Ramadan crafts

It's Ramadan!

I'm a white, British non Muslim woman, so why would I care right?

My husband is a British born Pakistani Muslim so in our house we celebrate it. We have three children together and we raise them to celebrate both of our beliefs. Christmas and Easter and Ramadan and Eid.

Our boys are 6 and 4 so they are still too young to really take part in Ramadan. We've never celebrated Ramadan with them only Eid. I felt that it was important that they remember they have another culture in their blood. I wanted them to feel excited about Ramadan rather than just think of it as the month you have to starve yourself. I took it upon myself to get them in the spirit of Ramadan by decorating the house and along side that show them the meaning of Ramadan through fun activities. Below is a list of the activities and the reason behind them.

Make prayer beads- Talk about the importance of prayer during Ramadan.

Make paper lanterns, a bunting and other decorations- To create a fun and exciting atmosphere for Ramadan.

Make star and moon cookies- Talk about the symbol of the moon.

Donate toys- To explain about less fortunate children and shape my children into caring, thoughtful, selfless and charitable young men. Also to teach them about 'giving up' something during Ramadan

Donate food to a food bank- To explain about less fortunate people and why donating during Ramadan is important.

Read book- To learn about Ramadan.

Below are two craft ideas we have done so far:

We made a bunting for our window. I bought some parcel tags with string from B&M. They were £1 for 20 tags.



I wrote a letter on each tag.



I then asked the kids to decorate each tag and once they had finished I tied them all together using the string they came with. The decorations were a packet of 24 individual bags of sequins that I picked up from B&M for £1.99.



We hung the bunting in our living room window.




The next craft activity I did with the kids was prayer beads. I sat them down and explain praying and why praying is important especially during this holy month. They created their own prayer beads using a pack of beads for £1.00 and also some elasticated string for £1.00 both of which came from Wilkinsons. 



I know they don't look exactly like prayer beads but they had to be easy crafts for a 6 year old and a 4 year old.

I hope you enjoyed these simple craft ideas and that they gave you some inspiration. These craft ideas were super cheap and affordable. We live on 1 wage so even families on 1 wage can afford these.

30 weeks pregnant

I'VE REACHED THE 10 WEEK COUNTDOWN.

I'm 30 week now and I cannot believe it. This pregnancy hasn't been the best as I've moaned enough about so getting to this point felt light years away. Both my boys came at 39 weeks and 1 day so I could only have 9 weeks left. I am hoping to go to my due date or at least over for two reasons. One being that I'd like a June baby and the other is I'm hoping for a bit of extra time to get my living situation changed. It's a long story why I live where I do and I hate talking about it and explaining because I'm embarrassed and it's not ideal.

The last two week haven't been good for me in my personal life and that has a lot to do with my living/moving situation. For that reason I didn't make a 29 week update.

Symptoms

My symptoms for the last two weeks have been nausea, leg cramps, backache, stomach pains, feeling dizzy, heartburn, braxton hicks and can't get comfortable at night.

These symptoms are all typical of a pregnant woman in the third trimester. My pregnancy apps have all been saying the same thing about week 30. They all say that I'm probably feeling like I'm back in the first trimester and that I'm probably feeling leg cramps, backache and heartburn. They also mention sickness returning.

Growth scan

At 28 weeks exactly I had to have my first growth scan and the baby is measuring 2lb 6oz. The sonographer said they should be around 2lb by now so I thought I was good to leave the hospital for another 3 weeks. How wrong was I when she said that the baby was plotting just on the edge on the graph and that I'd have to go see the doctor on the assessment ward. I wasn't very happy about having to go wait to see a doctor. I'd arrived at 4pm with both the boys and I was half hour early. I didn't get in til 5.30pm for my scan. Both the boys had come from school and still hadn't had dinner. The entire thing was a nightmare. Even the sonographer gave me the ump. I feel like she has given away the gender. She asked if we knew what the baby was and asked if it was another boy and I said oh I don't know we didn't find out. The songrapher then said you didn't want to know. I said no we want a surprise. My eldest son then started to ask why we couldn't find out and started to beg me to find out. The sonographer said oh you want to know do you. She starts scanning and then says oh I just saw the gender...What do they want? My eldest son, Kaysan says a sister. She then says Oh shame.

I don't know about other people but I took this as oh shame you don't have your sister. I then argue with the sonographer that it was an unfair comment to make knowing we don't want to know the gender. She tried to tell me that she meant oh shame as in shame I can't tell you because he really wants to know and that I will still be surprised and that she doesn't want to argue with me because she will end up having to tell me when I don't want to know.

Bump

My belly measures almost 38 inches around for 30 weeks. I'm still smaller than last time. With my second baby I measured 40 and a half inches around at 30 weeks. So a big difference.

