One Month Milestone

I'm having a hard time believing my little girl will be 1 month old this weekend. It seems like just yesterday we brought her home from the hospital. We were so overwhelmed with everything involved with being a new parent, and I thought for sure I was going to have a mental breakdown by the end of that first week without the hospital nurses to turn to every time something went wrong.

 

It's hard to believe we've settled into a routine now, and hours when both baby and I are crying seem to have disappeared. Now I'm not rushing to get my to do list done while she's sleeping, but we're interacting as I get my work done. I sing to her between paying bills and looking up free car insurance quotes as I try to budget for the addition to our family. I'm learning to type with her in my arms, and she watches as the words I type pop up on the screen.

I'm amazed at how interactive she has become in such a short time. My heart skips a beat every single time she returns my gaze or gives me a little smile. One question keeps lingering in the back of my head even though I already know the answer.

Why didn't we do this sooner?

Because if we'd done this sooner it wouldn't be her.

Preemie Diapers: Pampers Swaddlers Vs. Huggies Little Snugglers

Who knew it was going to be so hard to figure out what kind of diapers we want to use?  Of course I would prefer to use cloth diapers, but with a preemie it’s just not going to happen right now.  I had planned to use disposables until she grew out of the newborn size anyway, but with a preemie I’d basically have to cut down and sew my own little diapers to fit her.  Yeah that isn't happening right now.

Anywho, we’re very thankful that a ton of family members and friends ran out when she was born and stocked up on preemie diapers for us knowing that newborn diapers would be way too big for her.  We received a ton of Pampers Swaddlers and a few packs of Huggies Little Snugglers.  Both diapers are for preemies up to 6lbs, but unfortunately weighing in at 4lbs 5oz both types of diapers swallow her whole.  Pampers does make an xs size of Swaddlers specifically for babies 1-5lbs, but the nearest store that carries them is still almost an hour away.  I could have ordered them online, but none of us had our laptops at the hospital and by the time they would have shipped to us she was already grown out of them.

Through trial and error we figured out how to make the Pampers work without leaking all over the place, but the Huggies were benched until she gained more weight.  I was hoping to be able to use the Huggies once she hit 5lbs because I love that they have the wetness indicator strip.  The Pampers have the strip on the newborn diapers but not the preemie version. 

Now that she’s weighing in at 5lbs 3oz I figured I’d give the Huggies another try because I’m running low on Pampers.  Plus the Huggies say they’re for “up to 6lbs”, so I didn’t want her growing out of them before we could use them.  I don’t think I’ll have to worry about that because the Huggies are still huge on her, and I don’t see how they’ll ever give her a no leak fit before she reaches 6lbs.  Even the Pampers newborn size fits better than the Huggies, so it looks like the Huggies have become our emergency only diapers until I can get to the store to exchange the unopened packs.  We definitely recommend the Pampers Swaddlers preemie diapers over the Huggies Little Snugglers.

Surprise!

Last time you heard from me I was freaking out over the possibility of my doctor having to induce me in a couple weeks due to the fact that I might be developing preeclampsia.  Well surprise! 

We didn’t make it a couple weeks at all.  I ended up in the hospital that very night, and I was induced the next day.  Little Miss Elliana Grace arrived on Saturday October 24 via an emergency c-section at 12:11pm.  At birth she weighed a whopping 4lbs 5oz and was 17 1/2 inches long. 

Of course you know that means I didn’t have time to get any of my reviews together.  In fact a lot of things went wrong right there at the last minute, so I actually ended up in the hospital for 9 days. 

Until today I’ve done almost nothing except sleeping to recoup and taking care of Elliana, but my doctor cleared me for any physical activity today.  That means now that I’m getting into a pattern I’ll definitely be getting back to my reviews, and boy do I have some to write up. 

Hubby carried my computer into the living room and we set it back up with my LCD TV as the monitor so I can hang out in the living room all day. I've got Elliana setup here in her bassinet, and it makes everything a lot easier for me. Now I just have to get to work reviewing all these baby items that came pouring in thanks to all our wonderful family and friends. My baby shower just happened to be the day after I delivered, so we ended up receiving almost everything we needed to bring our little girl home. If it weren't for the shower we wouldn't have been ready at all considering we thought we had another month to work with here.

Anywho I’ll try to start taking photos and writing up some of these reviews in the free time I have.  That time may be limited, but I’m already starting to see it is more time than I was originally anticipating that I’d have with a newborn. 

Definitely Freaking Out

I think I've totally found a huge appetite suppressant whether I wanted to stumble upon it or not. Just have your doctor tell you your blood pressure is through the roof and she may have to induce you in a couple weeks. Now I'm freaking out because I don't want to have to be induced early both for the sake of the baby being as healthy as possible and because I'm 100% scared to death of Pitocin.

Since I tend to stick to a pretty healthy diet for the most part my doctor doesn't really think my sodium intake has anything to do with it, but I can't help but look at the sodium content on the package of everything I eat anyway. That right there is enough to scare me out of eating anything! Don't worry I'm still eating. I'm just totally freaking out right now over everything that's going on and happening so fast.

I’m trying my best to get all my products I bought recently reviewed and photos taken so I can hopefully get them posted before she gets here.  I know there’s a very good chance I’m not going to have time to do it after she arrives, and then you’ll probably be seeing a lot more from the baby department and a lot less from the things I indulge myself with.

Preparing For The Holidays

With the Christmas holiday just around the corner I’ve had a lot on my mind.  I know we still have to get through Halloween and Thanksgiving, but with the stores putting out their Christmas stock at the beginning of September it’s got Christmas thoughts running through my head.  Seriously I don’t even see why the stores bother taking the Christmas stuff off the shelves since they just put it out earlier every year!  They might as well start leaving it up year round!

Anywho, I keep thinking how much different Christmas is going to be this year.  I finally have a real excuse to send out photo holiday cards that don't picture the cat and dog! We get to show off our beautiful little girl...no I haven't seen her yet, but she's mine so she's going to be beautiful no matter what!  That means I need to have plenty of pretty little outfits so we can take tons of cute little photos for our cards, and of course we need a “family shot”, so I have to buy myself something nice to wear, and I have to force Hubby into a decent shirt that *gasp* actually has buttons.

Ahhhh…so much to think about! 

Then we’ve got to worry about presents.  I know I’m going to go way overboard just because I can.  I’ll finally have a little girl to buy for, and I can’t wait even if she’ll only be a month old for her first Christmas.

Good lord this child is going to be spoiled rotten before she even makes it to see her grandparents.  Somebody better slap some sense back into me now.