This week's Babies First Year featured blogger is Emma from Not Your Average!
Hi I'm Emma and i'm from a little town called Tamworth - somewhere near Birmingham. I now live with my boyfriend, Adam, and baby girl, Millie, in a tiny village in Derbyshire (near where they make Marmite!). I blog over at Not Your Average which is a mixture of Beauty, Fashion, Lifestyle, Food and Parenting posts. Pretty much somewhere that I ramble on about anything and everything! 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 we found out we were Pregnant, I was due to go back to university in Twickenham. I actually found out 4 days before I was due to move into a new house with uni friends so it was a huge shock and a massive decision that had to be made pretty quickly.
2)How was your experience with the pregnancy? Did you enjoy it? Any complications?My pregnancy was pretty straight forward really. The first 3 months and the last 2 weeks were the worst. The first trimester I just felt sick everyday. Luckily, I was never actually sick but feeling it was just as bad! I had really bad heartburn all through pregnancy too and I only had one scare when I stopped feeling baby move but that was nothing and she was just having a rest! 3)Tell us a little about the day your baby was born?I was having contractions through the night although I didn't really know they were contractions until I woke up. Adam was due to go to work for a few hours and he hesitated but I told him to go and i'd call him if I needed him. As soon as he went, I could feel the contractions and knew this was it. I ran myself a bath, took some paracatamol and hoped it'd help. It didn't. I called the hospital and explained what was happening and they said I had to wait until I was having contractions that were every 5 minutes and that lasted a minute. I called Adam and he come straight home. I stayed in the bath as long as possible and then slowly got dressed. We sat watching Made in Chelsea and I was trying to get comfy in every position possibly but nothing was working. at 1pm we decided it was time to go to the hospital! We got stuck in traffic which was a nightmare and I didn't end up having Millie until 10:30am the next morning! You can read my birth story over on my blog!4)Why did you choose the name you did for the baby and does it have any special meaning to you?It was the only name we actually agreed on and her middle name, Ann, has significance as Adam's Mum is called Anita and my Mum's middle name is Ann too. 5)What have been some of the most enjoyable moments of babies first year for you as a mother?Hearing her giggle for the first time, crawling, taking her first few steps, saying Mom-mom and Dada. 6) What have been some of the most difficult/challenging experiences of babies first year for you?The first 3 months are the hardest!! The lack of sleep, the 'un-known', it's all so difficult and when you have no idea why they're crying or what is wrong, it's a struggle to carry on! We had some excellent advice though off a lady called Lisa who has written a book called 'The Blissful Baby Expert' and it covers every single thing you can think of when it comes to the first year of baby's life!
7) How would you describe your babies personality and how she/he has grown this year?She's absolutely hillarious! Some of the things she does are so funny and make me laugh so much. She's very active and likes to climb over everything. She's pretty much an equal mix of Me and Adam! She's also really advanced in her motor skills as she took her first few steps at 37 weeks! 8)What has been your proudest Mummy moment with this baby so far?When she took her first steps and waves Bye-Bye! 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? Millie is our first child and probably our only child. The birth experience was terrifying for both of us, not just me and the first few months are so hard that I dread going through it again. Although i'd love to give Millie a baby brother or sister, I just don't think I could do it again. Not yet anyway! I think i'm the Mum I thought i'd be. I'm not as laid back with her as I thought though but other than that, I never really thought about what i'd be like as a Mum! 10) How will you be marking the occasion of babies first birthday?We'll be having a bit of an open house day. Family and friends are welcome to come round, we'll have some food out and a few drinks and will be doing the famous 'Cake Smash' too! 11) What are your hopes for babies future?That she grows up to be happy and healthy. I want her to experience as many things in life as possible and take any chance she gets in her hands! 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? IF we have another child, I don't think it's going to be anytime soon. Maybe in 6 or 7 years when Millie is independent enough to look after herself a bit more. 13) If you could sum up this year in 3 words, what would they be?Hard-work, rewarding, life changing. 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?To take help when it's offered. To appreciate the little things and to take more photos! Thank you so much Emma for taking part, if you guys enjoyed Emma's post - I'm sure she'd love it if you gave her blog a follow! You can visit her at www.notyouraverage.co.ukIf you enjoy my blog, please consider following me on Bloglovin' Have you checked out my Super Sparkler Advertiser First Two, Then Blue?