baby product review - part one

i've been working on this a while.  mostly for me, also for a couple of my favorite friends who are currently pregnant and favorite friends that i know will be pregnant some day.  this is only a list of what i found to be most helpful to me.  that's all.  everyone's experiences are different.


mayo clinic guide to healthy pregnancy
a friend from church let me borrow this book.  i felt like i could trust it more than the regular "what to expect when you're expecting" book or anything i found online.  i wish i'd had it when i was very first pregnant because it has pictures of the exact size of your kid at 4 weeks (looks like a tiny speck) and so on.  it was medical but user friendly too.  and it has stuff in the back that is like newborn 101 information and decision guides for things like carseats, slings, cribs, breastfeeding vs. formula, going back to work, etc.

the girlfriends' guide to pregnancy
this book is funny and honest.  it tells you stuff that you need to know but that other pregnancy books don't bother to tell you (like the mass amount of skin left over after your stomach deflates) and what to expect in the hospital and a bunch of other things i don't remember.  i didn't read it start to finish but i know i read parts of it twice.  i found it on a bookshelf at work and i read it during nap time.  non-medically, this is by far the most helpful pregnancy book i read.

this one post by the OMG mom
this post is gross and graphic and might include profanity but i found it to be 100% by far the most accurate and informative information i have read on the subject of recovering from childbirth.  so that being said, i would only recommend this to you if you are in the category of "already pregnant but not yet delivered first time mom."

jenny mc carthy's belly laughs
remember my thrifty cousin marianne?  she's so wonderful.  she sent me a big box of baby stuff and this book was in it.  after i looked at all of the wonderful contents of the book, i sat down on the sofa and read this book start to finish.  it's quick and funny and yes, very honest.  although maybe it's slightly exaggerated at times but who knows?  everyone's pregnancy experience is different.  not a necessity, but it is good for some laughs.

bella band
i totally didn't think i would use this but i borrowed it (along with two giant bins of maternity clothes) from the mom i worked for and i used it all. the. time.  i don't know what colors it comes in but this one was black (i never used her tan colored one).  towards the end of my pregnancy i couldn't find a single shirt that was long enough to cover it so i just worked with it and made it look like an undershirt.  i'm sure at least a few people wondered why i was layering every single maternity top with a black undershirt but it was either that, or wear a sheet.  i was BIG.  this also explains why maternity pants weren't my best friend.  aside from it being impossible to find flattering pants that were long enough, it just seemed like you could always spot that they weren't real jeans.  and mine were stiff and scratchy.  and they wouldn't even stay up until i was really big.  but then by that point all of my shirts were getting short enough that you could see the blue elastic band.  so yeah, the bella band helped the transition from being able to button your pants to not even  being able to budge the zipper.  downside of the bella band?  it depends on you being able to cram your pregnant thighs and hips into your cute pre-pregnancy jeans.

don't turn anything down
(i know this is advice and not a product but it's my blog and i can do what i want).  i can count on one hand the number of maternity items i purchased.  g tops, 2 pairs of maternity jeans (only ever wore one), and actually i think that's it.  i also bought three shirts from walmart to wear but none of them were maternity.  i borrowed clothes from someone in my ward, my generous non-blogging sister (i was really sad to give back her little black dress), and the mom i nannied for.  i also got some free clothes from a relief society clothing swap and the giveaway bin in my old apartment building.  and i made a lot of my non maternity stuff work too.  don't turn anything down because stuff will fit you differently than you think and it might end up looking pretty cute!

babywise
my blogging sister's friend posted one time about how her kid started sleeping through the night at five or six weeks.  when i was looking for good books, i remembered that and made sure to ask her for recommendations.  she said she used babywise and this website.  so i read it and applied it and i won't make you jealous with the details, but i will say that i have gotten more sleep since baby was born than what i've gotten in the past 15 or so years of my life.  i wake my kid up all the time just because i miss her and i want to play with her.  THAT is how much she sleeps.  i realize this could change this very second but i think it was worth the $10 or whatever it cost.  BUT i will say that while i have heard tons of babywise success stories i've also heard from a lot of my friends that say it just didn't work for them and their kids.  it's a very controversial book and it's not very user friendly in my opinion, which is why i relied heavily on the website.  baby girl never fit into the mold so while i use the concepts of babywise, i follow it pretty loosely.  either way, i found it to be extremely helpful for me.

