Annoucement

Allison passed away on Wednesday 26th November. Age 29

At peace at last. Finally rid of her cancer and disease, she is now better!

She's already made her way to her star, and is sitting there watching us already. *me and kids wave to Aunty La and blow her a kiss*

We will miss you La

Twinkle Star Shining Bright

Cancer sucks.

We just want this to be over now, Aunty La is having a long and drawn out death and it is horrible way to die.

I had a chat with Angus, I need to explain what is happening. This is my job. He knows that is Aunty La is sick.

I'm going to record our conversation here, so that one day when my husband is alright he will read this, and see what a wonderful son we have.

I have already had small chats with him, but today was my big serious one. This is what we said.

"Angus sometimes people get so sick that they die. They go to hospital but the doctor cant fix them, they are so sick they just dont get better".

"So where do they go mummy?"

"Well they go up to the stars, and that is where Aunty La will go."

"But she will fall off?"

"No she will hold on tight and sit up there on the biggest star"

"But how we will see her, its too far away?".

"Well she wont ever be coming back down, but she will be able to sit up there and see us. And we will see the shining star watching us."

"But we need her here in Royal Oak".

"No darling she wont be coming back to Royal Oak, and she wont be at nana & poppas and she wont be at her house. She will live up in the stars now, way up high. Just sitting there and watching us."

"oh she will be next to the moon"

"Yes thats right Angus"

"but what about the clouds if it rains?"

"Her star is above the clouds, she will look down and see the clouds and then look down down down and see us at our house. She lives way up high high high".

SO sad. But i was able to say it without crying, and he really did seem to udnerstand. at first i was thinking i would say that she was going to turn into a star, but that didnt really swing that way in our conversation. so now she is sitting on a star. That seems to make more sense, cos how does a person turn into a star silly me. Much easier to explain and think of her sitting on one.

And the good thing is that last week I ran this idea past Allison, and she liked it. She's not really a heaven believer.

ok that is it. lets just hope that it happens tonight.

EDIT It happened on Wednesday morning. I was telling Angus that it had happened, and he asked me:

"how did she get to the star Mummy, did she jump on a trampoline or did Poppa throw her"

"I'm not sure ANgus, I didnt see it happen. But Poppa was with her"

Angus replied "Fluffbum (her cat) will miss his Mummy now, we'll have to help Fluffbum to be happy"

HOTmilk Lingerie on Sale

Hotmilk Lingerie is now on sale. Choose from any of these styles of Hot Milk Maternity Bras and purchase them at a discounted price!! Bras and briefs have a big price reduction!! This only applies to these styles shown here, we do have other gorgeous style of Hotmilk to choose from as well though, they just aren't on sale.

YES we ship worldwide, at affordable rates.

This business is run in New Zealand by moms, so let us help you, especially when you want to buy some yummy sexy maternity lingerie...... or tell Santa!

We also have a fitting guide that shows you how to measure yourself. So you can measure your size at home, and convert between different country bra size names.

Another Happy Breastmates Customer

Quoted from her email

"Can I say wow? The hotmilk bra arrived this morning! The size is perfect! And the wrapping was beautiful..... didn't want to open it and ruin it lol. Thank you so much for your awesome help, I felt pretty silly asking as this is my 6th child and I'm 35 lol but it was definitly worth it! I will definetly be back to shop with you and I would also like to say your customer service made me feel like I was worth your time. big hugs (name removed)

p.s I'm saving up for those gorgeous pjs with the 3/4 sleeve :D""

end quote

YAy its like receiving a big warm fluffy :-)

Hotmilk Lingerie - Samples to See

Okay so I did say that I had been a busy lass doing lots of home videos. I just really want you to see how gorgeous these products are!!

I have recorded sample video's of all the sexy hotmik lingerie and maternity bra's, they are all visible on our website here on this page::: http://www.breastmates.co.nz/hotmilk_lingerie_video.html

So if you are interested in all our current hot milk lingerie styles that are available, then look at that page and then order the hotmilk online at our webstore.

Here is just one video to show you what they are like. Excuse the lady talking - he he he that is me and I hate the way my voice sounds when I listen to it!!

Maternity Bra Measuring

So on our Breastmates breastfeeding website, we have a page dedicated to showing you how to measure yourself for a maternity bra. It also shows you how to convert bra sizes been EU FR UK US NZ and AU categories.

