Mummy & Little Me Retreats Launch - Champneys Springs.

Mummy & little me retreat launch 

I was lucky enough to be one of the ladies invited to the launch of Mummy & little me retreat at Champneys springs spa resort on 16th November 2013 and I can't wait to tell everyone all about it. 

http://www.mummyandlittleme.co.uk/mummylittleme-retreats.html

http://www.champneys.com/spa-resorts/spa-resort-breaks/specialist-retreats/health-medical-breaks/1-night-mummy-and-little-me/

Upon arrival at Champneys we were greeted by the Mummy & Little me retreats team..

• Vicky who is one of the founders of mummy and little me, an amazing website selling lovely maternity and baby items. Vicky had the idea for Mummy and Little me retreats after the birth of her second child at home. 

• Dr Runa a member of the Royal College of General Practitioners who has postgraduate diplomas in Obstetrics, gynaecology and sexual health. As well as a postgraduate certificate in medical education. Currently a GP principal in Lincoln and community sub-dean for the primary care education unit at Nottingham University School of Medicine. Also a GP appraiser. 

• Alison is a face I found familiar as she is the midwife on the expert panel for Gurgle.com, who has over 20 years experience in the NHS and private sectors even giving advice to companies such as Tommee Tippee, Boots and Mothercare. Since 2012 Alison has worked at St Mary's Hospital London on The Lindo Wing, a dedicated private facility which you may have heard of recently as Kate Middleton had Prince George there! 

As well as all being experts in their own way they are all mums, so they understand what real mums want and need. We were handed a pack which included a personal timetable and information so we knew exactly what to expect for the duration of our stay and even a "yummy mummy" card which entitles me to 10% off purchases from Mummy and Little me.

The Champneys springs staff were all really lovely and incredibly helpful, after checking us in the member of staff showed us to our room where we could change into our swim stuff and get comfy in a robe before attending our first workshop. She also gave us a tour and told us that we can borrow product testers overnight from the champneys shop - which I did! And also changed our single beds to a super kingsize!

The bedroom we had was amazing, it was massive and the bed made me want to get in and go for a nap but there was no time for that because I then I noticed a few bags full of goodies and a card - it was our anniversary and the Mummy & Little me retreats team had remembered that and got us a card! How thoughtful? So obviously I had to dive right in...

Next to the card there were some lovely looking (and really tasty chocolates - Michael didn't taste any) from ChocOnChoc. They're so cute and would make a fantastic little gift. Champneys had also put a bag in the room with items from their blissful bump range which I hadn't heard of before but it really is amazing, feels so amazing on your skin and is what they use during your massage.

Then I looked into the lovely purple Mummy and little me bag to find this AMAZING changing bag, I did not expect to find one of these here and I still can't believe it is mine! The brand is PacaPod which you can find on mummy and little me website, it is an amazing bag which doesn't even look like a mummy bag. It is so organised with a perfect little place for everything you will need.

Inside the second mummy and little me bag there was a selection of gifts which included items from Puckababy, Booboo, Aden + Anais and Sugarjack & more. It was honestly like the best christmas presents all in one go and I can't believe how gorgeous these baby items are!

*please note that this goody bag is for launch, the retreat will include a luxury goody bag worth £75 as well as a maternity photo shoot with 1 free image* 

Launch of mummy and little me

Soon it was 3pm and time for our first workshop in the meeting room, we had a chance to meet everyone else who was there and introduced ourselves to the group by saying what we were worried about. I'm personally worried about having another quick labour, being induced and getting high blood pressure.. the list goes on! Michael's also worried about the same things and how he can help me during labour. Although I'm a second time mum doesn't mean I can't and shouldn't have worries, I'm still scared! This first workshop covered lots of worries including the ones I have mentioned and many more. I even learnt lots of different things I didn't know before about different stages of labour and when we should be going into hospital also how to cope with a long labour - something I might experience this time you never know. They spoke about home births and the idea sounds lovely but not something I'd be able to do due to moving around the time I'm expecting to have baby. We could of sat there for much longer learning things but it was time for Alison to have a one to one appointment with one of the ladies so we went exploring the resort as we had until 5:30pm until our Bump photograph in our room with Hollie from Tiny Feet Photography http://www.tinyfeetphotographybyhollie.co.uk/
Hollie came to our room on time with her camera in hand and took some photos of my bump with my hands and with Michael's hands too, can't wait to see how they turned out. It was such a lovely little extra to have bump photos taken and not something I had thought of before.

Next on our timetable was our one-to-one appointment with expert midwife Alison Brown - this is one lady who knows her stuff! Our appointment was 6-6:45pm and she answered lots of our questions but if I'm honest I could of asked her questions all day long. It was nice to be in private with such a good midwife and ask questions you don't want to infront of other people, she clearly knows what she is talking about and made me feel much more confident on various subjects especially breastfeeding which is something I gave up on pretty quickly with Oliver but I am more determined now to get it off to a good start and do the best I can do. She answered all of our questions honestly and it was really nice to be able to have that appointment with an expert. 

