay hot chocolate, the water was cool but in a plastic cup and the magazine selection was awful as well as out of date. I was feeling very glad to have brought both my laptop and a book. And a little like my £215 was not getting me very much really! Again the lounge was empty so it was quiet and relaxing, and would have been boring without my digital accessories!
My first two treatments run from 11.00 – 12.30 and then I have lunch. I am allowed to go to lunch in my dressing gown if I wish. I am not sure how I feel about that but I think that I will. It is my day to relax after all. And who is going to be looking at me? Lonely girl having lunch with her lap top!!
My first treatment was a rose leg and foot refresher. I sat in a massage chair while the therapist used a lathe to rid my feet of all their hard skin. I was offered to take the lathe home with me but then I forgot it which was a shame. The therapist then exfoliated my feet and legs,then massaged them with rose aromatherapy oils before applying a rose mask to my feet. Then a rich rose moisturising lotion was applied to finish the treatment. I was left feeling very pampered and relaxed.
My second treatment was half an hour relaxation on a dry flotation bed. This was wonderfully relaxing and apparently this 30 minute therapy equates to having four hours sleep. I did fall asleep! It was so cosy wrapped in warm towels on a heated bed floating weightlessly on water. Heaven! I wish I could have stayed there all day!
I got dressed after these treatments and went to the restaurant for my lunch. Could not face going in my dressing gown after all! I enjoyed a warm bread roll oozing with butter, a chicken and anchovy Caesar salad, salmon with a warm green salad and two hot chocolates. Ooops! Not so good for my diet but great for my frame of mind. It was lovely sat in the restaurant enjoying such fine foods uninterrupted. The lunch was complimetary but the drinks I had to pay for.
For all the relaxation though I am missing Esther and William terribly. I cannot believe that they will be going to sleep without me seeing them tonight. Makes me very sad and want to rush home and give them a big squeeze. I love them so very much. I really want to say goodnight x
After lunch I relaxed and had a snooze in the lounge.
At 3.00pm I had my facial, a rose aromatherapy radiance facial. It was very relaxing and with a lovely, chatty therapist. We talked weddings and babies and it was really nice. The same therapist, Heidi, stayed with me all afternoon shaping my eyebrows beautifully and giving me a deluxe Jessica manicure. She even talked me into having my nails painted dark red! Just for fun!
The day ended at 5pm. I could have used the pool and spa for another hour if I wanted to but I was ready for home. I strolled through the beautiful grounds to meet David and head home for a cuddle with Esther and William before they went to sleep.
What a wonderfully relaxing way to spend a day. Wish I could afford to do it once every few months to recharge my Mummy batteries, would be bliss! It is a shame that something so essential for busy mums is often just that bit out of reach.
Thank you Eastwell Manor for a lovely day and my complimentary slippers!
One year ago today. Saturday 10th July 2010. I was 25 weeks and 3 days pregnant. With twins. David had invited his Dad round to help us start preparing the house for the arrival of our babies in 15 weeks … Continue reading
In a week when many people around the world are holding on to hope with their bare hands I feel quite selfish gloating about my cheer. And yet here I am, because this week I do have genuine reasons for cheer and pride. My little miracle babies are doing so well and I cannot hide how I feel about that after the terrible start to life that they had.
My Reasons to be Cheerful this week:-
Esther and William are above average in their general development
This week we had a clinic appointment for Esther and William at the hospital. At this clinic they are weighed and undergo a number of developmental checks that I do not pretend to understand. What I do know though is that the Consultant told us that she is very very pleased with both babies. William is just above the 75th percentile for development and Esther is just below. This is marked against their corrected age of 4.5 months. I was so proud watching them work thorugh the exercises with the physio I thought that I might burst with pride and they did everything with a smile too. The session was topped off when one of the nurses said to us, “We always knew these babies would be clever ones!” Proud Mummy moment!
Esther and William loved their first baby class, Baby Sensory
Today we went to Baby Sensory for the very first time and Esther and William both loved it. In particualr they loved helium balloons and the ball pool. I was so impressed with the class leader, Julie Reynolds, and her welcoming manner that I signed up for 10 weeks straight away and we start next week!! I am so excited!!! I am going to review the session on my blog so please watch this space x
Esther and William have moved into their very own BIG cots!!
After William crawling on top of Esther in his sleep a couple of times we decided that the time had come to move Esther in to a cot of her own. It has only been one night so far but again it is a really proud Mummy moment though I am also sad that they are not sharing anymore. My babies are growing up. Next move will be into a room of their own and no longer with their Daddy and I. That will be a big moving day. This was just a small moving day but a big reason for cheer.
Need more stories to make you smile? Hop on over to Mummy from the Heart’s blog and share your Reasons to be Cheerful.
This morning I had my Jenny Craig consultation with a lovely lady called Claire. We reviewed the week and I admitted to my cheating. We discussed the fact that I am breastfeeding twins and she explained that my calorie intake should not be 1200 calories but 2300 calories so it was no wonder that I had found the need to cheat!
Today Claire is going to send out new, adjusted, menus to allow for the extra calories.
Not sure that I will eat the full 2300 calories but what I will do is continue regulating my portion sizes and being aware of how much salt there is in certain foods. Too much salt leads to water retention which can lead to excess weight!
