Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Baby Talk: Nuggets...

...nuggets of information that is. 
See what I did there?

Welcome mamas to the first ever Baby Talk link up!
I am so excited to get this going and hopefully as the word spreads we will get more and more mamas to contribute their stories, advice & reviews. 

It seems like every other day I have a friend (blog or real life) who is announcing that they're pregs and so I've been dishing out a lot of preggo and new baby advice lately. I decided to start jotting down these little tidbits until I had enough for a fabulous blog post to share with you all and the first day of Baby Talk seemed like the perfect opportunity to share some of the things I've learned these first few months.

Get out your pens & paper, here we go....

*Whoever thought snap pajamas were a good idea is a total idiot. I get that you only have to unsnap the bottom half, which seems like a good plan, until your baby starts squirming out of control and it takes you 15 minutes to snap 8 snaps. I now go out of my way to find jammies with a zipper.
*TUCKS MEDICATED PADS ARE THE BEST INVENTION EVER! My amazing baby shower hosts included these in the Survival Kit they gave me and I thought "I am never going to use these." WRONG. I used the entire damn jar. When your lady parts go through all that, a nice cold medicated pad feels like pure heaven! 
*Baby Blankets. They are a wonderful gift idea and a new mom definitely uses a lot of them, but EVERY ONE gives a blanket as a gift....so if you can think of something else, I'd say go with something else. No one needs 30 baby blankets, unless maybe they have triplets. 
*Sits Baths! TAKE THEM! Right after I have birth, all the nurses told me to take a sits bath every day...but the absolute last thing I wanted to do when my hoo-hoo hurt that bad was SIT in a rock hard bath tub. One amazing nurse recommended putting a towel in the tub to sit on. And so I did. And it felt amazing. Soaking in the tub for 15 minutes a day was literally a game changer for me. I was finally able to sit without my donut!
*Wait until the absolute last minute to get dressed. I definitely learned this the hard way. With spit up and drool and poop and pee and sucking and biting, etc. etc. etc. there are a million ways your outfit can get ruined in a matter of seconds. I make sure that I get dressed after Kenley is fed, burped and changed and ideally has been passed off to her dad.
*Sometimes it's easier to throw it in the trash. Blowouts happen. They are absolutely inevitable. Some are manageable. Some are not. In most cases the outfit will come out only partially harmed, but the poor onesie. Oh those poor poor onesies. Sometimes you need to just cut your losses and throw that puppy right in the Diaper Genie.
*Germs are here to stay. Another thing that's inevitable...germs. They're everywhere. They're impossible to avoid. You can drive yourself mad trying to protect your baby from every little teeny germ, but really are you even doing you baby any good? There's a difference between being clean and sanitary and a complete germaphobe. Your baby needs to be exposed to SOME germs otherwise that little immune system will never learn to fight! So don't drive yourself crazy using Clorox wipes on absolutely everything.
*It's OK to cry. Being a mom is hard. It's the most incredible thing in the world, but it's hard. If you feel overwhelmed or anxious or tired or stressed or so overcome with pride and happiness that you just have to cry....then just cry. Your husband might look at you like you're an alien, but just get it all out and you'll feel better.
*Stay off the internet! For the love of Pete! DO NOT under any circumstances check the internet for pregnancy or baby advice. Unless you're looking at a legit and reputable site (mayoclinic.com & babycenter.com are pretty much the only ones I trust)...stay away! Definitely do not look in the forums because you will get depressed and terrified. There's always some absolute worst-case-scenario-lady that feels the need to share her story with everyone and scare the crap out of a tired mama who just wants to know if her baby is teething or not. There's a reason you have a doctor and a reason those doctors have 24-hour help lines!

Do you have tips, tricks, stories, questions, reviews or ANYTHING baby related on your mind?
GREAT!
Link up with me!

 photo baby-talk-button_zps829f6bd6.jpg

14 comments:

P!nky said...

Great post that is bookmarked for 3 years from now.

:)!

Dawn said...

I 100% agree with everything you just said....especially the tucks pads, snap pajamas..not jumping on the internet for advice, getting dressed LAST, not being overly crazy about germs, CRYING, too many damn blankets, sits baths and throwing onsies/clothing right in the trash with the diaper....so, yeah - pretty much everything!

Anonymous said...

I *love* this series idea...when you announced it I was super excited! I'll definitely be participating!

Schnelle said...

Love this post! Snap pjs are the worst- especially during middle I'd the night changing sessions when you have one eye open. Blowouts, oh the blowouts. Huggies don't work for us at all! It's all about the pampers, haven't had one yet with them. Forums freaked me the hell out toward the end of my pregnancy. The only 2 sites I trust are the 2 you mentioned. Love, love, love this girl talk/baby talk sesh!

Carolyn said...

Great advice Beeb! Can't wait until I have to use this stuff. :)

Bridget said...

Super great advice. I have all about zipper sleepers instead of snaps. Also good to know about the sits bath...and not getting dressed until the very end. Good stuff I will use :) Thank you!!!!

MIL said...

Excellent job my adorable DIL! From one old Mama to a new Mama.

sofiesdiary@yahoo.com said...

Great idea!!! I would love to participate.

Caroline said...

I can totally relate to the blowouts. We've lost quite a few outfits. lol

ajs {of MN} said...

this is cute and fun. laughi about snaps and blankies!! true dat! cant wait to join in with this link up! :)

Ruthie Hart said...

keep all this coming!! (as I am writing down buy tucks pads in a few months lol!). I met up with a friend last night who has a 5 month old and I swear I was like a college student in a lecture soaking up all of her TMI advice and recommendations. I want to know all the good bad and ugly!!

Emily said...

I love this post! I had witch hazel pads from the hospital (same as Tucks I'm assuming) and those along with some numbing spray my nurse sent me home with were lifesavers! I still don't really understand what a sitz bath is...? I asked to take one at the hospital and they gave me this really confusing looking thing with a tube and I was supposed to attach it to the toilet or something. Ain't nobody got time fo' that! ;)

Emily said...

I love this post! I had witch hazel pads from the hospital (same as Tucks I'm assuming) and those along with some numbing spray my nurse sent me home with were lifesavers! I still don't really understand what a sitz bath is...? I asked to take one at the hospital and they gave me this really confusing looking thing with a tube and I was supposed to attach it to the toilet or something. Ain't nobody got time fo' that! ;)

Mateya said...

Great list! I completely agree with everything! We had a couple really bad blowouts that we had to CUT Hayden's onesie off of him, otherwise I would have just spread poop all over him. Yikes!

I'm definitely going to have to link up next week! Tuesdays?