What to Pack for the Hospital

I've seen so many 'what to pack' lists and I think most of them suck cause they have you over packing. Trust me, you're not going to want to spend one ounce of time un-packing and doing any laundry when you get home with your little bundle of joy. You could go to the hospital with nothing packed and be totally fine. Less is more! Believe me!

So here is my slim packing list;

For mom -
- Going home outfit. Between bleeding, breast feeding and doctors checking my uterus and other parts; no outfit from home was going to cut it, for the exception of a plain old hospital gown.
-Slipper socks and a bathrobe were handy for getting out of bed for a stroll.
- Extra hair elastic
- A little make-up (if you really want)
- Phone Charger
- Camera
- Smart Phone - I see a lot of items on lists that a smart phone can easily take place off. You don't need your laptop, iPad, paper, pen, pictures or radio. These days ALL of this stuff can easily be done on your phone. 

For Dad -
- One outfit
- PJs
- Slippers
- Change for vending machine

For Baby 
- Going home outfit
- Car Seat

Toiletries - soap, shampoo, condition, tooth brushes, toothpaste and whatever products you use daily.

Happy Packing!


 

Cheese Ball Recipe

If you're ever in a pinch and need something quick, cheap and easy to make, this is my 'go-to' recipe.

THE Cheese Ball

The ingredients sounds odd, but everyone loves it!

2 (8 oz) packages of cheese
1 (8 oz) can of crushed pineapple, drained very well
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup fine chopped bell pepper (any color)
1 teaspoon of season salt

Mix all ingredients together, form ball and refrigerate overnight in tin foil.

I bring this to a party with a box of crackers and a paper plate and I don't have to worry about getting my plate or whatever back. Enjoy!

Diapers & Washer Machines Don't Mix

Unless their cloth diapers, you obviously shouldn't be washing your disposable diapers. I was emptying my washer when I found all sorts of weird stuff in it, like jelly. Upon further research, I found a diaper full of it. Weird that it turns into gel! I guess this is also why you should buy those special swim diapers.

Anyways, take out what you can and toss the clothes in the dry. The gel will dissipate. I did end up running the clothes through a rinse cycle again cause I was freaked out, even though the gel did not have any odd odor.

The Breast Products

As you'll see here, I'm a huge pro breast feeder. I do think that breast is best but luckily if you're not able to, there is an alternative. Breast feeding can be difficult, but with support from others and good products you'll be golden!

Here are a list of products I would suggest;

Products for Mom

Nipple Creams - The first few weeks your nipples are going to take a beating. There are a few creams out there to help your nipples heal. The most commonly used cream is lanolin. Lansinoh makes one. You can also try earth momma, angel baby's nipple butter.

Soothie gel pads - These things are great! But they are pricey and only last 72 hours or something like that. Save these for when you're in dyer need.

Another good tip is to let them "air out". Yea, that's right, hang out toppless. All that moisture in your bra from leaky boobs doesn't let your nipples heal too quickly. So going toppless for a few hours is a great help. Leaving on a little expressed milk is even better. 

Breast Pads - until your body regulates, you will leak. So breast pads are essential. There's 2 different routes you go; disposable or re-useable/washable. Or like me, you can use both. The best re-useable ones you can get are Bamboobies. They are pricey, but worth every penny. They're cute, discrete and don't leak. The inside is soft on you and the outer layer won't let milk leak through. Their cheapest on amazon.com.

As for disposable, sometimes you'll go through so many that you'll just want the disposables. Or if your out in public and don't want to deal with stashing soggy used breast pads in your purse - use disposables. There is a wide variety of pads you can use. One good brand is lansinoh. Their individual wrapped, so don't need to open 2 at a time and their contoured so they don't look weird under your clothes, like some of the other brands. 

Nursing Bras & Tanks - Deffinately invest in some good bras and tanks. You'll be wearing them for quite some time. I'm not a pro in this department, but I do know that bravado is the leading brand. I do have a few of their products and am very happy with them. Best advice I can give anyone is to try and find a shop that let's you try on the bras. Unfortunately, your averge babies r us just has them in packages and you can't try them on, so you have to wing it. Not cool!

Nursing Pillows - get one! Most people will argue whether the Boppy or the Brest Friend is better, but truth is, they both do the same thing. If you're handy like me, you can actually nurse hands free. The trick is to set baby up and prop his/her head up with a burp cloth or folded up blanket. That means more hands to google things or play games on your iPad. Whatever pillow you decide on, buy an extra cover!

Nursing Cover - I know some woman don't care mind showing some skin, but some of us do. Nursing covers are pretty much a blanket that straps around your neck so you don't expose your breasts. I actually have a crafty friends who made one for me. I find it to be very helpful, especially with certain outfits that aren't 'nursing-friendly'.

Hope this helps! I'll save pumping gear for another day!

The Unspoken Struggle of Infertility

I'm sure we've all known someone in our life that has struggled with infertility and I don't think you truly understand how difficult it is until you've been there. It took me about a year to get pregnant and although that may only be a small amount of time compared to other woman; man does it go by slow. You're constantly waiting for the next cycle and each month good ol' aunt flow comes, you're a whole new level of pissed off each new month.

I was probably the first of my friends to try for a baby and within the time it took me to conceive, seven people I knew got pregnant. Each stupid Facebook accouncement drove me nuts, but the last announcement was the one that drove me to my breaking point. One of my best friends had just gotten married a few months prior and we went out for Mexican with a couple other friends. The 4 of us rode together and began having our usual gossip talk, what's new and other fun stuff. When we arrived at the restaurant one of our friends started badgering my good friend "have a drink? Why don't you have a drink? You love blue moon!" With a huge shit eating grin on her face. My friend burst out "I'm Pregnant!". I didn't even give myself a second to have a pity party for myself, I glance up to congratulate her, but before words come out of my mouth, I notice all 3 of them are staring at me, watching my reaction. I congratulate her and begun the 'how far along are you? What are you craving' talk and then I quickly begin to realize that I was the only person at the table who didn't know.


"Waiter? Please bring me your strongest margarita..."


We carried on with dinner, pregnancy talk, more gossip and how much my friend is going to miss drinking for the next 8 months or whatever. Other friend tells me "how scared she was to tell me" and I can't help but feel like I've been put on stage for everyone to gauge my emotions I hated that my emotions clouded my excitement for her. I truly was happy that she was pregnant, but I was more disappointed that my body was not doing what a woman's body should do.


I went home that night and cried to my husband and pretty much had my first panick attack. It got me thinking, how could this situation have been better for me? Was the end result going to be the same either way?

The best way to deal with someone who is having fertility struggles is to just talk to them. Make them feel special and have a one-on-one with them, maybe even lie and tell them you had to tell them "first". Deffinately don't avoid the conversation all together and let your ever growing belly do the talking. She might be fragile, but don't ever think she's too fragile to hear the news from you. And before you get all pissy pants that your sister-in-law or distant cousin didn't giving you the over the moon "congratulations!" ...stop and think that maybe she might be dealing with some infertility issues, herself. She might be acting cold right now, but she won't be once your precious baby makes their appearence.