This week's Babies First Year featured blogger is Ellie from Having A Baby & Living At Home!
Hello, My name is Ellie Caldwell I am 25 years old and live in Liverpool. I have one little girl called Charlotte who will be one at the end of February. My boyfriend, Charlotte and I all live with my parents at the moment, while we save up for a deposit and while I go back to university. We are very lucky that we are able to stay with them and as my mom no longer works she is there to look after Charlotte while we work.I started my blog, Having a baby and living at home, last April while on maternity leave as an outlet. I have never been great at writing and thought It would be able to help me improve on my English and spelling as well as being a way to communicate with family and friends, and let them know what was going on in our lives. I blog about our lives, any milestones Charlotte has, what we do on a day to day basis, as well as joining in with activities such as a photo a day challenge. I also have signed up the do product testing and review products and write about that as well. I bake as a hobby and have included some of that in my blog but I am thinking of starting a baking blog as well to separate that from my current blog.
1) Tell us a little about yourself before this baby came along? Did you already have children? What was your life like before this baby was born?Before I had Charlotte I was single, My boyfriend and I didn't become a proper couple until after I was pregnant, although we had been friends for over 5 years. I had not long graduated from University, I was working 2 part-time jobs, and I was applying to go back to uni to do a nursing degree. But my plans to go back where put on hold when I found out I was pregnant, It was a shock, she wasn't a planned baby but she was a happy surprise and I wouldn't have changed her for the world.2)How was your experience with the pregnancy? Did you enjoy it? Any complications?I got morning sickness, which was really all day sickness and lost a lot of weight while pregnant. At 28 weeks I got Kidney stones, I'd had them when I was 18 and it was not an enjoyable experience, this time it was made worse by the restriction on diagnosis and treatment because of being pregnant. I was hospitalized but thankfully was able to go home pain free a few days later. The rest of my pregnancy was straight forward and I did enjoy it. I loved feeling her move and kick, and seeing her turning when she was bigger.3)Tell us a little about the day your baby was born?My waters had actually started leaking on the Thursday before and I had been booked for an induction on the Monday evening, which never happened as I was in early labor from Sunday night and I was in hospital from the early hours of Monday morning. I was taken to induction but was 4 cm by then and moved to delivery. I chose to have an epidural as the other painkillers weren't taking the pain away. My labor pain was mostly in my back and the tops of my legs.
Charlotte was born at 7.13 am on the Tuesday. It was a forceps's delivery as she was in distress. My mom had arrived and been rushed in seconds before she was born, so was there to welcome her 1st grandchild into the world. The rest of the day went by in a blur, everyone from our families came in over the next couple of days to see her.We didn't leave hospital until she was 5 days old because of jaundice and because I lost blood and needed transfusions. 4)Why did you choose the name you did for the baby and does it have any special meaning to you?I have always loved the name Charlotte and said that I would use that if i ever had a girl. Her middle name, Amelia, was a joint choice between me and her dad. 5)What have been some of the most enjoyable moments of babies first year for you as a mother?I have loved seeing her grow and reach milestone, seeing her smiling and learning her name. Watching her take her 1st unaided steps at 9 months and 1 day where unbelievable. 6) What have been some of the most difficult/challenging experiences of babies first year for you?I wanted to breastfeed but only lasted till she was 3 months old, I don't think I produced enough milk so she was always hungry. Other than that we haven't had many challenges other than that she refuses to sleep. She is a nightmare to get to bed or down for a nap because she is scared to miss anything.7) How would you describe your babies personality and how she/he has grown this year?She is a cheeky, adventurous, outgoing little girl who loves to push boundaries. She is a risk taker and either doesn't see the danger or ignores it and forges ahead anyway. She has gone from my tiny baby to this adventurous toddler in less than a year. 8)What has been your proudest Mummy moment with this baby so far?I have loved being able to introduce me baby girl to all 4 sets of her great grandparents. She is very lucky to still have them all in her life. 9)Was this your first baby? Middle child? Youngest child? If its your first child, has motherhood been a surprise to you or have you been exactly the mother you imagined yourself to be? Please give details. If this is not your first child, how has the first year with this child compared to your other children...have you found it less stressful?This is my 1st baby and no amount of research or reading can ever make you fully understand the shear amount of responsibility and love that you will feel from the second that they place that baby on your chest. I love being a mother and it can have its difficult moments but having your baby smile at you for the first time, reach up to you when they are scared or say mama, makes you forget the night feeds and nappy changes. You just remember the smiles and cuddles.10) How will you be marking the occasion of babies first birthday?I will be celebrating with family and friends by having a party the weekend before her birthday. I am also planning a cake smash, so we have some lovely pictures to remember and celebrate this milestone. On her actual birthday I have booked the day off work and me and her dad will be taking her out for the day.11) What are your hopes for babies future?I hope she is happy, financially stable, and loved. I will be happy in whatever career she chooses and will guide her however I can, but I know ultimately it is her life and her choice. 12) Do you hope to have any more children? If so, how big an age gap would you like to leave before the next one? I would love to have more children, I would prefer a smaller age gap but since I will hopefully be starting Uni soon I will have to wait until after I am finished there before thinking about any more. 13) If you could sum up this year in 3 words, what would they be?Exciting, tiring, memorable.
14)If you could go back in time to 1 year ago, what advice would you give to yourself to help you through this year?Make Dan do more, Don't worry so much about what others think, follow your instincts she is your baby and you know what is best for her. Tell mom to stop buying toys and clothes, she has enough to last till she is 5.Thank you so much Ellie for taking part, if you guys enjoyed Ellie's post - I'm sure she'd love it if you gave her blog a follow! You can visit her at http://havingababyandlivingathome.co.uk/
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