Knit Hats

This is a great tutorial for making knit hats with little ears. It's from Littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com

Click here to see tutorial

Fussy Babies

Here's a great link to an article on how to deal with fussy babies:

Kellymom.com- Fussy Baby

Baby Legs

Someone shared a link to this the other day and I just love the idea!
DIY projects are a great way to save money.

It's a photo tutorial on how to create baby legs:

Tutorial

You can always buy directly from the source if you want though:

Choosing A Pediatrician

Some time in your 3rd trimester, you should begin looking for a pediatrician.

The best way to narrow down the search is through your insurance company! Compile a list of pediatricians covered by your insurance within a close distance to your home.

Depending on how big your list is, from there you may want to begin getting more specific. What are the office hours? Some pediatricians have extended late night, morning, or weekend hours which can be really helpful if you're not going to be a stay at home mom or don't want to make an expensive trip to the ER.

Once you've got your list of top three, call and schedule appointments to meet with the doctor of your choice. When you're there you will want to take a look around you. Does the office look clean? Is there a separate sitting area for well and sick patients? How many days did you have to wait to get an appointment? The availability of your doctor could be a real deal breaker.

When you meet with your doctor have a list of questions in mind. You can find many resources online with questions to ask. I find keeping it simple is best. Get the answers you need, and allow time for the doctor to share his philosophies.

The following 10 questions have been taken from Parenting.ivillage.com

What is your philosophy about child rearing?

This is a good time to discuss breastfeeding/formula feeding patterns, antibiotics, babies who cry at night, etc.,

How much are your hospital charges and fees for office visits?

If you don't have insurance this can be a very important question. If you do have insurance it's still a good idea to have a rough estimate- should you ever expect to pay more than your co-pay and if so in what circumstances?

Does a pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP) work in your office?

Personally, this is an important factor for me. Having a PNP available can make scheduling appointments easier, and often they will spend more time with a patient than the doctor would.

Do you charge for phone calls?

There should be no charge for phone calls, but you will definitely want to ask to be sure.

Who will be returning the call?

Sometimes a nurse or other personnel will return the call rather than the doctor. This is understandable as doctors are usually busy, but you'll want to know if the person you'll be talking to over the phone has similar or different philosophies than the doctor.

How much time is allotted for an appointment?

This is good to know in terms of how long you can expect to wait when you get in for your appointment and how much time you will have with the doctor. You don't want to feel rushed when you have a lot of questions.

How often do you want to see the baby in your first year? Why?

Do you share a practice with other doctors?

You'll want to know if you will always be seeing your pediatrician or a different doctor.

Other things to keep in mind- will this pediatrician be able to visit your baby in the hospital after delivery? While the hospital will have an on-call pediatrician it's nice to have the one you've chosen for your baby be there from the beginning so he/she is already up to date on any medical risks your baby may have.

Oct 7th World Smile Day

Who doesn't love a smile? Well today is world's smile day so share it with everyone!

For great pictures of smiles visit Thecutekid.com where they are having the contest for the 2009 Cute Kid of the Year!

Here are some of my favorites:

putting this here for keeping... 

Guest Post

Hopefully a guest post can be a weekly thing here on Baby's Mama. I asked Dawn Marie of ldsinfertility.blogspot.com to be our first contributor.

Dawn Marie has struggled with infertility and was generous enough to share her story and provide information and links for those wanting to learn more.

Before her post begins, I would like to add that because you do not struggle with the same things that she does, it doesn't mean you shouldn't be informed. I think it's important every woman understands their own body but after that, they should understand that all women are different and what may be easy for you, may not be easy for someone else.

I would also like to add that BabysMama forum does have an infertility/trying to conceive board. I encourage anyone interested in joining and using it as a resource to meet with others going through similar situations.

"Let's face it infertility sucks! Unless you have been through it you really don't know what it feels like. I'm sure we all know someone who has struggled to get pregnant. You're never quite sure what to say or do.

From before I got married I had a gut feeling I was going to struggle. When my husband and I got married we wanted to wait a year to start trying. I couldn't shake the feeling that we needed to start trying right away. Thankfully, we started trying less then a week after we got married and had no idea the road that was ahead of us. Here we are over 5 years later and we are still childless.

I've met people who had a number of kids and still have no idea how their child was created. When it just happens you don't bother with trying to know how. I have had people ask me what an ovulation test is. It's just like a pregnancy test, but tells when your hormones are about to pop out an egg. One of my sister-in-laws once said, "All you have to do to get pregnant is to go off birth control and have sex every other day between days 10 and 20!" For some it isn't that easy and some people don't understand the struggle some go through.

I have heard all sorts of things, none of which helps: It will happen when it's supposed to, just relax because once you forget about it, it happens, you should go on a cruise, I think it's your husband's fault, and so on. Sure there are people that it actually does happen like that, but not all who suffer infertility.

One of my friends adopted 4 and got pregnant with #5. Another friend struggled to get pregnant, had a miscarriage and then a stillborn at 6 months. After her stillborn she was told she could not have any, we meet during foster care classes. Only days before the placement of her foster son she found out she was pregnant. Her little boy is now 2, when he was a few months old she started trying again. She did "Provera" to have a regular cycle and then "Clomid" to help stimulate your ovaries and tell them to ovulate. With still no luck, she endured more test and the end result was that she had a slim chance of conceiving again. She decided that she was happy with her son and no longer wanted another. Just last week I got a text from her announce she is pregnant!

