Being a mom with Cystic Fibrosis: May 2015

As you all know, Willow turned a month old yesterday. Although it's only been a month, I feel like I have learned so much and I'm eager to share with you all! I'm practically a professional mom. *Winks* Just kidding, I'm aware that I still have a lot to learn but in the meantime, I'll share what I have so far...Starting with things that I feel have made being a new mom ten times easier.

1. -Car seat and stroller-
I want to start off by saying that I love our car seat and stroller. (Big thanks to my sister!) We have a Chicco Keyfit 30 and to go along with it, the Keyfit Caddy stroller. The car seat so light, easy to install, easy to put a squirming infant in, and the straps are easy to clean. (Trust me, I actually am a professional at cleaning car seat straps now--Willow has grown quite fond of spitting up on them every time I put her in the car seat. That's right, she loves it so much that it makes her projectile vomit.) As for the stroller, I love love love it. It doesn't look like there's much to it, which makes it a little intimidating. However, it folds and unfolds with the press of a button. I can fold and unfold it using one hand. (Which is perfect when you have a baby in one hand.) The handle is adjustable and great for hanging clothes on at Forever 21. The basket underneath the stroller is actually pretty spacious. I usually put my diaper bag in and then place her car seat on top and I'm good to go! I've even taken her on a stroll around the neighborhood in it. The only thing I don't like is that the cup holders on the top were made for people who buy small water bottles. I, however, buy normal sized water bottles. My water bottle was too tall and wobbled all over the place causing my OCD to skyrocket. Willow's bottle fit perfectly in it though so I guess it's not the worst.

2. -Baby carrier-
Yeah, yeah, I know I just went on about two things that you can transport your baby in...but here's a third just because I love baby gear. (And baby WEARING!) We have an Ergo. I could climb to the roof top RIGHT NOW and shout to the entire world ''I LOVE OUR ERGO!'' It's comfy and provides so many snuggles. I'll be able to use it for years but I bought the infant insert that goes in it for newborns and Willow looks so cozy in it. She falls asleep EVERY time I put her in it. It makes it an absolute dream when I have a baby that just wants to be held and a thousand loads of laundry calling out to me. I haven't tried discretely breastfeeding in it yet but I'm almost 99% positive that I could get away with it without anyone ever knowing. I'll test this theory out when I get brave enough. No, I'm not one of those moms who whips out my ninnies while walking through the mall and shoves it into my baby's mouth. If you're one of those moms, more power to you.

3. -''Rocker''-
When deciding ''Where is Willow going to sleep?'' we stumbled across a device by Fisherprice called the auto Rock 'N Play. Actually, we stumbled across one that doesn't rock by itself and got the auto rock one instead because we're fancy schmancy. (And because it was only $20 more and c'mon, it rocked by itself.) It has an inclined seat which helps baby sleep. It has TWELVE songs and three sound effects. It folds up and out easy with the push of a button. We keep this right next to our bed and she sleeps in it at night, although honestly we have found that it's easier to just have her in bed with us. (Safely, of course. But that's just because I'm breastfeeding and it makes 3am feeds significantly easier when I can just roll over and feed her.

4. -Swaddling blankets-
We have tried a few but our favorites are the Aden + Anais swaddling blankets. They're huge, which makes swaddling super easy. They're soft, too. We've used them not only as swaddling blankets but also as spit up clothes, changing pads, carseat covers, and I even used it over my shoulders to keep myself warm one evening when I made the mistake of wearing a tanktop to a baseball game on a windy day.

Side note: I have heard people say that their baby did not ''like'' to be swaddled. I would just like to say that I think that's the dumbest thing I have ever heard. If your newborn doesn't ''like'' being swaddled, you're probably not doing it right. Obviously when they get older they probably don't want to be swaddled anymore so I am only applying this opinion to newborns.

