Best products from r/InfertilityBabies

Our girl is 8 days old- things we've used everyday are the pack n play in the living room. The one I registered for has "portable changer/napper". Other ones have reversible changer napper. Only difference with the portable one, you can snap out the napper and put it on the floor. I anticipate we'll take this to our in laws for short day trips, but who knows! Pack n' play we got. The swaddles are hard to predict what baby might like. We were also gifted a pair of zip up newborn swaddles that have worked well for nighttime so far. We still swaddle her in a muslin one over this but it seems to keep her squirmy hands contained without pissing her off too much. Bonus: you can up zip from the bottom to check diaper without unleashing the full naked baby wrath. Swaddleme newborn pod of course these things depend on your babies size and length but they've works great so far (baby girl was 8lbs 9oz at birth, 21"). Also second getting soft washcloths- Ive liked the bamboo ones a friend got us. If you do have a regular changing pad with cover, I'd suggest getting something to put on top of the cover so you don't have to be washing and changing that as often. Bamboo covers but there are lots of options for these.
I love these kimono style newborn shirts (we got short sleeve since it's still hot here). So much better than a onesie until the cord stump falls off. Also easier to put on and take off a sleeping or fussy baby, not to mention easy diaper checks! Newborn shirts
Other stuff we use every single day:
-good diaper organizers around the house (nursery, living room, etc). We have 2 different ones from SaraBear and I like them both
-tons of wipes- you may not want to register for any newborn diapers, we got a lot gifted to us. Luckily our girl hasn't grown out yet, but I'm glad we have 1s on stand by
-Brestfriend pillow if you plan to breastfeed. I was suggested to bring it to the hospital and I'm so glad I did- it really helped with early breastfeeding especially when I wasn't totally comfortable moving around in bed and adjusting 1,000 pillows. Much more secure in my opinion than Boppy.
Good luck!

Pregnancy: Liked Old Navy Maternity I loved wearing foldover waist things like capri pants, skirts, and pants. Though for work I was able to keep wearing my pre-pregnancy pants as my fat redistributed and they are elastic waist anyway. And the Old Navy Maternity tank tops are amazing, I still wear them after giving birth. I also wore Poise pads to catch my pee leaks, they worked great.

Did not like Ginger gum, that shit's gross.

Postpartum: Liked Kotex pads. The squirt bottle they gave me at the hospital. Colace.

Did not like Always pads (fucking cheese grater). Those witch hazel pads didn't do much for me, neither did the numbing cream.

Baby Like Pampers Baby Dry diapers, Fisher Price Rock and Play, Nosefrida snotsucker, Fisher Price plug in swing, Chicco Keyfit 30, Chicco NextFit, Harmony Odyssey stroller, Infantino pouch feeding products, Vtech baby monitor, Cuisinart food processor, lightweight car seat toys, Ubbi diaper pail, IKEA high chair (I probably have more, but these are some of the things I love on a daily basis or have saved my sanity).

Did not like Swaddle blankets (specifically swaddling), moby wrap, boppy pillow, Graco battery operated swing, huggies diapers, and MAM bottles.

Bonus Mom Supplies Pump wipes (my pump room at work has no sink and these are perfect to use after pumping), leisure bra (I cut holes where my nipples are and I can double pump hands-free, so helpful!), and JuJuBe diaper bag (it's small and cute and I know where everything is now!)

Oh man, this post is like my jam. I'm currently tandem feeding twins and supplemented at the start. I did not have PCOS, so I did not have that barrier to overcome. Here's what I did:

Bring to hospital: hands free pumping bra, angled flanges, hot packs, lanolin(at first, I liked the medela lanolin better since it spread a lot easier, but now I like the lasinoh lanolin ointment more. I'd buy both, and apply after every feed/pump)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004S8MGGQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0085CBA90/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Day 1 - breastfeed baby as often as they want, but at least every 3 hours. This is your time to be working on latching and such. After each feed, you need to hook yourself up to the pump using your fancy new angled flanges(more comfortable, and allow you to recline while pumping - your back will KILL if you are trying to slightly lean forward all the time while pumping) and pumping bra(you do not want to sit int he hospital and be pumping for 10-15 minutes and have to hold the stupid flanges up yourself). As someone who worked NICU, has used both the spectra and the medela symphony, you'll want to go for the symphony at this point. Colostrum is thicker than normal milk - the spectra I don't think would draw the colostrum down as well as it does regular milk, so that is why I'd use the medela until your milk has come in, and for about a week or two after. When you are pumping, you should throw the hot packs towards your boobs and be massaging down towards the nipple.

