I'm finally dropping by the virtual party as the festivities wrap up, but I wanted to send my congratulations to the three ladies being honored by their friends from the blogosphere.
I've been reading Liz and Christina for at least a year now and although I'm a bit of a lurker and rarely comment on their blogs, I look forward to reading their funny, clever and always intellectual takes on motherhood. I've never read Tammie's blog, but knowing that she's a first time mom (as of this weekend!) I can assume that she's sure to have some interesting new experiences that'll make great blog fodder. I'm adding her to my Bloglines ASAP.
In celebration of these three moms, I'm sending them a few tidbits of wisdom from my own experience as a mother. My advice is of the product-related variety---a short list of things that made my life easier as a new mom. I realize these may be product recommendations that two of the three moms have already heard about, and may even have used, but I'm passing the info along for Tammie's sake as these things were lifesavers for me:
Lilypadz - If you're breastfeeding, these things are God's gift. In fact this product may prove that God is a woman after all. Who else would allow someone on earth to come up with these comfortable, easily-concealed, reusable breast pads? I wouldn't have had the wonderful breastfeeding experience that I did without them.
OxiClean Baby Stain Soaker - A friend of mine, who was also my boss and a new mother herself at the time she told me about this wonder product, raved about it. It was the ONLY thing that would take nuclear baby poop stains out of the adorable baby clothes I changed a minimum of five times a day. I used it almost daily for the first three months of Delaney's life, until I started to remember to change her diaper.
All Free Clear instead of Dreft - Another good friend whose baby was born just 8 months before Delaney told me that it was crazy to pay for that expensive, heart-string tugging bottle of Dreft laundry detergent when All Free & Clear costs about half as much. She was right and I'm still using that cheap but efficient stuff today. Damn those Dreft marketers and the cute baby photos on their over-priced bottles of soap! Don't buy into their hype.
And the assvice I can impart? The only assvice I really received is something that I'm pretty sure all three of these moms know by now. Someone told me to be sure to create a birth plan. And like any other obsessive compulsive person, I did. That, my friends, was one of the most ridiculous things I've ever done in my life. My take? Chuck the birth plan. God--woman or not--laughs in the face of the birth plan. If you have a birth plan, nothing will go according to that plan. If you're a control freak like me, what I'm telling you seems like utter sacrilege. You've been dreaming of your birth plan. You've even bought special, flowery paper on which to print it. You want the world to know that while you wait for your child to blissfully arrive you want dim lights, soft music, the ability to move around untethered to machines, the option of slipping into a warm bath and for your baby, once born, never to leave your side. Forget it. In most cases, and in most hospitals, the only thing your birth plan is good for is cracking up the nurses who aren't always careful about whether or not you're in earshot when they tear it apart. Literally. Tear. It. Apart.
That's all I've got for you except to wish you three (and anyone else out there in blogland who's about to become a mom soon too) safe deliveries and healthy babies. I loved what Catherine said. She's spot on. Remember every little second.
Congrats!