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Friday 27 September 2013

LUSH first date event with Melbourne Blogger/Vloggers


LUSH the famous known brand of fresh handmade cosmetics invited us lucky bloggers/vloggers to a night of pampering in their Swanston Street store for their first ever Melbourne Event! 
Since LUSH has crossed my path and I have known about them.. it was TRUE LOVE and to then have my first date with LUSH, I was completely over the moon.

This blog post I am going to try things a little differently and step you through my night in pictures and right little comments under each picture as to what was going on in the photo... this should give you a sense of being in our lucky shoes on the night. 


When we arrived we were greeted by the LUSH team at the door, given drinks and were able to have a chat with other bloggers/vloggers and check out the Swanston Street store. 
The way that the LUSH stores are setup are utterly stunning, there is nothing like it! The fragrances before you even walk in the door are to die for and will allow your nose to lead you into the store to see what's going on in there. 

Attending the LUSH event I had my two bestest blogging buddies with me as pictured above with some of the ballistics - Katt from Chanelxo and Erin from Baby, Beauty, Body & Beyond. We couldn't help but to snap up a mirror selfie and make it the first photo of the amazing night ahead of us. 

Just some of the giant ballistic selection in the LUSH store. This is where we Katt, Erin & myself were lead to first... the gorgeous wall of ballistics. Covering our nose ends with powder we sniffed our close to all the ballistics. 
Did You Know? You can give these ballistics in a really cool scarf - knot wrapping instead of wrapping paper it as a gift? Inspired by the Japanese art of Furoshiki you would give your gift in a scarf and best thing is it is known that the scarf is to be given back to the gift-barer but if you are happy to allow the receiver to keep the scarf then what an awesome reusable way to wrap your present!
You can see the knot wrap scarves that LUSH have to offer here: LUSH Gift Wrapping


The way the LUSH stores are set up are like no idea, serving their handmade cosmetics on plates, displaying an open product to awaken all senses by getting to see, touch, smell etc. 



I love the realness to LUSH they create such a creative fun way to sell, display, name and market there product. For example the picture above - 'TINY HANDS' the name of the product, 'Solid Hand Cream' what the product is and the shape of the solid hand cream in the shape of a hand. What simple things that really do look and present well.




When I first found out that LUSH was always ranging cosmetics I was over the moon. LUSH also have this vibrant, bold color scheme to their cosmetic range that stand out, making those features of yours pop!



After the bloggers/vloggers arrived, had a mingle and a looksy we gathered around to have get more of an insight to LUSH. Babs opened up with a quick few words...

Above is the lovely Peta who gave us a massive insight to the ethics of LUSH.
 There was so many things to LUSH I never knew and have made me love them even more. 
Which I HAVE to include below and encourage you to all take the time out to read as it really did make me love LUSH ten times more then I already did and found it soooo interesting.

WHO IS LUSH?
LUSH is the ultimate beauty delicatessen. We consider ourselves a cosmetics grocer with our fresh, handmade, and inventive merchandise loaded with the finest natural ingredients; blocks of soap; a myriad of colorful spheres (the original fizzing bath ballistics) presented in-store like perfectly round apples; chilled fish counter-style cabinets displaying our unique Fresh Face Masks; prices by weight, greaseproof paper wrapping (if any wrapping at all) and use-by dates so it’s easy to see when your product was made, and by whom.
“The plan was to make cosmetics that were as natural as possible and to avoid using synthetic preservatives,” says Lush Managing Director, Mark Constantine. Every LUSH product is crammed with the highest quality - and importantly, organic wherever possible - ingredients; herbs, fruit, flowers, and essential oils.
Sixteen years after its inception, there are over 840 shops in over 51 countries worldwide. In Australia, there are roughly 300 people working for LUSH from exceptional sales teams to hand-making our products in the Sydney-based factory. There are 25 Lush stores across Australia, as well as our website LUSH.COM.AU.

FRESHNESS
Freshness is intrinsic to LUSH; it’s at the heart of our philosophy. We hand make highly effective, 100% vegetarian (and over 81% vegan) products for bath, shower, skin, hair and body loaded with fresh fruits and vegetables, gorgeous essential oils and minimal preservatives. Our fresh policy means we can minimise the use of synthetics and create high quality products on a daily basis.  We have a strict shelf life policy, in that most products have a shelf life of five months and others like our face masks, have a shelf life of one week. They are so fresh, that when LUSH products reach the customer, they are literally weeks, days or even just hours old.