itzbeen timer
i had never heard of this until my wonderful visiting teacher, greta, gave this to me at my baby shower.  you can click the link for a detailed description but basically it's a stop watch times four.  it helps you keep track of how long it's been since you fed, diapered, and put your kid to sleep.  and it helps you keep track of what side you fed from last and it's got a nightlight as well.  i think it costs about $20 but i can honestly say it was worth it's weight in gold.  you think you'd be able to remember that stuff but you can't because it's happening so many times every single day.  and some people will tell you "you don't need a timer, your kid will let you know when its hungry, tired, got a wet/dirty diaper, etc." but my kid didn't do a single one of those things.  she was totally content to sleep, stay awake, sit in poop, and go without food for hours and hours on end.  so while this may not be crucial for everyone, it definitely was for me.  AND i even used it to time my contractions when i was in labor since it was like four stop watches and who really wants to watch the seconds tick by when you're in the middle of a contraction?!?!  not me!

bravado nursing bra
my non-blogging sister lectured me about everything under the moon when i was pregnant.  that's what big sisters do.  they watch out for you and take care of you and try to prep you with all the things you need to know about having a baby.  the very best thing she told me was to not go cheap on a nursing bra.  i think i ignored her the first 85 times she told me this.  she finally sent me a check for $50 (see how great she is?) and told me it had to be spent on ONE good quality nursing bra.  i wasn't allowed to use it to buy three crappy bras.  well, i'm an honest person so that's what i did.  i bought a $50 bra at some expensive palo alto maternity boutique.  it felt fine.  i didn't know what the big deal was.  UNTIL MY MILK CAME IN.  holy cow.  this bra saved my life.  it felt heavenly.  comfortable enough to wear it 24/7 which is what i have done ever since i left the hospital (except when i'm showering silly).  when i was super engorged i literally wanted to cry every time i had to take this bra off (which was only to shower) because it was the even pressure that made my chest not throb with pain.  anyways, i still bought a few other cheap nursing bras because i didn't want to spend a couple hundred dollars on nursing bras.  well, i returned all of the cheap ones except for ONE from target.  not only was it not flattering, it was not comfortable (especially to sleep in) and it didn't have the elastic that made my boobs not hurt, and since there was no real allover elastic, it never ever fit right because your boobs are constantly changing sizes with how much milk is in them.  so, i keep it in a bag in my car with extra shirts in case i'm out and baby spits up on me or my milk leaks out.  i haven't worn that bra since baby was three weeks old, not even once.  which brings me back to how at 3 days postpartum, i gave my mom the box my bravado bra came in and sent her back to that nursing boutique to buy me another one.  wash and wear, wash and wear.  my non-blogging sister loves her medela nursing bras but i don't know of any celebrities sporting those... as for my bravado nursing bras, i'm in good company.  (totally kidding - i did NOT buy this nursing bra because of celebrities).  anyways, i have the body silk seamless and it's great.  you can also get it online for a little cheaper and it's easy to order because it's just small, medium, and large.

miracle blanket
this really is a miracle blanket.  my baby is a little houdini so she busted out of EVERYTHING.  i tried a million different blankets, swaddle me, and several combinations of double swaddling with two blankets and double swaddling with a blanket and a swaddle me.   even with my masterful swaddling, baby normally busted out and i'd have to get up with her sometime around 4am.  and okay, so much for being discreet but i have to tell you.  at nine weeks, my kid was already a really great sleeper, averaging between 6 and 9 hours at a time (at night).  as soon as i started swaddling her in the miracle blanket, she was sleeping 11-13 hours a night.  every. single. night.  and i mean sometimes i would have to wake her up after 13 hours just because i thought that was too long to go without food.  so there you go, the secret is out.  and i would like to add that this is easy enough even for honey to handle.  his swaddles had a much lower success rate than mine so i always had to put baby to bed at night.  great because i loved it, but not great because it meant baby and honey couldn't ever enjoy that goodnight bedtime experience together.  but the miracle blanket makes it so easy that even honey can make a swaddle strong enough for baby.  anyways, i absolutely love this thing.  a lot.

bebe au lait nursing cover
there are a lot of different brands of nursing covers.  i used to think they were all the same until i got a really cute udder covers nursing cover from my mom and then a bebe au lait cover as a gift from kailee's mom who gave me the jumper.  kailee's mom made it a point to tell me that the bebe au lait cover was the best brand.  well, after comparing the two, it is no contest.  on the bebe au lait cover, the fabric is a million times softer (and thicker too) and it has terry cloth pockets in the two bottom corners that you can use for nursing pads or pacifiers.  and the pockets at the bottom and thicker material overall keep it weighted down so when your baby is kicking and squirming, you won't be flashing people left and right.  even if you're not nursing, it makes a great sunshade and wind shield and i've even used it out in public to trick my baby into going to sleep.  it blocks out the light and activity and gives her enough privacy to drift off.  really, it's great.


i know this is kind of a long list and pretty pricey if you add it all up.  i don't think i bought any of it thanks to family, friends, and scavenging skills.  but i know how much everything on here costs and i still think it's very worth it... even if i had to go back and buy it with my very own dollars.