Mai-maze (More Maisy)

Merry Christmas us...!

We have just discovered the Maisy Mouse website (or Mai-maze as my daughter now calls it), I noticed a URL on the back of a new Maisy book (Maisy's Christmas Day, see below), and had a look straight away. I have to say if you are a fan of Maisy it is a great site. For children there are 3 episodes of Maisy to watch, 3 books to read, games to play, a section about each character, and a picture of each one to print out and colour in. There is also a section for grown ups where you can join the Maisy club for birthday ideas & an e-card, and a section of information for teachers.
So, thank you very much Lucy Cousins, you have made our Christmas!

Top 5 baby books at 14 months

As my daughter reached for the same book she always does, I realised that as she is growing up she is starting too have firm favourites in the book department. She used to go through phases of liking different books week by week, we could tell by her ability to pay attention to the whole book or not, and so we used to cycle through them all quite regularly. I was using a coffee table as a sort of book table, where she could stand and go through her books, now though, I have them standing upright in between the arms of an armchair, as if it were a bookshelf (something we need I think). So here are her top 5 board books:

1) Sweet Dreams Maisy (I am only including 1 of the 5 Maisy books that she loves)
2) My Little Ducklings Tab Book
3) Moomin's Little Book Of Numbers
4) Happy Dog Sad Dog
5) Clap Your Hands

A special mention also goes to:
The Very Hungry Caterpillar [Board Book]
and any That's Not My.... Osbourne books:
That's Not My Monkey

Here is an Amazon link to each book, and a little bit about why it features in her top 5:

1) Sweet Dreams Maisy: this was given to us by the HV at our 8 month check, in a Bookstart bag. I think that my daughter likes it so much because it includes her favourite words (star, sky, up) and in it Maisy sings "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to her panda, which means the lucky reader also gets to sing. I was impressed that she seems to be able to follow the story, and it has a nice balance of words to pictures, not too simple, not too complex. If I leave a gap at certain words my daughter makes a sound approaching the sound of the word, which is very sweet indeed.


2) My Mum bought my daughter this book from Birdworld where we went for her 1st birthday. I personally get a bit fed up reading it, because she doesn't like to read the story (which includes some poor rhyming) and would rather turns the pages backwards and forwards pointing at fish. Still, each to their own, and she LOVES it.


3) We bought this on a recent trip to the Tate Modern. I wasn't sure whether my daughter would like Moomins, not knowing what/who they are, but she has taken to this book very well, and can name each of the items that the Moomins are counting. I like this book because the items being counted are spread over 2 pages, but mixed together not one per side, if that makes sense? It is the first time I have seen this in a counting book, and I think it makes it more interesting. For example, there are a couple of Moomins with 3 umbrellas between them, being rained on by 4 clouds.


4) A very simple book, showing opposites. It has bright backgrounds, and simple drawings. I like the little touches such as the flies buzzing around the dirty dog, and the sad ears on the sad dog. My daughter really likes counting all of the dogs on the back page showing each of the dogs from the previous pages "lots of dogs". We have to read this book several times a day, I think it has helped her understanding of hot and cold, and she can also now say "hair" with an understanding of what it is, thanks to hairy dog.


5) When I first looked in this book I though "what a swizz". It is basically the song "if you're happy and you know it clap your hands" with teddy bears doing the actions (including actions I haven't heard before such as "touch your nose", "touch the sky" & "turn around") but, my daughter loves it. She calls it "happy happy" and she can do most of the actions, although turning around took a while to master. she even sings "I am" when you get to the last verse. So this has changed my opinion of the book, I just wish it wasn't so long!

The return of the runny nose

The runny nose has returned today, after one whole week off (two weeks on before that.. been on and off since she turned a year old, and I suppose it turned into winter..).

So the question of the day (in my house at least) is:

Is the new snot caused by:

a) a reaction to her immunisations (not mentioned as a symptom on NHS sheet)
b) teething (also has one bright pink cheek)
c) a new cold (that is what it was a week ago)

Answers on a postcard to: The Snot Fairy, 8 Tissue Lane, Bogeyton, AT2 Sh00
It makes me glad that she is such a little mimic, as she does blow through her nose when I hold a tissue to her face and blow through my nose. Although I do have to catch her first, as if she sees a tissue she runs away..

We did manage a nice long dog walk at Wimbledon Common today, which looked very pretty in the snow.