HANDMADE
LUSH’s products are made by hand. We invent all our own products, while creating local jobs and using ethically sourced ingredients. We even add stickers to all products showing who made it, the day it was made and use by date. Rather than rely on mass-produced, machine-made formulations and warehousing excess stock, LUSH makes products to order to ensure that everything delivered to our local shops and customers is as fresh as possible.

NO EXCESS PACKAGING
LUSH has spent decades developing effective solid products. Why? Because solid products don’t need preservatives or excess packaging, they’re kinder to your skin and the environment. You can buy about 44% of our product inventions naked (packaging-free), including bath bombs, shampoo bars, bubble bars, massage bars, body butters and solid facial cleansers - reducing the amount of preservatives required and packaging sent to landfill. Consider this; if everyone in Australia used solid shampoo bars, then the waste of nine million bottles a year would be prevented from entering the environment.

MINIMAL PRESERVATIVES
Of the 300 products we make by hand, about two thirds are unpreserved. To achieve this, we use fresh ingredients and minimal amounts of water. Since about 30% of our products are liquid and contain water, they require some preservative to prevent bacteria from growing. The two preservatives we do use (methylparaben and propylparaben) are the safest, mildest ones we can find, and have been used in cosmetics and skin care for 60 years. Using more or stronger synthetics would mean compromising the benefits to your skin and we don’t want that! Each year, we are also constantly re-developing and re-inventing our current range to strive for minimum or no preservatives.

STILL FIGHTING ANIMAL TESTING
Lush is an active campaigning company that aims to change the current cosmetic landscape to eliminate all forms of animal testing. We believe that our products should be effective, fun and safe for you to use. We believe that the most effective and humane way to test the safety of both the ingredients we use and our finished products are through modern non-animal tests and a panel of human volunteers. We never test our products and ingredients on animals, or engage with third-party suppliers to test on our behalf. LUSH also will not buy any ingredient from any supplier that tests its materials on animals for any purpose. All our suppliers must sign a statement saying that they adhere to this policy, and the statements are re-sent to them on an annual basis and reiterated on each purchase order for ingredients. In addition, the entire supply chain is audited by an independent consultant to ensure that suppliers remain in compliance.

ETHICAL BUYING
At LUSH, we want to know where our ingredients come from and how they’re made. It’s the responsibility of our Creative Buying team to get out  there to show us how this happens. Our creative buying team travel
worldwide, visiting our suppliers to trace the ingredients, to meet the  growers and producers, and ensure care for the environment and fair  conditions for workers. They have been to places like Ghana, Morocco,  Papua New Guinea, Costa Rica and the Australian outback in search of  the very best ethical and sustainable ingredients for our customers.  We believe that what we buy should have a positive impact on the community from which they are harvested.

CAMPAIGNS AND CHARITABLE GIVING
We are, and always have been, a campaigning company. We believe in standing up for animal rights, protecting theenvironment, and supporting humanitarian causes. We also care deeply about how these issues affect our staff, customers and the communities in which we live and work. With over 30 stores in Australia and New Zealand, we have a unique platform to create positive change in our world, we lead by example and this empowers our staff and customers to become agents for change in our communities.
Charitable giving is at the heart of our business, and we believe it’s our responsibility to advocate for the environment, animals and people in need. In 2007, we invented a beautiful hand and body lotion called Charity Pot. 100% of the purchase price (every single cent, minus the taxes) goes towards supporting humanitarian, environmental and animal rights causes locally and around the world.

OUR UPCOMING CAMPAIGN ABOUT ASYLUM SEEKERS
We believe that the current treatment of people seeking asylum in Australia is not good enough. There are many myths that surround the issue of asylum seekers arriving to Australia by boat. We want to use our shop floors as a tool to start conversations with people, bust some of the myths and share facts, and will we be running an in-store and online campaign from 2nd to 9th October in Australia.
On Saturday October 5th 2013 we will be holding events at our flagship stores in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne! From 11am until 2pm we will have musicians from the ASRC performing, we will also have experts on the issue of asylum seeking in our stores to speak with our customers about the issue and how they can help, come and join us!
During the week of the campaign we will be asking our customers to sign a postcard addressed to Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison asking for a fair policy that upholds asylum seekers human rights. Customers can also show their support for asylum seekers by painting their hand purple and placing their print on our windows. Customers can also purchase our Soap of Hope. All proceeds will go to helping the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre support refugees and asylum seekers.




