My Dolce & Gabbana dress | Mila’s Dolce & Gabbana dress (sold out now but the same print as mine here)
We just came back from our first holiday…avec baby. We went to Finland as my family has a summer house out there and I thought it would be an easy first trip. To be honest I wasn’t particularly worried about it. I started taking Mila out of the house when she was only three days old and she is a pretty chilled baby. She is used to noises and people. I want to be able to travel with my child/children and I do think that babies pick up on vibes, so if you are anxious and stressed then the travel will be a nightmare but if you just take it in your stride then your baby should be ok. And Mila was fine. Especially on the actual flight. On day three of the trip she realised she wasn’t home and for the first time since she was born she had a really bad day. I could just tell she was upset and nothing seemed to make her feel better. Her routine was a bit off due to the two-hour time difference and of course all the sights and smells she was used to weren’t there. But babies are stronger than we give them credit for and by Sunday she was back to her normal happy self again. And Finland was amazing. We have a beautiful house in the countryside surrounded by a lake and forests and I think she will love spending her summers there! It is so peaceful and she can play outside all day long.
What I was worried about though was that my trip coincided with my maternity nurse leaving. Some women want to do everything by themselves but personally I have always felt that having an extra pair of hands around is nothing to be ashamed of. Whether that help comes from your mother, sister, grandmother, nanny or friend, having someone help you especially for your first baby (when, lets face it you have NO IDEA what you are doing) can make the world of difference. In the beginning I felt sad and guilty about the fact that Mila spent the night in the spare room with the maternity nurse, but I know that being happy and well-rested rather than grumpy and tired made me a better mother. My maternity nurse was so amazing. She helped build up my confidence but also to trust my instinct. So much so that after a few weeks I would even disagree with her at times. And thats a good thing because at the end of the day however much experience a maternity nurse has, you know best what works for your own baby. In any case after 8 weeks of blissful sleep we felt it was time to let her go and get down to the real parenting by ourselves. I was definitely apprehensive about the sleepless nights. And some sleepless nights there have been but what I realised in the past few days is that you really don’t care about that. It was great to have the help in the beginning when I was exhausted after pregnancy and labour, but having a few less hours of sleep is hardly a challenge. I used to sleep very little for way less important things such as a night of partying so whenever I feel tired I remind myself of that. And besides, I take one look at her sweet little face and know that I would do anything in the world for her. xx