Tips for Mommy to Be

Before Baby

Nausea – Pickles helped me when I wasn’t feeling good. Also if you start to feel a little stick watch drinking lots of liquids if you haven’t eaten a lot.. Try just sucking on ice or take sips of water. Pickle juice is helps with leg cramps. I got some bad cramps in my calfs at night during the pregnancy so I ate pickles to help from getting them.

Sleeping on your left side - The reason to sleep on your left side verses the right  they say it’s better for the blood flow to your baby.  I had a hard time sleeping on my left side all the time and the right was more comfortable for me. It’s ok if it is.. Don’t panic over that either. Do what you can and the fact that you try is better than nothing. I do notice my arm would start to go to sleep when I slept on my right verses left side.
By the time you are farther along there will be many ways you have to sleep even sitting up if you get big like I get pregnant.

Sleeping on your back – Don’t stress over sleeping positions. True they say don’t lay on your back at night while pregnant it can cut off your circulation and the babies but I’ve heard from real moms to that say get comfortable however you can.  If you can avoid sleeping on your back for the most part go for it but don’t stress if you do and wake up to find out that is how you slept. I’m sure 100 years ago this wasn’t told to expected moms.  Ways to help you feel more at ease is sleep with pillows so you can prop yourself up so you aren’t totally on your back.  I know for me I had heartburn the entire pregnancy and at night laying down got worse.  I ended up propping pillows up and almost sitting up to sleep at night. Also if you don’t eat real close to the time you are going to bed it will help with the heartburn.

Breast Pads – The little round ones they sell in the store works good while you are pregnant.  Afterwards if you find you have an excess of milk like I had. My my milk would pour outta me so I found thanks to my sister that panty pads work best.  Just slap on two stretch them long across your chest and change out as needed.   Saves you changing them a ton if you just use the little breast ones.  Each person is different but this is a great option. I used sport bras with the thin straps mostly so they may not work as well with a nursing bra. Experiment. Watch cutting them to shapes when wet they make a mess.

Pillows - Get various sizes of pillows and try them out when sleeping. I ended up using bed pillows the ones you use to decorate the bed after it’s made. I found one that I liked that was small and worked good to go under my belly for support.   I was also told to use a pillow between my legs further into the pregnancy. It helps support your back. I had trouble keeping a pillow between my legs after I went to sleep. I think a long body pillow or a skinny pillar pillow may work the best.

Bra  -  As your tummy grows so may your bra size.  I found that sports bras with the thin straps work really well and with the thinner straps they go with more outfits without having to mess with hiding thick straps.  It’s hard to know what size to go with but if you get at least 2 sizes bigger than you already wear that is a good start. Also sports bras will stretch.   I found that the sport bra was way easier to use breast feeding than the nursing bra. I just pull it up verses having to pull down the flap on the nursing bra. With the amount of milk I have I use a cloth diaper as a burp rag only using it under my babies chin to catch all the milk that comes out.  The nursing bras end up getting wet a lot of times from my experience. Still good to get to have one or two on hand. I also noticed they put bone in a lot of them and they aren’t comfortable but again each person is different.

Water - Drink lots of water. If you can get off soft drinks and caffeinated drinks. Caffeine will dehydrate you so you will need more water.  I carried a cup of water with me everywhere. I found that one of the newer coffee cups with a lid worked great for ice water. It didn’t sweat on me or my desk like other cups. I even took my cup of water into restaurants.
I needed water before they would bring me water so it always was a life saver :)
Let WATER become your best friend!
You'll also find your weight won't go up as much if you can stay off soft drinks before and after baby comes.
If you drink lots and get off them you'll really notice a difference in health.

Books ~ It’s good to read up on pregnancy and babies but don’t stress over everything you read. If you don’t get to a chaper don’t stress over that either. You live and learn with your baby and as you go. Tips are good but stressing
if a book says one thing or another won’t help you. Everyone is different so what one book says another may say the oposite and same with you and your body.  I read a book from 1996 that threw me off when I was actually having contractions thinking it was false so no book is going to be right on and older ones even less. My bad...
You have to go with your own feelings not everything that happens will be by the book.

