Expectant Mom Shopping List

Being a new mom I thought I would put together a little list of things that were most used in our first month with Nugget.  This might help any expectant mothers out there or help when buying for an expectant mother. 

First: The Big 3 (IMHO)

1.  Bottles/nipples of choice.  This seems obvious but everyone things that everyone else will buy bottles.  I can tell you that unless you want to wash bottles 4-5 times a day (which I don't, once is bad enough) having lots of bottles and nipples is essential. 

2.  Receiving blankets.  Doesn't seem like something you would need a lot of, but in the first few weeks of wearing those diapers with the cut out for the umbilical cord or maybe just because he is a boy, he peed through diapers so many times.  Well, in peeing through the diaper he also got his blanket wet.  Since babies like to be swaddled so you need those clean receiving blankets.

3.  Onesies.  Again this would seem obvious and when I got a bunch at my shower I thought it was too many.  Nope.  Again with the peeing through diapers so much we not only had to change the diaper but the sheets, blanket, and the onesie.   Again with not having to do so much laundry. 

Next post will be fun extras that are really appreciated.

Maybe he was right

I really do feel bad for first borns.  We parents are just trying to figure things out and experimenting on them.  Poor James.  It really is a good thing he is such a good baby.  He is a wonderful little being and I love every moment we've had together.  Can't wait to see what the days, months, and years have to bring. 

Anyway, about this experimentation.  When James was 1 week old he was not gaining enough weight.  We were instructed by our pediatrician to feed him every 2-3 hrs.  To even wake him up and feed him (wake him up at least during the day).  Well, we did this.  By the next office visit he had gained 1 pound.  We were very proud parents who felt we had done a good parenting job.  Not being told differently we continued to make sure he was being feed every 2 hrs (during the day which just naturally went into the night feedings).  2 weeks later, now 1 month old, James weights 10 pounds.  I just hope the Dr. understands that we are just trying to do the right thing and that we were not trying to create a little porker.  So this is the reason for his gassiness, parents that were really eager to make sure our little one was eating enough.  What we got was a little one that was eating too much was causing him to have gas.  Paul akined it to eating Thanksgiving dinner several times a day.  I would have gas too. 

After being really upset at myself for again screwing up and "not being a good mom", I've decided to try to relax and do what feels right. Which is not so easy when you little one is crying and you are just trying to make him happy. 

Speaking of making him happy.  This made him happy and allowed me wash some bottles. Oh, and check out the grass thingy on the counter.  It's a drying rack thing for baby bottles and stuff.  Great product just wish it was bigger. 

Advice you can use...

My little Nugget is 3 weeks and 4 days old.  You probably know that you get all kinds of advice when people find out you are pregnant, some you can use and some you discard.

The most used and most appreciated bit advice thus far is this...waterproof pads and layering.  Here's what you do, layer a waterproof pad and then a sheet, waterproof pad and sheet, and repeat.  Why?  Let us imagine it is 2am and your little one has just wet his diaper.  He/she peed so much that it overflowed the diaper and now the crib sheets are wet.  Do you really want to be changing sheets and diapers at 2am?  I don't.  See where I'm going with this?  Wet sheets, just remove a layer of sheet and waterproof pad and your done.  Fabulous idea right!!!  Thanks to my friend Jessica for this one, it saved us so many nights.  There was even a night that we went through 3 layers.  I couldn't imagine having to change the sheets each time there was a pee containment failure.  The pads can be a bit pricey, but believe me it is so worth it. 

Only 3 Hours of Sleep

Yep, I'm a new mom. That's why I only had 3 hrs of sleep today. In my sleep deprived state I thought that it would be a fun project to start a blog about being a mom (a new and inexperienced mom). Not that this in an original idea or concept. And not that this blog would ever aspire to have a movie made about it. But, it will chronicle my life as a new mom and will be a place that I will share some of the helpful hints and ideas that are found along the way. You, the reader, will also be able to read about all the trials and challenges that my baby, husband, and I experience. Well here we go.

So, why did I only have 3 hours of sleep? Gas. Not colic, thank God. But simple elemental Gas. And I still haven't mastered the "sleep while your baby is sleeping" thing. Imagine a cranky gassy baby that only relaxes and calms when curled up on mommy's chest. I'm sure that almost all moms have experienced this. And I'm going to be honest here, I love it. I love that I have this ability to sooth a cranky baby with just a cuddle. Anyway, I digress. So, here I am sitting up in bed allowing the sweet innocent wee one to sleep while I try to stay comfortable and keep my foot from falling asleep. The foot that was curled under me so that I could prop up my arm that kept the sweet little baby from rolling off onto the hard floor and crack his scull open. This being another reason I can not allow myself to fall asleep. Anyway, about 3 am, "Nugget" as I'll be calling him, starts smacking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. I know what this means. Hungry. I knew it was coming. It's also inevitable that he would then need to be changed and then we have to try to get a gassy baby back to sleep. Well, at 3:14 am I had to get hubby to try to calm him and get him to sleep while I got some sleep. He of course had no problem. Binky and a rocking bassinet works wonders when daddy does it.

Now, fast forward 3 hours. 6 am. Hungry Nugget. It's dad's turn. Dad feeds Nugget and proceeds to burp Nugget. This is not normally exciting. Not until a little Nugget takes a big ol' poo. Again this is not something that would be extra extraordinary. Daddy has no probs with changing poo diapers. But there was a serious failure of the diaper containment zone. Oh Meh Gah. It's 6 am and I've only had 3 hrs of sleep. We are dealing with a failed containment zone on 3 hrs of sleep. Needless to say we all got cleaned up and then hubby and I had a nice laugh over the whole incident. But in my sleep deprived state I thought "I need to share these stories with the world". Why? Why does everyone need to know about this. You don't. I don't have to share it with anyone, but I'm going to anyway.