The new Mommy Post

I am not the type to give out unsolicited advice. I don't like to tell others what to do, what to buy. (I do not like when these things are pushed on me, therefore, I am not a pusher.) If asked, I will tell. If I want advice, I will ask. I am no expert - only a newb - at this. With that said, I have been asked about a few things pertaining to baby. Everyone is different, but here are the things that are working for us, so far...


WARNING! TMI! If you do not wish to read intimate details of the womanly variety, please avert your eyeballs, people!

Labor/delivery :
My experience was, for the most part, ideal. My amazing husband has posted a birth story...he was the one who kept a timeline and was not in excruciating pain. (Hey, thanks again, babe!) I thought it was false labor. Everything went by so quickly, even though from the time I arrived at the hospital until the time I delivered was around 12-13 hours. Yes, I had an epidural. I had two of them, actually. They let Mike stay with me for them. The dr. put the first one in wrong and I felt every bit of it, which was not pleasant at all. I sat perfectly still for both of them, too. Because of the first one being screwed up, I am still dealing with muscle spasms and random, awkward numbness in parts of my back and ass and am told this can last for a few more weeks. I can still feel where both needles went in. Yum! The epidural(s) helped with contractions for the most part in the beginning but I still felt everything else. I don't have anything else to compare this to but I also don't mind bc if I felt everything AND contractions on top of that, I'd probably want to scream! (Which I didn't do at all! Don't let movies fool you! I couldn't catch my breath long enough to get a sentence out, barely above a whisper!) Bottom line - yes, it hurt and yes, it's worth it. Would I do it again? Yes. We want three more, if possible. Extra TMI? (Sorry, I am not into puppies, rainbows and glitter to sugarcoat things!) Healing sucks. (6-8 weeks people!) Stitches suck! Peri bottles are awesome. So are mesh underwear and hospital pads that are the size of phonebooks. Bleeding sucks. Baby blues = terrible! Babies rule.

Breastfeeding :
It is not easy for everyone. It does not "come naturally" for everyone, either. I owe so much to the lactation consultants at the hospital. They have been more than helpful and I want to squeeze them! After week 2, we got the hang of things, for the most part. We do not supplement with formula. We do not use pacifiers. Some days are easier than others and very rarely does Violet feed from a bottle (also breast milk) so nope - no babysitters for us. Not for awhile, either. Thanks for the offers, though! (We just can't stay away from her!!! Even if I wasn't breastfeeding her!)

What works for us?
A lot of items we have, we do not even use. We don't have to. (She also has MORE than enough clothes in every size, that I'm afraid she won't even have the chance to wear, unless we do several outfit changes a day which is highly unnecessary.) So here's what we have, that we use and what seems to be working, thus far :


Fisher Price Rock n Play Sleeper


Anything black and white (high contrast stuff stimulates her and she loves it!)
http://www.makingsenseofbaby.com/ is a great site!!!

Fisher-Price Luv U Zoo Deluxe Musical Mobile Gym


Fisher-Price Ocean Wonders Soothe & Glow Seahorse


Playskool Lullaby Gloworm


Summer Infant SwaddleMe organic blanket/wraps


Born Free BPA-free glass bottles (We do not use bottles very often, but when we do, we like these bc they have a slower flow.)


LittleMissMatched Zoe Cuddle Creature


LittleMissMatched Fuzzy Buddy & Blanket - Peace Sign

Okay, so the last two we like a lot more than she does, for now!


When all else fails, breast is best.

Trying out cloth diapering starting this next week. Pretty excited, as we have gone through 400+ diapers since she was born and who knows how many wipes!!! (Yep, we are going to use cloth wipes, too.) Too many chemicals in diapers. So wasteful. They cause rashes. Blah blah blah. They're bad. We are going to try our hardest to make the whole CDing thing work.

I know a lot of moms use gripe water and gas drops. I have them on hand "in case" but I don't have baby Tylenol; go figure. Our pediatrician is two blocks away. He said we don't need it in the house and should use it as a last resort. We have a delayed vaccination schedule and if we don't want her vaccinated at ALL, he is fine with that, too. We plan on listening to our pediatrician and our instincts from here on out to avoid any unnecessary paranoia/confusion. We are her parents and don't feel that we are given enough credit when making these decisions for her. She is our child and we will do what is best for her. What we decide is what we decide. Bottom line. 'Nuff said.

