Gender reveal

Did you find out the sex of your baby? If so how did you do it?

I know gender revel parties are big on the other side of the pond and I thought the two ideas above were really cute.  

Cut into the cake to find out the sex...will it be pink or blue? Same idea with the box full of balloons...will they be pink or blue? Obviously you would ask the scanner to put the sex of the baby into an envelope and give to the baker or balloon person to use the appropriate colour

My husband and I really wanted to find the sex of our baby out but did not like the idea of being told by someone we only just met in a very clinical environment.  We had been in too many clinical environments.

SO we decided to ask the scanner (not technical term) to find out the gender and not tell us.  Instead we asked her to circle either boy or girl on a piece of paper and put it inside an envelope.

This was obviously the first time anyone had ever asked her to do this as she was shocked but agreed to do it.

So following the very short and impersonal scan my hubby and I headed to Rumsey's Chocolate Shop in Wendover to find out the sex of our little bubba!

AND IT WAS A GIRL!
How did you find out the sex of your baby?

SURVIVED!

I survived the second day of the 5:2 Diet

Today was a lot harder (10:30am-10:30am).  I noticed that by last night I was flagging BUT again this morning I woke up and was hungrier than last time BUT had energy and feel good now.

This is what it looked like

Don't believe the HYPE

French Children Don't Throw Food?

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Maybe not BUT they certainly throw temper tantrums, whinge if they become impatient and can 'forget' their manners like children all around the world.

I read this book a few weeks after Baby E was born (during the feeding marathons) and was in AWE of French parents.  BUT after a recent 2 week holiday in the South of France I am not totally convinced...sorry

So YES French mums may be sexy and thin BUT their children are not ALL angels TRUST me.

It makes me feel better

I am not totally rubbishing the book, there were some good suggestions....the best being  'the pause'. Don't rush in the minute you hear your baby stir...wait and observe them, it could be a sleep cycle.

Pre-Baby Confession 1

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I must apologise to ALL mums out there

Pre Baby E I was a know it all...yes even before I had my own children I thought I knew best due to the reading I had done as part of my job

Pre-Baby Confession Number 1 

Ok here is my FIRST pre-baby confession

There were times when I would pass a mum with a baby crying in her pram and JUDGE....

'why isn't she cuddling her baby???'

'HOW on earth can she leave the baby to cry?'

Seriously I cringe at the thought of this OLD ME

SOOO if I passed you at some point on the street, in a store, on a train and judged I am sorry

I was a KNOWER of book stuff BUT TOTALLY lacked experience

Being a mum is hard work and some days we do what you can just to get by and YES there are times I am that mum with the crying baby in the pram....I wonder if anyone is judging ME?

The Fast Diet.... FAD or the real deal?

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OK it is TIME for me to start sorting my weight out.  Before I fell pregnant with Baby E I wanted to be really healthy because we need to conceive via IVF.  I ate really well and got SUPER healthy (one of the factors that I think contributed to us being blessed with Baby E).
However, during my pregnancy I went back to my old ways and convinced myself that the treats I ate were 'just pregnancy cravings'.  Although I still ate lots of fruits and vegetable the amount I ate increased and the cakes and sweets also increased.  After giving birth it was a similar story..."OH I am breast-feeding so can't do any kind of diet"
SO here I am just over 4 months after Baby E was born, no longer breast-feeding and have decided it is TIME to take control.
The Fast Diet or 5:2 Diet was totally new to me as it was not on my radar whilst pregnant.
I read about it in a magazine then bought the books.  It seems pretty straight forward: 2 days very low calories (500 cals) then eat what you want (within reason) for the other 5 days.
What I liked about it was that for 5 days I could be a 'normal' person without calorie counting or saying NO to a glass of wine or dinner with friends.

SOOOOOO I  just finished my first 24 hours and feel GOOD.
I decided to go from 10:30AM to 10:30 the following day
By the evening of the first day I was feeling hungry but made a cup of herbal tea and went to bed early.
I woke up FULL of energy which totally surprised me.
I had a very small breakfast (brought me up to 480 Cals) then met friends for brunch at 11:00
The thing is I didn't overindulge at brunch and for the rest of the day today I also was careful with what I ate and didn't binge

IT IS ONLY day 1 out of 2 days so I can not say it is amazing YET.
I am committed though
Day 2 will be on Thursday

Has anyone else used this?