Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘pregnancy’

Baby Gear Part II – Nursing and Feeding

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on July 30, 2012 | 1 Comment »

In case you missed Part I in the series, here are my recommendations for nursery furniture.

The First Born, Fred Elwell 1913

Buying gear for nursing and feeding ahead of time is tricky because it’s hard to know, especially for a first time mom, what you and your baby will like. For that reason, I would avoid buying a lot of anything beforehand, or if you do buy it, don’t open it all in case you need to return it. Here are some of the items that worked for our family. Again, I’ve labelled the items as Buy It, Borrow It, or Believe Me, You Don’t Need It.

Bottles – BUY IT 

Bottles are a prime example of a time when babies prefer different types. I registered for Thinkbaby bottles because that’s what the lady in Giggle recommended, but Nolan couldn’t suck from them. There is nothing wrong with that brand, my friend’s baby loves them. The lesson is don’t go crazy opening and sterilizing a bunch of bottles (like I did) until you see what your baby likes.  A quick search on Amazon revealed that Dr. Brown’s seem to be the crowd favorite and they worked for us as well. I used the plastic ones with Nolan, next time around I may try the glass.

Solid Food Supplies – BUY IT sparingly

At around six months, your baby will probably be ready to try solid food. Your pediatrician might say four months and he or she is wrong, but that’s just my (and the American Academy of Pediatrics’) opinion. If you plan on making your child’s baby food, just remember that eating nothing but purees is a pretty brief period so it’s not worth spending a ton of money or kitchen space on babyfood making products. A blender or food processor and cheap vegetable steamer get the job done.

Breastfeeding Supplies

Nursing Pillow – BUY IT and BORROW IT

The two nursing pillow favorites seem to be the Boppy and My Brest Friend. For newborns, the My Brest Friend is great. It is very firm and creates a stable shelf-like surface for your baby to nurse. After a few months however, it becomes unnecessary and it’s kind of a pain to get on and off. It’s also an even bigger pain to remove and replace the cover, which you’ll do fairly often when your baby is spitting up/peeing/poop-sploding on it on a regular basis. The Boppy is great for after the newborn phase and makes a lovely pillow for you. It’s soft and squishy and I still love snuggling with it. My recommendation is buy the Boppy and borrow the My Brest Friend.

My Brest Friend

Boppy

Breast Pump – BUY IT

If you’re breastfeeding and plan on leaving your house without your baby, you will need a breast pump. A good one is expensive but it’s absolutely necessary. Go with a Medela.

Nursing bras and tanks – BUY IT

Depending on how boobalicious you are, you might be able to get away with comfy camisoles most of the time. Before having a baby I thought I’d be worried about exposing a boob in public. Ha! The boob is easy to cover up, it’s your stomach you’ll really want to cover. Camisoles solve that problem because the front comes down to nurse and no belly is exposed. Win-win. Go with one that’s mostly cotton. I had one that was a bunch of synthetic fabrics and it made me want to claw my eyes out. I bought many of my favorite bras and tanks at Target.

Nursing Cover – BELIEVE ME, YOU DON’T NEED IT (sort of)

Use an Aden and Anais blanket instead (tie two ends to make a neckhole). It’s thin and breathable and offers more coverage than a nursing cover.

Other Breast Feeding Stuff – Send your husband and/or mom out to BUY IT when you figure out what you need

You may need nipple shields if your baby has trouble latching, nursing pads for leaking (heads up: that doesn’t last forever!) and other fun (sarcasm) stuff.

The most important thing you’ll need for breastfeeding is SUPPORT!!!

Even though I read a lot ahead of time and spoke with a lactation consultant, once the baby was actually here I felt completely clueless. There was one lactation consultant for all of Winthrop Hospital and she could barely squeeze me in for ten minutes. Nolan wasn’t latching on one side and because her time was so limited, she pretty much just shrugged her shoulders and said, “Ok, well good luck.”

If you have people in your family or close friends who breastfed, they can be invaluable help. Don’t be shy. Boobs are boobs. Prior to giving birth, make contact with a lactation consultant so that you can quickly make an appointment at home if you need it. There are tons of breastfeeding support groups and again, try to gather the information on them before you give birth.

My dear friend Liz gave me this book and it was extremely helpful in the first few months.

Ok, so what am I missing? What feeding items did you find most or least helpful?

Read Full Post »

Baby Gear Part I – Nursery Furniture

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on July 25, 2012 | 4 Comments »

With babies popping up (out?) all over the place, and Nolan officially a toddler, I thought now was a good time to collect my thoughts and put together a list of what has been most useful to me in this first year of motherhood. I labelled each item as, Buy It, Borrow It, or Believe Me, You Don’t Need It. Just to clarify, when I say Borrow It, I literally mean borrow because you are giving it back. Being given something, such as a crib, because the owner really never wants it back, falls under Buy It.

