​Any regular readers will know that last month my Mum and I hosted a bee themed baby shower for my sister (who is now overdue and we are all getting impatient).

The last thing to share from the shower is the scrappy fabric backdrop I made for the buffet table which doubled up a photo backdrop, for some of their pregnancy pictures I took the next day.​

It turned out so beautifully, (if I do say so myself) that they have saved it to use at the christening! ​

I used my frame that I use in family sessions but you could easily use a bamboo garden cane. Tie three sticks together with cable ties and use two plant pots as bases!​

I bought 3m of 4 different fabrics in the sale bin of a local fabric shop. I literally jumped up and down and frightened the 65 year old shop keeper by exclaiming "I can't believe it's all bee colours!"​ 

Cut your fabric into strips lengthways. The scrappier the better. Tie the lengths in a repeating pattern to the top of your frame, in a single knot.​

I used some awesome paper pom poms made by one of my sister's best friends. She very kindly agreed to share a tutorial but I would definitely recommend buying them from her. Check back soon, I hope to have a link to show you of her beautiful creations.

Take roughly 10 sheets of tissue paper and concertina fold them. Cut the ends into a semi circle shape (or pointed for a spiky look) and tie the middle with string.​

Fan out your pom pom one side at a time. Pinch a layer at a time from the middle outwards and fluff to create a dome shape. ​

To create a ball, complete one side and turn over and repeat. We used the dome shaped pom poms as they lay flat against the backdrop. I used some ribbon, some wicker hearts, paper fans and some bee themed baby clothes from Asda to complete the effect!

When it comes to paper pom poms I definitely think more is more! They are my favourite party decoration!​

I have had such pleasure clearing out our loft of all the pregnancy and baby paraphernalia and sending the boxes off to my sister for Baby B. 

​There is an overwhelming amount of baby related products on the market for first time parents and it's easy to either get carried away before your newborn arrives, thinking the wardrobe in the nursery has to be full of "helpful" gadgets or stock up on every website or catalogues list of so called essentials. 

​Well here are my top essential non essentials, which I have passed on to my sister!

1. ​Nappy Caddy - you may think you don't need this but you do. It is a wonderful storage basket especially designed for all the nappy changing equipment, lotions and potions. There are different sections for all the changing equipment and I found it a lifesaver to have this handy caddy downstairs with me, instead of having to keep going up to the nursery changing table each time. Newborns need changing a lot! Of course a regular basket works too but a caddy would make a lovely present for someone, if you want to buy something useful and different. Here are some ideas.
2. Travel Steriliser - I think I used the great huge steriliser once before I spied a travel version. I followed the recommended advice not to make up bottles in advance (although I can totally see why you would do it) and so a single bottle steriliser was perfect. It didn't take up half the kitchen work surface and was done in 3 minutes!   
3. Breast Pad Carrier - ever opened your handbag and something embarrassing has come flying out? ​Well breast pads are right up there on the embarrassing scale as far as I'm concerned even though it's the most natural thing in the world to feed your own baby. A breast pad on the other hand is designed to keep you from leaking, enough said. A carrier or pouch is handy enough for your changing bag or handbag and holds enough for a good days supply. As mine is a few years old it's tricky to find but here is a lovely more glamorous version! 
4. Baby Notebook - I wrote down all sorts in this handy book. I used it for making scribbled notes of feeding times through the night, websites I loved which I researched during a night feed (these were the days before I discovered Pinterest) and notes of presents and thank you's to write. I love looking back at mine now as it's sort of a journal of those first few weeks. It was really useful when I had lost track of which boob he had fed from too as I simply wrote in a column fashion, L or R and the time we started and stopped. It has tripled in price since I bought it so here is an alternative. 
5. Bottle Tree - we seemed to have hundreds of bottles on the go at any one time and this was a great idea to keep the clean bottles off the sink drainer and mine had handy smaller hooks for dummies and teats. You can find the one above here.
6. ​Femé Pads. These are an absolute must for any one who has experienced the joy of a natural labour! You place the pads in the freezer like a bump aid and then when frozen, insert them into sterile gauze strips and then you can guess where... feel the relief! These were my saviour after a forceps delivery and helped with swelling like you could not believe!

Any Mummies have any other essentials they would add to my list? Baby B could arrive at any time now but there is still time for me to pick up something handy for my sister before she goes into labour! 

My sister is 39 weeks pregnant and at 37 weeks was told by her midwife that her baby was lying in a rare position. Only 1% of babies decide to get comfy in the transverse breech position (think an upright Buddha cross legged pose) ​and my sister has been desperate for the baby to turn naturally.

With only 3 months of maternity leave from full time work she is hoping for a nice quick water birth and just one night in hospital so that she can make the absolute most of her time at home without the added pressure of recovering herself from a caesarian. 

She has tried everything! Bouncing around on a birthing ball, leaning over the kitchen table doing hours of jigsaw puzzles and even a number of handstands in the swimming pool!​

We did some good walks over the Easter weekend too down at Southbourne and on the Saturday afternoon we tried out the principle of Spinning Babies, to try and map the babies fetal positioning.​

Lie flat on the floor, take a piece of paper and draw an oval shape.​

Divide the oval into quarters for the 4 areas of your tummy!​

Use your hands as well as the Mummy to be's feelings, to mark on the paper the different lumps and bumps you can feel. If you ​feel hiccups mark them as well as a heart shape if you know where the heartbeat was last heard.

​It's a great way to use your senses to get an understanding of where the baby is lying as well as giving the Daddy to be a chance to really feel the baby's movements and get their opinion.

​So that was how their map turned out. Showing that the baby has indeed turned by itself! All slightly sceptical but thinking positive, we headed to the hospital at Frimley in Surrey yesterday afternoon for her scan and potential turning appointment. Sure enough, within 20 minutes they were sent away with smiles like Cheshire cats! 

The baby is head down and 4/5th's engaged! ​

The map was right!​

Now we just have to wait..... and we are quite an impatient family, this is going to be a long week! ​