*Mama's Must-Haves*

I always LOVE when moms do blog posts about their favorite baby items and things they can't live without.  It's always so helpful to know which items are worth it, and which items I could probably live without.  I know every baby is different, and what works for one child might not work for another, but, it's nice to have options when it comes to choosing what's best! 

So, I figured I'd do my own 'favorite things' post!  If I can help even one mom/baby out there, then it's worth it to me!  :-)

In no particular order, here a few of my favorite baby/mom products....

Halo Sleepsack Swaddle

 I don't know what we'd do without these babies!  Isabella has been swaddled since day one, and she doesn't really show any signs of giving up yet!  She won't fall asleep for even 5 minutes without being swaddled...it's crazy.  And, I've tried...trust me!  I'm just so thankful to have a product out there that keeps her happy, comfortable, and safe while she's sleeping.  It's definitely true what they say...happy, sleeping baby = happy, sleeping Mama!  :-)

 Cloud b Sleep Sheep On the Go

 Isabella LOVES her little sleep sheep.  This is also another product that we've been using since the day she came home from the hospital.  It has 4 settings for different sounds, and it works great as a white-noise machine to block out any little noises, as well.  Now that Bella is in daycare, we've actually brought her sleep sheep there in order for her to feel more comfortable and feel at home.  We now use this soothing sound machine at home, and she loves it just as much as her sheep.  

NUK pacifiers 

 Oh, the binky (or, what Mommy and Daddy call, her 'bink-a-link'.  What can I say?  We're dorks.  :P )...what would we do without you???  ;-)

This is another item that Bella could not live without right now.   And, trust me, I was all "my baby is NOT having a pacifier" before actually having a baby.  But, you know what?  When your baby is screaming and crying for hours on end, and the only thing that will soothe her and calm her down is the binky, then that's what she's going to get!  Again...happy baby = happy mama!  (especially in those first few days/weeks!)  Words to live by.  :-)   

Medela Pump in Style Advanced breast pump

 This one's pretty self explanatory.  I've been pumping since Isabella was about 3 weeks old, and have been building a freezer stash and bottle feeding her (when necessary, at the beginning...and now, for daycare) ever since.  I love that I can still provide Mama's milk for her, even when I can't actually be there to nurse her.  

Carter's 

Yes, that would be the clothing store.  I think Carter's should start paying ME to go there, since I shop there so much.  Seriously.  I love, love, love their clothes!  I honestly cannot even walk in there without coming out with something absolutely adorable for Bella.  I've been eyeing their new fall stuff like crazy, and I cannot wait to go shopping!  And, it's even better that stores like Kohl's and Macy's sell Carter's clothes, because then I can take advantage of my coupons for those stores, and save some $$ while I shop.  It doesn't get any better than that!  

That's all for this week's "Mama's must-haves"!  I'll be sure to make another list of my favorite items to share with you all soon enough.  I have a lot!  Enjoy!  :-)

Isabella: Months 2-4

I cannot believe in just two days my baby will be 5 months old already.  Again...where does the time go?! 

This is just a catch-up post of all the things that have been going on with Bella over the past few months...so, please bare with me if I'm boring you.  ;-)

~  At your 4 month appointment, you were 13lbs 1oz and 25 inches....my long and skinny gal.  :-)  I don't remember exactly what your weight/height was at your last 2 appointments, so, I'm definitely going to check with the Dr. when we go back for your next weight check and write all yours stats down.  (Bad mommy!)

~  You're still in size 2 diapers.  It definitely took us a while to figure out your diaper preference, though.  We started off in Pampers Swaddlers from the hospital, and then I bought Pampers Baby Dry.  After 3 months of you blowing out of almost every. single. diaper., I decided it was time to start looking for something else.  We tried almost every Pampers diaper, Huggies diapers, went up a size, down a size, and then I finally decided to give a shot with Luvs (I'd heard they were horrible and leak all the time, so I never ever bothered to try), and what would you know!  Luvs are the diaper for you!  Hallelujah!  

~  You're finally starting to grow out of your 3 months clothes.  :(  *sniff*   You're most comfortable in everything 6 months...onesies, pants, sleepers.

