The Cuddle Blog

The first few days after having my baby was no fun at all. Asides dealing with the pain from surgery there was breastfeeding. I honestly didn't want to deal with it and was very happy anytime they made him formula but soon enough I stated running temperature and overnight a huge lump had appeared in my armpit. I cried as different things were running through my mind, I mean, how would I have cancer immediately I gave birth to my baby. My breasts were rock solid and I had no clue(an no one really told me about this) what was up till I went of Google.

So, What is Engorgement?
Engorgement means your breasts are painfully full of milk [WebMD]What are the signs? 

Very full breastsHeadacheMight have swollen lump in your armpit (They are called lymph nodes)What helps?  Pumping: Pump as much as you can to get relief, direct the pump towards the lump to draw out the milk. The down side to this is you might produce more milk and that means fuller breasts. What can help is to get on a schedul…

You'd think because my husband is a photographer that I would have a lorry load of pictures, when the said husband has a crazy schedule you make do with the time you have. Photoshoots are always a good idea when I am not the subject, when I get in front of the camera, I realise that it is always not as easy as it looks. 
I hassled my dear husband and we had 2 shoots in the course of my pregnancy, the first was at 5 months - when my bump suddenly made an appearance - and the 2nd was at 8 months. When it comes to things like these, I am not the most creative but I am glad for great friends who have my back. My friend chose a theme, bought the props and organised most of the things I used for the shoot. 
We went elaborate for the 2nd shoot, makeup artist and all.  My sisters came over as well! I absolutely loved my makeup, although, I was very tired by the time we were done, I was a happy mama.
Here are the pictures below;
@ 5 months!









@ 8 Months;

As soon as you are cleared by the doctors after delivery, you are throw into the deep end called breastfeeding - with or without your permission. As a first time mum, I definitely didn't know what to expect with this new but I also wish people talked about these things I found out a few months down the line.

What is Victory to you?

"Mumsperience"?

Yes! I just coined the word.

It is every experience unique to Mums! 
I had an out of body experience. Oh No! I had an out of body Mumsperience. It was less then one month after I had Cuddles and he was on a 2 hours eat-sleep schedule. He woke up sometime in the middle of the night this fateful day and He started crying, I picked him up and just kept rocking him but he just won't stop crying. I was beginning to wonder what could be wrong with him when my husband woke up and asked me 

While I was doing my research for this post, I noticed that not alot of people focused on the new mothers in their "essential" posts. It is important that new mums - howbeit hard - should not forget themselves. In light of that, here are 3 things I think are essential for new mums;

A Snack Stash (Especially if you are breastfeeding): I found myself craving for different things when I started breastfeeding. No one told me that the craving won't end, it felt that I was losing weight fast at the beginning but I wanted to eat twice as much. I wanted all the junk food to stuff my face in. I later had a stash of go-to snacks to help with the fixBreast Pads: Nothin as embarrassing as a leaking breast. I didn't have a clue how serious it could be but it is verrrry important that you have enough breast pads, especially if you choose to use the disposable ones. 
Solitude: Being sleep deprived, overwhelmed, tired and feeling like you can't take it any more  comes with the …

"March 10,2017 37 Weeks 
So,  we're officially going to meet you next week! Incredible. "Just like that?" is the question I asked the doctor. This is not what or how I envisioned it but I am grateful, very grateful. At the end of the day what's most important is that we are all safe and not at risk" 
These are part of the words I wrote in my pregnancy journal less than a week to meeting my little one. I did my antenatal care in a different hospital and husband and I decided to have our delivery on another hospital, I had to register close to my Edd. I started going to this new hospital and because of my height it was recommended to do a pelvis examination. This is not done routinely but from a certain height they recommend this scan so they can know what they're working with. 
This was the timeline. I went in for my regular appointment on a Friday, I was asked to do the CT Pelvimetry scan the next Friday before I came for my appointment which I did. I gave…