Natural & Organic Show

Last weekend we spent the weekend exhibiting at the Natural & Organic Show at Olympia.  We launched the newly rebranded and reformulated Muti Oils collection of mother and baby well being products.  It was so exciting the brilliant reception we got to all the products.  The Morning Sickness Relief stick created great interest and enthusiasm, many feeling it was a welcome change from ginger biscuits and sweets and was a great discreet way of coping with morning sickness when the mum to be didn’t want to announce the news yet!  Along with this everyone who has had a baby enthused about the Sitting Pretty Spray, memories of that “ouch” don’t fade, do they?

All Muti products are parabens free and are free of artificial fragrance, colourants, sodium laurel sulfate & DEA.  They contain organic, fair trade and sustainably grown ingredients.

Hello

My name’s Jenni and as I buy for MumsTheWord I thought I might give you a headsup on the new products that will soon be available. For followers of mumstheword who are looking for a new changing bag, you may have seen that we have had only one new Pink lining design, Butterflies with Pink, this season (it’s usually 3) but we will soon have 2 more new designs! Forest by Night, unlike its name, is a real pink girly one, and Red Bluebell, I know how can bluebells be red?, is a stripy pattern of red dots and red bluebells. The fantastically popular design Bottom of the Garden is also making a comeback in the Yummy Mummy bag in Minty Green and a new cream colour. the first cream ones are part of a limited edition with a unique lining designed by the winner of Pink Lining’s charity competition in aid of CLIC Sargent. These flew out last time and I’m sure won’t hang around this time. They arrive early april, let us know if you’d like to reserve one.

The Middle Wife

The ‘Middle Wife’            

 by an Anonymous 2nd grade teacher     

 I’ve been teaching now for about fifteen years. I have two kids myself, but the best birth story I know is the one I saw in my own second grade classroom a few years back.      When I was a kid, I loved show-and-tell. So I always have a few sessions with my students. It helps them get over shyness and usually, show-and-tell is pretty tame. Kids bring in pet  turtles, model airplanes, pictures of fish they catch, stuff like that.  And I never, ever place any boundaries or limitations on them. If they want to lug it in to school and talk about it, they’re welcome.  Well, one day this little girl, Erica, very bright, very outgoing kid, takes her turn and waddles up to the front of the class with a pillow stuffed under her sweater.  She holds up a snapshot of an infant.  ‘This is Luke, my baby brother, and I’m going to tell you about his  birthday.  First, Mom and Dad made him as a symbol  of their love, and then Dad put a seed in my Mom’s stomach, and Luke grew  in there. He ate for nine months through an umbrella cord.”  She’s standing there with her hands on  the pillow, and I’m trying not to laugh and wishing I had my camcorder with me. The kids are watching her in amazement.  “Then, about two Saturdays ago, my Mom  starts saying and going, ‘Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh!’  Erica puts a hand behind her  back and groans. ‘She walked around the house for, like an hour,’Oh, oh, oh!’ (Now this kid is doing a hysterical duck walk and groaning.)  ’My Dad called the middle wife .She delivers babies, but she doesn’t have a sign on the car like the Domino’s man. They got my Mom to lie down in bed like this.’ (Then Erica lies down with her back against the wall.)  ‘And then, pop! My Mom had this bag of  water she kept in there in case he got thirsty, and it just blew up and  spilled all over the bed, li ke psshhheew!’ (This kid has her legs spread  with her little hands miming water flowing away. It was too much!) ‘Then the middle wife starts saying ‘push, push,’ and ‘breathe, breathe. They started counting, but never even got past ten. Then, all of a sudden, out comes my brother. He was covered in yucky stuff that they all said it was from Mom’s play-center, (placenta) so there must be a lot of toys inside there.’  

 Then Erica stood up, took a big theatrical bow and returned to her seat. I’m sure I applauded the loudest. Ever since then, when it’s show-and-tell day, I bring my camcorder, just in case another ‘Middle Wife’ comes along. 

Me? Pregnancy cravings……never!

Well that’s what you thought before you became pregnant, but what’s the reality now?
Peanut butter and pickle sandwiches at midnight, dying for a chocolate brownie, cream and ice cream at 3am?

We all know that it’s not really you that needs, really, really needs, this particular food – it’s really that baby of yours that needs it right now! And if you can’t indulge hiom or her a little from time to time, who can you indulge?

Does pizza and salt and vinegar crisps do it for you, or is there another bizarre craving that you can’t live without?