The Windmill on Wimbledon Common

Dog walking with a baby

We have a six and a half year old Dalmatian called Jack, who we have had since he was a puppy. He needs a substantial walk each day, and so I have been trying to find the ideal walk in South West London for a big bouncy dog (with a naughty streak when it comes to discarded food) and a baby in a pram. I have considered a baby carrier on and off, but have yet to find the right one, that I could easily use on my own and that my daughter would be happy in.

The equipment:
Bugaboo Gecko in red (bargain from ebay - an old model, the Maclaren doesn't cope too well with rough ground such as grass)
Hunter Unisex-Adult Hunter Original Tall Wellington Boot in blue
Dog Poop Bags Degradable x 250 in black.

The contenders: Tooting Bec Common, Wimbledon Common, Streatham Common & Norwood Grove.


Tooting Bec Common

There are two busy roads that run through this common, and a main road the runs around the edge. For this reason Tooting Bec is the least ideal place to walk my dog. He would happily run across a road if he thought that there was even a small crumb of food on the other side. He is an idiot. It does however offer many flat paths for the pram, and a cafe with outdoor seating that is often full of dog walkers, and people with young children.

Wimbledon Common

In the search for a common with less roads we went out to Wimbledon. This is a great walking place for all of us, the only disadvantage is the distance from our house, and the number of picnics in the summer holidays. There is a car park by the Windmill, on Windmill Road, where you can pretty much open the boot and let the dog straight out into a field. Even if I go here every day of the week I can choose a different route to walk, which helps to keep the dog interested. Some days we visit the lake and look at the ducks, on freezing days we head straight up a long path and back again. They don't have many dog poo bins here, which is a shame, and I am often pushing the pram through poo...


Streatham Common & Norwood Grove

This is much nearer to us, and if you continue from Streatham Common into Norwood Grove gives a good walking area which is fenced in, hurrah! It is very muddy up there at the slightest drop of rain, which can make it hard going with the pram, but you do get excellent views. The car park now shuts at 3.30pm though, which is not so useful..

Bathtime-splashtime

Staring:

Me as "The Killjoy" (One who spoils the enthusiasm or fun of others)
My daughter as "Others" (the one full of enthusiasm and fun)

So, ever since my daughter has been able to sit up by herself in the bath she has loved to splash, who wouldn't? It is something that we have merrily encouraged. I often find myself saying "bath time, splash splash splash". But lately she has started splashing with such "enthusiasm" that the whole bathroom is soaked and I end up covered in as much water as she does. I started trying to calm it down with "ok, that's enough now" and quickly ramped it up to "STOOOOOOP NOOOOW!!!" Ok, maybe not that far. I have tried: ignoring her, distracting her with toys, distracting her with songs, distracting her with a pile of bubbles, asking her to kick her legs instead, brushing her teeth, washing her hair, splashing back, telling her to stop, asking her to stop, pleading with her to stop, you get the picture. I am truly stuck as to how to limit this splashing to a more acceptable level (that being one where the room and my clothes are a little dryer, and I can reach in to lift her out without getting a face full of water).
But then I wonder whether I am just being a killjoy, and I should just let her splash away, after all the bathroom is meant to get wet, and my clothes will dry.

Baby Pictures

I have recently been for a session at a portrait studio to get some less blurry photos of my daughter. This isn't the sort of thing I would usually do, and when my husband couldn't come I wasn't too bothered as it meant I didn't have to be in the photos either... I was talked into it at the Baby Show at Earls Court in October, and for a fee of £10 (including a photo in a frame) and a promise that it was a no obligation session I thought "why not?". I was expecting to be talked into buying more photos, but I thought if they were good then it might be worth it. I was prepared for the ridiculous prices, but we all think our children are beautiful, right? I have to say, despite the talk of no obligation, I don't think you could walk away without buying anything.
The session itself was brilliant fun. They were really good at working with a child, and spent over an hour taking pictures in different outfits and with different props. When we had finished we went into a small room with a large TV and watched a slide show of over 120 photos, which an assistant had been compiling whilst the session was happening. I had to decide whether to buy any or all of them there and then. I think they fully expect you to want to buy a CD of all of the photos of the session, but at £295 this did seem a bit expensive. The individual prints are priced at £40, possibly to make the CD seem like the better deal, and don't include the copyright to the images. However, after phoning my husband, we decided to buy 3 prints, and leave it at that. The lady then explained in great detail that "the reason people love us is that we do a CD of all the images, then you can buy your own prints anywhere" and that I could make a calendar for family and friends, or a mug, or a mousemat.. But I stuck to the 3 prints, paid for them and was just about to leave, when she said I could still buy the CD if I change my mind, for £200. Now, the question is, have I changed my mind?...