~   You're still 100% on mama's milk, and you BF on demand.  Things have been progressively getting better and better in the breastfeeding department, and I couldn't be happier.  I love that special time with you, and I think you're really starting to enjoy it again, as well.  I'm SO glad I stuck through the tough times and kept it up.  I'd like to keep going for at least a year, if things go well, so we'll see how that goes.  Right now I'm shooting for 6 months, and we're almost there!  :D

~  You're still such a good sleeper, thank the Lord!  I'm so happy you take after Mama in that aspect.  You go down between 7:30-8pm every night, and Daddy usually has to wake you up around 7am when it's time to start getting you ready for daycare.  You've gotten to the point now where I don't even have to rock you to sleep anymore!  It's amazing to me, honestly, since I used to have to rock/shush you for 20-30 minutes every night until you were completely asleep.  

You're a great napper, too!  Your naps are kind of all over the place at daycare, but, at home on the weekend you usually take three naps a day...one good morning nap usually for 2-2 1/2 hours, one afternoon nap, and one early evening nap, both about 1-2 hours.

She broke out of her swaddle that morning!

We have our nighttime routine now...bathtime, change/put pj's on, story time, and then I swaddle you up (yes, you're still swaddled at almost 5 months old!  You can't sleep without it.), give you a few kisses, turn on your sound machine, and leave the room.  Most nights you'll just turn your head to the side and you're out within 5 minutes.  It's great!  And, you do the same for naps, too!  You're such a good little girl, Bella.  I don't know how we got so lucky, but we are. 

~ You still LOVE bathtime!  You could hang out in the tub allll day long if I'd let you.  It's such a fun time to watch you play and splash.  

~  Speaking of splashing...we brought you into the big pool for the first time this month!  You LOVE it!  You splash around and kick your feet like such a smart little girl.  It's adorable.

~  You giggled for the first time around 3 months or so!  It's the BEST sound.  You've done it a bunch more times since then, but, it's pretty random when you do it.  Like, the other day, I was swaddling you up to take a nap, and you started laughing like it was the funniest thing I've ever done.  My little weirdo.  ;-)

~  Your favorite toys are your jumperoo and playmat.  Hours of fun for you!

Please ignore the bored look on her face.  I swear she's having tons of fun!  :P

~  You started daycare on May 31st.  It was one of the hardest days EVER, but, you were such a trooper!  You do so well there now, and everyone loves you so much.  Your teacher even said that you're one of the best babies they've ever had there!!  I'm definitely one proud Mama, that's for sure.  :-)

~  You've really started to recognize who Mommy and Daddy are.  If it's not us there with you, waking you up, playing with you, you definitely let whoever is there know that you want Mommy!  It breaks my heart, but makes me feel so special at the same time.  ;-) 

~  You've started 'talking' and babbling so much now.  It's the cutest thing ever, of course!  And, you LOVE to stand.  You stand on your changing table, in your crib, on Mommy/Daddy, anywhere.  Of course you do this with our help, but, you're getting SO strong.  It really amazes me how much you change from day to day. 

Don't worry...Daddy was right there!  

~  You've discovered your feet, and your love them, of course!  You'll grab and play with your toes all day long.  You even try and eat them...silly girl.

 

~  My nicknames for your are Baby Girl and Baby Boo.  I have NO idea where those came from, but, for some reason they've stuck.  You're my little Boo Boo and I love you SO much!

Baby Boo...Mommy and Daddy love you SO much, and you bring so much joy to our lives.  I don't know what we'd do without you, and I thank my lucky stars every. single. day. that God has given us such a wonderful, healthy, happy baby.  We love you to the moon and back!  XOXO

Just a few more pictures to catch up with:

Love the faces this girl makes

 

Bathing beauty

Someone has the screamies!

Seriously, this may be the cutest thing I've ever seen/heard!  Yes, maybe I'm a little biased...but, I can't help it.  Just watch.  :-)


PS - Sorry it's sideways.  I couldn't figure out how to flip it. 

Hello? Is anyone out there? (We're still alive!)

