ALL THE BAGS PT 3: THE POST-PARTUM BAG

Time for the last bag of all the bags. The postpartum bag....aka THE MOST EMBARRASSING BAG EVER. I really debated posting this just out of personal embarrassment but then I thought "You know, this is just part of it." If I'm gonna share the fun, exciting parts along the journey of pregnancy/parenthood, then I'm gonna share the embarrassing, not-so-fun parts. Let's just be real, there's some gross things that come along with pregnancy, labor, and the first few weeks (months?!) postpartum. Honestly, until I was pregnant and began looking up things for myself...I'd never heard of really any of the things the body goes through beyond the actual labor part and, to me, the first few weeks after sounds way worse than the actual labor and delivery! How had I never heard these things?! Because no one wants to talk about it. And I'm sure with a brand new baby to obsess over, non of this is gonna seem that bad. My focus will be elsewhere. 

Non-pregnant women and definitely any men may want to stop reading now. So without further explanation....

The bag is the 31 large utility tote. I LOVE this bag. For now it'll be used to house all these giant packs of things, but I'm thinking eventually it'll be great as a kind of toy box for Thea.

The first thing I gathered supplies for was DIY Padsicles that everyone (pinterest, mommy bloggers, etc) raves about. Apparently these are #1 MUST HAVE item for postpartum healing. Basically it's the biggest, super-sized mega pad you can find (The Always overnight maxi's are just that) with aloe vera, witch hazel, and lavender oil soaked into them and then frozen. It's a heavenly, soothing ice pack for your "business".

So the giant pads obviously need some giant panties to hold them. I totally plan on rocking the fantastic mesh ones the hospital gives you while I am there, but I picked up my own for home. I opted for boy briefs cause that just seems like it'd be more comfortable than actually briefs. Just like wearing a pair of shorts...right? Apparently even with giant pads, there is the chance of leaking, depending on the...flow. So I saw moisture pads recommended for sitting on and I thought PUPPY PADS! This is a giant pack so they are going to come in handy when little miss starts sleeping in her crib. I saw a genius tip to put little moisture pads under the sheet and layer your sheets up (pad, sheet, pad, sheet, etc) so that when baby has an accident in the middle of the night, you can just strip off the sheet and pad and there's a new one under it. Easy!

Ahhh... the "tender bits" care. From what I hear, and obviously after the stretching (and possible tearing) that comes from delivering a baby, things are a bit sore down there for a while and things as simple as toilet paper will feel like sand paper. Hence, the wipes. Hemorrhoidal medicated wipes for the back part if the pushing causes hemorrhoids. Regular  personal wipes for the front part. I also got pain reliever to help with the soreness and Miralax and Colace were BOTH recommend for helping with the first postpartum BM- which is apparently way worse than labor itself?! 

The down below bits are the only sensitive parts that need care. I have some Lanolin nipple cream in my breast feeding pump bag but got another one for this. The cream is to help with the drying and cracking (ouch!) that can come with breastfeeding. I also got the soothie gel pads for cooling relief. I got a couple boxes of Mother's Milk tea which is supposed to help with producing milk, just in case that is an issue. I really want breastfeeding to work out.

And that makes up my Postpartum Care Kit. Now, I've never had a baby before. I have no idea if any of this will actually be needed. I am perfectly fine if ALL of it isn't needed. But the last thing I wanted was to find myself needing ANY of it when I get home and having to worry about getting to the store to get it. Now, I am prepared and that gives me peace of mind.

So that's it. All my baby bags packed and ready for Miss Thea to make her appearance.

*** EDIT: Looking at the supplies picture, I just realized I forgot to include the Epsom salts! I figured a whole bath would be easier than the sitz bath you put on the toilet that they want you to do. Plus... Baths are my favorite! ***

WOW...WHAT A WEEKEND!

To be honest, I was dreading this last weekend all week long. I gave myself a lot of pep talks trying to talk myself into being ready. There were plans for each day of the weekend and the funny thing is... they were all FUN plans. Nothing I should dread at all. But most of you know (and I've posted here a couple years ago) I have a severe case of homebody-itis. Especially when special monthly hormones just tell me to sleep. 

But, as always, it was worth fighting myself. This weekend was so much fun! The most social weekend I've had in a very long time. Here's the recap:

Friday: One of our friends from our LifeGroup threw a birthday party for his wife at their house. It was great getting to know them a little more outside of our LifeGroup setting.

Saturday: In the AM, Chris's work had a family day where they opened up the warehouse and cooked out. You could tour the warehouse and see how they put together the locomotives and there was bounce houses and activity booths for the kids. It was nice getting to meet his work friends and finally put a face to the names. In the PM, my sister-in-law, Erica, had her 80's themed birthday bash! It was fun getting dressed up (my husband even let me poof his hair and give him a mullet!) and having a good time with family. There was a lot of photo booth fun as well...

Sunday: Church in the AM and then Chris's dad and step-mom came over to watch the Cowboys game.

AND my lazy homebody tendencies were even appeased this weekend since I was off work yesterday (Monday) and got to lay in bed all day reading. All in all, a pretty great weekend.

How about you guys? Did y'all do anything fun this weekend?

SO LONG SUMMER

Wow. It's been almost 4 months since my last post. And what a busy 4 months it's been!

The school year ended...

We went on a family vacation to Branson, Missouri...

Sisters (that's Robert Downey Jr and King King photobombing)

Grand Village Shopping

My beautiful niece and I at Silver Dollar City

Mom and Dad

I went to Florida for a teacher seminar at Pensacola Christian College...

Pesacola Beach

(in lesser news) I did a lot of hair and changed my own hair- bye bye Red!

and (in much bigger news) we got a house!

To see the inside, check out my video here!

Once July hit everything has basically been non stop. Everything happened so fast that now I find myself sitting here wondering how on earth it's possible the summer is already over?Yesterday was actually my first day back to work...I completely failed at my goal to blog more over the summer. I have found I actually do much better at most things when I am in my normal routine. Including, unfortunately the gym. And 2 week long trips followed by 2 solid weeks of working at the new house each night until 10pm or later has meant a lot of not so healthy meal choices. I have refused to weigh in again, too scared that I have gained back everything and lost all the progress I had made. It's very disappointing to say the least, but in the end this has been an amazing past 4 months and I have been too blessed to focus on the negatives. I am confident that now that I am getting back in routine with work and we are getting settled into the house, that I can get back on track. 

You may have noticed a few other changes....here in my little piece of the Internet. I have a new name! I've been wanting something for awhile now that at least gave some sort of first impression of what my blog was about. And since generally it is just me sharing my life with you- "A Cup of T...(iffany)" was born. That does mean that my web address has changed. So if you have me added to your blog list, you may need to change it.

Thanks for reading and caring. =)

FUN FACT FRIDAY #3

QuickTrip gas stations are Safe Places for homeless youth!

I thought this was very cool. SafePlace is a national non-profit organization that helps troubled youth (among other people) by providing a place to go when they need help. There are several locations that have volunteered to be a "safe place", including QuickTrip.

When someone finds themself on the street, these safe places offer a place to go receive food and drink. They are able to wait there until professional help or a solution to their problem has been resolved.

I love this! Just wanted to get the word out.

FUN FACT FRIDAY #2

Anatidaephobia is the fear that somewhere in the world, there is a duck watching you.

I have to admit that after hearing this I looked it up. I wanted to know more about it and its causes. It was during that research that I learned that this is not an actual fact *maybe I should throw in a disclaimer here that any facts listed on "fun fact friday" may be proven to not be legitimate FACTS. You cannot believe everything you hear or read after all, and I am not a scientist*. It is a fictional phobia created in the Far Side comic, but I thought it too funny (and strange!) not to share! 

just because I thought this was funny

FUN FACT FRIDAY #1

Fire Ants can imitate textiles and liquid. During a flood, fire ants can form a raft with their bodies that can stay afloat for a few months.

People who know me well know that I hate ants (traumatizing incident as a child), so naturally I was drawn to a documentary about fire ants a couple nights ago on netflix. It was so fascinating so I've decided to start my new blog series "Fun Fact Friday" with a couple tidbits I learned from that.

Basically, ant colonies are these amazing super organisms. Protection of the colony, especially the young, is the top priority. And because of that, ants have a few cool tricks. When flooded, ants form a raft with their bodies. They are connected to approximately 8 other ants at a time. The raft can stay afloat for a few months before finding a new surface to rebuild on. Even cooler than that- the raft is not submerged when pressed on. Instead it bends and flexes forming a bowl.

Like the rafting technique, ants also connect their bodies to form a ball. The ball can be tossed and even pulled apart, with a consistency and texture much like a ball of gum. Another cool trick- if you were to take the ball of ants and put it in a funnel or pour them from a cup, instead of the ants falling straight to the ground, they trickle like a fluid stream safely down.

Now there are tons of more interesting facts about ants from colony politics to the intricately tunneled mounds they call home. But these were the two I found most interesting and had no clue about! I know I am a nerd, but I hope you found that as interesting as I did. I highly recommend watching the documentary. The narrator is awful but the information is cool.