Breastfeeding Must-Have - the Arden Bra by the Dairy Fairy

I returned to work 3 weeks ago, and it has not been easy. My little guy is 4 months, and while he *can* sleep through the night, sometimes he still needs a feed halfway through the night.  Although it is always hard to leave him in the morning, I am so lucky that he is being watched by his adoring grandparents during the day.

I work in LA and live in the OC.  Including my commute, I'm away from my baby for 12 hours a day!  I pump while at work, and this bra has been awesome.  It has made the entire process so much easier and efficient.  I consider the Arden Bra to be a "Must-Have" for any working mom, and have already recommended it to all my friends!

While at home, my Simple Wishes Hands Free Breastpump Bra works well enough.

But the bulky bustier is not something I would wear under my work clothes!  I try to wear something that I don't have to take off in order to pump - ie. dresses or tops with a stretching cowl or crossover (wrap) neckline.

The Arden bra is not only functional, it is beautiful (as far as nursing bras go!).  It is also very comfortable. The adjustable front close allows you to modify the size based on how full your breasts are feeling at a given moment.   You can use it as a hands free breast pump bra, but it also works well as a nursing bra. You can also simultaneously nurse and pump!

Thank You Emily Ironi for this wonderful invention! To learn more, please visit www.thedairyfairy.com

Review: Baby Bjorn Babysitter Balance

EW Baby loves his Baby Bjorn Babysitter Balance.  I have to admit, I had reservations when I put this on our baby registry, as it is definitely a pricey rocker. However, both EW dad and myself looked at many rockers and did not really like the mechanical ones, and weren't sure if we wanted a chair that looked like a lamb taking up space in our small condo. 

The chair has more than exceeded our expectations. Our baby started to really enjoy it when he was about 2 months old, or around 9/10 lbs.  Now at 3.5 months, he can spend 30 minutes sitting in it and entertaining himself (we have the wooden toy, and sometimes attach our tiny love travel mobile to give him some variety)!  It folds down easily, which is great for a small apartment, as well as for travel and visiting friends. We like how it looks - clean and simple. One of our friends was so impressed, he even commented that he wished the chair came in adult sizes for himself, because our baby looked so comfortable sitting in it! 

From the Baby Bjorn Website:

Develops motor skills and balance
The calm and natural rocking from the BABYBJÖRN Babysitter Balance refines the child’s motor skills and balance. The bouncer is recommended by pediatricians.

Fun for your child
The child’s own movements make the bouncer rock. No batteries are needed. Your child sets the pace. Fun and soothing at the same time.

Proper back and head support
The BABYBJÖRN Babysitter Balance has an ergonomic design with a molded seat that distributes baby’s weight evenly.

You can choose fabric!

This product comes in three fabric collections.

Review: Keekaroo Peanut Changer

The Keekaroo Peanut Changer is one of our favorite, and most practical, baby products that we have purchased for our son.  I first saw this unique diaper changing pad at baby boutique in Santa Monica.  I liked that it was modern looking, and could be easily wiped down and cleaned.  (Those of you with baby boys know what I'm talking about and why this = less laundry :).  

The Keekaroo Peanut Changer seems to be a fairly new product, as I bought it before many reviews were available. We have the aqua color, and it looks pretty similar the to the color shown in the photo. The first one that was shipped to us seemed to have some lumps in material, but once I contacted customer service, they quickly shipped us a replacement.  

Our son is nearly 3 months old, and is comfortable and happy when we're changing his diaper on the Keekaroo.  Even my mom (who has taken care of many diaper changes for her own children and now 3 grandchildren) noted that she felt this was a really good product. 

Review: Breastfeeding Friendly Fashion

If you decide to breastfeed your baby, you will quickly realize that nursing will consume much of your days (and nights).  To make things easier for both you and your baby, I highly recommend that you wear clothing that is nursing friendly. It doesn't necessarily have to be designed for nursing, as long as the top stretches or opens up, and allows your baby easy access.  I found that several of my regular banana republic tops with a shawl (low, wrap-over) collar have worked just fine for nursing.