Test result

When I had my last midwife/thyroid check up at 28 weeks the midwife told me I had 3 plus leukocytes and 1 plus protein in my urine and that I would have to do a urine sample and drop it in at my doctors. I also had a blood test to check for cholestasis. It took almost two weeks to get my results back after calling up numerous times but both tests came back clear.

28 weeks pregnant

I've hit the third trimester. I can't believe it. This is the third time I've been here and I still can't believe I've almost completed three pregnancies. This is also the last time I'll be here. Just 12 weeks til due date. Well as I'm writing this two days late it's actually 11 weeks and 4 days til due date.

Symptoms

This week I've been experiencing my usual symptoms of nausea, sciatica, palpitations, lightheaded, itchy and pains in my stomach. I also experienced a new symptom of feeling thirsty. Overall this week wasn't too bad. The nausea isn't nowhere near what I was experiencing in my first trimester and in the beginning of the second trimester. I'm also still dealing with the varicose veins on my bits. I've been having warm salty baths and doing pelvic floor exercises. The most problematic symptom for me this week is the itchy skin. It always comes on in the evening and it's always on my left ankle and both sides of my hips. I've scratched so much I've made myself bleed, caused bumps to appear on my skins and even bruised my skin. It can be unbearable sometimes. E45 cream has been taking the edge off the itching.

This picture is my left ankle



I don't think pictures are showing the damage I've caused to myself very well. This one below is the right side of my hip.



Baby buys

I'm nearly finished with my shopping list for baby. I'm waiting on some dummies I ordered from Ebay to be posted to me. I bought the Avent Soothies. You can't buy them anywhere in the U.K, not that I've seen anyway, so I had to order them online.

Appointments

This week I had an appointment with the doctor at the antenatal department about my thyroid levels and they are perfect now. I was on 75 mcg before becoming pregnant and it's slowly been increased to 150 mcg and thats what I'll be staying on til delivery.

I saw the midwife before the doctor and below are my results.

Urine: leu 3 plus and Pro- trace
Weeks; 27 plus 6 days
B/P; 128/72
Pulse: 92
Fundal height: 26
Heart rate: 152 bpm

In the U.K around 28 weeks you have to have a blood test and the results were given to me at this appointment. It showed I was low in iron. My levels were 98 and they want them to be 120. So I was prescribed iron tablets.

Because my urine showed leukocytes and protein they wanted me to do a urine sample and take it to my doctors, I'm still waiting for the results of that test. I also mentioned the itching and they did a blood test to rule out cholestasis. I'm also waiting for those results. I'm assuming both tests were clear because I haven't heard anything.

You have to have alot of blood tests when you are pregnant. In the U.K you have your booking bloods when you first find out your pregnant and then you have to have bloods drawn around 28 weeks and again at around 32 weeks. Having a thyroid problem means I have to have blood tests every 6 weeks til they are happy with a new dose for me. The baby doesn't make its own thyroxine til the third trimester so yours is shared with the baby.

Bump shot- 28 weeks.



I measure just over 37 and a half inches around my waist. Baby is measuring small by my fundal height and by scans. But thats next weeks update.

Having anxiety whilst pregnant

I've never begun a pregnancy whilst having anxiety. Now that I have I can say it's pretty scary.

My anxiety began around 2 and a half years ago. I don't know what triggered it. There is nothing I can think of around that time that was traumatic for me. No bad news, no bad health news, no devastating event. When my anxiety started I had no idea what was going on with my body. I suddenly started to get pins and needles in my hands almost every night. Then it would be my arms and legs. This then caused me to worry and my heart would pump faster from panicking that I was about to have a heart attack. Things spiraled from there. I started to experience other weird symptoms such as tingling lips, palpitations, itchiness, pains in my chest, hot flashes, stomach pains and other body aches and pains.

So what did I do...

I did the worst thing possible and the one thing that you shouldn't do. Google. Each night I would Google all my symptoms and create a disease or condition for myself. Over many months I convinced myself that I was going to have a heart attack, I had IBS, MS, diabetes, meningitis, cancer, leukemia, fibromyalgia. The list is endless. This all probably sounds crazy to people who don't suffer with anxiety. My parents thought that I was going crazy. But to people who are going through this same disorder all this will sound familiar. And yes anxiety is a disorder. It's called generalised anxiety disorder or GAD for short.

Having anxiety whilst pregnant is definitely noticeable. My other two pregnancies were full of symptoms that I took with a pinch of salt and believed that it was just pregnancy related and normal. This pregnancy is a different story. Any pain or discomfort I'm worrying isn't normal. But I have to wonder is my anxiety creating these symptoms. For example when I feel a pain that I've never experienced in pregnancy before I start to think on it then worry about it then panic about it. This then sets off my anxiety triggering anxiety symptoms such as tingling of the lips or palpitations or hot flashes. I try to suppress the worrying but then I have a war going on in my head and body.

