Shooters & Table Reservations - Turtle Bay Southampton

Everyone loves a cocktail right? And If you don't that's okay because this post also includes some delicious caribbean food too, something for everyone! 

Turtle Bay describes itself as a 'Caribbean-style shack with a modern exterior' and that it certainly is, the decor makes you feel like you're abroad in a bar metres away from the beach and the food is simply 'out of this world!' The neon lights light up the bar area and another feature that I loved about Turtle Bay is that it is the first place that I have been to that have 'unisex toilets' how great! 

Another great NEW feature is that they now offer 'Table Reservation' service meaning no more 'hanging' about waiting for a table or standing near the bar if you don't wish too, you can now pre-book your table via the website, how convenient! 

We were spoilt, well and truly spoilt. We were all blown away with the huge array of food and drinks we got to sample for the sake of our blogs and reviews and for that I would like to say a massive thank you to all the staff because they were so attentive and simply 'couldn't do enough for us'. 

First of all I will tell you about all the drinks we enjoyed throughout the night - Our first cocktail was the 'Side Chick Martini' which is Turtle Bay's' own 'take' on the famous 'Pornstar Martini' this cocktail consisted of; vodka, passion fruit, vanilla, orange juice and then came with a 'prosecco side' 

 The second drink that we had was (again) there own 'take' on the Pina Colada called a Koko Kolada. This included; Koko Kanu coconut rum, dark rum, coconut milk and pineapple juice - Tasty! 

Throughout the rest of the evening I also enjoyed some more 'shooters' named 'Ghetto girl' which was a vodka, passion fruit liqueur, watermelon and apple juice 'mini cocktail' effectively! What a great idea... (unfortunately I didn't take any photos of these!) 

Now onto food... I honestly don't even know where to start on this part of the post because we were surrounded by so much food it was unbelievable but I will try my best to cover everything we had that evening.

Throughout the evening we enjoyed the; 

Jerk Platter (middle left)

Veggie Platter,

Doubles,

Sweetcorn Fritters (bottom right) 

Garlic and Herb Flatbread (middle right)

Dirty Curry Fries,

Sweet Potato Fries,

Caribbean Hummus,

Smashed Avocado,

Crumbed Halloumi (my favourite!)

Sunshine Quinoa (top left)

and

Crumbed Plantain.

 Another thing that I noticed about Turtle Bay was that it caters for all allergies and is very vegan friendly! 

I would just like to take the opportunity to thank the staff at Turtle Bay Southampton once again for being such great hosts and providing us with delicious food and spectacular cocktails all evening.

So if you're in the area and fancy a great evening and some cocktails and carribean food make sure to book a table and head down to Turtle Bay, you won't be disappointed!

This post is my opinion only, this is a #sponsored #gifted post although this does not affect my honest opinions throughout this post.

Meet My New Baby (Rebranding & Relaunch!)

A few weeks ago I posted on Instagram explaining that I wasn't feeling inspired to write posts and that I was going to take a break from blogging for a while and quite honestly, I wasn't sure if I was going to return in fact I had decided that I wasn't going to come back but how could I just 'stop' doing something that I had enjoyed doing for so many years.

So I needed to have a rethink, a revamp and then a relaunch... so here it goes!

I have never had a big 'dramatic' rebrand, this might be because I haven't drastically changed as a person until recently and quite honestly my old 'layout' was feeling rather childish so time for a revamp and a new look! So, goodbye to the very colourful background and hello to my new, slightly minimalist look (go ahead and take a look!)

You also may of noticed that my blog's URL has changed... it is no longer 'stormydoos.blogspot.co.uk' but now, I own my very own domain so let me introduce you to my second and new baby Storms Blog - This may not seem like a big deal to those of you who don't blog but for a blogger this is the start of something bigger and better and I can't wait to see what my new domain name will bring.

My aim is to be able to blog almost as a part time profession meaning yes, there may be some #Ad posts soon, if you don't like those posts then please don't click on them but hey, we all have to make a living, right? Although I would just like to take a second to say that any Ads/Sponsored/Gifted posts that I created will only be promoting products which I personally enjoy or use. I would never post about a product that I didn't personally enjoy.

I have also decided that this blog isn't going to be solely 'Beauty' based anymore, (sorry!) I feel like I should also blog about the highs (and lows) of Parenthood and attempt to be as brutally honest as possible because I feel that is very important and I want to be able to look back at posts in the future and who doesn't want adorable baby photos now and then?!

So yeah, I think that's covered everything... If you have any questions about any of the changes please don't hesitate to comment or contact me on my social medias (you can find the links in the right side bar, posh right?) 

