24 week update -- aka six months!!!
I am up far too late. I blame on the chai that I had with Hilary while we sat and walked on State Street -- taking in some of the downtown life. Man, Hilary looked AWESOME! Like those pregnant models you see in Target that you secretly think "Yeah right, that's totally a prosthetic."
The day I had was sort of lame. I had a headache at noon that went away after some tylenol but came back around 5 after I took a nap. I have been waking up at night with my hips in pain. I got up last night and did some hip exercises which seemed to help....but now it's both sides of the hips hurting. It goes away after I am up and about. I heard it described as pressure points. I think I am going to try some exercises that was recommended to Hilary by a doctor this past week. After discussing it with her, it would appear it the same pain we are experiencing (at least in the hips).
I am also having a thirsty week. I can't get enough to drink. Well, actually, I can get enough to drink...it's just that my mouth feels dry like it wants to drink more. That in turn, makes me have to go pee more -- and seriously, Bacon Bit does not like to have it's space invaded...and getting punched/kicked/poked from in the inside to the bladder...feels incredibly strange and uncomfortable.
I flossed last night and nearly bleed to death doing so. Everywhere that floss touched, blood started to gush out. I had to floss three or four teeth and then rinse to empty my mouth of all the blood. It was incredibly disgusting and disturbing. Here I thought I was better because my gums stopped being sore after brushing them. I guess I was wrong. I hate flossing...but I am committed to trying to remember to do it at least once a week.
My nose is still trying to suffocate me. I have to get up sometimes and cleanse it out with some water...I use the neti pot about twice a week -- but it's a pain to do because that area is so clogged it takes FOREVER for the water to go through...and honestly I didn't notice that much of a difference.
I think I had some round ligament pain today. It went away after coming home and laying down for awhile. I expect I'll just get more as the time progresses...still not to shabby for where I am at.
Overall, I think everything is going really good. I am not uncomfortable all the time. I am starting to sort of believe that this might be real, and in doing so am thinking about starting a registry....we are still going to go with the amazon idea -- but I am going to need to compile a list of things that other Mom's/Dad's think one must have for a new baby.
So there it is. What do we really need to make sure we are ready (as one can be) for a baby? Suggestions appreciated.
posted by hadjare @ 11:57 PM
8 Comments:
1. Choose a pacifier style and bottle style and stick with it. Pacifiers are the most difficult to stick with, because you find the kind you like, and they go and discontinue them. Buy a shit load of them and invest in those clip-on paci-holders. In a pacifier, I preferred the round ones that did not hug the face, thus causing a rash from all the spit that accumulated under the shield. Also, they say you should throw them out after a month. PA-Lease! As expensive as they are, my guage was when the rubber got sticky. Thats when I threw them out and got new ones.
In bottles, I preferred the Playtex Nurser and here is why: The nipple is most like the mom's for easy transition from breast feeding to bottle. Also, they have these liners that always ensures a clean bottle. No scrubbing just throw it out once a day. (I used 1 liner per day--the box says change after every feeding...what a money maker that is.)
Also, you can burp the bag and get rid of all the air before handing it to bit. I loved those things. My niece got those airflow ones with the big vent hose/straw thing that goes down through the milk. What a joke. That poor kid is so full of air after a couple of ounces he loses 3 inches to the waist every time he burps. Playtex. It depends on how long you intend to let her keep the bottle as to how many you buy. When I could hand it to the kids and they could take it and drink was when I switched over to no-leak sippy cups. The paci I let them keep until they were 1.5 years old, then I weened them with my patented paci-weener (heh) maneuver and they were off by their 2nd birthday...
2. You can never have too many: Onsies, socks, receiving blankets or pacifiers. I think you can add a few diapers and raise a kid to 12 months on those items alone.
3. Stuff you can register for to try, but is totally frivolous and (In my opinion) is the whole point of registering--so you can try it without actually wasting money on it:
Diaper genie. I loved mine--make sure to ask for extra liners to last a few months.
Cloth diapers: Oh yeah, I went there. After rinsing poop out in the toilet and having to spend more on the cloth diapers than disposables, I went with the more sanitary, more convenient and biodegradable huggies. Screw that hippy tree hugger crap. After you learn your lesson, they make good naked time pads and burp rags. After that, they are the most excellent mirror washing cloths ever made.
