My New "Must Have" Items

In the course of my pregnancy I realized that everyone is an "expert" on pregnancy and child rearing. I received a ton of advice, both solicited and un-solicited.

After having been a mom for six whole weeks I have realized that no one really gives you enough advice.

My advice to new moms? Go for the useful things and don't buy so much of the "cute" stuff. I have tons and tons of beautiful outfits for my daughter. Everyday rompers and pajamas? I have just a few. See what I mean? I got all the pretty stuff and not so much of the useful things.

Here's my list for other moms-to-be of the useful things I just couldn't live without. From now on these are the items I will be giving my friends when they have children:

Gripe Water from Baby's Bliss
Aubrey has a really sensitive tummy, which she inherited from me. (I in turn inherited it from my mom, who got it from Nana. Thanks guys, thanks a lot.) We spent a 24 hour period dealing with a crying, painful baby when Aubrey became suddenly incredibly gassy. Ron discovered Gripe Water and it saved the day! We give it to Aubrey usually twice a day and it almost instantly relieves her.




Soy Baby Formula
No one, and I mean no one, told me that most babies are lactose intolerant. This made no sense to me initially. However, I am finding out that this is not an uncommon problem. Lucky for me Aubrey is lactose intolerant. While I was still breast feeding she became very fussy, almost inconsolable. After her pediatricians recommendation we finally tried a soy baby formula and within just a few hours we had our happy baby back. My advice to anyone expecting? Save yourself some stress and keep a can of this in your cupboard. If you are breastfeeding and your baby is lactose intolerant, the symptoms will never show up at a convenient time.







Playtex Bottles
During my pregnancy almost everyone recommended the Dr. Brown's bottles to me. I took their advice and purchased a few to keep on hand. The bottles are great, but they leak a bit when you first invert them. (It bugs me.) I had a few Playtex bottles on hand as well, and found out that I love them! My mom had used the Playtex bottles with my brother years ago, and Aubrey loves the newest incarnation of their product. The nipples are much easier for her to latch onto than the Dr. Brown's bottles. Because of this, Aubrey tends to eat a full 4 ounces or more per meal from the Playtex bottles, but will usually eat only 2 to 3 ounces per meal from the Dr. Brown's.




Nipple Shields
Yes, I am recommending Nipple Shields. Thankfully I have a friend who advised me to have these on hand in case I needed them. Breast feeding is not as easy as one would think it is, and these handy little creations make getting your baby to latch correctly a breeze. Although I breastfed for just a few weeks (which is another blog for another time) these things were crucial to my success.



The Baby Book by William Sears M.D. and Martha Sears R.N.
This is now my baby bible. I had not heard of this book until Aubrey was a few weeks old. I wish I had read it while pregnant, because it would have changed the way I looked at a lot of issues. This book takes a more common sense approach to baby raising than some of the other books I have read. The best part is that the Sears' recommend a style of parenting called "Attachment Parenting." Before I had Aubrey I did not know much about Attachment Parenting, but from what little I had read I knew I did not agree with a lot of it. Hah! Within just days of bringing Aubrey home I was an Attachment Parenting Mommy without even meaning to be! By following my heart and Aubrey's cues I am able to parent my daughter in a way that is emotionally and physically fulfilling for both of us. I particularly love "Baby Wearing." I spend most of my day holding Aubrey, so why not put her in a Moby Wrap and wear her! At least while using the wrap I will be able to get more done in the day besides memorizing every small detail about my child.

Aubrey is One Month Old!!!

Today was Aubrey's one month birthday! Its hard to believe that Ron and I are no longer parents of a newborn, but we can now say we have an infant daughter. Time is already flying past us at mach speed!

While it has been a bit of a blur, this last month has been amazing. I never realized how much I would love my daughter, or that my love for her would grow stronger with each day. I am constantly amazed that this perfect little being was only a month ago growing inside of me. I am in awe of her sweet face. Every day with Aubrey is a wonderful new adventure.

I don't believe I have gone through a period of post-partum depression as much as I have gone through new-baby exhaustion. The first few weeks I was in a bit of a fog adjusting to my new life. I enjoyed getting to know my daughter--learning her cues for when she is hungry, wants to snuggle, is dirty, etc. I've found that all the things I said I definitely wouldn't do as a parent . . . well, I'm doing them. On our first night home from the hospital I gave my inconsolable child a pacifier so that we could all finally get back to sleep. I never thought breastfeeding would be difficult, so it never occurred to me that I would be bottle-feeding my child formula. And worst of all? I vehemently opposed co-sleeping, siting how there are so many studies that prove this undermines a child's independence and self-confidence. Guess where Aubrey spends most of her nights now? You guessed it . . . sleeping snuggled up in her mother's arms.

I'm not as frantic about my house as I once was. There are days where I am lucky to just take a shower, let alone clean anything in the house. I used to become agitated and irritable if Ron tried to do something to help around the house, simply because I prefer to do it myself. I'm a bit of a control freak. I can admit it. I thought having a baby would make me more of a fanatic than ever before, but I was wrong. While our house is in no way filthy, I will happily put aside cleaning in order to spend time cuddling my child.