We also have some bra fitting trouble shooting tips that you can use.

But now we also have a video to show you how to measure. So just do what it shows you on the video - and then take your measurements to our sizing chart page here: http://www.breastmates.co.nz/hotmilk_bra_sizing_guide.html

Then you can order Hotmilk Lingerie online!

Breast Pump Noises

I often get asked by people whether a breast pump makes a noise. "YES". And different breast pumps and different models make a different noise.

To see for yourself I have done a recording on Youtube.

The Medela Mini Electric Breast Pump is quite noisy (but you do get used to it). The Swing Electric breast pump is so quiet!!!.... but this is a premium breast pump and is more expensive

Nursing Clothes - How they Work

Another breastfeeding top that is hard to photograph and show on our website is the Twelve Animals Nursing top. So I have recorded another video to show you how the openings work for breastfeeding, and how you access your boob in this nursing top.

View more of our breastfeeding clothes online at Breastmates

Breastfeeding Clothes

I have recently been introduced to YouTube and can see the beauty of this to demonstrate my products to people. So I've been a busy lass doing lots of home videos and uploading them.

For example, this was the picture of the Muu Design Breastfeeding Tshirt that we have on our website. I know its not an ideal photo, it hardly shows how the product is used. It is really hard to take nice photos of these shirts.

So I recorded a video to show in real life how the openings actually work on the breastfeeding clothes, check it out here:

We have quite a large selection of different breastfeeding tops on our breastmates website, so I will try and record demonstrations for all of them.

You can see my video's on this YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/breastmates

Breast Pump Sizes

Q: I am using the Medela Mini Electric Breast Pump and I have some aerola coming into the tunnel of the shield which left the base area of the nipple feeling sort of tingly and numb to touch.
It sounds like the breastshield is too small for you, there should only be a very minimial amount (if any) aerola being drawn into the tunnel.

It should just be the nipple that is drawn into the tunnel and extends as the suction is turned on.

The aerola should just be at the base, and not going into the tunnel. And you shouldn’t have the
numb tingly feeling either.

It is possible to buy a small size breast shield, this is 21mm rather than the 24mm tunnel that comes with the standard medela breast pump.

Q: I really don’t think I have small nipples, and I also have reasonable sized breasts - does that make any difference to the size of shield required?

The breast shield is the hardest ever thing to know the correct size. It is not really related to breast size, as some women have large breasts but still only small nipples. It really just depends on how your nipple is drawn into the tunnel - something that you wont know until you try it.

View our full list of spare parts, or contact us if you would like any help with your breast pump or spare parts.

http://www.breastmates.co.nz/medela_spare_parts.html

Sterilising Breast Pumps

Q: What steriliser would you suggest for the medela pump and also the bottles and Adiri natural nurser?

Well Medela dont manufacture their own brand of sterilizer, but they do have some microwave sterilisation bags. These would fit all types of the medela breast pumps and bottles, teats etc.

You could also use the Avent Microwave Steriliser as all the medela items and the adiri bottle will fit into that Sterilizer. The medela bottles and adiri bottle are all smaller in size than the avent bottles, so they will easily fit.

You could also boil all your items in a saucepan, they have to be boiling for 4 minutes. But be careful that you don't forget about the saucepan boilng.

You could also use cold sterilisation tablets, such as miltons. you can buy these at the supermarket.

I just do NOT recommend an Electric Steriliser for Medela bottles, medela breast pump, or adiri bottles, as that can be too harsh on their plastic. The Electric Sterilizer is fine and suitable for all Avent products though.

Breast Pump - Soft Breast Shields

A common question about the Medela breast pumps:

Q: Are there silicone inserts like the Avent Breast Pumps have those petal massaging cushions?
Medela do manufacture a “Soft-Fit” breastshield which is a soft flexi plastic and is a lot more comfortable to use than the standard shield that comes with the mini electric breast pump. This one only comes in the 24mm size. This soft-fit breast shield comes standard with the Harmony Manual Breast pump, and also the Swing Electric breast pump.

The Soft-Fit breastshield doesn’t have the petal massaging cushions like on the Avent breast pump, but it is very similar and is comfortable to use.