5. -Wearable blankets-
Another swaddling product that I love (Because I am definitely a fan of swaddling) is something I just recently came across in Willow's nursery and thought ''I should probably use it before she outgrows it.) My best friend who lives in Germany bought Willow a HALO Sleepsack swaddle blanket and after putting Willow in it for 5 minutes and watching her fall asleep looking SO content, it's one of my favorite baby products. When we first put Willow in her rock n' play we were so afraid that the blanket we had her swaddled in was SOMEHOW going to ride up to her nose and make it where she couldn't breathe. I spent a lot of time making my swaddles super tight so that this wasn't something we had to stress over every night. However, once I put her in this ''wearable blanket'', I realized that it eliminates that fear. Also it has a 2 in 1 option so she doesn't have to have her hands swaddled. She can have them out if she pleases, or if she gets too big to be swaddled but can still fit inside of the sleepsack. Of course I prefer for her arms to be in because it prevents the startle reflex and allows her to sleep better. It's actually a product that is used in hospitals because it reduces the risk of SIDS. We only have one but we're definitely going to invest in more because in my opinion new parents really can't have too many of them.

6. -Pacifier-
...but we don't just use any paci, we use a WubbaNub. You've probably seen photos of Willow in her carseat with a little red dog attached to a paci attached to her mouth. This thing rocks. At first I didn't plan on using a paci until the ride hope from the hospital and that was only IF she was crying. However, she unexpectedly was placed in the NICU for phototherapy to treat jaundice the day we were supposed to be discharged from the hospital. She had to wear a mask to protect her eyes from the lights and she was screaming. It was absolutely heartbreaking. I finally got tired of feeling helpless and offered her a pacifier but her mouth wasn't really strong enough yet to hold a it by herself. I then remembered that I had a WubbaNub in my diaper bag and figured I'd give that a try. The little dog attached to the paci makes it easy for it to just sit on her chest while the paci is in her mouth and it holds it in place for her which is pretty awesome. She immediately calmed down and I felt like a genius. Aside from soothing babies in the NICU, she uses it at home and in the car as well. The pacifier is made of medical grade silicone and BPA free. The soft plush portion provides comfort to the touch and and makes it so much easier for the baby's little hands to grasp and manipulate the pacifier themselves. Which means fewer bouncing, rolling, and lost pacifiers and less rooting around in the stroller or bag to find it. They have 15 different animals but they only have the red dog at Babies 'R' Us. Willow gets mistaken for a boy all the time in public because of it (unless she's wearing a bow) but I was so happy I put it on my registry and so happy it was purchased by a friend.

6. -Nursing pillow-
While I was pregnant Ethan went out and spent a ton of money on a pregnancy pillow that I thought was absolutely ridiculous--the snoogle. However, after sleeping with it I no longer thought it was ridiculous. It became my best friend and I could not sleep without it. Now here I am with a newborn and I still find myself hugging my snoogle at night and loving Ethan for buying it for me. I know everyone's got their own nursing pillow preferences, (Boppies, breast friends, etc.) but I actually use my pregnancy pillow to support Willow sometimes while I'm breastfeeding her. Actually, I not only sleep and breastfeed her with it, but I also use it to create a cozy, safe protective barrier for her to sleep in so Ethan doesn't roll over her when she's on my right side and so she doesn't fall off the bed when she's on my left side. Sometimes I completely roll it up and sit her in it the way you would with a newborn lounger boppy. (We have a boppy as well but I have still used my pregnancy pillow more than I have used the actual boppy.)

7. -Nasal aspirator-
I personally think that while the nasal aspirator used at the hospital is effective, it is disgusting. And that is only because there's no way of being able to clean it. I once saw a photo on the internet (It was on the internet so I know it's real) of a hospital grade snot sucker that was broken open...it looked SO DISGUSTING. And I mean, it makes sense--how could you possibly clean those things? So being anti hospital-grade aspirator and super fancy schmancy, I did some snotsucker research and came across the Nosefrida. You actually suck the snot out yourself using your mouth and it sounds so gross but it's not at all There's physically no way their boogies can get in your mouth, there's a filter. My favorite thing is that you can actually see what you're sucking out so you know it's doing it's job. My second favorite thing is that it's washable. You can use your own suction, it's placed on the outside of the nostril instead of the inside, and it presents no risk or harm to internal nasal structures.

