Friday, May 29, 2009

10 Things I Couldn't Live Without (Part 1)

The little Peanut has been in my life for almost 6 weeks now.  In that time there are several things that I simply could not have lived without.  For those of you who read my blog who are either expecting now, or who hope to expect in the future, I thought I would give you a list.  Being a parent of a newborn is hard.  No question about it.  But these 10 things made it a little bit easier for me.
  • The My Brest Friend nursing pillow.  Some people prefer the Boppy.  You simply must have one of these.  After trying both of them out and actually using them both, I would say that I prefer the Brest Friend.  I like that it attaches on to me physically and I like that it has the little bumps where the baby's head lies.  It is a breast feeding must.
  • Comfort Gel Boobie pads.  For sore nipples and boobies, these are a MUST!  One of my nurses told me about them in the hospital and they are a life saver.  One package contains two sets of pads.  Each set of pads lasts about a week.  In between uses you can store them in the fridge so when you put them back on...pure bliss.  Seriously.  These things saved my life.  Last time I ended up with cracked nipples with blood blisters.  This time?  Not at all.  I think it is thanks to this product.  Definitely a must have.  (Tip: search around on the internet.  The price varies greatly on this product.  The link I provided is where I found them cheapest but that may have changed recently...)
  • Nursing bras.  Okay so these are very particular to each person depending on what type of bra you usually wear.  I have rather large girls (When not pregnant I wear a D cup) but I prefer to NOT have underwires.  So this bra is perfect for me.  Medela has a ton of different bras and styles and I would recommend checking them out.  They also have this fabulous one for sleeping that I use every single night.  Shop around, but definitely make sure you get a nursing bra that works for you.
  • I don't know about your baby, but my baby?  She poops.  A LOT.  Like sometimes I am not sure if it is normal to poop this much a lot.  And her poop?  Well it is bright orange.  And half the time it tends to shoot out the side of her diaper.  So the next few things address this particular issue.  The first thing you must have are puddle pads.  Believe it or not, these things are relatively hard to find.  I have only found them at Babies R Us and wish I had bought a lot more.  I put one on the changing table to catch any run-a-way poops or pees, I put one under her in her bassinet for when she blows out while she's sleeping, and when she's laying on the floor play mat, I put one under there.  These are a lot easier to clean than whatever item she is laying on.  And she will poop out of her clothes and onto whatever she's laying on.  It's a given.  Trust me.
  • My next item is also in relation to poop.  Like I said above, my daughter poops all the god damned time.  And because of this, her poor little butt gets trashed.  Anything that has to sit with that much poop on it all the time would.  And I change her whenever I hear her poop, or every single time I feed her (which is every two to three hours), so she gets changed frequently.  Anyway, each diaper change I load her butt up with Aquaphor.  It isn't as hard-core as something like a Desitin (which I did use when after a particularly rough couple of days she looked like it was getting worse...) or an actual treatment for diaper rash, but it does help.  Without that, her poor butt would be toast.
  • The last item on the poop subject is a random one.  When the little peanut poops out of her diaper onto her clothes, you wouldn't believe how tough it is to get that shit (pun intended) off without leaving a stain.  First of all, get it to the sink...quick!  If it dries, you're screwed.  But if you rinse it relatively quick, it should come out.  I use this dishwashing soap on it and run it under cold water and scrub.  That seems to get it out every time.  I am sure there are other methods, but without this, I would be ending up with a lot of stains on a lot of very cute clothes.
I am going to pause here and publish this post now and finish it tomorrow.  This is ending up to be a much longer post than I had originally intended, so I will split it into two posts.  For now, I will leave you with a picture of my little peanut.  Notice how chubby she is getting.  Look at the rolls on the arms.  And those cheeks...oh man, those cheeks.  I could just NOM on them all damn day long...  (part two coming soon...)

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