Crib – BUY IT

The most important piece of furniture in your nursery, the crib can also be the hardest to choose. Although you may not even have one baby yet, it’s smart to look a few years down the road to help you decide what kind of crib you’ll want. Many become toddler beds with a removable side rail, some become a double-bed headboard (not so useful if you’re working with a small space and will wind up putting your child in a twin-sized bed), and some are not convertible at all. Consider how many children you want, and how many years they’ll be spaced apart (assuming things go as planned), to make the most practical choice for you. We chose the Sparrow Crib from Oeuf for our house and my parents generously purchased a Jenny Lind-style crib from Amazon (under $200) for their house. Jenny Lind cribs look like the one below and come in a variety of finishes and colors.

This is our crib (in Nolan’s room!)

Our crib converts to a toddler bed like this:

Changing Table – BELIEVE ME, YOU DON’T NEED IT

A changing table is nice for having open storage, but if your kid is anything like mine, the table loses its diaper-changing function when the baby is seven or eight months old. Nolan squirmed, rolled, sat up and climbed so much that we had to start doing all diaper changes on the floor. Instead, buy the changing pad and three (yes, three) inexpensive covers and attach the pad to the top of a sizeable dresser.

Dresser – BUY IT (used)

Dressers are expensive! Like, whoa, what the what, expensive. Go to a thrift store or garage sale and buy a high-quality wooden dresser that has seen better days and paint it. Or if you’re me, balk at exposing your fetus to paint fumes and ask your mom to paint it. Look for drawers that are made of solid wood and not fiberboard since it tends to sag and break over time like everything in my bedroom from Ikea. Painted furniture looks so lovely in a baby’s room. This is Nolan’s dresser that my mom painted. I bought new hardware online.  It’s cute but too small:

Here are some additional ideas for painted dressers:

Bookshelves/Bookcase – BUY IT

Like the dresser, you can buy used shelves and paint them, but there are more affordable options out there if you want new ones. Even though I have sworn off buying furniture from Ikea since my bedroom looks like an Ikea graveyard, I would make an exception for the Expedit shelves for a kid’s room. They kind of look like crap in the store just sitting there empty, but they can be dressed up with baskets and other niceties.

Bassinet – BORROW IT

I loved having a bassinet in our bedroom for Nolan’s first few months. Newborns are heavy sleepers but wake up often for feedings and having a bassinet bedside made for a much easier night. We borrowed one from my sister-in-law and kept the one that came with our stroller in the living room. Depending on your baby’s size, you’ll likely use a bassinet for no longer than four or five months. Since it will be stowed away in your room, don’t get hung up on what it looks like or if it’s your style, etc. Definitely buy a few bassinet sheets for the inevitable middle of the night, “He peed through the diaper!” moments. Those are great.

Glider/Rocker – BUY IT if you want a few kids or think you’ll keep it in your bedroom when your kids are older, otherwise, BORROW IT.

I’m probably not the person to speak to about gliders because I chose the Luca Glider, which is the same one as Rachel Zoe. To be fair, I had it first.  It was (another) generous gift from my parents and I love it and I’m not going to apologize for it. So there. Oh, and I got the matching ottoman. You can certainly find less expensive options at the major baby places. This is the chair in Nolan’s room, next to the changing table I wish I never bought:

Moms and moms-to-be, what nursery furniture do you love/recommend? Where did you find inspiration when creating your nurseries?

Stay tuned for Baby Gear Part II – Nursing/Feeding

Read Full Post »

Eight Month Update

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged on March 20, 2011 | 6 Comments »

Last month I said I didn’t think I could get any bigger. I was wrong! On a semi-regular basis people tell me I am not going to make it to my May 9th due date. I’m pretty sure that means I’ll be giving birth in a week or by the end of June.

Pregnancy Awesomeness:

- still barely shaving my legs

- people smile at me and hold doors open more often than they did before

- I get to take my baby everywhere I go but I don’t yet have to change diapers, feed him, etc.

- strangers readily see that I am pregnant and don’t assume I’m just emotionally eating (which I also do)

- food is delicious

Pregnancy Awfulness:

- I have bursitis (inflammation of a joint) in my hip and have not slept more than a few hours each night for the last three weeks

- My stomach is a distraction to my students, particularly the ones in the front row who occasionally see it move. Needless to say it’s been awkward for all involved parties.

- Strangers sometimes stare at me in horror with the, “You’re a teen mom who probably got pregnant after watching that MTV show and now my tax money is paying for your prenatal care” look. I feel like saying to them, “I’m not a teen mom, and even if I was, the last thing I would need is that judgmental look coming from your ugly face.” So there.

- I’m hungry. All the time.

