mother lode

Second month round-up already! These are our favourite things this month.

1. Medela Symphony breast pump
   A complete lifesaver. Before I had Edie, I didn’t realise that there were other options besides either breast feeding or formula feeding (more on this in a later update I suspect!). When Edie hated feeding, the hospital started me pumping milk for her initially. The goal was to get her breast feeding but when it became apparent that it wasn’t going to come together, we hired this hospital grade pump from the Baby Factory. It’s been amazing. I can double pump enough for 1 bottle (and often more) in about 15 mins.
2. Fitbit Zip
   I didn’t wear my Fitbit Zip much when my steps started to reduce as I got more and more pregnant. However, this month I used it to help motivate me and it really worked – I walked and/or pushed Edie approximately 200km in November without even realising it most of the time. The steps add up pretty quickly! It’s great to be getting out of the house (I find it much easier to walk with her plcaes than deal with car, car seat and pram) and it has been great to feel like I’m getting fit again.
3. Philips AVENT Microwave Steam Steriliser
   When we came home from the hospital, we initially used the Karitane steriliser tablets in a large plastic tub of cold water. After a few weeks had passed, a couple of the bottle parts were getting a bit cloudy and we had the head space to get the steriliser out of the box and start using it. It’s been so great to know that we can have anything sterilised and ready for use within a few minutes – especially when I realise that I don’t have all the pump parts clean or something like that. Plus: not having to plunge your hand into a cold tub at 3am rules.

In our first month with Edie, we’ve been really pleased we had a couple of things in particular and very much recommend them.

1. Merino Kids Cocooi swaddle
   I didn’t buy any newborn sized clothes because I figured Edie would be big enough to wear 0-3 sizes and then she was born at 37.5 weeks! She’s long but skinny and everything is just far too big. We were given this swaddle by my mother – the design and stretchiness makes it really easy to both put and to make her comfortable. It’s been so great we bought another two so Edie can always have a clean one if the others are in the wash.
2. Howie B’s “Music for Babies”
   This is an album that Darren found – apparently made when Howie B had kids of his own. The tracks have a filter over them based on the research he did about the sounds of the womb. Edie loves this and we don’t mind it either – the whole family falls asleep sometimes listening to this on Spotify. (The link is a video made to promote the launch of the album.)
3. Bach Rescue Remedy
   I’m not a huge believer in natural remedies but this is one that I feel really works. I put the drops into my drink bottle and add another set each time I fill that up – with the drop in hormones and interrupted sleep we’ve had in the last four weeks I think this has been amazing.