Please contact us to enquire about these breast shields, and other spare parts for breast pumps.

We can order the spares in for you.

http://www.breastmates.co.nz/medela_spare_parts.html

Breastfeeding Photo

Here is another breastfeeding photo of my baby. This was taken at the same time as my husband and I did our main breastfeeding photo, the one we use in our marketing (shown at the top of the blog screen). This was the first and last time that baby and I fed in the nude - its not what we normally do!

This photo is quite funny. I think baby looks tiny and hungry, and that he is really digging into his boobie juice!!

Hubby did this photo shoot of breastfeeding photos for me, for our webstore Breastmates which has maternity products online.

A Bad Breastfeeding Poster

Okay so you all probably know by now that I am a strong breastfeeding supporter. I'm not a staunch pro-feeding nazi or anything like that, cos its up to you how you feed your baby, and as long as your baby is fed (breast or bottle) and happy then your family will be happy too. But if you are feeding with booby juice - then GO for it!

I was at a recent Parent and Child exhibition, and there was a breastfeeding support group there also with a stand. They are not a retailer like me, they are support. And boy, they do a great job and are a fabulous life-line for alot of women in our country. So THUMBS UP for them.

But someone really needs to tell them that the posters they use are NOT appealing.

This was a huge huge poster, the size of the wall. I walked past it, and it made me feel squeamish.

I think the poster is the "first feed" with a newborn baby, but the sight of that huge dark nipple, a screaming baby with open mouth, oooh it just makes me feel yuck and glad that its not me. It doesnt make breastfeeding feel appealing at all to me. In fact, i think this poster would make people turn away from it.

I am sure posters like this would be having a negative impact on their advertising. And like it must have had a negative impact on how many people visited their stand and chatted to them. If I was visitng the show, i might have gone to their stand for a chat and information (if i wasnt involved with breastmates) but I doubt that my husband would have come too. He would have run a mile.

So perhaps I should offer to sell my breastfeeding photo to this support group......

just for the record my photo is a high quality print image, i've just done this to the quality for the blog so that noone steals the image without asking me.

Sexy Maternity Lingerie - HOTmilk Sizes

Here at Breastmates webstore, we sell the HOTmilk range of sexy maternity lingerie. We can ship this worldwide at very affordable prices. Plus with the exchange rate, this makes good value purchasing for customers overseas.

All bras manufactured around the world may have 4 different sizing categories. EU, FR, UK USA, NZ AU so I have translated the sizings below for each of these.

We do have a sizing guide on our website, so you can measure yourself and get your size notmatter what country you are in. These are all pretty maternity styles for small and plus size maternity.

For our customers in Europe:
The Hotmilk Lingerie is available in sizes 65A to 95G
$1NZD is 0.42 Euro

For our customers in France:
The Sexy Hot Milk Lingerie is available in sizes 80A to 110G

For our customers in England and America
The Hot milk Lingerie is available in sizes 30A to 42G
$1 NZD is 0.35 GB Pounds
$1 NZD is 0.53 USD

And for our customers in NZ and Australia:
HOTmilk Lingerie is available in sizes 8A to 20G
$1 NZD is $1NZD (haha)
$1NZD is 0.85 AUD

Use http://www.xe.com/ to work out your currency exchange

Breast Pump - Plastics

Just to remind all my customers, that the Medela Breast Pump (which includes the manual breast pump, harmony manual breast pump, mini electric breast pump, mini electric plus (double breast pump), swing, and the pump in style breast pumps)

..... Most of the parts are made from food-grade polypropylene (PP) which is Bisphenol-A free and the safest plastic to preserve and protect stored milk... This is for the parts that are in contact with breast milk, and the parts that contact skin.

The parts that are not made from PP are made from silicone (like the valves etc). There are other plastics on these breast pumps - but milk doesnt come into contact with them - like the battery pack, power cable etc.

If you are not sure, or are concerned, please contact me. I am happy to help you, and will find the right breast pump to suit your needs.

When Words Dont Work

Dear Aunty La
I have to write you this letter because I know it will be too hard to have the conversation with you, without getting upset.

We love you so much, and are going to miss you when you are gone. You are the coolest Aunty by far, and I will make sure that Angus and Lochie know all about you.

