Rory Is 4 Weeks Old

Time really does fly by when you have a new baby. Rory turned 4 weeks old on Sunday and on Tuesday 24th he was weighed again.

He is now a whopping 10lb 11oz which is a gain of about 8/9oz a week.

His head control is getting better and he has started looking at people and following them when in his line of sight. He smiled for the first time at the age of 3 weeks and a day old and we've started hearing little coo's.

He's not happy unless he's being held or fed so is mostly in my arms all day. He co sleeps with us and a usual night consists of feeds every 2 hours.

Rory

Health Visitor

As Rory is 2 weeks old the Health Visitor made a visit to our house to weigh him and see how we were doing.

Obviously with Rory being baby number seven I'm quite experienced when it comes to babies and I had no concerns about feeding or his well being. He's been weeing and pooping like a trooper and feeding a lot so I know he's ok.

She weighed him and he was 9lb 9oz. He's doing really well and obviously mummy milk is doing a brilliant job.

She is coming to our house in two weeks time.

Introducing Our New Family Member

Me the day after our due date

Our family has grown from 8 to 9. Our seventh child, our fourth son, was born on Sunday August 25th.

Rory Thomas Stygle was born at 4:52pm, 9 days overdue, weighing 8lb 14oz.

I had given up hope of going in to labour naturally and had induction booked at 12 days overdue. I started getting pains at 11:03am and very quickly labour was in full swing. Our home birth looked like it was going to happen.

I had found the best place for me was standing holding on to the side of the wardrobe in our bedroom. Sitting or laying down was unbearable during a contraction. We phoned for the midwives to come out at about 12:30pm and they took their time coming out. I think they thought I had a while to go yet.

They got here and let me labour a little while they took pulse readings and listened to baby to make sure we were ok. I was then checked which was not an easy thing for me. I was 9cms already after just 2 hrs of labour. Baby was still really high so they let me get back to my wardrobe and said they'd check me again in a little while.

I was getting a lot of pressure in my bottom which was making me want to push. After an hour I was checked again and sadly baby hadn't moved at all. The midwives didn't feel comfortable breaking my waters with baby being so high as the chance of cord prolapse was too high and so they suggested transferring to hospital where they could break my waters safely. I agreed as I was getting concerned baby was stuck and needed help.

We waited for what seemed like ages for the ambulance to arrive and then we had a 12 minute journey from hell. Every bump set a contraction off and I clung to the gas and air for dear life just to get me through.

On arrival I was wheeled to the delivery suite and examined. Baby was still high but I was 10cms. They called in a doctor to give his opinion on what to do next. Do they break my waters or let them go naturally. He examined me and decided I should give a big push, which I did, and covered him in waters which seemed to pop everywhere. I was then told I could push. The relief from hearing those words was wonderful and I cried with happiness. I had gotten it in to my head that baby was stuck and I'd need help with either forceps or ventouse to get him out and the thought scared me.

I pushed for dear life and my word he felt huge. I now know why he felt huge as he had his right hand up on his head which had obviously been slowing his progress down the birth canal.

Rory arrived very blue but quickly pinked up. We waited for the cord to stop pulsating and then I cut the cord and not long after naturally passed the placenta.

Everything was fine for the next 20-30 minutes. He had his first feed which took a little while to do as he was very fussy and wouldn't latch well.

Then I had awful after pains. I knew these pains weren't normal and then felt a gush down below. A midwife was called and she took one look, cleaned me up, gave me paracetamol and suggested the injection to help pass the placenta which may help slow the bleeding. The pains weren't getting any easier and I ended up with co-codamol to help ease them. The injection didn't seem to work too well and I was then given an injection in my arm to help stop the bleeding, sadly this didn't seem to help much either. At 6pm I was then hooked up to a drip for 5 hours and had a rather painful clean out by a doctor which I can only say was nearly as bad as labour pains. I had lost a total of 1,200mls of blood.

Rory in his first outfit and his first cloth nappy

I wasn't allowed home that night which I understood so Darren made his way home at around 8pm and I was transferred to the maternity ward at just gone 9pm. I didn't sleep at all that night the ward was too noisy, Rory wouldn't settle unless I held him and he was feeding a lot.

Rory with Daddy

We eventually made our way home the next day just after lunch time.

Rory all set to go home

Bambino Mio - Mio Solo Review

So here's my first review for the reuseable nappies I tested for the Mother & Baby Awards 2012.

Back in 2008 when Jorja was a toddler we tried out Bambino Mio prefolds. We didn't have such a great time with them sadly. The wrap would fold in on itself at the belly and cause wicking which defeated the point of wearing them so we gave up on them.

The Mio Solo is a relatively new nappy on the market. There are no prefolds and wraps involved this time it's a simple pocket nappy with a fold out insert. It's a one size pocket and claims to be from birth upwards. The colours are based on retro sweets from parma violets, flying saucers to cola cubes. Bambino Mio have very recently released prints too.

