Baby's First Week

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I make a little money if you make a purchase using these links.

I'm not going to say that I have this whole Mom thing figured out. After all, I've literally been doing it for a week. But I've already found several things that have helped tremendously. 

Nursing bras. I've been wearing ones like these pretty much 24/7. They're super comfy, unfortunately they have zero support. So when your milk machines are engorged, they're all freaking over the place. Not a problem if you're hanging out at home, but I would suggest something more like a sports bra for excursions. 

Nipple cream. I legit have bruised nips. Just because babies don't have teeth, doesn't mean they can't bite you. I have no idea what this stuff is or why it works, but I seriously don't care. It's super awesome. Stock up. 

Prepared food. A few weeks before Baby Boy's arrival, I made some freezer meals. We've already run through most of the fully cooked stuff, but we also have a bunch of stuff that's halfway prepped. At this point, the less effort I have to use to feed myself, the better. 

Newborn diapers. Even if you want to use cloth diapers (we do), they have a minimum weight suggestion of 8 pounds, so it's going to take awhile for most babies to grow into them. They're cheaper online and you will use LOTS of them unless you want baby stewing in his own pee. 

Receiving blankets. So far, Baby Boy has only worn clothes twice. Once coming home from the hospital and once when we went to his first doctor's appointment. Otherwise, he's swaddled in a receiving blanket (we definitely didn't steal any from the hospital... maybe) and enjoying lots of skin to skin time. The ones from Carter's aren't the cheapest, but they're very soft flannel and bigger than some other brands.

Helpful hubby. Hubby has been great. He's been taking initiative on things like laundry, cooking (microwaving totally counts, at least right now), doing dishes, and reminding me to sleep when the baby sleeps. He's also good at diaper changes and other baby stuff. Even though he can't directly help with breastfeeding, he brings snacks and water while Baby Boy and I are having boobie time. If Hubby isn't available, try to find someone who loves you, doesn't add any stress to your life, and cleans--key here is that you have to be comfortable with them seeing you topless. Baby's first week is pretty much all about boobies (if you're breastfeeding). 

Patience. You're not going to instinctively know everything about your baby right away. There will be times when your baby seems to be crying for no reason. Make sure his needs are being met (clean diaper, not too hot, not too cold, not hungry), then try rocking, walking, swaying, singing, dancing, etc. You'll get through it. 

Birth Story

This may take me a while to type because I'm using my left hand and holding a sleeping baby with my right. My sleeping baby. Before I tell you how we got here, I want to mention that I wholeheartedly believe in having several versions of your birth story ready to go. The same level of detail is not agreeable to everyone you've ever met. 

1: The short and sweet version.  This is the version you tell the mailman, the UPS guy (the good one, not the one who couldn't find your house), and other acquaintances. 

Shortly after getting in bed on Wednesday night, I started having contractions. Hubby and I drove to the hospital and 16 hours later, the doctor put our new Baby Boy on my chest. 

Actually, there's probably an even shorter version that would work for casual acquaintances: finally had the baby! He's healthy, I'm healthy, and we're all figuring this out!

2: The touchy-feely version. If your friends haven't asked for intimate details about your cervix, DO NOT tell them. They don't want to know. In my case, this was actually a fairly small number of people. I guess I'm lucky the UPS guy didn't mention it. 

After several weeks of me being ready (especially once our due date came and went without Baby Boy), I finally went into labor on Wednesday night. Hubby drove me to the hospital in the middle of the night, which was great because a) no traffic and b) a fox crossed the road in front of us, and we'd agreed early on that we wanted a fox-themed nursery, so that was neat. Maybe we should do a Yeti theme if we decide to go for baby #2... Anyhoo, back to the story. After awhile in the hospital without much progress, I decided I was ready to stop being in pain. I was shaking from adrenaline and trying not to cry by the time the cute anasthesiologist got the epidural set up and my left leg turned into pudding from the drugs. Once I was able to calm down, we waited for awhile. When the nurse came in to check on me in the afternoon, she said "push" and I started trying to push even though I couldn't feel a damn thing. I'm glad I got the epidural even though it wasn't part of my birth plan, because it allowed me to relax enough to stop (inadvertently) fighting what my body was trying to do. Once I pushed out Baby Boy and Hubby cut the cord (which was the main thing on his birth plan, along with raiding the hospital's hubby snack area), someone put the little boy on my chest and said "here's your baby" and I said "holy shit."

3: The juicy version. This one you share with your closest family, friends, and anyone who works in the medical field. Medical peeps love hearing all the gory details. (Warning: gory details ahead. Read at your own peril.)

