Hello! I think a few weeks have passed since I last wrote a blog. The last few weeks have seriously flown by. The week following on from the last blog wasn’t great. I think I had hit my peak tiredness (so far!!) and was really struggling. Grace was waking every 90 minutes to 2 hours. As I type this, I don’t really remember the week. All days blur together and my memory has got worse. Baby brain is legit a thing!! But I remember saying to Rob "I am so so so so so so so tired, I can’t function", I had to use ‘so’ SO many times to just get through to him how tired I was. Cheltenham’s science festival was on and I wanted to go to one of the talks but it was a toss-up between going to that and having ‘me time’ or back home with Grace and trying to ‘rest up’. I remember I was starting to feel poorly and I knew if I went, I would push boundaries and get ill, then not be totally with it looking after Grace. So I decided against it and actually, I am so pleased. That made me realise the sacrifices I need to make now I’m a Mum. It’s like I feel a bit lost not being able to go out and do things but then I love being Grace’s Mum and I’ll choose the Mum gig any day. This all feels especially true when I get these smiles and slight laughs she is now doing!!!

It honestly is the most amazing thing to see. She has had some serious growth spurts and acquired a lot of new skills, like babbling and making funny noises. All these new skills happen overnight, it’s mad! She changes so much including her sleeping patterns. After that horrible week, Grace had her 12-week jabs, which weren’t as bad as 8 weeks in terms of the aftermath (I think it’s because babies don’t have the meningitis vaccine, which causes fevers) and she suddenly slept really well. As in she would fall asleep in my arms around 8 pm, I managed to dream-feed her at 10 pm, and she didn’t wake until 4/5 am. I thought this was due to the jabs but it kept going. It’s not as good as that right now but not far off. I'm really making the most of it as I know it will change (secretly hoping it won’t 🙏🏼) but I hear this 4 month's regression will hit me in the butt big time. I know some babies aren’t affected by it, but I just feel like I don’t have that luck but let’s see! I’m learning about the science behind it and the circadian rhythms, so it does make sense that their sleeping patterns change but we will see! I’m just going to enjoy my peaceful(ish) nights whilst I can.

We had Grace’s hip ultrasound a couple of weeks ago because she was born breech. I think all breech babies have their hips checked because of the positioning (she basically came out folded in half - if I could show you the photo, I totally would, but think that is a bit far on these blogs). It turns out she does have hip dysplasia and her right hip is angled at 1 degree off an acceptable hip rotation of 60 degrees. So she is having to wear the Pavlik harness. I have spoken with so many people who have rated the harness’ so highly, that they’re 90% successful at moulding hips into a correct position ready for growth. So, although, I really hoped she didn’t have to wear it, it is really good that the NHS has been so thorough and even though it’s 1 degree off being an acceptable hip, they still want to take precautions. She might only need it on for 3 weeks but we will have an ultrasound after 3 weeks and they will check to see if it’s made an improvement. But Grace was AMAZING when they were putting it on, she was smiling at the nurses throughout and I felt so proud of her.

We have now got through one week with it on and in another week, I will go back to Gloucester Hospital to get a new harness fitted (to fit her growth) and give her a bath. It’s been tough finding clothes that fit, so it’s lucky it has been warm so I haven’t had to try putting leggings on. Honestly, the Lullaloop rompers have been perfect for it, so she looks stylish too!!

So, we will get through the next couple of weeks and hope it will come off in 2 weeks but obviously if she needs it on for longer then that’s what we will have to do. She’s still a very happy girl in her harness!

We also got through those really hot days (30 degrees). Is it just me or now being a mum you kind of wish those hot days away. I feel like I can’t enjoy it outside because I’m too worried Grace will get burnt (even in her pram under a snooze shade). Oh the days of just mindlessly going to Cheltenham lido and going for a nice swim…but once Grace’s harness is off, I will definitely take her swimming! But in the end, I kept us indoors with a fan on 🤔 perhaps it’s another thing I’m overthinking and need to get over before we go away on holiday 🙈.

Thanks for reading, speak soon!

Maddie x