You need to be sensitive to those around who might be struggling. You have no idea the immense pain they are dealing with! I have had people say some very hurtful things to me. "You don't deserve to have that because you don't have kids." "You don't know how LUCKY you are to not have kids!" "Why haven't you done more with your life?" Yes, I've had all sorts of time to finish college, but what if I started college again and got pregnant thanks to Clomid the next month with twins and was on bed rest for 9 months?

For my husband and I it's been a long road. This week I am starting to see my third doctor in our 5 years of trying. I have had to take "Prometrium" to stop and start my cycles, followed by "Clomid" to help me ovulate. Clomid doesn't always work and there's a limit to how many times you should take it. My husband has been tested and he is 100% good. We have gotten Clomid to help me ovulate a few times, but still no success in pregnancy. (We once did fertilize an egg, but it didn't stick!) I know there is a lot more out there that we can do and try, but for us our trying ends here.

Each couple needs to decide what they want to put their bodies though, it takes a lot financially, physically and emotionally enduring all these treatments. My cousin has done everything possible and on her third try at IVF got pregnant with twins! Another friend on her 7th try of IVF now has 10 month old triplets! I know of others that IVF never worked for them. IVF can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $34,000 a try. IVF not even been a for sure thing.

My husband and I have decided on doing Foster Care. We have already had 3 little ones, none of which have gone to adoption. It might be harder on the heartstrings, but a lot easier on the pocketbook! Adoption costs range from $4,000 to $30,000 all depending on your agency, expenses and such. We have also looked into adopting, but in this economy we haven't been able to save up for it.

Coming to terms with being infertile: I'm not sure there ever is closure. My cousin, the mother of now 7 year old twins, has told me that it will always hurt. It's hard when you hear the news that someone else is pregnant again, when a new baby arrives, birthdays, and such. They are all reminders of what you don't have or struggled to have for so long. I know way too many people that take their children for granted and don't realize the precious, amazing miracles that they are!

I think every couple, in their own time and way gets to the point of accept things. Either they choose just not to have kids, to adopt or to not give up until they are pregnant. I'm at the point that I don't care if I ever get pregnant. In fact I'm trying to convince my doctor to do a hysterectomy. Why? Well, I'm 24 and I've had a crazy, irregular, extremely heavy period for over half my life. Add that with the fact that I already have a slim chance of getting pregnant, I want it to END!

Some links I really like, PLEASE read and watch them!

Infertility Etiquette, how to talk to and treat those who suffer from infertility!

http://www.resolve.org/site/PageServer?pagename=lrn_ffaf_ie

Empty Arms, Broken Hearts- video about what it is like to struggle with infertility!

http://tearsandhope.com/emptyarms_video.html

I have more links and info on my blog.

http://ldsinfertility.blogspot.com/

I love getting new readers, people adding their stories and tell me about other sites, articles and such about infertility. I'd love to answer any question and I'm really open about our infertility and all that I've been through! E-mail me at -maggiemoo2005@gmail.com

Thanks, Dawn-Marie

Build-A-Bear Giveaway!

Not much to blog about on my end today so I decided to share a link to another blog!

Right now they're doing a giveaway for a $25 gift card to Build-A-Bear! I love Build-A-Bear they are so cute and creative!

Enter Here

Good luck! The last day for entries is today!

Anti-Nausea Reviews

Let's face it, throwing up for about 5 months straight is no

fun. But that doesn't mean everyone else has to suffer.

So, I'm going to do my best to share what I have learned

including a review of different anti-nausea products and

some tips that have helped me.

After reading, please feel free to leave your own

comments with stuff that helped you!

Phenergan- Of everything I tried phenergan probably

 works best for one reason- it knocks you out!! You 

can't really puke when you're unconscious. Overall,

 I would say it's not really worth the falling asleep 

and waking up 4 hours later just to get rid of feeling

 sick because once you wake up and the meds wear 

off, you're back to feeling sick again and have lost the

 entire day. Maybe if you're on bed rest and nauseous 

this would be a good solution.

Zofran- Zofran is nice to take because it dissolves on 

your tongue.  While many women love zofran and use 

it often, I found it only worked for about 15 minutes for 

me and made me feel bloated.  My OB/GYN office told

me that I had to take zofran on a much more regular 

basis for it to be helpful, but I'm not the type of person 

who likes to be taking meds constantly.

Preggie Pops- During the beginning of my pregnancy

 these little candies did not help me at all!  However, 

now that I'm in my 2nd trimester I've found that they 

work for me much better than before.  

Foods- I found I was most nauseous when I was hungry.

  Some of the foods that helped me most were potatoes 

and bread.  Drinking water also helps.

If you've tried everything and nothing helps, remember

 that some of the least painful foods to come back up

 are those instant meal drinks like Ensure and yogurt.

And for those of you whose Prenatals make them want

to hurl- try subbing your pills for 2 Flinstone vitamins-

but clear it with your doctor first.  :)

Good luck!

AJ

Welcome!

Baby's Mama is a blog, a forum, and a community. We don't take ourselves too seriously, we learn from our experiences, and we share our experiences with others.

On this blog will be tips that are just too good to miss, notices about giveaways, as well as other blog-worthy items you all will be sure to love!

Scattered with humor, some product reviews, pictures, artwork, and even cheesy clip-art.

But before you get into that, let me take a moment to explain what Baby's Mama is all about.

Our forum was started with the purpose of having a safe, friendly way for parents to share advice with new moms, expecting moms, and each other! I am a laid back person but I put thought and effort into the things I do. I think some forums are just too uptight. Baby's Mama is not that way. We're totally okay with coming in and saying, "Alright, everybody needs to take a deep breath and calm down now!" And then letting new conversation resume and have things go back to a peaceful, friendly environment. No hard feelings.

Some of the features that make BabysMama a great site to use are: