hospital bag essentials

August 28, 2017

pregnant woman in maternity robe packing hospital bag

|bringing this cream and blush pink robe to the hospital!

We are officially on baby watch! Now that my hospital bag is packed and filled with the essentials, I feel pretty ready for (or ready as I’ll be) for baby to arrive. When I had William, we brought way too much stuff to the hospital with us (ie: pillows, blankets, boppy pillow, too many pairs of shoes, etc.). I didn’t really change out of the hospital gown the first day and wore pajamas the rest of the time. For baby, we pretty much kept him swaddled in the hospital blankets and onesies. This time around, I am packing only the things that I truly need/want to bring to make our hospital stay as comfortable as possible!

|A nursing nighty and nursing bras are must-haves if you plan on nursing!|

|my absolute favorite nursing bras |

|we can not wait to meet you baby!|

Clothing

Pajamas

Long-sleeve pajama set: It’s no surprise how much we love Cosabella pajamas and I love how this set is nursing friendly and has long sleeves!
Nursing nighty: I am so excited to use this nursing nighty this time around. It’s perfect for those middle of the night feedings and it’s so pretty and soft, too.

Robe

The perfect thing to slip-on when visitors stop by and to stay cozy in the hospital. Love the pretty cream and blush pink combo!

Nursing Bras

I wore these nursing bras for almost the entire time I nursed William (15 months). They are super comfy and I love how many colors they come in. I added a few new ones because of how much I wore them and I’m excited to try the racer back version.

Boyshorts

Boyshorts or regular cotton underwear are a must-have for post-partum recovery.

Going home outfit

I’ll pack a light weight, nursing friendly dress for heading home from the hospital. In fact, I’ve worn this striped dress so much throughout the last couple of weeks that I’ll probably just bring it!

|bringing a few favorite skincare products|Kefir Replenishing Cleansing Oil, Sheer Renewal Cream, Aromatic Stress Treatment, Vitamin C Serum, Complete Eye Cream, Vitamin D Moisture Mist, Beautifying Face Oi|

|the softest pajama set and a cozy robe|

Toiletries

Skincare Routine

Kefir Replenishing Cleansing Oil (20% off w/code BANDH): This 2 in 1 product has been a time saver (and every bit of time counts!). It’s a cleaning oil that also takes off make-up – win/win!
Sheer Renewal Cream (20% off w/code LABORDAY): This everyday moisturizer is a new to me product and I have been loving it. It’s so lightweight that you hardly even notice it!
Aromatic Stress Treatment: I’ve been using this at night before going to bed – the past few weeks have been rougher on the sleep front! Since I do feel a sense of calming when using it, I plan on bringing it to use during labor. I’m feeling some anxiety about the whole process (mostly because I know what to expect), so I think this will help ease some of that!
Vitamin C Serum: I am obsessed with this Vitamin C serum. I use it every morning and I love the hydration it adds to my dry skin.
Complete Eye Cream (20% off w/code LABORDAY): I’ve been switching between this eye cream and La Prairie and will be taking this one to the hospital with me. I love the way it makes my skin feel and we all know those first few days/weeks/months are tiring! I’ll need all the help I can get.
Vitamin D Moisture Mist: My skin was so dry at the hospital last time, so I am excited to bring this moisture mist to use in between nursing sessions and visitors!
Beautifying Face Oil: Planning to use this before going to bed on both of the evenings we are at the hospital. I will need all the extra hydration I can get! Plus, it smells amazing.

Chapstick

Fresh Lip Treatment: I remember labor making me so thirsty and my lips were SO dry. Fresh lip treatment is lightweight but so hydrating.

Makeup

I’ll be bringing an abbreviated version of my make-up routine: Tinted Moisturizer, Bronzer, Blush, Mascara and lipgloss. I put on make-up both days we were in the hospital last time and I just felt better overall!

Dry Shampoo

This may be gross, but I didn’t end up washing/fixing my hair until we got home. My hair was mostly in a ponytail, but this time I want the option for dry shampoo to make my blow out last the whole time.

