Moms need to support each other more
Moms set expectations too high - the guest speaker on Oprah says, "mothers need to know that if they can't do it all—or if they don't want to—that doesn't make them failures. We need honesty. We need to support each other more."
Marriage after baby
Having a baby is a joyful occasion, but the tension of baby crying and the increase stress can be hard on marriage. this article says the more you had, the more you feel like you lost. i guess that's the silver lining. i found it was easy to get frustrated and yell at each other when baby is crying. as we find tricks to keep baby happy through trials and errors, we figured out each other roles and responsibilities, along with laughing therapy by watching comedy shows like 3 and half men or friends to keep the humor going. we also have date nights at home, rent movies and reconnect with each other. then we can relax and go back to pamper each other like king and queen. we can experience the joy of parenthood and the smiley giggle baby.
New Moms Group
After spending hours searching through the Internet for new mom support, I found talking with new moms are more therapeutic! it's more effective and more rewarding *talking* with various new moms. we can empathize with each other and share tips, and just develop friendship and allow baby to learn social skills. You can find a New Mom's group at the hospital, in your neighborhood/community, Baby & Me class at the local family support center sponsored by the county, or the public library programs.
From other moms, I learned
- how to remove baby poop stains: you can remove poop stains using Dreft stain remover spray. I found it at the baby section in Walmart. don't let the fabric dry or it'll be more difficult to remove the stain.
- use breast milk to clear up eye infections. Apparently there are well-documented clinical results.
- play classical music and multilingual: when babies are born, their brains take in the sounds of all languages. as they grow, their brains pay attention to only the sounds of languages they hear most often. If your child hears the languages regularly, his/her brain will be able to learn to speak with the accent of a native speaker. i heard multilingual babies take longer to start talking but will catch up eventually. it also helps to start reading books early on.
- body after delivery - we still can't fit in our old clothes (even though i lost the pregnancy weight very quicky. baby Jasmine is helping me lose weight by nursing all the time). i have a belly and bigger bust. it took 9 months to have big belly, it's going to take time to have a tone tummy. Mederma cream is good to reduce stretch marks. Motherhood Maternity is still my favorite store in the mall with nursing clothes and comfortable elastic shorts. and their fitting room is breastfeeding welcome. since i'm breastfeeding, i'm still eating for two, hungry all the time, drink lots of simply orange/apple juice, need to keep replenish my fluid to prevent constipation, and need to continue taking pre-natal vitamins and Viactiv for calcium supplement.
You can have big boobies if you're breastfeeding :) but it leaks all the time. Just place in Lansinoh nursing pad. I found a bra that I like with buttons in the middle so the fabric is not in the way of feeding. you should try out the bra in person since your bust size is so different now. I heard Target also has nursing tanks. I found a nursing sleep bra very comfortable. it maybe out of stock at certain Target, so select the product and click on "find it at a Target store" to check the inventory closest to you.
- free "Will & Trust Kit" from Suze Orman
enter gift code = peoplefirst
- Homemade Baby Food. Making your own baby food when baby is ready to eat.
- Baby massage helps with gassy and colic baby and help baby sleep better. I L U technique. you can use cold pressed oil like grapeseed oil natural ingredient if you want to stay away from products with chemicals.
- Reading and talking to you baby. I notice Jasmine would look at my lip and see how the sounds are formed. On another note, study found that children whose parent often talked to them about people's feelings, beliefs, wants and intentions developed better social understanding.
