Mommy Moments

Oh, babyhood. What a fun time. Those first few months of having a newborn baby are so sweet and precious. And, as you have undoubtedly heard (at least twice a day since the baby has been born, and will continue to hear weekly until they leave for college), “They go by so fast!” In fact, those days go by so fast that they are now mostly just a blur.

You are suddenly in charge of keeping a tiny, defenseless human alive. You’ll do what you think is best for your human. (And you’ll be right!) What do feed, when to feed, vaccinations, which doctor….these are all up to you.

Here are a few of the things we got right and wrong and what we learned along the way.

* Breastfeeding is hard. I know lots of people who disagree and say it is a breeze. “It’s natural, it’s easy.” WRONG! It’s hard and it hurts. Add pumping after every feeding to the mix and it doubles the pain! “How longs HAS it been since the last feeding? Wait, which side did I start on last time? I’m so thirsty that I might die, someone get me some water! PLEEEASE!”

And, oh you want to leave your house in the next year……then go ahead and add a designer nursing cover to the situation. Nursing with one of those cute covers NEVER looked for me like it does in the ads! 🙂 I was hot, uncomfortable and THIRSTY. The baby was hot, uncomfortable and HUNGRY. There was always flailing, and crying (sometimes by both me and the babe) and then the inevitable uncomfortable flashing of strangers in public. Breastfeeding is hard, breastfeeding in public is harder. Of course, I know lots of people who never have any of these problems. 🙂 But, if you do, you are NOT alone!

* Bilirubin is a curse word. If you don’t know this word, I’m happy for you. I had never heard of it.

Billy Reuben? Is it a man, is it a sandwich, is it a restaurant? (I might be hungry.) Every day for a week, we had to go back to the hospital because our little yellow bird’s bilirubin was high. Jaundice, heel pricks, waiting, blood draws, lights, waiting, crying, supplementing or not supplementing, weighing, waiting. We survived. You will too. Jaundice followed by three months of uncontrollable colic. No wonder those days are a blur. 🙂

* Cloth diapers, I have a love/hate relationship. I used them with the bird.

I still worked outside of the home full-time, too! (Was I totally insane??) I didn’t make the babysitter use them. (I drew the line on imposing my crazy on others!) We used HUGGIES® Pure and Natural Diapers for the sitter and when we went out. But…. at home I used cloth. I didn’t want to personally flll the landfills and I didn’t want bleach and chemicals next to the baby’s sweet bum. Plus, I think they are SOO cute! I didn’t mind washing them too much. But, then 20 months later along came the bean. I sold my stash. Enough was enough. Two kids in diapers. Washing diapers for two kids could push me over the edge. So, my new baby essentials included HUGGIES® Little Snugglers Diapers and Pure & Natural Diapers. I do know lots of mamas who use them for multiples. Nice work!

My kids are out of diapers now, but I still buy HUGGIES® NATURAL CARE Wipes. They’re so great for all the messes kids make. Art and craft messes, dinner messes, snack messes, mud pie messes, pet messes, cooking messes, bathroom messes. LOVE THEM! All of these products are available at Walmart.