Top Ten

I've seen a few of these posts on other blogs and I've been wanting to do one of my own.  
Here are the top ten things that I don't think we could have survived without since having Blakely.  Some were great just for those first few months or weeks and some we still use all the time.  

1.  Boobies.  Honestly, this girl loves her some boob.  It is like magic and I don't know how I am ever going to wean her.  I might still be doing it when she's 5...I'm totally kidding.  I was so lucky that almost everything went smoothly with breastfeeding and now we are in a groove.  I don't know what I would do without these miracle baby feeders....

2.  Bouncer.  I didn't have this until a few weeks after she was born.  I ordered it because her swing was too upright and I needed something that was reclined but not too reclined because of her reflux.  She loves it.  I got one that you can turn on to bounce or to vibrate, so it doesn't just bounce when the baby moves.  Miracle I tell you.  This is also what we have been using when we give her cereal now.  And an added bonus of it these days is that she poops every time I put her in it...very sweet.  This is the poop face....

3.  Boppy pillow.  Get one of these, people.  I have used it damn near every single time I feed this child.  The few times I haven't used it (covers were dirty, too lazy to walk downstairs to get it, etc.) my back killed me a few minutes in and I wanted to kick myself.  This thing also has a million uses besides feeding.  You can lay your reflux baby on it to help prop her up after feedings.  She can sleep on it when she will NOT nap anywhere else.  (I was always watching, don't freak).  She can do a little tummy time on it.  You can put it around her waist when she is learning to sit up and it will help her balance and if she falls over it is a cushioned fall.  This is the one thing I have used every single day since she was born.  Except the boobies, of course.

4.  First Years Steam Sterilizer.  I love this thing.  I use it to sterilize bottles, nipples, and all of my pump parts.  In the beginning I was washing all the pump parts by hand and then sterilizing them in the Med.ela microwave sterilizer bags (which I like, just not for every day use) or in the dishwasher.  The microwave bags took too long because they would only hold 2 bottles at a time or two pumps sets at a time.  And the dishwasher....well obviously it took forever.  I saw on another blog this sterilizer and ordered it immediately.  This is very easy to use.  It holds 5 bottles at a time and has another tray for all the accessories.  I can usually do 5 bottles and 3 pump sets and a few bottle caps and nipples at a time.  I just put water in it and it takes about 10 minutes to sterilize.  Totally worth the money.  Heart it...

5.  Med.ela Pum.p in St.yle breast pump.  As you know from my previous post I have been pretty attached to my pump for the past 4 1/2 months.  We have a love/hate relaysh.  I love it because it has allowed me to store a bunch of milk.  I hate it because it isn't comfortable and who wants to spend all that time attached to a pump???  For like the first 8 weeks B would only eat off of one side and I was scared that my supply would go down so I would pump the other after EVERY feeding.  Boy was I glad when she started doing both sides!  

6.  Swing.  This is a newer love.  She hated the swing in the beginning.  I could only put her in it if she was pretty much asleep.  Now I put her in it and turn the vibrate on and she will play for a bit but eventually fall asleep.  This is pretty much the only way I can get her to take and afternoon nap most days.  Yay for the swing.

7.  "The Ball".  Obviously, we could live without toys but this is a favorite around here.  This was the first thing she could grab on to and play with.  She loved it.  Anytime she would get fussy I could give her the ball and she would be happy for a good 20-30 minutes.  She can chew on it which she loves.  She isn't as interested in it now because she can play with a bunch of other toys but for a long time this was my go to toy. 

8.  Video monitor.  I love this thing.  I love that I can see her during the night.  When she makes a noise I don't have to wonder what is going on, I can see.  Every time I wake up in the night (like 4011 times usually) I can peek over and see her breathing, feel better, and go back to sleep.  I also really enjoy watching her play by herself in the mornings.  It is frickin' adorable.

9.  Pandora radio on my iphone.  I never had this until someone on Face.book that had a new baby mentioned it.  I downloaded it and I have used it endlessly.  We listen to the lullaby station or Adele radio and she loves it.  She loves any kind of music so we listen to the stereo upstairs a lot too.  But having this on my phone is great for when we are downstairs, or when I am trying to put her to sleep and she just won't quite give up. This and the bouncer are the only way I have gotten a shower in the past 4 months.  Meltdown saver...

10.  Pam.pers Swad.dlers diapers with the wetness indicator.  I know this sounds crazy.  In those first two weeks of breastfeeding, before I got confirmation that she was gaining weight properly, I was so worried about her having enough wet diapers.  These dang disposables are so freakin' absorbent that sometimes it was hard to tell if she had peed or not.  Even when she did pee it wasn't very much.  These diapers that have the yellow line that turns blue when there is pee made me feel so so so much better.  Thinking back now I realize I was way too worried but I couldn't help it.  If we hadn't had those diapers I would have been sniffing those things like a crazy person and more than likely cutting them open to see if there was pee.  Insane.  **sidenote** I am not a huge fan of these now because her poo shoots out the back every.single.time (of all different brands of disposables) but in the beginning I would have probably lost my mind without them :)

So there you have it.  There are plenty of other things that we love, like the jumparoo, her play mat, her light up toy that we use for tummy time, etc.  But the above things have just been total lifesavers for me up to this point.