Wordless Wednesday!

Brooklyn 5 1/2 months old.

at 5:20 PM 2 comments

Baby Bond Review and Giveaway.

Is it just my baby that absolutely hates being covered up with a nursing cover while she eats...  Not to mention it gets so incredibly hot under those things and you can't see what you are doing.  Nursing in public was getting harder and harder as my little one got older, for she would just grab and pull at the cover and would fuss and whine because she was either bored or hot under there. 

I came across BabyBond nursing sashes and instantly fell in love with their unique idea. Why cover the baby up?  I was so excited when Baby Bond agreed to let me review one of their nursing "covers".  I couldn't wait to get mine in the mail to try it out.  Their mission statement says it all...

BabyBond™ nursing accessories cover mom, not her baby. Mom is able to maintain her modesty. Baby remains uncovered benefiting from the infinite opportunity to make eye contact, interact, and communicate. After all, dining is social. 

Let me give you a little peek at what a BabyBond looks like and then I will go over my favorite features!

 

BabyBond comes in a few varieties, but they all work the same way. The only things that changes are burp cloth,  fabric options and one is adjustable and can be used two ways. I love that the BabyBond works like a nursing top, one piece of fabric goes up and one goes down. This action creates an opening for your baby to eat through. Your shirt you have on keeps your sides covered and the BabyBond keeps the rest of you covered. Baby can eat and not have a blanket over his/her head!

I decided to go ahead and get the BabyBond Couture.  I like the versatility this one had to offer.  It was both a nursing cover and a belly band, it could be used to nurse from the top or the bottom of your shirt.  Plus its adjustable; great for right after you have the baby and have all that extra baby weight and when you loose the weight after a few months. The Couture comes in Espresso(dark brown), Hudson(black), Riviera(turquoise), Classic(navy) and Barcelona(charcoal).

All three of these sell for $35.00! I think it is great that you have so many choices and all for the same price. 

It is very easy to put on and also really easy to use.  I was worried that they wouldn't work well on my larger chest but there was no issue at all.  I also love how it looks like a peice of your own clothing.  It really looks like you are just cradling your child and nursing at all.

Here I am using the Baby Bond nursing my 4 1/2 month old.

 This is seriously one of the best inventions for nursing Moms. You don't have to have your modesty compromised, but you don't have to stash your baby under a blanket anymore! I also love that they come with a little pouch to store them in and the fabric they are made out of is SO soft.  They are 100% cotton and machine washable.

Want one...You can get your own BabyBond here. 

FOR MY READERS - Use coupon code  "ALEKSIA" for 25% off valid until 9/30.  What a great deal!

Or you can WIN IT!  One lucky Our Life reader will get the chance to win a BabyBond Original Turquoise size 2.

To enter you must do TWO things for the mandatory entry. You MUST tell me which one you would want if you win AND you MUST follow BabyBond on Facebook. You have to do both of these things for your first entry to count! Please leave me your email address as well!

Extra Entries!!

Leave a separate comment for each entry please!

1. Follow my blog

2. Follow Baby Bond on Twitter 

3. Follow me on Twitter 

4.  Tweet this giveaway daily for one extra entry per day. Make sure you come back here every day and leave a comment and your tweet link! Use this tweet:

WIN a Baby Bond @khmom2007 #giveaway @babybond ends 10/15 - http://tinyurl.com/26xkp63

5. Post as your Facebook status (one per day).  Make sure you come back here every day and leave a comment and your status link! Use this status:

Win a Baby Bond over on Our Life Blog! Ends 10/15 -  http://tinyurl.com/26xkp63

6. Blog about this giveaway and leave me the link (3 entries)

BONUS

7. Like my Photography site on Facebook (2 entries)


This giveaway will end October 15th at midnight. Open to bloggers worldwide.  The winner will be chosen via random.org and will be notified by email and a posting on this blog! As always, they will have 48 hours to respond before I pick a new winner! Thanks guys and good luck!

A HUGE thank you to Baby Bond for this fabulous review and giveaway opportunity!!

Disclaimer: I received a free product to review. I was not paid to write this review and all opinions are my own.

at 10:08 AM 84 comments

Tummy Bug and 5 Months.

My sweet baby girl, Brooklyn, just got over her first tummy bug.  It's so sad when they are so sick.  This is all new to me too, Aleksia's first time ever getting sick she was 3 years old.  I am glad she is doing better today, cause the last 2 days she was not a happy camper.

