First 2 Weeks: What You Really Need

Two months before my due date, I decided to start building our baby registry. I was already in panic mode by then, because in the event we had the baby earlier than planned, we had nothing but a crib with a mattress and a changing table.

Adding stuff to the registry was overwhelming, even if I had a couple checklists pulled from the Internet to guide me. It’s crazy how a little tiny person can need so many things! After about a week of headaches trying to figure out what I thought we needed, I finally completed the registry and after a couple baby showers, we were all set. Or so I thought.

Now, two months after having our baby, I realize that most of what we had were good to have after baby is a few months old, and had it not been for my dear co-worker’s “Basket of Love,” we wouldn’t have had what we needed for baby’s first two weeks.

So I made a checklist of what I consider the absolute necessities:

Baby’s Clothes and Nursery:

• Side-snap shirts. The long-sleeved ones are particularly helpful because the cuffs fold out to serve as baby’s mittens, so it buys you a little more time before cutting those teeny-weeny nails. They’re sold by Gerber as preemie wear, although it can probably fit a 7-lb baby.
• Clothes in NEWBORN size. I’m putting this here, too, in case I’m not the only stupid new mom who didn’t know that size 0-3 months wasn’t the smallest size in baby clothes.
• A dozen burp cloths or cloth diapers (to serve as burp cloths) MINIMUM, unless you want to do laundry everyday.
• About 4-5 receiving blankets. I like the stretchy ones (Gerber thermal) and the big ones for swaddling baby. The regular blankets couldn’t hold up to our swaddling escape artist.
• About 6 pairs of socks to keep baby’s feet warm.
• A hat for baby’s trip to his 4-day checkup, especially if it’s chilly in your area.
• About 6 pairs of mittens. Babies’ little nails are surprisingly very sharp. Mittens do a good job of protecting them from scratching their delicate faces.

Toiletries:

• A couple packs of size 0 or N diapers. We’re lucky, the hospital gave us a few packs. Otherwise, we would’ve had to run to the store before going home from the hospital.
• Soft paper towels cut up into baby-wipes size, or sensitive baby wipes
• Cotton balls for baby’s face and diaper area if you don’t want to use paper towels or baby wipes
• Diaper cream to prevent diaper rash
• Petroleum jelly for baby boys, if baby has been circumcised. This prevents the diaper from sticking to him.
• Cotton swabs to clean between baby’s fingers and toes
• Alcohol for baby’s stump
• Baby wash. However, I switched to Dove Sensitive because my baby developed eczema when he was about 2 weeks old. Apparently, my baby needed more moisturizing.
• A dozen wash cloths. This can also serve as a little towel to wipe baby’s butt dry after a nice wash in running warm water.
• A few hooded towels
• Some small bowls/containers to hold his warm water for sponge baths
• Speaking of baths, until baby’s stump has fallen off (when he is 1-2 weeks old), a sponge bath is all he will really need. So that infant tub you now have? Find a place to keep it until baby is stump-free.

• Baby nail clippers/rounded scissors. I got mine from a set of Safety 1st grooming items. You’re gonna have to attempt to clip his nails sooner than later. Mittens can only do so much.
• Bulb syringe. You’d be surprised how much gunk baby can produce in that tiny nose. Speaking of gunk…
• Baby saline nasal spray to help moisturize nasal passages and clear congestion. This is very helpful when you start hearing baby snorting.

For Mommy:

• A post-partum band or underwear. It helps tuck in the “mommy fluff.” I have yet to get the tummy-control underwear, but the post-partum band is available in most baby stores.

And if you plan to breastfeed:

• An electric pump. I had no idea I would need to use it on day 4 and my husband had to run to the store to get me the Medela Swing before I died of engorgement.
• Breast milk containers
• Nursing bras and breast pads. This comforts and helps protect sore nipples, aside from absorbing leaks.
• A digital clock to time baby’s feedings per breast during the first 2 weeks.

Last but not the least: a little planning and organization, to help you remember where you put all of these. With the mom-nesia you might have after birth, believe me, you'll be needing this.

Coping with 9th Month Pregnancy Woes

Even before my last month of pregnancy, I was tired of being pregnant. I wondered why people calculated pregnancy as 9 months, when I had to be pregnant for 40 weeks. Each time I had to run to the bathroom for the 709th time, or I had to assist my belly to change positions in bed, or I had to ask Nino put on my socks in the morning, I told myself that there’s a light at the end of this long-a*s tunnel. Baby was bound to leave my belly SOMETIME. This too shall pass, and our darling boy will soon be in my arms.

But while I was in that tunnel, I had to learn to cope with the pains and discomforts of the last month of pregnancy. These below, together with a very supportive husband, co-workers and friends, helped make the longest month of pregnancy a little more bearable.

Sleeping
Being limited to sleeping on my left side for most of the night, there was little I can do to help me sleep soundly, if at all. I tried sleeping on the couch one night, because I always ended up crashing there when we watched TV. It didn’t work – my back felt worse and hubby Nino and I (yes, Nino stayed with me in the living room) had to go back up to bed in the middle of the night. However, I did discover one way that finally let me sleep: one pillow for my head, one pillow between my knees, a tiny pillow below my belly and Nino behind me to support my weight. It worked perfectly. Oh dreamland, we meet again.

Swelling
Even with avoiding lots of sodium (that meant no instant noodles or frozen dinners that contain LOADS of sodium and don’t help with the swelling at all) and drinking over a liter of water a day, I couldn’t escape edema. My feet were so swollen, they fit only into 3 pairs of shoes – all FLATS and not very stylish, which, along with my huge belly, put a limit on my wardrobe choices. My rings didn’t fit my stubby fingers anymore, so I wore them in a chain on my neck instead - at least it made them closer to my heart. Just think of swelling as a good excuse to buy new shoes (and to ask your partner for a foot rub at night).

Stretch marks
I lathered Cocoa Butter from The Body Shop all over my belly, back, butt and thighs because so many people swore by it, just like I did. Until flippin’ stretch marks crept on me in my 36th week. My skin looked great up to that point, so I didn’t consider that stretch marks could appear 2 weeks before I gave birth. At least I lasted 8 and 1/2 months without it.

Other helpful things
The Bella Band. I bought this tube-top-like garment to wear over my pre-pregnancy jeans to hold up my pants because I wore them undone. I stalled for as long as I can until maybe around my 7th month when I finally gave in to wearing maternity pants. But even with those, I wore my trusty band (or bands – I bought 2 in different colors) to support my growing belly and to give a layer-effect under shorter pre-pregnancy clothes to make my outfits work.

What to Expect When You’re Expecting. The 3rd edition isn’t as updated as I hoped it to be, but together with the rest of my resources, it was good enough.

www.babycenter.com – this site sends weekly updates of baby’s development and what you can expect to feel at every stage of the pregnancy, and even goes on even when baby is finally born. It has so much info, I spent days just reading on this website. The forums also made me feel better knowing I wasn’t alone, calming my fears and reminding me that millions of women have gone through this, too, some with even much worse experiences. I knew I’ll be fine.