newborn product reviews

Before I had my baby I would scour the blog world, amazon, and any other place I could find to read reviews on baby products to determine whether or not I wanted to spend my money on that product. I loved reading the good and the bad which really helped me. I thought it would be a good idea to write down reviews of the products I ended up buying.


Milkies:
This is ingenious! You put the thing on opposite side you are nursing and it collects the milk released during letdown. They claim it's descreet, and it is to a point. I mean you have your baby on one side so that pretty much hides anything else going on. The saver holds up to 2 ish oz, which is pretty impressive.

Lansinoh nursing pads:
I got these before the milkies. They are quite absorbent. I didn't realize how absorbent they were until I got the milkies. Wow!!! It's very impressive how much these hold. They are pretty comfortable, the main problem I have with these is that they don't stick to the shirt very well. At least not when the shirt has to be moved for feeding. It bunches up and gets stuck to things other than where you placed it.

Fisher-price swing:
It was difficult picking a swing... Actually we picked one very quickly, the fisher price luv u zoo swing. It was small and you could lock it so it could be used as a seat. It wasn't available for purchase until January 1, so I decided to look at some other swings just to get an idea. After looking at a bunch and reading a LOT of reviews most of which stated how much they hated replacing the C or D batteries every couple of weeks. So we came to the conclusion that a swing that could plug into the wall would be the most economical for us, so I began my search for one of those. It's surprising how few there are! You'd think that in today's world people wouldn't want to throw away batteries so they would have more that plug into the wall, nope, not the case. We ended up getting the rainforest one from fisher price. It came a couple of days before the baby so I set it up. (only took maybe 40 ish minutes for a pregnant woman). It was really cute! I loved that the seat could switch directions so that the baby could swing like in an actual swing or swing from side to side. There are also many different options for the swing 6 speeds, 4 different music/sound options, and there is a mobile overhead (that can lift out of the way) that can be stationary or move. Another great feature of the swing is that if you decide to take it somewhere or the power goes out, it also takes batteries.

Target nursing tanks/walmart nursing bras:
Great for around the house, especially in the first couple of weeks. They are comfortable and offer some support. I also got a nursing bra from target, I dont like it as much as the tanks. It offers support, but I think I would prefer one with less shape, but I haven't worn it in a while, maybe I will like it more now. I got some bras from walmart. They work fantastic and even come in a couple of different colors.

Evenflo travel system:
I love this. Carseat, base, and stroller. The carseat is great and I love that you can just click it into the base in the car or click it into the stroller, or even click it into a shopping cart. (although I am somewhat hesitant about the last one, it does work). Wonderful device. We even have an extra base in our little car.

Crib:
We decided to wait on getting it until we were finished having visitors. She has been sleeping in our room anyway, and her room has been the "guest room". It will grow with her from a crib to toddler bed and then a full size bed. We just have to buy a conversion kit for the full bed. The crib is wonderful!

We had a bassinet next to our bed for the first 7 weeks. For the next baby I want to get a co-sleeper that attaches to my bed for the first couple of weeks instead of a bassinet.

E

I had some fun with my parents camera when my mom came to town. This is one of my favorites:



One of the wonderful women in my ward here in Colorado took some pictures of E and they are so perfect! Here are a couple:

I love this picture!


I absolutely adore this picture!!!!!!!



Thank you again Natalie! The pictures are so perfect, I can't thank you enough!

The birth- Part 3

"I don't think I can get in" she said, and then, "oh"
"I'm not sure I'm feeling this right," the nurse checking me said, "you said she was at a loose one?" "It feels like she's crowning."
By then I told them I needed to push.
"Will you come check?" the new nurse asked the first nurse, who was still at the computer.
"I need to push," I told them again. The first nurse told me to try not to push...
"I can't."
Jason was at my side rubbing my arm, "try not to push"
"I really can't, I need to push."
While I was having that conversation with Jason, the first nurse came over to check me. She didn't quite make it before the other nurse said, "I can feel the head! She's got a lot of hair"
Things kind of got a little crazy, a whole bunch of people came in the room.
One of the nurses said to call my doctor, someone else said she wouldn't get there in time. "Get the doctor on call," again, not enough time. "Get the nurse midwife."
I continued having urges to push (probably my 3rd push since my water broke).
The newer nurse (of my original two) told me the head was coming out. Just then the nurse midwife appeared. "You're doing great," keep going. "Here's the head, good, now the shoulders, one more push..." then at 7:17pm, she was here. They wiped her off and asked if I wanted to hold her, then placed her on my chest. We just looked at her for a while, while she looked at us.The placenta came out with the help of a push and a nurse pushing on my abdomen. It hurt, but was also such a neat feeling! They continued to push on my belly a couple of times. After a little while someone came over to us, clamped the umbilical cord and gave Jason scissors to cut it. One of the other nurses asked if they could take the baby to weigh and measure her (just a couple of feet from my bed) Jason went with them. They told us she was 8 lbs 4 oz. 19 1/2 inches long. While the baby was being measured, the nurse midwife gave me a couple of shots down there to numb me so she could stitch me up. A little after she started the stitches my doctor came in. She said something like, "she just couldn't wait to come out, could she?"

