How Sez Sees It

So some news... Following my last blog post I had a baby. In fact, my baby came a week after my last post. Sophie was born at 23+4 weeks (16 weeks early) and weighed about the same as a small bag of sugar (558g or 1lb 3oz).  My waters broke three days after my last blog post and I was rushed to hospital and then to another hospital due to lack of beds. I had my daughter about four days later and she had a nearly 17 week stay across two NICU/NNUs.  I can never thank the NHS enough for the care they gave us across that time. We had ups and downs as Sophie got stronger each day and eventually she came home on oxygen about four days before her original due date.  After six months Sophie was discharged from all additional oxygen and medication and has grown into a lively and brilliant little toddler. I am so proud of her and look forward to each day as it brings something new. She is always trying to get somewhere she shouldn't so she keeps me on my toes, but I wouldn't have i...

October is Baby Loss Awareness Month and there is one week in that time where there are a load of activities that take place. Unfortunately I wasn't ready to tell my story in full detail, but I feel like now is the right time to share my experience so that you know you are not alone and I can use it to come to terms with what I have been through. I guess you could all this personal written therapy to accompany the counselling I am currently receiving, but if this helps someone else then that can only be a good thing too. 2019 was another world L.P. Hartley said: "the past is a foreign country, they do things differently there" This is so true. When I think back to 2019 it was a totally different world. In early 2019 my husband and I sat down and decided that this was going to be the year that we got everything out of our systems so that we could start trying for a baby at the end of the year or in the new year. We followed our own advice and went to concerts, live tennis ...

This morning a colleague of mine told me of some people on Facebook who were saying that breastfeeding in public is wrong, dirty and distracting. Basically they didn't want to see it while they were in a restaurant. Every woman in my office (there are only women in my office), whether they had children or not, agreed that this was an insane view and that breastfeeding in public is normal, natural and absolutely right! Personally I have no baby yet, but when I do I want the option to be able to breastfeed in public. Here's a few key points why: You can't chain mothers up at home. They would go crazy if they were stuck in the house with a little baby all the time. They need to get out and interact with the world. Baby has to go too for obvious reasons, but when baby needs feeding, baby needs feeding.  This is a natural thing that has been happening since mammals evolved. We are not the only species to do this. Also, it is highly likely that those complaining were breas...