5 ways to get ready for Baby's 1st Christmas

We are getting ready for baby's first Christmas and even though he is still to small to recall we hope to make this holiday as special for him as he has made it for us...

1.Take some pictures for the memories:
Even though baby is to small to remember it will be super cool to look back and show him how tiny he actually was.

2. Put up the Tree:
After a challenging past few months i can finally say that we are getting in to the Christmas spirit.

Usually i would of gone festive crazy from the 1st of November but due to my brother being in  a car accident and hospitalized, us moving homes, and having a baby bump as big as a watermelon; Christmas prep was something that just did not feel quite right to get in to.

Luckily my brother is doing much better and hopefully soon we will have him in tip top shape and back home again. With faith in God and the Angels we wait patiently.

But now we have our Baby Boy to celebrate and this will be his 1st Christmas!!! So our this years humble tree has been put up and we now have our first family photo...

3. Make Baby's 1st Christmas ornament.
I made this one out of Polymer-clay; This decoration was made for my God-Son Sotiris who will also be celebrating his first Christmas. The S stands for Sotiris.

4. Play Christmas music.
Eve though baby can't remember events at this small age, baby can get accustomed to sounds and smells. So play your favorite Christmas songs for your baby. I really enjoy "Kenny G Christmas" and baby finds it soothing and actually falls asleep to it.

5. Festive Smells.
Same as sounds and music start filling your home with the festive smells. These smells will remind your baby of his home childhood for ever. So bake something festive, light a scented candle and drink tea with a cinnamon stick in it.

5 Steps to getting back into your jeans

So... i have about 15-20 pairs of jeans in my wardrobe; and yes, i love them all!
Trouble is after 9 months of pregnancy and 3 weeks of breastfeeding, none of my beloved jeans actually fit :(

Therefore i decided that its time to get back in to shape (without affecting the quality and quantity of my breast-milk). My current weight is 62 kg and my goal weight is 55 kg. And these are the 5 steps i plan on following to get there...

Step 1: Cut out the sugar.
As i have been drinking a lot of warm beverages like tea for the cold weather and not a fan of honey in my tea; i have been adding 1 tsp of sugar to each cup of tea. I know... not the healthiest decision. So starting now sugar will be band from my beverages!  And this will be my step 1 to getting back in my pre-pregnancy jeans!

Step 2: Portions.
I am known for overdoing it a little when it comes to my meal portions. So for me this will probably be the hardest step but i am determined to make this change. So i will be reducing my portions to healthier quantities rather than that little extra that was usually added to the plate.

Step 3: H2O.
Yep, we have all heard it before and most of us just ignore it! Drink water!! So step 3 will be to get a sufficient intake of water which i believe has been lacking in my regular diet.

Step 4: Move it.
Time to get moving again! Before falling pregnant i was going to Taekwondo classes, dancing and taking dog for walks. Never-mind living on the second floor with no elevator. Now at a ground-floor home and a new born in my care; its a little hard to get out or do classes. But this wont be my excuse as i will make time for at least 30 minutes of moving it during the day. It may include dancing around the house while cleaning up and doing a few sit ups and a few squats for start.

Step 5: Rethink the grocery list.
Before i take my list and head off to the grocery store; i will be filtering my choices. Instead of the chocolate covered cereal we usually get, i will get some oats or even some special-K cereal. Plan to make better choices!

xoxo Good Luck!

Natasha

Breastfeeding - 5 things you should know

I am currently breastfeeding my 3 week old baby boy and am so glad to have these 5 things in mind...

1.Small Tummy: Newborn tummies are quite small; so in the beginning of breastfeeding your baby does not need a lot of milk to feel full. Nevertheless new babies may find breastfeeding as a little bit of hard work so it might take a new born approximately 30 min-1 hour of suckling to get the few drops needed to fill up.

2. Fast Milk: Also breast milk is easily digested, so don't worry if your baby is looking for the next feeding after an hour from the last feeding.

3. Breast Pain: Breastfeeding can be painful for the first month or so. But as time goes by your breast will feel less painful and the experience of breastfeeding will become more enjoyable. Also there is Lanolin cream to help with the nipple sores and pain.

4. People will talk: No matter what you decide to do, people will always think they know best. Don't allow anyone to pressure you in to breastfeeding or o feed your baby formula. It should be your choice and what suits you and your baby.  Advise on  techniques and helpful tips can be very helpful but further then that make sure you feel comfortable with the decisions you make.

5. Comfort: Make sure both you and your baby are comfortable. Breastfeeding can be stressful if you are feeling uncomfortable. So don't be shy to excuse yourself for a feeding if you not happy with the environment you are in. Also wearing easy open and close clothing will make your life easy as baby does not have much patience when he/she is hungry to wait for you to undress.

So these are the 5 things that i found helpful to know and comforting during my first weeks of breastfeeding.
I hope they help you too.

xoxo Natasha

Preparing your Dog for a new Baby

We have had our Baby Boy home for two weeks now; but have been preparing our Lab Hugo for the Baby's arrival for quite a while now.

In general our dog is such a sensitive and gentle soul on his own, so i was not to nervous about how he would receive the new family member.

Nevertheless my husband and i took a few steps to ensure that everything would go smoothly.
At 8 months pregnant it just happened that we decided to move home. So we needed to get settled in ourselves as well as get our dog Hugo used to the new environment.