Wow, it's been a few days/weeks/months, huh??  I officially accept the award for 'The World's WORST Blogger.'  Sad to say.  :-(

Honestly, though...this whole "working full time while taking care of a baby every night" thing?  It's HARD.  Well, let me clarify...it's hard to blog while doing all those other things.  Seriously...how do you moms do it???  Whether you're a SAHM or working mom, WHERE do you find the time to blog?!  Please...enlighten me.  ;-)

I want to keep up with my blog!  I swear, I do.  I've honestly thought about it almost every. single. night. since my last post.  But, I just haven't had the time/motivation to do it since going back to work.  By the time I get home, I'm playing with Isabella, feeding her, giving her a bath, putting her to bed, eating dinner, maybe watching a DVR'd show with the hubs, and then going to bed.  Oh yeah, and I've been going to work between 6-7am every day, so, by the time I have a minute to myself at the end of the night, I'm so ridiculously tired, that the only thing I can even think about is my bed.

I can't lie, though.  I still go online at the end of the night to unwind, but, I just can't muster up enough energy to come up with a fun/witty/exciting/worthwhile post.  So, I don't.  And, the longer I've put off blogging, the harder it's been to come back to it.  It's kind of like sex...the longer you go without it, the harder it is to get back into doing it again.  (What?  Did I just say that?!  lol  It's so true, though.  ;-)  )

Anyways...I'm really sorry for being such a bad blogger.  I've been trying to keep up with as many of your blogs as I can, but, I'm sorry if I've been doing a craptastic job at that, as well.  I'm surprised I have any followers left, to tell you the truth.  Thank you for sticking around!!  I'm definitely going to try my best to fit in a post at least once or twice a week from now on.  I really do enjoy it.  And, I miss it.  I miss all of you ladies.  I loved hearing from you all.

So, I hope you can forgive me...and, maybe you'll still read my boring rants/raves/blabber about absolutely nothing.  ;-)  I promise I'll make up for it with tons of adorable pics of my favorite girl in the entire world.  :-D

Here are a few to make up for lost time!  I hope you all are doing well!

Isabella's first day of 'school'...aka, daycare

She sure is!  ;-)

Pretty girly!

Happy 4th of July!

I'm serious, though, Moms...how do you do it??  When do you find time to blog?  I'd love any tips/suggestions!!  :-)

Since it's been so long...

Here are two cute recent pics that I love.  I promise I'll do a real post soon! 

My happy girl!

 Passed out after too much fun in the sun

It's been a LONG 2 weeks...

Again, this post is all about the boob...and it's a LONG one.  Please ignore it if you're not interested.  

physically, emotionally, mentally....OY.  If you didn't see my previous post, we've had some serious issues in the breastfeeding department over the past two weeks.  And, it really hasn't gotten much better.  *sigh* 

I knew something was seriously wrong and I needed to do something about it when feeding Bella really started to feel like a chore, and I was dreading it every time.  I would literally feel sick to my stomach before each feeding with the anticipation of not knowing how she was going to react while nursing.  Is she going to latch on?  How long will she latch for?  Is she going to pull off and start screaming now?  If she does start screaming, will I be able to get her to latch back on and finish the feeding, or am I going to have to defrost a bottle of frozen BM (breastmilk)?  If you couldn't tell...it's been torture. 

I've been so emotionally drained by the end of each day.  I've been so stressed about all of this, and it's on my mind 24/7.  I can sit here and cry just *thinking* about not being able to nurse Isabella anymore.  It makes me SO incredibly sad that it hurts my heart.  I know some people may think I'm being dramatic or over-reacting (which, I probably would have thought of myself before I had a baby) I just love my little girl so much, and I love breastfeeding her just as much.  It just feels so right to me, and it's such a special time spent just the two of us.  I can't imagine having to give that up.

I finally decided that something needed to be done (after Googling and searching every. single. website. out there to see if I could pinpoint the problem and how to fix it), and we needed to get some help.  So, I called a lactation consultant that a lot of friends had recommended and made an appointment for this morning.  We ended up being there for over two hours, and it was so great!  The woman that we saw was so nice and super helpful.  It really is amazing how much there is to know/learn about breastfeeding.  I'm SO glad I went to see this woman, and we now have a 'game plan' as to how I should feed Bella for the next few weeks.

Come to find out, within 10 minutes of us being there, she was able to tell me that Isabella is only in the 15th percentile in weight for breastfed babies (apparently there's different scales of growth for breastfed babies vs. formula.  Who knew!)  For some reason, she started only really getting the watery skim milk while feeding, and not eating long enough to get to the fatty/creamy part of the milk that contains most of the calories.  So, while the 'skim milk' is filling her up enough to feel somewhat satisfied...it's not giving her all the nutrients and calories for her to really grow and stay energized.  (Of course, when she tells me this, I am overcome with mommy guilt, and I feel like I've been starving my baby for the past month or so...even though I didn't know it.  :-(  I just feel so awful.)