Amazon Associates

I have decided to join Amazon Associates, as I use Amazon a great deal, and I find it very useful for buying toys, books, DVDs etc. It means that I can make links on my blog to the things that I have bought. If you want to look at them, just click, and if you want to buy them, even better. But if you don't then feel free to ignore them entirely :)
For example, recently we have bought Quack Quack Maisy, which is a buggy book showing different animals on each page, and the sounds they make. My daughter loves it, and now does a cracking horse impression..

Need 5 mins to yourself? Or: I have created a monster!

We recently discovered the "songs" page on the cbeebies website. This was because my daughter was singing parts of the "Hey Monkey" song from Boogie Beebies on a loop, so I thought we might as well find out the words. Little did I know this would mean we had to watch the song on a loop, possibly up to a million times a day. We branched out to Tom's Song and MoMo's song from Show Me Show Me occasionally, and we sometimes watched 3rd & Bird. This gave me the idea of buying a DVD of the programmes and copying them onto my computer, so that we could watch them at any time, and could transfer them to phones/ipad for mobile watching. I might even get 5 minutes to myself for a nice hot cup of tea. I had a look on Amazon, and was surprised but pleased to find a selection of Boogie Beebies DVDs. I choose the one with "Hey Monkey" on, of course, for £2.97. Boogie Beebies - Your Chance To Dance! [DVD] I also decided to get a cbeebies DVD, with a selection of programmes, and found one for £3.99.
The Cbeebies: Discover and Do [DVD] contains the following episodes.
Get Squiggling – Bloodhound
Tikkabilla – Dressing Up & Houses
Teletubbies – Bubble Pictures
Balamory – Treasure Hunt
Charlie and Lola – I wish I could draw exactly like you
Boogie Beebies – Building
Tweenies – Growing Bulbs
Big Cook Little Cook – Explorer
Fimbles – Cardboard Box
I must admit that we hadn't watched Tikkabilla, Tweenies or Fimbles, and that my daughter shows little interest in Charlie and Lola, but I thought there were enough programmes on it that would interest her.

Watching Space Walking for the first time on the iPad, when all was calm...

So far today we have watched Balamory 20 times (mostly to about 2 minutes in), and the intro to most of the other episodes. From the Boogie Beebies DVD we have watched each dance once, and the Ocean Motion dance around 30 times (no interest in Hey Monkey anymore..). But, I think I have created a monster, she now stands at the iPad shouting "ory" (for Balamory) or FISH (For Ocean Motion) repeatedly... I have not had a cup of tea...

Wacky Warehouse

It feels like we have been stuck inside, except for very brisk dog walking, for weeks, with all the snow, cold weather and colds. Today I thought I would take my daughter to the Wacky Warehouse that we are always driving past in Colliers Wood. I had a look on their website, and it looked quite inviting. There was a promise of coffee, magazines and newspapers in a "coffee corner" (this costs an extra 50p, compared to one which doesn't have the coffee lounge). The website also states that "there's a safe toddler area with squishy, squashy shapes for little-ones" what more could you want? We ate our breakfast, had a few quick rounds of singing along with the songs on the cbeebies website, dressed for action and set out on our journey.
When we arrived it looked like the play area was upstairs (via one very dirty lift), so up we went. The lady behind the counter was very friendly. There weren't any arts and crafts on, but there was going to be a Christmas party at 12 which she asked if we would like to be part of, but I didn't think we would last that long as it was only 10am. The price of entry was £3, which included a drink & biscuit, and was valid until 3pm. The coffee turned out to be a serve yourself sachet of Kenco (decaf!! but drinkable) and there were indeed biscuits, and 2 kinds of squash. So far so good. I thought I would save my coffee for later, and get on with some play time.
The toddler area was about 3meters x 8meters, a third of which was a ball pool with a slide, and 2 thirds was just empty space. The squshy squashy shapes were in the form of a large padded rocking lion and frog. There was also a mirror. Oh! I thought, how are we going to make this last for more than 10 minutes? There were about 8 other children in the play centre, which was lucky, as it meant the ball pool was mostly empty, I think we managed about 15 minutes, of sitting on the lion and playing in the ball pool before going for a coffee and squash break (and yes a small biscuit...). Fueled up on E numbers, we went back for round two, another 10 mins in the ball pool, before other children started jumping in, which made the balls move around like a tide overwhelming my daughter a little (what do I know, it was both of our first times in a ball pool) anxious not to be too overprotective I let her ride it our  for a short while before climbing back out with her. We then broke the rules by going into the (empty) over-5 area, which had far more squishy squashy shapes, making me wonder whether the over-5 part was actually in the levels above our heads.
All in all, I would give it 3 out of 5. Most of those points are because my daughter clearly had an excellent time. The lost points are for a) size and b) size (you really wouldn't want to be there when it was busy). I think we will try Eddie Catz next time to compare.

