What should I pack in my hospital bag?!

At some point during your pregnancy, this becomes a frantic thought that spins around and around in your head. If you’re anything like Karen, you may be anticipating being in the hospital for the next several months and pack your entire house. Ok, so that was a little tongue-in-cheek (not really, just ask Zach), Karen really did pack far too much. Kristin was much more mindful of what was necessary while in the hospital, mostly because she obsessively read recommendations on what to bring.

Read on for our own recommendations – and let us know if we forgot anything you think is essential!

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When You Drop the Ball

So I was sitting up with Finn at 3am this morning, nursing him overnight (even though I told myself I’d try to be better and just let him cry) and I realized we hadn’t written anything to post for today. Oops. But that can happen when you have to take care of a tiny person…it tends to consume all your time and some other things can fall to the side. BUT. We’ve never missed a week and this will be no exception. So I present to you…some stuff that made me laugh. Yes, it’s meme time because…

~Kristin

And Happy Pride to all our friends and family out there!!

Things We Like: Breastfeeding Edition

As two breastfeeding moms, we’ve tried a ton of stuff to try to make ourselves and baby more comfortable and these are the winners! Do you have any others you can’t live without? Let us know in the comments!

Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means that if you click on a product link, we may receive compensation. This compensation comes at no additional cost to you, and we only recommend products we love! We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Prices are subject to change. 

Spectra S1 Breast Pump – $200

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This is my #1 recommendation for you if you’re planning on pumping.

Our First Mother’s Day

In this very special blog post we share what we did for Mother’s Day. Never having been through this, we weren’t sure what to expect. Our husbands and kids really made it special for us.

Karen

It’s actually a rather bizarre feeling to know that this Mother’s Day it was my turn to be celebrated. For my entire life up to this point I have spent Mother’s Day with my mom and the other moms near and dear to me and it feels so strange to be on the other side of the table. It’s like a super secret club I have now earned my membership to. This super secret club even gets a day for which we all get a fancy brunch. I am not one to be a part of the secret club, but if someone mentions “brunch”, I’m in. If I would have known having a kid would get me my very own day with brunch included, I would have had a kid long ago. Kidding, not kidding.

Adventures in Crib Transitions

One week ago we decided it was finally time to move Finn to his crib, meaning for the first time since birth he wouldn’t be in the same room with us! Honestly this was probably overdue (he’s definitely outgrowing his bassinet!) but it’s harder than I thought to actually do it – it’s so nice to just look over and check on him, not to mention how easy it is to pull him into bed and feed him in the middle of the night. Well all that aside, the time had come. We crossed our fingers and hoped for the best. What follows is my log of our very long night.

Postpartum Survival Guide

You had a baby! Congratulations! …now what?

Take it easy.

Take a minute and think about what your body just went through. You pushed a kid out of your body or had a c-section! It’s hard to force yourself to slow down and allow time to heal, but do it. I was probably 5 weeks postpartum and got really confident and started trying to go out and about like I did before baby. My body let me know REAL quick that I needed to cool it. I was sore again like I had been weeks before and my bleeding increased (I’d say TMI but whatever, we’re all adults here.). So listen to your body and allow yourself that time on your couch guilt-free.

When Mom Gets Sick

This post is a follow-up to the When Baby Gets Sick post, because we all know that baby is not the only one who gets sick. For those of you who live anywhere in a relatively northern climate, you feel my pain when I say this is the winter that will never end. With this forever winter, it seems that illness just keeps rotating through. Before baby, if I were feeling under the weather, I could lay around and binge watch Parks and Recreation for the 8th time. I didn’t have to do ANYTHING. But as we have talked about in previous articles, EVERYTHING changes when baby comes crashing through your life like Kool-Aid Man.

When Baby Gets Sick

It’s inevitable. Our babies will get sick. As first-time moms we wait in fear of that first time baby gets sick. Every little sniffle we scrutinize. When someone across the grocery store coughs, we run and cover. Sure this is a little exaggerated, but not by much. It’s frightening. But, like most other things we face, we as moms can handle way more than we give ourselves credit for.

Today has been a day. And it’s only 10:17am. Please allow me to set the stage.

What’s in My Diaper Bag?

 

So this thing definitely has way more than diapers in it. It should be called a “Parent Emergency Bag” instead. Every parent has their own way of packing this thing (Kris even packs his a little differently than mine!*), but here’s my way:

Celebrations Post-Baby

People will often say that EVERYTHING changes once baby comes. Well obvi… but my lizard brain didn’t click as to just how much until it happened. No longer is it as easy to go to an after work happy hour with your colleagues or see the newest Marvel movie with your partner at 9pm on a Friday night. Our minds will forever be wired to think about how baby will be cared for. Now this doesn’t mean that all the things you used to partake in have to go out the window. It might just take a little creativity and planning to ensure you are still getting the adulting time we so crave after having a baby.