Registry
Receipts -When you do have a baby shower have someone there write on the receipts who they are from that way you can match up the receipt to the gifts easier since you normally have someone else writing down what you got. Put the receipts all together don’t leave them with the gifts. I had a hard time tracking down my receipts for some reason. If you ask for books instead of cards have a magic marker on hand incase someone forgot to sign their book or so you can write the giver’s name in it for them. Also since you won’t have cards just have the person taking notes as to what you got to write down what book was given to you to. It’s nice to have that info.

Idea I learned is if you give a card with your gift write your name, address and gift you got on the back of the card.
Can help save them time writing when they are opening your gift. Neat idea to start doing for showers.

Baby clothes that you register for and actually use -  onzy will be your friend and little pants or shorts that just pull up with elastic on them are easiest to put on baby. Also sleepers with feet are perfect for when it’s cold.

Mirror for the car is a must! It’s really handy to have. I got one for hubby’s car and also one for mine. I found one for mine that has a light and plays music for $20 the other one is around $10 at walmart or babies R us. I’d add at least 1 or 2 to the registry.

Socks aren’t the easiest to keep on baby and mine had such chunky legs that I had a time finding ones to fit and stay on.  Same with shoes they are so cute but hard to keep on baby when they are so small. You’ll go through burp rags (I got a bag of cloth diapers that work great for feeding) and then I use the nicer burp rags to put on my shoulder and burp baby.  You’ll also go through receiving blankets and most blankets so any you get you’ll use for sure I keep getting them and find I still use them all.  Some are in the wash so I just grab another and use. Nice change as well. 
Socks with the tread are great when they start walking.

Breast Pump - I ended up with a cheaper pump but it works great although it’s not electric I don’t think I needed that but it’s each person’s preference. I’m just noting that the one I got works great and is easy to use. I nursed my kids verses pumped and had a bottle so I never used my pump much if at all. This varries for each person since many moms needs to pump so they can leave bottles for their babies or so they don't have to nurse when out and about.

Things the baby can look at is good to have. My baby loves to look at the room in the nursery at church since it is so colorful.
My sister was telling me about these peel and stick characters and animals you can get to put on kids walls
and also take down if you want to change up the look of the room sometime. I ended up using tons of the peel and stick
wall clings in my kids room. Awesome idea. Of course the more expensive ones seem to come off faster so I use a glue stick
on them. I've found many real cheap online.

Pack n’play - good to have around it’s easy to setup and take down. I use mine downstairs to put him in when I can put him down to nap. cradle - use by your bed if you want for the first few months.  I have baby in our room then took him to another to fed him.  Soon I was just turning on the turtle that glowed on the ceiling and sat in bed and fed baby. It’s tiring so you’ll find what works best.  This was after I stopped tracking the feeding and diapers etc...  snuggy - I didn’t get one and told by many this is a great thing to have.  Babies like to be warm and secure so it keeps them tight. I did get like a baby sleeping bag off my mother-in-law who is starting up a sewing business so that is something she is going to make and sell. It was perfect it didn’t hold them real tight but I would get baby to sleep wrap him in a blanket and put him in the bag zip it up which went probably to his chest but he couldn’t kick off the blanket at night so he stayed warmer. I wouldn’t register for bottles unless you are sure of what you want to use. I got so may different ones and really what you need is more nipples to try and find out which one baby will take to.
Most will fit on the bottles you get.

Animal night light that shines stars on the ceiling. Works great for babies to look at and also is great  for mom to use to get light in the room instead of turning on an overhead light. A lamp for baby room is good to have. Also, stars or shapes that glow are fun and nice to have in a kids room.

Diaper Jeanie is still helpful.

Diaper cream - called Butt Paste is good stuff to have on hand. I also use coconut oil with Lavender most of the time on my kids for sores, scrapes you name it. It is the first I go to before anything else.
I have one upstairs, downstairs and one in the diaper bag. You’ll find it’s better to have multiples of some things verses trying to make sure it’s with you all the time. Also, vassaline works good.