The reason you are pumping at least every 3 is chances are your kid either has a crappy latch or not a strong suck, and both of those things are not going to stimulate your supply to come in the way you want it to. Not a lot of kids come out into the world and both latch strongly and suck and swallow to adequately and easily drain the boob, and that needs to happen.

For bottle feeding - the hospital we were at gave Similac Supplementation, and we used that until we were off formula. We used it with the hospital Similac slow flow nipple that screwed onto the ready feed bottle, and then used Dr Brown premie nipples at home. So, the shape of the nipple you use for bottle feeding isn't actually that important in my opinion. I'd say the bigger thing would be flow - definitely want slow flow/premie nipple in whatever brand you pick, and then technique. For technique, do not put the baby in your arms cradling them and then point the nipple at the back of their mouth like you are the virgin mary feeding the baby jesus. Instead, put them in an elevated sidelying position, and then angle the nipple sort of towards the top of their head. Basically, you're trying to mimic the boob nipple position with the bottle nipple position, and by having them sidelying you're also mimicking how they breastfeed.

We did 15 mls of formula starting around 24 hours of life after each breastfeeding attempt. This gradually did increase to an ounce. I had enough supply in by day 6 or 7 to stop supplementing with formula after each feed(I still pumped after each feed for breastmilk). I stopped supplementing altogether around a week and a half, but continued pumping so my husband could give a bottle a night while I slept for a couple hours.

Which actually, that's another part of this everyone overlooks. There is this oh poo poo new mothers shouldn't be sleeping and need to be awake every hour to feed/pump/whatever. You should do this for the first couple of days, but honestly, for your sanity, you need to pick a 3-4 hour block of your life to be uninterrupted and unconscious and have someone else feed and care for the baby. If you are in the throws of breastfeed/supplement/pump, you're not getting a lot of sleep, and are going to need a window somewhere to actually sleep. 3-4 hours sounds like nothing now, but when you are consistently getting 20-30 minutes, it's life changing.

On a random note, I saw from comments you want to use the Spectra S2 - I strongly believe in angled flanges, so here's the adapter to go from medela to Spectra so you can continue to use angled flanges.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DGEDVUM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

When it comes to formula, I'd keep a couple things in mind. Your baby literally has NO taste experiences in their life(other than amniotic fluid). Therefore, breastmilk and formula will be all they know. Think of it like the kid with food allergies - you taste their allergen free brownie and think it's disgusting but they love it because they don't know any better. We switched formula on kids fairly often in the NICU for various reasons, and typically we had babies be fussy for a feed or two and then settle into the new stuff if they were going to fuss at all over the change. Therefore, I'd use whatever they give you, but have a box of formula at home that is unopened and returnable.

I'm fortunate to already be a left side sleeper but do tend to roll around in my sleep and wake up in all sorts of positions. My OB said you'll be uncomfortable in positions once they're unsafe. I know being on my back feels weird and I don't like it at 21 weeks.

I have this pillow for in bed - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N44MTLJ/

and this pillow for on the couch/travel - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N06ZFIX

and super love both. The U shaped pillow is so comfy and I like that I don't have to flip my pillow in the night if I switch sides. My only complaint is that I wake up super hot in the middle of the night but I don't know if it's the pillow or pregnancy hot flashes. The wedge pillow is so perfect for the couch and I like that I have something small enough to travel with now that I feel like I need something under my bump to be comfy at night.

My sister recommended these and they are incredible. Way cheaper too than the bravado and other fancy brand name ones but surprisingly great. I've had mine for 7+ months and wash them after every wear, and they've held up beautifully -- I'm actually shocked at the quality. Their sizing is also pretty intuitive and forgiving. I may never go back to regular bras.

I'm a big fan of the PharMeDoc Total Body Pillow...$50 right now on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0153X1M14/ref=cm_cr_arp_mb_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8

I'm TALL - like 5'9 plus - and it works well for me. I originally started out with one of the regular long rectangle body pillow but pretty quickly realized I needed more support.