Hubby and I got in bed Wednesday night, and I had my first contraction at 10:41. We left for the hospital at midnight, when they were 9 minutes apart and we were sure it was baby time. By the time we got to the hospital, the contractions were 5 minutes apart and my cervix was 4cm dilated. The doc came in and broke my water to help move things along. I alternated between laboring on a birth ball in the shower (which felt awesome except for the terrible water pressure... highly recommend) and in various positions on the bed. Hubby slept for a couple hours. By the time the nursing staff switched out for the day crew, I was still only at 6cm and ready for drugs. I wanted to avoid an epidural, based on what I'd read about its effect on labor and recovery times, but whatever they pushed through my IV was bad. It made me dizzy and loopy and didn't touch the pain. So that sucked. And once it wore off, I said yes to the terrifying epidural (have I mentioned I don't do well with needles?). Then we waited. Not being able to feel much of anything, I took a nap, which helped a lot. At 3:30, the nurse decided it was time to check my hooha again. She poked around and called to Hubby: "do you want to see the head?" Then she told me to push once, for shits and giggles. Then we waited for the doc to finish another delivery. When she finally showed up, we did several more rounds of pushing until I somehow pushed out a baby at 4:07 Thursday afternoon. And I didn't feel a damn thing. Hubby cut the cord, just like he'd wanted to. Then the baby nurses sucked a bunch of goo out of baby's lungs. Then someone put him on my chest and said "here's your baby" and I said "holy shit." 

Feeling Ready For Baby

Today, we had our 38 week prenatal appointment. Even though, based on our ultrasound yesterday, we're way closer to 39 weeks than 38. Either way, little man could make his appearance any day now. And I'm ready. I don't mean I'm ready because our hospital bag is packed (it is) or because the car seat is installed (it is), or even because I'm so excited to meet this tiny person who's going to depend on hubby and me for the next 18+ years (I am). 

At this exact moment, I'm ready to be able to say that my body is MINE again. At least partially. I'm ready to stop having acid reflux 24/7. I'm ready to stop getting kicked in the ribs at all hours. I'm ready to eat whatever I want. I'm ready to walk like a normal person instead of a duck. I'm ready to wear whatever shoes I want to, not whatever shoes don't require my hands to come into contact with my feet. I'm ready to not be congested and uncomfortable all the time. I'm ready to feel like me.

What part of returning to non-pregnancy were (or are) you most ready for?

Apple Crumble

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I make a little money if you make a purchase using these links.

What do you have for dinner when you're home alone, pregnant, and the fridge is almost empty? Apple crumble sounded good, so that's what I made. It was quick and easy and made me feel a little bit better about watching this evening's debate. 

Who wouldn't want a nice big bowl of this for dinner? Or dessert, if you want to go all traditional. 

I started with a recipe from Tastes Better From Scratch and tweaked it and it was delicious. Here's how:

First, make the crumble. You can mix together the butter, flour, oats, cinnamon, sugar, and baking powder with a fork or a pastry cutter. Or you can do what I did and use your fingers, which is either way more fun or a way to justify not having a super cool pastry cutter like this one that I kind of totally want. 

Then, slice the apples and put them in a greased loaf pan. This would also be a good time to start preheating the oven. 

Next, mix up the sauce for the apples. I used the same coffee mug for melting the butter and making the sauce. Because I hate doing extra dishes. 

Pour sauce over apples, stir to combine. Then pour the crumble over the top of that and toss it in the oven for 25 minutes, or longer if you like soggier apples. And you get this beauty:

It's crisp, crumbly, and makes about 2 dinner-sized portions. Or more if you're going for dessert-sized portions. 

Ingredients

Crumble:

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup oats

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp butter, softened

Apple goodness:

3 medium apples (I used granny smith)

1 tbsp butter, melted

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp flour

1 1/2 tbsp water

1/2 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Directions

Mix together all crumble ingredients. Set aside.

Thinly slice apples into loaf pan. 

Mix together all other ingredients for apple goodness. Pour over apples and stir.

Pour crumble over apples and bake at 375◦ for 25 minutes.

Enjoy with vanilla ice cream, if available.

Make Money on a Rainy Day

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I make a little money if you make a purchase using these links.

It's raining! For the first time in months, it's raining! It's been raining all day today, and it's supposed to continue raining through the night into tomorrow. So far we've gotten over an inch of rain at our house! I love being able to keep track using my rain gauge, which seems so much more accurate than what you see on the news. When you live in the woods, what do you do on a rainy day? You can't cut firewood, or stain the floors, or work on cars (unless you have a garage, you lucky duck). 

