Baby Advice @ Cuddles 'n Gifts sending smiles!

Until I was 29 years old, my thoughts were definitely not on having children. Yes, people would tell me, “Give it time!” Adamantly I would respond that I was not having children and I stubbornly stood by my decision for many years.

Aha! Was I proven wrong!

My 30-year old birthday hit me like a stone brick and my biological clock began tick, tick, ticking away. At 30 years of age, I realized that I was getting older and that something was definitely missing in my life. Life was not as fulfilling anymore, my career wasn’t as important and the realization that my fertile years were ticking away was more than scary.

At the same time, I had a cancer scare and one that could have possibly led to the decision of having children being taken away from me. It could have been a final end to my fertility and my chance of having a child would have been gone. Everything turned out in the end and what resulted was…

The ticking of my biological clock grew louder and louder. Something inside of me ached when I saw parents with their small children. It was an ache of longing for the experience and the joys and challenges of having a child.

I had my first child at 32 years of age and my second child at 34 years of age. Having children was the best decision I ever made in my life. Motherhood has been the most challenging yet most rewarding job that I ever had, and my children have blessed my life more than words could ever express.

What a joy a baby brings into the world! When I held my first newborn baby I have never felt so happy and so fulfilled. The love I felt for her was nothing I had ever felt. It was truly unconditional love. Those same feelings were felt when I held my son for the first time.

Each day since, my love and pride for my children have grown to deeper levels than I never knew was possible. My children, the greatest blessing in my life.

The ticking of my biological clock has turned my life into an amazing experience and has changed me in so many wonderful ways. Yes, I may be sleep deprived but all the joys and experiences of having children overpower the need for sleep.

It is very difficult to ignore the sounds of one’s biological clock. Listen closely, it may be telling you something very important and it may change your life one day!

Tick, tock, a baby is born and a “Welcome baby gift basket” could be on it’s way!

To all those soon-to-be moms who are expecting their first child, savor these weeks, days, hours and minutes before your newborn baby arrives. You see, these times will be very rare after your precious baby enters your life.

It is a wonderful and joyous event when a baby enters your life, and it is a time that will be the most cherished of all occasions in your life. And it also is an eye-opening, life-altering event. Life as you know it now will never be the same.

Although you will never regret having a child, you will remember those times when you had only you to look after and when you had, what seemed like, an endless amount of time.

Often times I look back at those days. Oh, those times when I could sleep in if I wanted to and/or sleep through the entire night, have a nap in the afternoon on a lazy weekend, go out when I chose to, completed work duties in 1/4 if not less of the time I do now, and the list goes on.

Since my first baby was born over three years ago, I haven’t had a full night’s sleep and don’t even remember what it was like. You see, when my daughter was nine months old, I received news that I was pregnant with my second. Now, with two children, sleep depravity is something I have grown very accustomed to.

A trip to the store, which used to take 10 minutes, is now a drawn out event when you have two toddlers in tow. And I can’t remember the last time I went out for an evening. Naps? What are they? Haven’t had one of those in well over three years. Time for myself? What is that? In order to have time to myself, I often rise in the wee hours of the morning before my children wake. For a couple of hours, the time is mine and the silence is golden.

Yes, I sometimes long for the times of the past. However, those times in the past are not as precious to me as the role I have now of being a Mother and it was never as joyful as the times I have had and do have with my wonderful children.

Lucky and fortunate is how I think of myself for having the joyful and blessed experience of raising two children. They have filled my life with so much happiness and the love I feel for them is a love I have never felt.

You will have moments when you want to scream and run away from it all. You will miss those times in the past where you didn’t have anyone depending on you. And you will sometimes feel frustrated and want to cry. These moments will pass quickly because just as you are thinking of what you had in the past, you receive a beautiful smile, a hug or hear those first “I love you’s” from your children.

I guarantee you that no moment in time will ever be as precious as that moment in the here and now with your new baby or your children.

You have dreamed of it and have long awaited for this special time in your life. Your pregnancy has been years in the planning and the decision has been made to start a family of your own. What an exciting and exhilarating yet anxiety-ridden experience!

This is the time of your life that you will never forget and one that you will treasure always. Make sure that you are off to a healthy start!

Before you start preparing for the conception of a baby, preconception planning should take place. Prepare yourself as soon as you know that you want to become pregnant. In order to have a healthy baby, you must be healthy.