How gorgeous is this personalized keyring from SugarJack?
Check their website.

7:30pm came and it was time for dinner.. The Mummy and Little me team had booked us in for dinner so we didn't have to worry about a thing, just turn up! They did mention we could sit together if we let them know before hand but we arrived first and also being our anniversary thought it might be nice to sit just together. So, tummy rumbling and me worrying about the food, being a fussy eater I didn't know if I would like it. I was wrong. I loved it all, the food was perfect and the waiting staff were lovely and very quick, making no mistakes and ensuring we had everything we desired. It was all delicious but my favorite bit was the dessert - orange ice cream.. lovely, actually Champneys this pregnant lady is currently craving that so can you send me some please? Hehe.

The rest of the evening was ours to relax and do whatever we wish, we had a look at champneys DVD collection available to hire but nothing caught our eye so we went back to the room to watch tv at that point we were both worn out and ready for a good night sleep. I even had a bubble bath before bed! Falling asleep miles apart because the bed was so massive Michael didn't have any reason to moan about my pointy elbows and I didnt have to moan at him for stealing the duvet cover - YES if you're reading this, you do that! (And also if you're reading this thank you for my lovely lovelinks charm you made me close my eyes and put my hands out infront of me for when we got back to the room. Happy anniversary :) x x)

Usually I wake up at 7am even when nothing wakes me up - force of habit since having Oliver but I was so relaxed I slept past 8am, amazing that I was already that relaxed and we still had another amazing day to come. We decided to get showered and dressed for breakfast and when we arrived found they had my favorite "Tiptree" strawberry jam so I had 4 slices... Shh they were small slices of bread and plus being a worrier what if I didn't like lunch? Got to think ahead. We went back to the room to sort out our bags and check out by 11am ready to go to our second workshop. This workshop was amazing, we learnt more about feeding our babies, breastfeeding and how to know you're doing it right. We were giving advice on what is normal and how to cope with it all. I didn't realize how long it takes for your milk to come through and I was also worried about how you know when breastfeeding a baby that they are getting enough, with bottle feeding you do that measurements and you can say well baby has 4oz every 3 hours but with breastfeeding how do you know your baby is getting what they need? It all lies in the nappies! Alison told us how many wet nappies to expect and how many dirty nappies they want to see a baby having. We learnt about newborn jaundice and various other things such as bra fitting and the importance of good bras at this time but then it was 12pm and time to go for a massage, I have never had a massage before let alone a pregnancy massage. It was fantastic and my back still feels fab. Then it was time for lunch...

What was I worried about? It was a buffet style help yourself and they had various meats, roast potatoes and veg.. salads & fruits.. Also the most amazing wrap station where the chef would make a wrap with whatever you like inside. It's safe to say I didn't need to have that much toast in the morning because this lunch was lovely and I did probably for the first time eat more than Michael!

Vicky, Runa and Alison were around the entire weekend should we of had any questions and they were happy to answer them. As well as this amazing care throughout your stay as an optional add on chargeable extra you can receive post-retreat support from Dr Runa and Alison Brown via a personal one-to-one service email with any questions will be answered within 24 hours. You can also look out for daily pregnancy tweets on twitter from @RunaGP - follow her! 

I honestly felt like a pampered princess the entire weekend and still cant believe how lucky I am to have got this experience, I already feel more confident about having my baby and breastfeeding. There was only one thing I would of added into the weekend and that was to see more of the items Vicky sells at mummy and little me as they all look so lovely. The saying You get what you pay for - Well I think here you're getting more than you pay for and I think that the Mummy and Little me retreat was an amazing idea and truly good value for money, to have experts there with you while you enjoy a relaxing stay at Champneys spa being pampered, which is an amazing place with everything you could need and wish for was incredible (and the food! yum). It's not every day you're going to meet someone like Vicky who has a shop like Mummy and little me or a Dr like Dr Runa who has so much knowledge to share and for some people they will never meet an expert midwife as good as Alison brown in person for a one-to-one so to me this Mummy and Little Me retreat was a fabulous idea and if you treat yourself or someone else treats you to anything during your pregnancy it really should be this! You will not be disappointed and you will leave feeling refreshed and prepared to become a mummy whether its your first, second or third baby! 

They are taking bookings now so why not call Vicky at Mummy and little me - 01522 684153 or tweet her on twitter, @MumLM

I also would like to add that it has already been mentioned by the ladies.. I feel a postnatal one would be an amazing addition to Mummy and Little Me Retreats, one where you can take your baby with you while you relax knowing they're being treated too. Every new mum needs a pick me up!

*I have not been asked or paid to write this review, I just loved the mummy and little me retreat so much that I couldn't wait to share it with you all*