Category Archives: baby gear

Sep12

Great Gear for New Moms- Coming Home

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1. Gas Drops – Imagine this if you will: The day you leave the hospital, they send you home with a meal. Baked ziti, salad, bread. It’s a super thoughtful gesture and you enjoy it the second night home. As you’re finishing your dinner, you and your husband look at each other and think, hum…that was a tiny bit spicy. You’re also breastfeeding. Two feedings later, your tiny newborn that doesn’t weigh quite seven pounds begins SCREAMING his little lungs off. Oh no! The spicy meal they sent you home with was like poison to your newborn’s tummy. You’re tired, your baby is in a lot of pain, you feel helpless. The only thing that could help at this point was the gas drops.  I’m so thankful Joe went out and bought them! You may not have a horrible event like that, but if you may find that you need them to help your gassy baby!

2. Saline drops – When Jonathan was a few weeks old, he became really congested. It was really helpful to already have these drops since you can’t really give them any medicine yet.

3. D-vi-Sol – Vitamin D drops. Your pediatrician may suggest that your baby take these daily, so go ahead and have them on hand. (I’ve found them cheapest on Amazon, plus not all pharmacies carry them)

4. Car Seat – Don’t be like us. We were supposed to have a shower two days after I had Jonathan (he was a few weeks early). We decided that we’d see if we were given any gift cards and then we’d purchase our car seat. Bad idea! Between contractions, I was on Amazon, ordering a car seat for us. Thankfully a friend of ours had extra since her twins had outgrown them and let us borrow one! Ours arrived a few hours after we came home!

5. Aden & Anais swaddling blankets – Great, big blankets made to swaddle babies. They’re super soft and breathable. Sadly, even as a newborn, my child could Houdini himself out of these in minutes, no matter how tightly he was swaddled.

6. Vaseline – This is for boys and girls! If you’re having a boy and he’s being circumcised, you’ll need it. But for both boys and girls, diaper rash can be treated with Vaseline. I never realize that there were different forms of diaper rash. But thankfully my pediatrician husband filled me in on the different forms and that some types are better treated with Vaseline, not zinc oxide.

7. Rectal Thermometer – Taking the temperature of a newborn/small baby is best done with a rectal thermometer. You also want something with a little room between the probe and your hand…just in case there is a bathroom “moment”.  The Summer 3 in 1 Family Thermometer has worked really well for us. Simple to use, removable probe tips that store easily in the back of the case.

8. Freezer meals - Make them around your 35/36 week mark. You’ll be thankful you did! We had baked spaghetti, another pasta dish, freezer burritos, twice baked potatoes, shepherd’s pie, cheesecake, apple tart (didn’t freeze well). Between having friends drop off meals every other night, and us having freezer meals, it saved us so much time and stress! If you’re in need of freezer friendly meals, head over to my Once a Month Cooking page on Pinterest for links!

Other stuff:

Paper products – This may be a silly thing to include on my coming home list, but trust me, its worth having! Washing dishes is going to be the last thing on your mind or in your plans. You’re going to be too busy cuddling your baby or sleeping to think about the dishes in the sink. We’re a family who (generally) washes dishes the day they’re messed up (don’t look in my kitchen right now though!). If we wouldn’t have stocked up on paper supplies, I can’t imagine how long our dishes would have sat there!

Sep10

Dear Bumbo

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As almost every mom knows, Bumbo recently had a recall of their infant seats. All this was because of user error, leaving kids on elevated surfaces, unattended. Their solution was a strap that owners could get, fairly easily. All you had to do was fill out an online form and they’d send you a repair kit. Simple enough. In fact, a few days later ours arrived in the mail and Joe installed it for us.

I don’t know about others, but it appears that this strap system could have been designed a tad bit better. When we put Jonathan in his sit, we have to fish the center strap out from under him. If he’s in a cloth diaper, forget about it! Its almost impossible to pull it up while he’s in there. Its not long enough to keep upright, and unfortunately I don’t have third or fourth hands to do it all.

 

Good try Bumbo.

