Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Pictures you must have at Hospital

Pictures you need to make sure you get:
-You and husband before baby comes
-Picture of baby when he just arrives, try not to get your privates in the picture, unless you want to see that.
-Baby being weight, make sure you get the numbers on the scale
-Daddy cutting the cord
-Baby getting foot prints done
-Daddy’s face while watching his baby gets cleaned up.
-First time in Daddy’s arms
-First time in Mommy’s arms
-Baby’s first bath
-Baby’s dry erase board of time he arrived on it
-A picture with each visitor
-First time breastfeeding without showing your breast
-Doctor and baby
-Baby in crib at hospital
-Baby in crib with his name card showing
-Family picture
-Picture of the recovery room
-A lot of baby you will never get these first moments back
-First diaper change by daddy and mommy
-Picture of baby going into car seat to leave
-Picture of baby leaving hospital

Having Family in the room

It is a hard decision for first time moms to make during delivery, how many people are allowed in the room? First time moms always feel they can do it alone and do not want anyone else in the room. Second time moms don’t care, they will let anyone in who wants to see. My option is to let family in not the men just the women, your mom, sister, or mother n law. It is completely up to you and the hospital how many people are allowed in the room while you deliver. But it is amazing how many people want to be there to see it all. With my first baby, I though no way is anyone going to be in here, I don’t want anyone to see me give birth. But my mom pushed her way in the room and I was so grateful. I really needed a women’s support that had been through it before. My mom knew all the questions to ask and she made sure that baby was doing well. Trust me you will be so tired that you won’t really know what is going on and to have someone who knows what needs to be done is really nice. She was a lot of help!! The second time around I asked my mom, sister and mother n law to be there. I felt that it was such an amazing process that I wanted everyone close to me there. I was so grateful to have all of them there my second delivery went really fast but I knew it made them feel special that they were there. If you are feeling up to it invite who your want the more support the better, plus it gets boring just staring at your husband.

Hosptial IV's

Getting an IV is horrible, I have not had one before I had a baby and it was just an awful experience. When I had my first son it took the nurse 20 minutes to do the IV and she poked me twice. In the meantime I am having contractions every 4 minutes and am at 8 ½ cm. I was like ok can we get this done so I can get some pain meds going? When I had my second son I told the nurse about my experience and she said not to worry, she was really good at it and wouldn’t take her at long. Well she turned out to be even worse, she poked me twice one in the right hand and one on the left, I had two band aids and no IV. She had to go get another nurse who poked me once but sat there for five minutes moving the needle around inside my skin to poke the vein. She finally got it when she was about to give up, and it was painful. I am still no sure why they put the IV in my right hand, which is the hand I use for everything, including going to the restroom with, it is not easy to do when you have a needle stick in your hand. If you have never had an IV before just be aware that it can be painful and it may take a few pokes to get it right.

Tip of the week

If having a second baby purchase a door lock for the outside of your babies door. My three year old loves to run into my babies room with he cries. He thinks he is going to help him, but he just really wakes him up. Most of the time I am not ready for him to get up or he is just crying during a nap and trying to fall asleep. If you get a lock on the door that older child will not be able to get in at anytime. I also worried about him going in at night and putting a blanket in his crib or climbing into bed with him. You never know what a toddler is thinking. It is the best thing I ever did and I sleep a lot better knowing my boys are safe!

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

This weeks tip

Buy generic foods for the kids. My husband hate generic foods don't ask me why because I have no idea. But I have just been buying food and feeding it to everyone, not thinking that my 3yr old does not need $3.00 syrup for the pancake he eats everyday. It took me long enough to figure it out. Jelly is another thing you can buy generic. Not only will it cost you less, but it the expensive stuff you and your husband eats will last longer and you won't have to keep buying it as often.

I hope you all have a great week.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

TIP FOR ALL MOMS

Buy a thermoscan thermometer, do not buy the ear ones. They don't work all that great and it is hard to get your kid still enough to put it in his ear. The thermoscan ones are a knock off of the ones they use at your childs doctor office. We love ours and have not any problems getting a good reading. We had an ear one first and it just was not accurate. You can find them at most stores, but costco is the cheapest.

Buy a breast pump

Weather you are planning on breast feeding only, buy a pump. You will get so engorged at some point that you will want to pump out the excess milk. You don’t need a fancy one if you are not returning to work. Buy a single pump that the bottle fits right onto. When you are ready to give your baby a bottle you can use the breast milk that you pumped instead of formula. You can also use your pumped milk to mix in the baby’s cereal instead of formula. You can also freeze your breast milk to use later down the road. I froze a good supply so when I was done breast feeding my baby still got breast milk for a few weeks. A pump comes in handy if you have to wean your baby off the breast and onto formula. You will start with mostly breast milk and a little formula your first bottle and continue to have less breast milk and more formula until you are at all formula. A lot of babies won’t go straight to formula, you are lucky if they do.

Write things down

You have so much going on when you get home, that sometimes you don’t remember the last time your baby ate. Write it down every time until you get him on a schedule. You get so busy that the time flies by and when he starts crying to eat, you think I just fed you and it has been a few hours. To make sure you keep him on track keep a dry easer board on your frig and write down the times he has eaten.