I hope you all like the changes and will continue to come on this crazy journey with me...

Things you don't get told about Labor and Delivery.

Hey,

Following on from my previous post I decided to do another post about Labor and Delivery and this time I have chosen to share with you all the parts that you simply don't get told and then are not prepared for, well at least I know I wasn't.

My whole labor and delivery experience wasn't what I had expected at all, my whole pregnancy I had planned to have a water birth with gas and air so when I got told at the Hospital that it wasn't going to happen how I had planned it was a big shock but things do not always go as planned despite how much you may want them too.

Sometimes you won't realise when you're dilated... 

My contractions became noticeable at around 11 pm and at 12:30 pm I decided to go to the hospital thinking that I would maybe only be 1 cm dilated if that, once I was examined I was told that I was actually 3 nearly 4 cm meaning that I then wasn't allowed to leave because I was now in 'active labor'. The reason why this is included in this post is because I would of had no idea that I was that dilated because the pain was so little, I was made to believe that you would be in excruciating pain at this point but for me that wasn't the case.

The after birth cramps... 

This was the first thing that came into my mind when I was planning this post. I had no idea that this was even a thing let alone how painful it would be. After giving birth all your organs begin to move down and your uterus contracts meaning you feel like you're giving birth all over again. I remember lying there a few hours after Maci was born and my epidural was wearing off thinking that I was actually going to die, the pain was unbelievable.

How great Epidurals are...

When writing my birth plan at around 34 weeks pregnant I remember saying to my midwife that I did not want an epidural because of the horror stories I had heard. But I simply could not of given birth to Maci safely without an Epidural, it make the terrifying experience bearable and for that I would recommend it to anyone.

It's OK not to be OK...

Now this is a big one, as I said before I had planned a water birth for my whole pregnancy and I was so set on it happening that I hadn't considered what would happen if I wasn't able to have one. When I was told at the Hospital that I wasn't able to have one, I burst into tears. I hadn't considered or researched any other ways of giving birth and I felt totally unprepared for the biggest and let's face it, most painful experience I would most likely ever have to go through and that was utterly terrifying. For days after Maci was born I felt numb, now at the time I put this down to the fact I had to have a large blood transfusion after my Episiotomy but I think now it was because I was in shock. My 'perfect birth' and how I had planned it for months had happened and not how I wanted it to happen, I would get so frustrated with people when they would say 'But at least she is here safety' because of course they were right but it had happened how I didn't want it to happen. 

What i'm trying to say is that it is ok to not be ok.

(There are many things that could happen which you aren't told about beforehand, stay confident in yourself and you'll be absolutely fine!)

Until next time,

Stormydoos

My Labor and Delivery Story

How I became Maci's Mummy -

On Monday 11th the pains started, I wasn't sure if this was the real thing but all I knew was that it was a pain that I have never felt before... I rang the midwife labour line and spoke to a lovely lady who told me that she thought that this was it, this was the start of the most excruciating and astonishing experience that I would ever have. We made our way to the Hospital (this was at about 11:30 pm) thinking that this definitely was a false alarm, oh how we were wrong! Little did I know that I wouldn't be leaving the Hospital without my baby in my arms.

When we made it to the hospital my contractions had become a lot more frequent and painful I was beginning to believe that I may actually be in labour. Calum dropped me at the main door so that I didn't have to walk up the horrendous stairs from the carpark to the lifts in the hospital, all I can remember was getting this overwhelming pain take over my body and grabbing onto the nearest thing to me which happened to be a wheelchair that was parked in the opening of the big doors.

We finally made our way up to the labour ward and we were shown to a little room and this is when it all became slightly blurry from this point on... as significant things were happening I recorded the time on my phone so that it would help me when I came to writing this post.

At 1am (after arriving at the hospital at 12:30ish) I had my first examination which showed that I was already 3cm dilated. So at this point I was given the choice to either go home or stay at the hospital because my contraction at this point were regular and progressing well, I decided to stay at the hospital because of how quick everything seemed to be happening.

At 12pm (Lunch time) I had another examination which showed I had only progressed to 4cm dilated and at this point my contractions had slowed down and almost stopped.
I was then given the choice if I wanted the midwife to break my waters because they believed that if they did this it would bring on my contractions again naturally, so once again I agreed and they went ahead and broke my waters (which literally feels like you wet yourself!)

After breaking my waters we were told to go for a walk around the hospital to try and bring on the contractions again, when we returned back to our room I was given another examination (a few hours later) and I still hadn't progressed anymore, at this point the doctors and midwives started worrying.