You can, however, make a little extra cash without ever leaving home. Keep in mind, you aren't going to get rich doing any of these things, but if you're going to be on the couch all day, why not get paid for it? Here are some of my favorite easy ways to earn money from home:

Are you crafty? Set up a shop on Etsy. If you like to make things (and are reasonably good at it), chances are there is someone out there who will want to buy it. Plus, if you set up a shop by using this link, Etsy will give you 40 free listings; they're usually $0.20 each, so that's like saving $8.00 while also helping you make more money by selling stuff.

Take surveys online. There are several survey sites I've used successfully. I use SurveySavvy on my laptop and Surveys on the Go on my iPhone. Each of these sites offers a few surveys a week, typically paying $1-$3 each. It's not much, but it might be enough to cover a Starbucks habit.  

Swagbucks. I know you've probably heard this one before, but just in case: Swagbucks will pay you $3 just for signing up, and then continue paying you for farting around online through their site, doing things like searching the web, watching videos, and taking more surveys. And here's a trick to getting more bang for your (Swag) buck: 1 swagbuck equals 1 cent. Except that they offer a "deal" on your first $25 gift card every month, which you can get for 2200 swagbucks. So in the 3 months since I've started using Swagbucks, I've earned 6600 swagbucks and gotten $75 in Home Depot gift cards. Not too bad for someone who has traded their Starbucks habit for a Home Depot/home

improvement habit. If that's not your thing, they have a bunch of other gift cards, too. 

Scan your receipts. The key to rebate apps like Ibotta is the same as using coupons while you're shopping: it only works if you don't buy extra stuff just because you have a coupon for it. I started using Ibotta around the beginning of the year and have earned over $60 in rebates. If you sign up using this link, Ibotta will give you a $10 bonus when you redeem your first rebate. For some rebates, you need to buy a specific item (sometimes I'll use Ibotta to decide which beer to buy for hubby), but they also have "any brand" rebates for things like fresh fruits and veggies.

Sell your old books. There are so many websites that buy used books, it can be hard to know which one will give you the best price. Which is why I use Bookscouter. They show you which sites will give you the best prices for your books--and they don't just do textbooks. You can also sell stuff on eBay, of course, although I've had mixed results with them. If you've discovered the secret to successfully selling on eBay, I'd love to hear it.

Now, here's my favorite way to earn money with very little effort. It's called OhmConnect, and it's currently only available in California. You connect your  Ohm account with your electricity bill and they literally pay you for not using electricity. During what they determine are peak usage times, they send out a text or email and, if you use less electricity than they think you will, they give you money. If you don't want to save electricity at that time, you can decline to participate. You also save on your electricity bill if you use less electricity (of course). Through this month, if you're a SoCal Edison account holder, they will give you $40 just for signing up and participating in your first "Ohm Hour." How awesome is that? If you have another electricity company in California, you get $20, which is still pretty nice. You can sign up for OhmConnect here. I earned $3 because there was an Ohm Hour while I was on vacation. It's quite possibly the easiest way out there to pay for that Starbucks/Home Depot habit.

Saturday Night Mystery

For this evening's adventure, hubby and I saw a bat flying around our living room while we were watching tv. Then the kitties saw the bat. One kitty caught it (fortunate, as it wasn't flying out the doors we'd opened for that purpose, and unfortunate, as bats are very good neighbors and I hate seeing bad things happen to them). Another kitty stole it from the first one. I stole it from the kitties (wrapped in a washcloth; never touch wild animals) and took it outside. I was debating whether it was alive enough to warrant calling a rescue, when hubby decided to poke it with a stick (such a boy thing to do) and it flew away into the darkness. The question is, how did the bat get inside the house?

The Strawberry Experiment, part 2

Hello, friends!

If you read the previous installment of The Strawberry Experiment,  you may remember that phase one (rooting runners while attached to mama plant) was supposed to last 2-4 weeks. Being somewhat impatient, I decided to see if we're ready to move on to phase 2. The results were mixed. Some of the baby plants could hold onto their tiny lots while being picked up. 

Some overachievers already had roots popping out the bottom. 

And some had gotten dislodged and hadn't rooted at all. Yet. Those slackers I stuck back in the soil with a little encouragement to do better next time. Of my 12 baby strawberries that I started with, 7 were ready to go and 5 needed more time. The ones that seemed ready got snipped and carted off to a different part of the yard for replanting and a thorough watering. 

They might not look like much now, but this is just the beginning of phase 2: plant them and see if they keep growing despite the wildlife. Stay tuned for the result of phase 2 in (hopefully) a couple months!