Aug27

Great Gear for New Moms – Cloth Diapering

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There was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to cloth diaper once Jonathan was born. Since I’d be a stay at home mom and we’d be losing one income, I wanted to do everything I could to help save money. That was my first reasoning. As I did more reading and searching, I realized there were more benefits to cloth diapering than just saving money. One of those was that cloth diapered babies tend to potty train faster. A great plus in my opinion! They’re also REALLY cute!

Sure, cleaning poopy diapers isn’t fun. In fact I recently had a huge blowout in one that got ALL over the carpet and rugs. But, I would rather scrub floors than use disposables all the time.

There are times that I don’t cloth diaper- when Jonathan is staying with others, when we’re going to be out for extended periods of time, and when we’re out-of-town. Plus, you don’t want to use cloth when you’re treating diaper rash with zinc oxide or when your baby is on antibiotics.

Here are a few of my favorite things for cloth diapering (and additional things not pictured):

1. BumGenius diapers- I love these, but I’ve not tried other brands. Almost everyone I know that cloth diapers uses these. I prefer the snaps over velcro, but that’s just my like. My only wish is that BG would start making these in dressy colors like navy, black, and brown.

2. Swaddlebees cloth wipes - If you’re going to cloth diaper, you may as well go ahead and use cloth wipes. I love the softness of these wipes and the wide variety of color options you can get them in. They are absorbent and do the job well. Grab a spray bottle for your water while you’re at it! You’ll need it to help clean!

3. Planet Wise Pail liners- Grab at least two pail liners, one in the pail while the other is in the wash.

4. Pail or Trash can- Go for one with a step/pop-up lid! I keep mine in the bathroom, so often I have a wet diaper in one hand and baby in the other arm. The pop-up lid is helpful for times like this! This can fits the Planet Wise pail liner perfectly!

5. Cotton Babies- Best cloth diaper company I have found. I cannot tell you how many times I called them to ask questions. They were super polite and took the time to answer each of my questions. When part of my order was going to be one day later than they planned (even though it still fell in the time frame my shipment was promised to me), they called to make sure I was ok with it.

6. Diaper sprayer- I say it’s a must for cleaning off dirty diapers, but numerous people I know just dunk them in the toilet to clean them off. Its pretty easy to install too (as long as your toilet is normal, unlike ours. But a quick trip to Lowes and a couple of dollars was all it took to get ours fixed)

7. Diaper detergent- Most cloth diapers cannot be washed with regular detergent because of the enzymes regular detergent contains. I’ve found the bumGenuis detergent to work really well.

8. Wet bag- If you cloth diaper on the go, you’ll want a wet bag to put the dirty diaper in. The small size is good for one diaper and a few wipes.  

Other things you may want if you cloth diaper:

- Extenders for onesies

-Pail fresheners such as these (what we currently use) or these

Do you have any other gear you’d like to share for new moms who are interested in cloth diapering? If so, feel free to leave a comment!

Aug22

Great Gear for New Moms – Breast Feeding

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Lets face it, the baby industry can’t be too far behind the wedding industry in that there are billions of dollars spent each year. It can be tricky to navigate what you want versus what you need. I’ve found that with Jonathan, less can sometimes be much better. Over the next few weeks, I hope to post some of the things that I/we have found to be great buys & things to have on hand for when you bring a baby home. Granted, what works for us may not be what works best for you. I’m just sharing some of the things that I’ve found really great and/or really useful!

First up, nursing gear!

1. Medela Pump in Style- I don’t spend a ton of time pumping, but I really have enjoyed my Medela. Its super simple and gets the job done really quickly. It was recommended to me by at least 10 different people when I was searching for pumps. There were honestly no other brands that anyone else suggested.

2. Bamboobies Nursing pads- Holy cow do I love these things! They are amazing! I don’t know what words can be used to describe them best: super soft especially on sore nipples, worth the money, durable, great because you don’t have to invest in the disposable ones that don’t work nearly as well as these do, the daytime ones are super cute hearts, the night-time ones are super absorbable and soft.

3. Nursing tanks- I love nursing tanks better than bras, even though I do have a nursing bra. Nursing tanks are much more comfy! I bought my tank from Breakout Bras  (carry all sizes) and my bra from Bravado Designs. Ladies who are larger than a C cup, who want good quality tanks and bras, these two websites are your go to places!  Believe me!

