New Mom Advice

Wonderful new-mom advice from nestie Oscar.Mayer. I thought I'd copy and paste because it's so great and hopefully this way, more people will get a chance to see it :)

Girl Nursery"I've been at this mommy thing for about 6 weeks now, so I thought I'd share my advice. I liked reading other peoples' advice before I had my little girl. Here goes... (and now that I'm done, it came out really long. Sorry!)

Labor and Delivery, Recovery: Don't stress about a birth plan. Your baby has a plan of his/her own, and regardless of your plan, he/she is coming out. My hospital was fantastic and asked me everything before she was born, did I want to bf, did dad want to cut the cord, did I want the baby on me while they cleaned her off, etc. I noticed a lot in books that I had read where it said to make signs to put up to tell hospital staff not to use a pacifier/bottle...I think that's extreme! Just relax and know that one way or another, that baby is coming out and the hospital staff is trained to take care of you both!

Be open to the epidural. I have one word regarding it: Heaven. It seriously made what was about to be a horrible, excrutiatingly painful experience into the most amazing, relaxed, beautiful thing I could imagine. It didn't hurt, except for the shot of novacaine, and I felt so much better after I got it.

You are going to be sore. And swollen. And it isn't pretty. No one told me just how much my vajayjay was going to be swollen and I was not prepared. You are also going to bleed a lot, and will have to wear huge pads. It sucks. It also lasts for a long time for some people...I didn't stop bleeding until 5 weeks postpartum, and then I'm pretty sure my period started yesterday. Or I started bleeding randomly again...either way, it sucks. But you deal. Because of said bleeding, you may not make it into your cute pajamas that you bought especially for your hospital stay. I was bleeding through pads and onto the sheets...I didn't go near the pajama pants I brought because I didn't want to ruin them. I did, however, wear a nursing tank top under my hospital gown and that was really comfortable and practical. Definitely buy some of those!

Take it easy. Let someone help you or just ignore housework. I am anal and tried to do way too much. A week after I came home I ended up back in the hospital because I was literally gushing blood. They said I hadn't been resting enough. Sit on your couch and cuddle with your baby.

Baby: You are going to go through mountains of diapers. Especially at first, we were going through at least 15 a day. It has slowed down slightly, but I estimate we went through about 500 diapers during the first 4 weeks. I'm not exaggerating, and I didn't change diapers for the fun of it. She really dirtied that many diapers.

You are going to spend a ton of money buying things you didn't know you needed. For example, the day we came home I sent my husband out to get a second pack and play for the downstairs because we had nowhere for baby to nap downstairs.

Do what works for you and your family. People will tell you not to do this or that, but you have to do what works for you. Last night my baby was fussy and cried from 5:30-12:30. I finally put her in bed with me and she slept for 6 hours. Is it bad that I put her in bed with me? Maybe. Did I finally get to sleep? Yes! Whatever works!

You will lose the weight, especially if you bf. I had lost about 28 pounds at 3 weeks post partum. It has been coming off more slowly now, but I only have 7 pounds to go to get back to normal. Your body will be different than it was pre-pg. I am still wearing maternity jeans and I'm not ashamed to admit it. My old jeans don't fit. My hips are wider, my butt flattened out, my tummy is flabby...I used to be a size 2 and now I wear a size 6...but it'll all work out sooner or later.

Make a time capsule for your baby. I got a small plastic bin and I've been collecting things for her to have when she's old enough to appreciate it: a copy of the newspaper from the day she was born, a couple of grocery ads, an Us Weekly from the week she was born, a newborn diaper to show her how tiny she started out...and we are adding to it when we think of it.

Enjoy every second you have. It's cliche and everyone says it, but it goes so incredibly fast. I cannot believe that my little girl is already 6 weeks old. The last 6 weeks are such a blur, she's growing out of all her newborn outfits...it's crazy. It's also the best thing I have ever done!"

My new-mom tips

Things I'm so happy to have!: waterproof cloths to put on the changing table, nightlight by the changing table, pacifier to keep her from crying while changing, bouncer/swing/me are the only things she'll sleep on/in, breast pump so that I can sleep-in in the mornings and DH or my mom (who's here for 2 weeks) can take over 1 feeding, Dunstan's Baby Language DVD really helped me with night feedings/crying to know what she wanted. Now every time she gets up I understand it's not necessarily to be nursed (in addition to diaper change or not) and it helps us both get back to sleep much more easily and quickly, newborn BUTTON SNAP footed PJS!!! I cannot stress this enough! The zipper ones are fine and all, but try quickly checking or changing a diaper with those... doesn't work out so well. The button snap ones make it a "snap" ;) and I can keep her fully clothed on top.

I knew this was going to be hard and tiring, but no one is prepared for how tiring the first week is!!! Kylie refused to sleep at night for more then about a half hour at a time.. and that was lucky if she did. If she did sleep, it was only on my chest. I thought I would go crazy! Right at one week, she started sleeping about 1-2 hours at a time at night. She still won't sleep in her bassinet, or anywhere flat on her back really, unless it's right next to me. The best nights I've had are those where I co-sleep with her on the floor of the nursery. Hopefully this won't last too long, but sleep is much too precious to me to worry about it now! ;)