I know it’s the 28th of January and I’m a little late to the party but Happy New Year one and all, how is it even possible that we survived another year? I know! That sounds a bit dramatic but you know where I’m coming from if you’ve been following us for some time now. I wanted to pop on and say hello and thank you to all the wonderful people who follow my blog. If your reading this then it is likely you have received an e-mail or notification to say I have finally written a blog post again which we all know doesn’t happen that much lately.

In between moving etc I have mainly been doing the one thing I had underestimated and that is parenting after loss. I thought pregnancy after loss was the hard bit but actually it is now clear to me that that was in fact relatively straight forward. I will touch more on this in the months ahead. I am still working on explaining and getting it down in a way that does it justice and doesn’t just make me sound like an ungrateful maniac! I’m sure it will happen soon…

So what does 2018 have in store for Betty Dora? Well, firstly my social media sites have had a name change ‘B is for Betty’ (Facebook) and ‘b_is_for_betty’ (instagram) the blog will remain the same. As always it is my mission to continue to write about our journey and open a channel for people struggling with baby loss wether that be recent or years ago. I think 2017 saw our story help many who were going through a similar thing to us and hopefully I provided you comfort, support or helped you comfort a friend or family member If sadly they went through a stillbirth.

It’s definitely one of my goals to write more this year, Vinnie is becoming more predictable now and sleeping marginally better so I hope I can focus on this. As always I write from the heart, I would like to start to introduce other parts to my blog, not just about Betty, but about the things I love, my home, my interiors, food etc. But still even now I find writing about her is the one thing that comes most naturally, maybe over time more will come, we shal see. I am setting myself a challenge that every Sunday I will publish a new blog post. I want to start writing some small pieces on tips and strategy’s on pregnancy after loss etc. I get asked these questions a lot and thought if I wrote something that those who need it can reference then it could be put to good use! If you have anything you would like me to write about ( it doesn’t have to be baby loss related) then please get in touch).

If you are a social media lover depending on who you follow you will more than likely have been reading about mindfulness and self care this new year. I think this is such an important thing and this is something I will be making a conscious effort to adopt. As well as putting my phone down of an evening and reading (something I really enjoy but rarely make time for) this is going to change!

I am making small plans for myself, again something I will touch on in another post not right now. But I feel I have started the year feeling positive, this time last year I just wasn’t sure what was going to happen – where the end of 2017 would find us and although I would never ever have thought I would be writing to you from my blue house on a teeny island in 2018 I’m so happy that I am!

I hope my PMA continues, there were a few months when I really worried I was becoming depressed and a bit crazy but I honestly think that was just a blip – I mean I think there would be something seriously wrong with me if I didn’t go a little bit cray cray after all the last few years has thrown at me! But on a serious note I am really enjoying life right now, that sounds so cliche, don’t get me wrong it’s not perfect – we would all be kidding ourselves if we thought our lives were perfect. But I am just really embracing what I have, where I am and who I am and trying to put a positive edge on all that comes my way, even problems! I think with this approach it will help me to be calmer and happier.

So, no major life changes but just lots of little things that I know will make me happy. All that is left is for me to say now is thank you, thank you for listening, if you know me, trying to understand and just being there. For every like, every word of support. I’m not always great with my admin (something I am also hoping to work on this year) but thank you, know I read and take on board everything you say. And most importantly to all the mamas who are walking the same path as me, I am sad we had to meet under these circumstances but happy we can be there for one another.

Remember when wrote “I want a boring year” well my friends 2018 could be it! YES!

Jen x