Friday, August 22, 2014

friday favorites: newborn ed.

I feel like there's an actual link-up somewhere called 'friday favorites'...but I'm too lazy to go find it, so I'll just steal the name and take it from there.

Since Camilla is only 17 days old, I don't think I can quite consider myself an expert on all things baby just yet...but there are a few things that I can safely consider my favorite(s) already. Let's see if I can get to them all before homegirl wakes up from her nap, shall we?

1. SimplyNoise

Not sponsored, not anything...just amazing white, pink, and brown noise. I know- who knew there were other colors of white noise? Not me. But the brown noise has saved our lives nights. Millie doesn't cry at night, but she does make tons of weird baby (and barnyard) noises that are incredibly distracting for people who want to sleep. Since we started turning on the brown noise, we all three get a lot more peaceful sleep. I'm not sure if it somehow discourages her from making all her sounds, or if it just drowns them out...whatever it is, I'm not messing with it. Brown noise for the win!!! (And this brown noise is not to be confused with the brown note episode of South Park, which was basically the funniest thing on earth to me in high school. We definitely do not want to be playing the brown note in our house...)

2. Bath time

Millie LOVES her bath at night. You already saw the picture of her in her Blooming Bath...it has the same effect on her every single night. Instant baby relaxation. I swear she purrs when she's laying in the sink, enjoying the warm water pouring over her. And after the bath is over, you get to have a cuddly baby in a hooded towel!!! Everybody wins!!


3. Generosity.

I'm sure everyone loves being the recipient of generosity, regardless of whether you have a newborn or not, but I have been blown away this week.


See that? That's the spare fridge/freezer in my in-laws' basement. See what's completely filling the entire freezer? Donated breast milk. Not pictured is my freezer, which is also filled. We received over 1,400 ounces of donated breast milk this week. (And there are another 340 ounces that we just couldn't store, but can go get later once we free up space.) I'm a big believer that 'breast is best,' but it wasn't a super viable option for us this time. (Yes, I'm aware of adoptive breastfeeding, but for a variety of reasons, it wasn't in the cards for us this go-round.) J was willing and able to breastfeed Camilla twice right after she was born- we were all incredibly thankful for this gift for her health and immunity. And since then, she's been doing super well on formula. But I'd been hoping to find some donated breast milk to supplement her formula with, and...well, sometimes God provides beyond your wildest dreams. This isn't just a few bottles worth. This is months of liquid gold. Millie is a big fan so far, and I oscillate between being most excited about the health benefits for Millie and the dollar bill benefits to me as we can cut WAY down on how much formula we have to buy!

If the idea of using donated breast milk skeeves you out-- don't worry. It's actually safe (the way we're doing it- not to say that there aren't sketchy stories and Craigslist situations that should be avoided) and probably more common than you'd think. This is something we discussed with our pediatrician (who supported the idea) and that we're incredibly thankful for and in favor of for our baby. Yay! 

4. Generosity, Part II.

Hand-me-downs. Probably 90% of Camilla's wardrobe is either a hand-me-down or something from a yard sale or consignment shop. And she looks TOTALLY STINKING CUTE ALL THE TIME.


I mean...look at her!! There are plenty of expenses that come with babies (and let's not forget the adoption itself!!), so I'm really grateful that we haven't had to spend a lot (or any, really...besides a few things I just couldn't help myself about) of money on her fabulous wardrobe. Also, now that I am experiencing first-hand how quickly she grows out of stuff- I feel even gladder I've not given in to more temptation at BabyGap and Target. She's already outgrown things!! She's not even three weeks old!! This is madness!!

And the clothes are one thing, but wanna know what I'm even more thankful to have received (FOR FREE) secondhand? Her entire stash of cloth diapers.

ENTIRE. STASH.

Most of my cloth diapering friends say that if you have 18-21 cloth diapers, you'll be set until they potty train. That gives you enough to get through with doing diaper laundry every 2-3 days, which is apparently the prime amount of time to a) not go crazy doing laundry, and b) not have your house get stinky with dirty diapers. But at $20+ bucks a pop, getting your initial diaper stash can be a pricey undertaking (although- take into account, once you GET your stash...you spend basically $0 on diapers for the rest of their days, unless you choose to use disposables for trips or special occasions or babysitters or whatever).

So please try to imagine how thrilled I am to have been given (FOR FREEEEEE) 36 cloth diapers. Try to imagine my happiness. I guess there are certain advantages to having taken SO LONG to have your first baby that the rest of your friends are DONE having babies and ready to get rid of all their baby stuff, including cloth diapers! 