Here are some important tasks you should do at least three months before planning a successful pregnancy:

1. Get a full medical checkup. Ensure that you inform your doctor that you are planning to get pregnant. Discuss your medical history, past pregnancies, medications, and lifestyle.
2. Stop any bad habits that you may have such as smoking, drinking, drugs or even poor eating habits.
3. Reduce your intake of coffee.
4. Reduce or eliminate exposure to toxic chemicals and radiation.
5. Eat healthy and exercise often.
6. Begin taking a prenatal vitamin that contains folic acid. Prenatal vitamins protect the health of the mother as well as providing the needs for a developing baby. Folic acid is very essential as it helps prevent birth defects of the brain and spine.
7. Reduce stress.
8. Try to get 6-8 hours of sleep per night.
9. Relax and take time out for yourself. Pamper yourself, send yourself a gift basket, treat yourself and enjoy this time!

The key to a successful and healthy pregnancy is taking good care of your own health. It will help ensure a healthy pregnancy, from embryo, to fetus, to the birth of your precious baby. What you eat and do now will go a long way in benefitting your baby.

If you strive to make the most of your preconception period by doing the above, you are on the road to baby in the making!

Another word of advice: Do not stress about becoming pregnant! When I was trying to become pregnant I was overly consumed with the thought of becoming pregnant. I walked, lived and breathed every moment of my day wondering when I would get pregnant or if I was pregnant. The money I spent on pregnancy tests was ludicrous!

Remember to relax and enjoy the whole process from preconception, to conception, to pregnancy to the birth of your newborn baby. It is the most remarkable time of your life and one to be cherished.

Ten little fingers, ten little toes,
And an angelic face full of awe and wonder
A new born baby was born this day -
It was a day like no other.

With the first breath of life, the first cry
The little one has started life’s journey.
All your hopes and dreams came true
The moment you held your precious baby.

Love hugs your heart,
Joy and happiness surround your soul.
The bond between Mother and child,
Blossoms and grows as each moment unfolds.

Just like a seedling in a garden of hope,
Your baby’s being depends on you.
Pay attention, love and nurture
And be a Mother so trusted and true.

As each day passes, little by little,
Your baby progresses and grows.
Each step taken, each word spoken
Will bring more joy than you have ever known.

Cherish these moments and days
And don’t let them pass before your eyes.
Little babies become adults
In what seems the blink of an eye.

Be a Mother with a pillar of strength,
Hold your love so steadfast and strong.
Don’t be quick to judge,
Even when they are wrong.

Show love and hope
Like there’s no tomorrow.
Show patience and understanding
In times of joy and sorrow.

There will come a day
When they spread their wings and soar.
Be sure they will always know
A Mother’s love will always be there.

Sleepless nights are one of the first things that come to mind when thinking of taking care of a newborn or infant. The sleep-deprived parents may not realize that their baby is actually sleeping 16-20 hours a day! Your baby’s sleep schedule is just very different from yours. Babies spend a longer time in light sleep, deeper sleep in true sleep and drift in and out of deep sleep and light sleep in shorter amounts of time.

The amount of sleep needed varies with each child and age of the child. Some babies are longer sleepers and others enjoy short naps throughout the day.

Here are some facts and information that will help you understand why your baby isn’t sleeping or the crazy sleep schedule they force you to fall into and some tips on how to get your baby to fall asleep.

Newborns do not know the difference between day and night, they need to sleep and eat around the clock. For the first six weeks or so your baby will need to sleep every two hours or so and will probably not sleep longer than 3 or 4 hours. You can start to teach your baby the difference between day and night by playing with it and speaking louder during the day but being more subdued at night. You can start establishing healthy sleeping habits at this age by learning when your baby is tired, if your baby is rubbing their eyes or developing faint dark circles under the eyes put your baby to sleep. If you wait too long the baby may have trouble getting some shut eye. You will soon know instinctively when your baby is ready for a nap. When your baby is about six to eight weeks old try to let him fall asleep on his own, put him to bed when he is sleepy but still awake, that way your baby will learn healthy sleep habits and will be less likely to need to be rocked every night in the future. .

Another good way to establish healthy sleeping habits is to set up a routine. Here is a good example of a bedtime routine:

• Start with a bath or just washing their hands and face, make sure that your bedtime is as consistent as possible every night.
• Change diaper and put on pajamas.
• Singing a quiet lullaby is soothing to the baby when it is a familiar voice.
• While you prepare your baby for bed, if you prefer not to sing, put in a tape/cd of baby-friendly sounds on low volume and leave it on after you leave the room.
• Cuddle and rock your baby before you lay her down to bed.
• Try to make it short and put your baby in her crib while she is still awake.

