9 Things I'm Glad I Did

The after effects of laughing gas

Joel caught the tail end of me using little too much gas and it completely numbed my lips so I couldn't talk. 

1. I am reeeally glad I had an epidural and laughing gas. I loved the laughing gas, I wish they had it in the states. (from what I understand they don't at least)
   
   
2. I am so glad we swaddle Emma. I've heard they are kind of against it here in Sweden, but everyone does it in the states so I figured it's fine. ;) When she was a newborn, she would jerk awake all the time and it took foreeever for her to fall asleep, and I sat there holding her arms so she wouldn't startle herself. A friend of mine on facebook said, "If I didn't swaddle my baby at night, she would whack herself in the face all night!" Then it hit me... THAT'S WHAT MY BABY DOES. Finally I decided to try swaddling her, and she now falls asleep within minutes! This is the woombie I bought for her, and I really like it! But I would recommend buying one that doesn't have the net in front (that is for better circulation they say..), because mine started tearing a hole in it a few days after she started using it... I was super disappointed. I do love how easy it is to put her in it though! Rather than trying to perfectly swaddle her in a blanket and risk her waking up more, this is SO much easier. When she is tired and ready for bed, I put her in this and it doesn't make her more awake.
   
   
3. Joel and I brought LOTS of food to the hospital. We had pre-made food and lots of snacks! After I had Emma and everything had settled down, I told Joel, "Did we bring too much food??" But we ended up staying 3 days in the hospital and it was perfect to have food all the time when they weren't bringing us meals.
   
   
4. Bought a breast pump. Even though I don't pump a lot (I will in advance if I feel like I'll need it), it was nice to have in the beginning. SO WORTH IT. I can't stress it enough, folks.
   
   
5. When I was still pregnant and huge, I came up with the idea to buy something for the baby every time we went to the grocery store. I mean, it kind of gets overwhelming thinking of ALL the stuff you have to buy! I shortened that list a little, and bought the necessities that I knew we would definitely need every time we went to the grocery store. For example.. one time I would buy wipes and binkies, and another time I would buy diapers and nursing pads. I also didn't buy too many of one kind of diapers, so I could test and find which ones were my favorite. I am extremely glad I did this, so we weren't buying even more stuff towards the end and being more poor than we already were ;)
   
   
6. I stocked up on a bunch of heavy pads before I had Emma. I heard you bleed for 3-6 weeks after having a baby, but it went on a lot longer than expected. I am glad I had a lot, let's just leave it at that!
   
   
7. I brought a small outfit and one slightly bigger to the hospital, since I didn't know how big Emma would be. She ended up being teeny, and I am glad I brought the smaller outfit because the one I had originally planned.. it would have drowned her!
   
   
8. I am super glad I brought a nursing pillow to the hospital! It was my first time ever breastfeeding, and I am so glad I had the pillow to help support Emma until I learned the right technique of how to hold her. Before we left for the hospital I asked Joel, "Should I bring this?? It's so big and bulky! I think it will take up too much room!" He then turned to me and said, "If you want to bring it, bring it! Don't worry about bringing too much stuff. You bring WHATEVER you want." Oh my gosh it was so worth it. At the hospital I was in so much pain, trying to teach Emma how to latch, and trying to awkwardly hold her. You can say the pillow helped a lot ;)
   
   
9. The last thing I am really glad I did, was buy The No-Cry Sleep Solution book. I'm not even finished reading it yet, but I absolutely LOVE how this book is focused on lovingly teach your baby how to sleep on their own and through the night. Emma is already a good sleeper (waking up once or rarely twice a night.. she's been like that since the beginning), but I wanted to buy it to understand and learn more anyways! I actually want to read the book, and I don't feel forced trying to read through it. Who knows, our next little one might be a horrible sleeper and this book will come in handy! I can't say enough good things about this book. The author writes in a very casual way, and I can just tell she is so awesome and such a great mom! My favorite thing about this book is how she focuses on teaching your little one to sleep in a loving way. I mean, who doesn't want their little one to feel loved as they fall asleep?
   

My awesome breastfeeding pillow

And there you have it! My list of things I am glad we did, and things we didn't do. I know there are a bunch of these kind of lists going around and everyone is different with their wants and needs, but I wanted to remember what I did... and maybe it could help someone out there who is ready to have a baby ;)

To go with this post, here are 5 Things I Wish I Knew.