First Month Baby Products I Loved

I always thought posts about must have baby products were very helpful so I figured I would share some of my own experience with baby products here.  When I was pregnant, looking up baby stuff was SO overwhelming.  I told my husband it was like preparing to send an alien to summer camp, but really, you work with what you have and hopefully won't have to run out to the store too many times.

I'm going to do one post for baby supplies, one post for baby clothing/bedding, and one post for Mom and Dad stuff.  Stay tuned!

For our first month with Benjamin, I am grateful we had the following gear for the baby:

Benjamin at one week old

1. The Wubbanub - Our hospital is "breastfeeding friendly" and thus does not provide pacifiers to newborns.  Knowing this in advance and having a general knowledge of a baby's need to suck, I planned on packing some pacifiers in the diaper bag.  Then I went into labor before I packed the diaper bag.  My husband ran home the first night to grab some stuff and I told him to find a pacifier.  I had several regular Soothies and MAMs ready to go but he couldn't find them and grabbed the Wubbanub we had received as a gift.  And thus a love affair began.

Anytime we took Benjamin out in the car seat we made sure to have his pal the monkey with us in case he started to fuss.  He didn't really want it any other time but I think the monkey helped calm him when he's strapped into his seat.  As time went on we discovered that sucking on the Wubbanub also helped him fall asleep.  I'm sure a regular Soothie would work too, but the Wubbanub adds weight in the form of a stuffed animal to the pacifier so it doesn't fall out as easily.  Usually he falls asleep and spits it out so I go and move it down by his legs.

Benjamin at one month old

On the fourth of July we went to see the fireworks and lost the monkey and I was inconsolable.  My husband ran out to the store to replace it, only to find that there were no monkeys at the store.  Enter our new friend, the kitty.  I still missed the monkey, however, so I bought one off Amazon.  So new mom trick is to make sure you have two of everything you are attached to.  Not that your baby knows the difference between a monkey and a kitty because he's a baby, but it's amazing how sentimental you get about these things.  Monkey came back from vacation via our friend Amazon Prime free shipping.  Benjamin has started to hold onto it and it's too cute.  I die.

Apparently the pacifier is only designed for babies up to six months and I'm sad in advance of that day coming.  And, yes, my baby is improperly secured in his car seat in the picture to the left but we didn't go anywhere in the car that day so nobody panic.

PSA; Remove blankets after snapping photo

2. The Rock and Play -  I had heard a lot about the Rock and Play while I was pregnant. Some people swear by it.  Then there was a recall and people freaked out!  Then others resisted it because they said babies need to get used to not sleeping on an incline.  I thought I was in the last camp but put a Rock and Play on my registry just because.  And, we love it like woah.  Benjamin can sleep anywhere.  We are lucky that he can fall asleep in his swing, bassinet, car seat, etc. but we get the longest and best stretch of sleep when he is in his Rock and Play. It is also very easily portable so in the early days when we had to be in the same room as him all the time we could just carry it wherever we went.  We've also brought it when we've stayed with family because it's easy to take apart and throw in the car.  My sister's monster baby slept in his for 5 months so I'm hoping to get until month 6 with the Rock and Play being our primary sleeping device (we don't own a crib at the moment).

3. The Sleep Giraffe - Similar to the Sleep Sheep, a baby product that also has mixed reviews, we love our Sleep Giraffe.  This morning, in fact, turning on the Sleep Giraffe lulled Benjamin back to sleep when he was thinking about waking up and I got an additional half hour of sleep out of him.  Priceless.  We're also hoping to use it in our monthly photos to compare its size with Benjamin's size since it fits our jungle theme.

4. Wipe Warmer - I know, I know.  I thought wipes warmers were dumb until I had a baby who screamed whenever a cold wet wipe touched his butt.  It was so night and day after we got this warmer as a gift that we went out and bought a second one for our other changing area.

