Surviving the first few weeks postpartum.

I typed this up when I was a few weeks postpartum, and forgot to post it! So here it is. This applies to the first couple months after I had Devin.


Hospital cup

My friend told me to take it home and I hesitantly did, but it's THE BEST. Drinking from a straw and not having to open the lid of a waterbottle or tilt the water from a glass is so much easier with a baby in your arms.

Side table 

I would move it around as needed! By the couch, the recliner, my bed, etc. Again, when you have a baby attached to your boob, it's hard to move around.

Swaddle blankets

I like the thicker small typical receiving ones when wrapping her during the day with her arms out, but love love love the aden + anais ones for doing a tight full body wrap at night. They really are worth their weight in gold, like everyone says. (Even though they cost quite a bit in gold...)

Finger snacks 

Hardboiled eggs, nuts, dried fruit. It's really hard to cut a steak.

Coconut oil

I used lanolin approximately one time and didn't like that it had a smell, because I want her to associate the smell of my breasts with me and not lanolin. So I used refined (not smelly) coconut oil for my sore nipples and they felt better almost immediately. Within a week of starting nursing my boobs felt normal again and didn't crack. The old trick of rubbing breast milk also works great and that's all I need now, 3 weeks into breastfeeding!

Peri bottle

My sink happens to be right next to my toilet so I could easily fill the peri bottle I got from the hospital with fresh warm water to rinse with after I went to the bathroom. It's also nice to add a bit of witch hazel or lavender oil to help with healing.

Cloth pads with athletic shorts

I had a nice stockpile of regular pads from the hospital and from a friend, but after being home for two days I realized they are so uncomfortable and I always felt wet, which was gross. Isn't the point of a pad to wick away moisture?! Anyways, I was doing a lot of sitting while nursing and everything felt sore and the wetness didn't help. I kept thinking I just really wanted to wear underwear because it would feel good against my skin, and remembered cloth pads that I usually use for my period. Within hours of switching to a cloth pad my 'area' felt SO much better, drier, and less painful. So seriously, invest in them. I just rinse them in the sink after I use them and hang it on my drying rack, then when I have 4 or 5 dirty ones I soak them in the sink with a bit of oxyclean and Castile soap for a few hours. Then I just rinse them and hang them up and they look brand new again! I have about 10 that I cycle through. (I was usually about 5/day until 7 days postpartum, and at 2 1/2 weeks I used about 2 a day.) they also don't have the gross smell of disposable pads. Wearing tight shorts over my underwear made me feel more comfortable, like a pad wasn't about to fall out or something (even though my pads have a button to stay on) or leak somehow.

Netflix

Need I say more? 

Boppy

Again, need I say more? I have a long torso so I still have to squeeze a blanket between her and the boppy but it's still nice to have.

Pampers/Huggies

We have a multitude of brands, most of them different eco friendly ones, but found Pampers is the best for newborn! Ha! The others just fit her weirdly, were really bulky, or didn't hold up well. She's in size 1 now and we prefer Huggies. The ones in the basket in a picture below are Honest Co and they are the only eco one that I sort of like, but they don't fit her as well. (And then we switched her to cloth diapers at 2 1/2 months.)

Solly Wrap

(The day I got it when she was a few weeks old, all tired and haggard.)

I could go on and on and on about how much I love this wrap. It is so easy to put on, light-weight unlike the Moby, and more importantly - Devin loves it. Worth waaaay more than its weight in gold.

Robe

It has been a comfort saver for sure! Throughout the last 3 months of my pregnancy I was looking for a soft, lightweight robe and never found one, until a few days before I gave birth. It's 3/4 sleeves and hits just below my waist, so I wear sweats with it. It is similar to this one on the Target website, but they don't have the one I bought anymore (the linked one is much longer, but the same light material). I wore it as a shirt in the hospital so I could easily breastfeed but look 'put together' when people visited, and pretty much wear it as a shirt when I'm home because it's so much easier to breastfeed in.