I'm feeling like this pregnancy will kill me which is an extreme thought. But it's a thought that people with anxiety will understand. This has been my worst pregnancy. Is that because it's my third one and I'm older than I was with the other two and that I have a busier life with two different school runs and a three year old who wants to be carried all the time. Or is it because I have an anxiety disorder?

Pink Lining changing bag

Since having my first baby I have reused quite a lot of baby items. One being my changing bag. I started off with a simple black changing bag from Babies R Us and it did very well considering it was £20. Kaysan, my eldest, was around 13 months when the lining inside started to rip and I bought an even cheaper one from Ebay that didn't last more than 3 months.

I then fell in love with the Pink Lining changing bag range. As I browsed their website I felt as though most of their bags were no good for me because I had a boy. Looking back now I realise how silly this sounds because it's my bag not the baby's. Even when I first found out I was going to have a boy I didn't feel as though I should have a girly changing bag and I think many Mums think this and buy a changing bag that reflects the gender of their child.

I chose the Plain Jane cream bag with blue bows because I felt it was the most boyish. I bought this bag when Kaysan was 15 months old and it lasted my whole pregnancy with Noah and until Noah was potty trained at 2 years and 4 months.

I made the mistake of putting the bag in the washing machine twice. Which is not recommended by Pink Lining and I can see why. The bag became discoloured. Although this doesn't affect the use of the bag it doesn't feel very clean and with a new baby on the way I want a fresh bag. I loved the Pink Lining bag so much I wanted another but they aren't cheap. The Plain Jane bag costs £75.00. If you like the Yummy Mummy, Blooming Gorgeous or the Mama Et Bebe style bags from Pink Lining then £79.00 is what you will need to pay.

But are they worth it?

My answer is yes. These bags aren't just thrown together and you can see that just by looking at it. The materials on the bag are thick. I used my bag for around 3 years and 2 months and it has held together through all that time with two kids. No lining inside the bag has come away. All the pockets remain intact and people also buy these bags second hand so you can always make some money back.

So what are the features?

It has a wipe clean material that is almost waxy to the touch. Both handles are woven fabric. There are hand held handles that clip together by a button. This comes in handy for pushchair handles. It also has a long shoulder strap that is detachable.



The bottom of the bag and the front pocket is material.





There are two side pockets and a front pocket depending on the style. The Plain Jane doesn't have a front pocket.

The inside is vibrant pink which reflects the company's name, Pink Lining. Five pockets are inside the bag.Two on one side for bottles and a zip pocket and two other pockets on the other side. There is a pen holder and clip for your keys. The bag comes with a padded changing mat and a wet bag.




I decided after two kids and the same bag I'd refresh my changing bag. I got extremely lucky when browsing TK Maxx for a birthday present. I stumbled upon a Pink Lining Blooming Gorgeous bag. The price was just £29.99. I couldn't pass up the bag for that price. The bag is the Daffodils and Tulips pattern that was available in autumn/winter 2015. I got the bag home and thought maybe this is for a Mum with a daughter then I reminded myself that the bag was for me not the baby. I have always had changing bags that reflect I have a son and I don't know why I did that. I have decided that because this is my last baby I'm going to have a bag for me and it doesn't have to reflect the gender of my baby. I have no idea what I'm having and won't know until the birth. I'll probably have another son because I already have two so I'm going to have something for me.

27 weeks pregnant

I am 27 weeks pregnant with my third baby. I almost feel sad in a way because this is my last baby. My husband and I thought we'd only ever have one. After having post natal depression with my first son, Kaysan who is now 5, we were both a little bit scared of having to go through that again. I fell pregnant with Noah, who is now 3, by surprise. I decided to have my placenta encapsulated after he was born and maybe its just a coincidence but I felt great after he was born. The happier experience with Noah made me feel that I wanted to do it again. I felt like I'd missed out the first time and that I'd only experienced it once. So we decided, well I decided, to have another baby. Getting my husband to agree wasn't easy. He wanted another but not yet. He wanted a larger gap and I didn't. I was approaching 30 and wanted to be done with having babies by 30. Eventually he agreed.

Here I am now at 27 weeks feeling sad that my last pregnancy is coming to an end in the next 13 weeks give or take because lets face it babies come when they want. On the other hand this pregnancy has been by far my worst pregnancy. I've had severe morning sickness which put me in hospital and the nausea has never completely gone as my pregnancy has progressed. I've had sciatica from the beginning. I've had itchy skin which has progressed to itchy bumps. The most uncomfortable symptom for me has been the varicose veins on my genitals. They are itchy, swollen and irritable. I've been dealing with other symptoms such as:
Backache
Heartburn
Palpitations
Carpal tunnel
Eye twitches
and a feeling like my tailbone is bruised.

Overall this pregnancy hasn't been my best. The only way to stop feeling all these symptoms is to give birth. It's one of those situations where you want it to be over but you don't because this is the last time you'll experience it.