A few of my favorite things as a new mom

Our little nugget is quickly approaching 2 months old and when I look around our house, strewn with baby gadgets and gizmos that we thought would make him the happiest little baby ever, I realize there are a few things that I rely on and love way more than I thought I would. 

1. Baby Connect Application for iPhone 

This app has been a life saver. We use it to track feedings and diaper changes. I love that it's on my phone, so I always have it with me and that it syncs between two phones, which means my husband can change a diaper and log it and I'll be able to see that on my app. At our two week appointment the doctor asked us how often he was eating and how many dirty diapers he had daily, and we could easily answer that with a quick glance at the app. It even graphs it out and makes it very easy to keep track of things. It was totally worth the $4.99. 

2. Ikea Metal Cart 

I have been eyeing this cart at Ikea for a while. I finally had an excuse to buy it! Little did I know how grateful I would be that I did. I really imagined it will be helpful as he grows older, putting art supplies or homework supplies on it and being able to cart it around and then put it away so our little house doesn't feel as cluttered. Right now it is my nursing station and it simply rocks (well, not literally). I keep my water bottle, burp cloths, pacifiers, nursing pads and every other little thing I might need when feeding the baby. I find that I get bored feeding in the same place all the time so I like that I can roll this with me if I decide to use the rocker or the couch. I roll it into the nursery each night so that I have everything I need for nighttime feedings as well. 

3. Shout Free Stain Remover

Did anyone warn me about how often this kid would get some sort of bodily fluid all over the place? I'm sure they did, but I wasn't really listening. I had not idea how much laundry he would create. And how gross that laundry would be. This spray allows me to feel a lot less guilty when blowout pooped on jammies sit in the hamper for a few hours. I keep it in the closet above the hampers, which is within grabbing distance of the changing table, so I can rip the spit up ridden onesie off and spray it and toss it into the hamper in one big ol' swoop. Then when I finally get to the laundry, I don't feel so bad about it. 

4. Amazon Prime 

Diapers delivered to my doorstep in two days. Do I need to say more? Let me list the things I've purchased on amazon lately: diapers, lanolin, stroller, nursing bras, sports bras, colic calm gripe water, wubanub giraffe, electric pump, digital download of 'how I met your mother' (this season! we don't have cable or any kind of tv set up other than netflix and hulu and HIMYM is no where to be found.) I love the reviews and the fact that I can find practically anything on there. We go out with the wee baby, but if I had to chose how to spend my time with him- out buying diapers or going for a long walk by a lake, I choose the walk. So, we go on lots of walks and we have some essentials delivered. I love the ease of the website too, I find myself ordering diapers at 2am while feeding the babe, it's so easy even a sleep deprived mother of a newborn can use it. (I have heard good things about diapers.com for this type of service as well, but I don't have experience with it). 

Anything I'm missing? Anything you realized you couldn't live without as a new parent? I'd love to hear it! 

Restless Legs During Pregnancy

One of the things I struggled with the most during pregnancy was restless legs. For me, it felt like I just could not sit still. I had to be moving my legs all the time, I had this intense desire to always be stretching. If I didn't, I would get what felt like muscle spasms (that is the best way I can think to describe it). When I first complained about it, I felt like most people thought I was really losing it. My husband didn't really take me seriously until I was crying every night as we watched tv, because I was so incredibly tired but I could not relax on the couch. I had to be walking around or moving. It seems so innocuous but day after day it really wore me down.

I tried every thing I could think of to relieve the sensation and relax. It would keep me up at night, I would routinely get 3 or 4 hours of sleep because I just could not keep from moving around. Eventually I found some things that worked and I'm sure I'll forget them- so here I go, sharing them with the hope that I'lll remember how I found some mediocre relief when I was going crazy with restless legs.


Compression Socks

image found here thanks to google

I am pretty sure that my restless legs got so bad due to poor circulation- I was carrying a 9lb baby around all day. Compression socks provided a little relief if I remembered to put them on before it got bad. Sometimes they worked better than others, I'd say on a scale of 1-10 (1 being didn't work at all to 10 being yes! relief! sweet relief!) that they were a 4 or 5. Not great, but I was glad to have them.

Calcium Supplements 

This was a suggestion from my doctor, who also looked at me like I was crazy when I was crying about how horrible the restless sensation was becoming. Apparently it wasn't a common complaint. She didn't quite know how to help, but since it was most likely circulation related she suggested calcium. I did feel like this worked in bringing the sensation down a notch. I took two a day, and when I forgot I swear the restlessness was worse. On the scale of 1-10, I'd say it was about a 7. (And, they are really good- what the heck, right? Gosh they taste good.)