5. Vinyl changing pad - I spent a long amount of time selecting the cutest cover to go with my regular changing pad...and then I had a baby who made a bowel movement during every diaper change.  We went through a packet of the disposable changing pad covers every other day until my husband went out and bought this vinyl pad instead.  Now the bowel movements have eased up but we don't dare change a poopy diaper on a fabric changing pad anymore.  Ain't nobody got time to do all that laundry.  The vinyl you can just wash off!  Genius. 

The toy bar sort of sucks just FYI but maybe when he's older he'll be more interested in it.

Everything else (minus the car seat) I could have probably lived without our first month home.

Benjamin - One Month Old

Amazingly, Benjamin turned one month old yesterday.  Ever since DH told me that he looked up where Benjamin fit in the infant growth chart I had been anxiously awaiting his one month appointment.  I know he came a little early and is eating a lot and having the appropriate number of diapers but, oh man, how I feared that scale.  Call it new parent anxiety but I felt so guilty thinking that ninety six percent of babies were bigger than my Benjamin.  Every time he ate I would think, grow, baby, grow!

So now the results are in!

(Someone was a little too tired for this photo.)

Weight and other stats: Eight pounds, eight ounces!!!  Up from six pounds, four ounces at birth and six pounds, eleven ounces at around two weeks.  He is now in the thirteenth percentile.  DH and I were so excited.  He is twenty one and one quarter inches tall, up from seventeen at birth.  This lands him in the thirty third percentile.  His head circumference is thirty seven point six centimeters (fifty eighth percentile). 

Size: Up until a week ago the clothes that fit him best were a pack of Preemie onesies.  Now he's solidly in Newborn sizes.  Newborn Pampers Swaddlers are our diaper of choice but we may switch to Size One soon. 

Eating: Benjamin is now being bottle fed exclusively.  I'm not ready to write about how we got here but I know it's the right decision for our family.  I am pumping to ensure he gets breast milk and he is currently eating around twenty five ounces a day, eighteen of which are breast milk.  This works out to be an average of ten bottles, but only about seven feedings.  This is because every now and then we'll prep a three ounce bottle and Benjamin will want more so we give him a second smaller bottle.  Usually we can expect him to eat 3.5 ounces in one sitting but he's been known to suck down six ounces every now and again.

Sleeping: I've seen so many other moms refer to their baby's "naps" which confuses me because, if Benjamin is not eating, he is sleeping, save for two wakeful periods a day.  So I guess he has four "naps" a day and then wakes up twice at night?  But when does the day start?  Anyway the kid sleeps.  He sleeps on a Jeep.  He sleeps with a sheep.  At around two weeks we started using the swing intermittently for "naps" and he loves it.  He also sleeps in his bassinet, Rock and Play, car seat or wherever we happen to put him down.  I would say he sleeps for about sixteen hours a day. 

Likes: Eating and sleeping?  Cuddling.  His monkey Wubbanub (but only in the car seat). 

Dislikes: Being changed.  Waiting for a bottle.  Being cold. 

We have a pretty great baby.  Since my last entry we've had two more road trips.  One for my sister in law's memorial about two and a half hours away.  We only had to stop for a quick diaper change.  The second was to visit my parents (also two and a half hours away) who watched him while DH and I went out on the town.  He slept the whole way there and back!

It's been an amazing month!

Our Due Date Is Here

I never thought I'd have a twenty day old baby on June 17th, yet, as much as I said over and over again how I was prepared to be pregnant past my due date, I much prefer having Benjamin safely here at home with us instead.  We went out to lunch yesterday for DH's birthday and Father's Day and I ran into a friend who is due on Friday.  Just looking at her made me cringe a bit.  Wow, she is really pregnant!  I'm so thankful that I'm not!

Now that I've put that out in the universe, I bet my second kid will be two weeks late.  Oh well.  That's not happening for a while, but I can totally understand the newborn envy mothers of older children experience.  I always said that babies were just a gateway to my preferred stage of development, namely kindergartners.  And sure, I'm still looking forward to that age.  But newborns are SO perfect.  They are so small and dependent and every time they open their eyes it's a gift.  Benjamin gets older every day and it's so cool (but hard!) to watch.  You really wish you could freeze time.

