Bad Day

Sunday sucked. I went against my instincts, caused myself no–end of stress and wasted time and money on a journey I didn't need to take.

Bear had been poorly for a few days, a cold we had ALL caught from his sister, and on Sunday morning, I was struggling to console him with it. All he had as a cough and a runny nose, I knew it was nothing but I think being sat there on my own, which is rare for me, made me doubt myself.

I know there will be people reading this that will be thinking what the big deal is? That they're on their own with two, three, even four children from 8-6 whilst their husband works, but I'm not used to that as my husband works a handful of hours of the day out of the house and the rest he does from home. I suppose the fact that my husband is never far is my safety net.

On Saturday and Sunday this weekend he was running classes in the morning and then birthday parties in the afternoon, so was gone for hours.

So I called 111 and asked their advice. Because of Bear's age (ten weeks), they referred me to the out of hours clinic at the hospital and told me to head down. I had a problem. I don't drive and though the hospital isn't far, it's too far for Moo to walk...but I had no one to watch her as my mother-in-law was in hospital and her mother was away in Jersey. I couldn't get ahold of my husband who was working, and I ended up calling another relative.

It was hard, stressful work...only to be told what I knew all along; he was fine, it's viral and will clear on it's own. I could've saved myself taxi fare, our relative's day and myself a lot of stress if I had just gone with my instincts but I felt vulnerable with them on my own...for the first time I felt like I wasn't capable. It's one thing to be late or unorganised, another to be useless and out of depth over something so simple.

I've got to work on my crisis control and remember to follow my instincts.

Clare 

Take Care of You

'Person or dragon, tiny or tall. Sometimes we stumble and sometimes we fall. Everyone gets hurt sometimes.'

Yes, the wonderfully poignant line above comes from the ever-charming Disney cartoon 'Doc McStuffins', a television show aimed at pre-schoolers about a little girl who is a doctor to toys. I learn a lot from Doc and her little gang of stuffed comrades, but today I want to talk about something that even I needed reminding; how to take care of myself.

Any parent will know that when you have a baby, you lose your marbles a bit and forget things. When it's a subsequent child, double that confusion and general uselessness! As I've mentioned on here before I have become slow, unorganised and my life has been thrown into chaos. Utter chaos. Where before my kitchen was spotless, my daughter's room tidy and my laundry neatly folded, I now forget to have a shower on occasion. 

But it's so much worse than this.mif you follow me on Twitter then you might've seen that I was recently quite unwell. From dehydration and exhaustion. Yes, the latter is to be expected with a breast-fed newborn who feeds loads, but the former? Well yes...you guessed it. I was forgetting to drink. I was so wrapped up in looking after my two little angels, showing them off, keeping up with my friends (most of which have one if any children) that I was forgetting to look after myself. It took me over a week to get my fluid levels back up to where they should be and the headaches and dizziness to stop. A one point it was so bad, I fell down the stairs at 5am with Bear in my arms. Both of us were unharmed for the most part; I sprained my ankle and knee...Bear thought it was great fun!

I'm twenty-seven years old, how can I forget to drink? Everyone asked me how I could possibly of just not been drinking? I really don't have a valid reason. My children just became too important for me to look after myself properly.

But that's the problem. My children are my world, I would literally do anything for them, like any other parent, but what use to them am I if I'm so unwell I can't do anything for them? If I can't play or read to them or even bend down to give them a bath?

That's why, taking care of yourself when you're pregnant, a new mother or an old hand at parenting, is so, so important. You are not neglecting your children by taking 'me' time. You're doing them a favour. I needed to learn the hard way that in order to put my children first, I had to come a close second!

Take care of you!

Clare

Braun Exactfit 5

If there's one thing when it comes to budgeting that I don't compromise on, it's my family's health. Recently my husband hadn't been feeling too well and had suffered from a couple of red spots in his eyes which we were advised could be a symptom of high blood pressure. As blood pressure problems run in his family he popped along to the doctor who told him it would be a good idea to keep an eye on it at home. Around the same time, I happened to be cruising through Twitter as I often do, and saw someone was on the look out for bloggers to review a blood-pressure monitor. Now, I'm not the sort to review just anything, but given that I was heavily pregnant and having my blood-pressure monitored also, I thought I'd volunteer us.

The closest either of us has ever come to using at-home medical equipment is Moo's asthma inhaler so this was all completely new territory for us. We were sent the Braun Exactfit 5 BP6200. At first I was really nervous about the thickness of the instruction manual, but on closer inspection I discovered it was in many languages, I guess it's true what they say; never judge a book by it's cover...or thickness, apparently.

Included is the monitor unit, batteries, two different sized arm cuffs, an instruction booklet and a little pouch to keep everything in safely.

The instructions were incredibly easy to follow and we were soon hooking it up to give it a whirl. It was a matter of seconds to connect the cuff and get it going to test ourselves. The unit saves your data (up to 60 measurements), and can save the info of up to two people (person A and person B) which is great for keeping an eye on your health, I thought this was especially true for pregnant women who are considered to be at risk for pre-eclampsia. The monitor also works out a daily average over 7 days which aids you in monitoring your blood-pressure figures. 

Here are my pros and cons...

Pros.

- Incredibly easy to use.

- Quick set-up.

- Multi-user function.

- Sleek and compact design.

- Large, digital screen that is brightly back-lit for ease of reading.

Cons.

- We both found that as the cuff inflated around our arms, it got much tighter than those used in hospitals and doctors surgeries though we wonder if this is because it is new out of the box rather than seen several years use at the hands if the NHS!

For further details visit www.braunbloodpressuremonitors.co.uk. Packed full of information and advice, Braun’s new microsite includes tips on controlling your blood pressure as well as practical videos showing you how to fit your Braun blood pressure monitor and understand your measurements. The Braun blood pressure monitors are available nationwide at selected Boots stores. Visit the microsite for further information.

The Braun Exactfit 5 BP6200 is priced at £99.99.

Clare

Please note we were sent this item for the purposes of review, however all findings and opinions are our own.

Quick and Easy Veggie Wraps

I'm not a vegetarian, in fact I regularly describe myself as a 'hardcore carnivore', it's not often you see me without meat at a meal.

That said, I do enjoy vegetables and a light lunch is just what is needed in these horrific temperatures, so here's my super quick and easy veggie lunch wrap...

To make four wraps, you'll need the following:
- Half an onion, sliced.
- Half a courgette, sliced.
- Handful of mushrooms, sliced.
- One red (or any colour) pepper, sliced.
- Houmous.
- Four tortilla wraps.
- Some oil or alternative.

I prefer to roast my veggies but for the meal pictured I actually fried them because I was baking at the same time. If you're roasting, I normally do it around 180c (gas mark 4?) for fifteen-twenty minutes. Pre-heat the oven and sprinkle your roasting pan with your oil (or I use that liquid Flora stuff) and toss in all of your sliced veggies. Slide your vegetables around a bit to make sure they've had a good coating, add more on top if you think it needs it. If I'm cooking for adults, I'll add some salt and pepper but if my toddler is eating, I just sprinkle some pepper lightly.

Once they're all cooked, take them off the heat and warm our tortillas as per your usual method or the instructions on the packet. Spread your houmous onto the middle of each wrap before adding your mixed veg on top. Now it's time to fold!! There's lots of ways you can fold a tortilla wrap, when making this dish I typically make four folds so that I end up with a rectangular parcel-type wrap. To finish it off, I pop it under the George Foreman grill for a minute to help keep it together before cutting. You could use a griddle pan as an alternative.

And that's it...really simple and basic but oh so tasty!!

Do you have any quick, go-to lunch choices?

Clare