Struggling With Exhaustion

The Bank Holiday weekend should have been an opportunity for rest, but with Baby Boy's cold I didn’t get much sleep. I don’t know why I didn’t try and nap during the day, but I didn’t and by Monday night the exhaustion had got to me. I couldn’t cope when Baby Boy wouldn’t go back in his cot after a feed and I ended up having a bit of a melt down. After repeated attempts to get him back to sleep in the cot I accepted he would have to sleep in bed with me (I don't have a problem with co-sleeping but I was so tired and I needed my space that I didn't want to). 

I was just drifting off to sleep again when our toddler appeared by our bed wanting to sleep on the other side of me. She kept wriggling and making noises and I couldn’t handle it. I ended up storming downstairs in tears. G eventually got both children to bed in the right place and I crawled back into bed.

The next morning I was exhausted mentally and physically. I took Little to nursery then I knew I had the choice of going home and hopefully getting Baby Boy to nap or going to Baby Group. I pushed myself and went to Baby group, it was absolutely the right decision. The group was busy and there were at least nine people I knew, some well, some not so well, but I got to chat, laugh and get support.  I left the group feeling stronger.

Post wet school run recovery time

Wiped Out By A Migraine

Baby Boy was fussy Tuesday afternoon because he hadn’t had his morning nap, but I felt stronger to deal with it. Tuesday night I went to bed early to give myself a chance to recover and I was much better the rest of the week until Saturday night when I woke up with a headache that I ignored and by Sunday morning I had a full blown migraine with nausea. Some of Sunday it was manageable but by evening I had to stay lying down, feeling too sick if I was moving around. Monday I got out of bed just long enough to get Little to nursery, but I was sick before I made it back into the house. After nursery I discovered there was no way I could look after a toddler and baby so I had to call my Dad to come over asap to help. I am so grateful he was available.

I don’t know what caused my migraine, but I suspect it was triggered by a vitamin. It sounds odd, but I have experienced some multi-vitamins giving me headaches in the past. I don't know which individual vitamin causes the problem so I don't know what to avoid, but I eat so badly I could really do with the boost. Fortunately the migraine followed my normal pattern and only lasted 48 hours. I still feel like I lost a day and a half and I'm trying to catch up with everything. 

A Delay To Work

With the tiredness and migraines I didn’t meet my (self imposed) work deadlines, but I did manage to be productive on Thursday morning and get all my photographs taken for my Father’s Day gift guide (which will be live very soon). Baby Boy wasn’t prepared to let me get any work done Thursday afternoon which was frustrating because Little was out with her grandparents. I decided to let him have the cuddles he wanted and caught up on Grey's Anatomy so it wasn’t all bad.

Nursery Photographs

On Friday I picked Little up from Nursery and her photograph proofs were ready to pick up. The photos are admittedly cute, but they are a crazy price for the quality (the backdrop isn't even straight). They cost more than the better quality photos taken at our old private nursery and more than the school photographs. It surprises me because I can’t imagine many people at our nursery have much money. I think £13.50 for a single 7 x 5 inch print is too much when you could probably get just as good pictures on your phone. I do see the value in professional photographs and often buy them, but I expect a result that is better than I can get myself. It’s her first photo in uniform so I'm pretty sure we are going to buy some. I always have been a sucker for photographs of my children and I guess that's what they are counting on.

Epping Forest Baby Show and Considering My Families Environmental Impact

On Saturday I went to a local baby show in Epping and it was lovely to see some of the businesses and franchises we have in the area. The main reason I went was because I wanted to speak to the local cloth nappy library. I had a whole list of questions about reuseable nappies which were much easier to get answers to face to face. They were super helpful and I am really keen to try and reduce how much I send to landfill, although I can’t see me going full time cloth. 

Convenience is still really important to me when it comes to nappies, food and day to day product use, but I am so much more aware of my families impact on the environment than I was in the past and I have been thinking carefully about how to make some simple swaps. I don't expect cloth nappies will save us much money or be much better for our carbon footprint due to the amount of washing, but I can't definitely throw less rubbish away. I'll be share more about the other swaps I am trying in future posts.