We've had a great twenty days.  Everyone always remarks how we've taken Benjamin "everywhere!" but really we've just been to a few local places, including a street fair last Saturday and the annual Gay Pride Festival in the park across from our condo last Sunday.  Apparently this makes me a rebel in the eyes of my family.  We've also been to Walmart, the doctor's office and three restaurants within walking distance of home.  All were a wild success!  Benjamin sleeps in the car seat anytime we take him out somewhere.  He even manages to stay roughly on his eating schedule.  We are pretty lucky.

This past Saturday was our first family road trip.  I was nervous about taking him in the car lest he woke up and we had to pull over to comfort him but, amazingly, he slept the entire 90 minute ride both ways!  We went to my aunt's house and Benjamin got to meet my entire extended family.

Tomorrow we may take a walk down to a park outside my office and have lunch with a coworker who wants to meet Benjamin.  And Thursday I was thinking of taking him to a Mommy and Baby group at the place where we took birth classes. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.

In career news, I had my two job interviews last week and I think they went well.  I'm being considered for three different positions.  I'd greatly prefer one of them over the others but if I'm offered any I will likely accept.  Fingers crossed.

Thursday we were at the doctor's office because Benjamin had the sniffles and found out he weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces.  That's a gain of seven ounces in a week!  He's still only in the 5th to 10th percentile but I'm happy he's gaining steadily.  I've been getting more and more milk from my breast pump so he is now getting mostly breast milk in his bottles.  Yesterday, for example, I expressed fourteen ounces and he consumed twenty four ounces - his second most hungry day yet!

Physically, I'm feeling good.  Bleeding had tapered off but then came back yesterday.  I'm experiencing some nighttime anxiety still, which sucks, but Benjamin has been sleeping good stretches at night.  Last night I slept from 12-3 and then took over from DH.  Benjamin woke up again around 3:40 and 6:20.  In between I sleep on the couch or play on my computer depending on how tired I am.  Then, when H gets up for work at 8 or 9 I go back into the bedroom and watch the Today Show or sleep. Or pump.  Pumping is easier now that my Medela Freestyle has arrived.  It's just as efficient as the hospital pump I rented but much smaller so you can (theoretically) walk around while you're pumping.  My only complaint so far is how loud it is!

Not 39 Weeks - Postpartum Check In

Today at 9 o'clock I got a text from Baby Center that said "you are 39 weeks pregnant."  Sigh.  Its still unbelievable to me that, not only is Benjamin here, he has been with us for the past fourteen days.  I never got to worry about not going into labor before my (evil) doctor pushed an induction.  I never got to take last pictures of a ridiculously pregnant belly.  I never got to go into work days from my due date and make everyone worry I was going to have the baby under my desk.  I never got my farewell maternity leave cake!

Obviously I wouldn't change a thing and I'm glad Benjamin is here and healthy.  Just, wow, how did this happen?

There's so much I want to write about.  My birth story (nearly done).  Our postpartum hospital stay.  All things Benjamin, etc.  But for now, since it's easier and on my mind, I want to write about my postpartum recovery.

Weight: This has been a pretty awesome side effect of giving birth. Despite not really gaining weight during my pregnancy, I lost over twenty five pounds within days of having Benjamin.  I'm now about twenty two pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight.  And people I've seen or who have seen pictures of me on Facebook have not been shy about pointing it out. I'm really hoping I can maintain this weight until at least my six weeks postpartum appointment and then start working on dieting and working out to lose a little more.  Once upon a time (i.e. seven years ago) I was a healthy weight and I'd love to get back in that range.

Mental Health: Good.  Also better than expected.  I am still trying to reconcile the tragedy of my sister in law's death with the joy of the birth of my son and frankly I'm not sure I'll ever be "over it" exactly but I just try to enjoy each day and be thankful. I had Benjamin's placenta made into capsules and I really think taking them has helped my moods stabilize.  I'm basing this on the very thin anecdotal evidence of the one day I forgot to take my capsule my moods were a little more out of control.  I always said even if placenta encapsulation has absolutely no medical value, for $150, it was a risk I was willing to take and I'm glad we did it.