In the ball pool.

Nice things: Moccis

I recently bought my daughter some little slippers from Twist in Balham, which I have had my eye on since they moved into their new shop. She was getting cold feet in just socks, but I didn't want her wearing her shoes all of the time, as they aren't really suitable for indoor play. They cost £18, so I was more than slightly nervous as to whether they would actually stay on (seeing as she pulls socks off all of the time). But, I can safely say that, after 2 weeks, she has only pulled one of them off once, and her feet are lovely and warm! She has even learnt to say slipper, and penguin (they have cute penguins on the toes). It seems we bought them at just the right time to beat the recent cold snap. They are from a company called Moccis, I have put a link on the right. I was even more excited today to discover that they do adult sizes, and my slippers have got holes in the back... Very tempting.. They are basically thick socks in a variety of designs with washable leather stitched on to make the soles, like moccasins. The leather means that they don't slip, so my daughter is able to walk (and run..) around like usual. I was not surprised to read on their website that they had been designed by the mummy of a toddler! Anyway, we find them the perfect answer to cold toddler feet this winter.

Still able to cause mayhem in new slippers

Good news

The good news is: that is all of the difficult aspects of my pregnancy and my daughter's reflux blogged about. Now I can write about all of the good things!

In the 13 life-changing months since my daughter was born, we have had fun: moving to London, making great new friends, walking the dog on Tooting Bec, Streatham and Wimbledon commons, going on holiday to Malta, France and Barcelona, joining a weekly Monkey Music class, visiting the Natural History Museum, the Tate Modern and the baby show at Earls Court, and drinking an awful lot of coffee.