However, there are some nice and comfortable designs that I have found now that I'm 2+ months postpartum.  Here are my favorite postpartum nursing tops.

Felicity Nursing Cami by Bravado

available at Target, this is one of the best value tanks available.

 I like that it is supportive and slimming. It comes in black and white.

JoJo Maman Secret Support Breastfeeding Top

I discovered these when they were onsale on zulily recently. I ordered two and love them. 

They are super comfortable and fit nicely. They do not scream "maternity" or "nursing" and come any a variety of versatile and stylish colors. 

Recipe: EW Mom's Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Lactation Cookies

While I seem to have enough milk to keep my little one happy (and at a healthy weight - 7lb7oz at birth, he weighed in at 13lbs at 2 months!) I have been trying to pump extra every day in order to store up for my return to work.  I'm not sure how much each thing is helping exactly, but so far my combination of 2 cups of Mother's milk tea and a bowl of oatmeal daily seem to be doing the trick.

I finally got around to baking some lactation cookies this week. For the EW Lactation cookie, I based my recipe off of what seemed to be the highest rated / reviewed recipes by 1) Kelly Winder of www.BellyBelly.com.au,  and Noel Trujillo.   Of note, both their recipes make a huge batch (which is suitable if you're planning to share with your family).  My recipe is half a batch, which still yielded plenty of cookies (approx 50 bit sized ones).  The "magic" ingredients which stimulate milk production appear to be flaxseed, oatmeal, and brewer's yeast.

Recipe: Slow-Cooker Apple Cinnamon Steel-Cut Oatmeal

While my mom was here for my first month postpartum, she researched foods that would help me with lactation (aka "galactogues"). She made green papaya and pork rib soup, peanut soup, and many other exotic Chinese dishes. With my mom back in Boston for the month, I decided to try making steel-cut oats, which is considered an excellent galactogue.

Apple Cinnamon Cranberry Steel-Cut Oatmeal  (Recipe credit:  The Yummy Life)

 Note: This recipe uses a slow cooker.

Review: Milkmaid Tea by Earth Mama

Immediately after giving birth to EW Baby, the nursing staff encouraged skin-on-skin and breastfeeding. I was lucky, and EW Baby had a great latch from the very first day! However, as a new mom, I was concerned whether he was getting anything out at all. The first couple days postpartum, the nurses would come in at every shift and ask "Has your milk come in yet?" They would take turns trying to hand express milk from my breast which was rather uncomfortable, but well-meaning. When nothing (not even colostrum) appeared to visibly come out, they would reassure me that babies are very effective feeders (better than pump or hand expressing), and that "he's probably getting something."

When my milk had not come in by the second day, I asked my mom to go down to the gift shop and purchase this Earth Mama Angel Baby Organic Milk Tea for me. The ingredients are fenugreek, fennel seed, red raspberry leaf, stinging nettle leaf, milk thistle seed, orange peel, anise seed, caraway seed and alfafa leaf.  Shortly after I began drinking this tea -  whether due to the tea or nature or a combination - my milk came in!

I have since continued to drink this tea - usually 1-2 cups a day and have found that it does make a notable difference in my milk supply.  It did take a little getting used to as it has a strong herbaceous taste. I also smelled very strongly of maple syrup initially (this is a noted side effect). However, the bottom line is it works!  I've recommended this tea to my sister-in-law and she prefers it iced with some sugar.

Things to have before bringing baby home

There are a lot of lists out there online. Here is the our family's list of things that are nice to have before bringing your baby home.

Transportation:
1) Carseat - required in order to leave hospital! Stroller system (ie. snap and go) is optional but very handy to have. 

Nursery/Sleeping/Changing:
1) bassinet or co sleeper and bedding (ie. 1-2 sheets)
2) changing pad or area with diapers - we started off with some leftover diapers from hospital, then ordered from amazon prime after we got home.
3) wipes - we used soft cotton like tissues as recommended by hospital with water (rather than wipes) for the first month. 
4) diaper cream - we initially were told that our baby probably wouldn't need it for the first month but after our baby developed diaper rash in his second week, we have since been using A&D at every change to prevent any further irritation. Many pediatricians recommend desitin - we found this seem to irritate and cause redness for our baby so use it to treat, but not prevent diaper rash. 
5) boppy newborn lounger - this is certainly not a neccessity, but our baby really liked sitting in it and it was nice to have a place to put him down to rest during the day other than his bassinet.  
6)  pack and play - we live in a split level home, so we put the pack and play downstairs with the newborn napper and changer options so that we don't have to go up and down stairs for diaper changes (which are frequent)

Bathing/ Health:
1) baby wash and shampoo - we like the aden and anais line
2) baby nail file and nail clipper
3) baby comb
4) washclothes
5) thermometer

Clothing/Swaddle:
1) little mitts to keep from scratching face
2) little socks to keep his/her feet warm
3) 1-2 outfits in premie and newborn size - you can always buy more clothes later once you know the size that fits your baby the best. If you are overdue (ie 42 weeks) or bigger babies run in your family, you may want to bring a 0-3 month outfit to the hospital as well.
4) Sleep gowns / Kimono style tops/onesies. The sleep gowns make for easy changing of diapers at night. The kimono style openings are nice becasue your baby probably won't like having things pulled over his/her head at first.
5) Receiving blankets / swaddles - we love our aden and anais ones!
6) Sleep sack - your baby may or may not like this vs swaddle so I wouldn't recommend investing in more than one to start.

Nursing stuff:
1) some gel ice packs for boobs - feels good to put on cool when engorged during first week
2) breast pads (to prevent leakage when milk comes in) - I like lasinoh brand
3) some lanolin cream (if nipples chafed in beginning) - hospital may give you some for free, ours did.
4) some breastfeeding/ tanks/ bras - I like the bravado line at target
5) breastfeeding sleep bra (ie very loose stretch sports bra) - I essentially lived in this for the first two weeks and a robe
6) earthmama milkmaid tea - I swear this stuff helps boost your supply!

We discovered that Amazon Prime became our new favorite website/service once we came home with EW Baby.   It is hard to get out of the house the first few days and even weeks, and we love the convenience of ordering online and getting the products delivered to our doorstep 2 days later.  

When you're in the hospital they should give you:
- diapers/ wipes
- nose bulb (though we haven't had much use of this)
- little hat
- thermometer
Stuff for mom including:  
perineal care:
- tucks medicated pads
- ice pads
- maxi pads
- mesh underwear
- perineal care squirt bottle
- dermoplast numbing spray
(though I recommend bringing your own thin pads, and some depends silouettes)

Fashion: Flirty and Flattering Maternity/ Nursing Sleepwear

Every pregnant mama's belly is unique, and grows at a different rate. By the time I was 25 weeks pregnant, my bump had gotten so big (that people were asking me if I was expecting twins - I was not) and my normal pre-pregnancy nightgown could no longer be decently worn. My previously knee length gown barely skimmed the bottom of my panties, it was so stretched over my enlarging belly. While my loving and supportive husband didn't mind this look - we were planning to spend a weekend with friends in LA (where the peek of underwear would likely be less appreciated), so I began to look for something cute and decent to wear through the remainder of my pregnancy.

I'm so happy I discovered Belabumbum. They have a fabulous line of flirty and flattering maternity and nursing pajamas that kept me feeling attractive throughout my pregnancy. I ended buying a few chemise/robe combination sets because I figured they would also come handy postpartum (the ones that have been designed with easy nursing access and adjustable straps work great!)  I like my belabumbum nightgowns so much that I've recommended them to my friends and got them as a shower gift.  Here is one of my favorite styles:

The Dottie Nursing Chemise $59

Sale Tip:  sometimes these go on sale at Gilt.com or Zulily.com! 

EW Mom's Packing for the hospital

There are a lot of lists online, but here are my tips from my recent experience!

Quick tips:

• I brought a rolling carry-on suitcase, which I felt was easier than carrying duffel bag. This is especially helpful if you have to move rooms (which seems to be common these days) after delivery to recovery.  
• During labor, I just wore the hospital gown. I had brought a night nursing bra (kind of like sports bra but looser) to wear, but they told me to take everything off under the gown in case we needed to go to C-section.  I had considered wearing a prettier delivery gown that you can find online, but in retrospect, I'm glad that I didn't have to deal with dirty laundry post delivery.  
• Pretty much everything on this list is for postpartum
• I'd highly recommend a pair of flip flops for the entire hospital stay that you can wear walking down the hall, or in the bathroom to shower. 
• My advice is to take into each (labor vs recovery) room only what you need at the time, otherwise you will have a ton of things to lug out at discharge. Your support person can run to the car to get the baby outfits/ your recovery stuff after delivery. 

List for Mom: (anticipate staying 1-2 nights for vaginal delivery, 2-3 nights for C-Section)

• towel for showering
• 1 roll toilet paper for bathroom (in case the hospital stuff is not as soft)
• your favorite toiletries
• makeup (I didn't end up putting any on, but depends on if you have visitors, and how you feel) 
• nursing pajama and robe 
•  products to care for "down there" = the first 24 h, I just used the hospital provided mesh underpants with frozen pack, pads, tucks and dermoplast numbing spray.  This works very well, but in my opinion is more bulky than needed and tends to leak. Once I had my first postpartum shower, I changed to using the depends "silhouettes" which I had brought, and put in an always ultra thin maxi pad, then the tucks/ dermoplast. I felt way more comfy, less bulky, and did not worry about leakage.  This may be TMI - but this was also a good product combination because for the first couple of days I had some urinary incontinence (which don't worry, went away).  when i did urinate after my foley was removed, i realized i was somewhat incontinent. 
• comfy outfit for going home (I wore a nursing tank top with a maternity skirt (since my belly was still big - approximately 5 month pregnant size when I first went home.) 

For baby:

• hospital will provide some clothes and all stuff you need for diapering the first few days
• all your baby really needs in the hospital is an outfit or two if you plan to take photos in the hospital or for going home. 
• As a fit tip, our son was 7lb 7 oz when born, 7lb 2 oz after 24 hours and the 0-3 stuff was big on him at birth. Newborn was the right fit for him. If you anticipate your baby being on the smaller side, you might want to bring one premie outfit (full term babies who are on the smaller size seem to fit into this better according to my web research), and one newborn. If you anticipate a bigger baby, you may want to bring a 0-3 outfit as well.  
• swaddle blankets (if you have cute ones you like- otherwise hospital will have some) 
• car seat 

For dad/ support person:

• whatever he/she needs to feel comfortable in hospital 1-2 days -  some toiletries, showering stuff - towel, flip flops, pj's etc.
• our hospital had a sleeper sofa, but not much bedding so my husband brought a pillow and light fleece blanket as well.    

Overall:

• ipad/ laptop for entertainment with chargers!
• cell phone and charger to call friends and family to share the good news!
• camera
• snacks!!! (hospital food is not that awesome)
• take out menus from places nearby (see above)  

I hope this is helpful! Goodluck to the expecting mothers out there! It is an amazing experience.

*Of note, this is a list for Southern California, so I didn't feel the need for fuzzy slippers, a thick robe or worry about heavy clothing for bringing baby home.  If you live in a colder climate, you might want to consider bringing those for your and your baby's comfort.

Recipe: EW Mom's Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

With two weeks to go until my due date, and enjoying my time off work - I've been nesting and resumed a long time hobby of mine - baking.   My original banana bread recipe was given to me by a friend in high school. Over the years, I have subsequently added a few little special touches (chocolate chips, cinnamon and oatmeal) to make it my own.  This banana bread recipe has gotten rave reviews and now I'm sharing it with you. I hope you and your family will enjoy it!

Recipe: Green Smoothie

During my pregnancy, my main craving has been smoothies. I crave at least one smoothie a day, and have subsequently gotten pretty good at making them.  While I usually make a tropical combination using the papaya, mango, pineapple and orange juice, this is a refreshing recipe for a green smoothie that has gotten rave reviews from my family and friends!