Various interesting toys that catch your eye: Some of them you think is really cool, but you never use them. I once bought this walker thing that looked like a car for Luke. He cried the whole time he was in it--a total waste of $50.00; however, I did buy one of those aquarium things that hooks to the crib with the fish...Luke loved it so much we couldn't keep batteries alive in it. Curt had to hard wire a plug into it so we could plug it into the wall.
The first infant car seat: A definite. You don't wanna pay for that, it only lasts a few months (like 3). Save your money for the big one that takes them from 4-12 months.
Big things you need:
A swing of some kind. A life saver. I had a small travel one that folded to the size of a briefcase. Took it everywhere.
Crib: Obviously.
Play pen: For overnights or visiting. Mine always ended up at the cabin, but is really handy when you want to put the bit down for a nap and she is big enough to roll. In the pen, she can't roll off someone's bed. Also good when your visiting Aunty Breakable Stuff's house.
Baby gate, maybe 2.
Some people say you HAVE to have a stroller. To be honest, I had 3 of them and NEVER used them. You guys walk though and have nice smooth sidewalks to push one of those things. I hear those jogging strollers are nice to push AND can be hooked up to your bike...hmmm.
High chair. Look for speed. Get the ones with the plastic thingie that goes between the kids legs. you don't want to have to mess with those damn straps. In and out people...in and out.
Odd thing-- those thin baby washcloths. Not so much for washing, but they are perfect for teething. Wrap them around an ice cube and tie it off with a rubber band. They have a warm place to hold, and the ice can soak through faster. Also, its not so thick and mealy to chew on. I preferred the wash cloths to the teethers and so did the kids.
Things I never used/hated:
That giant car walker thing.
Regular bottles.
Pottie chairs.
The seat that goes on the big pottie--HATE...dont get me started.
Mobiles.
wipe warmer.
changing table. Like I'm gonna drop everything and carry the baby to the special table to change it? yeah...it collected many inches of dust.
Baby toothpaste/gum cleaner. What a gimmick.
baby bath tub.
Hm. I ended up with more to say on this subject than I thought I guess.
You don't need much to get by. Anything else is just luxury.
If you plan to breastfeed (I hope you do! I hope all moms do!) Get a good bra and some nursing pads.. those are essential!)
Diapers are also a must of course. I always used disposables for the first few weeks then cloth. Your lucky that Madison has a GREAT diaper service. Mother Nature's Diapers was one of Richard's first web clients! If you want to use cloth and prefer washing your own, let me know. I'm happy to provide you with a full supply of fitted cloth diapers as a gift if your interested.. you would just need to tell me what colors/prints you'd like and I'll start sewing and snapping. You'd only need to pick up covers :) Stop by Happy Bambino on Atwood to get an idea of what you can get. BTW, do you KNOW Lea at Happy Bambino? Richard and I used to hang with Lea and her family (and other native families in Madison) every once in a while. She used to host a Native families potluck and we used to do playgroups. I believe Lea's husband is HoChunk.
Anyway, back to needs.
Car seat. Get a basic infant carrier type seat with a base. A real bonus if you get one that goes in a stroller. But spend the bulk of your money on the larger seat. My kids all outgrew their infant seat by 3 months or so. Make sure when you buy the bigger seat that you get one that is rear and front facing since baby will have to be rear facing for the first twelve months (no matter what they weigh) If you can afford it, spring for the Britax seat.
A crib.. you don't really need one early on. But we never used it until much later anyway. We used an arms reach co sleeper that bumped up against my side of the bed. Made feeding at night a breeze. And the bonus is that it folds down and is also a pack and play to take on a trip. If we werent halfway across the country I'd let you use mine! Connor stayed in the co sleeper until he was nearly 9mo old, then moved to a crib without problems.
pacifiers. I'd never even introduce them if you plan to breastfeed. Be resolute on that.. it can really screw up your milk supply.. ask me, I KNOW.