I was discussing with a friend recently the topic of piercing baby girl's ears. I was on the fence. I was thinking maybe we should get them done by the nurse at the pedi office now so that she will not fuss with them, leading to an infection. (I had mine done as a baby, so why not right?) I would never take her to a place in the mall and have them done with a gun. ICK!!! Plus, getting them done with a gun can make them very uneven and as she grows, they may appear even more lop-sided. On the other hand (and I will put it in my friend's words, since she worded it so well) I do not agree with inflicting unnecessary pain on a baby for the pleasure of it looking pretty. It is not for the baby then. It is for the parent. When she is older, if she asks to have them done, then maybe!

Some have inquired about my "labor playlist." My OB urged me to make one. I started one and never finished it. (Meaning, I meant to upload more songs onto iTunes, but this is what I ended up with.) We hooked it up to the television at the hospital, so it played right by my head, on repeat (over and over and over...) and I am SO happy that I had that playlist. It was a quiet, painful night and the music helped a lot! Plus, Violet was born to a beautiful song. We did not watch any TV during our stay, other than the mandatory scary baby DVDs they made us watch (and sign papers, stating we watched them.) Here's my list:

A Fine Frenzy - Come On, Come Out
A Tribe Called Quest - Once Again
Belly - Feed The Tree
Ben Folds Five - Raindrops
Best Coast - When I'm With You
Black Kids - I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You
Black Kids - Hurricane Jane
Bruce Springsteen - I'm on Fire
Built To Spill - Carry the Zero
Coldplay - Yellow
Coldplay - Shiver
Coldplay - The Scientist
Coldplay - Don't Panic
Damien Rice - The Blower's Daughter
Dramarama - Anything, Anything
Duncan Sheik - Barely Breathing (Acoustic)
Elton John - Rocket Man
Everything But The Girl - Missing (Acoustic)
Folk Implosion - Natural One
Garbage - Push it
Genesis - Invisible Touch
Iron and Wine - Naked As We Came
Jack Johnson - Upside Down
Johny Cash & June Carter - Long Legged Guitar Pickin' Man
Le Tigre - Deceptacon
Lisa Loeb - Snow Day
Luscious Jackson - Lady Fingers
Mates Of State - Fluke
MGMT - Electric Feel
My Morning Jacket - Librarian
My Morning Jacket - Thank You Too!
My Morning Jacket - Just One Thing
Natalie Merchant - Thank You
Neil Young - Unknown Legend
Panic At The Disco - Nine In The Afternoon
Peter Frampton - Baby I Love Your Way (Acoustic)
Phil Collins - Sussudio
Q-Tip - Vibrant Thing
Ray LaMontagne - You Are the Best Thing
Relient K - Be My Escape (Acoustic)
Rogue Wave - Eyes
Rufus Wainwright - Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk
Santigold - Shove It (feat. Spank Rock)
Smokie Robinson - You Really Got A Hold On Me
Tears For Fears - Head Over Heels
Thao Nguyen With The Get Down Stay Down - Violet
The Cardigans - You're The Storm
The Cardigans - Erase-Rewind
The Cranberries - Linger (Acoustic)
The Cranberries - I Miss You When You're Gone
The Dismemberment Plan - You Are Invited
The Get Up Kids - Valentine
The Lemonheads - If I Could Talk I'd Tell You
The Platters - Sea Of Love
The Reindeer Section - Cartwheels
Toad The Wet Sprocket - All I Want (acoustic)
Youth Group - Forever Young (Alphaville cover)


Maybe I should have blogged about some of these things sooner? I've been very busy, so please forgive me if some of these are late, misspelled (SO not like me!) or choppy. Typing one-handed and getting used to everything still has its challenges! I am sure I am missing a bunch of things in this blog post...any questions, just leave a comment.

I've been busy doing this <3