High Chairs - there are lots of highchair options. Some convert to other things and maybe better than just a highchair so look at all the options out there. I got one that is just all plastic but it converts from a highchair to a table with a chair for down the road. My nephew had one and I found one similar that is still out there to purchase.

Bibs - although you may not need them a lot at first they work good for birp rags or to catch spit ups.

Baby Bullet or a really good blender works good for baby food. The bullet is neat but didn't last as long for me. I ended up getting a regular blender to use. There is also a baby steamer that you steam your veggies in then you blend them up to make fresh baby food.  Note since you shouldn’t use microwaves for your babies food. It says it can change the melecular structure of it. Makes me wonder why I use mine at all for adult food. The little storage containers that come with a blender set are great for taking with you to town. You’ll always have food for baby that way without worrying if you have to find some baby food elsewhere.

Wet Wipes - If you get containers of wet wipes keep them and buy refills. If you have the large packs of refills turn flip them over now and then it will keep all from drying out before adding them to the containers. 
Other options is to make your own wetwipes so you know what is really in them. You can add lavender oil to them as well.
A great alternative.

Baby Clothes ~ hand me downs aren’t a bad thing if someone offers take them. 
You will go through a lot of clothes so more than less is always good.

LABOR

Labor - I didn’t realize I was in labor but since I didn’t have baby on my due date I knew it had to be close. 2 days after my due date I woke up with a sharp little pain in my abdomen but it went away. I kept getting the pains throughout the day but what made me say ok these are “real” not false laborpains was the fact that I started to spot blood. That is a sure sign and they say if you do spot blood around your due date go see your doctor or head to the ER it maybe time.

Contractions App - I found a free ap that would time my contractions. It actually came in handy for me so I didn’t have to count the time each one started. Since it was free it stopped working when I was almost to the hospital and wanted me to purchase the full version which I didn’t. I used it long enough to get a rough time of how far apart each contraction was which was 3 mins or so and it was time to be at the hospital for sure. Of course I wasn’t as dilated as I needed to be at the time but needed to be there and also as the pain would start to come on more and more I also went ahead and got the epidural to help ease the contraction pain and get me through. I was really glad and grateful for getting that. It didn’t eliminate all the pain but helped. I would say get the epidural sooner than later so you aren’t hurting so much waiting to get it. Not to scare you but you may get some pains and it does hurt.  Mine were all in my abdomen but some have labor in their backs and that is worse to me since I had a little back labor but not much and it did hurt more to me.  Just keep in mind it’s to bring a Beautiful Baby into the world and all worth it.

Baby App - If you use apps try a free one called "Sprout" it is really neat. Shows the baby in 3D, you can hear the heartbeat
and watch each week what it will look like. Est size it is and learn a little about your baby. My kids love it. They think
they are looking at the real baby in my tummy so it's a great way for them to connect. They like to spin the baby around
since it will show all the angles. I tease they are making the baby dizzy.

Things to take to hospital:
Take a little basket, you can get one at the dollar store if you don’t have one. It will come in handy.  When I was there I had lots of little things piled onto my tray/cart and when it was time to eat I had to push it all aside plus trying to grab it when I wanted wasn’t always easy. Take a little basket and put your pens, paper , cell phone, camera, lip gloss etc... into that so you can grab the basket and get what you want and not have to shift it all over and worry about it dropping off the tray. Just another something I learned from the first time around.   When you have just a cart to set things on then have to shift it all around it’s more of a pain so having a little basket to use works out great to hold stuff and you just have to move that around. 

Pack light. 

One outfit and a onzy at the most for the baby. While baby in the hospital they will just wrap it tight in a blanket and have it in a onzy. Take tank dresses probably the best thing or Long Tank Top with shorts. Or Comfy PJ's.

    Take an extra blanket if you don’t have one of the car seat extra head pieces that you can get separately.  Babies are small so most likely won’t fit in your car seat great. Their head will fall every which way so the extra head support will help out a lot. Just put it in the car set so it’s one less thing you have to pack.