The main focus of today’s consultation was finding out what kind of eater I am.
There are 5 main styles of eater as identified by the Jenny Craig Programme:
Uninformed Eater; Emotional Eater; Unconscious Eater; Social Eater and Balanced Eater.
I am an emotional, unconscious eater. I miss some meals, I eat food because it is there and I also tend to eat when I am bored and sad.
You can learn more about these eating styles and discover what style you are by looking at the Jenny Craig website.
This week I have been asked to reflect on my eating style and try to avoid eating when and what I shouldn’t.
Today I have so far eaten porridge and a banana, soup and crumpets and a Jenny Craig snack bar. Looking forward to Jenny Craig chilli for tea!
Wish me luck! I will let you know how I get on x
The end of my first week with Jenny Craig is here.
Jenny Craig is not a diet but a weight management programme it consists of a calorie controlled menu, physical activity and lifestyle coaching.
At the beginning of the week I had a 15 minute chat with my Jenny Craig consultant. She talked me through my hamper which had arrived bursting with edible goodness to last me through the weeks ahead. 28 days of breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks delivered directly to your door! In this case, to my door!
Next my consultant talked to me about expectations of the programme and of myself. She said that the programme is designed by a dietician to help you lose weight steadily. Eating six times throughout the day maximises your metabolism and aids weight loss. She explained that each day on the menu was nutritionally balanced and so though you could do the days in any order to follow the programme correctly you had to reach all the foods from each day and not mix and match. She also advised taking a multi-vitamin supplement which I do anyway as I am breastfeeding the twins.
So how is the food? It is a diet after all even if it is part of a programme. The snacks are great. The best part of the diet by far. However, as my best friend pointed out to me there are actually similar amounts of calories in Wotsits and Quavers as there are in Jenny Craig Potato Snacks. The cereal bars are tasty, very similar to Special K bars in taste and calorie content. The chocolate wafers and digestive bars are great ways to feel naughty ad get that chocolate fix. So though the snacks are good I am not sure that cheaper, perhaps tastier alternatives cannot be bought as part of your usual weekly shop.
The meals themselves are fine. I supplemented mine with a lot of vegetables and chillies and this masked much of the taste. The foods do all taste quite similar with something of a faint after taste?? They were not horrible at all and I look forward to tasting more of the options next week but they were not what I would call bursting with flavour. I am certain that they are more than good enough if you are desperate to lose weight and have a lot to lose. They are actually very filling for the portion size given.
I have struggled with the diet this week as I have had a bad week with the twins and I am not sure that 1200 calories is enough when breastfeeding twins but with what I have done I have lost weight.
This morning I weighed 9 stone 8 pounds and I started the week at 9st11lbs. So one thing has to be said for Jenny Craig so far, it works, and if I had been following it religiously I think that it would have worked very well indeed.
One thing that I am certain of is that if I do not continue with this diet afte the 28 day trial I will definitely continue with the methodology particularly relating to portion sizes. I know now that though I eat very healthily I do eat far too much and this is why I was not able to lose the baby weight without this help.
I also feel that the available consultations and support are needed to make the initial weight loss a success and to help keep the weight off. At home I have my mother for support who just keeps feeding me biscuits!!
Anyway, onwards and upwards to next week when I have another consultation and a new menu to explore.
If you would like to find out more about this programme then you can visit their website by clicking the picture below.
I am really tired today after a second terrible night with the teething twins. William is breastfeeding night and day at the moment because he is off solids because of his teeth. This is leaving me exhausted and I am worried that my allocated 1200 calories is not enough for a Mummy feeding 8 month old twins. I did tell Jenny Craig during my initial consultation that I was breastfeeding and so was sure this had been taken into account but now I feel uncertain.
It could just be that I am having a bad day. Esther and William are demanding and draining every ounce of energy that I can muster.
Must try to keep positive and keep my goal in mind, to lose weight for the wedding. Seems such a silly thing to focus on though when the babies do not seem to be doing so well.
It is taking me, my Mum and David to make things work today.
Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.
About a week ago I posted about amber anklets for teething. Amber Pumpkin kindly sent me an anklet for each of the twins to see if it would ease their teething troubles.
I have to say that I was keen to try them after a few terrible days and interrupted nights through two very unsettled babes.
I decided to try the anklet on William first and I have to say that after just one day his symptoms did seem to improve. He was much more settled and a generally happier baby but he was also dribbling less, not chewing so many fingers or so often. He seemed to be improved. Importantly he seems to be feeding much better and eating more solid food. I have not changed anything else, apart from the wearing of the anklet. Since this started I have used no calpol or powders on William, none at all. I cannot say for sure that any of this is down to the wearing of the amber but I can promise that it is the only thing that I changed.
Esther, who did not have an anklet on, continued to chew and dribble as before. I am going to put her anklet on tomorrow to see if it will have a similar positive effect for her.
Neither baby yet has any teeth so I think we still have many teething times ahead I am going to keep using the anklets and hope that they continue to work their magic.
For more information about the anklets you can visit the Amber Pumpkin website or read back through my previous post Twin Teethers.
