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I spent the majority of my pregnancy celebrating my belly. As you could see from all the maternity photo shoots, I was totally focused on the amazing changes my body was making. Looking back, it's still awe-inspiring. Our bodies are miraculous. I can still spend hours appreciating the wonders of women's bodies. But now the baby has arrived. Within moments of delivering Wilder, I was totally "over" my belly. In fact, I didn't want anyone to even sneak a sideways glance at my belly. Especially not in its post-birth condition. I'm trying to think of a good way to describe it and all I can think of is the word floppy. My belly is in post-birth floppy phase. I know it will someday evolve from floppy to firm; I'm not too worried about it at the moment. There will be time for that later. What I find much more intriguing are the two cushions located just above my floppy belly. My breasts. Yes! I actually have breasts now! My belly was the safe haven for our girl for nine months, and now, my breasts are taking center stage. The focus has officially shifted - from Belly to Breast. |
 Tired eyes, but big smile while rocking baby Wilder |
Let's face it. This is a major life transition - for Wilder and for us. The whole sleep thing is in full-swing. I can only describe it as having a series of naps for the past six weeks. The longest nap has been around four hours. We are not only living in a sleep-deprived fog, we're also in a state of constant second-guessing (i.e. She just ate but she's making sucking noises. She couldn't possibly need to eat again. Or could she? Should we try not to feed her? Oh no - she's having a meltdown. Quick, stick her on the boob!). First-timers have it the worst. We have NO idea! So I've decided to take as many short cuts as I can and have happily accepted tons of hand-me-downs and even better, tons of advice for those little tricks that make life just a tiny bit easier during the "Belly to Breast" transition. Read on for some of my must-have gear picks for the first 6 weeks of Wilder's life.
During Labor and Delivery:
One of the things that was important to me was what I would wear during my labor and delivery. I didn't want to wear the hospital gown, but I didn't want to be naked the entire time. I found an awesome company called Binsi; in fact, Binsi is a Skirt-centric company, that specializes in labor and delivery products. I wore the PrimaMama Sport Birth Skirt, the Go Go Top (this snap-off bra was and still is one of my favorite nursing bras) and of course their headband since my hair was a nightmare and bugged the crap out of me the entire time.
After Labor and Delivery:
The first six weeks of Wilder's life have been focused on keeping her happy. It started the minute we drove her home from the hospital. Where once there were two, now there are three! Keeping Wilder happy basically centers around feeding her (boob-centric) and calming her (emulating the womb-centric!). Following is a cheat sheet of some items (but not all!) that Tim and I would consider lifesavers. We use them every single day.
Nursing pillow:
If you are breastfeeding, like me, you'll be surprised at how much time your baby will spend attached to your breasts. So far, in our home, the breast is the one true thing that always calms Wilder's meltdowns. Tim calls it magic. A good nursing pillow is essential to relieve tired arms and shoulders. My fave is My Brest Friend. It's like a tv dinner tray attached to your body but instead of a tv dinner, there's a baby lying on it.
Nursing tops:
I was talking to my friend, Kay, who now has teenage daughters. She said that she would simply stick her babies up big, loose tops to nurse. This sounds so simple - do we really need to buy special nursing tops or can we just wear our husbands' big tee shirts? For me, vanity won out. I've finally been getting out on the town (for exciting events like trips to Target and the grocery store) and I want to at least look like I'm trying! Boob tops are the best for this sporty girl. Yes, that is the brand name. They're really simple and really cute.
Baby-wearing is often the only solution to calm Wilder. With a tiny peanut like her (6 lbs at birth), traditional carriers were not safe (they recommend being at least 8 pounds). The Moby Wrap worked okay for us, but it was a bit fabric-intensive, not to mention virtually impossible to insert a screeching, wriggling baby. The how-to videos are excellent, but they always seem to have a very calm baby as the model. I'm not sure this is ever realistic since our intention has been to calm our fussy baby! We prefer a more basic sling. We bought a Sakura Bloom sling. It's much easier and usually does the trick. I have to say that Tim has never been sexier than when he is wearing Wilder.
Tiny little side-snap shirts: Since we didn't know what we were doing with diapers and wanted to eliminate any additional navigating of onesie snaps and zippers, we found this uniform to work best for the first month: Gerber side snap shirt, diaper, socks, hat (optional). The simpler the better in my opinion.
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Exercise ball: Anti-gas drops: Tim DeBoom: |
8 responses so far ↓
1 Shelley // Feb 9, 2012 at 10:51 AM
2 Tamara // Feb 9, 2012 at 10:52 AM
Our baby first needed the anti-gas drops a bit earlier than when we discovered them at 4 weeks also! She is now 11 weeks and we are still using them. Just a few more weeks and gas should stop hurting (it is much less painful than at 4 weeks).
On the sleep front we're getting one 4 hour sleep followed by a 3.5 hour sleep at night. It isn't "through the night" yet but I have so much more energy. Feeling just to one side of normal. It's that or my standard of "normal" has shifted!
Best of luck. May you, Tim, and Wilder continue to grow as a family. Eight weeks is another turning point and you are almost there!
3 Kat // Feb 9, 2012 at 11:04 AM
4 Ann Clarke // Feb 9, 2012 at 11:30 AM
5 Ellen // Feb 9, 2012 at 12:42 PM
6 Lisa // Feb 9, 2012 at 12:46 PM
Yes!! So true! Gas drops were a staple around here. I think we just stopped using them on a near-daily basis with my youngest over the summer. It seems like their digestive systems finally mature and then teething kicks in, complete with enough drool running into their tummies to set everything off again. Love love love the gas drops.
Thanks for the bit about babies under 8 lbs not fitting in a regular carrier. I'd totally forgotten that so it was a fun trip down memory lane. Both of my little ones were under 5 lbs at birth so we relied on a sling for a good long while.
And fwiw, hang in there. It does get easier.
7 Lauren // Feb 9, 2012 at 2:27 PM
Great gear suggestions! Totally second the gas drops!!! We also used gripe water with our second child as a homeopathic option to the gas drops. It's not for everyone, but they worked just fine for her!
Hang in there, girl! You're doing great!
8 Teresa // Feb 9, 2012 at 5:19 PM
I set up the bottle warmer on the bureau before bed, dumped the water in and hit the switch when she started to cry in the middle of the night. By the time her diaper change was done, the bottle was ready to go. Whatever makes life with a newborn easier!
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