Earth Mama Nipple Butter

I started to use this right after William was born because nursing was so painful. Come to find out, he had a tongue tie which caused most of the pain I was feeling, but I want to be prepared and try to prevent any cracking/etc.

Nursing Pads

I brought these with my last time, but didn’t need them until I was at home and my milk came in. I hear your milk can come in faster the second time around, so I plan on bringing a small stash of nursing pads just in case!

|love this racer back nursing bra|

|nursing bra, boyshorts and a nighty|

For Baby

Going home outfit

We brought William home in this polka dot outfit and I plan on bringing the same outfit if baby is a boy! I also picked up the girl version in case we have a girl!

Blanket

Even though it’s warm out here in Dallas, I plan on bringing a soft, lightweight blanket for baby. We had a blue blanket like this for William but it was lost during one of our trips, so I picked up a blue and pink blanket.

Car Seat

Next on our list is to re-install the infant car seat base in our cars so we are ready to head home from the hospital!

|pretty and practical|

Miscellaneous

iPhone charger

Extra long iPhone charger: I am notorious for leaving behind chargers and last time I bought a new one, I accidently bought an extra long charger. I’ve loved having it at home, but I think it will be even more handy at the hospital with the plugs being far away from the bed.

GH Mumm

We’re continuing the tradition of opening a bottle of GH MUMM champagne (My parents started the tradition with my brother) to celebrate the arrival of our new baby!

Snacks

My water broke with William at about 9:30 am, so we had to go straight to the hospital even though I wasn’t truly in labor yet. By the time I delivered him at 10:57 pm I was starving. I finally got a to eat a yucky turkey sandwich from the fridge of labor & delivery and let’s just say this time I will have some of my favorite snacks with me to eat following delivery!

Gift for William

He’s so young that I am still deciding if this is something we should do or not? Any moms have babies around 19 months that got a gift from the new baby? Would love to hear ideas!

Food for Nurses

I think the thank you nurse bags are such a great idea, but I honestly don’t have the time or energy to get anything together. When we made it to the hospital last time, my parents met us up there with Chick-Fil-A nugget trays, french fries and lemonade for the nurses and my goodness were they excited! We are planning to do the same this time, unless we check-in on a Sunday 🙂

Breast Pump

I never could get my breast pump to work, so I had to use a manual pump when I needed a bottle. I plan on bringing my pump to the hospital to see if the lactation specialist can help me figure it out.

Google Home

For music and white noise during the night!

Shop Hospital Bag Essentials:

Cheers,

Stia, Jean and Katherine

A special thank you to Cosabella, TULA, One Love Organics, Tata Harper and Colleen Rothschild for partnering on this post!

prepping for baby two

August 17, 2017

It’s hard to believe that we were prepping for our first baby just one and a half years ago! In that time, I must have lost half my brain because it was hard to think about what newborn essentials we needed to prepare for this baby. Thankfully, I did tons of research last time, so a lot of our products we used will be put to good use again. I wrote a blog post about what we used for the first six months of William’s life, but in a year and a half, you also learn a thing or two, so there are some new products I can’t wait to try with baby #2. The nice part about not finding out the gender of our babies (ps: I am not planning an unmedicated birth this time around ;)) is that most of our “gear” and big stuff is gender neutral. Since I’ve really just started to prepare, this has been an absolute lifesaver!! I’d love to hear about anything that I’m missing from you moms and your “can’t live without” newborn essentials!

on stia: ruched maternity dress|sandals|sunglasses (similar)|crossbody bag

on william: sunsuit|sandals

STROLLER/CAR SEAT/TRAVEL

UPPABABY VISTA

We used the UPPAbaby VISTA with William and plan to utilize it as a double stroller with baby #2! It’s so easy to use, there is so much storage underneath and I love that as a double stroller you don’t give up width since they will ride in tandem. The only necessary addition is the RumbleSeat!

