Baby Advice

My sister-in-law, Lori, wrote a great post offering some advice to me as I was about to have my first baby. I thought I'd do the same for my sister-in-law, Kayla. Here's some (unsolicited) advice about what I've come to learn, but the biggest piece of advice is to take ALL advice but ultimately go with what works best for you and your family. Everyone will have advice to give and some of it is great and some of it is not. This is what I have learned and what helped me but each baby and each family is different so follow your instinct.

-Delivery: I was nervous for my delivery. Both times. It's totally normal. I hope you have a wonderful delivery and everything goes as planned, but mostly I hope you and baby are healthy and you can look back at your delivery with at least some happiness.

-Breastfeeding: The start of breastfeeding can be hard. Lucy latched right on with no problems but we had to work a little with Kyle. It's going to hurt for the first few weeks. You'll get in the shower and have to face away from the water because it hurts. It's just sore as your body gets used to it. The actual latch shouldn't cause extraordinary pain (that can mean a bad latch) but it's totally normal to feel sore for a few weeks. Take advantage of any hospital nurses or lactation consultants who can help you. It will make you feel more confident that you're doing it right. Kyle nurses like a champ now even though it was a rough start. If breastfeeding doesn't work out though, it's OK. Formula is a great option also.

-Sleeping: They say to sleep when the baby sleeps. This is true. Not necessarily sleeping every time they sleep but at least resting. With Lucy, she was up at least every 2 hrs to eat. It was hard. So, I would try to sleep as soon as I fed her to make sure to get as much uninterrupted sleep as possible. Both of my babies wanted to be held when they slept at first and didn't seem to like being swaddled. With Kyle, we pushed through him being fussy in the sleep sack, all swaddled, and he actually really likes it now. It helps him sleep and I'm sure he sleeps longer than he would without it. It really depends on the baby, but from my experience, it helped a lot and was worth the first fussy night putting him down in it (having to comfort him every half hour or so just by patting him so he wouldn't start really crying) so that we can sleep in our bed at night. This was after about a month. But no matter the sleep situation, it does get better and you will get through it!

-Postpartum depression: Just wanted to say a quick note on this. It is very common (1 in 8 women). Most women have "baby blues" right after delivery but if it sticks around more than a week or is feeling very overwhelming, please make sure to talk to someone about it.

Most of all just enjoy those early days and get lots of pictures (I know you will!). It goes so fast. Enjoy every age as it comes. We are so excited for you to have your baby boy!