I was then told that because my body wasn't contracting naturally that I would have to be put onto a hormone drip to effectively induce labour - the reason why I couldn't go home or leave at this point was because they had broken my waters and if left for longer than 24 hours it can be extremely dangerous for mum and baby as you are both prone to infection at that point. So I was taken down to another room to be induced and once this happened the contractions started coming on extremely strong and before I knew it I was being told I was ready to push if I needed to.

After pushing for what seemed a lifetime nothing seemed to be happening, I was surrounded by medical professionals and it all started getting quite scary. At this point I had been in labour for over 48 hours and I was exhausted and delirious (hence needing notes from my phone) I then started getting the huge urge to push and before I knew it I was demanding an epidural. A Doctor then came into the room and told me that my baby was 'back to back' which was why I was in so much pain and why she wasn't coming out naturally. All I can remember are the words 'Theatre, forceps and episiotomy' coming out of her mouth and simply panicking.

Before I knew it I was getting wheeled down a long corridor staring at the ceiling wondering what was happening, I was then pushed through these huge double doors and faced with an operating theatre which I have only ever seen in movies. I knew the Doctors knew what they were doing and that this is what it needed to get my baby out safely.

The whole thing was terrifying until I saw a familiar face walk into the room wearing scrubs, Calum sat down next to me and I remember asking the anesthetists if I could hold his hand to which he replied 'yes'.

Before I knew it our little girl was born, Maci Rose Thorne was born at 8:05 am on Wednesday 13th June 2018 and from that point on our lives changed forever.

Little did I know, this wasn't the end of the Labour and Delivery story... after Maci was born I was informed that during the Episiotomy I bled out and lost approximately 1.5 litres of blood meaning I then needed a transfusion, also due to the epidural I couldn't really hold Maci for the first 24 hours due to being numb from the chest down meaning Calum gave her her first bottle, changed her for the first time and it was so beautiful to watch.

Its safe to say the Labour and Delivery was immensely scary and traumatising although from the awful experience we got the best gift ever, our little girl.

On Friday 15th June 2018 we left the hospital both doing well and that's the start of our new story...

Until next time,

Stormydoos 

What's In My Hospital Bags? (First Time Mum)

Hey,

For those of you who are new here,  Hello and welcome to my blog. I thought as this post may seem a little 'random' that I would reintroduce myself to those of you who are reading my blog for the first ever time. 

I am Storm, I am 19 years old from the UK and I am a trained Beauty Therapist. I have been blogging for as long as I can remember and it is definitely my guilty pleasure. Now you're probably wondering why I'm writing a post about Hospital Bags, well... I am expecting my first baby any day now and I couldn't be more excited (and scared!) Obviously a huge part of having a baby is the preparation you need to make including packing those all important hospital bag/s and when searching through the internet for ideas I realised that there isn't enough posts helping ladies so I figured I would add my piece. 

Obviously everyone's birth's and labours are different so what one women may need another may not so this is just a rough guide of what you may want to pack in your hospital bags (one bag for baby and one for you!)

What's In The Baby's Bag 

Pre made bottles of formula (I am not breastfeeding and I have chosen to use 'Cow & Gate' formula)

Blanket of some kind 

1x Pack of Pampers Newborn Nappies
Baby wipes (I am using 'Waterwipes')
1 tube of Bepanthen cream
4 Large muslin squares

1 'fleecy' baby grow

6 vests

6 baby grows
3 cotton hats
1 pack of 'Dummies'

Also make sure you have the carseat with you as the hospital will not let you leave without it!

As I mentioned above this list will vary depending on what labour and delivery you have, I am expecting a 'low risk' labour and delivery and should hopefully be out of hospital within a couple of days. Also if you are Breastfeeding you will need different items too.

What's In My Hospital Bag.

Thin Dressing Gown

Underwear (You may want to purchase 'disposable underwear)

'Nighty'

New Set Of Pajamas

Vest top/Bikini top (If you're wanting a waterbirth, make sure its one you don't want to keep!)

Deodorant

Toothbrush/es (One for you and your birthing partner)

Toothpaste

Phone Charger

Face wipes

Hairbrush

Breast Pads

Maternity Pads (Oh the glamour!)

Slippers

Spray Bottle For Water

Hairties

Lip Balm

Moisturiser 

Change for the Carpark

Snacks (easy to eat, such as; crisps, granola bars etc)

Change of Clothes To Come Home

If there is anything that I have missed off this list please leave it below in the comments!

I hope this post has helped some of you to pack your Hospital bags and If this is the case I would like to take the opportunity to say Congratulations and good luck with your labour and delivery. 

It is likely that my next post will be introducing my little girl to you all, how crazy is that?

So until next time,

Stormydoos

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