Bottles, only buy ONE small one if you plan to breastfeed, so that you have one on hand if you need it in a pinch. In fact, if you really want nursing to work, don't have one at all. You live in a city with a Walgreens that is open 24 hours. You can always run out to get one at 2AM if absolutely necessary. We used Playtex and Avent but Avent was the far better product.
A sling. Seems hippy crunchy, but they are a lifesaver if you have a baby with colic or reflux. Have one on hand, or make sure you know someone with one you can borrow. I'd send you mine, but its already out on loan to a friend with a newish baby with reflux. If you don't like the feel of a sling, try a meitei carrier. Lea should have some at her store, or I can make you one.
LOTS of swaddling blankets. The flannel type dont work as well as the knit stretchy kind. Onesies, you can NEVER have enough. Baby socks that stay on, and robeez shoes are great (because they stay on)
A swing is nice, but borrow one if you can. Some babies love them, others HATE them. I got a nice one at the kids used store by Ellas Deli (can't remember the name of it.. maybe its not even there anymore!)
I can't think of any other absolute necessary items right now, probably because, you don't really NEED a lot of things.
Really, let me know on the diapers and meitei if your interested. I can put together a few dozen of newborn diapers, and then several dozen one size dipes that will fit from about 4 months up through 2 years old. This would be nice for me anyway, I've been wanting to make some diapers and put my snap press to work, but don't have anyone to make them for! (if you don't remember what the dipes I make look like check this link
Wow. I agree with a lot of the above suggestions, and disagree with a lot of them, too. I don't even know where to start. I'm coming to realize that comfortable mothering is a very personalized thing, and you won't know what works for *you* until you have a tiny, squalling baby in your home. Borrow what you can to try it out, or buy cheap at Target and Wal-Mart.
A few comments before bed:
1. I was so gung-ho about cloth diapering, but I regret my purchase of the big cloth diaper set after trying it a few times. What a messy, unhygienic pain in the ass. The plastic covers wouldn't last beyond one wearing though they're supposed to last most of a day. The urine soaks right through the cotton diaper, and the typically liquidy breastmilk bms leak around to stain the legholes.
Disposables are so much faster and tidier, and we can get pretty good ones for about $15/90 diapers at Woodman's. That comes to about $10/week. $520 sounds like a lot of money for a year, but it's worth it to me. If you do want to try cloth diapering, I'm glad to lend or give you our set. We're just using them for changing table pads and burp cloths now.
2. Once you're breastfeeding well after 4 weeks, *do* use bottles from time to time so baby becomes used to drinking from someplace besides your boob. You will need your freedom to go on outings longer than 2 hours. After 3-4 weeks, nursing should work just fine even if baby's taking several bottles per week. Just make sure to have a pumping session before or after your outing to replace the feeding you missed.
3. On that note, look into breastpumps if you do plan to breastfeed. I'm doing well with the Medela basic Pump-in-Style kit (about $210-$230) plus several extra 6-ounce Medela plastic bottles. They take Evenflo's slow-flow nipples nicely. I pump, on average, 2-3 bottles per week depending on whether we have grandparents or babysitters scheduled or not. I also keep a backup supply of 4-5 bottles ready in the freezer. Each bottle has about 4 ounces of milk, and I typically pump 2-3 ounces in the mornings after Ruth's first feeding. I don't like to pump too much in any one day, because then my breasts will be fooled into producing too much. This can get uncomfortable.
4. You will not believe the laundry a baby makes. A lot of people will give you 3-6 month sized clothes, because they want to give the baby something s/he'll be able to wear longer, but you will probably *need* lots of newborn clothes. As soon as your baby is born, I'll check the weight and ask you if you need newborn onesies. I'll be happy to send you some. I was so relieved when my aunt sent me a pile of newborn clothes.
5. Agreed on the openable nursing bras and pads...if you're breastfeeding, you *will* leak eventually. And although the washable cotton pads are comfortable and inexpensive, I leak right through them at night. I use disposable ones with waterproof cores at night (Medela, Johnson's, Lansinoh to name a few brands), and the cotton washables during the day after Ruth has emptied my breasts a bit.
