Welcome to Mommy Mondays, the one day of the week when I drone on about parenthood.
It's a fact that around six to eight weeks post-birth, the momma starts to feel like she's "starting to come out of the fog." Then, around four to six months, she realizes that no, now she's really coming out of the fog. Finally, between nine and twelve months post-delivery, the momma thinks to herself, "Good gracious, where have I been the past year? Welcome back, me!"
At least that's how I've experienced it. It's all about hormones. And consistent hours of sleep.
So, speaking from the first baby steps of new momma-ness, here are a few things I couldn't have done without since October:
Donut Shop coffee for the Keurig
The only two times I've ever had coffee consistently was when I had newborns. Even in my most collegiate journaling-in-coffee-shop days, I never liked the bitter taste of java. I've always had to disguise it with chocolate or tons of cream and sugar. Everything that makes pure coffee snobs wrinkle their noses.
My husband is obsessed with the Keurig, and the Donut Shop flavor came in a variety pack. I tried it, I liked it, it is now getting me through the mornings after the sleepless nights.
The Total Baby App
Rachel told me about this app for the iPhone that takes all the guesswork out of the bleary-eyed twenty-four hour schedule of a newborn. It takes just a couple of seconds to click in when the baby last ate, slept, diapered, bathed. Since I can rarely - even on the best of days - remember which side I nursed last, this has been really helpful to me. It also keeps a cumulative record of how much the baby is eating and sleeping throughout, so I can tell the pediatrician.
Total Baby has been my memory for the past seven weeks.
Speaking of nursing, I don't leave the house without my Lily Padz. Well, okay, I have left the house without them and decided never to do that again. But that's another story for another day, were I ever to get up the courage to tell it.
The Lily Padz are way more comfortable than the disposable kind, which itched and drove me crazy. They clean up easily and I don't even notice they're there.
I wear them under my favorite soft nursing bra and in conjunction with my favorite non-sticky nipple cream.
(I am trying so hard not to cringe under the table right now. But if this is helpful for even one person, it's worth my extreme embarrassment. You can read more about my thoughts on breastfeeding here.)
Moving on to safer topics, I am completely obsessed with the aden + anais bamboo collection. All of the aden + anais blankets are great, but the bamboo ones are the softest and easily my favorites. We have four or five that float around the house for various needs.
We're also pretty partial to the First Favorites line from Gap. They're soft, the buttons aren't hard to deal with (although I do prefer a zipper), and there's always a sale on Gap online.
So far, so good. We'll see if my favorite product picks with my daughter (listed here and here) hold up with my son. You can see a list of my favorite baby products by clicking here.
Anything you think I'm missing or need to check out?
Some affiliate links included. This does not affect my opinion in any way.
