Until about 18 months ago I couldn’t have told you what perimenopause was and I assumed that Menopause was a long way off. When I started my periods my Mum said “You know you can get pregnant now right?”. That was both my period and sex talk! Ah Mums of the 80’s! So you can see how I might not have been prepared for this.

I had only just started to get a grip on my menstruation cycle (big thanks to the book ‘Period Power’ by @_maisiehill_ ) and like a lot of women and girls I had for a long time felt it was something to be ashamed of and not discussed outside your own bedroom, let alone your own home. But having a Daughter myself I was adamant that I would be more educated not just for me, but for her too. Ellies really going to love our period and sex talks! Bring on the diagrams and uterus’s with smiley faces :D

Hi All,

So before you read on, I thought a little bit of background might help.

When my Daughter was born nearly 8 years ago (where does the time go!) I had no idea about babywearing. No one had discussed it with me and looking back I feel sad about that. It was only via a private Midwife I met, did I find out about this magical thing called babywearing and find out there was a Sling Library right at the end of my street!

I did my Peer support training with the amazing Dr Rosie Knowles when Ellie was 5 months old and it blew my mind! During the training we touched on outward facing, however most of the carriers were not designed to outward face and If they were they were designed to keep babies legs in an ‘M Shape Position’. This is where babies knees are slightly higher than their bum, the carrier supporting knee to knee and the spine well supported.

Maternal Mental Health - My Story

Nikki's Story 

I want to start by saying these are my personal experiences and thoughts. I am not a Doctor or claim to be any sort of expert. I am just speaking from the heart (disclaimer over ;D ) 

The last few year’s (mainly the year that shall not be named!) has brought so many challenges for us all. None more so than our Mental Health & Wellbeing. With this in mind I started to consider the times in my 45 years on this earth that I have felt most healthy (in body & mind) and realized there was one common theme.

Movement & Mental Health

I remember finding out I was pregnant with Ellie, and wanting to give my baby the best start possible. I had (as well as Stu) spent the last 12 months doing all we could to get as healthy as possible to conceive. We wanted to have a baby and threw ourselves into Zumba, Yoga, Cross fit and Eating healthy (well 80% of the time). After a very heartbreaking miscarriage, we tried again and got pregnant straight away. 

Its baby’s first Christmas

Our top 5 tips for Baby’s first Christmas

It's baby’s first Christmas. You have spent hours scrolling through Stacey Solomon’s Instagram for inspiration, only to realize your door won’t fit a 4 foot handmade wreath and the baby and dog are unlikely to sit still long enough in their matching jumpers for that perfect photo. 

Plus.. social life. What social life? Gone are the days of glitter dress and drinking prosecco until 2am. Baby is here and you can’t see when you will get your social life back. 

Baby’s first Christmas is sold to us as this magical time (and sometimes it is!). But in the midst of all this, what about you? Christmas can also be a tough time for lots of reasons. Maybe not having relationships with family members, living far away from your loved ones, feeling left out of your usual Christmas festivities or god forbid. Everyone gets covid. Again!