6. We're doing well with the Graco Safe Seat infant seat, though it's heavy. Unlike most rear-facing carry-basket models, it will hold up to a 30-pound baby, which should get most of them through one year. I wouldn't try to survive without a style that can be carried with the baby inside, in which the baby can nap, which can be installed on a stroller, and can be easily re-installed on the extra base in daddy's car. None of these qualities are really applicable to the convertible carseat styles.
-SECP
i agree with nursing bras and pads! and it's true about swings--some babies love them and some hate them. They take up a lot of space too. I think the small travel swing is the way to go, though I haven't tried mine out yet. We didn't use pacifiers not that I didn't try to get Mina to take one during one particularly desperate evening.
You'll need a few crib mattress pads and sheets, as well as sheets for the pack and play. Babies are spit up machines and that stuff gets sour and stinky and needs to get changed often.
I had a nice medela breast pump but well...my boobs knew the difference between the pump and a baby and wouldn't let down the goods for the pump! I did pump while I nursed Mina but when Leta came around I tried to get her to take formula on a semi regular basis.
Yeah...I think you have to decide early on if you want a pacifier baby or not. I opted to follow the breastfeeder recommendatons to avoid pacifiers for the first weeks. After that, it was too late...Ruth wouldn't accept them.
I use my pinkie finger a lot to calm her when it's not time for a feeding. I envy the moms I see out shopping with calm tots who are sucking on pacifiers. How easy to plug one in! But at the same time, I'm glad Ruth's not addicted to having an object in her mouth so often. I give her the pinkie for several minutes until she's calm or sleepy, and then I can (must) take it away.
-SECP
I loved the swing we had, Fisher-price. Cheveyo spent a great deal of time sleeping in it. It was like-magic! Nice-low to the ground and ez-fold up 4 travel.
Pacifier-infants shouldn't have one attached to their clothes it's actually more of a hazard to them.
We used an antique(it was mine) basinnet for him to sleep in. It was at the foot of our bed. Easy and smooth to get him in and out of at night.
Breast pump-electric!!! Much faster and easier that a hand held.
Car seat-get the kind with a base. The one we had lasted until he was 20 lbs or a yr old. We had a padded insert that we put in it for when he was really tiny so his head wouldn't flop around. But the base kind is so nice-you just pick the whole thing up and go. I wish I could still use it!
We didn't have a changing table-lots of my relatives said it's a waste o money.
Hats-to keep the lil ones heads warm.
Sleeper bags-to keep baby warm at night.
Bottles-I agree with the buy one kind and stick with it-otherwise you have to mess around with trying to find which nipple fits into which bottle top and which one of those fits on which bottle, and if you don't get the exact combo right-you could end up crying over spilled milk like I did!
~melissa
I had Avent bottles and they were leaky and annoying even though they are supposed to be so great. I read a lot of other reviews saying that a lot of other people had trouble with theirs leaking too. I was thinking I'd try the playtex with the dark brown nipple--it seems more natural to me.
1. The baby sling was a life saver with the kids. I was able to fold laundry without going crazy hearing baby howling.
2. You need a little nail clipper when they are first born. The have insanely sharp little fingernails that they like to mar their cute little faces with.
3. Swy Flotter by Kiss My Face to repel mosquitoes--no DEET.
4. Running stroller with 12-inch wheels. I would have gone crazy if I had to stay in the house for the three months after Oona was born. The big wheels were helpful in our rural area.
5. There is something about the smell of Huggies diapers. Huggies diapers made diaper changing tolerable.
6. A ton of thin receiving blankets. They are great for a variety of uses--wiping stuff, draping for shade, rolling up to use as a baby prop, padding for the cradle board, etc.
7. Good nursing tops, nursing bras, and nursing pads. I was too lazy to mess with bottles. Trying to plan ahead and transport potentially hazardous bottles of milk at 40 degrees or less was just too mind boggling. It's WAY easier to just find a quiet spot and feed the baby. The added bonus with breast feeding was that it was FREE! There were no food costs for the little ones for the first 4 months.
8. A swing saved all our sanity with Tatiana. She used to cry at a decibel that made your ears feel like they were going to bleed. No one could stop her crying. One day we put her in the swing and she loved it.
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