Just like the anxiety I experienced during pregnancy, I feel most anxious at night, particularly when my husband and I start sleeping in shifts.  I am grateful that I have been getting a decent amount of sleep but it's just not the same when you are used to going to sleep whenever you want and sleeping as long as you want.

I was able to attend my regular Friday therapy session at only ten days postpartum.  It was important to me to keep the appointment because I'll be leaving Benjamin with my husband to go on my job interviews this week.  More on that below.

Physical Health: I'm taking iron pills right now because I'm slightly anemic, and they are awful.  But I stopped taking pain killers day ago.  I don't have any vaginal pain.  I'm still bleeding and it gets heavier depending on my level of activity.  I assume my stitches have healed since I haven't felt them.  I get tired from standing long periods of time but that may be due to the whole reduced sleep factor.

Co-parenting: Going well.  We are mostly bottle feeding so it has allowed us to give each other breaks, which is nice.  DH sleeps a solid block of five hours at night in a row, while I take usually two shifts of three hours.  During the day it's much easier since we are both rested.  H did a little work starting the second day back from the hospital so that he wouldn't be too far behind and didn't have to charge his vacation time.  Starting today he is "back" on a part time basis for the week, but it's nice that he's still physically here since he works from home.

Maternity Leave Thoughts: I was enjoying watching The Today Show for a while but it's ironically very repetitive.  It's weird not being at work on a Monday.  It's weirder still thinking I may never return to my current job.  I have a certain level of guilt about that for some reason (then again I feel guilty a lot lately!).  In addition to the long awaited job interview that Benjamin's birth threw a kink in, I just got a call today from another agency and I'll be interviewing with them on Friday.  I don't want to count my chickens but if I were a better man, I would wager that some agency will snap me up by the time my maternity leave is up.  If I get a new job before DH (who has been interviewing for months) I will just laugh.  Wish me luck.

Benjamin is Here!

In my last entry, I wrote that I wanted to stay pregnant for at least two more weeks.  As a result I went and had a baby the very next day.  I didn't get to go on my job interview or ditch my OB's office.  I DID, however, get to deliver the world's best baby into the world on Tuesday, May 28th at 2:11 p.m. after a fast and furious labor.  Benjamin Eli couldn't wait to meet us.

We love him so much.

More (and more!) to come.

And my job interview has been rescheduled. :-)

37 Weeks

I don't have a lot to write this week.  Or maybe I do, but I don't want to write it.


The week started out pretty crappy and then got unimaginably worse when my sister in law, my husband's only sibling, died suddenly at the age of 38.  We are devastated and in shock. I don't know what else to say about it. Life is really just cruel and unfair sometimes.  She leaves behind a husband and two small children.

For some reason I have an ominous feeling this pregnancy is nearing its end so I wanted to document Week 37, as shitty as it is.  I honestly want to be pregnant for at least two more weeks no matter how uncomfortable it gets just to put some mental distance between the two events.

How Far Along: 37 weeks.  I've reached "term" even though according to March of Dimes "full term" isn't until 39 weeks.  Oh well, close enough.
Size of baby: Baby is the size of a winter melon, or, you know, the size of a six pound infant.
Total Weight Gain/Loss: No change.
Workouts: I think I overdid it walking around at a concert yesterday and now I'm miserable.
Maternity Clothes: Sure.
Gender: It's a boy!
Movement: All the friggen time.  He's clawing his way out.
Sleep: Fine when I'm not puking or peeing or anxious.
What I miss: .....
Cravings: Nothing.
Symptoms: Pain, pressure, general discomfort.
Anxiety Level: Can't even go there this week.
Best Moment this week: .....
Reading: ....
Dad is: ......

In other news, I have a job interview on Wednesday.  Yeah, at 37 weeks, 2 days.  As I mentioned before, I knew it was a possibility but it seems a little crazy at this point.  On the one hand, I pretty much loathe my job lately and I'm anxious for a change/salary boost.  On the other hand, I don't know how it would work out even if I did get the job.  I know I wouldn't be able to take the 18 weeks off I currently have planned, but would they let me take 12?  Anything less than that I would feel pretty guilty.  So here goes nothing I guess.