The Mio Solo

When we tested the Mio Solo Kellan was 8 months old and he's not big for his age, his waist is quite wide but his thighs aren't that chunky which has caused problems for us with nappies before. I had to set the Mio Solo on the medium setting for Kellan as they are quite generous in sizing. Kellan had just started moving on to the large setting on one size nappies around then and he still had plenty of room for growth at that medium setting.

So Kellan had an ok fit with the Mio Solo. The waist was great for him especially the velcro which allowed for more range of fit but there was one very big draw back with having velcro as a fastener for us........ yes Kellan loves undoing velcro and laughing as I run to go do it up before we have a puddle on the floor, don't you just love babies lol. Now this wouldn't really be much of a problem if your baby wears clothes a lot but Kellan doesn't really wear much except a t shirt or if we go out then I dress him. So yes it was annoying for us. The fit around the legs was another problem. As I said before his thighs aren't that big and we had gape at the legs, aka I could easily put my finger between the nappy edge and the inside without having to stretch the elastic. This posed a big problem 1. he's a heavy wetter and he'd leak quickly from the leg and 2. he is breastfed and his poo's, sorry you can't escape the poo talk when it comes to nappies can you, were runny and so we had escaping poo, booo!

But............ I also used the Mio Solo on Gwen who at the time had just turned 3. She seems to have had a sudden growth in the hip area which has meant a lot of her stash, collection of nappies for those who aren't there with the lingo yet, has become useless until Kellan grows in to them. The Mio Solo fit Gwen with room, not a lot of nappies are like that with Gwen so I was impressed. Gwen can undo velcro but with her being older she knows to leave it alone so she gets on well with them. Gwen used to be a heavy wetter but seems to be less so as she's gotten older and she can go overnight in a Mio Solo which Kellan stood no chance of unless we wanted him soaked with wee in the night. She is in the large setting and the rise, measurement from the top of the front of the nappy down between the legs and up to the top of the back of the nappy, still had plenty of room.

Now when it came to washing the Mio Solo it was simple. Fold the velcro tabs on to the washing tab and put in the machine along with the other dirty nappies. The fold out insert makes it easier and quicker to dry. We don't have a tumble drier so it takes a while for our clean nappies to dry and when compared to other brands the Mio Solo is one of the fastest to dry. It's also easy to get the insert back in the pocket. You just put your hand in the little pocket at the end of the insert and push the insert in to the bottom and then tuck the flap over at the back of the nappy. Then just velcro the Mio Solo up and put it with the rest of your stash until it's next use.

So in conclusion the Mio Solo worked better on our older child mostly due to it's sizing. If there were a popper version of the Mio Solo then I'd be willing to try them again with Kellan now that he's grown a little.

It's definately worth giving them a shot especially if you see them on offer or on pre-loved nappy groups. Don't invest all out as you may not get on with them but that can be said for every nappy as each baby gets on with each brand differently.

Kellan in the Mio Solo

38 Weeks Pregnant

Today I hit the 38 week mark.


I had a check up with the midwife. Everything is fine with me. Not that I ever really have any problems and since my iron levels are great there's not much to worry about.


Baby is doing great. Bubs kicked the midwife off my tummy when she tried to listen to the heartbeat. Bubs was laying with their back on my left side and is still head down.


y belly is measuring at 39 cms so just 1 cm ahead and I' usually spot on so not sure if we have a big Bubs in there or lots of fluid. The midwife did say Bubs is a good size but not sure what her meaning of 'good size' is.


I'm booked in to see the midwife for October 25th, so 2 weeks time, which is my due date. Hopefully Bubs will arrive by then although I won't hold my breath I'm good at going over.


My waist is measuring 45 inches which is equally Gwen's record and I think I've dropped a little compared to my last photo.

I also bought Bubs a new outfit on Saturday. I simply couldn't resist it.

36 Weeks Pregnant

Today brings a new week, week 36.


This pregnancy seems to be flying by so fast and has been such an easy pregnancy.


I had a midwife appointment at the birth center in Canterbury. I didn't have my usual midwife.


Everything is fine with me and Bubs. Bubs is head down, took a lot of poking and prodding to tell which way Bubs was laying and even the student wasn't exactly sure what she was feeling. Bubs is in an awkward position either back to back, which Gwen was, or slightly to one side. The head isn't engaged yet but I didn't expect that especially after Jorja and Gwen didn't engage until labour had started.


I've been told that if my waters go I have to ring the hospital asap in case the cord comes down before the head does but it's very unlikely that that'll happen as my labours rarely start with waters going.


I go back in 2 weeks time when I'll be 38 weeks.

My 36 week bump

My waist is measuring at 44 inches and to Darren and I the bump seems a little lower. I'm not feeling many pokes from baby at the top of my bump its mostly in the mid section or really low down.

I'm so happy Bubs is head down. Since the midwife told me Bubs was breech at 32 weeks I've been worrying myself silly about c sections and how hard the recovery might have been with the other children about. Now I can leave the worry behind me and enjoy whats left of this pregnancy and just try to have a little hope that Bubs doesn't decide to arrive too late and induction starts to get mentioned.