Mommy-hood milestone... and my top products!

I have to share a mommy-hood milestone I reached this morning.  4 weeks postpartum and I was able to button some of my pre-pregnancy jeans!! WOOHOO!  Now, they don't look quite like they did before baby and I don't think I'll be wearing them in public anytime soon, but they buttoned!  Okay - just had to brag, because I am excited.  I still have a good 17lbs to lose before I get to my "happy" weight.  I lost about 23lbs from my 30lbs gained during pregnancy - so just 7 more and then those 10lbs I was working on when I got pregnant. :-)  I go for my postpartum check-up in 2 weeks, so I hope I get the "OK" to exercise then.  I am still pretty sore, so it will be light walking and maybe some post-natal yoga (I have a DVD!)... but I think it might be a few months before I feel good enough to run again.  At this point I feel like I'd rip my insides apart, and I don't want that to happen.

Anyway... I haven't posted much, because my life has been fairly repetitive lately.  Eat, burp, spit up, toot, explosive poo, nap, cry, swaddle, shush, scream, coo, grunt, and look freaking adorable.  No, not me, this little crazy guy:

 

{Side note: this picture was taken when he was 2 weeks old and I can't believe how BIG he looks in comparison already!!}

All in all - I'm loving it.  It is challenging at times (like around 4am mostly) but so very rewarding and amazing.  I still can't really wrap my mind around the miracle that just happened.  Just the whole process of pregnancy and birth is amazing.  I don't know how people could say there is no God after experiencing that.  I'm already excited to do it again... in the future (far future).  

I thought, since I'm a month into this, I'd talk about some of the things that have been MUST HAVE'S for me.  I know a lot of preggo mama's, so maybe this will help... maybe not.  Either way, these have been my life-savers this first month.

 

I got this a a shower gift.  It is the "itzbeen baby care timer".  This has seriously kept my sanity this first month.  All it does is you push a button when you do something - change the baby, feed the baby, nap the baby, and then it has another for whatever you want (I used this to keep track of my meds, and now use it to monitor his awake time).  I LOVE THIS.  Especially in the middle of the night.  Early on, I was supposed to write down how long he was feeding and I would look at the clock to know when he started and immediately forget.  Now, I look at this instead of the clock to see how long it has been since he's been changed or fed.  It is SO much easier.  I don't need to remember a bazillion times in my brain - I only need this nifty guy.   So - I think this will be my gift to all new moms.  I love it.

 

This is the Bright Starts Automatic Bouncer.  It is what it says... it bounces automatically.  LOVE it.  I have only heard of other mama's say they constantly just sat by their little one's bouncers bouncing it with their legs, unable to move.  This just does it - and it allows me to do what I need to do - like eat breakfast or blow-dry my hair.  It also has all kinds of noises from nature sounds to white noise.  Jude loves white noise, so this has been a staple on our kitchen table (yes, that is where it sits) for the past month.

 

This is the Halo Sleepsack Swaddle in fleece.  This is my favorite swaddle blanket.  I have some SwaddleMe's, but I love that this one zips and can act as a blanket as well as a swaddle.  I also feel like I can get this on him tighter.  I love the fleece, because at least for the first few weeks it was pretty cold - especially at night, and the fleece kept him warm.  He slept 5 hours straight in this thing!  It is getting too warm for fleece, so I bought one in cotton, too.

 

Many of you know we are cloth diapering.  I am starting with just prefolds and covers and so far Thirsties are by far my favorite cover.  This cover will contain any explosive poo.  I also think that prefolds are the way to go by far - especially for these newborn days.  I have a few All-In-Ones and Pockets, which I know will be nice for Jordan and the babysitter and whatnot.  But you can fold these prefolds so that they will contain any mess and I LOVE it!!  Thirsties have the leg gussets that make sure nothing gets on his clothes. :-)  Love 'em!

This is CJ's BUTTer.  When Jude was about 2 weeks old he started getting a little bit of a red bum.  I researched what the best diaper cream is to use with cloth diapers (because you can't use a lot of the store bought stuff, because it can cause your cloth to start repelling and other fun stuff).  I came across raving reviews of CJ's BUTTer so I decided to try it.  It cleared his bum up in no time and I LOVE it!  It is all natural and uses ingredients like shea butter, olive oil, coconut oil, lanolin, beeswax, cocoa butter, Vitamin E and colloidal oatmeal... so I can feel good about putting this on my guys bum!  They also have a yeast-fighting version. :-)

So there are just a few of the items I have come to love in my four weeks of motherhood.  As I find other amazing items, I'll be sure to mention them to share the love. :-)  In the meantime - here's some more cuteness for you.