Yesterday I bought my first pregnancy-conscious top. It's not maternity (it's from Forever 21), but its the first thing I've bought that takes my slowly-starting-to-change body into account. It's v-neck to show off the best assets pregnancy has given me and loose on the bottom to hide the fact that my jeans are getting just a little bit snug. It was fun to try something on and not obsess over whether it made me look fat or if it clung too tightly- I was trying to find something that made my waist look somewhat ambiguous. It's so freeing! I can eat a whole pizza before going out Saturday night and it won't matter!
Tomorrow I'm going to "Babies R Us" with a friend to start building a baby registry. I know its a little early, but Shelley already has hers and she's only due 5 weeks before me. I wouldn't even walk through the baby section of Target while we were trying to conceive or for the first few weeks of my pregnancy. This trip is just to see what's out there and over-register so I can read reviews online later and start deleting. I found with the wedding registry that I liked having a while to play with it before anyone was going to be buying from it.
So for those of you with any baby experience, or if you've heard from others with baby experience- let me know if there's something you couldn't live without or something that was a waste of space (and we have very little space).
The Morning Show Hits Paley Fest
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I'm a Mom to 7 year old twins and 9 month old baby girl. The baby was unplanned by us (planned by God) thus the large age gap.
ReplyDeleteWith the twins, I vowed to nurse regardless of the effort, time consumption,etc. After weeks of sleep deprivation, insomnia and a massive case of PPD, I had to throw in the towel and start bottle feeding pumped breastmilk and then soon after all formula. I was crushed but it was the best for the babies and for me. I purchased Avent bottles and twin boy was fine with those but twin girl didn't like them until about months old. She had bad colic which I didn't realize until middle of 2nd month. We switched her formula but not the bottle brand.
With baby #3's birth, I also was very set upon nursing until that also didn't work out for various reasons not worth mentioning here. She also was very colicky and we switched her formula to older girl's and that helped. I purchased Avent again but noticed much more quickly that she didn't like the nipple and she had A LOT of gassiness from this bottle.
I ended up buying the Playtex dispolable "system." What a dumb word that is. Like, the acne Proactiv system; no it's not a system!
Do breastfeed and I hope that works for you. But, the thing that I would buy simply as backup are bottles and your doctor recommended formula. To help with colic, I recommend the Playtex disposables. You can buy 1 or 2 bottle sets and a bunch of nipples. Soon, you only have to sterilize the nipples and handwash/dishwasher the bottle, ring and cap. This really helped my baby, but honestly, this is a guessing game with your first child.
Good luck and go without guilt, friend.
I hate to be so verbose but I should clarify that I switched off Playtex and back to Avent by around 3 1/2 months b/c the Playtex slow flow nipple was too slow and fast flow was too fast for baby girl. I switched back to Avent #1 nipple and she loved it and have been using Avent since then.
ReplyDeleteSo, for us, Avent was bad when she was a newborn but great as she got older.
Trial and and a lot of error I'm afraid.
Desimom- feel free to be as verbose as you want! I have millions of questions- most of which I don't even know I have yet! Your advice and stories are greatly appreciated.
ReplyDeleteYou can never have too many onesies or receiving blankets for newborns. Teething rings are a godsend. But above all--keep it simple. Babies don't need much in the way of gimmicks, they need lots in the way of hugs. :)
ReplyDeleteOh, and if sensitive skin runs in your family, try to get unscented everything. My son had sensitive skin, and perfumed products were a nightmare. Besides, the best smell is just the smell of clean.
Let's see, it's been a while since the little guy is now two, but here are some things I remember from the early days:
ReplyDelete1) Definitely get a diaper pail. Diaper Genie is good but the refills are expensive, and it fills up quickly. We have a Diaper Champ, which uses regular garbage bags, has pretty good capacity, but is kind of a pain to refill (at least, that is what my hubby tells me)
2) We had a swing and a bouncy chair (both Fisher Price), but you could probably hold off on the swing (takes up lots of room) until you think you really need it. The baby was extremely colicky, and the swing seemed to soothe him and gave us a little peace to eat dinner.
3) A Gymini or play mat is great for babies when they get a little older, maybe 3-4 months. It takes up room but you can fold it down and put it away. Our baby loved to look at the animals and swat at them.
4) You probably don't need a separate changing table. We simply put a changing pad on the dresser and used a carpet pad to make it stick. Nowadays we just change him on the floor using a pad. People use their beds, too.
5) If you're nursing, have a pump and few backup bottles on hand just in case. Nursing was a disaster for us and I ended up pumping rather than breastfeeding, so I needed a pump (Medela Pump in Style is great; Avent Isis is a good manual choice but not good for pumping on a regular basis) and bottles. The Playtex ones are great like Desimom says, but we switched to Dr. Brown's to help with colic. Not sure if it worked, though, and they always leaked when traveling. Don't forget breast pads to absorb leaks, nursing bras and tops, and a nursing cushion (Boppy).
6) If you have the room to spare, I highly recommend a rocking chair/glider. We still use it to get the little monster down. It's nice for nursing, too.
7) A carrier can make life easier when you're out and about, and can help soothe a colicky baby. I used the New Native sling, which is really pricy for what it is (a piece of fabric). The baby Bjorn is complicated and I never felt comfortable in it. I always felt like I was preparing to take a parachute jump or something.
I'll try to think of more later. Good luck to you! I had my baby in the middle of 2L year, so I feel for you!
You're much braver than I -- I'm too scared to set foot in a Babies R Us -- that place scares me!
ReplyDeleteHowever, Ikea has some really reasonable baby furniture, and we're actually planning a shopping trip up to Seattle just to shop (our store isn't opening quickly enough!)...well, and to visit the science fiction museum (concession to get husband to willingly go into furniture store).
I have two kids and I love to shop for them. I like coupons shopping at One Step Ahead which make my shopping savier.
ReplyDelete