First off I want to start off by apologizing for being soooooo behind on this blog! I have been super busy with the girls ( ok, super lazy too 😉🙈) and it has been put on the back burner for a few weeks. BUT.. I’m back!
When I was pregnant with Avery my pregnancy STRAIGHT UP SUCKED. Ok, I know, I had a happy & healthy baby and that’s all that matters, YES. When it came to how I felt compared to when I was pregnant with Kendall, is why it sucked. For the first four months, I spent my head over the toilet, sink, garbage can and any other object that would catch my puke. GROSS I KNOW. I also couldn’t drive, which also sucked. So while I was having a crappy pregnancy and chasing around a 1 1/2 year old here are some things I made sure I made a list of what I wanted to accomplish before Avery came into our lives.
1) Make a Plan. If there is a goal you strived to reach when pregnant with #1 that you didn’t accomplish, try again.
– Whether it’s breastfeeding,bottle feeding, VBAC, natural or medicated birth, delayed cord clamping, immediate skin to skin, or circumcision, this was a big deal for me.
I was devistated when I couldn’t breastfeed Kendall. It caused some severe PPD afterwords. I didn’t want to experience that again with Avery. I read a lot about breastfeeding, talked to lactation consultants online before she was born, and made sure to ask for the lactation consultant whenever we had an issue while we were in the hospital. Here we are almost nine months strong!
2) Make Arrangements for baby #1. Who will care for big brother/ sister while you are at the hospital?
-If you are like me, you will go into labor in the wee hours of the morning. Make sure you have a relative or friend that you can count on standby. Luckily, I live across the street from my mom. I started getting heavy contractions around 12 am and my little sister just slept over while Kendall was sleeping. When they woke up they got ready for the day and waited for the phone call! Shortly after Avery was born Rj left the hospital to go pick them up and bring them to see the baby.
Rj and I wanted this transition to go as smooth as possible, therefore, Rj did not sleep at the hospital besides the night I was in labor. He stayed home with Kendall. While Avery and I had one on one bonding time in the hospital.
3) Transition to a toddler bed. Who wants to have two cribs anyways?! (Ha good luck with that.)
– We were convinced we wouldn’t need to buy another crib for Avery’s room. We were going to transition Kendall into a full size bed and move Kendall’s beautiful crib into the nursery. Well, that didn’t work. Kendall was 19 months when Avery was born and still young. We tried to transition her once and we couldn’t take the crib away from her. She felt safe in her crib. So now we have two. 🙈 If you can get your child to sleep in a toddler bed before the baby is born, I highly recommend it. If not, buy a crib from Walmart. We scored an awesome crib + mattress combo for $180.00!
Click here for crib + mattress bundle
4) Potty train, if possible. Buying diapers sucks, imagine it x2.
When Avery was born, we had two babies under two, in diapers. Talk about going through a lot of diapers and wipes. We went through a bag of diapers with Kendall (Sz 4) and two bags (Sz nb/1) in about a week. Kendall still is in diapers now, and has no interest in going on the potty at 2 1/2. Which, I guess I’m ok with because she will use it when she’s ready. She’s made small tinkles on the potty before, but her attention span is still too short to sit there for a decent amount of time. I don’t mind having both of them in diapers because Kendall doesn’t really go as much anymore, plus they are in the same size. A big box of pampers usually lasts us about two weeks now.
If you think your child is ready, GO FOR IT!
5) Make sure things work. If you have to replace batteries or even buy a new swing because it’s broken, be sure to check these things before you NEED to use them.
–Baby monitors, swings, bassinets, bouncers,car seats experation dates, sound machines, etc. Anything you feel you may need the first few weeks of your newborns life, make sure it’s clean and works.
We loved our “Rock ‘n Play” by Fisher Price when Kendall was a newborn. Unfortunately there was a recall on it, but they were quick to replace the defective model. I just had to call the 1-800 number and a new one came in about 3 days. They also sent a box and shipping label to return the defective model. Most companies are very understanding if you are having a problem with their product and will take care of your problem if you call.
*Avery in her Rock ‘N Play* For you sanctimoms, I know there’s a blanket in there with her. . I promise you she was being watched the whole time. #dontjudgeme😎
Click here to purchase
6) Laundry – get it done now, because you won’t for a long time.
– Are you suppose to wash every size of baby clothes that you have? I didn’t. I would recommend washing NB – 3 months before your baby is born. After all, if you do wash all sizes, your just going to pack them up and store them away until your baby wears them, so to me anyways it defeats the purpose.
If I showed you guys my laundry room you might faint, these kids have so much clothes I can’t keep up with them. Then putting it away? HAHA Ain’t nobody got time for that!😜 ESPECIALLY with a newborn. Try to keep up with your laundry, even if you still have to do a load or two a day that’s better then ten!
7) Plan a last trip as a family of 3 and have a date night with your significant other. Whether it’s for a day or a weekend trip, do something with your little and hubby before your new bundle of joy arrives.
– Enjoy your time as a family of three before your new family member arrives. Go to the fair, take a weekend trip to the beach, take a trip to the water park, or have a Frozen movie night. Make sure you spend quality time with soon to be big bro/sis.
Make time for a date with your man too. As parents we often forget about our love life before we became parents, or at least put it on the back burner. A night out, kid free is needed every now and then and it doesn’t make you a bad parent.
We scored tickets to a Florida Georgia Line concert, so we took full advantage of that mommy and daddy date. We put off for so long, we couldn’t wait. It was great! We had an amazing time, even being pregnant. I mean who doesn’t love FGL?! Along with Thomas Rhett and Frankie Ballard. 😍
8) Prepare baby #1 for baby #2. Explain to your son or daughter how they are going to be a big brother or sister if they are old enough to understand.