Money well spent!!! 💳💰

Honestly, my biggest sleep issue is getting in and out of bed. Have a ton of pillows propped up so you can sleep at an incline, and something beside the bed (like a sturdy nightstand) you can use to pull yourself up with your arms. Get a Grabber now! I ordered on the day I came home and wish I had had it from the get-go - bending over or leaning to reach something will be uncomfortable, and even if you didn't have a c-section your arms will be full of baby and having a grabber will help you reach things without having to constantly call for help: http://www.amazon.com/Ettore-49036-Grip-n-Grab/dp/B001B13PC2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448984988&sr=8-1&keywords=Grabber

Set things up so you have a station on each floor of the house, if possible. I have bags/caddies full of diaper change supplies, feeding/nursing stuff, spare clothes, and swaddle blankets so I can easily have everything next to me regardless of what room I'm in, and one on each floor since I can't carry things up and down the stairs. Have water bottles on each floor so you can easily stay hydrated. I'm using a mini back back to carry lightweight items (like my phone and iPad) and still have my hands free to use the railing while going up and down the stairs. Making a gigantic batch of freezer meals has also come in handy - I wrote instructions on everything so my husband and I don't have to look anything up or remember specific instructions.

If you have any other c-section questions I can help with, please pm me.

Weekend was good -- we are mostly prepped for the big kitchen reno to start on Wednesday! My phone legit died yesterday -- I had to print directions to a super bowl party (still got lost) and MrC worked on it for a few hours but it's dunzo. So another one ordered from Amazon.

Shout-out to whoever recommended these maternity bras on amazon! They arrived in time for me to be in comfort all day yesterday. Hooray! I was a 32DD before pregnancy, the medium works (though I may need to go up to a large by the time I'm done cooking).
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00YGSECLA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

For our changing table, we use these. My SIL recommended them and they have saved us countless times from having to wash our changing pad. They may not be the cutest things to look at but when your baby decides to pee on the changing table or have a blow out and have poop up their back, you'll be happy to not have to throw the cute, fuzzy changing pad in the washer for the 3rd time this week. ;) (On a funny side note... the very first diaper change at home my husband didn't put one of these down and guess what happened?!?)

We've used these since day 1 and still using them at 4 months.

Edit: throw for through

Yes. It's this one.

It's awesome because it is super adjustable (big issue for me with my smaller ribcage and bigger boobs) and is wider so it actually covers and provides a little support. And the holes are nicer.

Oh girl.. disposable mats for the tops of changing pads are THE BEST. Poopsplosion? Set him down and clean him up, then roll up the whole thing and toss. Total lifesaver. Accidental pee during diaper change? Wipe him down, roll it up and toss! No extra laundry!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005X0U43K/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1418098535&sr=8-1

I got this pillow:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0153X1M14/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's ok. I don't love it. I think it's as dense as a snoogle, but that's only from poking one in a store.

I frequently wake up on my back, while I've been a life long side sleeper. I can't say if the pillow is to blame, but I may have to come up with something else when I'm later on and back sleeping is more important to avoid.

It is pretty great as lumbar support sitting up in bed when folded in half.

I may consider getting a "horse shoe" shaped one if this doesn't work out.

Any pillow can be like wrestling an octopus to go pee in the middle of the night.

I got this monitor and really like it. Granted, I haven't viewed a baby through it, but the picture is really clear and you can control the camera movement from the hand held base, so if baby moves you can move the lens without needed to walk into the room to adjust.

Sit your baby up before aspirating them once they're old enough to hold up their own head. If we try to aspirate my son while he's laying down, he thrashes, screams, and pulls his head away. If we do it when he's upright, he leans his head towards the bulb syringe and giggles while the snot is sucked out of his head. Plus gravity helps everything run down anyhow.

My son enjoyed tummy time best if I laid him down on top of newspaper or wrapping paper. Then it would crinkle every time he moved. That special tummy time mat with the toys sewn onto it? Nope, not as interesting for him as colorful wrapping paper or newspaper.