4. My Brestfriend Nursing pillow- Those first few weeks, or even first two months, can be really challenging for breast-feeding. I really regret not buying one of these to have on hand for that time period. We’ve had the opportunity to use them on the many occasions we visited the lactation consultant to get feeding issues worked out, or when I’ve visited Joe at his office and needed to feed Jonathan while there. The My Brestfriend pillows are GREAT!  I hated our Boppy so I switched over to a sturdy pillow, which we’re accustomed to at this point.

5. Praise Baby station on Pandora (I use it on my iPhone)- I’m going to be really honest here. Nursing was incredibly tough those first two months. Nursing a baby who hated to sleep made things even more difficult. There were so many days, but most especially nights, that I cried sobbed. I was SO tired. My body could barely function, I didn’t think I could take care of myself, let alone a newborn who needed 100 % of my attention while he was awake. I felt God had abandoned me and wasn’t listening to any of my prayers. I was TIRED, I was feisty, I felt alone. One of the best things I did was to find the Praise Baby station on Pandora. I would turn it on while nursing many nights/mornings/days and by the end of the feeding session, I would feel a little more refreshed. Besides good praise music for mama, it was also good, clean music that I felt safe for Jonathan to listen to.  (Beware though, there were a few times Jonathan was just falling asleep, and a Veggie Tales song came on. Veggie Tales are great, but not exactly soothing!)

Some other great things to have on hand:

- Neosporin (or just polysporin) withOUT pain relief. If you end up with cracked nipples, you’re going to want this!

-MotherLove More Milk Plus vitamins! These bad boys ROCK. I take them a few times a day to help keep my milk supply steady. I’m not one that has an over abundance issue. If your supply tends to run at just enough to low, get these things! Whole Foods carry them, but they’re almost half the price on Amazon.

- Frozen peas, bendable ice pack, something that will ease the burning pain for when you’re engorged or have insanely sore nipples. It will most likely happen!

If you have other great gear for breast feeding that you’d like to suggest, feel free to comment and let everyone know!

Apr18

A Sneak Peek

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While the nursery is still in utter chaos, here is a sneak peek of what its going to be like. Mind you, we’ll still have stuff to purchase/hang once the little guy is here (and we’re 100% certain that his name is ____).

A zone of no hurries, and no worries! I found the sign at Home Goods and loved it right away because it reminded me of our honeymoon to St. Lucia. The staff at our resort always said “No Pressure, No Problem.”  So, while the two sayings are different, they’re very similar….at least to me!

At some point I’ll post a picture of my inspirational piece that I picked up in the Dominican Republic. We used it for the theme/color scheme of the room. However, we won’t be hanging it because 1)I think the amount of purple in it is just a little too girly and 2) Joe thinks it looks freaky!

Mar19

Whats in Your Bag?

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Or maybe that should be “what should I put in my bag?”  Later this week I’m going to be working on getting our bags packed. I’ve read and been given lists upon lists about what to take to the hospital for labor and after birth. But I’m wondering what things should I not forget and/or what things should I leave at home? Don’t worry, we won’t forget the cameras or the phone chargers! But things beyond that…tell me, what should I pack?

Feel free to leave a message in the comments or send me one through fb!

Feb8

Mile Markers- 26 weeks

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How far along? 26 weeks

How big is Baby L? The size of a head of lettuce, and he weighs (approximately) a little under two pounds

Best Moment recently? So many to count. Honestly it has to be yesterday. I was reading our weekly chapter from the Bible that we’re working on through church. This week it is John 17, regarding Jesus praying for others. As I was reading it out loud, our little guy started kicking pretty hard. He’s not moved around very much lately, so its been stressing me out. Apparently reading the Bible out loud to him makes him move. It was so neat to watch my stomach bounce up and down as he kicked and moved around! There was also a moment last night I had Joe put his hand on my stomach to see if he could feel the baby move. He gently jostled my stomach and got a nice strong kick back!

Name? We’ve gone through names a few more times, and came to the conclusion that our handful of names are the ones we’re sticking with. For this week, we’ll call him Charlie Brown.

What we’re looking forward to most? Third trimester in a few weeks! It is so hard for us to believe we’re almost there. What a blessing from the Lord this has been!

