Prenatal Yoga

Can I just say before I begin the essence of this post that I am fully frustrated that I can never remember my password for this blog on the first try!  I wonder how many passwords I will create in my lifetime?  My head is already swimming in them.
Moving on, as you can imagine even though I removed my "eating and exercising" tab a while ago, I have still been trying to eat healthy and exercise regularly.  As you may know, my goal is to attempt having a VBAC and I am going to give myself the best opportunity by keeping myself fit, avoiding gestational diabetes, and keeping my body limber.  I admit that flexibility has never been a strength of mine.  With a husband who has a black belt in Tae Kwan Do, I get teased about my lack of flexibility pretty regularly.  No, I can't touch my toes, but they are gross anyway, so I figure I'm not missing out on much.  
In my effort to become more flexible and more fit for this pregnancy, I have been looking into prenatal yoga DVDs.  I have been doing (non-prenatal) Pilates for quite some time, but eventually this DVD is not going to be conducive to my belly that is continuing to grow (this is the DVD I use, by the way, and I love it: 10 Minute Solution: Rapid Results Pilates).
So, I first checked out a library DVD to see what Yoga was all about.  I have read many things that made me leery of trying yoga, specifically the spiritual aspect of it that makes me want to vomit, but I thought if I could find a video that stayed away from that and just focused on the poses, I could deal.
This first DVD I tried, Prenatal Yoga Complete, was hilarious.  I knew I was in trouble when I saw a hyphenated name on the box.  But wow, worst exercise video ever made.  This lady wants to seriously show you how relaxed she is in everything she does, including the time it takes for her to formulate a sentence.  Also, the props are just so time consuming to set up that I never actually get to any of the poses.  I nixed this DVD pretty quickly.
The next DVD I tried was a gift from a friend.  I actually just finished up just now, and I am much more pleased with the outcome.  I was also nervous about the name of the trainer, Shiva Rea, because it just sounded made up to sound like she is an awesome yoga-gal.  But, I guess the name is real- too bad for her.
Well, the video, Prenatal Yoga, is miles and away better than the aforementioned yoga video.  Yes, I had to roll my eyes (I've been doing that a lot lately) at some of the comparisons she made between motherhood and yoga, but other than that I didn't feel over-spiritualized, and I felt like it was very practical in its approach.  Something that was also great was that she had two other ladies doing the exercises with her, one in her 2nd trimester and one in her 3rd trimester.  Rea exampled the first trimester while the other ladies modified their poses for the stage of pregnancy they were in.  So, it is a DVD that I can continue with down to the last days.

Well, I can tell right now that it is going to take me a while before I will be ready to do the full 50 minutes, but I did about 25 minutes and my body can feel the activities in a good way.  Here's to 27 more weeks of preparation.
Did you do yoga during pregnancy?  Did you have a favorite DVD that you can recommend?  

More money down the drain

Have you ever been to Janie and Jack?  Don't go.  They'll steal all your money (Brandon said this is only true if you are female). 
Janie and Jack is a clothing store for babies, toddlers, and young children.  But, unlike other kids clothing stores, everything they sell is ridiculously adorable and ridiculously expensive.  When I go mall walking, I always make a special trip to their door just to "ooh" and "aah" at their clothes, even though I know I could never justify buying them for Noah or any other future child. 
Well, right now they are having their 60% off sale, which means that everything is still ridiculously expensive.  But, Brandon was kind to me and let me buy Noah one outfit (which was ridiculously expensive).  I basically make Noah wear at least part of the outfit everyday just so I feel like I get my money's worth.  I know Noah could care less what he wears, in fact, I think he would rather not wear any clothes at all.  But what is the point of having a baby if you can't make him look adorable, right? 

What is your favorite children's clothing store? 

  (Note: Noah is not allowed to touch outlets or plugs.  He was being a naughty little monkey, but it was the only way I could get him to stand still for a moment to get a picture.)