Amy was then next to speak to us all and went over all the goodies that were in our goodie bag giving us a good in depth understanding of what they all were and how to best use them... see below for the goodies that we all received. 




One of the lovely LUSH staff was given us demonstrations of the Golden Glitter that will give you a golden glittery bath! The photos do not do this product justice of how amazingly beautiful it looked! This is a product I am very keen to try and will take myself back to get shortly. 


Another demonstration by a lovely LUSH team member who gave us demonstrations of mixing ballistics and showing the fizz effect. 










We were then all demonstrated and help take part in the making of Angels On Bare Skin on the night. I love being able to be hands on and this got me really excited being able to say I made this. 
After the demonstration we were all given a container of the freshly made product to take home!




We were then given advice on the best Fresh Face Masks that suit our skin style. These face masks are made with real fresh ingredients and are stored on ice in the store, once home you will need to store them in the fridge - thats how fresh they are!! They only last a few days so best to set up a pampering night! There is a suitable Fresh Face Mask for all types of skins out there.



 Pampering was really all in order for us bloggers/vloggers and then last but not least I was given this amazing hand massage with several different LUSH products and walked away with the best smelling hand/arm ever - when I was getting this massage I was wondering why my Dan couldn't have mad massaging skills like the LUSH team haha!


 Goodie bag - by far the best goodie bag I have ever had from any blogging event!
Inside this goodie bag we were gifted with:
Sex Bomb Ballistic
A comforting smell that gives you that saucy pamper feeling nice and sexy afterwards. 
The little detail in the middle of most LUSH ballistics are rice paper and biodegradable. 

Ultrabland
Cleansing product that takes off your makeup. Only a small amount is needed on your finger and run it all over your hands so you can see a gloss oil look and then rub all over face.

Ro's Argan Body Conditioner
First ever Body Conditioner which was released by LUSH - don't let false advertising tell you otherwise like Nivea have claimed in their TVC. 
Click here for my past review:

Bubblegum Lip Scrub
It's sweet, its pink and scrubs! I've never thought much about a lip product that cares for your lips other then lip balms, glosses etc until I was shown this one. 
It's just like sugar for the lips! Placing a small amount on your finger, rub all over your lips with a bit of pressure - this scrub is buffering the dead skin and once you have rubbed over the lips you can simply just lick the product off! 
Popcorn is the other lip scrub currently out but keep those eyes peeled for the christmas release one coming shortly!!

Dream Cream
This is the biggest product for LUSH. Excellent for ezcema, psoriasis etc as it soothes the skin. 
Click here for my past review:

Honey I Washed The Kids Soap
The best selling soap for  LUSH. There is no soap actually in this soap, completely gentle and good on sensitive skin giving that skin a good clean was without the stress of irritations. 

Angels On Bare Skin
Cleansing wash that is used with simple ingredients that the medieval would have had. 


Not only did we get a goodie bag but we were told to tell the LUSH team before we left 3 products that we would love to try out and take home with us! How extra lucky we were!
I choose:

Watch my blog for upcoming reviews on the LUSH products!

Saturday 21 September 2013

Royal Melbourne Show 2013

There's nothing like WORLDS of ADVENTURE.....

That time of the year has come along again when you can spend the day out with friends, family, loved ones or even by yourself if thats what you do getting a sick belly from eating too many lollies, conquer the fears of going on a new scary thrilling ride, feeding baby animals, view dog and cat judging, get sore arms from carrying a mount load of showbags, meet celebrities, watch entertainment on stage and more.

