Slowly but surely I’m integrating back into the real world. Taking Imogen out is no longer a military operation and I’m no longer spending all day chasing my tail. Feeds, washing and eating no longer take up the majority of our day and even the majority of our bills are getting paid on time. In fact today I even managed to grab an hour to try two fitness DVDs, Davina’s Pre and Post Natal Workouts and the decidedly harder Tracy Anderson’s The Method.

According to my heart rate monitor I used up a respectable 300 calories in that hour. Davina’s work out was a nice gentle affair, probably best if you are returning to fitness just after having a baby, and there’s also some sound advice for making sure you don’t overdo it. Tracy’s DVD features a hardcore dance routine, that is going to take me a while to master. I’ve managed sections 1 and 2 out of the 8 routines, but I found I was concentrating so much I didn’t even notice the sweat I’d managed to work up. Both DVDs can be bought at Amazon, Sainsbury’s andTesco

I’d vowed not to buy any more clothes but I couldn’t resist a few bargains from Friends, a dress agency in Bishops Stortford. Among my finds were a pair of Earl jeans for £35, an M&S Autograph shirt for £19 and a pair of Burberry flip flops for £15. Other things I tried on included a grey MaxMara dress and a gorgeous Karen Millen prom dress, sadly I couldn’t fit into them! If you don’t live near Bishops Stortford you may like to know that Friends will be opening an eBay store. I’ll let you know when it happens.

Earl jeans aside, our buy of the week was NelsonsTeetha, a homopathic remedy for – as it says – teething. The medicine has a grainy textutre , so unlike teething gels it doesn’t wipe off. Imogen seems a lot calmer after having it. We’ve avoided Bonjela because of the asprin, but I’ll bet we’ll probably be trying quite a few more teething remedies before the year is out.

Immy is finally drinking from her Tommy Tippee bottles as well as the Avent. Out of all the gadgets we’ve bought the Avent sterliser has to be the most used, of course.

Deal(s) of the week.
I’m informed there are some bargains at Tesco this week (valid until 26 May). If you know of any please leave a message here. I’m hoping to make a regular feature of baby bargains, and have been in contact with a number of retailers to make sure that when there are some pennies to be saved I can let you know here.

- Huggies Natural Fit economy pack size 3, 4, 4+, 5 £5.99 (usually £8.98)

- Pampers New Baby jumbo pack £10 (usually £11.98)

- Pampers Sensitive Wipes £1 only (usually £2.39)

- Avent Express Steam Steriliser Complete £26.67 (usually £40)

- Fisher-Price Friendly First Bouncer £19.99 (usually £29.99)

- Lindam Safe and Secure Bedrail £16.66 (usually £24.99)