Luckily the new place has a large back yard which is very helpful for the times that we are not able to take Hugo on all his walks. Hugo was used to go out for a walk 3 times a day (morning 7:00, afternoon 16:00 and evening 20:00) as we used to live in a apartment on the second floor with no garden obviously.

Prep 1- DOG WALKS

Moving in to the new place helped us lay out a new schedule for our dog. My husband continues to take him for the 7:00 a clock morning walk, i let him out in the garden about twice a day for 30 minutes a time and in the evening my husband takes him out once again.

It is very important that the dog still gets his time outside and his regular exercise even after baby is here. So make sure to prepare a walking plan before baby arrives.

It would be a good idea to get your dog used to going on his walks accompanied by different family members and friends that might be helping you out when baby arrives.

Also if it is difficult to keep to a stable walking time; try taking your dog out at various times so that he/she may get used to going out at irregular times.

Prep 2- BOUNDARIES

Get your dog used to boundaries before baby arrives. For example make sure that it is clear that the nursery is off limits. Do not try to implement new rules after baby arrives as this might create a little jealousy.

Prep 3- FEEDING & HEALTH

Do not on any circumstances neglect your dogs basic needs. Make sure your pup is well fed and healthy. Also do not skip visits at the vet as your dogs health should be in tip top shape especially when expecting a new born.

Prep 4- OBEDIENCE 

It is important that there is clear understanding between you and your dog before baby arrives. Your dog should be able to recognize  and obey simple commands like sit, stay, and know the meaning of yes and no.

If these 4 prep steps are covered there should be no problem bringing your baby home to meet your pup.

Hope you enjoyed this post as well as our photos of Hugo and a Baby Mario.

xoxo Natasha

Baby Boy - First experience as a mother - Breastfeeding

We had a Baby Boy!!!
Its been two weeks now that God has Blessed us with such a beautiful soul.
My husband and i are now proud parents of our son who we named Mario after my father.

For those who have read a few of my other posts, you may know that we did not find out the gender of the baby util baby was actually born...
You would imagine that after 9 months of suspense the gender would be the first thing you would want to know as baby comes out; but at that moment to be honest i forgot that i did not know the gender and just help my baby in my arms thanking God that the delivery went well and that baby was ok.

It took me several minutes to remember and ask what the gender of the baby was. I asked my husband who was sitting at my head and he already knew. So i suspect that the doctors must of mentioned it before, but with my confusion i did not even hear them.

Nevertheless i am super happy to have my beautiful boy  here at home and its been an unbelievable two weeks; full of surprises, mixed feelings, nerves, challenges and many many rewards.

Night 1:

The first night with baby was at the clinic. Most of the other mothers who gave birth on the same day (2nd of November by the way) had left their new born in the care of the midwives. But then again i was supervised to find out that most  of the mothers were not planning on exclusively breastfeeding their baby's. After the first night with baby by my side i kind of figured out why the other mothers decided to add formula to their baby's diet. Baby would wake up and cry for food every 10 minutes or so. At this point i was scared that i was starving my baby; but i just kept getting up and giving him the little breast milk i was producing every few minutes.

In the morning when the pediatrician came to check on baby i asked if my last nights experience was normal and he confirmed that it was. He advised to be  an option if patient and that slowly but surely more milk would be produced on baby's demand. The doctor also reassured me that giving formula would be only an option if baby dropped weight radically and more that usual ( it is normal for baby's to loose some of their birth weight in the first days).

Night 2:

Night 2 was not much different from night 1 and on that day i asked my husband to run to the supermarket to get some formula just for in case. Having the formula around gave me the safety that if needed it was there. 2 weeks later i still have the unopened-unused formula and proud that i have not been tempted to use it even during the sleepless first nights.

Day 3 - Night 3:

After day 3 i seem to have more breast milk coming down and baby seems more satisfied. He does not wake up so frequently and has made a routine of waking very 2-3 hours for a feeding.

At this point i must worn you about a few breastfeeding related discussants... 

• Sensitive and painful nipples: This starts immediately when first breastfeeding the first week is quite painful but it does get better and by the second week the pain is no longer an issue; Although nipples still are quite sensitive in week 2 also. 
• Leaking: Once the milk starts coming down you will experience some leaking. I use breast pads from NUK which are quite comfortable.
• Hard breasts: You may notice that your breasts start to harden when the milk comes down. This can also be painful. I managed to keep this under control by applying the shower head (with warm water running on to my breasts every time i would take a shower for a few minutes. This was a helpful tip from m sister which i find totally worth sharing with other new moms.

Night 4 and so on:

Breastfeeding has become much easier and baby is content with his meals. We have taken Baby Mario to his first check us at the doctors since the clinic and he has gained 500 gr which the doctor was very pleased with.  Dr. said there is no need to give my baby formula as his development seems to be good just with the breast milk. 

Helpful gadgets:

I have a breast pump at home which is very helpful! I recommend that every breastfeeding mom have one. This is very convenient to have a bottle or two pumped out for when baby is strapped in the car seat and gets hungry. This limits crying in the car or having to stop in random places to pop out the breast.  I am using the SWING MEDELA breast pump which i am very happy with and find easy to use.