More to come x

Baby Reflux

My daughter has reflux. I know all babies are sick to some extent, but I had never before heard of babies suffering as terribly as mine did in the early months.
I am certain she has had it since birth. I was in labour for 3 days before she was born, in the end by emergency forceps delivery. She had mucus in her mouth and nose for the first day or so, which the midwife told me was common, but was stopping her from feeding. In the middle of her first night she woke hungry, and I fed her, but half way through she started crying. I asked the midwife what I should do, I was worried, she was still mouthing, but wouldn't feed. The midwife told me she must have done a poo (which she hadn't) and left again. I just felt like I was failing at breastfeeding already.
The first week was incredibly hard. She didn't sleep, she would scream if we laid her down in her moses basket, and she was sick all of the time, even hours after feeding. I couldn't latch her on properly and ended up in so much pain that my milk was not coming through. The midwife came to "show me how it is done" and left unsatisfied, even she couldn't get my baby to latch on. She wrote in my notes that my daughter was fussing. She was loosing too much weight and I was told to top up her feeds with a syringe of milk. I decided after a week that I would have to bottle feed, and, after being made to feel like a murderer when I told my midwife, felt like a weight was lifted and moved to formula. (as a foot note, contrary to the government's caution on formula feeding; my baby didn't have any infections during her first year, and many of my friends who did breastfeed for 6 months have had ill babies). I had to hold her upright 24hours a day. This meant sitting in a bed propped up by pillows on all sides, wide awake, scared stiff that I was going to drop her if I slept. She cried if you fed her and cried if you didn't feed her, it was a horrible vicious circle. My health visitor told me she was just a cry-y baby, and that it was ok to leave her to cry. She brought me a leaflet on crying babies, and told me I had post natal depression when I cried. I was fairly certain that, whilst it was a depressing situation, I wasn't actually depressed. This lasted for 3 weeks, until at 3am one night, I read a chapter in the Gina Ford Contented Little Baby book, on reflux.(The New Contented Little Baby Book: The Secret to Calm and Confident Parenting) It described my daughter exactly, but best of all, said it could be treated. My hands were shaking as I held my mobile waiting for the doctors surgery to open, so I could ring and get an appointment for that day.
By this point she was gaining weight (through me staying awake, sometimes for 3 days in a row, feeding every half hour, with her only sleeping upright in my arms, for around 20 mins a time), so I was concerned that the doctor would just send me home. I was careful not to mention that I had read about reflux, instead I just described her symptoms and let the doctor tell me. She prescribed infant gaviscon, I thought it would be our saviour. I rushed to the chemist, but they had just that minute closed for an hour's lunch, during which time they would not dispense. I couldn't bare another minute without some help for my baby and in despair I sat on the floor and cried my eyes out. I must have looked a total state, as one of the men behind the counter took my prescription and dispensed it for me anyway.
The first time I added it to my daughter's bottle, she lasted 4 hours before her next feed, instead of 30 mins to an hour. She even had a small sleep in her carseat. It was then that it occurred to me that the only times she ever actually slept, she was in her carseat, so that night I left her in her seat next to my bed, and she slept for a few hours for the first time. I thought we were finally making some headway, but felt terrible that she was in a carseat (she actually slept in it positioned in her cot for 6 months, my doctor said it was better for her to sleep at all than never sleep, and that it wasn't possible for me to hold her all of the time, so needs must). This all lasted for a week, when it seems the effect of the gaviscon wore off, and we were back to hourly feeding/waking. The doctor referred us to the children's hospital (this took 6 weeks). I spent my time researching reflux on the internet. I bought a steep wedge & sleep positioner, again thinking it might just save us, but again was disappointed as my daughter would not sleep in it. We decided to see a cranial osteopath. After 3 weeks (6 sessions) with the osteopath, during which time my daughter got worse, he said to me "there is nothing more I can do", my heart sank.
At 10 weeks old the specialist at the children's hospital told us that our daughter's oesophagus was burnt from the acid, and that even with ranitidine and domperidone (which we had now been prescribed) it would take around 6 weeks for her to recover from the burns. In some ways it was helpful to know that there was a reason why she was crying so much, on the other hand this seemed like an endless amount of time. He told us to start weaning at 17 weeks, and that she would be totally recovered by 6 months old. At 13 months, she still has some reflux symptoms.
I think she made the most recovery between 6-8 months, but sleep has always been an issue, as she has always woken for milk in the night. She still has terrible hiccups everyday, and discomfort when eating/drinking.

Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction - SPD

I had SPD during my pregnancy, I had never even heard of this before so I didn't know what to expect. From what I have gathered it seems that the symptoms vary from person to person, and can be quite mild. I have heard of people starting to suffer from it at 16 weeks, and others just before birth. For me the symptoms built up quite gradually, from a bit of discomfort in the early months, to using crutches, to being confined to a sofa on my side in the final weeks. I only feel that I fully recovered about 6 months after my daughter was born (luckily a pram makes a pretty good walking frame) I measure recovered as being able to walk a good distance without having to lean on something, and without suffering for it the next day.
I started to have lower back and hip pain at around 26 weeks, I was finding it hard to walk the dog so I told my doctor, who referred me to a physiotherapist (this took 8 weeks). I didn't think too much of it, as I knew that you could get a sore back during pregnancy, and the baby had been lying sideways causing me to over compensate in order to balance. What I didn't realise was how bad it could get.
At 32 weeks I went back to work, after the summer holidays, I found that it was suddenly very difficult to walk the distance between my classroom and the staff room. Over the weekend I cleaned the windows, this meant I stupidly stood on a ladder with one foot and on the windowsill with the other. The result was that my pelvis felt like it was splitting apart. I managed to get from my car into the front door at work the following Monday, before they sent me home, that was the last time I went to work.
The pain was best described as feeling like I had been kicked by a horse (between the legs), it was a sharp pain, at times, and a very very dull ache that never went. It left me feeling exhausted, sick and unable to move at more than a snail's pace.
I saw a different midwife for every single one of my appointments, and each of them had a different opinion on what I should do, some said I would be induced early, others said this would make it worse. They all agreed that the only cure was to have the baby & not be pregnant. The doctor wanted me to take codeine for the pain, but I really couldn't justify the possible side effects, so I only took it when I really couldn't bear it.
Luckily, I already had a physiotherapy appointment lined up, as it would have taken a further 8 weeks for one to come through. The physiotherapist was lovely, but basically could do little for me for fear of making it worse. She gave me crutches and a support belt and tubigrip and asked to see me in 4 weeks. The crutches meant I could move a bit faster, but it was still incredibly painful.
I am very lucky to have an amazing Mum and Step-Mum to help me out, and shake me out of the depression that I was sinking into. The first came over from France to help finish the cleaning/decorating of the baby's room, and the second paid for me to see a chiropractor. 
The chiropractor gave me 2 more support belts to try, which gave a firmer support to my hip and pelvis. She also had a magic table which meant I could lie on my front with my bump poking through a hole, this was total bliss! She did help me to feel a bit better, and gave me little exercises to do, and I am glad I went.
Mostly, I wish I had taken more care in the early stages of pregnancy, especially when I started to feel pain. I really should not have cleaned the bedroom windows, but I didn't feel like it was a task that was beyond me.

