Hi guys!
I'm nearly ready to get back to work! You might have seen why I've been away for 2 months- his name's Elijah! I was going to start back on the first of January, but I just need a few more weeks to get everything back in order- it won't be very long now, I promise!
In the mean time, let me tell you about what's been happening here!
So the reason why I can't quite work yet is because Elijah is still breastfeeding for most of the day- so I still can't reliably complete orders in time- as his tummy grows then he should be able to go longer between feeds, which is when I'll be able to get your orders painted. My husband and I both work from home so we will both work part time and cover childcare ourselves.
I'm so keen not to let you guys down and really hope not to keep you waiting much longer! I do have a lush new collection ready for SS16 for you though, which I hope you'll love- that should launch in Feb sometime!
That's where we are now, but let me share with you where we have been since I said goodbye two months ago...
So the shop was shut unexpectedly early, after some blood test results showed the I'd developed a liver condition that put Elijah's life and my own at risk, so we had to be induced, which for me was a very stressful and painful process because I reacted really badly to the drugs and I kept getting over stimulated which meant that the forced contractions were a lot stronger than natural ones and had no gap in between. That experience along with the blood loss meant that I was in terrible shape physically for 2-3 weeks and mentally until very recently.
I've made a list of things I didn't know before I had a baby!
1. Postpartum night sweats- u sweat from places you never new had sweat glands.
2. You wake up with a numb ear cause u slept on it bent some how
3. There's literally no opportunity to go for a wee.
4. Breast feeding takes weeks to learn and you can get nipple blisters.
5. Wait who am I again?
6. Babies breastfeed for more than just food, it is for comfort, therapy, fighting illnesses, helping digestion, avoiding stimulation, healing a boooboo etc and you can literally do it all day for weeks.
7. Midwives are infinitely incredible
8. The episiotomy that you've been dreading for 9 months is really nothing.
9. Baby theory has 2 main categories- group A think you should feed on demand 24/7 and give your baby what he wants as early as possible, group B say feed your baby at timed intervals and let them cry to train themselves to sleep and self soothe. Group A says that group B deprives baby of his natural needs and he will become insecure as he grows up, group B says that group A trains a baby to expect everything, and use the word 'spoilt' a lot.
10. You think it's impossible to go out until you do.
11. You're pretty annoyed at those without babies/children who say they're tired.
12. Your baby's smile is the most perfect thing, as are their poos after a bit of constipation.
13. What you think is twilight zone is diagnosed as 'normal'.
14. What day is it? What month is it? Why is time now counted in weeks?
15. Induction is evil.
16. You might not find out for 3 days that you had a spinal block, you might not find out for 5 days that you are out of breath standing up because of blood loss, and you might not find out for a month that forceps are traumatic for babies too and that's why they want to feed and be in constant contact with you all the time.
17. You can be completely incontinent after catheters are used.
18. You may need counselling for the level of intrusion required during a particularly difficult labour.
19. You wish you'd done more kegels.
20. Everything smells like sick.
21. Mesh disposable knickers.
22. You wake up after 20mins with an anxiety heart attack cause you have no idea what's happening.
23. You can easily take twenty photos a day now.
24. The future seems infinitely terrible then after a couple of months it seems infinitely wonderful.
25. Your child is worth all this and more.
The next thing I will be doing is the new collection as I can do that while breastfeeding. Then there will be a shoot- it will be a small one so I'm looking for a few of my WAHP babes to come and be the SS16 face(s) (rather than adding new people to the hairy community just yet) Then I'll reopen the website and take some wholesale orders, and gradually reopen Etsy & Asos once I understand how much work I can take on with my reduced hours.
Thanks so much for bearing with me!
We will also have to do a little WAHP get together again this year- check out the video from the models garden party below! That party was an amazing picture of how easy it is to build up a loving, friendly community.. these girls are all WAHP models/ social enterprise applicants, who have found great friends on shoots who they have stayed in touch with- I love all my hairy babes!
Lots of love!
Sarah X
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