Thursday, April 2, 2015

Final Baby Things

Over the weekend Max and I finished up getting things for the baby. We are officially ready for our little one to arrive!

Max put the car seat bases in the car. We found out that because both of our cars are newer we can use the LATCH system instead of a seat belt. This means we could put the car seat over the dog seat protector things we have. This will keep the kid and puppy messes off the seats! I also got a free car seat canopy from carseatcanopy.com. (You can too just use promo code FAMILY2015). Because our car seats are hammy downs (which is super amazing and awesome) I decided to spend little extra money to buy the whole set instead of just the canopy. That way we can have a fresh look and feel all our own.

Next we went on our hospital tour. I thought this would be pretty boring and they would just preach to you about how they do things and we would really have to be on our toes to get what we want; but I was SOOOO wrong! The tour and our hospital is amazing! Even Max enjoyed it and got a lot out of it.

We started in the triage area where you will first be put in a room to be checked. Once they confirm that you are in full blown labor they move you up to labor and delivery. The labor and delivery rooms are enormous! At first I thought they were showing us a fancy room that only the rich and famous get but she explained they are all the same. They have the bed I'll be in, a nice big pull out sofa for Max, giant private bathroom, and a baby station for after the birth. They also have so many things to help you through labor like the epidural equipment which I was totally into, birthing balls, squat bars, pull bars, shower, etc.

They also talked to us about the "golden hour". Which I knew I wanted but thought I was going to have to fight for. Basically once the baby comes out it goes straight to my chest for a whole uninterrupted hour. They will wipe the baby off there and cut the cord there so it never has to move. This will stabilize it's heart rate and temperature as well as some other important things. It will also give it a chance to root around and breast feed. This will help IMMENSELY with the first breast feedings which can tend to be difficult. I was so happy to hear about this that I almost got teary...stupid hormones! Next they showed us the recovery rooms and nursery room if the baby requires attention; otherwise they will stay with us the whole time. Max was super happy to hear all the security measures they had in place to stop someone from walking off with the baby. As he puts it "It'll be bagged and tagged before anyone takes it". I can't say enough good things about it. Hopefully I'll feel the same in a few weeks :).

After that we headed off to Babies-R-Us to play with some strollers. The one we wanted only came in the wrong color and a three wheel version in the store and my mom had warned me that those tend to fall over if you're not careful so I really wanted the four wheel version. But we thought we would go to the store and at least get a feel for it before buying it online. We tested out the wheels, the folding, the basket, the buckles, etc. We stood there for what felt like hours going back and forth. We finally decided to buy the three wheel version and the necessary accessories to make it work with our car seat and try it out at home since Babies-R-Us has such a nice return policy. It turned out to be the best decision ever! Max found the stroller in the right color for a discount because it was previously returned! They said it had gone through a rigorous inspection and we could still return it if we wanted. We ended up getting the stroller and all the accessories for the same price as the original stroller! We got it home and everything works perfectly! We tested everything we could think of to make sure.

The stroller we ended up getting is the City Mini from Baby Jogger. I HIGHLY recommend it. It has a super easy one-handed fold which actually works! Some other brands say they are one handed and easy but after trying them all out in the store this is not the case. It also helps that this one is super light and makes picking it up, folding, and all that way easier. Just take baby out, pull handle and BAM it folds and locks shut so it doesn't bounce around in the trunk. It's also a good size and won't feel too clunky in stores. And the best part was that it adapted to various car seats so we didn't have to get rid of our hammy down. I couldn't be more pleased. We did end up getting the three wheel version much to my mothers disappointment but after doing more research it really isn't that unstable compared to the four wheel. Baby isn't even here yet and I kinda want to strap a teddy bear in and take it for a spin around the block ;).

For some really good reviews of this stroller check out the 3 wheel version or the 4 wheel version.

We also picked up some coming home outfits for the baby. Yes you read that correctly it's plural. The baby is only coming home once so you only need one outfit right?! Well there was a sale so we couldn't pass up the chance to buy adorable clothes and we wanted a backup just in case it was bigger than newborn sizes or pooped immediately upon snapping it in :).


We decided to go with the giraffe footies and the one on the end which is white with turqouise turtles on it. They are all so cute!


I hope you guys had a great and productive weekend too! Until next time :)