For years the Royal Melbourne Show has been running and has been a real big attraction for all ages.
This year here is the answer to those main questions:

WHERE?
Melbourne Showgrounds, Epsom Road, Ascot Vale. (easy and direct access if you are to come via public transport)

WHEN?
Starting today - Saturday, September 21 to Wednesday, October 2.
Gates open: 9:30am daily and close at 9:30pm daily.
(This gives you 2 weekends and 8 weekdays to be able to attend the Royal Melbourne Show suiting all sorts of lifestyles and conveniently on the school holidays to take the kids for a fun family day out.)

PARKING?
Paring is available at the Flemington Racecourse for $20 a day. Entry to the car park is via Epsom Rd or Smithfield Rd, with access to the Show via the rail underpass. The Epsom car park is open from 7am-11pm and the Smithfield Rd car park is open from 8:30am-11pm.

ACCESS VIA CAR TO PARKING?
From the West:
Take Ballarat Rd or the Princes Hwy to Smithfield Rd to Flemington Racecourse parking.

From the South:
Take Footscray Rd, Whitehall St, Moore St to Smithfield Rd to Flemington Racecourse parking.

From the City:
Take Dynon Rd, Moore St to Smithfield Rd to Flemington Racecourse parking.

From the East:
Take Brunswick Rd to Epsom Rd to Flemington Racecourse parking.

From the North side:
Take Brunswick Rd to Epsom Rd to Flemington Racecourse parking.

TRAVELLING BY PUBLIC TRANSPORT?
Train - 
Depart Flinders Street Station every 10 minutes from 8:48am. Stop at Southern Cross and North Melbourne stations. Travel frequently throughout the day and evening. Last train departs Melbourne Showgrounds at 10:35pm. Travel time is about 15 minutes.

Tram -
Catch Tram number 57 from the corner of Flinders & Elizabeth streets to Melbourne Showgrounds Gate 1 on Epsom Rd. Service runs from 6am - 12:23am weekdays, 12:19am Saturdays and midnight on Sundays. Travel time is about 25 minutes.

Bus - 
Catch 404 service from Footscray to Moonee Ponds. Catch 472 service from Williamstown to Moonee Ponds. Bot of these services travel regularly to Melbourne Showgrounds precinct.

Every year there is always heaps of attractions and entertainment for all to enjoy. This year something that has got me sooooo excited as I have recently fallen in love with this TV Show only this season just passing us... MasterChef. The MasterChef Kitchen is open for show visitors to see.
The MasterChef kitchen is located at the Centenary Hall Pavilion (next to the Dog Precinct) and is open  any day during the Show.

A perfect day at the Royal Melbourne Show can only be topped by one thing - the snap, crackle, fizz and boom of the nightly fireworks spectacular! Watching them from 8pm as the multi-coloured fireworks light up the evening sky choreographed to the beat of some of your favourite top 40 hits.

With many pavilions at the showgrounds all with their own speciality inside are open from the following hours:

  • Woodchop Pavilion - 9:30am to 5:30pm
  • Advance Dog Pavilion, MasterChef Kitchen, Paddock to Plate Pavilion & My Backyard - 9:30am - 6pm.
  • Animal Nursery, Home and Living Pavilion, Pets & Kids' Zone, Tastes of Victoria Pavilion & Commonwealth Bank Entertainment Dome - 9:30am-7:30pm
  • Art, Craft & Cookery Pavilion, Woolworths Fresh Food Pavilion & Weekly Times Livestock Pavilion - 9:30am - 8pm.
  • RASV Members' Bar & Lounge - 9:30am-9pm.
  • Herald Sun Showbag Pavilion, Thrillseekers Carnival, Family Carnival, Adventure Zone, Kids Carnival & Harvest Bar & Bistro - 9:30am-9:30pm.
Convenience centres:
  • Information Centres are open from 9am - 7pm daily. Pie in the Sky information centre open until 9:30pm. 
  • Parent Rooms are open from 9:30am - 9pm daily. Facilities for parents to retreat, heat bottles or breastfeed are available during the Show at Parents Rooms.
  • Baby Change Facilities are available at public toilets at The Weekly Times Livestock Pavilion, underneath the Public Stand, Family Carnival and outside the Pets & Kids' Zone adjacent to the MasterChef Kitchen. 
  • Pram hire is available from stands on the Grand Boulevard, near the MasterChef Kitchen and near the Thrillseekers Carnival for $12 a day. 
  • Wheelchair hire is available from the Information Centres at the Show for $5 per hour with a credit card required as deposit. 
  • Lost Property is located in the Lost Persons Centre. Open from 9:30am - 9pm daily. 
  • Lockers are available for hire during the show from $2 a day. 
To see what attractions are on for each day at the Show and to ensure you don't miss the attractions you had your eye on attending the Show for, view ticket prices, see showbag listing and more information on the Royal Melbourne Show, visit this link:

Post a Comment below, I would love to hear from you all-
What are you looking forward to seeing at the Royal Melbourne Show?