My mom and I spent the day together yesterday and before she left my house she asked to take a few pictures. What ensued was an awkward, contentious, and hilarious “photo shoot.” The conversation basically went like this:

“Ok, tell me when to smile.”

“Don’t smile!”

“Then what should I do?”

“Don’t look at the camera.”

“Where should I look?”

“I don’t know, at the dog, out the window.”

“Ok but what do I do with my face??”

“Just don’t pose! Oh, these are awful pictures. Stop talking so much!”

“Just let me smile!”

“No! Your smile is too damn big.”

“You paid for my braces!”

You get the point. Here are a few:

As you can see Baxter is trying his hardest to adapt to my shrinking lap. I spend most nights relaxing in my new glider (thanks, Mom and Dad!) which we set up in the living room for now. He struggles a bit to get settled but is making do with the space that’s left.

Read Full Post »

Barreling into 28 Weeks, Stomach First

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , on February 13, 2011 | 5 Comments »

I know I’m going to look back and laugh at myself, but at this point I think, “How could I possibly get any bigger??”

Now strangers are noticing and approach me with a smile saying, “When are you due?” As of yet I haven’t had the balls to say, “I’m not pregnant!!!”

Progress is happening in the nursery, slowly but surely. We bought bamboo shades at Lowe’s ($17 per window!). They look pretty close to these:

image: lowes.com

We haven’t put them up yet but they look nice lying on the floor. I ordered a rug from Overstock.com last Sunday and it was delivered two days later! Ok, so it was delivered to the abandoned house next door, but it was delivered somewhere just two days later.

image: overstock.com

The crib and changing table will be delivered next week and we’ll try our best to put them together without calling either of our dads in a panic.

Weird pregnancy stuff:

- my leg hair has almost entirely stopped growing (awesome!)

- my ribs feel like they are being ripped open and when I sit down I get the sensation that someone is jabbing his thumb into my back (not awesome)

- my hair has become non-oily enough that I can actually shower before bed and not have to wash my hair by 10 am (awesome!)

- Baxter still has no idea I’m pregnant.  Even when he lays in my lap and gets kicked by the baby, he seems to pay no attention. He’s in for a rude awakening…

- being pregnant is a great reason to get massages. I’m looking forward to one at Nordstrom next week!

Read Full Post »

Newsflash

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , on February 4, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Yesterday, one of my freshmen was very excited to tell me what she learned in science:

“Ms. Post! Did you know that the baby isn’t actually in your stomach but it’s in your uterus??”

“Yes, I did know that.”

“Oh, well did you also know that the baby and the placenta are pushing on your bladder?”

“Yes. Yes, I did know that.”

Read Full Post »

Prenatal Yoga – Take 1

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , on January 30, 2011 | 4 Comments »

I had been meaning to take a prenatal yoga class for some time but didn’t because I’m lazy and cheap and I procrastinate. Anywho, some recent back, rib and hip pains brought me to a chiropractor who also recommended I take some yoga classes so that’s how I wound up in a woman’s house this morning, stifling my laughter while staring at my inner eye.

Overall, it was a positive experience and I feel like I had a decent workout while still getting a chance to relax. However, there is only so much hippy dippy I can take.

Welcome to my morning:

First, I’m greeted at the door by the instructor’s husband and three year-old daughter. Her husband introduces himself and their son Ethan. Huh? That cute little girl is your son? What about her long ringlets? Androgynous pajamas? BANGS? What about her perfectly fringed bangs?? Nope, it’s a boy.

The yoga studio is two bedrooms that were converted into one. Clean, pretty, wood floors, the usual. There are two other pregnant women and the instructor. The instructor is very friendly and welcoming; the other two women don’t make eye contact with me and I discover they have the personalities of a dirty sock and a stapler.

In her welcome to us, the instructor says how special it is we are in this space because, “Right there is where I gave birth to my son!” she says pointing to where I sit.  She then directs our attention to the cast made of her  belly and breasts before she gave birth. All I can see is how tremendous her boobs were and I wonder, where are mine??

The rest of the morning goes fairly smoothly but it does involve the teacher chanting and singing and encouraging us to sing along. (We don’t.) There is also five minutes or so of “freestyle” moving. “Just close your eyes and move around how your body wants you to move. Listen to your body! Dance with your baby! Be sensual!” Do you want me to dance with my baby or be sensual? I can’t do both. I kept my eyes tightly shut the entire time and would pay good money to NEVER have to see what I looked like. Let’s just say it wasn’t dancing, and it definitely wasn’t sensual. It was more like Elaine on Seinfeld.

Can’t wait for next time!

 

Read Full Post »

Nursery Snippets

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , on January 17, 2011 | 1 Comment »

While ideas for the nursery had been floating around my mind since I found out I was pregnant, I didn’t allow myself to do too much thinking until we found out the baby’s sex. Which is weird, actually, because pretty much everything I like and pick out is very gender neutral. I want something that’s classy, pretty, not too childish, but not too cold.