When I was done being stitched up we called our families. My family thought we we were joking with them when we told them we had the baby. Then Jason pulled out our computers and proceeded to Skype our families so they could see the little lady. After a while a nurse had me go to the bathroom. I rinsed off and changed into a new clean gown.

When I emerged from the bathroom Jason was standing next to a cart with my hospital bag and various other items on it, and a wheelchair. I kind of looked around, "is that for me?" I guess I forgot all about wheelchairs and at that point just planned on walking to the other side (where you recover). Anyways... I sat down in the wheelchair and my nurse came back and we were taken to the other side. We arrived in a room with a bed and a pull out chair. When we took the hospital tour, our guide told us we could ask the nurses for one of the rooms with two beds, if they weren't being used, so I did that. They wheeled us down past the nursery where we got to see our baby getting all clean and then to our room. The baby was brought to us shortly.

You can kind of see the rocking chair. (Not the wooden one, the one behind the tray)

The bed I delivered on

The first night was spent with the nursery nurse and my nurse coming in every other hour (although one would come one hour and the other would come the next, so it was every hour) to check up on us.

The hospital stay felt really short, I guess it was nice just laying in bed, holding my baby, having food brought to me, and being taken care of. The nurses were so wonderful (at least on that side) It was really nice having them there to help with everything. They were so nice, and REALLY knew what they were doing!

The day we went home the photographer came in and took some pictures, then we packed up our stuff. While Jason was getting the car, my nurse wheeled me to the nurses station to show off Evie's going home outfit, and then down to where Jason was waiting with a warm car.

In case you were wondering, she is wearing jeggings!

(If you have any questions I would be happy to answer them)

EDIT: At this point I was not admitted to the hospital. They did not have time to set up an IV. They did not have time to give me an epidural, or any drugs for that matter.

Birth Story- Part 2 (The birth... graphic)

We got up to labor and delivery, they asked my name and my doctor's name. They also asked what I was doing there... Um... "I think I'm in labor" (as another contraction started).

Around 5:00pm

The nurse put me in a triage room, gave me a cup to pee in, a hospital gown to change into, a bag to put all of my clothes in, and told me she would be back in a little bit to check me. While I was waiting for her to come back I was told to walk around.

Around 5:15pm

The nurse came back in and talked to us for a minute and then hooked up my belly to the straps on the bed to check my contractions. She asked how far apart they had been and for how long... I told her they started around 3 and were a little bit sporadic, but they were getting closer together and had been getting to about 1 1/2 minutes apart. (Lasting at least 60 seconds +) Then she asked if I was term, 39 weeks that day, so yes, we were term.

While the machine was monitoring my contractions and my blood pressure was being checked, the nurse was at the computer filling out some paperwork. I was probably hooked up to the machine for 15-20 minutes, and then the nurse left to help another patient in delivery. When she got back she asked what my dilation and effacement had been at my last doctor's appointment. We told her I was at a loose one and 50% effaced, that morning. She took the contraction straps off, then she checked me to see if I had progressed so I could get admitted to the hospital. She had me put my fists under my hips to make it easier to check (not a good sign, because she needed a better angle to check).... After she checked (pretty uncomfortable), she told us that I was still at a loose one and 50% effaced. I was pretty shocked! She told us she would call my doctor and see what she wanted us to do. Either stay at the hospital and walk around for 2 hours to try to get me to progress, or I could go home and walk around for 2 hours to try to progress.

While she left the room to call my doctor I got up and walked around trying to get comfortable. I drank my gatorade and get through the contractions

When the nurse came back she had me get back on the bed. My doctor said I could stay at the hospital for the two hours and walk around, if I wanted to, and the nurse would check after each hour to see if I progressed.

The nurse asked me if I had taken any lamaze classes. I had thought about taking one, but there were none that I would have been able to go to before the due date (we had trips planned for some of the weekends so we would have missed 2 out of 4 classes, and they didn't have any during the month of December) so I didn't end up taking one. The nurse said she would give us a mini lesson.

I had been gripping the rails on the bed during the contractions, the first thing the nurse said was, "let go of your death grip on the bed." She then told me I needed to focus on my breathing during the contractions, focus on my feet and toes and try to relax them. (So pretty much take my mind off of the contractions). Then she told me to have Jason put pressure on my lower back while leaning over and swaying my hips.

6:00 pm (ish)

I got up and started walking around. The nurse said she would be in and out of the room and while she was in the room she would be asking me questions.

I walked around the room, back and forth, back and forth. Using the new techniques I learned I dealt with those painful contractions, and the awful back pain! Jason helped so much with those contractions, pushing on my back, and reminding me to breathe.