What are you thoughts on this years Royal Melbourne Show?
What did you want more of at the Royal Melbourne Show?
Who did you go to the Royal Melbourne Show with?



Friday 20 September 2013

Pantene Pop-Up Salon - World Square, Sydney CBD Thursday 26th September.


CARE FOR YOUR BEAUTIFUL LENGTHS AT THE PANTENE POP-UP SALON
Salon located at World Square, Sydney CBD on Thursday 26th September 2013

Thursday 26th September will see the launch of the Pantene Beautiful Lengths pop-up salon in Sydney to mark the second year of the program and celebrate a massive 5,000 ponytail donations so far from generous women - and men - across Australia and New Zealand.

Women of Sydney are invited to make an appointment at the salon and experience the Pantene Beautiful Lengths Strengthening Collection whilst learning more about the campaign. Women will be able to learn tips and tricks to grow their hair long and strong in order to donate during Pantene’s National Donate Your Hair Week, launching on Monday 11th November.

Pantene Beautiful Lengths is the first program of its kind in Australia and New Zealand to inspire women to grow, cut and donate their hair to be turned into real-hair wigs for women undergoing cancer treatment.

Appointments can be made for a wash & blow-dry or haircut when you donate with Pantene Beautiful Lengths ambassador, Barney Martin, and his team of expert hairdressers. If anyone wishes to donate their hair on the day, it must be a minimum of 20com and less than 5% grey with no permanent hair dye. Further details on requirements can be found on the website: www.pantenebeautifullengths.com.au.

Barney’s fellow Pantene ambassador, beauty expert, Zoë Foster Blake, will be on hand to offer advice to the women on growing their hair, styles and treatments.

Home & Away actress and Pantene Beautiful Lengths ambassador, Emily Symons (Marilyn), will be at the salon to cut the hair of one woman live on TV and talk to consumers about the program.
Emily comments: “I am so proud to be involved in Pantene Beautiful Lengths. It's a cause close to my heart after losing my mother to cancer. Having witnessed first-hand the impact hair loss can have on women already suffering through cancer treatment, it’s so great that people across Australia and New Zealand can help by donating their ponytail to be turned into a real-hair wig.”

Appointments can be made by calling the Pantene Beautiful Lengths salon booking line on: 1300 651 905.
A gift bag of P&G products will be presented to every woman who attends an appointment and experiences the Pantene Beautiful Lengths Collection.

The Pantene The Pro-V Keratin formula in the Pantene Beautiful Lengths Strengthening Shampoo and Conditioner helps weak, brittle, damage-prone hair gain strength against breakage for hair that is up to 10x stronger1, to leave you with soft, healthy, hydrated and beautiful hair.

To make a pledge and share your Pantene Beautiful Lengths story, plus see exclusive content and stay connected, informed and part of the conversation please visit: www.pantenebeautifullengths.com.au

Kristen Stewart is face of Balenciaga Florabotanica


To me this is exciting as I love Kristen Stewart, she made me fall inlove with her from Twilight. Yes, I am a twifan! She is a remarkable actress and did an amazing job in Twilight and anything that I see to do with her I will take a look into. 

Actress Kristen Stewart is the face of Florabotanica’s new advertising campaign, shot by Craig McDean. The image features Kristen in black and white with colorful floral vines crawling up her bare back and wrapping around her shoulders.

Florabotanica is a fragrance based on an experimental rose. The scent opens with refreshing notes of wild mint, while the heart is a delicate Turkish rose essence. The scent dries down into vetiver notes and white amber.


The bottle is a couture object that completes the story of a beautiful flower inside a dangerous garden. The highly graphic black and white stripes are a very strong visual element in the history of Balenciaga fashion.