8. -Breast pump-
I'll be honest, I wasn't pleased about the idea of having to spend hundreds of dollars on a breast pump upon realizing that my insurance would not cover it. However, I lucked up. I posted on a group page that I'm in on Facebook about which breast pumps are the best (after hours of looking into purchasing a used one from a complete stranger on Craigslist) To my rescue came someone I'm actually Facebook friends with, have never met, but lives in the same city as me. She offered to let me use hers if I promised to give it back because she eventually wants more babies. She just so happened to have the breast pump that I really wanted. The Medela Pump In Style. I ended up borrowing it and just purchasing my own tubings and bottles. I saved so much money and the pump is AMAZING so I'm forever grateful to this woman. It's a double electric pump, so you can't go wrong with that. It's super fast too and comes with a bag you can store everything in. It even has the option of pumping on the go, literally anywhere. (Just needs batteries.) I love love love it.

9. -Breast pads-
Okay, I want to share with you what happened when my milk came in. I had been hand expressing colostrum because I found that was easiest. (This was before I used a breast pump and discovered how amazing it was.) One morning I woke up and my breasts were rock hard. I hadn't done any research on what happens when your milk comes in so I was like ''Oh la la la, gonna express some colostrum.'' I was sitting across the bed from Ethan and I unhooked my nursing bra. To our surprise, milk SHOT ACROSS THE ROOM. I screamed. I was like ''HOLY CRAP THAT'S MILK.'' And he was like ''OH MY GOD YOU JUST SHOT MILK OUT OF YOUR BOOB.'' And we were in hysterics because we were not expecting that at all. So I fed Willow and we were like ''Okay going to Babies 'R' Us today to get those tubings and whatnot for that breast pump.'' A few hours later I had soaked through my shirt. I read that that would happen so I'm not really sure why I waited until it did to use the breast pads we had bought months before having Willow. However, they were a life saver. I used the Medela ones but found that I actually prefer the Lansinoh brand instead.

10. -Milk storage bags-
Not much to say about these except that they come in handy when you want to store milk. I have tried the Lansinoh brand and the Medela brand. I prefer the Lansinoh brand because the labels are better and you can store more than 5 oz, whereas with the Medela brand you can only store 5 oz in each bag. However, I do like that the Medela brand stands up on it's own with milk inside. So I'm not going to tell you ''HEY GO BUY THIS BRAND.'' Buy whatever floats your boat. I'm currently working on the box of Medela ones but once those are gone I will be going back to the Lansinoh ones. The Lansinoh ones float my boat.

11. -NIPPLE BUTTER-
I put that in all caps because I just remembered that while I'm typing about all of this breastfeeding stuff, I forgot to mention my absolute favorite thing in the entire world. Above the breast pads and the milk bags, NIPPLE BUTTER IS MY JAM. Now, I have used 4 different kinds. I have used the Palmers kind, which did nothing for me. I then used the Medela brand. Meh. It was okay. So was the Lansinoh brand. But the brand that really knocked my socks off was the Earth Mama Angel Baby brand. (Of course, I would like the most expensive brand.) SERIOUSLY. AMAZING. I was so sore in the beginning but started using the EMAB brand and now I'm like ''What are sore nipples?''

12. -Baby monitor-
Honestly I don't think it matters really what kind you get. I got a really basic one from Babies 'R' Us (Safety 1st sure glow audio monitor) and only because it was on sale but it has come in handy and I'm glad that I have it. Flashback to the first week of having Willow. I tried to take a shower for the first time without someone else being there to keep an eye on her and whew! Boy was it stressful! I thought I heard her crying and jumped out of the shower with soap in my hair still to find her inside of her rock n' play fast asleep. Twice. My next shower, I stopped being a bum and put some batteries in our baby monitor and ta-da! Problem solved! I've even been able to get an hour long tan sesh by the pool in while she was napping thanks to our baby monitors. Oooh, my favorite thing about our super basic baby monitor is that it has a ''page'' button on it that you can use to find the other monitor if you lose it...but I like being able to use it for other reasons. *Wink* Like if I'm in Willow's nursery with her I can press the page button and the monitor in our bedroom where Ethan more than likely is starts beeping like ''HEY YOU, GET IN HERE AND HELP ME CLEAN THIS POOP OFF OF MY LEG.'' Pretty nifty.

I think that wraps it up! These are the few things I can think of that really made this first month ''not so bad''. Being a mom is amazing and although I'm running on three hours of sleep and an energy drink, I wouldn't trade it for the world. This month has flown by and it's truly heartbreaking. I wish she could stay little forever.

Happy 1 month, Willow Rose!