Around 6:30

I went to the bathroom. The nurse kept asking questions, and my contractions kept being ridiculously painful. I thought maybe a change of scenery would be nice so the nurse gave me another robe to put on backward so my bum wouldn't be exposed, and we went into the hall to walk around. We almost made it to the corner, and the smell of coffee was making me a little nauseous so we went back to the room.

About 6:40

I asked her, "If I get sent home, is there anything I can take for the pain?" She told me that most people don't tell you that you usually have about 6 hours of contractions before they will give you an epidural, and I was just going to have to deal with the pain until then. OUCH! I continued to walk around... At this point I was saying, to no one in particular, "I can't believe people do this without drugs." "What are people thinking not wanting an epidural." "I don't know how much more of this I can take." I thought, maybe it would have been better to walk around at home. At this point, Jason pushing on my back wasn't helping at all, I couldn't focus on anything, and relaxing was getting absurdly difficult. I tried using the rocking chair, but it wasn't helping. I went to the bathroom again, and when I wiped there was more bloody mucous. I was skeptical, but it was nice to think that something might be happening. I went back into the room and had some more contractions, Jason tried pushing on my back, and it still didn't help, so I tried the rocking chair again. I was back and forth, no longer timing the contractions, I couldn't tell you how far apart they were, but it felt like I would only walk around for a couple of seconds before another contraction would start. I told the nurse I was getting tired, and she responded with, "that's not good, you've still got a long way to go."

The next time I got out of the chair to walk around I noticed more bloody mucous on the seat (they had a waterproof pad down).

I was sitting on the rocking chair and kind of had an urge to push. I got up quickly and went to the bathroom.

7:03 pm

As I was about to the toilet I pushed a little and a small puddle of water came out. I also spit up a little bit of my gatorade (the first time in the pregnancy that I "threw up." I quickly sat down and had the urge to push again. I heard a pop and felt a gush of liquid come out. When it finished I just stood up, walked into the triage room and told the nurse, "I think my water just broke." (I knew my water had broken, but the nurse already didn't think I knew what I was doing because I was a first timer and hadn't taken any classes). The new nurse on duty had just arrived and was trying to find a marker to put her name on the board, the first nurse was still at the computer. The first nurse sort of disregarded what I said and the other nurse went into the bathroom to see if my water broke, or if I just peed.

"Is this little puddle it?" she asked with a tone of disbelief, as if to say, that's not enough for it to be your water. I told her it was on the ground and in the toilet. She looked again, and realizing it was my water, she said, "Oh!" Then came back in the room.

By then I was still having the urges to push, and I told them. They had me get back on the bed so they could check my progress (although they obviously didn't think I had progressed too much, because there was no urgency in checking me). The first nurse told the new nurse to do it, so she came over and tried to check me, she said she couldn't feel the cervix... (Again, I was upset! If I hadn't progressed and the contractions were this painful and I was having the urge to push, I couldn't imagine how long I was going to have to wait to actually get to a 10, or at least progress far enough to get an epidural!)

I was again told to make fists and put them under my hips so she could have a better angle to check...

Part 3 coming soon...

Birth Story- Part 1

I have tried to write this 3 different ways, many many times.

We went to our 39 week Dr appointment at around 10 am. Had an ultrasound to check fluid levels and position of baby. Fluid levels were excellent, and baby was positioned ready to go. Dr. then checked dilation and effacement. I had only progressed from a 1 to a 1 1/2, and was still at 50% effaced. I was a little disappointed, but the books said that you can progress pretty quickly when the baby decides to come.

We got home, watched some tv, I walked around the apartment a bit, and then around 2 I decided to take a nap.

I woke up around 3 (maybe 3:15) pm from a painful contraction. I had another one probably about 10 minutes after that, and decided I should start timing them.

This is a sample of how far apart contractions were when I started timing them at around 3:30 to 4:34: (This is not all of the contractions, just some of them from that time period)

6m 1s

8m 27s

5m 24s

4m 15s

1m 15s

3m 46s

2m 34s

1m 22s

54s

1m 25s

At about 4 pm we went and picked up pizza for dinner (I thought if we didn't get something to eat, who knew when I would be able to once I was admitted to the hospital)

When we got home the contractions were getting really close together and were quite painful! I called my dr and they told us to go to the hospital. (I ended up only eating 1/2 of a small piece of pizza)... We grabbed our bags and my gatorade from the fridge and headed to the hospital! Excited, in pain from the contractions, and really really hoping the hospital wouldn't send us home, we were on our way! I always hear about women who go to the hospital thinking they are ready to have their baby and get sent home because their contractions weren't close enough together, or they hadn't progressed enough, and I really didn't want that to happen to me!

We got to the hospital, and instead of using the valet parking, we parked ourselves. I even grabbed my own bag (Jason offered to carry it, but I hoped carrying it myself and walking would help progress labor) and walked into the hospital and up to labor and delivery...

Part 2 coming soon... (Hopefully it won't take as long to get that one up)