I would like to tell the boys that when you have gone, you are a star. Watching down on us, and we will say goodnight to you. You can be the first star that comes out at twilight, then we will always see you and say goodnight. I hope that is okay with you.

We love you


Aunty La doesnt believe in Heaven so I have had to change my way of thinking. I need to visualise her somewhere. I have been telling Angus about life and death, and that Aunty La will be a star. Maybe I did the wrong thing by telling him that. He said last night "but that's so far away, how will we see her" and I said that we will see her because she will now be shiney and have a twinkle. And then he said "but we need her here in Royal Oak". Crack goes my heart as he said this. It is so hard. But this is my job, this is the least I can do while my husband and MIL FIL and we all go through this. This afternoon I am going to print off all the hundreds of photos that I took of Allison this year, before she got too sick, and when she had fun with my boys. I felt like a dick taking all those photos at the time, but I am so glad that I did now. I need to get then printed to give to MIL and FIL ASAP so that they remember Allison how she normally looks. And not like how she looks today - 30kg little and frail.

It has now been 8 weeks since she last ate a meal. 1.5 weeks since she last had a drink of liquid.

Zebra Crossing - Angry Mother

So we live in a lovely little neighbourhood, we have a little "village" of shops and stores which is only a few minutes walk from my home. All the shops that I could need, and its great just being able to pop down. Its actually easier for me to put Baby in the buggy and walk to the shops, rather than put Baby in carseat, drive down, park, take out baby, take out buggy etc.

There is a roundabout at the village, quite a famous roundabout in Auckland with Ollies Ice Cream parlour on teh corner. There are 5 busy roads that all meet. Each of these roads has a pedestrian crossing.

I have heard rumours that people have been killed on these crossings, as cars were driving too fast and did not stop.

I have experienced numerous occasions myself, where the car has not seen me. So now of course I stop at the side of the road and wait to confirm the car has stopped.

If someone does not stop, and they look guilty / shocked as they see me when they drive past. They smile and mouth the word "sorry" through the window. I take great pleasure in giving them the Big Finger.

Sometimes if they dont stop, adn dont see me, I give a huge yell at them "OI" I yell, and pull the finger.

Shouting out "OI" is nearly as effective as sounding a horn. But of course I dont have a horn as I'm just walking with my buggy and child.

Its also good that my buggy and my older child are in front of me, as I push from behind. They dont see me give the Big Finger.

Nowadays, because of all teh stress and angst in my life, when I am crossing the road, I hope that people dont stop for the zebra crossing. I want to yell "OI" at them. I enjoy it.

This is Just a Phase.... This is Just a Phase

I look at my 4 year old son, and see how big he has gotten and wonder how fast he grew, why did he have to grow up so quickly. Where did my baby go. Why cant he stay little forever?

But then i look at my 7 month old baby now, he is going through a bad patch with teething and sleepless nights. This is just a phase, this is just a phase, this is just a phase, is my mantra. Just the thought of him growing up is what is getting me through this.

I'm glad that children don't stay babies forever.

Baby on Boob

We have some fun breastfeeding advocacy stickers at our webstore Breastmates. These are cool to put on baby's bottle if you are feeding with expressed breast milk - as i know some mothers get RUDE comments from strangers if they feed their baby with a bottle in public.

I have recently heard of a mother that had to put these stickers on baby's incubator while her precious tiny baby was in the NICU unit. This mother was pumping so much breast milk to store and feed for her baby, she did not want any formula being given to the baby while she was not there.

Mattress Protectors

We sell mattress protectors on our website. These are mainly used for toilet training, but they are such a versatile item you can use them when pregnant (incase your waters break), then for any heavy breast milk leakage at night when you have a young baby, or baby's nappy free time, and then toilet training of course.

This is a comment I recently received from a customer:

Quote: "Hi Frances, I bought 2 of these toilet training mattress protectors recently (twins) after the backing of an inferior product cracked and split after a few washes. This matress protector is worth it's weight in gold. If there is an "accident" moisture is trapped away and my kids have kept sleeping. I throughly recommended them. Thankyou so much. Anne "

Directory Sexy Blog

Well I am thrilled to say that our Breastmates website and our Blog have been featured on the well reknown Directory Sexy Blog, and our boutique store is also mentioned on their main website Directory Sexy http://www.directory-sexy.com/

The review of Breastmates store on their blog is insightful and well written. You can tell that they have spent time looking around my website, reading content and navigating the place. You can see their full article here: http://directorysexy.wordpress.com/2008/10/30/breastmates-maternity-nursing-lingerie/

And its fair enough that our products are listed on the Directory Sexy blog and website, because yummy mummies are sexy too!