Have a special toy for diaper changes. I have a Baby Einstein octopus thing that makes all kinds of sounds that he may ONLY have while being changed. That keeps the toy from being boring and is kind of a treat. He's a lot less wiggly and rolly during changes now with the octopus, instead remaining still. Without it? He's a demon who I have to change on the floor so I can use my legs to pin him down.

He only tolerated the swing about five times total during his infancy. But his bouncer seat? That thing was worth its weight in gold. Once the vibrating function was turned on, it was insta-nap. It was a sad day when he outgrew it.

Avent Collection Cups are a must-have if you're breastfeeding. Put one in your bra on the side you aren't going to nurse on before nursing your baby. Any milk that leaks out is collected instead of going into a pad. I used to average about 2 extra ounces a day using these.

I've been wearing these fleece-lined leggings for a few weeks now. Not sure that they'll last forever, but hard to beat $5 a pop, and super comfortable with an extra wide and stretchy waistband.

Yippee!!! Sounds like you and nfgchick79 switched betas or something! Congratulations on joining the twin club!

RevealNothing will tell you to buy this book. I'm gonna preemptively second her recommendation ;-)

Yesterday was my pregnant partner and my 8 yr anniversary and we had a great day. We both ended up getting each other books for the baby, go figure from two English teachers. My wife got a book that absolutely slayed me that I wanted to recommend - Wish - I started crying before I got through the first two pages. She got me!!!

Have a good weekend everyone!!

Not particularly ivf, but I like the book Wish does a good job of explaining waiting a long time to meet your baby.

Hi - congratulations! I thought I would pass along this info because I am convinced it made a big difference in my twin pregnancy:

http://www.amazon.com/Youre-Expecting-Twins-Triplets-Quads/dp/0061803073

Eat big!

Available on Amazon with free same day delivery: Wish https://www.amazon.com/dp/148470875X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_7HkNxb9DGZDJ1

Manhattan Toy Wimmer-Ferguson Infant Stim-Mobile for Cribs https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00W89SX2S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_-hWpzbRYSS9C2

This does not have sound or move, but we loved it.

This is the pillow I got before I was pregnant. I liked that it was U shaped because I like to turn from side to side through the night.

This is the monitor we got for our registry and so far, it's pretty neat (obviously not baby tested yet).

Infant Optics DXR-8 Video Baby Monitor with Interchangeable Optical Lens https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ECHYTBI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_QyLCybWPE46B8

It has the option to turn off the video but leave the sound, has night vision, and reads the temperature of the room (and other cool features).

We also got the Snuza over the Owlett after much debate. I turn my phone off at night so the Owlett wasn't going to work for us but with the Snuza's audible alarm, I could hear it over the baby monitor.

The tube is super adjustable from tiny to big. I only used one tank a day. I only had 3. The bambooobies were essential to not leaking everywhere. And they are the size of coasters so you can keep some extra in your bag if you're leaky.

An assortment of thoughts and questions for today:

Formula smell question: We use Similac Sensitive Non-GMO. If he doesn't drink it all right away, it develops a foul smell within maybe 15 minutes. Is this true of other formulas? Any recommendations?

Post-partum nausea? Does anyone else get occasional bouts of post-partum nausea? I get it when I swim, e.g. when I do cardiovascular exercise. After about 25 minutes I start to feel sick. It feels very similar to when I was pregnant. Maybe hormonal?

Shout out to this mobile. We put it up last night and I thought my baby might hyperventilate with excitement. It was like Sue getting a surprise.

I really don’t want to dampen your spirits, but I documented things leading up to our first round of IVF and then found it difficult when it didn’t work to hold on to any of those mementos.

Obviously I really hope that it works for you, but I would think ahead so you have a plan of what to do if this round doesn’t pan out as expected.

Our IVF journey was a long one and everyone knows that’s how we conceived so when Philip is old enough to ask we’ll be upfront with him. I also bought him a book before he was born called Wish. It doesn’t deal specifically with IVF, but tells the story of a very longed for child. It makes me cry every time I read it!

Edit: also it might just be my sense of humour, but I can’t wait to tell him he was conceived round the back of a BMW garage when mummy and daddy weren’t even there!

Anyone interested in a board book copy of Wish by Matthew Cordell? I ended up with two copies.

This was my bible. I had twins.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0061803073?pc_redir=1413855212&robot_redir=1#