Time your breast feeding

Keep track of how long baby eats on each side. Sometimes it varies but it will help you so you are not breastfeeding all day long. The average is ten minutes on each side, but all babies are different. Once you figure out how long your baby needs to be satisfied you can use that time at night to make sure he is eating and not just sucking to sloth himself to sleep. The first few weeks let him breastfeed as long as he wants. You really want him to get as much food as he can. Than he will start to make his own schedule all you have to do is watch the clock.

Breastfeeding needs

Breastfeeding is believed to be the best thing you can do for your baby, but you will need some things by your side at all times when you do. First and far most pee before you start. You will be stuck in your chair for awhile every few hours so be prepared, before you sit down grab these things and anything else you feel you will need. You might need, a bottle of water, tissue, lip balm, baby clippers for finger nails and toes it is the easiest time to cut them, phone, TV remote there is nothing like being stuck on a channel you hate when you can’t move, watch or clock and burp clothes. It is best to concentrate on the bond that you are forming with you baby, try not to talk on the phone while feeding. It is your special time with your baby; no one else can feed him so enjoy it.

Breast feeding

This week I would like to give you alittle advice on breastfeeding. Of course studies show it is the best for your baby, but it is stressful at times and you will want to give up. Just hang in there and if you are having a hard time you can call a lacation speacialist to help you.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Induction doesn't always equal baby

Just because you are being induced doesn’t mean you will have a baby that day or the next day. First you have to make sure the hospital has room for you sometimes the hospital gets too busy and they bump you out and put you on a waiting list. You will be waiting around all day or maybe a few days for the phone call to come on in to be induced. It is the worst and most stressful feeling ever. You will go from being nervous and excited to have your baby the day they tell you and than you get the call that you won’t be seen. It is nerve racking because you have everything set up, a babysitter if you have more kids, time off of work for you and your husband, out of town relatives come into town to see the event and it all falls apart. Even if you are lucky enough to keep your appointment and get induced it doesn’t mean you are going to have that baby soon or fast. Some women do not respond to the medication and I have heard of some women being sent home because things were not progressing well enough. Make sure to talk to your doctor and find out what medication you will be getting and what your chances of being sent home are.

Wipes gives baby diaper rash

Sometimes wipes will give your newborn diaper rash and for a newborn it is no fun. With my first baby the nurse gave us the best advice, she said to use a warm wash clothes to wipe his bottom with, she said this would help avoid getting diaper rash and it worked. We used wash clothes for the first three weeks and our son never got a rash. Once we went to wipes he got a small one after awhile so we switched back to the wash clothes and the rash went away. It was the best advice we got in the hospital. If you are using wipes right away, get the sensitive ones or the all natural ones, they don’t have as many harsh chemicals in them.

Get daddy's involved ASAP

It is so important to get the daddy’s involved in their baby’s lives. Remember if you are a first time mom and don’t know what to do, than your first time daddy isn’t going to know either. It maybe scary, but you have to let them do things. Sometimes you have to make them do things. If you don’t have a hands on daddy in the beginning, you need to make him one. Tell him what to do in a nice way of course. Get him changing diapers from the start. Trust me he is not going to break him. He has to bond with the baby as well and most daddies are afraid of the baby or afraid you won’t approve of what he is doing. When you give daddy a job to do and he does it don’t tell him he is doing it wrong! Everyone does things differently and if you tell him he is doing things wrong all the time than you will no longer get help. I had my husband give our kids baths and put them to sleep when they got older. Since he is at work all day he would have bath time every night with the kids. I got a few minutes to myself and he got to form a relationship with his kids with a simple chore. Even though the kids are older he still enjoys spending this time with them.

Hang onto maternity clothes

Who knew you would have to wear maternity clothes home for the hospital. You just gave birth; your stomach should be flat again right! Wrong it takes weeks for your uterus to go back to its normal size. And several months for you to fit in your normal clothes again. For some strange reason this never crossed my mind, and after the fact I thought did I really think I would fit in my old clothes already? What was I thinking? You may even have to buy new clothes if you were pregnant and had your baby in different seasons. Make sure to take the clothes you were wearing at 9 months to wear home for the hospital.

Hospital must haves

Snacks for all, pack snacks for you and your husband. You only get so much food and it isn’t the best, plus your husband doesn’t get any food so pack cookies, crackers, granola bars and trail mix.
Maturity clothes for ride home.
Underwear and socks for ride home, and extra socks for hospital
Hairbrush, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner, hair dryer, and make up.
Breast feeding pillow
Baby wipes (some hospitals do not supply them)
Clothes for baby to wear home and an outfit for pictures they take at hospital. Don’t plan on changing is clothes all the time, the nurses always change him back into their outfit.
Lotion and chapstick
Labor might be long so bring things to do or read. Crosswords, magazines etc.
Camera, video camera and extra batteries or chargers
Cell phones and chargers you will be calling everyone you know.
Blanket for baby to go home with
Baby car seat with head support in it. If the hospital will let you put the baby in the car seat before you get outside, it is so much easier, then doing it in the parking lot.
If you like to write bring a journal and pen to write about your experience.

