Always carry around a white t-shirt

If I were you, I would always have an extra white t-shirt hanging around -- in the diaper bag, in the car, in his car, at your mother's house, etc. Why? Having a sister with two kids, you might already know but it's the "just in case shirt."

Just in case your baby spits up:
- a simple white t-shirt goes with anything (for mom or dad).
- you have an extra burp rag.
- you have a simple, albeit big, dress for baby (in case you forgot to put extra clothes in the diaper bag).

Just in case it gets cold, you have an extra blanket - it always gets cold when you least expect it.

Just in case it gets sunny, you have a light, cool sun shade.

Just in case your baby blows out her diaper and you forgot to re-stock the diaper bag = emergency diaper (along with a sock for a little extra leak protection).

I am sure that there are many more uses, but these are just several of my favorites. Add your own!

Why I Don't Like the Diaper Genie

1. You have to buy the special bags.
2. The spinning of the "special" bags does not produce "sausage links" but a big mess instead.
3. You have to use two hands.

The Diaper Champ is WAY cooler.

Why? Because I have one. Ha ha. So, I chose the Diaper Champ because:
1. You do not have to buy special bags -- I found that Target's bags worked the best because they have a little big a stretch versus the traditional plastic grocery bag. (And, you can recycle!)
2. It holds about one to one and half week's worth of diapers and they are easy to get out of the cylinder.
3. You can use one hand.
4. You have two colors to choose from - I chose blue simply because it was more gender neutral.

Con:
Sometimes it gets a little stuck SOMETIMES when flipping over the lid part - you'll see what
I mean - so you have to be careful when it comes to packaging up the diaper. I prefer to put all wipes, etc. into the diaper and then wrap in up in a tight package: prevents leakage, smell, and is portable. If you do not pre-package your diaper or try to dispose of a single wipe, it will get stuck... Hence, all the complaints on Amazon.com.

If you don't put up a fight,
and wind your diaper up tight,
you just might,
end up with a fright(ful mess).

Summary?
There are going to be problems no matter what method of disposal you use, unless you take each and every wipe and diaper to the trash can in the garage. I promise that it will be better than a regular pail and the Diaper Genie, if only for the simple fact that you can recycle your grocery bags.

TIP: Lemon and coffee are natural deodorizers.

Pacifiers

Pacifiers.  Okay, what does the name imply? -Noun- Person or thing who brings or restores peace. It does not have to be a little rubber thing on which baby sucks. Babies calm themselves down by sucking. My daughter has taken to occasionally sucking on her hands or giraffe instead of a pacifier. Why didn't we use one? It didn't seem necessary. Since we never started, we used alternative methods to calm her down. And, since you will be a stay at home mom, I cannot imagine a reason why a pacifier would need to be use a pacifier since you will be the pacifier. Anyway, I just always imagine the worse case scenario when it comes to pacifier use and that's why I never started. I guess the moral of this story is: do what makes you comfortable. 

Snap n Go

We chose the Baby Trend infant car seat. With that, we also got the snap-n-go stroller component. A MUST HAVE! It is super light, easy to use, and very convenient for quick trips out. And, trust me, you'll want to get out. Despite its' lightness, you can still feel comfortable pushing it around your neighborhood or mall without it fall apart. I love it! 

Rob recommends it because it has two cup holders and a little compartment for keys.

Diapers: Part I - Disposable

Tushies are gel-free, latex-free, and perfume-free. They are made of 100% non-chlorine bleached woodpulp blended with cotton.
Chlorine-free Seventh Generation diapers are fragrance and latex-free. These are the diapers that I chose to use because you can get them easily at organic food stores or Babies R Us, however, to save even more money, I order them from Amazon and use free shipping. It saves about $12/case (4 packages).

Word on the street is that the chemicals, that these diapers avoid, would only cause cancer if the baby were exposed in high doses. However, for roughly the same price and ease of use in terms of leak protection, I figure why risk it?

Breastfeeding

So, you're probably thinking to yourself, "TMI, Megan!, TMI! Stop!" but here it goes.

As most normal, intelligent, people can recognize, breast milk is best for your baby. The practicality of pumping and then giving it to your little one, via a bottle, 100% of the time sounds O' SO tempting, do not do it. At first, you'll probably think, "this is great!" and "Matt will be able to help." All this might be true, but by hour twenty, you're ready to kill yourself will all the cleaning that you'll have to do (bottles and pumps have many parts that require attention to detail) and how frequently it will occur. But, alas, there is a solution. Breastfeeding. Yup, no messy clean-up, except on the baby and maybe your shirt. But, more on that later.

Personally, I had a difficult time feeding my baby in the beginning. The tricky part, that the lovely lactation specialists DON'T tell you is that your milk is not in before you leave the hospital. So, Isabel and I were doing fantastic before leaving the hospital but when we arrived home, we started to have "issues." By day three, she could not eat because my breasts were so engorged (read hard, heavy, painful, etc.). If you need a visual, which I'm sure you're thinking that you don't, it's like getting breast implants that haven't softened or dropped yet: a very, very, weird sight.

Anyway, she couldn't eat, I was getting mucho frustrated, so I ended up renting a pump and feeding her, with a bottle of breast milk, for the next three days. BTW: This ended up great for us because my poor nipples needed a break and she easily got her food.*

To wrap up, although it might suck in the beginning, you will have no problems by the time that your baby is one month old. I guarantee that. When you are getting frustrated (and you will), just remember that it won't last more than a couple of weeks. Any soreness in your boobs or nipples will be gone and it will mostly be an enjoyable experience. You will learn to type with one hand and even feed her without much propping.  Good luck! You'll be great.

* My lactation specialists recommended Dr. Brown's bottles if you want to use one this early. The babies showed no problems of switching between breast and bottle -AND- they come in BPA-free and glass bottle options. 

www.handi-craft.com

Gerber onesies run small

Gerber onesies run small. I have my 25 inch long, 12 pound daughter in 3-6 month onesies and they are small on her. She is 3 months and 4 weeks old. Other than that, they are great.
They are affordable, durable, and come in a variety of colors.


www.gerberchildrenswear.com