Plunket Baby Fair

We went to a Plunket Baby Fair held at Eden Park today. I was totally surprised by how busy we were, it was a great success. It was awesome being able to meet real customers, so many of whom already knew about Breastmates and had purchased from me before.

People think of me during the night.....

I got this email from another customer today, and it totally made my day.

There must be so many mums around the world that get up to feed their baby in the night, and see or use our products at that time! Luckily for me, my 6 month old is sleeping through the night, most nights.

Quote "Hi, I am up feeding my 3moth old at this hour(4am) and got thinking about your company, i recived my goods yesterday, and i am amazed at the quality of service you provide, i love the t-shirt and the feeding band is SO handy. i just wanted to say thanks, you realy made me feel like a customer not a order to be filled, you will get by buisness again and i will reccomend to all other mums i know. hope your family business just grows and grows!
R.

Receiving that message is a big warm fluffy. I didnt even do anything unusual or special for this lady's order, just did what I always do :-)

Gift Wrapping

More feedback from another happy Breastmates customer. This lady had purchased some Hotmilk Lingerie for her friend

Quote
"I just wanted to thank you for sending my last order off so promptly - my friend was very touched by the beautiful wrapping and handwriting on the card! Tina"

We can gift wrap and include a card, and have the parcel sent to anyone anywhere in the world on your behalf. This saves you having to pay two delivery charges.

New Baby in House

I always tell new mums to stay in their PJs as long as possible after the baby is born – I always found that I just got that little bit more help around the house if I stayed in my pjs longer. People think you are less capable if you are PJs and much more inclined to help out.

I wrote about this advice in an email to a customer today... and she replied:

"YES pjs for me!!! ALL DAY. people will think I'm hopeless and I will milk it. LOL "


Well here at Breastmates we do have two gorgeous styles of maternity PJs / breastfeeding PJs on our website, these are HOTmilk brand. They also make a nice gift - so give a hint to your hubby!

Vintage Inspired Rattles

Vintage Inspired Toys: These are just the cutest little toys, and make a great little gift. Or if you are anything like me, these are a cute little thing to buy for yourself (with the excuse of baby) as this type of vintage knitted toy is very nostalgic.

You can choose from sheep, mouse, dog or frog.

Limited numbers

Visiting Breastmates Shop

At Breastmates YES we are open for visitors. We just require that you make an appointment first. Usual days are Mon-Tues-Wed 10am to 4pm, but I can accomodate other times if required.

You can come over to have a Hot Milk Bra fitting, try on some breastfeeding tshirts, look at nursing pillows, talk about breast pumps, any thing really!

I will give you our address when you make the appointment. Its not displayed on the website.









And also we don't have a sign outside our house, it just looks like a normal house. Yes it is also our home.












So just come up to the house, and ring the doorbell.












I will open up the garage door, as our studio is located in the garage.












I have quite a selection of things for you to look at.















Because this is mainly a website business, all our items are stored for easy packing of orders.












We do have a sample of each item on hangers for you to look at, and other items are shelved.

I can measure your size (for sexy maternity lingerie by Hotmilk) which is why most visitors come to see me.













You can go to our "changing area" to try them on. Note how the stripes of this match our website colours due to some clever DIY!!



So you can check out the items in the changing room, and I can check the fit for you too, or pass you other things to try. This is a one-on-one service, and I try to ensure my appointment times don't clash with other visitors so that I can give you the service and help you need.












Then if you are happy, you can pay by eftpos. I dont have any cash held here, so eftpos is the preferred payment. Of course it is obligation free, so if you dont like anything you don't need to purchase. Sometimes I might need to order something in for you, so I would send that out to you when it is ready.














So that's it. Easy.

Let me know if you want to pop over.

PS yes its fine to bring children with you.

The Hotmilk Team

Here is a picture of the Hotmilk Lingerie team. I had a great catch up with them yesterday.

My baby boy was enchanted with Lisa's little girl Violet. She was such a cutie bless her.

