Lovely Lady Lumps

Who has 3....count em....3 friends to have babies due the same week?!!! That would be lucky me :)) So in honor of these beautiful pregnant ladies I have decided to dedicate this post to them!!! I am going to share some of my jewels for pregnancy, delivery and recovery here!

Joanne!!! Due July 27th

 Zonovia :)) Due July 28th

Erica XOXO Due July 31st

Isn't this crazy?!!!!! I pray they don't A) Have their baby showers on the same day B) Don't have their babies on the same day. I can't describe the pure glee I have for these three!! They are going to be such great Mom's. I am so happy to be able to share some of the things I've learned as a first time Mom so far that they can use. I know they are all such huge supporters of my blog so I wanted to do this just for them :)

There is no way that I am going to remember everything so I'll make updates to this when I think of something else.

As you reach the end of your pregnancy these things may become helpful:

1) Compression stockings- they worked wonders for my cankles after a long day of standing

2) Belly support band- I waited until the very end the get one of these and it could have done me some good much sooner

3) Your baby shower- make sure whoever is throwing your baby shower that they tell your guest to get at least ONE item from your registry.

4) If you plan on breastfeeding, start reading now! I highly recommend 'The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding' (find here). There was a lot of information that I didn't know until after the first couple of weeks of breastfeeding that I wish I had known at birth.

Packing your hospital bag! Some of the things I had, some I wished I'd brought:

1) Baby washcloths- Every hospital is different but where I delivered they only had really rough washcloths. I knew to bring some for me but I totally forgot about the baby. I had to wipe down poor Elle with those rough cloths and I felt horrible.

2) Button up pajamas- These were super comfy and the buttons were great for breastfeeding

3) Nursing tank tops and bras for obvious reasons. I got my tank tops from Target and bras from Diaryfairy.com. The bras are great because you can also use them for hands free pumping. I would suggest not getting the bras until after your milk comes in because there is no way to predict your breast size. The tanks can hold you over until then.

4) Nursing pads- I took them to the hospital but really you won't have to worry about leakage until your mature milk comes in.

5) Overnight pads- You might not need as many as you may think. Of course everyone is different but I bought entirely too many. You may be surprised by how short you have a heavy flow. Plus the hospital usually provides them.

*By the way you may want to use of the hospitals clothing items (gowns, socks, underwear) during labor because there are a lot of leaking fluids that you don't want on your own clothes. I had no idea that you continuously leak amniotic fluid after your water breaks up until the baby is delivered.

Caring for your newborn:

1) Swaddle consistently- I didn't swaddle Noelle during the day and eventually she wasn't going for it when I tried doing it at night. There is no harm in not swaddling your baby at all but it is supposed to keep them from having a startle reflex that will wake them up.

2) They say to wait until their umbilical cord falls off to submerge them in water but I would suggest waiting a few days after it falls off. It still has some healing to do and getting it really wet could open the scab, increasing the chance of infection.

3) Do what comes natural. You will soon be told by EVERYONE what you need to do with your baby. Right now I am currently exercising some serious self control as you could probably imagine. If you thought people telling you what you need to do while you are pregnant is annoying, OH just you wait!!!!!! For a first timer of course we don't know much about being a Mom but you do know your baby better than anyone!

Caring for YOU:

1) Use the Lanolin cream (or any other nipple cream you prefer) for your nipples if you are going to breastfeed from feed one! I brought it to the hospital. Because they feed so often in the beginning it can get really uncomfortable but try to apply after each feed to prevent cracking.

2) Sitz bath, sitz bath, sitz bath!!!! I cannot express this enough!

3) Seriously the sleep when they sleep thing....people don't just say that because it sounds good! DO IT! And you'll have to sometimes tell people that you'll need to reschedule their visit because you need rest. Don't feel bad about it!!!!!

I love you three and CAN'T wait meet your offspring!! If there is anything you'd like me to add or address please let me know!!! So excited for our endless play dates :)