Diaper basket

We don't have a changing table set up (like I'm really going to use the space or get up and walk somewhere every time I need to change her!) so I have a small basket that I keep full of diapers, wipes and a burp cloth I use as a changing pad. I have about a dozen burp cloths and just get a new one as needed. Then I can move it to whatever room I'm in, and keep it on my bed at night since we cosleep with her. I also keep a little ziploc bag with DigestZen essential oil for her belly, grape seed oil to dilute it and for massage, and a little jar of coconut oil for diaper redness and her fat rolls on the neck or else they get red and smelly. (Babies can be gross.) I also have a little jar of diaper rash salve.

Salt lamp

This thingis perfect for the night! It has a dimmer that I keep on the lowest setting so I have a soft light for feedings and changing her during the night. It's dark enough to sleep with, but bright enough to see when I wake up.

Sound machine

I started using a sound machine many months ago per Grace's recommendation and it really helps because I can fall asleep almost immediately. (You'd think I'd be tired enough, but I have a wandering mind.) This will ultimately help Devin as well. I've noticed that as soon as I turn it on to get her ready for a nap her eyes start to get droopy.

To Do List Complete

Today was supposed to be a school day so I had the day off work, but since it's Labor Day, I didn't actually have anything! So here was my to-do list for the day:

Have brunch with my family at 11. 
Hang the fern and research how to care for them.
Clean the toothbrush holder/get out new toothbrush heads.
Do A&P homework.
Research animals for Bio II.
Create a new budget.
Download some 50 Cent music.
Finish pre-cal homework.
Go to the library and pick up Saving Ceecee Honeycutt for The Traveling PhoBookClubber book club.
Finish the rest of my gluten free black bean brownie-cake.
Pick up a firewire to transfer my laptop info to my desktop.

So here's how the day went down:
Have brunch with my family: Complete
I had brunch at my dad and step moms with one of my younger brothers and his friend, my sister, my niece, and The Chickens.

Vince and my brother both had to work, but it was mainly for mine and Suzanne's birthday anyway. I saw a bee's nest, which was actually a hornet's nest according to my Facebook peeps.

I didn't know that and I blame the 7 year old who told me it was a bee's nest. I should know what a hornet's nest is because when I was younger I was at a family reunion and I stuck my hand behind an old chair that was in a barn and stuck my hand right into a hornet's nest. My hand swelled up and turned purple and I screamed and screamed. It totally sucked, especially when my dad forced me to run my hand under cold water. Moving on.

Hang the fern and research how to care for them: Complete, sort of

My god. This fern I have has been living great and growing fully until it just decided to kill itself. It's been slowing shriveling away, despite me not doing anything different! So now I've moved it and trimmed it up. After hanging it I did the research and learned it shouldn't actually be in direct sunlight (which it hasn't been this whole time) so I need to move it again. Awesome. I also learned I should be spraying it frequently with a spray bottle and I need to give it 'food'. I have some stuff that's similar to Miracle Grow but it organic and non-death inducing so I'll be giving it more of that and getting it some new soil and possibly a larger pot. All of this except the 'food' costs money, though, which I don't have.

Clean the toothbrush holder/get out new toothbrush heads: Complete
First I had to step over a scared dog that was hiding from the thunder and lightening in the bathroom.

We use an electric toothbrush that's amazing, but it was getting dirty. So now it's clean and we have new toothbrush heads.

My life is so exciting, guys!

Do A&P homework: Complete
I took 3 quizzes and passed. That's all.

Research animals for Bio II: Complete

I'm ready to present on Tuesday night! Since I only have Word on my MacBook until i can transfer it to the iMac, I was working on two computers.

Create a new budget: In Progress
I'm saving up for something fun and need to incorporate it into the budget. More to come later.