Ange was deliciously pregnant with a gorgeous belly - you can just catch a glimpse of it at the bottom of the photo.

It was lovely to chat with Lisa (such a stylish lady) and share some ideas. Though I had a whole lot of other things that I should have said. I should have made a list.

Feedback from Taupo

yay some lovely feedback received today from Louise:

QUOTE /

"Thank you for the beautifully packaged parcel that arrived this morning. It was a treat to get something for me after so many presents for the baby. ....Also congratulations on your website - I've just had my first baby and with a c-section and living in a small town the internet has been invaluable in sourcing suitable items....

/end quote/

A little information on bra fitting

Maternity Bra Fitting:

In bra fitting, the numbers (8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20) refer to your body size and will usually be the same as the normal clothing size that you wear. The letters (A, B, C, D, DD, E, F, FF, G) refer to your breast size. A lot of people think that a 12D and a 16D will have the same size cup and just a different body size band. It is important to note that as the Body Band size increases, the cup size decreases in proportion.

So if you need to go up a Body Band Size, then you need to go down a cup size in order for the cup to have the same fit.

For example, a lady finds that a bra size 12E the band is too tight. Solution: she needs to try a 14 Body Band size. In order to have the same size cup, she will need to drop a cup size to a D. She will need to try a 14D.

Another lady finds that a size 16E is too large and she wants a smaller Band Size. She drops a Body Band size down to 14, and increases cup size to F in order to fit the cup. She will need to try a 14F.

View our HOTmilk Lingerie Size Guide - you can measure yourself at home and order your bra online: http://www.breastmates.co.nz/hotmilk_bra_sizing_guide.html

When to Fit for a Maternity Bra

I get asked this all the time... "when is a good time to have a maternity bra fitting?"

When you first notice an increase in the size of your bust which is generally around 3-4 months, I strongly recommend you visit a professional bra fitter as they can ensure you choose the right bra for you. Yes you can make an appointment to come over to my studio for a fitting, we are in Auckland.

Depending on the development of your bust size you should be fitted again at approximately 7 months, however if you feel your bra is restrictive in any way and at any time throughout your pregnancy, you need to have your fitting checked straight away.

When making your purchase it is important to look for a maternity bra that provides excellent support and flexibility to allow for breast size fluctuation. An easy way to check this is to slide your hand into the upper cup section to assess if there is enough room for expansion.

Here at Breastmates we have a fabulous range of maternity bras which are suitable for pregnancy and breastfeeding. These are sexy lingerie under the Hot Milk brand.

View our website for more information about Hotmilk Lingerie and to order. We can send worldwide.

We also have a fitting instruction/sheet here which goes through some common problems: http://www.breastmates.co.nz/adv_bra_fitting.html




And a measuring guide and size conversion chart here: http://www.breastmates.co.nz/hotmilk_bra_sizing_guide.html

Look at my little Lochie Monster.

How did he get so big already!?









age 6.5 months

A wee little gift pack

Here at Breastmates, we have quite a range of different maternity items online. Things range in price from $8 right up to $255. If you are looking for a new mom gift, or perhaps going to a baby shower, we can make gift suggestions for you.

A nice little baby shower gift, which is something a little unique, and which is extremely useful includes:

- reminder feeding wristband

- a pair of reusable breast pads

- a tube of nipple cream


If you order anything we can send it directly to the gift recipient. We can gift wrap, include a ribbon and write a card on your behalf, at no extra cost.

So let me know if there is anything I can help you with.

If you are nice to people, people will be nice to you.

My Plate is Full

Yup I've got a lot on my plate at the moment, I think more than my fair share. I don't want to seem greedy, but I am feeling a bit peeved off.

1. Aunty La age 29 is slowly dying from cancer. It is taking longer than we thought, she has a strong will. She has lost about 20 kg now in the last 3 weeks and is just surviving on iceblocks (which she shares with Angus) and morphine of course.

2. My dad (age 70) has prostrate cancer, he has started his chemo. He also has pneumonia. But his specialist is concerned it is lung cancer. Waiting on results.

3. We came very very close to deciding to moving to Hamilton The Tron, my hubby was offered a fantastic job but they just wouldnt pay us enough to leave Auckland. We had driven down to the Tron at the weekend, liked it, and even picked out a house and a school. We were so close to changing our life!