UPPABABY MESA

We’ll be using the same model of carseat we had with William, but we are going to start fresh with a new one. There were a lot of blowouts in the last one, so we are happy to be able to start off with a clean slate! So many of you have asked about the lighter color and if it shows stains more. We had our fair share of accidents, but I just made sure to throw it in the wash asap. It held up really well, but we just wanted to start off with a new car seat for the baby.

TRAVEL BAG

Although we will be taking a brief break from traveling after baby is born, we do have one trip planned for late fall. This travel bag was so useful and worth the extra money. When your UPPABaby stroller is registered with the travel bag, you are covered for any travel incidents; such as the stroller breaking when gate checked. We haven’t had any issues with a broken stroller while traveling, but this helps to ease my mind!

CHANGING PAD

This TWELVElittle changing pad will be in my tote bag once baby arrives. It’s so much more compact than the changing pad I used with William!

SLEEPING

CURRENT NURSERY

William and baby will be sharing a room until we find a house. We are in a townhouse right now and three stories and two babies just don’t mix! Baby will be using all the same nursery items as William did. Thank goodness we decided to wait and find out the gender with both! It’s taken a big load off of prepping two rooms. You can see the nursery reveal from William here and here. (I can’t believe how tiny he was and look at all that dark hair!) I am so excited to share how the nursery is evolving into a shared room with William’s big boy bed. Lots of changes around here 🙂

MOSES BASKET

We used this RH Baby&Child moses basket all the time with William during the day and while he was sleeping in our room for the first 8 weeks. So… the bedding has seen better days! I’m planning on buying this set for the moses basket in pink or blue once baby arrives.

DOCKATOT

This is, without a doubt, the number one new baby item we are so excited try with baby #2. I didn’t know about it until after William had passed the stage, but all my friends with younger babies rave about the DockATot. Do any of you have it? I am also excited to try the DockATot Grand for William to help his transition to his big boy bed. Even better, the DockATot comes with a travel bag which will be great when we start traveling again!

BABY GEAR

SOLLY BABY WRAP

Since my hands will be full, I plan on wearing baby a lot more than I wore William. In fact, he didn’t like to be worn at all. And I never could quite figure out how to wear him! Now I don’t think that I have an option with a very energetic 1.5 year old and a baby. I’ve heard such great things about the Solly wrap and I am excited to try it.

MOTOROLA MONITOR

The best part about this monitor is the dual screen – I love that I don’t have to have two monitors and that both babies can be viewed from the screen or even my phone!

WHITE NOISE MACHINE

We don’t use one with William anymore, but we plan to start it again with baby #2. This white noise machine from Target worked great while we used it, so plan on using it again.

BOPPY PILLOW

The boppy pillow was a life saver during the constant nursing sessions. I plan to use it again!

LITTLE GIRAFFE BLANKETS

We have a handful of these blankets for William. Our most used is the security blanket and now that we are getting ready to move him to a big bed, he loves the bigger size. I plan to get a new security blanket for baby #2!

WUBBANUB

These super sweet pacifers got us through a few colicky weeks/month, so we will use again!

HEALTH

PAMPERS SWADDLERS/HONEST DIAPERS

We’ve had great luck with both Pampers Swaddlers and Honest Diapers for William, so plan on trying both again with baby #2.

WATER WIPES

I wish I would have known about these earlier, but we have been using on William for the past six months. They are very gentle, which is what you want for the newborn baby skin!

FRIDABABY

One of the best baby essentials we used with William was the Fridababy Snot Sucker. Sounds disgusting, but it’s not and it’s super effective! I’m excited to try more Fridaybaby products this time around: the nail clipper, the gas passer, the fever frida and even the mom washer for post partum care.

HUMIDIFIER

We used a humidifier a lot with William since he was born in January, but plan to use the same one if we need to with this baby!

FISHER PRICE BATHTUB

Okay, this bathtub is definitely not the “prettiest,” but it serves its purposes and I loved being able to adjust the tub as William grew!