What we’re reading & how we’re preparing? I (Emily) have almost finished reading Natural Hospital Birth, which I haven’t been overly excited about. There are a number of high points, but I still like the Bradley books better. I’m also reading through a few nursing books that the lactation consultant Joe works with has loaned me! Joe is reading/studying through The Bradley Method book. We’ve been talking about a few things as far as labor/delivery is concerned.

Other? These past two weeks have been very busy! Our crib and dresser are in place. The crib wasn’t too hard to put together. We’ve got a glider that we’ll be putting together soon (we just need to clear some cardboard and styrofoam out-of-the-way!) Our little guy’s new closet system has been installed and we’re super thrilled about that! The installation lady said that, while it’s not the fanciest closet she’s seen, it is by far the most practical closet system she has installed to date. Thats what we were going for in the design! I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on wooden shelves when the metal ones would work just as well. Our biggest goal was to have something very practical, something that would grow with our little guy over the years. For now, there are low bars where he’ll be able to reach and learn to hang his clothes up. There is a low shoe rack where he’ll be able to put away his own shoes. There are two drawers so he’ll be able to put away things, such as toys, sweaters, etc.

A few pictures for your viewing pleasure. Sorry most of them are a bit blurry…

I finally decided on this turqoise/white coral print fabric for curtains

Jan6

We’re Officially Registered!

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And now I can finally take a deep breath!

It’s really difficult registering for baby stuff! I want to make sure to register for quality items, things that will last and not fall apart. And like I’ve said before, its hard knowing what our little boy will like! When registering for things, I kept in mind that this hopefully won’t be our only child and that we’ll get to use things again. If we’re so blessed as to have another child, I want to be able to utilize things such as furniture, stroller, high chair, monitor, etc well into the future.

Another issue in registering for baby items is safety. We really want baby gear with great safety ratings. For instance, I narrowed strollers down to 2 for us to look at. The more research I did, the more reviews I read, I was quickly disheartened. The one I liked the most and wanted us to check out started having really bad reviews and people started posting pictures of some of the pieces breaking! Ack! The stroller we finally settled on, the UPPAbaby Vista, has incredible reviews everywhere we look & read.

Another big decision we had to make was about car seats. Wow, what a big decision! And whats the best way to go? Carrier? Convertible? We’ve heard countless opinions from people regarding their experiences. Though some people may not agree with our decision, we’ve decided to go straight for a convertible car seat. We’re going with the Diono RadianXT car seat, which seats children from as little as 5lbs and as much as 120lbs, as it goes from birth to booster. If after our baby boy is born we find that we definitely need a carrier, we’ll get one. But for the time being, we’re going for the convertible. We’re also only going with one carseat instead of two. A lot of people have told us its best to have one car set for each car. At this point though, we’re going to stick with just one.

A smaller decision we had to make was regarding baby monitors. Audio, video, motion sensor. Not as many decisions as car seats and strollers, but still a decision that we had to make. Because I have hearing loss, I have this fear that I won’t be able to hear our baby cry or something happen. Half the time I can’t hear Joe when he’s right beside me. To hopefully steer clear of this problem, we’re going with the Motorola video monitor. This item seems to have a lot of great reviews, so hopefully it will work out well for us.

One of the funniest things we’ve put on our registry is a “poop deck” nautical sign. We’re decorating the nursery with a tropical beach theme. Our plan is to put the sign above the changing area :)

We’ve decided that we don’t want to have a bedding set because most of it isn’t worth it. The AAP doesn’t suggest using bumpers, a blanket/comforter wouldn’t be used for quite a while, and diaper stackers aren’t worth it, especially since we’ll be cloth diapering. There is no point of us putting something that ranges in prices from $100-$400 on our registry, especially if we won’t get any/much use out of it.

A lot of friends have asked us where we’re going to register. Because we have family and friends spread out, we decided to do our primary registry through Amazon and our secondary registry through Babies R Us.  Amazon is great for so many reasons. One of the things I love about registering there, I can leave “notes” with the items. There are other websites that have a few of our registry items for cheaper at times and I can let others know that. Even if people choose to purchase things from other sites, Amazon makes it easy to mark the item off the list. I also love Amazon because they are typically cheaper on most items.

Next item on the to do list: buy crib and dresser! And pick out a name!