4. Hubby goes to the hospital tomorrow to have his Butt Tube Video taken. I have declined to watch the footage. He has a whole lot of stuff to drink tonight to empty out of his system - we have joked that it is a good way for him to loose 5 kg!

Good parts:
Today I went to visit my lovely friends at Hotmilk in Tauranga. Very inspiring and I want to make some changes here at my shop after seeing their setup. I will take some photos and share my ideas with you later. It was nice driving down today, just me and bubs. Older son was at preschool, and doesnt know that we went on a road trip as I was back in time to pick him up!! I am such a good mum

Good parts:
This is my busy season with the website business. Lots of babies being born. I have answered a record number of emails last week! It is good to have the website to keep me occupied. I feel safe and secure in my little shop-cave busy typing away doing this stuff.

Breastfeeding Tshirts for Summer - New Colours

Good morning

I have just had some new colours of nursing tshirts arrive today, these are great cotton breastfeeding tops for summer.

The colours of breastfeeding tops are black, light blue, white, and a raspberry colour.

These breastfeeding tops are very comfortable to wear, and we have them in sizes 10 to 18









You can order them from our webstore, we also have quite a range of other breastfeeding clothes

For the first time

Its been a long time since Angus has seen something for the first time, we have covered most things in his 4 years of life so far.

But last night, he just happened to be out of bed. It was 9.30pm. It was very dark outside. Neighbours were letting off fireworks at the school at the end of our street.

The sheer amazement on his face was delightful as for the first time he got to see fireworks in all their glory.

The previous 4 years on Guy Fawkes night, he has been in bed, fast asleep since his 7pm bed time. But last night he was awake and he enjoyed it.

We sat at the lounge window, him and I , watching the sky light up. Actually, he was watching the sky for the coloured flashes. I was watching his reflection in the glass and enjoying every minute next to him.

Aunty La and Grandad

So Aunty La is still with us. It is 3 weeks now since she last ate food, she is surviving on her morphine drip, iceblocks, lollies and candy floss. Its just waiting, that is the HORRIBLE part.

My parents came to stay to help out with my 2 boys while I was working during the weekend. My Dad is so unwell. We had to get a wheelchair for him to board the aeroplane.

Very worried.

A big black shadow is cast over everything

Feedback from Real People

oh yeah, I forgot to say, that while I was at the show so many people came up to us and said either:

- I've seen your adverts around the place
- I've already been on your website and love it
- I've already purchased X Y Z from you
- Look here I've already brought Hotmilk bras from you
- I 've already been to your shop for a fitting/purchase
- I use your hemp breast pads all the time they are fab
- etc etc .... you get the gist...

It was so cool to get so much positive feedback in one go, a real boost!!

Speedy Delivery within New Zealand

I received this email from a happy customer:

QUOTE

"Hi Frances Many thanks for the speedy delivery of our order following the long weekend. The parcel you sent arrived yesterday and the pillow was on my back door step this morning. I can now finishing packing my hospital bag, sit back and await the birth of our first child. Thanks again. No doubt I will need to shop with you again in the near future.
Regards A C

Yay - you are welcome Amanda. I hope the birth goes well :-)

We aim to send out all parcels on the day that payment is confirmed.

For a Few More Days

So we were at the Auckland Parent and Child show during the weekend, and I thought I would open up our special offer for everyone else too, so that it is fair for everyone around the country and for those that couldn’t visit the show.

We are selling the Hot Milk Nighties and Hot Milk PJ sets at a 33% discount, so these are now $60 down from $90. (only applies to the Slip into Seduction or Sugar Coated Comfort styles).

These would make a great Christmas Gift or baby shower gift.

The offer is only available via this following link – you wont find the offer mentioned on the website: http://www.breastmates.co.nz/private_sale.html



This will finish on Saturday so get in quick!!

THANKYOU to Kelly and Anna

I owe a huge THANK YOU to Kelly and Anna.

My two friends that helped me so much during the weekend, at the Auckland Parent and Child Show.

They learnt the speil to tell people walking past, answered questions, handed out flyers, made sales, and stood on their feet all day to help me.

I really do appreciate your help, thanks for making it a success.

Our stand was so busy for the entire 3 days. I am so tired!!