How big is my BABY

Pregnancy Calendar week by week
Chart your baby’s growth
Your Pregnancy Week by Week, 6th Edition (Your Pregnancy Series)

Newborn Advice
Swimming Lessons: I grow up around the beach and water, so was keen to get my daughter used to the water as soon as possible. I took her to a baby and Mum class when she was 5 months old, she loved the water, a lot of giggles and smiles, being in the water with her was amazing. I’d recommend to any Mum to get their babies used to the water at an early age.

Compared to some babies that don’t even make it into the water the first class, our teacher told me. The teachers show you how to hold and support your baby and eventually put their heads under the water, once their ready and comfortable in their surroundings.

A hoodie beach towel is a must as we spend so much time in the water, and especially when baby is small you need to make sure their heads and ears stay dry and warm. Fit Pregnancy for Dummies Heading Home with Your Newborn: From Birth to Reality

Real Birth Stories
To say the least I had one of the worst pregnancy’s ever, my doctor said it would get better, but it never did, I threw up morning, noon and night, and couldn’t get out of bed, I ended up in hospital on a drip because I couldn’t keep anything down. So to expect the delivery and birth to go any better was a joke to me, to top it off my doctor was away that weekend, and I had a new doctor who didn’t really know my history, but did an amazing job under the circumstances.

I’d been into the hospital on the Wednesday before with pains in the stomach, I stayed for a few hours so they could check everything was OK with the baby. I’d told the doctors all along that the baby was up to high in my chest, and was this normal, giving me heartburn from anything I tried to keep down.

I was back in hospital Saturday morning with contractions, I was told not to go to hospital till they were 10 minutes apart, but they went from 10 minutes apart down to 2-3 minutes apart on the way to hospital, which wasn’t a good sign either. Doctors in the end had to give me something to stop the contractions as my placenta had detached and was coming out first, which is what keeps the baby alive I now know, and didn’t realise how dangerous it all was at the time. I was rushed in for an emergency C-section, where I lost a lot of blood, but had a healthy beautiful baby girl.

It took me a lot longer to recover from the loose of blood more than anything and stayed in hospital for 6 days. Looking back now, if I had had an ultrasound those last few months the doctors could have seen the problem with my placenta, but everything turned out fine in the end, thank goodness, and I have a beautiful baby girl. The best advice I can give any first time mum is mention everything to your doctor and in the end if you feel that something is wrong get it checked out.

Please add your own real life stories, and share with other mum’s.