Snacks - take snacks to the hospital just in case you end up delivering late. The kitchen maybe closed and you maybe starved and snacks will be a welcomed treat.  I was so hungry since I hadn’t eaten almost all day and had baby at 11:02pm . The nurse found a turkey sandwich for me it was plan just lettuce and cheese but better than nothing I was really hungry.

Poppy Pillow  - I would take a poppy pillow (2 if you have it) more stuff to carry but will give dad something to do bringing stuff to and from the car. One to sit on especially if you have baby naturally. You may not need to sit on one it’s an option.  The other to use to nurse. I had pillows all around me to prop up my arms and baby to nurse so it was a chore to feed each time. I’d
have to get all set up it was a process so if I had taken a poppy pillow I think I would’ve had an easier time of it.

Diapers – Diapers are something you will need after the baby but what better time to prepare for baby than to get them before the baby comes.  We found that the men’s diaper party was a big hit and also brought in a lot of diapers for us. I’ve only had to start buying the size diapers baby is in now because I ran out when I was in town and needed them otherwise I still after 2 months won’t have to purchase them.    While the girls had a baby shower the guys got together on our farm and had a diaper party. Basically we supplied lunch (hamburgers, hotdogs etc..) the men went out in the field and shot at targets and the best shot won prizes that hubby got. Mostly gift cards to cabella’s etc… we had to put in a little money for the event but not a ton and entry fee was a box of diapers so we got a bunch there as well as a few at the shower.  So it paid off to have the event. Now your hubby can do whatever. If he likes golf you could do a golf outing where the guys get together and go play golf or cards at the house or anything really. Just a day the guys get together and have a guy day and it also benefits your baby.

(A variety of brands are out there so just try different ones and see what you like and works for your baby) Off brand diapers work good to. Try various brands and check prices at different stores. I found Target brand are good and there are deals all the time on them. Always good to look around at different stores. Everyone has an opinion so go with what you like.   

  Music - Something most don’t think about but I happened to and was really
glad I did. I had a little mini MP3 player that I put some songs on mostly
ones they play on klove.  I had it playing  at a low volume the entire time
 I was pushing and it was just the extra needed distraction to get me through the birth.

Calendar/pregnant book or tablet - it’s good to take notes while you are pregnant and have a record. I had a booklet I kept all the doctor appointments in. Baby heart beats to my weight etc...   After baby came I write in a tablet like a journal for baby that I can pull from to fill in his baby book when I have more time so it’s nice and neat.

Clothes for Mom - There are a lot of cute XL or XXL shirts and outfits or dresses you can get if you can’t find maternity clothes to purchase. Just make sure things stretch. I would try something on and see if it would stretch further out on my tummy. Everyone is different but I gained all over so I had to get larger pants to and underwear towards the end of the pregnancy.

Night lights - something good to have. The ones that come on if it gets dark are great!  Especially if you get up to go into another room they help light your way till you get there.  Now me I just used a night light and also I hada turtle that had stars on it’s back that lite up the ceiling so I just used mostly that since the room was next to our bedroom and I was trying not to have too much light and wake up daddy. Ya probably too nice :) When my son was moved to his own room he was used to it being darker so he to this day still sleeps with all the lights out. He is close to 3 years old now.

Additional tips:
It’s good to get a baby used to sitting in his highchair young so they understand what it’s for when they get older and you need them to sit there. It also helps them sit in it better if you go to a restaurant. Something I will make sure I do with baby#2.

Shop around online you can find baby gates that you can walk through for about half the cost ($30)  verses buying at the store for ($60). I even found free shipping. If you are needing gates. Walking over them will get old. 
Now the $10 wooden baby gates work great to put in front of fire places if you have one that needs blocked off.

Install the baby safety pieces so baby can’t open drawers and cabinets before they start to walk so you aren’t rushing to get it done. Best install when baby can’t move much J Walmart brown work good. I bought some cheaper ones from Gabriels and they broke faster than I could install them.