The Collection:
Balenciaga Florabotanica EDP 30ml $85
Balenciaga Florabotanica EDP 50ml $125
Balenciaga Florabotanica EDP 100ml $155
Balenciaga Florabotanica Shower Gel 200ml $55
Balenciaga Florabotanica Body Lotion 200ml $60


Balenciaga Florabotanica is available 4th  November 2012 from David Jones & Myer. 
For stockists please call 1800 812 663.

Children's Week at SkyHigh Mt Dandenong - September School Holiday Activities

Spring is in the air and so are the September School Holidays and if you are  looking for the perfect school holiday fun for the kids,  then you need look no further than ‘Children’s Week’ at SkyHigh Mt Dandenong  from September 23 until 3 October.

For 10 days SkyHigh Mt Dandenong have organised the best school holiday fun with a range of activities that are perfect for all age groups including: Pony Rides; Face Painting; Games and Music with the rainbow fairy; Nine hole mini golf; Reptile display; creative magic; train rides; treasure hunts and lots lots more… and of course don’t forget the SkyHigh’s own native garden MAZE
While the  kids are enjoying the activities, the bistro will serve morning and afternoon tea and lunch for the family and there are also barbecue and picnic areas that are perfect for a family outing.
Below are a range of activities the kids can enjoy during the first 10 days of the school holidays at SkyHigh Mt Dandenong

So get in your car and take the glorious drive to the top of Mt Dandenong and the fabulous SkyHigh Mount Dandenong and let the kids loose while you take time out and relax in the perfect family environment.

For further details go to the website at http://www.skyhighmtdandenong.com.au/  

***Activities are free of charge - Gate fees do apply***



Giorgio Armani Si - coming October!!


NEW Giorgio Armani Si
The reveal of the amazing campaign for NEW Giorgio Armani Si.
Say “Si” to life and celebrate what is the Giorgio Armani Woman with this soon to launch new scent.

Featuring the NEW Face of the Fragrance, Australian International Super Star Cate Blanchett, the campaign presents Cate portraying 17 different emotions.
Si is a celebration of Her commitment to ­– and desire for – frivolity; her strength, and her softness; her completely elegant sensuality; her thirst to live in freedom.
Her presence is self-evident and serene. She is archetypically feminine. 
Luminous, charismatic and sophisticated, she is the very essence of chic Italian style, powerful and distinguished. 
Her natural elegance and subtle couture-style are like a magnet. 
In her wake the perfume is delicate, and mystery mingles with emotion.
Later on, it makes you think of her.
This is the Giorgio Armani Woman.



Giorgio Armani Si will launch exclusively with Myer exclusively from the 2nd of October and follow on nationally on the 22nd of October
Stockist 1300 651 991

Thursday 19 September 2013

Welcome to the world Niahbella Georgia Smith

I'm a little late on introducing my daughter via my blog but it really has been a whirlwind of no time to get on here. But things will settle down once I get into the swing of motherhood and not being so scared to leave her side every 2 seconds and wanting to constantly have her in my arms.

It still feels all surreal... I'm a Mummy and Dan is a Daddy... we are parents and this is our family. Still getting used to it. And having to mark that I have a dependent on a form now, it's all happening.

Now for my labour/birth story...
For days before my water broke I was sending progression shots basically ever few hours to Dan & my best friend comparing how I looked before with my belly and when the waters broke the pictures happened more often whilst waiting...

On Tuesday 3rd of September at 5:30am my waters broke... I honestly didn't think to much of it as it was trickle not a gush. Dan had gotten up at 7am on his way to the toilet, I stopped him and said /Dan, I really need to go before you/ and he replied 'Why?'  I responded 'It feels like I'm pissing myself'. Once I got onto the toilet I wasn't trying to wee at all... was just happening on its own.
I said to Dan 'I think my waters have broken' and Dan was kind of in shock asking what he should do and should he go to work, I told him to go to work as I was unsure after a few hours of Dan & my best friend coaxing me to call the hospital and see what they thought I gave in and the midwife advised me to go in and get checked out... Well after a 30-45mins of being in the PPC unit I was advised... your waters have broken... I messaged Dan and we both were on a high I believed...
As the Sunshine Hospital isn't far from Dan's work I met up with him for lunch after I got advised by midwife that they will give me a 24hr window as pregnant women tend to progress themselves in the next 24hrs, I was told if I didn't bring myself in during labour in the 24hr window that I was to come back in at 7:30 on Wednesday morning and they would get the ball rolling.
As Dan & I were sitting together at lunch on his break we were both discussing how we would be parents the next day and this is our last day just us and we'ld be meeting our little girl soon... It was just weird but all so exciting, but yet nerve racking at the same time.