Hyperemesis Gravidarum (Morning sickness..)

It was Friday lunchtime on the 6th week of being pregnant that I started to feel a bit sick.

I found myself having to sit down, as if the room was spinning and I could stop it somehow. I thought "Ah ha, I had better buy some ginger biscuits!". So, off I went to Somerfield, stocking up on ginger beer, ginger biscuits and ginger crackers. If truth be told I was actually quite excited about having real-life pregnancy symptoms. By the following Tuesday I was waking up several times a night throwing up, so I went to the doctor.
They assumed I must have a urine or kidney infection as I was being sick with such force, but the results of the test that they sent off were negative (they gave me antibiotics to take whilst I was waiting 3 days for the results). I had 2 days off work, and went back in on the Thursday, but I was still being sick and had to go home. I went back to the doctor, as by this point I could not eat a thing. They gave me Metoclopramide and a sick note stating 'hyperemesis gravidarum' as the reason for absence. This was the first time I had ever hear of such a thing. I had so much work to do, and felt a real pressure to be at work: this probably stressed me out more than not being able to cope with feeling so sick and weak.
I really hoped the drugs would work, but I found they had little effect. I managed 4 days back at work, before being signed off for a further week, which ended up being 4 weeks in bed, barely able to sip water.  I tried every ginger product under the sun, I tried wrist bands, preggypops, dry crackers, biscuits. I ended up with a daily diet of: a frusili bar, a carton of ribena and a lucozade energy sweet. I felt so miserable, but kept thinking it would pass by 12 weeks.
At 10 weeks we went out for a friend's birthday, I ate a few bits of bread. This was a mistake, as I threw them up in the toilet, and in the street on the way back to the car, in full view of a glass-fronted restaurant. I had to tell everyone I knew (including my boss) that I was pregnant, as it was quite obvious that I was very sick, and I lost 1st in weight.
I was given a variety of other drugs to try, but they made me very drowsy, so I ended up sticking with the metoclopramide. At 12 weeks, I was still very sick, at 14 weeks I went back to work, and felt dreadful. at 16 weeks I was still being sick. All the way to 26 weeks.
Apart from wondering how it is that your own body could make you so ill, and whether it was all worth it, I felt like other people were judging me. Everyone had an opinion, my boss, friends, family. People would say "oh yeah, I had morning sickness, you just need ginger biscuits" or "X had morning sickness and they still worked". My midwife told me to eat a bowl of cereal in the middle of the night, not listening when I said I actually couldn't eat anything at all. It was hard to describe to people how hyperemesis is different to morning sickness, and how disabling it was, as they already had an opinion about how it is just part of a normal pregnancy. I felt like they must think I was a weak person for not being able to cope with something so basic a part of pregnancy. I think this is because people don't talk about how bad it can get. I had never even heard of it myself, and would probably have had the same attitude.
Maybe I shouldn't have been so worried about what other people thought of me. I know that some people get it much worse, and much longer that I had it, and even need to stay in hospital. I just wanted to share my experience, as it is the sort of information I was looking for when I was pregnant.