There are lots of great things about having a baby

So what’s on your list of the things that make it great to have a baby? To give you a start, here are some of our suggestions:
1. You’re extra special – as soon as you announce you’re pregnant, you become the centre of attention.
2. Together Forever – many couples find that having a baby improves their relationship.
3. Take It Easy – pregnancy is a great excuse for putting your feet up and watching re-runs of 24, Lost and Friends
4. Talking Shop – planning what to buy for yourt new baby
5. Spend! Spend! Spend! – you’ve done the planning (see 4) so it’s time to hit the shops
6. Mum’s The Word – no not us, but having a baby can bring you closer to your mum. (We’d love to see you to help with 5 above!)
7.Fantastic Fun – time to act like a big kid again
8. New Friends – you’ll make lots of new friends who are going through the same experiences as you are.
9. When two becomes three – you’ve stopped being a couple and become a family
10. Cuddle Up! – nothing beats having a cuddle with your new baby

My bump looks much bigger/smaller than everyone else’s!

Your bump’s size is dictated by many things, not just the size of your baby.

Size can be affected by the way the baby is lying, how tall you are, whether or not it’s your first baby, how fit you are, and not least, how many babies you’re carrying!

Remember, not all babies are the ‘average size’, some are bigger and some are smaller, but they all tend to grow to ‘fit’ their mum’s pelvis.
So when you cast that envious sideways look at the mum’s neat bump next to you in the antenatal clinic, she might just be looking sideways at you and thinking ‘I wish my bump was that big.

How do you bond with your bump?

Dr Miriam Stoppard believes it is very important that a mum starts to bond with her baby while it is still in the womb qand she suggests a number of ways by which you can encourage this closeness between mother and unborn baby.

Just smile – the physical act of smiling releases your body’s own feel-good hormones, which then cross the placenta and help your baby feel calm and serene.

Talk to your bump – just for a few minutes every day. By 6 months, your baby can distinguish your voice, her heart rate slows down when she hears you speak, and she’ll be able to recognise your voice after birth.

Massage your bump – use a quailty stretch mark oil or cream to massage your bump in a circular motion and not only can you help to keep stretch marks at bay, but the massage motion promotes relaxation and calming hormones will be released which in turn can help soothe your baby.

Let us know if you have tried any of these ideas, and did they work for you?

How can I feel less tired?

Unfortunately, there is no ‘cure’ for tiredness when you have a new baby, but these few tips may help you to feel a little more rested.
1. Sleep or rest when your baby does – even if it is mid-morning. Put your mobile on silent and ignore the doorbell. Cat-naps like this will really help top up your energy levels.
2. Be realistic about what you can achieve. You are not Wonder Woman or the Bionic Woman, so you can’t do everything today – spread it out in more easily manageable tasks.
3. Accept all offers of help. Absolutely! Cooking, cleaning, ironing (especially ironing!!) – the more practical help you can get in the early days the better.
4. Stop ironing or at least cut down! Not everything needs to be ironed (plus see 2. above).
5. Eat well – soups, baked potatoes, sandwiches and fresh fruit will help to keep your blood sugar steady, stabilise your mood and help maintain your energy levels.

What worked for you? Any of the above or something completely different? Let us know!

Morning Sickness – what worked for you?

Are you one of the 90% of women who have suffered or are suffering from morning sickness during your pregnancy?
If you are, which remedy did you find worked the best in either ‘curing’ or alleviating the symptoms?
On the MumsTheWord website, we have 14 alternative morning sickness remedies from which you can choose, and although we know which one we sell the most of, (Muti’s Morning Sickness Relief Stick), we don’t know how effective the remedies are.
So please help your fellow sufferers out and let them know which remedy worked best for you

Help! My best friend’s become an Earth Mother

While fully embracing the environmental green ideal is great for both a baby and the environment, being told all the time what you should or shouldn’t be eating, wearing, dressing your new baby in can become rather intense after a while.

You may not have the time, money or inclination to spend hours preparing organic meals or washing terry nappies and it may be that you simply found breastfeeding difficult or have made the switch over to bottle-feeding somewhat earlier than she intends to.

So how do cope with the situation before it gets out of hand and jeophardises your friendship? Arguing will not work, because in this case she is the “expert”. You don’t have to justify your position to her, but simply explain it – it’s not a question of right and wrong but more about what your individual circumstances dictate or will allow.

Have you been in a situation where different baby rearing methods have threatened to drive you and a friend apart? If so, were you able to resolve the problem?