Due to our son’s jaundice we were in the hospital for four days, and then we came home to the fresh hell that is the nurse/bottle/pump feeding schedule. For the next several months, feeding the baby was an up-to-two-hour ordeal that repeated itself about five times a day on a continuous loop. First I would nurse – because the goal was to give him as much milk “straight from the source” as possible. This was obviously good for him, and it was also supposed to give me the best chance at maximum milk production. Step two was bottle feeding with any saved breastmilk from the last cycle, and then formula to supplement if necessary. The final step was me pumping as much as I could to encourage production, and to hopefully create an extra supply of milk that we could then freeze (spoiler: I never had enough to freeze).
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Similarly to how quickly they change, so does the baby gear and toys that come along with it. I had done so much research and buying for the newborn stage but didn't have much for her once she was a bit older and honestly, at first I felt lost! Thank goodness for friends, Amazon, Google, and Instagram! Over the course of these past three months, we found ourselves always reaching for the following 12 products. Of course every child is different but these worked so well for us and I hope they work for your little one too!
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As I prepare to expand and integrate COO BABY into a new platform called Motherhood for Me, I find myself reflecting back on the journey so far and all of the steps it’s taken to get to this place. Over the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing a four part series that gives deeper insight into the background and inspiration for both COO BABY and Motherhood for Me, why I feel so passionately about them both, and my vision for how things will look in the future. If you’re interested, please follow along!
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Imagine being told you aren’t allowed to travel more than 50 miles away from your home, your spouse is gone for training, your families live hundreds of miles away, you have a full-time job, there is constant talk about staying away from people and essentials items you need being sold out, and you are six months pregnant with a 14 month old. That is what it is like to be a pregnant in a military family during a pandemic.
Having a husband that is active duty Army and being a military family is like any other “normal” family but with some unique challenges.
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Aside from the delivery portion, I could write an entire book on the new set of fears and frustrations that come along with having a newborn during a pandemic. How you will go back and forth from starting to feel safe about the world to being immersed with fear again the next day. How having a newborn with little interaction from friends and family might make you go a little nutty. But the most important thing to remember during this time is that your main job is to protect your child. That looks very different for everyone. Like normal motherhood, pandemic motherhood with a newborn is not a one-size fits all policy. Do what you are comfortable with and forget the rest!
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