5 Things that helped me survive having a newborn

Having a newborn in the house is no joke. Being a mommy is no joke either. But here are some things that I have saved my bacon on more than one occasion.

1. The Bible. And its App.
Having a newborn is mentally, physically and emotionally exhausting. Being able to read the Word is what I need to hear the most, on some days. The scriptures are uplifting and always seem to give me the boost I need. I look forward to reading The Bible every night before bed. However, having a hungry baby that needs to nurse can sometimes hinder that, especially on the nights that hubby has duty and I am all alone. Having the Bible app is such a life saver. If we are having a bad night, we can set the app up, press play and the nice man with a British accent, reads us the Bible. His name is Max, by the way.
This app is especially helpful because back in January, both John and I decided to read the whole bible in a year. This app has plans that breaks down the Bible into little bits, that make it really easy to read the Bible in a year. It keeps track of the percentage of how much of the Bible you have read so far and helps you get back on track if you miss a day.
I have my app downloaded to both my iPhone, and iPad. It's pretty much the best.

2. Angel Care Monitor
I cant quite take credit for this one. My sister found this monitor years ago with her first baby, and I knew I wanted the same kind when I got around to having little ones.
The Angelcare sound and movement monitor that we have, can be found here. We got the standard sound and movement, but they also have a video option that is a little more expensive and it can be found here.
 This monitor is not quite like any other baby monitor. This monitor detects sounds as well as movement. This means that it makes sure that the baby is breathing when it is laying down in the crib or bassinet. If the baby doesn't make any movements for 15 seconds, the monitor will let off one loud beep. If the baby hasn't started breathing in 5 more seconds, the alarm will constantly sound until there is movement detected again.
The peace of mind that this gives new parents is un-parallel. There have been many nights when I know other moms would lie awake, listening for their babies breaths and I would be soundly sleeping.
And I know this sucker works. My sweet Eleanor has had a few scares with her breathing the last few nights. Take last night for example. Both John and I were snoozing away when we got a wake-up call by the warning beep. We thought it was a fluke so we didn't move. But when the real alarm sounded, I bolted up and woke Eleanor up. Right away, I heard her take a big breath in and start breathing again. This happened twice last night. I am praying that this was only a one night thing, but if its not, It does make me feel better that if she does have breathing problems, that monitor will be there for us, to alert us when our sweet baby has problems breathing.

3. Carters Swaddle Blankets
These suckers are gold. From day one with E, I have swaddled her and she has not minded it at all. I like the big ones, that stretch. The more they stretch, the tighter the baby can be swaddled. Someone gave me most of my blankets so I am not 100% sure where they came from, but they are available on amazon, here.

4. Fisher Price Swing
Since I worked in day care, I know the ins and outs of baby gear. Mom's used to come in all the time and tell me their kid didn't like the swing. I knew better. All kids like the swing, they just don't know it yet. I got my swing from a virtual yard sale site, used. Best way to save money, mind you. I snagged a model almost just like this, for the low price of $75. I heart saving money!
Any-who, for the first two weeks, E would not even touch her co-sleeper. All she would do is sleep in her swing. I don't know how I would have gotten through the first few weeks without this life-saver.

5. Electric Baby Scale
After having Eleanor, we had a rough start to get our breastfeeding routine going. Because my milk didn't come in soon enough, Eleanor started to loose weight. Which is normal, right? Well, yes, but to an extent. Little lady ended up loosing about 12% of her weight, and anything above 10% is cause for concern, apparently. We ended up having to supplement with formula for a few weeks, which broke my heart. I felt like such a failure as a mother that I could not provide the most basic need for my child. After having a few sad conversations with my Mom about the situation, my mom got on her lappy (her laptop) and bought me this amazing baby scale from amazon. She said that it would be much  easier to monitor her weight if I had one. It would also give me peace of mind knowing that she is gaining weight appropriately. This little beaut has an infant tray for when they are small, and when they can stand, you can take the tray off and it becomes a toddler scale. Pretty cool, huh?
Since we have had trouble with her weight, this product has given me peace of mine in another sense. I put E on the scale at least twice a week to make sure she is gaining the weight that she needs. AND, thanks to this handy-dandy infant growth chart calculator, I can monitor what percentile she is in.

Here's my little nugget! She holds her head up so good now =)

So there it is folks, my top 5 things that helped me survive a newborn. My little nugget is almost two months old now and I am happy to report she is gaining weight like a champ. She is still on the low side of the growth chart, but she has made so much progress! She goes back to the doctor next week, so I guess Ill share her progress on her height and head circumference then. Ta-ta for now!