Ever heard of Rusty Pipes

Well I hadn’t either, until it happened to me. I was having a little trouble with breast feeding so the nurse was helping me get my little man to attach correctly when she said “that is not normal hold on a minute”. She squeezed my breast to double check what she thought she saw and blood looking fluid came out instead of the yellowish color colostrum. She started asking me if I had any injuries recently when I said “no” she said something about a tumor. I admittedly thought cancer! She told me to not breast feed my newborn and told me to pump to see if we could get all the blood color fluid out and my milk in. No one had any idea what is was, not even the lactation specialist that was there at the time. They also had me get an ultrasound of my breasts to see if I indeed had a tumor. I was so upset, thinking I had a cancer and not being able to breastfed my newborn. I was a strong believe in the benefits of breastfeeding and not being able to do that right away really hurt me, I also did not get to bond with my baby that first day because I was being rushed around getting ultrasounds and getting my hospital pump all set up, it was a very stressful and disappointing first day of motherhood. I didn’t find out anything until the next day. A different lactation specialist came in with an article on rusty pipe syndrome. She said she knew what it was as soon as they told her, where was she yesterday and why didn’t they call her? She said it was no big deal and go ahead and breast fed again. I was so relieved. So here is what it is, rusty-pipe syndrome is a condition, seen mostly in first-time moms, where the milk appears to be rusty in color. It is more common with first pregnancies; Rusty pipe syndrome may result from vascular engorgement of the breast. As your milk-producing glands, or alveoli, go through a period of rapid development, and the blood flow increases to your breasts, there may be some internal bleeding, which ends up coming out instead of the colotrom. Once we found out that it was not a big deal, things were back to normal and I got to feed my newborn how I wanted.

HELP, GET HELP

If you can please plan to have help your first week home, have them stay at your house for being on call for 24 hours a day. As long as you know the help will not try to take over and take your baby away from you all the time, than ask for help. It is so nice to have an extra pair of hands around. They can cook for you, do dishes, clean and help you with baby stuff. It will relief a lot of stress from you, you can get in more naps than if you didn’t have help. Remember your husband is going to be just as tired, he stayed up all night with you at the hospital too. My mom stayed with me the first week and than my sister came the second week. It was so nice, my house was always clean and what ever I needed they helped me get, even just going to the store to get milk was great. My husband was working a lot at the time and it was nice to have other loved ones there to be there for me. It was so nice to be able to take a shower and not worry about if your baby is going to wake up crying. But even if you get live in help spend time alone with baby as well, it is important to bond with baby his first few days home.

Having a personal chef

I live in the best neighborhood ever! When someone has a baby one person from our street will get everyone together and plan a week of dinners for the new parents. It is the nicest thing to have someone else cook dinner for you, you now have an extra body in the house you have to take care of and the transition from the hospital to home is not always easy. You have had everything done for you for a few days and you have had help with the baby, well now you are back to the real life and the last thing that should be on your mind is having to cook dinner. If you don’t have a neighborhood program set up maybe start it yourself, so when it is your turn everyone will want to help you with your dinner for the week. It is truly exciting as well, you never know what you are going to get and it will be food you haven’t had before. If you do not have neighbors or family members who are willing to cook for you, than make as many dinners as your freezer will hold and put the directions on each item so even your husband and make dinner, or order a pizza it is easy, cheap and you can always eat it for lunch the next day. It is so important to bond with your baby his first few weeks home, don’t let cooking or chores get in the way

Stress testing

What is it anyway? I never knew until my second baby. Basically it is a test that will drive a pregnant women crazy, but it is needed a the same time. You would think you would get to relax when they put you in this nice soft chair; well you have to press a button every time you feel the baby move for about thirty minutes. If the baby doesn't move enough they think he is under stress and make you get an ultrasound right away and if they don't have an opening to see you, than off to the hospital you go. Most of the time the baby is safe, but it is always better to get things checked out to make sure. Trust your doctors when you have a high risk pregnancy, you don't want to do anything that will harm your baby, sometimes you will feel they are over doing it, but they know what can happen if they under do things, so trust them and do as they say.

Questions when your pregnant

What pregnant woman doesn't have questions for their doctor at each visit? You think about it all week and you know what you want to ask them. Than they put you in the room and the doctor enters and your mind goes blank. Not only do you not get your questions answered you feel dumb because you forgot what you wanted to ask. No matter how hard you think about it you won't remember all of them. My advice is to get a notepad and write down all your questions and when you go to the doctor take your pad with you and you can ask all your questions and you can even write down the answers because you might forget the answers too. Now all you have to do is remember your pad of paper. I would put it in my purse a few hours before my appointment.

New to Blogging

Hello everyone,
I am new to blogging and have started a blog to help me get a book I wrote published. I will be adding chapters from my book on this website. If you have anyone who would be interesting in reading my advice on preganancy and newborns please forward them my blog. I am truly interesting in seeing how many hits I get and if my advice is good enough to be a book.
Thank you,
Kelly