Pregnancy helpers

Yep, it wasn't easy.

At the end of Judah's pregnancy I recorded this list of actions and 'things' that helped with pregnancy
round #2. I'm seeing that I forgot to post it, but feel it's still good material and may be helpful to other mama's out there.

I'd like to thank all the friends who have lent their helping hands and pregnancy gear that helped me through the harder days of belly vs. toddler.

Helpful Friends...

Lent me their maternity pillow
Listened/Celebrated/Lamented/Texted/Chatted with me every at every stage
Arrived early to Root Group to help prep and lend their husband to play with David
Stayed late after Root Group to clean up
Babysat David so I could go get a pedicure 
Washed dishes
Carried and changed loads of laundry
Babysat David during worship practice so I could stay put
Threw me a "Last Hoo-rah! Diaper party for Judah"
Organized a meals for mom sign-up
Brought their toddler over to play with David while I got mom-chat-time
Dropped by lasagna leftovers
Played with David while I did laundry, sewed
Treated me like I was exhausted, even when I tried to pretend like I wasn't


Helpful Things...

1. Maternity Pillow
2. Celestial Seasonings Herbal Teas (specifically Lemon Zinger) as a decaf option
3. Sweet Petula Mediterranean Mint Butter Balm for belly
4. Craigslist boxes of plentiful maternity clothes, one stop shopping
5. Coconut water, or boxes of healthy drink options for on the go

I think there must have been more helpful things I found, but this is where the list ends. Maybe with round #3, it'll grow.

Meal planning

So I'm going to give a serious go at meal-planning this week. Grocery shopping has been a challenge for most of my life. Student, single, living at home, living with roommates, married, living with a man and now kids... no season of life got easy enough for me to feel like meal planning just 'fit in' with ever thing else.

To top it off, I'm incredibly foolish when it comes to budgeting for food - I generally prefer to eat what I want, whenever I want. Unfortunately, not only is this philosophy not working for me, it's not working for my wardrobe. If I continue this way, I'll loose more money on food and clothing that a woman with a working brain and a degree should! 

So now instead of waiting for meal planning to 'fit', I'm just going to give it a try this week. Using this free printable below, I'm hunkering down and heading to the store in the morning. 

Any tips from you meal-planner buds of mine?!

Swaddle Stories

Swaddles are a science and each experience has been unique:


#1 Woombie
Used for Judah age 1 week through 3 months. Kept him snug as a bug and allowed for lots of wiggling and mummy pose with hands up by face. He did take on the challenge of busting out by grunting himself to sleep. Only criticism is that the woombie has to air dry and takes multiple hours, so if you only have one like we did, better be prepare to rock or swing for a couple hours. (Just got this adorable ruffle one for my niece.)

#2 Miracle Swaddle
Used for both David and Judah ages 3 month - 5.5 month. This swaddle blanket has multiple panels sewn in at the arms to tie them down and to his side by tucking over arms and under the back. Feet are fairly loose within swaddle foot pocket and therefore acts like a transition to being swaddle free. David took weeks to make the final transition out of this snug swaddle, napping with one ligament unwrapped until all ligaments were free. This transition time was not easy, so I would caution parents to only use this swaddle if you're desperate for long stretches of sleep. Get them in the sleep routine first, then try to get them out of being in the miracle swaddle.

#3 Summer Infant Velcro
Used for both David and Judah newborn and home from the hospital. The velcro is strong enough to keep a sleepy newborn wiggle in. However, once both boys figured out how to get their hands up by their faces the naps were over. I've seen where these are available for car seats and feel that is brilliant because they lullaby of the car should keep them dozy enough to lessen wiggles.

#4 Aden & Annias Swaddle Blankets
Used for both David and Judah NOT as an independent napping swaddle but just as a blanket to sleep in warm arms. I actually feel this is one of the best newborn blankets because it's so large and light you can wrap a newborn very snugly as well as coolly cover up to breastfeed (tuck an end of the blanket under bra strap). And of coarse they are oh so stylin'.

