So today I said to someone, "At least I have four months left before she comes. I have NOTHING ready." Then it hit me...my birthday was 4 months ago and I swear it feels like less than a month. The panic set in. I immediately went to my desk and decided to start another "To Do" list. This is what I've come up with so far.
1. Install smoke detectors in baby's room and office
2. Install new sink and faucet
3. Pick out bedding or fabric for room colors
4. Paint
5. Decide on the furniture
6. Schedule the baby shower - plan guest lists
7. Start childcare search
8. Research cord blood banking
9. Sign up for Lamaze class
10. Register for baby shower
11. Pick a baby name
12. Save for hospital bill
This was just in 5 minutes. I know there is more things I should be thinking about.
What vital things am I forgetting?????????????
PART I:
ReplyDeleteI took some time to research cord blood banking before having Jane and most credible websites said it would most likely be a waste of money. While yes, if something happens, it CAN help, the chances of your own cord blood helping your child are something like 3%. (I thought that was crazy with how small the chances of something happening in the first place). One exception would be if you have a genetic history of a situation where cord blood would have helped (such as an older sibling who could have used cord blood). Then they say it doesn't hurt to bank the blood either to help the child the blood belongs to or to help a sibling.
But I also found that the best thing you can do with cord blood is to donate it to a public bank where the chances of finding a match of someone who can use it are higher.
Kind of long and you are completely welcome to make your own decision, but we didn't end up banking ours nor sending it to a public bank (I would have looked more into public banking but our hospital doesn't participate and we would have had to send it to Illinois which is another mess).
Also purchase (or register for):
--carseat,
--boppy (if you're breastfeeding, which I'm not, but most people swear by these),
--bottles w/ nipples (even if you are breastfeeding, I didn't ever really get my milk in and we were still supplementing here when we got home) I wouldn't get formula just yet because if you need to supplement I wanted to use the same as the hospital so I knew it wouldn't make Jane's stomach upset, I just asked for extra when we left to tide us over until we could run to the store to match it, but if you want some anyway, our hospital used Gerber Good Start Gentle and we have tried a couple others and come back to this one every time),
--white onesies (Carters are by far our favorite— they wash marvelously while Gerber tends to shrink a lot),
--baby laundry detergent so you can pre-wash all of the baby's things (or All Free and Clear, this is what we use— Jane would get a rash from the baby stuff),
--a baby bathtub, towel (baby ones are softer than ours), wash cloth, & shampoo/wash
—baby fingernail clippers (I clip Jane's while she is sleeping, it helps a lot with the wiggling, but also hold their hands firmly when you are doing it, babies tend to startle and yank their hand away so for the sake of not clipping their fingers off, hold firmly.)
--binkies if you believe in them (The hospital will give you one soothie binkie, so you can either get more of those or try another brand— we personally like Nuk, Jane can keep it in her mouth better)
—footie pajamas (you can never have enough of these. I wish I had purchased more cute ones because they're so much easier than normal clothes to take them out in but I felt weird taking her out in pajamas unless they were "cute" by my standards. I know it's ridiculous, but I adore my baby and I want to show her off.
PART II
ReplyDelete—a bassinet (I really like having Jane right next to me during the night because it makes checking on her 20x easier. Some people will put them straight into the crib, which works, but I don't trust my baby monitor to catch all of the baby sounds I catch when she is right next to me. I also recommend the bassinet over a pack-n-play which hurts your back to get your baby in and out of plus you have to practically fall out of bed to put the binky back in or re-wrap your little one.
—Most people like rockers or gliders but to tell you the truth we have used ours twice and Jane didn't really notice she was moving— she much prefers walking (but this is very much baby to baby)
—We have about 2 dozen burp clothes and about a dozen receiving blankets (don't get little ones, you can't swaddle with them, go for the medium size). The sad thing is that we usually go through burp clothes first. Jane can easily drench a burp cloth each time she eats (and she just spits up an average amount).
—Diapers. Diapers are tricky, my sister told me to get a bag (not a box) of Newborn size because they don't fit them very long. But when we had our tiny 6 lb 13 oz girl (whereas my sister's babies were 8 lb at least) we went through 2 boxes and 2 bags of Newborn sizes. So I would start with a bag and then adjust depending on the size of your baby. ALSO for the first bag of diapers try and find ones that say they have the built in dip for the umbelical cord. I forgot to check and it was really obnoxious having to fold the tops of Jane's diapers down so they wouldn't rub against her cord.
—A & D Cream, babies get diaper rash really easily when they are little, Jane just got it a little after she was a week old or so so we put a little A & D Cream on it once a day and it worked great (Jane has sensitive skin). Now we just put it on after every other bath or so and she has absolutely no sign of diaper rash now. It works miracles.
—A baby thermometer. You will take their temperature all of the time at first because you want to make sure they are alright, so get one that is relatively easy to use. Our doctor highly recommends a rectal thermometer because they are the most accurate, but I felt a little weird sticking it up there so we have an ear thermometer. It's easy to use, quick to get a reading, but the doctor did say that we need to adjust the temperature by adding one degree when deciding a fever with it.
—Something you can set the baby down in while you cook/clean/eat. We have both a swing and a vibrating bouncer. We used the bouncer at first but Jane didn't really care. Now she basically thinks it's the same as being set on the floor (except it takes more work for us so we just set her on a blanket). We LOVE our swing. It's a lifesaver for when she is fussing and I need something to set her down in. Sometimes I just moby her to me, but moving is easier without a baby attached at all. especially if I am baking. I don't trust her anywhere near the oven, even if she is attached to me.
—My absolutely FAVORITE baby item would be a Moby Wrap. We love ours. When Jane gets truly fussy it's just about the only thing that will calm her down. It will make her snuggle up and fall asleep right away. She loves being warm and touching me, plus I can wrap it tight enough that I have both arms free to do whatever I like without worrying. They look complicated as far as wrapping but once you do it, it's the simplest thing in the world. I swear by mine. We also have a front carrier, but I only used it once because I felt like I had to be holding her with one hand still (which seemed silly), and it isn't very comfortable to wear. I hardly notice Jane on me when I'm wearing the moby. She is happy, and I am happy.
Sorry this was forever long, but that is basically what I've learned in the last two months. I'm sure I'll think of more but these are what I think (it's different for everyone) are the absolute essentials.
carseat! obviously i know you're planning on getting one, but i didnt know how early you had to have it ready. our doctor told us we had to have it set up in the car a month before our baby's due date (in case they come early)
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, congrats on finding out that its a girl! We are so excited for you guys!
ReplyDeleteOne of Logan's cousins, Andrea, created this huge spreadsheet back in 2010 when she had her first baby. She reminded me when I saw her last month that I should check it out "when the time comes" lol. Anyway, if you're interested, you can find her blog post here http://andreascribbles.blogspot.com/2010/12/just-quick-fyi.html. I think its a public blog, but if you can't access it let me know and I can probably download and email the spreadsheet to you. Good luck!
Remember, all Jesus had was swaddling clothes and a manger. If you have more than that, everything will be peachy. Don't stress :)
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