COMOTOMO BOTTLES

William never really took a bottle, but when it was necessary we found the comotomo bottles to be his favorite and we plan to use again!

on stia: ruched maternity dress|sandals|similar sunglasses|crossbody bag

on william: sunsuit|sandals

SHOP NEWBORN ESSENTIALS:

Cheers,

Stia, Jean and Katherine

34-week bumpdate

July 31, 2017

My goodness, I can’t believe we are already here! Time is literally flying. I started to see my OB every week and we are seriously in the home stretch. Things started to hit me that our new baby will be here very soon and nesting has officially kicked in. I recruited Caleb and my parents to clean the carpets in our bedrooms, rearrange the nursery and go through all the toys, clothes, blankets etc. – they were troopers! I feel like we accomplished so much this weekend, but we still have a lot to do!

dress|tote bag|sandals|sunglasses

HOW FAR ALONG?

34 weeks and three days. Getting close to the end!

HOW ARE YOU FEELING?

Overall – eh. Ha. It’s no joke being pregnant in the summer! I’m just thankful that I have the ability to work on the blog from home where the a/c is on full blast. It’s H-O-T and I am very pregnant. We live in a three-story townhouse, so the stairs are starting to become a beating, but at least I can count it as random exercise 🙂 All joking aside, I am trying not to dwell on not feeling “great” but knowing there is an end in sight. I try to rest when William naps and then be completely present for him when he’s awake. I want to soak up every second with my first baby and the time is going way too fast!

GENDER GUESSES

As we get closer to our due date I am so unsure about what we are having. I told Caleb that if they say “It’s a girl” I won’t be shocked and if they say “It’s a boy” I won’t be shocked either! So different than last time. I was SO confident that William was a boy, that I probably would have passed out if they said “It’s a girl!” And honestly, I can see us as family of two little boys just as much as I see William loving on and protecting his little sister. I can’t wait to share the news with you guys once baby #2 is here! If you’re interested.. here is what the Old Wives Tales are predicting.

NAMES

This is where I wish we knew what we were having. It would be nice to know we either need a boy name or a girl name! We’re getting closer on each, but like last time we will most likely head to the hospital with a list of a few boy and girl names and wait until we meet our new baby.

CRAVINGS

When you can’t eat the one thing you’re craving it makes for not a lot of fun! I’m ready to veg out on a pint of Talenti ice cream 🙂

GESTATIONAL DIABETES

I am still controlling gestational diabetes through my diet. The diet is based around limiting carbs and getting enough protein/veggies. Thankfully, it’s well controlled!

WEIGHT GAIN

So far I’ve gained 14 pounds. The slow weight gain over the last month was due to counting carbs and eliminating sugar. I remember this happening when I was pregnant with William, too. I’m trying to add in a few more snacks throughout the day to help get more calories, while also making sure they fit within the gestational diabetes diet.

MATERNITY CLOTHES

I am working on a post that will highlight my favorite maternity items, but here are a few favorite outfits so far: this white off the shoulder dress, this red striped maxi dress and this white dress. I will say its easier to get away with wearing non-maternity in the summer by wearing loose, breezy dresses.

EXERCISE

I am still keeping up with Flywheel classes and plan to continue as long as I can. Because exercise is so important in controlling gestational diabetes I am making a point to make at least two classes a week. It may not seem like a lofty goal, but I am just glad that I have been able to keep up with it from the beginning of the year when I found out I was pregnant.

SLEEP

Sleep has been good! I haven’t started getting up for those middle of the night bathroom breaks yet,so I’m feeling pretty rested when I wake up in the morning.

SIGNS OF LABOR

Lots of braxton hicks contractions, which is new to me! I didn’t feel them at all when I was pregnant with William, but I guess once your body has gone through pregnancy and labor once, it all comes more natural the second time around.

Thanks for reading and for all of your love and support since first sharing I was pregnant in March! xoxo

dress|tote bag|sandals|sunglasses

Cheers,

Stia, Jean and Katherine