Shopaholic? Me?

I think society has just gone a step too far. In the past, when a baby was born, the dad gave out montecristo cigars to everyone he came across. It was a way of celebration and letting everyone know of the latest addition. Now, its obsolete. What do we do? Er I think we sent out emails and mms with a picture of our babies. Admittedly everyone all over the world saw our kids within minutes of their being born but the cigars we bought… they went stale!

Pampers have come out with a new update to their active fit nappy. I only realised after actually returning a pack.

I bought a pack and found that the padding in the nappy ends 2/3rd up and not all the way to the top. I assumed it was a flaw in the nappy but the whole bag was like that, so I returned them to the store for an exchange. They exchanged them but this pack was faulty (or so I thought too) but I was desperately short of nappies and as I had the next size up too, I opened that thinking that maybe they just had a faulty batch. And it also was the same. So it set me thinking and I called customer service. Great customer service. They said that mums (not me) wanted thinner nappies (I like the cushioning as when they fall on their bottoms, they hurt less) and they came up with a new nappy. They suggested I tried it and suggested I moved down a size. A smaller size actually was useful. My twins are 9 kilos and the smaller nappy up to 9 kilos was a better fit. And they really hold – I left them a whole day in a nappy and it took it. I was impressed. What I don’t like is that it all gathers at the base of the nappy. But it does actually work.

I would say it is highly recommended for absorbency but it gets very heavy quite quickly. I would score it 7/10.

I think I just might get myself some disability insurance, because recently I have had such lack of sleep that I guess it is only a matter of time before I end up in a serious accident, as I cannot afford to not be able to have someone take over. As every mum knows, you have to keep going no matter what. I am surprised how many mums seem to do it with such style, whereas I feel like I cannot keep up. I seriously don’t feel like a yummy mummy but more like a slummy mummy!

As a shopaholic, it is a huge disgrace… but there you have it – the plain honest exhausted truth!

After my mum’s disability appeal to prove that she needed disability status, I bought her this sticker (see below). I thought it lightened the situation and it put a smile on her face. The reality is that the disadvantages of being disabled are horrific. I push my twins around in a double buggy that is roughly the width of a wheelchair, and despite legislation, I still find it hard to navigate around the shops. This has meant that a number of shops will not be seeing my money and that I have actually increased my online shopping. The fact is that I have the pushchair for a few years but people in wheelchairs are generally in them for life!

Breast milk is the best colon cleanser ever. The babies poop like there is no tomorrow. It is liquid and actually quite sweet smelling but it gets everywhere. I am just so grateful that modern nappies are so good. I think back to when my brothers were babies and we had to alternate between disposables and cloth as the disposables were prone to giving them rashes. Now we avoid cloth because they are less efficient and more likely than the new disposables to give babies rashes. And when someone recently asked why I did not use reusables, I simply shuddered. Can you imagine the washing load with twins!! ARGH!!

I was reading prenatalvitamins.org and it made me realise that when I was pregnant I was taking loads of care of myself taking folic acid and iron and now I’m not. It’s no wonder that I am exhausted (lack of iron?), have weak nails (lack of calcium?) and feeling under the weather, especially considering that I am still breastfeeding 2 babies. I ought to pull myself together and pop to a pharmacy and pick up some multivitamins. If only I had the energy. Perhaps I’ll buy some from Boots online

One thing I know for sure, after changing my millionth nappy, is that breastfed babies will never ever need colonix, which is why I am going review nappies for you!

The 2 main leading brands for disposable nappies are Huggies and Pampers. And because I have twins and therefore no time… I am not going anywhere near reusables. Each brand has different varieties and as I use nappies I will update this post accordingly.

