Paci's

I want to take a moment and give kudos to 2 of our favorite paci brands. CVS brand by Nuby and Nuk by Gerber. My son has been paci(or in his case "bonkers/binkin" free for almost 2 weeks, but they were life savers for sure for 18 months.

Halo Sleepsacks

Halo sleepsacks are perfect for newborns. They zip from the bottom up so they are perfect for diaper changes without waking up the baby. They also keep the baby warm as blankets are not really suggested for newborns and swaddling isn't always possible if you have a fidgety baby.

Hospitals, Labor and Nurses

Labor sucks. Mine started at 4:30 am on Wednesday, by 10 pm on Thursday I had been in and out of the hospital twice and was heading back for the third time, hoping it would be the last time. It wouldn't be. Nearing exhaustion and in tremendous pain I agreed to be injected with a bit of morphine(one of the best decisions I had ever made...). Finally I had some pain relief and was able to sleep for 6 straight hours!!!!!! By 7 am on Friday I was released from the hospital, was told to take Benadryl to help me sleep. This is a joke. It never works, if you are in labor and your Dr. tells you this, laugh at them. By 8 pm Friday night I decided that I had had enough. I didn't care if they had to induce me with yucky pitocin or if I had to go through a "too posh to push" c-section, the pain was unbearable and I didn't care how the baby came out, I just wanted it out. At 1:31 on Saturday April 7, the little guy was born. Naturally, with the help of pain meds. He had been under a lot of stress and was whisked away before I had the chance to see him and I didn't even know if it was a boy or a girl.
Overall the experience was positive. Even with the pain. We had one horrendous nurse who was pretty much the devil in flower scrubs and I curse her to this day, but most of the nurses were awesome. I mention the nurses because I don't think the Dr. spent more than 15 minutes with us. Just enough time to deliver the baby. Nurses are unsung heroes and they don't get enough credit.

Books during Pregnancy

Like most moms to be, the list of books I absolutely had to read was a long one. I own all the "What to Expect Books", which for the 700+ pages per book, very little had to do with anything I was going through, but I read every page. Feeling very disappointed at the end.
The books I found most helpful were the Jenny McCarthy books(Belly Laughs, Baby Laughs and Life Laughs) and the Happiest Baby on the Block. The later helped us so much in the beginning months and the techniques described were so simple and actually worked. Who could ask for more?
During the 9 months I was waiting for my little guy to arrive I also became obsessed with Agatha Christie novels. I found them easy to read and completely enthralling. That is saying something when you have been stricken with the dreaded pregnancy brain.

Hot Dogs and Beer

I am not aware of statistics, if there are any, but I have found the minute you begin to think that you just can't get pregnant, and you decide to relax and have a beer or a hot dog(pregnancy no-no's) that is of course when you discover you are pregnant...
I found out that I was pregnant on a Monday morning around 6 am. The previous weekend we had gone to Cooperstown to see Bruce Sutter and a bunch of Negro League players get inducted into the Hall of Fame(beer and hot dog #1) the following night we were back in Boston for a Dixie Chicks concert(beer and hot dog #2 and #3). Then by Monday I had a positive result and began worrying that I just caused a severe problem for my unborn baby...