tips for my sister

i've been putting together a list of tips for my sister, who is due on may 7th with her first baby (another boy in the family!).  i thought, since i have a few preggos reading, that i'd put them in a blog post.  maybe they'll help, maybe they won't.  but here they are...

- earth mama angel baby nipple butter.  way better than lansinoh lanolin.

- get at least 2 additional top sheets for the zip sheets.  i had registered, based on advice of my dear friend abriel, for quickzip sheets for the crib.  callie thought they were a good idea, so she also registered for them.  i have one sheet set (with the zipper base and top sheet), plus one additional top sheet.  one more top sheet would be nice to have.

- video monitor.  not only because it's nice to put an eye on daxon when he starts to fuss, but also because it's entertaining to watch him "twitch" in his sleep while he's swaddled.  it's like watching a burrito dance.

- skip the sleep sheep.  based on a ton of "must have" lists that i looked i, i foolishly registered for the sleep sheep.  daxon hated it.  the sheep only runs for 45 minutes then shuts off.  matt and i need white noise in our bedroom all night - if we lose power in the middle of the night, i will wake up because the fan will stop running.  i should have known that our offspring would also need constant white noise.  i ended up going out and purchasing a white noise machine (we got the graco sweet slumber machine - it plays white noise and lullabies, plus you can plug your mp3 player into it, and it runs on ac power or battery power).

- have a lamp and/or nightlight next to where you'll nurse (like, in arm's length).  i do not have anything next to the glider, and so sometimes in the middle of the night when i'm having a hard time getting daxon back to sleep, i have to get up, walk over to the lamp, and turn it off, which just stimulates him even more.  it would be really nice to just reach over and switch it off, or at least dim it.  i am looking into a way to make this happen in his room.

- get at least one easy swaddler, like the swaddleme blanket.  i use the aden + anais swaddle blankets, which means i have to manually wrap him myself.  that's fine for me, but i worry the grandparents may struggle, so we have one halo sleepsack swaddle, so we can use it with or without his arms pinned down.

- get lots of burp cloths and stash them everywhere.  i like the gerber cloth diapers, as recommended by several people.

- both of you (ie, both parents) should download the baby connect app on your phones.  this helps you track everything - nursing, pumping, bottles, sleeping, diapers, doctor's appointments... it syncs between however many people have access to your account, and you can even send each other messages.

- get some ky jelly for the rectal thermometer.  i told this story already.
 
- don't be surprised if you find yourself crying harder than you've cried in years.  and totally out of nowhere.  daxon pops off his latch during feeding?  cue hysterics.  postpartum hormones are no joke.

- don't bother freezing pads for postpartum.  see if you can get some of the ice packs from the hospital.  callie froze maxipads for me (we'd both read it on some blogs) but it was a major fail.  they just fold back up in the freezer.  plus, what happens when they melt?  sounds messy.  the hospital gives you these ice packs that you crack and put in the mesh panties.  they were awesome, and i'm so mad i didn't get any to bring home.  stock up on pads, tucks pads, and hydrocortisone cream.  and a rubber donut to take the pressure off your seat!

- watch and learn the 5 s's.  we didn't think to employ these techniques until one desperate evening when daxon was incredibly fussy.  but i swaddled him (1), put him on his side on my legs (2), jimmied my legs about to "shake" him (3), and stuck his paci in his mouth (4) - we use the 5th s (shushing) occasionally, too.  within 30 seconds he was silent, and within 5 minutes he was sound asleep.

- don't throw away boxes for stuff!  as we unpacked stuff from my shower, we broke down and threw out (or recycled) the packaging.  i now have a sleep sheep and a twilight turtle that are getting no use, but i can't return them because i threw out the packaging.  dumb.  hopefully i can consign them somewhere.