– I mean this is an obvious thing do before baby number 2 comes. Make sure your oldest knows there is a baby in mommy’s belly and that they will be a big brother or sister! Kendall loved babies so we practiced with baby dolls and got her a big sister book to read to her. She still wasn’t that thrilled about the new baby but we gave her a few days and she fell in love with her just like we did.
9) Have a gender reveal. Share your excitement of the sex of your baby by having a gender reveal. There are so many cool ways to announce these days!
– When I was pregnant with Avery I didn’t want to know the sex, unfortunately my doctor didn’t know this. Kendall and I were at one of my regular appointments around 15 weeks and my OB did a quick little ultrasound with one of the handheld ultrasound machines. ( They kind of look like an iPhone with a wand attached) “Well, it looks like Kendall is going to have a baby sister.” I ALMOST DIED. I was so happy because I wanted a girl in the worst way, but I wanted it to be a surprise. Plus Rj wasn’t there to share in the excitement. I was bummed. We waited until the anatomy scan to confirm the sex, and of course he was right lol.
Once Rj found out we decided since the surprise was ruined for us, we were going to keep the sex a secret from everyone else. Ya, that didn’t last long either. My sister was babysitting Kendall one day and walked into the nursery a few days after we painted it. BOOM! Obviously, a coral and gray nursery with boxes of bows and baby girl clothing everywhere gave it away. Then my dad walked in her room while helping us move furniture the one day. Let’s just say we suck at surprises.
We ended up having a diaper party two weeks before she was born. We had a big cookout and had all our friends and family over. Rj and I had a diaper cake made, and had our baker put the color pink inside of the the cake. We totally surprised everyone with the gender reveal! For those of you that didn’t find out already it’s a girl 👑💗✨😂
Caution: Please excuse my roughness in the video below, like I said this was about two weeks before she was born. 💁🏼 #whalestatus 🐳
* Our beautiful gender reveal cake made by Sarah at Sarah’s Specialty Sweets*
* SURPRISE ! It’s a girl 👑 *
10) Have maternity photos taken. Capture to memories of this pregnancy with pictures of your growing bump. Even if you don’t get them done professional, take bump pics!
– This is my absolute favorite thing to do while pregnant,besides stuffing my face 24/7. 😉 I loved capturing the memories of how much my baby bump grew. I promise if you are on the fence of getting them done, first time mom or not, get them.
Go out and buy yourself a nice dress, get dolled up and embrace the beauty of life, you are in fact growing a little human inside you after all. You are beautiful, even if you don’t feel like it. TRUST ME, I didn’t feel it at all in these photos. I look back now and I have to say these are some of my favorite family photos.
*Maternity photos taken by Angela Ceccarelli Photography ~ Eynon, PA*
11) Have a diaper party. Have a cookout and stock up on diapers, I promise you will be thanking yourself later.
– If you do anything, do this. Now a days, when the mom is having the baby shower there is usually a “male party” for the dad which is called a diaper party. During the party guests bring diapers and wipes and you supply the food and beer. It’s a win win ! We didn’t have a shower this time around, so we just had a big cook out and guests brought diapers.
Stock up as much as possible. I wish I had a stash shot on my phone of all the diapers we had when Avery was first born. I think since she was born we only have bought maybe two or three boxes of diapers and a few boxes of wipes. She is almost nine months old. Even if you have an abundance of sizes that you grew out of, save them! Target, Walmart, Giant & Babies R Us will exchange them for a bigger size.
12) Make a schedule of your child’s day. While you are in the hospital, leave a schedule for your babysitter to make things easier if they don’t know your child’s schedule.
– Here is a list I found on Pinterest that I would have used if I had to leave Kendall with someone who didn’t know her schedule. Thankfully, she was with my mom, sister and Rj while I was in the hospital.
*found on Pinterest, taken from the Urbansitter.com *
13) Sterilize Bottles. Sterilize bottles,pump parts and pacifiers a few days before your due date.
–I personally didn’t know if I was going to be able to breastfeed Avery so I made sure we had bottles sterilized. It only took me about 45 minutes to sterilize everything. Once they dried I put them in ziplock bags. I also sterilized all my pump parts, which came in handy because she had to stay at the hospital after I was discharged. I had to pump and send down my milk for every feeding for two days. This was totally unexpected, so it’s better to be safe then sorry.
14) Do something for yourself. If it’s getting a prenatal massage, getting a mani/pedi or getting a fresh hair cut, take time for yourself, YOU DESERVE IT.
– We all know how much we love to be pampered. A few hours of pampering will make you feel 100x’s better. Go for a massage, a manicure or pedicure, get a fresh new haircut or just find time to relax. Even if you just tell your man you are going to take a nap and to watch your crazy toddler for a few hours , that’s ok! Find time to Relax!
15) Breathe, when things don’t go according to plan. When baby comes and things don’t go according to your plan, it’s ok!
– I’m a firm believer in the statement “everything happens for a reason”. If something doesn’t go your way, that’s ok it wasn’t meant to be that way. If you can’t breastfeed its ok, at least you tried! I told myself that when I was upset when things didn’t go according to my “plan” the first time around. As long as your baby is fed, loved and happy that’s all that matters. ❤️
Who hates picking up toys off the floor when our sweet angels decide to throw them? It’s never just once, or even twice.. it’s multiple times! Sigh! 
Raising the Rudes 