It came night time and I was contracting every 6-8 mins and it was some what a little painful but bearable. It got to about 2am I think and then I gave in and went to sleep... When I woke up there was no contractions... I was a little concerned as to why I had fallen asleep through contractions and why I didn't have them anymore but Dan & I took our queue and headed for the hospital.. We were going to meet our little girl today.
At 10 past 9 I was put onto the oxytocin and by 12pm I was advised that I was in labour stages now... Contractions weren't that bad at the time but every 4 hours they would come check you to see how far dilated you were.. first time I was at 3cm and they did a membrane sweep... they believed that the waters at the top of my uterus had busted but not my lower waters so they did a membrane sweep.. that was painful... I didn't like that at all and was given gas to use as I was in hysterics having someone play around down there and because I wasn't relaxed it hurt.
The gas was disgusting... I don't think it made any relief for me, just was awful tasting. If anything it only made me concentrate on my breathing to better the situation and calm myself down.

Last photo of Dan & I whilst it just being us. (I was in labour in this pic)
By about 7pm I think I was in bad contraction stages and was crying, screaming and was so upset that I wasn't dilating and progressing myself. The midwifes came in and were talking to me about what we do next... I was just in so much pain and was being stubborn not taking pain relief as I wanted to conquer this without the relief but they then advised me take an epidural... we'll give you 2 hours and if nothing still then we will do a cesarean. I was crying my eyes out to Daniel saying it wasn't fair I wasted so long and I can't dilate. I just was so annoyed at myself and my hormones etc that wouldn't allow this baby to come along.

The time came to go into theatre for our daughter to come out. It was about 12:40am before we actually made a move over to the theatre... The midwifes on duty got dressed in their scrubs along with Dan - who I must say I would love to have him in scrubs any day ;P
I was taken into theatre by myself first as they needed to do several tests to ensure I was numb practically from chest area downwards. After about 5 mins of tests to ensure I was completely numb with the extra strength spinal (which has the side effects of shivering and chills) I was in complete shivering mood started off being cold as not only because of the temperature in those theatres which are freezing cold but because of the spinal numbing I believe.. my teeth sounded and felt like they were going to snap out from chattering from shivers and then my whole body was like convulsing and my arms started shaking as if I had a really bad case of parkinsons disease, I honestly was thinking that something bad was going to happen to me and that I wasn't going to make it out of theatre...
Dan was then finally allowed to come in and be by my side whilst our baby girl was getting taken from my stomach.
The midwife then all of a sudden said to us... 'You're about to meet your daughter in a second' then the curtain sheet infront of my face dropped a little and revealed our baby girl who was blue, purple and white... I didn't see her face just the legs and her bits haha. Dan & I were tearing up. It's such a beautiful moment seeing your baby for the first time.
They then called Dan over whilst they then got the placenta out of my belly. Dan was luckily able to cut the cord still which he says was like calamari haha!
The midwifes then brought baby wrapped up in a blanket in front of my face where we spent a few minutes together as a family and I was able to kiss her and shed more tears with Dan.
I was so surprised at how small she was as I was told at my 35 week growth scan that she had this big head and was 3.2kgs already, so I expected this big whopper baby.


We delivered Niahbella at 3.4kgs/7.09Ibs, 53cm in length and 35cm in head circumference at 1:15am on the 5th of September, 2013... she wasn't a big baby at all. She was tiny to us.