In the early months all you can do is try to go to bed early and nap when your baby naps, so you can get enough active sleep to cope with the next day. However soon your baby will not associate needing another feed with falling asleep and you won’t need to attend to them every hour.

At about 3 or 4 months your nights of getting up every three hours are probably over, by now your baby is sleeping 14-15 hours a day , 9-10 of those are spent at night and then various naps through the day. You might still be getting up once and a while for night feedings at the beginning of this stage but by six months old your child should be capable of sleeping through the night.

Whether your baby does or not depends on if he is learning good sleeping habits and patterns. If you haven’t set up a bedtime routine yet, now would be the best time to do so, babies thrive on consistency.

So while sleepless nights have been and probably will always be just one of the many joys of parenthood there are several ways to make this time easier to deal with for baby and parents. Just remember to get as much rest as you can during the first few weeks when your baby will need to be feed, changed, or played with every couple of hours, make sure to nap when your baby naps. The better you’re rested the better parent you will be able to be.

Pamper the new mom with a gift basket created especially for her and the new baby. Filled with spa gifts and baby items, these gift baskets are memorable!

You may have heard about the recent comments about breastfeeding that Barbra Walters made on the popular talk show “The View.” When the subject of breastfeeding came up on the show, Walters shared a story about a woman who had sat next to her on a plane; she said, “She didn’t cover the baby with a blanket. It made us uncomfortable.”

That comment turned out to be a very big mistake for Walters because the next week activists from around the country showed up outside the studio to hold a pubic “nurse-in.” This might have been taking it a little far but it is not hard to understand why so many women would be upset about her comments. Breastfeeding women should not be made to feel uncomfortable or ashamed about feeding their babies when they need to be fed. On that note, here are several reasons why breast-feeding is so good for your child.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, extensive research, especially in recent years, documents diverse and compelling advantages to infants, mothers, families, and society from breastfeeding and the use of human milk for infant feeding. These include health, nutritional, immunologic, developmental, psychological, social, economic, and environmental benefits.

Breastfeeding offers several health advantages to your baby:

• Improved Eyesight and Hand/Eye Coordination
  Breastfeed babies have to use their hands and eyes to figure out the distance between their mouth and mother’s nipple. This helps them develop good hand/eye coordination, especially if they are switched from one breast to another.
• Jaw and Teeth Development and Fewer Cavities
• Since babies who nurse have to work harder than bottle fed babies to draw milk into their mouths this strengthens their jaw muscles and promotes better tooth alignment. Breastfeeding babies draw milk towards the back of their throat, away from their teeth. Formula from a bottle tends to stay in a baby’s mouth, exposing gums and teeth to more sugar. Special enzymes in breast milk (those are absent in formula) also reduce the build-up of decay by quickening the breakdown of milk sugars.
• Less Gas
• Breast milk is lower in protein than formula, making it easier for baby to digest, and it is easier on the baby’s stomach. This means gas, constipation, and stomach upset that can be painful for a baby.
• May Reduce Risk of SIDS: Reports from the National Institute of Health indicate that breastfeeding may reduce a baby’s risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. There is still no definitive answer to why, but one theory suggests that the breast milk may protect infants from certain infections that can trigger SIDS.

Not only is breastfeeding healthy for you baby but you can benefit from it as well. Breastfeeding postpones menstruation; it delays the reoccurrence of a woman’s menstrual cycle for several months. Breastfeeding lowers the risk of cancer, heart disease, and osteoporosis. Less exposure to estrogen over their lifetimes might also account for why breastfeeding women report fewer cases of breast cancer. The results of a study published in the International Family Planning Perspectives (2002) indicate that a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer is reduced by four percent for every twelve months she breastfeeds, regardless of her reproductive history.

The American Academy of Pediatrics says that “although economic, cultural, and political pressures often confound decisions about infant feeding, the AAP firmly adheres to the position that breastfeeding ensures the best possible health as well as the best developmental and psychosocial outcomes for the infant.”

Moms tend to think about everyone but themselves, which is great for everyone around them but it can take a toll on even the most devoted mom. In order to keep your sanity it is important that moms take time out to relax and regroup.

I know it is easier said then done, there is always one more diaper to change, one more meal to cook or one more load of laundry to do. So what can you do to take time out for yourself and when are you supposed to do it? Here are a few ideas to help get your mommy time out started.