It surprises me just how much my life has changed, and all for the better. I wake up in the mornings to the most amazing smile. I enjoy Aubrey's awkward little hands smacking away at my face while she babbles at me to wake up. The smell of Aubrey's skin makes my heart ache with how special she is. I can sit in the rocker for hours without realizing how much time has gone by, simply because my little angel is asleep on my chest and I don't want to move her. I look at my child's face and I try to memorize each and every little detail about her.

It is amazing to me that Ron and I were blessed with a child, especially one who came so soon after our wedding. I see my husband in a different light now that he is a father. There is nothing more attractive than to see Ron nurturing our daughter. I love how small she looks when he is holding her. How she fits so perfectly on his chest with her head resting above his heart. How he so easily fell in love with his daughter immediately after her birth. I am looking forward to our life together as a family and can't wait to see how their relationship will grow in the coming years.

This last month has been filled with challenges but overrun with rewards as well. I am looking forward to Aubrey's second month of life and all that it has in store for our family.

My New Favorite Picture

I finally had the chance to go through pictures I had taken last Thursday when my brother, Laine and Dad were here visiting.

I found my new favorite picture:
I was pleasantly surprised with how much my brother loves his new niece. (I had always known he would love her, but I didn't expect him to be so gentle and caring with her so early.) Bud loves spending time cuddling with Aubrey, and on Thursday he snuggled with her while she was napping. I got a few great pictures of Bud, Aubrey and Trudie on the couch together--but this one is by far the best shot. It's an amazing feeling to see my little brother being such a wonderful uncle to my daughter. What a lucky little girl!

Home Alone

Well, not really alone. I have Aubrey, Trudie and Josie to keep me company. What I'm trying to get at is that Ron is gone. Again.

I'm used to Ron traveling for work, but its very different with a baby in the picture. In the past my most productive days were when Ron was out of town. I would take the opportunity to reorganize closets, clear out my To-Do box, work on some household repairs, etc. With Aubrey to care for, now I am lucky if I even take a daily shower.

Not that I'm complaining. I find that the days just fly by now, and I spend more than half the day just watching my child sleep. I still can't believe that she is ours. However, watching my daughter sleep does not help me to accomplish other things.

For instance, yesterday Buddie and Laine came to visit. Thank goodness! While Buddie and Laine played with and cared for Aubrey (well, lets face it, while Laine cared for Aubrey) I was able to get some carpet cleaning done, laundry, sort through old clothes, and actually baked a dessert. It was heaven! Without their help though, I would have been lucky to even use the restroom twice in 12 hours. This baby raising thing is not as easy as it is made out to be.

So while my to-do list grows, the dishes pile up in the sink, the garbage is waiting to be taken out, my dogs are doing the potty-dance by the front door, and I wear my pajama's all day long . . . my daughter is happy, healthy, loved and cared for. I'll just have to wait for Ron to come home before I can take a shower longer than 2 minutes.

Aubrey's First Road Trip!

My mom and I took Aubrey on her first road trip last week. Most of my family lives in central California, so it was easier to take Aubrey up there to visit than it would have been for everyone to drive down here. My Gramma was especially anxious to meet her first great-grandchild so this was a really important trip to make.

We left Wednesday after my mom was done with work. Luckily, we timed everything perfectly. Aubrey ate before we left and slept for most of the 3 1/2 hour drive up to Visalia. We went straight to my grandparent's house for the night.

In the course of the next 12 hours my grandmother schooled me on all the things I was doing wrong as a parent or just didn't know. For instance, I had no idea that holding a baby too much would make them deformed. Good thing my Gramma told me this! I also need to put Aubrey down to sleep rather than enjoy cuddling with her. My personal favorite was that Aubrey was fussy because my "milk is sour." Yep. Good times with my Gramma.

Before leaving my Gramma and Grampa's house, Aubrey suffered from her first serious upset stomach. I couldn't figure out why my little girl was crying so much, other than that she had really horrible gas that day. I was sitting on the bed getting ready to nurse her when the poor angel vomitted at least 8 ounces of milk. It was all over me, Aubrey and the bed. Luckily my mom was close by and she took care of Aubrey while I cleaned up. The best part was that immediately after being sick, my mom placed Aubrey in the sink filled with warm water. Aubrey was asleep in less than 30 seconds . . . so comfy that she looked like a fat man in a hot tub!
Before leaving town we stopped at my aunt and uncle's house to visit with a few more family members. Aubrey got to meet her Great-Grandpa Mazza, Aunt Nancy, Uncle Darrel, second cousins Missy and Jenny, and her third cousins Justin and Georgia.

Justin and Georgia were incredibly sweet with their new baby cousin. I am already looking forward to Aubrey being big enough to play with these two adorable kids!