We haven't actually started using the cloth diapers yet (we were gifted tons of disposables, too, and since she goes through about 80 diapers a day these days...yeah, gonna keep using up those disposables), but I regularly just sit and stare at them and think about how thankful I am that I won't be throwing money away every week buying Pampers. Thankful thankful thankful. 

So...those are my favorite things for newborns so far. Sorry that some of the things aren't so easily obtainable (just run to the store and pick up some generous friends!)...but they're the things that are my favorites right now. Maybe next time I'll pick things that are actually purchase-able items. 

Hope you have a wonderful weekend. We are looking forward to Matt's family all coming in to town to meet Millie for the first time! And I have my first shower on Sunday!

36 comments:

  1. This is a great post!! The donated milk gave me a little tear. Moms who do that are basically heroes! And getting all your diapers for free??!! Yes, amazing. I love the pictures you're posting...why do I feel like she looks like you guys? It's kind of amazing.

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  2. Can we go back to the part where you said "Millie doesn't cry at night."..... Like never? She sleeps through? Or she just cries for food and goes back to sleep?

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    1. Haha- no, she doesn't sleep through. She goes 3-4 hour stretches until she gets hungry, then she just starts grunting and making noises when she's ready to eat. I suppose that if we didn't snatch her up and feed her quickly, she might START crying, but we try to avoid getting to that point!! I mostly just meant that she doesn't do the hours of inconsolable colicky screaming that some babies seem to enjoy. :)

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  3. AUGH! I am SO HAPPY for #3 and #4!!! I've donated milk to two local mommas and am so glad you are receiving the same generosity in GA! And I somehow missed that you are CD'ing. How did I miss that?! So excited for you!

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  4. Your friends and others are so very generous!! And can I just add that it's crazy how much she has changed in just 3 week!!

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  5. Awh, I love this! We just use a (loud) humidifier as our white noise, but it was definitely a life saver - especially in CO where were are super dry and the kid's nasal passages are so tiny. Moist air + white noise = awesomesauce. :)

    YAY for donated breastmilk!! I donated some to my neighbor (mom of twins) when she had supply issues for awhile and when I was in MN for vacation my cousin brought a bunch so I didn't have to travel with it (I left Harvey with my parents for a few days). Not to mention the cost savings of not having to buy formula. Fantastic!

    Also, I thought I'd care more about buying new clothes - um, not at all. Especially the 1st couple of years, kids go through clothes so fast that hand-me-downs are usually like new anyway and SUPER cute to beat. So glad you have a good line for great clothes so you can spend that money on the gazillion other things that will come up in life and parenting.

    So happy to hear that things are going so well for you guys!

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  6. I haven't read your blog for a few weeks and what a surprise this AM when I see your pic with your beautiful daughter! That is fantastic about the donated breast milk. I am a low supply mama who can't exclusively breastfeed for medical reasons--donors are AMAZING and help adoptive and low supply moms so selflessly! So happy for you and Matt, Erika!

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  7. Ok, I am super intrigued about the donated breast milk. Is it from a bank, or from acquaintances and friends? Seems like the best of both worlds. The nutrition of breast milk, AND Matt can help you feed her.

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  8. This post makes me so happy! Thank goodness for generous friends!!! Though you and matt are well-deserving of this :) What an exciting weekend!!! Can't wait to see pictures from the shower!!

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  9. Yea for milk sharing and breastmilk for Millie!! Are you going to give her a little every day or use all the breastmilk then switch back to formula?

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  10. I am so amazed at the amount of breast milk that was donated! SO awesome!! SO happy for you! After Clara turned one I donated all my remaining freezer milk to a friend who was going back to work. :)

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  11. Wow, what a blessing! I love to see all that liquid gold. You won't have to cry over spilled breast milk since there's more where that came from. So awesome and such a great start for Millie! I too love hand me downs. After this post and all the bags of clothes that we've received from neighbors for our extra two in the past 2 weeks, I know there are great people in this world!

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  12. Friday Favorites is at Momfessionals.com :)

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  13. DO NOT LET YOUR REFRIGERATOR/FREEZER ACT UP AGAIN ANYTIME EVER IN AT LEAST THE NEXT 11 MONTHS!! And if it does, you save that liquid gold lickety-split!

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    1. But if your freezer DOES act up, you can completely safely refreeze thawed, previously frozen (redundant??) breast milk once.