At the start of the summer, we had a painter come in to do some, you guessed it, painting. We chose a very pale green for the nursery. So pale that it’s actually from the Benjamin Moore Whites Collection.  I think I’d be happy if every room in our house was painted this color. It’s just light and bright and pleasant.

There are two standard windows in the room, and as has been the case with EVERY room in the house, one is above the radiator. That eliminates the possibility of just doing drapes so I’ve been deciding between roman shades, wood blinds, woven wood blinds, blah blah blah. I think we’ve settled on woven wood shades (like the ones below) with drapes hung over them. The drapes around the radiator just can’t be closed all the way. Ever.

Image: Calico Corners

We ordered the crib and changing table a few months ago when Giggle was having a sale – Mama likes to save her some money!

Image: oeufnyc.com

It’s WAY nicer in person with some bedding in it.  Like unspeakably nicer. The changing table is not the one that coordinates with the crib but it’s better for two important reasons. One, it has open shelves instead of drawers. Two, it was half the price.

Image: giggle.com

Dwell Studio makes fun, modern bedding for kids and adults and they recently came out with a few new patterns that aren’t quite as bold as previous designs. I chose a few pieces from the mix and match collection. The patterns combine gray, white, brown, and pale blue.

This is the main pattern:

Image: dwellstudio.com

Here is what it looks like all combined (not a great image, but the best I could find):

Image: dwellstudio.com

For Christmas, my parents bought and framed four prints from the photographer Sharon Montrose‘s online shop. She takes beautiful, interesting pictures of animals and we’re excited to hang them! Here are a few images from her website:

Image: theanimalprintshop.com

Image: theanimalprintshop.com

image: theanimalprintshop.com

That’s the progress for now! Lots of happenings in my brain, not too much in the actual room just yet …

Read Full Post »

Baby on the Brain Websites

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , on January 15, 2011 | 2 Comments »

Being pregnant has given me a whole new world of ways to procrastinate. The prospect of meeting the little peanut in May is on my mind ALL THE TIME. While I still spend plenty of time checking out my favorite blogs each day (see here, here and another installment on the way), I also spend too many hours here:

1. Giggle – it’s basically buybuyBaby but smaller and awesomer (probably should be a word).

2. The Bump – a little lame but I can’t stay away. I do avoid reading or participating in the message boards because most of the time I wind up rolling my eyes and saying rude things to my computer screen.Women post messages like, “I’m 20 weeks and I’ve gained 10 pounds, do you think this is ok????”  What kind of answer is a person like that really looking for? I have no idea if you should have gained 10 pounds or not. Were you obese? Were you underweight? How tall are you? Better yet, GO ASK YOUR DOCTOR.

3. Babble – a cool site about pregnancy and parenting. Its tag line is “For a new generation of parents.” I really like the content, but I find the layout a little overwhelming and awkward.

4. Alpha Mom – another site geared toward hip, young parents. Good stuff.

These don’t even include the sites I look at for nursery ideas…

 

Read Full Post »

Scrabble, the New Ouija Board

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , on December 29, 2010 | 1 Comment »

Yesterday Matt and I found out that we’re expecting a baby boy. It didn’t come as a surprise though, because Scrabble told me on Sunday.

On Sunday night, we decided to let loose and play Scrabble. (Fun fact: Matt wins every time. Maybe I’m teaching the wrong subject?) I grabbed a handful of letters to start off and the first letter I flipped over onto my letter rack was a B. Because this baby is ALL I THINK ABOUT, my first thought was, Hmmm…maybe it’s a B for a boy! Well my next letter was an O, and my third letter was a Y. No kidding!!

Here are some images from the sonogram yesterday:

Wearing the umbilical cord as a moustache

The “it’s definitely a boy” shot

Read Full Post »

5 Months

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , on December 25, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Aaaaaaaand cue the self-indulgent, obligatory belly shot.

We’re headed to the doctor on Monday for the big sonogram to make sure the baby has organs and stuff. Oh, and to find out if we’re having a boy or a girl! I’ve been feelings lots of kicking since last week and it’s amazing to realize how much the baby moves around within me. One minute it’s all the way on the left, and then it’s kicking way down on the right a few moments later. I like to imagine it floating around in there doing jazz hands to the Christmas music I’ve had pumping in my car since Thanksgiving.

Speaking of Christmas, it was wonderful this year.  I got my shopping done early, spent time with family, surprised Matt with a nice, big television, and lovingly cleaned up Baxter’s puke off the couch this morning while the Yule Log played on TV. Does it get any better?

I’ll be posting a fruit-topped cheesecake bar recipe tomorrow and hopefully by Monday night, I can stop calling the baby IT!

Read Full Post »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

%d bloggers like this: