Megan's musings from maternity leave

Hello blog followers! I figured that it was time for me to finally write a post. I've been solely residing in the sweatpant-wearing, unshowered, sleep-deprived world of stay at home moms. It's been an adventure! Silas is generally a very sweet and happy baby, up until his little devil comes out around 5pm. Even the sweetest of babies want to be held, fed, changed, and burped on repeat, all day long. So that is pretty much my life and I weirdly love it. The thought of having to leave him and return to work in a few months makes me very sad. I swear, if our student loans were gone and my salary wasn't as essential, it wouldn't take much convincing for me to be a full-time mama. That being said, I would also need a maid, because I get very little done during the day other than take care of our guy.

As most people who know me can attest, I'm a bit of a crazy researcher. I spent hours researching every single baby item on our registry, because I wanted the perfect stuff for Silas. Now that I'm actually home with Silas, I'm realizing how individual every single baby is. Silas doesn't care what the *best* reviewed thing at Magic Beans is. He just likes what he likes and you better let him have it. I spent a nice chunk of change on the *best* bottles before he was born and they just haven't worked yet. In fact, I've been trying pretty much every bottle on the market for over the past month or two. (Someone needs to invent a bottle-trying service.) After lots of trial and error, we finally found bottles that don't turn Silas into a fussy, gassy monster. They were the bottles I said I would never buy because they have too many parts and we don't have a dishwasher - Dr. Browns. He seems more comfortable, so that's all that matters.

I've quickly learned that having a baby is mostly trial and error. Your baby is an individual and what works for him might not work for everyone. That being said, since I have so many friends expecting babies, I figured I'd share a few things we are loving in Silas' first month at home!

#1: Cloth diapers. Absolutely the best decision we made. Easy, good for the environment and Silas, and just so cute! We are also using cloth wipes, which are great as well and clean up nicely! Cloth diapering is very affordable over the long-term as well. Of course, I bought the best reviewed kinds and didn't really hold to any budget, but we will still save lots of money over the whole course of diapering our kids. If you are considering this, feel free to ask me about it. It's quickly become my favorite topic.

#2: Fisher Price Rock & Play Sleeper. sort of a last minute purchase before Silas came home because his bouncy seat couldn't be used until 8lbs. OMG...I couldn't live without it. It cost under $40 and keeps Silas snug and up at an angle so he won't throw up a recent meal. Folds up and can hide away too,

#3: Nosefrida. It is sort of disgusting, but so worth any potential gross outs. Basically, it is a long tube, with a filter, and you put into the baby's nostril and suck out any mucus. No fiddling around with bulb syringes. Babies have more snot than I anticipated.

#4: Miracle Blanket. My child is like the hulk and can bust out of a swaddler in about a minute and a half. When he busts out, he then wakes himself up in the night by flailing his arms around. The miracle blanket is pretty much a baby straight-jacket. It's the only thing that has worked for baby Houdini!

#5: Boppy. A fairly standard registry item if you're nursing. I also put him on his tummy on it when he is gassy to make him more comfortable and try to get something out. We have an extra cover too, because they get dirty very quick!

Thanks for reading. Silas is now awake and hungry yet again!