I'm also dumping my OB's office.  Or trying to anyway.  Stay tuned for news about this.  It is another reason why I don't want to go into labor anytime soon.  I need to straighten this mess out and soon.

But, in happier news, my tiny cat loves the new infant seat.

36 Weeks

I am making a ridiculous face in this bump photo but since I literally could not stand wearing this outfit for one more minute, I only allowed one take.  This dress was the one I had originally wanted to wear to my shower this past weekend, but it got vetoed because it was too short.  After wearing it to work today, I can now verify that is is, in fact, too short.  Lucky for me, no one can really notice when I'm sitting in my cubicle.  I like the dress so much I bought two of them and plan to wear them post-delivery, yet walking home in the sweltering heat today made me hate the thick interior lining.

Yes, that's right.  It went from low 40's last week to over eighty degrees today. And it was SO muggy.  I'm glad I only have four more weeks of pregnancy left because I am not cut out for being hugely pregnant in the summer. I think I would show up to work in a tank top and boxer shorts every day until I got fired.

But speaking of getting fired, I GOT MY MATERNITY LEAVE APPROVED! It was such a non-event at my joke of a job.  My boss called me into his office late last week and just handed me a form to sign with no discussion.  I placed said form back on his desk a few minutes later while he was away.  Today I got a copy of said form signed by the Powers That Be.  I guess no one has anything to say to me about transitioning my work to another attorney, notifying the clients I'm responsible for about my planned absence, or my offer to start back on a part time basis?  Well okay then, see you in late October losers!  Eighteen weeks of freedom!  Oh and taking care of a newborn.

How Far Along: 36 weeks. Officially nine months pregnant.
Size of baby: Baby is the size of a honeydew.
Total Weight Gain/Loss: No change.
Workouts: I returned presents and did some shopping today at Buy Buy Baby and nearly passed out.
Maternity Clothes: If I must, though it's officially too hot for pants so I'm just trying to wear dresses now.
Gender: It's a boy!
Movement: Yes he's pretty active lately.  He gets pissed if I don't eat at the usual times.
Sleep: Sucky.  I go to hang out in bed early in the night because I need to stretch my joints and end up falling asleep and being wide awake later in the night and unable to get back to sleep.  Also getting out of bed to pee is really hard now.
What I miss: Not peeing ten times a night.
Cravings: Food is gross.  I would just like to drink water all day long and maybe have soft serve ice cream.
Symptoms: Ankles of doom!
Anxiety Level: Only a one or a two this week.
Best Moment this week: My shower!
Reading: I'm working on Natural Hospital Birth: The Best of Both Worlds.
Dad is: Nesting a little.

This weekend was my shower thrown by my mom and sisters.  It was pretty awesome.  My mom rented a room at an Italian restaurant in my hometown.  The food was so yummy and she decorated the room with baby pictures of DH and I, plus a handmade diaper motorcycle and other jungle accessories to match the theme we chose for the baby's room/office.  

We got almost everything we need for Gizmo's arrival, minus the swing I purchased today and some other miscellaneous things.  Now we just need to put everything away, wash the baby's clothes, hang up some shelves, get the car seat installed and hire someone to do a deep cleaning of the apartment.

New in pregnancy symptoms this week is the demise of my ankles.  It all started a few days ago.  I had a busy night at a charity event and then came home and was running around.  I went to put pajamas on and wanted socks because my feet were cold.  All of a sudden my sock wouldn't fit on my foot.  I freaked out!  DH took my blood pressure and it was a little high.  The next morning I went to the nurse at work to show her my ankles and have her take my blood pressure.  The latter was totally fine and she said the swelling wasn't so bad.  It gets a tad better if I elevate my feet for ninety minutes but I pretty much haven't seen my ankle bones since then.  I was so looking forward to not being a big bloated mess at my shower but I guess nature finally caught up with me.

Oh well, at least my hair looked fabulous!