My favorite baby and new mom products that helped me | Burlington NJ | South Jersey Newborn Photographer
My favorite baby and new mom products that helped me | Burlington NJ | South Jersey Newborn Photographer
Becoming a mom is a blessing and something I prayed for before we got pregnant. I’ll never forget the Sunday before I left to visit my husband in Greece for our 4 day relaxation trip during his deployment, I prayed to God to watch over my in my travels and if he felt we were ready to have a baby, we were ready for the challenge.
4 days of site seeing and time together blessed us with a beautiful baby boy. But, now I was home by myself for 6 months while my husband finished his deployment. UGHHH. I was so sick and tired, not just of work, but literally nauseous all day long, I remember falling a sleep one night for 16 hours straight, always hungry but then always nauseous, weird dreams and the constipation. Oh, the constipation!
I learned a lot about what helped and what didn’t very quickly. Then think about all the baby products and check lists on baby registries. Talk about confusion and products that are totally unnecessary!
Well here is an easy list, from a mom of 2, that helped me through pregnancy and raising my babies.
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Healthy snacks for nausea. At first I snacked on carbs such as pretzels or crackers. But, then I realized I gained 16 pounds in my first trimester with Christian… OOPS! So, I switched to veggies with ranch dip. Having something always in my stomach helped with nausea tremendously. An empty stomach makes nausea worse.
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Peppermint essential oil. Before I was pregnant, I had migraines monthly from hormonal imbalance. So being pregnant, made my migraines worse especially in the first trimester. I found peppermint oil really helped with the migraines. I was take a q-tip and tab alittle on the spots on my head that hurt. I also would diffuse it at night with lavender to help with sleep. I also would bring some in a small vial and smell it throughout the day if needed.
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Good shoes. Invest in a good pair of sneakers at least half a size bigger. Swelling happens closer to the end of pregnancy and having a nice pair of broken in shoes will help your arches and allow your feet to breath.
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KT Tape. During weddings, my back would kill by the end of the day. I realized that my big pregnant belly was really weighting me down, literally lol. So I found a turtorial online with a bunch of different ways to tape up my belly to reduce pressure. THIS HELPED SOOOO MUCH!
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Water. I know your bladder is not the same anymore but drinking water will keep headaches away and keep you energized.
Baby items. Other then the normal bottles and blankets, these are items that I feel like I could not live without.
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A pack n play with a bassinett that vibrates. Christian slept in his little bassinett until he wouldn’t fit anymore. Babies loves to be swaddled and feel secure and this bassinett is slightly elevated. Christian also had reflux so he needed the elevation and the vibrations calmed him.
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Sophie the giraffe. Christian munched on that thing for months. He also liked the squeaking. It made him giggle every once in a while.
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Pacifier. Babies love to suck and it also reduces SIDS. I breastfed both boys and never had nipple confusion. We love the Mam pacifiers and had at least 20 in their cribs to this day lol
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White noise machine. Babies love noise. As much as you want to be quiet to let them sleep, this world is scary and different then inside your womb. White noise is soothing to them and sounds like the wombs swooshing.
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Babywearing. Find a wrap or system that works best for you but I love the Baby Ktan for when the boys were 4 weeks and under was perfect. I loved my simple baby bjorn when they were older. Cole slept it in more then his bassinet some days if we were super busy running around.
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Frozen meals. While I was pregnant, I made at least 3 sets of meals on sundays and freezed them. I made breakfast, lunch and dinner which made it so super easy.
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Nursing tanks. Don’t wear wired bras or tanks. Ill never forget the 3rd day after having Christian, I was in the shower and felt a lump in my right arm pit. I cried ugly tears and thought I had breast cancer. Did you know that your milk dusts are in your arm pits as well? Well I didn’t until I called my OBGYN office and Denise at the front desk helped me calm down and said its normal.
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Medela Soothing Gel Pads. These are heaven when starting to nurse.
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Non Bake milk cookies. This is the recipe I used to help increase my milk supply which I loved!
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Nursing pads. I used disposable ones because I can’t keep up with laundry but they do have really cute reusable nursing pads. I always leaked on the opposite boob when nursing.
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Which brings me to the haaka. It’s a must have. It helps with increasing your supply and starting your milk stash. So while nursing on one side, put it on the other breast to catch your letdown! I had 15 ounces for when Cole was 5 weeks and I had Santa Sessions scheduled.
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A side table with: Snacks ( I always got hungry while nursing and a glass of water), haaka, nursing pad, book or charger. Have it all ready and set so when baby gets hungry you can just sit and nurse.