My favorite baby products Month 1

Blair has used a few items exclusively since making her appearance.  I thought I would jot a few things down for people who are interested in infant items and might like to register for a couple of them.  I didn't have a big baby shower or anything and didn't want a house full of baby stuff taking up every corner of every room.  I don't think that babies need a lot of stuff.  I say stuff loosely.  If you asked me if a baby needs a lot of smocked dresses?  Absolutely.

First off you are going to need a stroller and car seat.  We bought the Nuna PIPA car seat from Nordstrom.  It is so light and is so easy to snap on and off of the stroller.  You can get it a few places I have seen it at Pottery Barn Kids and Nordstrom.

Along with the car seat we bought the nuna Mixx Stroller system.  The car seat snaps on and off of this until you are ready to use the big kid seat.  Here is the system at Nordstrom...  Honestly what sold me on this stroller was the adjusting handle bar.  I am taller and hate seeing people scrunched over pushing a stroller that the handles are way too low for them.

Blair has slept in her Dock A Tot in her crib since day one.  The great thing about this is that she can't roll over in it. 

We use this Boppy pillow during feedings.  It was a huge help when we were at the NICU and feeding so often.

The Ubbi Diaper Pail comes in a bunch of different colors and has a lock on the top to dog and baby can't get in there if they try.  Also,  let me suggest buying the garbage bags that match it.  They are super sturdy and block any and all smells.

We don't have a bunch of toys yet but we have loved the stuffed animals that we bought for her room...  Jelly Cat, BlaBla Kids, and Cuddle and Kind.  The Cuddle and Kind and BlaBla Kids are fun to put next to her for photos for size comparisons plus all three brands look really cute in her room.

Jelly Cat

BlaBla Kids

Cuddle and Kind

Lastly, we returned a bunch of baby monitors because we didn't like any of them and finally found the iBaby.  It iPhone compatible, black and white and color, sound, you can take photos and videos, allow others to log on and view (great for grandparents), you can play music for the baby, it has books loaded on it so it will read to them, and has alerts for all kinds of different things. 

Blair Louise Adams

She is here!  It's so hard to believe.  I had to be induced because of some complications.  I didn't really share what was going on with social media friends when it was all happening because I was scared.  Seems like the theme of this pregnancy doesn't it?  I have chronic hypertension which was causing nutrients not to make it to Baby Blair.  I was in and out of the triage at our hospital weeks 28-36.  There was a scare at around 31 weeks that I would have to deliver then but by Gods grace I was able to pull it together and keep her in until my induction date of October 1. 

How was labor?  Well...  she didn't arrive until 7:54 PM of October 4th.  So you can only imagine right?  They gave me a small dose of something orally that didn't work to dilate me the night of the 1st so the day of the 2nd they gave it to me vaginally and that didn't make much difference.  Then to hurry things along they inserted a balloon to push my cervix open and make me dilate... that worked.  I asked for my epidural within a couple of hours.  The epidural was a piece of cake compared to the contractions I was having.  Fast forward to Wednesday and my epidural ran out.  I had serious contractions for about 2-3 hours that afternoon while I waited on the refill to kick in. The contractions hurt like hell.  That's my best description of them.  Chad jokes he made a lot of promises about buying things for me and giving me presents for enduring the pain during this period.  I wish I knew what they all were!   The epidural kicked in so much that I couldn't move any of my lower body and had to wait to deliver Blair until I could move my legs.

I had Chad take this photo of me right after check in.

About 6 the doctor decided she was going to let me try to push. Blairs heart beat stopped.  A team of about 15 people rushed into the room and the doctor gave Blair a couple minutes to regroup herself.  Luckily, after the doctor inserted a probe through my uterus to monitor Blair she was able to make a decision and let her stay there without a C-section and let me try one more time around 7:30. 

7:30 came and I started to push.  It was easier than the epidural.  I think my adrenaline kicked in from being in the hospital so long and that anticipation to Blair was so intense.  The plan was for Chad not to look at anything but the doctor on call insisted he keep looking at things that were going on.  I don't know if it will haunt him later or not but he seems ok with it now. Ha! Her official arrival was 7:54 PM under a bright and beautiful full moon.  I was able to hold sweet Blair for a few minutes after she came out but then she was rushed back to the NICU where she stayed about a week. 

I was on oxygen between the times that they had me try to push.

The hardest thing was not having her with me.  I still cry thinking about it.  She was only able to eat about 10 ML of milk every 3 hours.  It was like we were feeding a baby bird.  We celebrated her eating and cried when she didn't.  She had a little jaundice and had to lay under the lights for a couple of days but the eating was what was really being monitored.  We don't have any issues with her eating now.  She wakes up on the dot every 3 hours and screams for food.  She can have whatever she wants. 

A good night during out feedings.  We went back and forth to the NICU every 3 hours so we could feed her.

I called Chad at work the day she was released and he ran over to the hospital to meet me and help me get Blair home before his parents arrived that afternoon.

This is a photo of Blair on her actual due date October 24.  Happy and healthy.