Top momma diva and baby divo products: Part 2 of many

I can't believe I forgot to mention this on part 1 of this series, but this next product was instrumental to my sanity in the first several months of Noah's life.  The Happiest Baby on the Block - The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Baby Sleep Longer (DVD) was a gift from a friend who also happens to be a nurse and the most incredibly patient mother in the world.  This gift to me was such a blessing and gave me the tools I needed as a first time momma to calm my seemingly inconsolable baby down.  Please, please, please take my word that this is a "must buy" for new mommas or at least a "must borrow".
The next item was Noah's favorite for the first 6 months of his life.  The Fisher-Price Rainforest Melodies & Lights Deluxe Gym was a great tool in Noah's physical development.  Noah had a physical therapist come to our home when he came out of the hospital and said this was a great toy to develop fine and gross motor skills.  I am sure there are other great jungle gyms, I just know that Noah loved, loved, loved this toy and had great success with it.  You should check it out if #1 is on the way.  Does your little one have a specific jungle gym that he/she just adores?
The last product I will mention today is not anything new or exciting.  Moms have been using this stuff for decades, but the results don't lie. For Noah's red bottom days, I use Desitin Diaper Rash Ointment Tube - 4 oz.  Because Noah was in the hospital for so long after birth, I was able to use all the hospital's  different diaper rash creams on him and test them out to see what worked best.  I am sure my tests were not exhaustive of all the millions of products out there.  But, for Noah, just the plain old original strength rash ointment did the trick (and still does).  I am sure other moms have found different products work best for their baby's behind, so I'd love to hear what products (or home remedies) you use and why for the sake of my soon-to-be mommy friends.            
 Are there any products that you are curious about and would like me to review?  Let me know.  

Top momma diva and baby divo products: Part 1 of many

Keeping in mind that I am a diva, here are a few baby products that I recommend to the new mom just starting out and making her way through the overwhelming amount of junk baby products one needs for your soon-to-enter baby divo/a.  My first bit of advice is to make a registry at Babies R' Us or Amazon: make other people buy useful items instead of endless arrays of 0-3 month clothing. 
Alright, now that we know you're not footing the bill, you should buy the most expensive items out there, right?  Well, in my experience, the answer is "kind of."  There is a price point that generally reflects ill-made equipment and then there is a price range that reflects quality.  If this is going to be your only child, perhaps you can get away with being el cheapo/la cheapa (my husband is a Spanish teacher, can you tell?), but if you are planning on having more than one baby, I would recommend looking at higher quality as to save yourself money in the long run.  Of course, I am a huge advocate of hand-me-downs, but just be aware that there are certain baby items that should not be handed down due to safety considerations.  Be frugal but protect your baby first!
My first recommendation is a smaller item, but a life saver for breast-feeding Mommas.  Lansinoh Lanolin nursing cream is an absolute must-have if you plan on breast-feeding your baby.  Sorry Ladies, I guess your mom forgot to tell you that breast feeding hurts sometimes.  This is true especially at the beginning and especially if you give birth to a chunky monkey like my Noah who likes to eat and eat.  This cream literally made the difference between me crying and nearly switching to formula to being cheerful and proud to feed my son.  Bring it to the hospital with you and keep it by your bedside.  This will also help breast-pumping moms. 

My next recommendation is a slightly larger purchase: a stroller travel system.  This means a heavy-duty stroller (umbrella strollers = pain n' neck) and a car seat.  I strongly urge you to consider Graco's line of Quattro Travel Systems.   I prefer these systems because the car seats are hard-core and will hold babies rear-facing until they are 30 lbs. while most only hold up to 22 lbs.  My son still fits in his rear facing car seat and he is nearly 17 months (and a big boy for his age).  Also, the stroller is made of remarkable quality and easy to push in all sorts of terrain.  You can certainly purchase a much, much pricier stroller system than this, but my recommendation is to go middle of the road with this item- not too cheap, not too (unnecessarily) expensive.
My last recommendation is an obvious one, but I think important to mention.  Noah is a Pampers baby (no, hippie friends, I did not attempt cloth).  At birth, I had all sorts of diapers given to me for testing.  I tried Luvs, Huggies, generic Walmart brands, and Pampers.  Pampers won hands down, no questions asked.  I admit, they are more expensive.  But, I didn't have to change his clothes when he had a poop explosion and I didn't have to worry about leaks.  Furthermore, I could leave Pampers on him longer because they were more absorbent and thus he used less of them.  If you register for diapers, don't get a huge box of newborns, as your little one most likely grow out of them pretty quickly (unless baby is premature).  I would, however, recommend registering for one large box each of sizes 1-3 to start and then asking for more as presents because, trust me, you will use them.     
I know a lot of you may disagree with what I have recommended, but I am sure my soon-to-be first time mommy readers would love to hear your recommendations.  What diapers do your children use?  What kind of strollers and/or car seats do you recommend?