Monday 15 July 2019

Induced Lactation Protocol

Induced lactation is the practice of assisting a woman who has not been pregnant to produce milk; these women may have welcomed their child to the world via adoption or surrogacy. Induced lactation can also be utilised for women who have been pregnant but are not able to produce enough milk, if any at all. My cousin, who was also my IM, shared her story on my blog recently. However, how she followed the protocol was slightly different due to time constraints.
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Monday 17 June 2019

Surrogacy Stories | Katie's* Journey

Whilst my surrogacy journey is over (for now), I still want to help create awareness. I have decided to share other surrogates stories, along with stories from Intended Parents about their journeys into surrogacy.
My first post is from Katie* who is a first time traditional surrogate and has been kind enough to allow me to post her story.
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Thursday 30 May 2019

Surrogacy Update | The Final Chapter

As mentioned in my most recent surrogacy update, we were awaiting our final court date regarding the Parental Order. As predicted, this did get postponed; from what we gathered, CAFCASS were not made aware of the hearing in enough time to conduct their checks. 
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Saturday 23 February 2019

Surrogacy Update | What Happens Next?

A lot of people may think that once a surrogate baby is born, then that's it - the complete end of the journey. And whilst, in a sense, it can feel like that, legally it isn't.
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Thursday 3 January 2019

2018 - My Year in Review

I'm going to start this post the same way in which I started my 2017 Reflection post; how quick has this year gone?!
So much has happened in 2018 that I don't quite know where to begin.
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Friday 30 November 2018

Surrogacy | Another Journey?

One of the main questions that I was asked during my surrogacy pregnancy was "Will you go again?" and my answer was always "No". After the scare we had at seven weeks, I didn't feel secure or safe enough with my own body to risk it. Plus, I had my own girls to think about too.
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Saturday 24 November 2018

Surrogacy Update | The Birth

 I can't quite believe that I am sat here writing out my labour story this soon; I was pretty adamant that I would go overdue like my last pregnancy. Although ever since we had the false early labour scare at 37 weeks, we have been on rather high alert in case the little one made an early appearance.
Before I delve straight into it, I just wanted to make a note of saying that I will not be including any photographs or the name of the surrogate baby in this post - that information is not mine to share and I do hope that you are understanding in that.
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Saturday 3 November 2018

Surrogacy Pregnancy | Third Trimester

How on earth am I already posting about my third trimester of this pregnancy?! It only seems like yesterday when the fertility treatment was underway and we were all patiently waiting on two blue lines during the dreaded two week wait.
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Monday 27 August 2018

Surrogacy Pregnancy | Second Trimester

I can't believe that I am already writing another trimester update; it only seems like last week since I was able to share my first trimester journey. I am currently 29 weeks pregnant and almost in the single figure countdown!
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Monday 30 July 2018

Thank You Midwives

 

Support throughout your pregnancy is essential; your partner, your friends and your family are all seen to be key support figures during this time. However, one of your most prominent support figures should be your midwife.

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Tuesday 5 June 2018

Surrogacy Pregnancy | First Trimester

Now that the cat is out of the bag, I can finally start talking about the first trimester of my surrogacy pregnancy.
At this moment I am almost 18 weeks pregnant and, so far, my second trimester has been fairly smooth sailing compared to my first trimester which was the complete opposite.
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Wednesday 30 May 2018

Surrogacy Update | Heterotopic Pregnancy

Now that the cat is out of the bag, I can finally start talking about the crazy first trimester experience that I have had. I am currently 16 weeks pregnant and, so far, my second trimester has been relatively smooth sailing. However my first trimester was the complete opposite.
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Wednesday 23 May 2018

Irish Termination Referendum - Yes or No?

After hearing so much about the upcoming referendum in Ireland regarding the countries termination laws on the news, along with many other blog posts discussing the topic such as Sarah's, I felt compelled to discuss my views as this is something that I feel rather strongly over.
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Thursday 17 May 2018

My Surrogacy Journey | An Update

This is a post that I have debated publishing; not because I feel that the subject of surrogacy needs to be hidden or that it's something to be ashamed about. I actually feel quite the opposite - I want to shout it from the rooftops as it is something that I have been so passionate about over the last fifteen years.
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Monday 26 February 2018

Guest Post - Making a Baby

This week I have my lovely friend Hayley from Winging it With Two Boys talk about her experiences when trying to conceive. All of Hayley's links can be found at the end of this post.
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Thursday 18 January 2018

Statutory Maternity Pay Survival

At some point during your pregnancy you will leave your workplace to start preparing for your new arrival. Being pregnant can be stressful enough as it is, but adding in the worry of managing your finances whilst on maternity leave doesn't help.
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Tuesday 9 January 2018

My Last Baby?

After having my two girls I am constantly asked if I'm "done" and if I'll "go again" for a boy.
Firstly, I think it's quite rude to even ask someone about their future pregnancy intentions. For all anyone knows, something could have happened at Florrie's birth which resulted in me not being able to have anymore children (it didn't but it sure gets you thinking doesn't it?).
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Tuesday 2 January 2018

Hopefully a Boy Next Time?


Long before having my own children was on the agenda, I always saw myself as a mum of girls. When I was told that Aoife was a girl I was over the moon; I never had a great mother-daughter relationship with my own mother so I couldn't wait for what was in store for myself and my little girl.
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Saturday 11 November 2017

Xmas Gift Guide for Mums and Mums to Be

Now that Halloween and Bonfire Night have passed, we can finally start thinking of the dreaded C word! There's nothing worse than buying Christmas gifts last minute or having no idea what to get for your loved ones. 
With this in mind, I have compiled some Gift Guides which I hope will help a few of you. The first is for any Mums or Mums to Be in your life; a few of these would actually work for any lady!
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Wednesday 8 November 2017

The Facebook Birth Groups

When I found out that I was pregnant with Aoife, I downloaded a pregnancy app where I could chat to other women who were due in the same month that I was.
This led to a secret Facebook group being created to ensure that everyone was who they said they were. We had everyone you could think of; the nervous first time mums to those who were on their eighth child.
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