1. Ask your husband, a friend or a family member to watch the kids for a while. In just a few hours you could go see that movie you have been dying to see, minus screaming babies and frequent trips to the bathroom to avoid bothering other people. In just two hours you can get your hair done, a manicure and a pedicure. Imagine how relaxing just two hours of alone time would be.
2. Chances are you won’t be able to get someone to take the kids everyday for a few hours but it’s still important to take a mini time out everyday. By doing this you will spare the children from unwarranted outburst and yourself from slipping into depression.
3. Leave the dishes, the laundry and the spill in the kitchen for just thirty minutes, maybe while the baby is napping or while the kids are watching a cartoon. Just taking thirty minutes to relax or work on a hobby will alleviate some of the days stress.
4. Wake up and hour early or go to bed an hour late, the kids will be sleeping and you can spend sometime getting ready in the morning or watching TV.
5. Exercise regularly can be a great way to get you going and keep you in shape for keeping up with your kids.
6. Eat right, veggies and fruit will charge your immune system, the last thing you need is a sick mommy.
7. Remind yourself that you can’t control everything. Don’t spend your mommy time out worrying about what is going on at the house, your husband is perfectly capable of handling the kids alone for two hours.
8. Start a baby swap, a baby swap is when two or more moms agree to take each others children for a few hours to give the other some free time on a weekly or monthly basis.
9. Share the load. Sit down with your family and divide the chores. By sharing the load you can make more time for everyone and by giving
10. When hit overload just taking a few minutes to sit and think about the positive things in your life can make you feel better.
11. You don’t need to be busy every minute of the day. Stay home with your family. Don’t make a commitment unless it is important to you. Get in the habit of saying no to things you don’t want to, or don’t have time to do and don’t feel guilty about it.

While motherhood is a very rewarding experience and totally worth the sacrifice it can be stressful and with all that you do for your family it’s hard to think about yourself, but very important. By taking care of yourself, you also teach your children the importance of taking care of their own mental and physical health. Look at the time spent on yourself as an investment to make you a better, happier mom for your husband and your children.

Nine months you have waited patiently and excitedly for the precious event that lay ahead - the birth of your new baby and to hold him/her for the very first time. You dreamed of it and you planned for it, and the time arrives and your feelings are not like you expected. Instead of the overwhelming feeling of joy and love that you expected to feel, you feel anxious, depressed, exhausted and just not yourself.

How can it be that you can feel so unhappy and overwhelmed? You are not alone. One in 10 women experience a condition called postpartum depression (PPD) after childbirth.

After childbirth there are three types of depression that can occur, and these are the baby blues, postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis.

The most common form of depression is the baby blues, and the following symptoms characterize this type of depression:

• mild sadness
• tearfulness
• anxiety
• irritability for no clear reason
• mood fluctuations
• fatigue

When do the baby blues occur? They start 3-4 days after delivery and can last anywhere from a few hours to a few days. The baby blues are short-lived as they often resolve within about 10 days after childbirth.

Postpartum depression usually occurs about 4 weeks after childbirth. PPD is a mix of physical, emotional and behavioral changes that occur in a mother after giving birth. Ten percent of new mothers experience this more serious type of depression. Symptoms range from mild to severe depression and may appear within days of delivery or gradually, perhaps up to a year later.

Some symptoms of PPD are:

• Loss of interest or pleasure in life
• Loss of appetitie
• Less energy and motivation to do things
• A hard time falling asleep or staying asleep.
• Sleeping more than usual
• Increased crying or tearfulness
• Feeling worthless, hopeless or guilty
• Feeling irritable or anxious
• Unexplained weight loss or gain
• Having thoughts about hurting yourself
• Having thoughts about harming the baby

For each woman, the length of time that PPD lasts is different - some feel better in a couple of weeks while others may feel depressed for months. Most women experience PPD for 6 months and, if left untreated, some are still depressed a year later.

The most severe form of postnatal depression is postpartum psychosis and is extreme in that women with this condition have delusions or hallucinations that often focus on hurting themselves or their babies. This form is of depression is rare and affects about 0.1% to 0.2% of women, yet is an extremely serious condition that requires hospitalization.

The cause of these depressions isn’t known but it is believed that the hormone changes may produce chemical changes in the brain that play a part in causing depression. Hormone levels do change during pregnancy and right after birth.

The most important issue is that new mothers should realize the signs of depression and get help as soon as possible. Find someone to talk to and tell that person about your feelings or talk with your doctor about how you feel. He or she may offer counseling and/or medicines that can help.

Many women have had the same experience. If you gave birth recently and are feeling blue, anxious, or have any of the other symptoms mentioned as above, you are not alone. You are not “going crazy” or “losing your mind”! The best thing you can do for your baby is to seek help.