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  14. So happy to see that amazing milk stash! The generosity of others is heartwarming. Love it.
    I see you have Millie in one of my must-haves - the Fisher Price Rock n Play. LOVE. NEED.

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    1. DITTO THIS. I have two Rock n Plays, and I'm not sure that's enough.

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  15. Oh my heart Millie is beyond beautiful! That dress is way too cute!!!
    I'm past the child bearing years, but I still enjoy learning about all the new fun items (and not so new...I was a cloth diapered baby).
    Is there anything more yummy then a freshly tubbied baby snugglie wrapped in a hoodie towel? I didn't think so!

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  16. Wonderful! I love that you received donated breast milk and cloth diapers! Such generous and loving friends you have!

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  17. I love all of your favorite things and I'm so happy for you :)

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  18. Love all of this! I am considering donating to a milk bank, it's so great to see such generosity :) we love our blooming bath too - so cute!

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  19. Very cool about the donated milk! If I was a good friend, I would have kept pumping after I weaned the twins to donate to you… that would have ensured that Camilla would be a fan of cookies, trail mix, and Mexican food, I'm pretty sure.

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  20. I can't even get over that milk stash you just got. That is roughly worth about $3,879 in formula at least :) Seriously, so cool to see how much y'all are being blessed with this little girl!

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  21. She is so adorable! And I love her name. Keep the happy baby posts coming!

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  22. I had no idea there were other colors of noise. Huh. And I am so happy to see people bless you with breastmilk, clothes, and cloth diapers (especially the milk!). She is a loved little girl!!

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  23. I don't think I will want my baby to be fed on breast milk donated by other women who I have no control on what they eat, or what medication they may be taking and how they clean their kitchen to prepare the food they eat..... I'm a clean freak and having my baby fed by other women's milk is creepy... But one can say that cows' milk and therefore formula are just the same... But cows are raised in controlled environment that is subject to government inspection and the cows are fed on a standardized diet and the milk produced has to be FDA approved...But how good or bad other human womens' breast milk on my baby, I will have no idea... Do they smoke in smog in her car while driving, did she inhale secondary smoke in her family? Do they live in toxic former oil field? Did she eat preservatives, and a high fat diet? Or worse, medication that I don't know about? How about certain people just have some genetic influence on the milk they produce that may not be good for my baby? Call me paranoid, but there will be no donated breast milk for my baby.

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  24. That's wonderful about all that milk! You'll love cloth diapering too. We started using them around six weeks once he'd grown into them a little more and we haven't looked back. The savings have been unreal. So happy for you guys!

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  25. She is soooo beautiful!!!!! I will gladly fawn over any Millie picture texts sent my way. (Hint, hint.) That breast milk stash is Ah-mazing. Considering the effort of pumping, that is a truly beautiful gift! And Millie deserves every ounce of it. :)

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  26. WOW! The pic of your freezer blows my mind. So generous! And I love all the hand-me-down clothes and cloth diapers, too. You guys deserve every bit of it!

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  27. Your freezer stash is seriously the most awesome thing. What kind and generous friends you must have because that is some serious time spent pumping . So glad you are able to provide your sweet girl with bmilk--and save some moola for cute baby+mama fashions! Many congrats again!

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  28. So awesome! The freezer stash, the diapers - everything! I love the power of community - what a blessing this is to read :)

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  29. To the person above... Good questions. I'm a milk donor and now that I've gone through the process, I would feel confident accepting donated milk. The process is very involved, and they screen blood, DNA (to match it to the milk so they know the milk came from you), medications, lifestyle, etc. they even get your Heath records from your doctor and your baby's doctor and there are many rules. I routinely run temperature checks on my freezer and report all vitamins, medications and certain foods of interest to my bank.

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  30. That milk stash is legit. I love you are writing about life as a mom, this is the best!!!

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  31. She is so adorable! Love that dress!
    And yay for the donated milk!!

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  32. I love all these posts! I've had my hands a little busy lately but I have been reading. Donated milk, baby wearing, cloth dipes- girl let your crunchy flag fly!

    We love our cloth diapers but are building our stash slowly. I still have to wash them daily. You have some super awesome people in your life!

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  33. Yay for generous friends! Seriously, they are the best when it comes to surviving the costs of raising kids. If you lived closer I would seriously give you hand me downs from Rachel for Millie but it sounds like you have some closer sources :)

    Also, that is so awesome about the donated breast milk. If I had had extra milk I would have totally donated it but I had low milk supply so I barely had enough for my kids. Oh well. I think it's great that women are willing to share their extra milk.

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