Prenatal Yoga

yoga

I completely adored my weekly prenatal yoga class. It might have been my favorite thing about being pregnant, next to the kicks which I'm not going to lie, I loved. The camaraderie of the class, the time to focus on my body and really appreciate the whole process was just what I needed. I missed running so very much while I was pregnant, I was glad to still have yoga. I let my instructor know right away when I was dealing with the restless legs and she found some poses that helped with circulation. I always slept better on Monday nights after yoga. I tried to do the poses at home with some success, but never as much as when I went to the studio. I'd say this was an 8, if I could recreate it at home I'd go for a 9, but I didn't have much luck with that. It also didn't eliminate the problem, just made it more manageable.

Foam Roller

foam roller

In the beginning, this worked the very best. I could always find relief with the foam roller. As I progressed in the pregnancy and got bigger and moving was more cumbersome, this became harder and harder to do to the point where it was very relieving. It was still my go-to, my first stop on the path to trying to find relief. I would even do it at 3 am when I would wake up with restless legs. This would be a 9 on the scale. 

Yoga Ball

The BEST thing ever was my yoga ball. I'm so bummed that I didn't try it out until I was 32 weeks. I could finally sit and watch tv or read or just sit. I would have to bounce and do squats on it and keep moving, but I didn't have to stand and walk around. After sitting on it for the evening, I often found it easier to go to sleep (not 100%, but like 80%). All I really wanted the ability to come home from a long day and just relax, this allowed me that every day. I was so grateful for that stupid yoga ball. Thanks to our birthing class for giving me the idea. This was a 10 on the scale. I must remember this for next time. 

I tried many other things as well; walking a lot, doing too many wall squats to count, sitting with a resistance band around my ankles, staying super hydrated, avoiding sugars as much as possible. Those things worked relatively well, but nothing consistent. The things I mentioned above were way more effective for my case of the dreaded restless legs syndrome. 

(all images found by using google)

Whoosh

Time just flies, doesn't it? I had such great intentions for writing and blogging during this pregnancy, but that was obviously a bit ambitious.

Instead of writing, I keep reading. Devouring in fact. Devouring books, blogs and anything I can get my hands on. I find it amusing that I have a few big ol' baby books on my bookshelf but I can't bring myself to read them yet (I've got 6 weeks, plenty of time, right?). Yet, all the blog posts I read are baby related. What's that about?

One book I read lately that I can't shake from my mind was Neil Gaiman's latest:

It's haunting and strange and quite lovely. I couldn't keep my imagination away, it was impossible to put down. Just look at how highly it's rated on good reads! Keep it in mind next time you're thinking of picking up a book. I highly recommend it. (though I stray from saying too much about it..)

(photo from humor train)

good for a giggle

This just made me laugh a bit- I wish I knew who made it. I'm trying not to read too much about babies and pregnancy, I just listen to my doctor's advice and pay attention as friends tell stories. But something fun like this, I'm happy to read and share.

I do have to say, I'm awfully proud of myself for not going google crazy during this pregnancy. It's so easy to freak out and google symptoms and fears like crazy, but I have some how avoided doing just that. High five! Feeling good about that.

(image from pinterest, where I spend way too much time) 

who doesn't love this?

I think our impending arrival will need this little onesie! I'm 6 months pregnant with a little boy, I can't wait to meet him. I like to think that because he moves around quite a bit while I teach math, that he'll love this idea.

I think there's a whole new market for baby clothes like this as everyone embraces their inner geekiness (nerdiness?).

(picture from pinterest, I am searching for the actual link, silly pinterest) 

Wisdom: Mitch Hedberg

A few more Mitch Hedberg gems.. 

Guilty Pleasure

This is generally what I think whenever I hear people talking about celebrity gossip, or whenever I see those magazines by the check out at Target talking all about how stars are 'just like us' (what are they, aliens? Why shouldn't they be just like us?) but here's the thing.. once in a while, maybe once a month or so, I head over to my favorite gossip site and read all the horrible stories about the people I don't care about.

Here's the catch. It's a British site, and I only seem to want to read about the crazy British stars. I can't explain it! It's so strange, I know! I don't know who they are, or why they are famous (mostly) but it's such a guilty pleasure. I just zone out and read about their mundane coffee trips or new pram (come on, you know you love that word!) purchases. I can read almost five whole stories before I get seriously bored and have to move on to cute animal videos.

What can I say? Everyone needs a guilty pleasure once in a while!

(comic found on pinterest, where I wish people would actually link to the origin of the pictures or at least to a viable website! someone deserves credit, wish I knew who.)