Dan went with Niahbella up to the ward to get her injections and weighed etc whilst new Mummy me stayed in theatre to get stitched up and then taken to recovery to wait out what seemed like forever (1.5hrs so Dan advised we took down there after he left) for sensation to at least come back to me down to nipple line.
As the midwife took me to the ward I asked her if Dan was allowed to stay with me and she said partners aren't allowed too and she had told him he has to leave by 5am as being a newborn baby etc.
I was so annoyed and upset, I wanted to get off that bed and go fine we'll go home then so we can all be together. I think it's horrible that some hospitals take away that first few days from the fathers.
Dan was so upset as well when I got to the ward and told him about it and he said that he already knew as he asked them as well and even said 'can't I just sleep in a chair or something?'.
Was really disappointed in Sunshine Hospital for this being one of their rules. Partners were to be there only between 8am and 10pm... Normal visiting hours for others was 2:30pm till 8pm.


When I arrived at the ward Dan was having skin to skin with bubs which he absolutely loved! He actually wanted to hold bubs first between us and even asked the midwife in our antenatal appointments if he could be the skin to skin person but midwife advised it's the mum who gets that.


After they had settled me into the ward room I was then handed my baby girl to hold in my arms for the first time... It was such a special moment. 



Prior to all this when I was having my antenatal appointments with the midwife at the centre - Dan & I had asked what the maternity ward was like as we were orginally meant to go to Bacchus Marsh which I had already seen the suites/ward.
The midwife told us about them and said there was a few single rooms that you had to yourself which they tend to try leave for new first time mothers or mothers who have had a c-section. Well I was both of those and didn't get a single room... which I think you might have been able to have your partner stay if you was in single room, not 100% sure though.
I am not being racist in anyway at all but what the hell!! I only ever saw Indians, Muslims etc etc in the single rooms... how is that fair at all?



Three above photos from our departure of hospital, setting sail for home - being together as a family for the first time.
I bet you're all wondering how we got the name and alot have asked us already who have met our darling cherub in person... Here is how our Niahbella came around..
Dan & I really liked Isabella (apparently I have always liked it since little Mum says as all my dolls were named Isabella!) but when I heard it was number 5 most popular name I didn't want it anymore.. I like unique and different - like mother like daughter I guess with all my siblings and my name.
We then really liked Niah as a girls name so we put Niah and took Bella from Isabella as that's what we both really liked about it - bella meaning beautiful and then Niah meaning purpose and radiance.
Alot of people will ask and probably think Dan & Nik haven't been together for long and you're right.. we are freshies still kinda (we have over a year relationship behind us now) and the answer is No, Niahbella wasn't an accident, she was planned. Dan & I both knew what we wanted and that was to be young parents and we believed that we found our soulmates (each other) in life and it just was right.


Motherhood has been treating me good so far. Night times we get it pretty good compared to the horror stories I hear from others. Niahbella sleeps for between 3-5hrs at night time usually more on the 3-4hr mark but occasionally she will be nice to us and give us a 5hr sleep period haha, so she only really wakes us twice a night.
She is already getting so tall and will soon be outgrowing her little crib next to my bedside :( I will be majorly sad having to put her into her own room and into her big girl cot. I always said when I was towards the start of my pregnancy that she'd be in our room for a few weeks then out she goes but I honestly couldn't do it.. I even think about bringing her big cot into our room coz I don't want her to be so far away (even though it's the room right next to ours).

There has been worries for me though.. what worries me the most is when she has been just feed and she starts vomiting up her feed. Should I be trying to give her more? I don't want her to be hungry after being sick and throwing it all up. I would hate to not be giving her more when she is hungry. 

I was asked when I had a good couple friend to Dan & I what was the most surprisingly/challenging thing about parenthood... well at the time I couldn't think of anything but I've figured out 2 things so far...
1. Burping her - I have struggled to get a good technique to burp her. I succeed most of the time but when it doesn't work for me I get so annoyed at myself because she will start to develop hiccups :(
She gets hiccups quite a lot and I feel so sorry for her like I haven't done my job properly with burping her that she develops these hiccups possibly because of me. 
2. Going out places - not that I don't like taking babes out and showing her off, I just hate when she gets upset and will bellow her little lungs out and we are still in the middle of a shop or be in the middle of doing something then your concerns and eagerness to want her to calm down comes out. I get quite flustered and just feel horrible not answering to her screams within a few seconds. 


Today is our Niahbella's second week into the world. She has blessed us with so much love and joy. She has made our lives forever better. We love you Niahbella. x x 
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