I made a person! Like a flesh and blood, squishy person. Not only that, but I managed to keep him alive for a whole month. My little man is quite adorable, loves to climb up on your chest and calms down to the sounds of Star Wars. I have had so much fun dressing him in cute clothes, shopping on ThinkGeek and Etsy, and having my heart melt when he falls asleep on my chest. But along the way, there have been many lessons and tricks to this baby thing that I figured I would share.
- White noise is magical! I downloaded a white noise app for my phone and also found bought the ‘No-Cry White Noise’ sounds from Enjoy Sleep Baby. Apparently, it is like being in the womb or something, but either way it will put your baby to sleep with no problems. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DPJrh_91Hk
- Those little snaps on onesies are evil! Seriously, whoever thought it would be a good idea to make those impossible little snaps never had to stay up with a newborn late into the night. My advice: buy sleepers with zippers! It will save your life and make your life easier.
- Baths make babies happy! My son LOVES to take a warm bath with the warm water sprinkling over him. We have a shower head that comes down and we put it on the low setting; we love watching his little face light up in excitement and relaxation.
- I don’t care what anyone says, pump your brains out! It’s bad enough you look like an anime character with huge bionic boobs that leak at the hint of a baby crying, but breast-feeding is SO much work. At 3 am, it is so much easier to just pull a bottle of breast milk out of the fridge and pop it in his mouth. Between a bottle, burping and pumping you are looking at like 15 minutes; sometimes breast-feeding can take up to an hour between fussing, situating, burping and switching. There is also the added benefit of your partner getting some feeding/bonding time in while you get some extra sleep.
- Two words: Wipe Warmer! I was a little skeptical at first when my bestie gave it to me, but man, was she right. My little man does not like getting changed, let alone the feeling of a brisk cold wipe on his butt. Warm wipes make for happy baby butts.
- Buy gas drops, trust me you will thank me later.
- Do your newborn photos as soon as you can, because before you know it they will get fussy, have unpredictable sleep and get baby acne.
- Nipple shields makes breast-feeding so much easier. I worked with a lactation specialist for 2 weeks and my baby just had the hardest time latching on because my nipples don’t go deep into his mouth. I got mine while at the hospital, but you can get them at Target or Walmart is needed.
- Get the Breast Friend, not the Boppy. The baby just rolls off the Boppy and it doesn’t fit around your waist well if you aren’t a tiny waisted person. The Breast Friend allows your little munchkin to lay flat, has bumps for head support and a pouch to store your phone, nipple balm, chap stick and nipple shield.
- Have something planned on the horizon. My husband and I planned to go to Dallas Comic Con for a day and left the baby with my mother-in-law. Having that planned to do helped give us something to look forward to that wasn’t all about the baby and allowed for us to feel ‘normal’ and not like a milk machine. It was also a chance for my husband and I to spend time together and take stock in all we had accomplished, what we wanted to do and address things we wanted to fix. While it was a little weird pumping in the bathroom next to a girl dressed up as a giant dragon, it was nice to have a break.