Because of this, Bella's become very discombobulated (her exact words) at the breast, and needs to be 're-booted' all over again on how to enjoy nursing and be efficient at it.  So, for the next few weeks, I need to bottle feed her the pumped breastmilk that I have, to make sure she's getting enough of the calories she needs to get a little chubbier.  :-)  Then, we'll start working on nursing again, when she's ready for it and on her schedule.  (She's already calling the shots around here!  lol)  Apparently, the more babies (and mommies) are stressed out and fighting at the breast, the more they'll pull away and shut it out completely...which I definitely don't want happening!  So, now we'll just go from here and take things slowly.  The most important thing to me is making sure my baby is healthy and happy, and I plan on doing that, no matter what it takes!

Sooooo, that's what been going on in my life, in a nutshell.  Sorry that explanation ended up super long, and I appreciate it if you've gotten this far!  :-)

Oh yeah, AND, if things aren't stressful enough right now...I go back to work in a week and a half.  Definitely dreading and sick to my stomach over that day.  I can't even think about it.  Can't we just win the lottery or something?!  Seriously. 

*insert foot in mouth*

Just an FYI - this is a post all about breastfeeding, boobs, and all that good stuff.  If you don't care to read about it or aren't interested, then just skip this post...I won't be offended.  ;-)

Remember how I said the other day how well breastfeeding has been going for Isabella and me?  And, remember how much I said I LOVED it??  Well, apparently I jinxed myself...and I have NO idea what to do now.  :-(

Over the past 3 days, Isabella has decided that my boobs are the devil.  But, they're not the devil ALL the time, just to clarify.  She still loves them first thing in the morning (when they're super full from not feeding all night), and during the first 2-3 minutes of nursing on each side.  After that, it's like my milk is on fire or something.  She screams bloody murder.  It's killing me.  She screams.  I cry.  It's absolutely heartbreaking.  I don't know what to do.

And, the most frustrating thing, is that as soon as I break down and end up giving her a bottle of BM (because I can't stand to listen to my poor baby scream anymore), she sucks it down like it's the best thing EVER.  But, if I try and put her back on my boob after she's calmed down a bit...enter the screaming again.  It's the worst feeling. 

So, I've been reading up and Googling like crazy, trying to find a solution for this problem, that literally came out of nowhere...

• Reflux - I really don't think this is the issue (but, I could be completely wrong.)  The main reason...she takes a bottle perfectly fine and is happy and full afterwards with no problems.  She doesn't spit up much at all...which I know isn't really a sign, and babies can have reflux without spitting up at all.  She has no problem laying flat on her back after she's done eating.  She doesn't arch her back like she's in pain or anything.  

• Over-active supply - That is, my milk is coming out too fast and strong for Bella, and she can't handle it.  This isn't the problem either.  I've tried different positions while feeding her to see if this was the issue, and she screamed no matter what.  

• Under-active supply - I'm thinking this might be the problem.  She does perfectly fine when my milk first comes out, because it always comes out at a good/fast pace when she first starts eating.  Then, after the first 2-3 minutes, it starts to slow down a bit and she has to work a little harder to get it out...hence the screaming, b/c it's pissing her off and she doesn't want to work for it.  

 Why is this happening all of a sudden after a great 9 weeks of feeding?  I have NO idea.  That's why this is so upsetting and frustrating to me.  Like I said before...I really do love breastfeeding Bella, and I love that bond between just the two of us.  I really don't want to have to give that up.  Trust me, I know that giving her a bottle of BM is just as good for her, and that as long as she's happy, healthy, and gaining weight, that's all that matters.  So, I guess I'm being selfish in saying that I don't want to do that.  I don't want her to hate my boobs, and I want to keep that special bond just between the two of us.

Anyways...so this has been my life the past couple of days.  I've been so upset and crying a lot...especially since I've also been stressing about going back to work and sending her to daycare.  Not a good combination...for mom or for baby. 

Have any of you ladies out there experienced something similar?  Any tips/advice??  I would REALLY  appreciate it!!