NOTD: Essie Where's My Chauffeur? & Beyond Cozy

One of my fave nailpolish combos at the moment is Essie's Where's My Chauffeur? accented with Beyond Cozy from the Essie 2012 Winter Collection. 

Where's My Chauffeur? is a light blue turquoise which I absolutely love.. I do think this colour is more of a spring-time colour though.

Beyond Cozy is a finely milled gold and silver glitter (I'd say more silver than gold). The glitter is insanely sparkly and the formula is great, I only needed 2 coats for full opacity!

I always think it's fun to accent my ring finger with a different colour. It confuses some people when they see it haha.

What about you? Do you like to paint one nail a different colour?

xx

Green Smoothie Recipe - Sweet Pear

My go-to green smoothie at the moment is this sweet pear smoothie. It's packed with fiber, folic acid, vitamin A and C which keeps you fuller for longer, helps your body heal quicker (yes please!) and provide extra support for your hair, skin and nails.

What you'll need

1x Pear (I love the green nashi pears!)

1x cup of Almond Milk (unsweetened)
1x cup of Spinach Leaves
1x Banana
1x tsp Ground Cinnamon

It's so sweet and yummy - I can't get enough! I can really tell a difference with my skin too after having one of these in the morning.



Are you into green smoothies? If so what's your fave recipe?

xx

1 Week Postpartum Update!

Welcome to my 1 week postpartum update! I will be making weekly postpartum updates for the first month, followed by monthly ones for the first year. So if you're interested in that kind of thing, stay tuned!

Recovery
I'm actually really shocked at how well I'm recovering from my c-section. I've been making an effort to move around as much as possible which I think has been helping a lot. I also think that the SRC recovery shorts have really contributed to my recovery as they hold everything in and provide my stomach and back with support (I started using these from day 3 onwards). I still need help getting up from bed/chairs and have stomach pains throughout the day but other than that I feel pretty much back to normal.



Body 
Overall I gained a total of 12kg (26.5lbs) during my pregnancy. At one week postpartum I have lost  8.9kg (19.6lbs) which I'm really happy about. I didn't think it would come off so quickly! I still have a belly but it seems to go down a little bit every day. Breastfeeding is definitely the main reason why the weight has been melting off, as I've been eating ALL the time! I'm hungrier now than when I was pregnant!



In terms of scaring, everything is healing really well, every day the scar looks better and better (as do my stretch marks). I've been putting Vitamin E Oil on every morning and Bio Oil on every night. I've also been using what's left of my Palmers Stretch Mark Cream. I've been making sure I drink lots of water (I keep a bottle in the nursery to drink while breastfeeding) as I know it helps skin elasticity, plus breastfeeding is super dehydrating.



Height/Weight
I'm not sure of James's exact weight at 1 week old but he last weighed in at 3.0kg (6.6lbs), which is less than what I'd like him to be but is still considered within a healthy range. I'm hoping all the feeding I've been doing this week has brought him back up to his birth weight (fingers-crossed). His height is currently 49cms (19.3 inches).

Routine
So I think we're starting to establish a bit of a routine with him. A typical day for us has been...

7am
Wakeup, Feed (>35 mins), Change Nappy, Eye-time with James, Have Breakfast
8am
James Naps, Laundry, Have a Shower and Get Ready
10am
Feed (>25 mins), Change Nappy, Housework, Blog/Relax
11am
Feed (>15 mins), Change Nappy, James Naps, Laundry, Have Lunch
1pm
Feed (>35 mins), Change Nappy, Play with James (including tummy time)
3pm
Go for a walk with James, Laundry
5pm
Feed James (>25 mins), Change Nappy, Bathtime and Massage for James
6pm
Feed James (>20 mins), Change Nappy, Read or Play music to James, James Naps,
Have Dinner, Blog/Relax, Housework
10pm
Feed James (>25 mins), Change Nappy, Feed again (>20 mins), James Sleeps
When James wakes (approx 1am)
Feed James (>35 mins), Change Nappy, James Sleeps
When James wakes (approx 5am)
Feed James (>10 mins), Change Nappy, James Sleeps



Sleeping
James is waking up about twice a night to feed, which I can't complain about at all! For the first 4-5 days I was getting about 4 hours sleep (total) and now it's more like 6 which is great. During the day I try to have at least one nap with him, where he falls asleep on my chest. It's such a special time for us.

Eating/Feeding
I'm exclusively breastfeeding at the moment. In the beginning, James was only feeding for about 5 minutes at a time and more frequently. He's now feeding for about 20-25 minutes, which I'm trying to extend out to 25-30 minutes.



Sizes
James is wearing size 00000 (Tiny Baby) for now, but I'm sure he'll grow out of these really quickly. We're using newborn modern cloth nappies with him, and he loves them.

Milestones
Smiling! Even though it's usually in his sleep or when he has gas! haha

I think that's about all I have to report for week one! I hope I covered everything :) Let me know if you have any questions.

xx

New Hair!

One of the first things that I wanted to do on maternity leave was to have my hair done. I didn't get anything drastic done.. just a "freshen up" as I'm trying to grow my hair long again.

Here's the before picture...



As you can see, my hair was getting really dry and frizzy at the ends and my re-growth was making my hair look a bit blah.

I was a bit worried they'd take too much off the ends (don't you hate when that happens)... but I'm really happy with how it's turned out. They always straighten my hair too which I love because it makes it so soft and smooth! If only I had the patience to straighten it at home.

You'll have to let me know what you think! :) 

xx