#5 Carters Recieving Blankets
Used for both David and Judah. With David we swaddled him in these for much too long. Since he had reflux and fought sleep, we would swaddle him up with these stiff blankets and tie them in a knot behind his head. The tying was demonstrated to us by our pediatrician and actually helped David to begin sleeping on his side. The receiving blankets were so stiff that they kept him tightly snuggled, legs up and all. David began breaking out of these swaddles around 3 months and Judah never slept well in them, that's why we transition to the Miracle Swaddle.






Overall swaddling has helped us establish good nap and night sleeping habits even though it took longer to reach our goal of free-movement-self-soothing-sleepsack/sleeper-sleeping. Whatever works!!

The Grant Hospital Bag Round #2

Since this round #2, I should be more savvy at packing the best equipped hospital bag for a Grant birth. You know how they say you forget labor pains after the baby is delivered (ha, but you remember they're horrible), well you forget your mental packing list too! So here we go - for kicks & giggles and future reference:

How beautiful is this etsy bag! We'll be using a regular old black duffel bag,
but wouldn't this beauty just add some glamor to the experience?!

GRANT HOSPITAL BAG

For Laura

• Wallet
• Phone & Charger
• Massagers
• Toiletry bag
  - Toothbrush
  - Toothpaste
  - Contacts & Solution
  - Glasses
  - Shampoo & Conditioner
  - Face wash
  - Moisturizer
  - travel hand lotion
  - Burts Bees Tinted lip balm (so important!)
  - Hair Dryer
  - Curl gel
  - Curling Brush
  - Make-up (those bella baby pics aren't cheap so I want to look my 'best')
• Hair ties, headbands, pins
• Blk strapless dress
• Oatmeal Cardigan
• Nursing Tanktop
• Blk skirt
• blk undies 
• Gray slippers
• Crocs
• Coconut Water Juice boxes
• Prune Juice
• Almonds
• Pretzels
• Gum
• Wine
• Nursing pads
• Nursing cover
• Breast pump tote bag & bags

For Tripp

• Wallet
• Phone & Charger
• Tooth brush
• Deodorant
• 2 shirts
• 1 light sweater
• 1 change pants
• 2 undies
• Book
• Camera & Charger

For Judah

• Baby Blanket for Photos
• Wipes
• 2 footed pants and shirts
• 1 sleeper

Some of you may be wondering about the wine, is this allowed in a hospital? In the event I find super-human strength to deliver w/o drugs, I'm treating myself and Judah (via boob) to an entire bottle of Chardonnay over a 4-6 hour period. Either the little guy's going to be buzzing on Norco or Chardonnay, same difference really and possibly the latter is healthier.

Also important to remember are things to ask the hospital for:

From Hospital

• Lanolin
• Nuk Pacifiers
• Postpartum girdle
• Hand pump
• Nipple Shields
• Peri Bottle
• Pads
• Ice packs
• Undies
• Remaining Diapers
• Vaseline for Judah 
• Sitz Bath (I recently read that hospitals sometimes provide)

(P.S.) I've already updated this list since posting, so it's going to be toootaly complete by the time we hit the road to the Hospital.

25 ways to wear a scarf

Incredible! And if you're a rabbit trail clicker, Wendy has some adorable tutorials for hair on youtube.

A shout out to whisperer!

I would just like to take a moment to thank Tracy Hogg, author of Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems, for her assistance in making my first few weeks at work somewhat worry-free. My dear mom friend, Katheryn, observed crying David at an early age and suggested I pick up this book and consider a 'routine'. Best advice of my life, which lead to the best relationship with an author I could ever imagine. I love this woman. I'd hug her if I met her. David's routine is predictable and includes a good amount of napping. Even when the unpredictable happens, it's not a matter of bad mommy or angry baby, just developmental adjusting. Going throughout my day at work, I've glanced down at the clock and been comforted knowing that David's doing just what we worked on in his routine. I tell myself that I'm still there 'mothering' him in routine and food choice. It's the little things these days.

Interested in seeing David's day? I thought it would be fun to put his schedule up here, have a look: