Thursday, October 31, 2013

Happy Halloween

We're not planning on doing much today, but I'm trying to convince my husband to let us trick or treat to a couple of houses for the candy. Hey, I have a baby who loves the stroller and a reindeer snow suit that will be too small on him come winter time. It could work out. Plus, people love babies!

Here's my little pumpkin today...

And here's he is in his reindeer snow suit...

Ya, we might need to go out for a "walk" tonight!

Monday, October 21, 2013

That Mom

I'm that mom who...
  • Has a baby with reflux. Yes, this means he might vomit while we're out and we might have to change his clothes on the restaurant table. You might see us giving him his medicine so that he's more comfortable and you might see him being super fussy and crying because he hurts.
  • Will do everything I can do get my baby to not "bother" others in public. Sure, he's upset, but I'll try to make it so that he doesn't scream forever without trying to do anything about it. One thing though, he's a baby and sometimes babies cry and there's nothing you can do about it.
  • Likes routines and schedules. Yes, this means scheduling my ten week old, but it's more of a flexible schedule where we can make changes as necessary. My son loves routine and so does his momma.
  • Puts on a clean onesie after bath time at the end of the night and doesn't always change his outfit the next morning. Gasp! I know, right?! He's clean and happy and if we're just hanging around the house, it works out perfectly.
  • Baby wears at church. It works for us and since the pediatrician said not to put him in the nursery until three months, we're holding off.
  • Picks and chooses which vaccines are best for my child. Of course, I do this with my pediatrician's recommendations, but with my history of skin reactions, we're lucky we've chosen to vaccinate at all! It's something I struggled with, but after talking to his doctor, feel like we're making the best decision for him.
  • Let's my baby cry it out. After one time of going to put in his paci every couple of minutes for a while, I knew something had to give. I let him fuss/cry for no longer than five minutes at a time (as long as all of his needs are met) and you know what? He falls asleep! Now, he doesn't even need us to go in most of the time and I'm so proud of him.
  • Binge eats because my baby cries so much. It's getting better now that his tummy is doing better, but it's something that I seriously need to work on.
  • Doesn't think I need to apologize for my parenting style. My husband and I agree with everything 100%  and we do what works for us. Of course, it's constantly changing, but we're doing our best and that's all that matters.
What kind of mom are you?

Friday, October 18, 2013

The Past Two Weeks

It's been a rough seven weeks around here. 

Here's a recap of the past two weeks...
  • The hernia surgery was successful and they found another small hernia on the opposite side so they decided to take care of it so we wouldn't have to come back again. 
  • Matthew was kept overnight at the hospital following the surgery and it was rough. Once the anesthesia wore off, he screamed all night unless he was on his momma. Sweet? Yes, but very exhausting.
  • The pain medication they gave him in the hospital made him constipated. Prune juice hurts his tummy and Karo only worked if we put it in every.single.bottle. That's a lot of corn syrup over time, so we're happy that's fixed. 
  • Oh, and he temporarily lost the ability to poop on his own. Fun times. He just got it back yesterday and I couldn't be happier to not have to help him out.
  • His reflux got worse again in addition to having some major tummy troubles so we were sent to a GI Specialist.
  • We were told to try Elecare, a $45 per can (that's tiny), hypoallergenic formula. And...he threw it all up within the first two ounces. Clearly, he has issues with hypoallergenic formulas as this is the second one he's had a reaction to.
  • The GI Specialist was wonderful and has us taking Matthew off of the soy formula and putting him on Gerber Good Start Soothe. They were able to give us free samples to try and it just so happens to be on sale at Target this week! She said he doesn't have a milk allergy and the whey protein is easier to digest, plus it has a probiotic in it to help with his tummy troubles. It will take 5-7 days for it to take full effect and have the soy be completely out of his system.
  • The Gerber formula is the 7th formula we've tried. I am desperately praying it works for him. 

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

So What Wednesday

Life After I Dew
This week, I'm saying SO WHAT if...
  • When we came home from an appointment Monday evening and I heard the baby crying from outside the house, I wanted to go back to the car just for a little bit. This past week has been one of the hardest since having Matthew home. 
  • I bit the bullet and bought a plane ticket to get Matthew and I out to CA next month. If my mom won't come to me, I guess we'll just have to go to her!
  • We're not cloth diapering for a while. We were gifted about 600-700 size 1 diapers and already had about 100 or so that we had purchased as back up. I'm not sure we'll even be able to use all of them!
  • I've been binge-eating sweets and forgetting to eat regular meals. It's getting better, but the stress has been so overwhelming these past couple of weeks.
  • My kid HATES hypoallergenic formulas. He vomited the $45 Elecare up within the first two ounces. He must know that mom and dad like to save money and can't afford a formula that would cost $500 per month!
  • Matthew isn't smiling just yet. He's so close and every now and then he does, but not regularly.
  • I love that my baby likes to sleep! Of course, he does best swaddled so he doesn't startle himself awake, but then he's good to go!
  • I call the formula companies asking for coupons! I'm not shy and formula is expensive.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Woolzies Dryer Balls Review and Giveaway!

Since having a baby two months ago we have definitely noticed our laundry increasing. I'd say it's safe to say we do at least five loads of laundry per week and that doesn't include our cloth diaper laundry.

When I had Matthew, I wanted to make sure that we were using products that would be safe for him and gentle for his sensitive baby skin. Enter Woolzies Dryer Balls. They were just the solution I was looking for! In fact, I had just purchased three small dryer balls from a local consignment boutique for $8.25 each...ouch. I knew that I wanted to try wool dryer balls, but at that price, I didn't want to buy too many!

Woolzies Dryer Balls are inexpensive at $34.95 for a box of 6 XL dryer balls! They are literally three times the size of the ones I purchased for double the price per dryer ball (and we all know how I like to save money).

According to the Woolzies website: 

"Woolzies are a nontoxic dryer ball that does not coat clothing with
dangerous chemicals, therefor making your laundry safe for all. Also,
Woolzies cuts your drying time down sometimes as much as 40% saving
you and your family time and money."

 What I love about Woolzies is that it doesn't use chemicals, gets the static out, and leaves our clothes (and diapers) feeling soft and fresh. It can literally be used for any load that goes in the dryer and is safe for people with sensitive skin and allergies, like myself!

Now, here's your chance to enter to win a box of Woolzies Dryer Balls for yourself!


*This product was given to me for free to review. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated in any way.