• PAMPERS New Baby – My hubby particularly liked this nappy. It kept the soft wet pooh away from the babies skin with its mexx net. I thought it was reasonably absorbent and had only a few occasional leaks.
• PAMPERS Active Fit – This is meant to give flexibility to your little one who is trying out their moves. I was happy with this nappy as had nearly no leaks. It kept baby dry and was able to last long.
• PAMPERS Simply Dry- This was a terrible nappy. I needed to change the babies nappy every time they wet or dirtied it as they were so unhappy. And if you attempted to leave for a second go.. it leaked! Definitely one to avoid.
• PAMPERS Easy Up Pants – They work well as they can be used to get your little one used to the idea of pants and far better than a regular nappy.
• PAMPERS Feel and Learn – I prefer these to the Easy Up as they do the same thing but also help with toilet training. Mind you, you pay extra for the wet feel and it does mean you change more often. However with my eldest, he was potty trained in no time at all. I am sure these helped loads.
• PAMPERS Baby Dry – It is meant to last up to 12 hours… but I kept having leaks through the night on both babies. In fact I gave up using the packet half way through. Mind you, they were better than Simply Dry.
• HUGGIES Preemies – I could not find them when I needed them, so I cannot review. My apologies. I know they are not easy to come by though! I now know you can get them from Mothercare or from some hospitals.
• HUGGIES New Born – Unlike my husband, I prefered these to the Pampers New Baby. They worked well and if put on properly you don’t have many leaks as it is very absorbant. You need to put on properly as the babies are so tiny though.
• HUGGIES Natural Fit – I like these nappies. Don’t tend to have leaks. Come with a Disney Design (Winnie the Pooh) and can last all night easily.
• HUGGIES Super Dry – These are on par with the Natural Fit though I think I prefer the Natural Fit. But these are great for the night.
• HUGGIES Little Walkers – Pant style nappies. You can use them both like a nappy or like pants. Great for whatever situation you are in and helps prepare your baby for pant. I like that you can use it like a nappy for when your toddler misbehaves!!
• HUGGIES Little Swimmers – Great looking nappy that works for swimming. Does not gain get inflamed with water and holds “accidents” in. There are different designs and sizes. Meant to be use once but I have actually washed a non dirty one and used again! The bets bit of all is you can buy singles as well as packs.
• HUGGIES Pull Ups – These pull ups work like pants and come in Male and Female variants. There are different Disney designs which works well as the kids are beginning to recognise characters. They also have the facility to open and re-close from the side if needed. They also have little character marks that disappear when the nappy gets wet.
• HUGGIES Pull Ups Night Time – These are meant to be like the regular pull ups but more absorbant. I have not yet tested these.
• TESCO Newborn – Very similar to Pampers New Born. Has the mexx net and works pretty much the same but at a lower cost.
• TESCO Easy Fit – Pant like nappy. Pretty impressive absorbancy. Highly recommended.
• TESCO Super Fit – Not tested.
• TESCO Baby Essentials -Not tested.
• Boots Newborn – Not particularly reliable. Better to stick with another brand.

My current favourite to date is HUGGIES!

I was looking at some baby shower invitations and really regretted not having a baby shower for the twins. The truth is I was so tired, there was no way I could organize it. I barely managed their Christening, let alone adding the baby shower. You would think that as it was prior to the babies being born, I could have managed it. However I think I was just as tired as I am now. On the plus side, I did actually manage to carry off the Christening… and I think I even did it with style!

The problem with babies is the lack of sleep. I am so tired and it shows. I have dark eye circles, a palid face and no time to hide it with make-up. If truth be told and I had time, I would treat myself to a pampering session and a full body massage, finished off with an early night to bed and no disturbances through the night. But let’s be realistic… a quick swipe of concelear will have to do until the babies grow a little, and that is only if I actually consider going out somewhere nice!

We received a lovely gift of two cute matching baby-grows from a friend of ours. They are Mickey Mouse Disney wear. They are ever so cute. They were actually purchased from Euro Disney in France, which made me think of our last holiday there. We had such a great time. We think that perhaps next time we will consider some orlando vacations ie Disney World Florida and perhaps the surrounding area. Not sure when we will be able to do it, but I am going start dreaming of our next holiday!!! BLISS!!