Download some 50 Cent music: Complete
I love 50 Cent an insane amount. I've lost most of my rap CDs (ahem, my sister stole them) over the years so I need to rebuild my collection. I've also listened to the 50 Cent Pandora station for the past 5 hours and am in heaven. Welcome back to my life, 50, welcome back.

Finish pre-cal homework: Complete
Homework is done, which is always so satisfying. This first week was a strange transition into doing homework/studying and I couldn't seem to figure out how to do it. Now that I've completed some assignments I'm back in the groove and loving it. It's such a thrill to finish something!

Go to the library and pick up Saving Ceecee Honeycutt for The Traveling PhoBookClubber book club: In Progress
Turns out that I forgot the library is closed on Labor Day. Tomorrow will be the day!

Finish the rest of my gluten free black bean brownie-cake: Complete

I made it the other night and it was amazing. I've kept it in the fridge to make it more dense and it's so fantastic! I used pumpkin puree instead of apple sauce, by the way.

Pick up a firewire to transfer my laptop info to my desktop: In Progress
I'm headed to the store right now. Be prepared for some more trip posts soon!

So I pretty much completed all on my to-do list today. I'm amazing.

I love lists!

This is kind of a brief update about some things in my life. None of them warrant a full post, so you get this! Think of it as an assortment goody bag - they're the best! Oh, and what do you think of the new header?!


Work My official last day is January 12th at my current job. I am so thrilled and it makes the last few weeks do-able, but at the same time, I'm nervous! This will be the first time in almost 4 years that I am not working full time, so I feel like I'll have all this time I won't know what to do with! I'm pretty sure I still won't have time because I'll be in school full time, work part time, my niece for a day, and volunteering one or two mornings a week...wait a minute...this actually sounds like I'm going to be busier! Ha! BUT, it's a busy that I am thrilled to have because I'll be doing everything that I love.

iPhone 4 I get asked a lot what I think about my new phone and I used to rant and rave and say it was the most awesome thing ever. I still think it's the most awesome thing ever, but not for $90 a month! I have the lowest plan all around and it's still quite pricey. It's extremely convenient and great, but at the same time I could do absolutely fine without it. I've heard it's pretty handy when you are in the nursing program, so I'm hoping that's true!

Snow We got a storm this week and another one is supposed to come in this weekend. This one wasn't so bad and it hasn't been bone cold, so that's nice. It's been pretty sunny when it wasn't snowing, so it seems warmer than it is with that sun hitting you!

Dog Roxanne has gotten even worse with sleeping on our bed. As SOON as I sit up, she slides behind me and lays on my pillow. And I mean just sitting up, not even getting OUT of bed! She's so fast that I don't even get to pull the covers over my pillow before she does it. I love that she loves laying on our warm pillows, but COME ON. I'm so over the dog hair. I'm thinking a baby gate might be needed for our door soon! (We took off our door for more space and we just have a pretty curtain up...)

Husband Vince is a little over work like I am, so we're trying to figure some things out for him to do. Maybe work one or two days elsewhere? Take a class at the community college? We're not quite sure, but he's gettin' ready to figure it out. Maybe now that the mountain is open and he's learning to ski he will be a little less antsy!

School Finished, and I passed with a 4.0! Next semester I'm signed up for Chemistry, Biology and Math...what am I doing to myself taking all the hard classes in one semester?! I guess that's what I get for taking all the easy classes earlier.

Friends Wait, I have friends? Ha. I've been pretty busy this semester but I've made it a point to make time for my people. Not as much as I liked, but I'm so happy when I get to hangout, even if for a bit. I have a full weekend ahead of me with a few of them, so I'm excited about that!

Tattoo I still haven't remembered to take a picture of my healed half-sleeve, just this one I posted right after. (And my goodness...that post makes me want summer again!) I was going to take one now, but I have an appointment to finish it this weekend aaaaand it's too hard to figure out right now with my dead brain. It's pretty tricky to take a full picture of the tattoo because there are so many angles! I'll take one after this weekend though for sure!