Mom to mom // 03

Ain't this lady a beauty? ^^ Whitney is our mom to meet this week, and she is such a sweetheart. There is something so beautiful about the way she loves her little girl (who is expected to arrive very soon), and by the looks of her mom, she will be a knockout! 

I wanted to invite Whit to touch on a subject of preparing for a little. She writes about it in a way that is so relatable, and also like she were just having a conversation with her best friend (which is exactly what we want for our mom to mom series). I love this post, and know you will too! 

#momtomommonday

When Mrs. Measom asked me to be featured as part of her “Mom-Meet-Mom Mondays” I was ecstatic and honored! But then I thought, “Oh shoot! Why me? I feel in the dark about so many things! I need all the help I can get!” Then I realized this is exactly why I was asked! First-time moms, or 7^th-time moms don’t know everything and pregnancy can always be overwhelming! I love this whole idea! I’m young and I really don’t have any close friends that can help me, or relate to me with this whole baby thing. That’s why social media and blogs have been my saving grace! Through them, I’ve met so many new moms and moms-to-be who are all, together, going through this crazy challenge we call motherhood! I love social media for that reason!

She asked me to specifically talk about how I’m prepping for baby’s arrival, and how I’m handling the stress and pressure of it all!

Three words immediately came to my mind: excited, overwhelmed, and stressed.

Excited. Oh for soooo many reasons, but the most obvious is finally meeting my baby, holding her in my arms, and seeing her sweet face!  

Overwhelmed. There is so much to do for such a tiny human being, and honestly I don’t think 10 months of pregnancy is enough time! I am not afraid of babies by any means, but for some reason I’m completely overwhelmed with the thought of having my own. There is so much judgment, criticism, competition, self-doubt, and comparison when it comes to our babies and us as mothers. Whether it is within our own society or ourselves, both are too prevalent and extremely damaging!

Stressed: I don’t know if you are aware, but geez, babies are expensive. Obviously money can always be an immense stressor, thankfully my husband is blessed with an excellent job that allows me to be a stay at home mom, but we are still not millionaires…and far from it! I am stressed about the birth and it gives me anxiety not knowing exactly when it’s going to happening. I’m a huge control-freak and a planner…two things that do not go well with pregnancy! I am stressed about breast-feeding…will I be good at it? Will my baby catch on? I am stressed about sleep-training my baby and getting her on a schedule, and if I will be successful.

“Nesting” is a phrase I had always heard in relation to pregnancy, but never really knew what it meant. Animals do it by getting a nest or burrow ready, and we prepare by getting our house, nurseries, brains, and marriages in order! I can’t help but think that I’m behind on being ready! And I don’t know if that feeling will ever go away, even once I have everything checked off of my checklist! How do you really get yourself ready for the most life-changing thing that will ever happen, especially because we have no idea how our little babies are going to be and what will work for them? I don’t believe it is possible, but I do believe we can try!

If you search on Pinterest (which is SO helpful), you find 10 thousand lists of things you need for baby, recommendations on different brands, different birthing methods, books to read, how to get your baby to sleep through the night, etc.! It can be so helpful, but oh so overwhelming! One site says one bouncer is a must but its $400, these brands of swaddle blankets are the best out there – but they look the same as these ones for half the price, and the struggle goes on. But how am I supposed to know what is worth spending the money on or not?  One site says you can’t go without this baby item, but another one says don’t waste your money! It can get confusing! I’m sure once the baby is here I’ll be able to figure out what works best for me, but before then I really rely on others’ opinions and WHY they thought it was a “must or a bust!” I recommend reading the reviews on big, if not all, products. I read why other moms hated it and why some loved it, and then saw how those pros and cons relate to me!

When I first found out I was pregnant I made a list of all the most expensive baby items such as a crib, changing table, travel system, rocker, ergo (I knew this was a must for me personally), and the swing! I decided that we would buy one big thing a month starting from the very beginning so we would avoid having to spend so much money within such a short amount of time! We got our travel system when I was 15 weeks! Super early, but I couldn’t pass on a sale I found! The next month was the crib, then the changing table and so on! It has really helped me knowing what months we will get what and spacing out the most expensive pieces has been helpful to our bank account!

I’m a big discount/deal shopper so I refuse to pay full price for just about anything, but especially diapers! There is always a coupon or deal out for those. A tip, target lets you double up on coupons for diapers! Saves a ton! I haven’t bought a whole lot because I want to wait to see how my baby will grow and how long she’ll be in each size but I have a little stash building! 9 months is a long time in the marketing world! If you know you want a certain something, wait it out and chances are, sometime within your pregnancy, it will go on sale, or you will get a promo code! So far, I have yet to pay full price for anything baby related, with most deals around 40-50% off, whoop whoop!

I have started to sew some swaddle blankets and burp clothes, and let me tell yeah, doing the little things early in the pregnancy has helped relieve some of my stress, big time, as I get closer to my due date! Little things such as buying diaper rash cream, baby shampoo, and a waterproof mattress pad, are the things that aren’t glamorized by Pinterest and are not as fun to buy, but just as important, if not more, than the big fun cutesy things!

This may seem like a duh…but do something to get ready! Like Nike…”just do it!” Not all of preparation for a baby is buying things! That’s a lot for sure, but organize the clothes you have by size, research (you can never do enough research) the items you want before you buy them, assemble furniture, do a craft, read your baby/pregnancy books, go to the baby store and test out strollers, register, or anything to help you feel accomplished!

Maybe I’m a freak but I knew I would constantly be thinking about it until I did it, so I did a hospital tour at about 18 weeks, and I’m so glad I did! I was the only one there without a giant belly haha! But it totally helped me feel so much better about the whole birthing process and how it would go down! Relieved so much stress I had about that particular aspect! Obviously I am going to do it again when I do have that huge old belly about ready to pop, but I wanted to get rid of some of the countless questions I had in my head!

Most (at least I think) hospitals do a free labor preparation class and breastfeeding class! My breastfeeding class costs $30 but it is SO worth in in my opinion if it will help me be more successful in my breastfeeding attempts, because it will save money in the long run when you don’t have to buy expensive baby formula. Sign up for these early so you don’t miss out on a spot, I’m already signed up for my august class!

A major tip I have for all mammas-to-be has to be spend time with your husband. Go on dates. The whole dynamic of a relationship is affected by a baby, of course good…but different. No more staying up until two in the morning eating ice cream watching a horror movie. I mean I’m sure it’s possible, but I’m going to be getting all the sleep I can get once that baby comes. It is always nice to get out with my man, get my mind off of the mile long checklist of baby things I have to do, and just enjoy the time being just us two! Take advantage of it! Snuggle, cuddle, Eskimo kiss, go out, have tickle fights, stay up late, and sleep! Don’t wait until 36 weeks to try to fit in as many dates as possible. Do it the whole time, act like every weekend is your last weekend as just the two of you! Do as many baby related things together! I never go clothes shopping without him. We painted the nursery together. We built the crib and changing table together. Do it all together.

As stressful as getting ready for a baby can be, it is also a time filled with so much joy and happiness! If our bodies can grow a human being in 9 months, I think we can build a nursery and get ourselves ready in that amount of time! Sometimes we just need to mentally take a break from “baby, baby, baby” and just breathe! They’ll come when they’re ready and whether or not we have everything checked off of our list… a few (or many) breakdowns from baby and mom later…they’ll survive, and so will you!