Also, tonight is the first night Brooklyn is sleeping in her crib (in her room).  Up until now she has been in the bassinet in our room.  This is such a bittersweet moment, but I know she is ready.  She was getting harder to put down at night in the cradle cause of it being so small.  She has been napping in her crib for awhile now, so she is used to it and sleep really well in there actually.  I guess mommy has just been putting it off.  Wah, my baby is getting too big, too fast.  She is 5 months old today.  Aleksia was 4 months when we moved her out of the bassinet and into her own room in a crib.  I don't know why I waited longer with Brooklyn, I guess I just want to baby her as long as I can.

Even though she has been sick she loves her sister to pieces and will always laugh at her.

at 10:18 PM 0 comments

Breastfeeding...Why I love it.

I have been breastfeeding my 2nd daughter for 4 months, 3 weeks and 1 day.  I absolutely love it.  Now this was not the case in the beginning.  I wanted so badly to quit many times for many different reasons.  I am so glad that I endured and stuck with it.  The look on my daughters face while she is nursing, just makes my day.  The way she smiles while drinking and the cute little sounds she makes are the best.

The tough times only lasted a a few weeks and now that they are over with, they don't seem so bad anymore.  The first week I was new to breastfeeding (didn't get to BF my 1st daughter) so the learning curve and demand was a bit hard, not to mention all the postpartum hormones.  She did however latch on quite easily, whereas Aleksia did not.  It was just really tough, so I thought. 

Week two my nipples were VERY sore, one of them was really bad, cracked and bleeding.  It was the most excruciating pain when she latched on.  I tried many creams, ointments, treatments and even pumped that one side to get it to heal.  Nothing seemed to work.  But, I kept going.  

Week three I developed thrush (common breastfeeding yeast infection in the nipple).  Now I thought my nipples hurt before with them being so raw, add thrush to the mix and...OUCH!  Thrush makes latching feel like tiny glass shards.  It was awful.  My Dr. told me to use an over the counter yeast cream and on I continued.

Week four.  Due to the bad nipple on my right side my milk was not emptying properly and I developed a clogged milk duct.  This sorta feel like a bruise on your breast.  It felt rock hard and due to the engorgement it was very painful.  I tried to unclog it myself but apparently I was not sucessful.  Over night, it seemed, I developed Mastitis (common infection caused by a clogged milk duct).  I woke up with a 103 degree fever, chills, fatigue, headache and completely dizzy.  Called the Dr. and, over the phone, he called in a prescription for antibiotics.  All felt well after a few days on them.

Week five, still recovering from Mastitis (10 day antibiotic course), I developed thrush again.  Antibiotics like to do that to you.  This time I did not go the cream/prescription route and instead researched some homeopathic remedies.  I found a solution called Gentain Violet (can be found at Walgreens) that was known to work wonders on thrush.  I decided to finish up the antibiotics and then start the 3 day GV application.  It was a bit weird at first painting my nipple bright purple (hence the violet in the name) but in the end it WORKED.  My daughter looked a bit funny too with her purple mouth.

But oh so cute!

Not only did the GV get rid of the thrush, like magic, it cleared up the one cracked nipple.  I truly mean 'like magic' the day after I went to feed her and NO PAIN whatsoever. I was ecstatic. I finally was able to enjoy feeding my sweet little girl.  The purple went away after a few days and all was like new again.

I am writing this to hopefully help those struggling through the same problems and contemplating giving up as I did.  It truly DOES get better.  I was told this as well but did not believe them at all, it seemed like it just kept getting worse.  I am a believer now.  I just absolutely LOVE breastfeeding now and am a huge advocate.  So please, if you are wanting to give up for one reason or another, just keep telling yourself, "It does get better", because it really does.

Feeding my daughter brings me such joy now.  Not to mention it helped me loose all my baby weight plus some.  The snuggles and bonding are great too.  Plus in the middle of the night feeds I just lay down and nurse her and I can fall back asleep.  I <3 breastfeeding!

For the breastfeeding mamas out there, check this out.  

Also go HERE to win a  Medela Breast Care Gift Set and a $20 Baby Store Plus Gift Card!

at 2:42 PM 6 comments

Brooklyn Laughing

This little girl just make me smile. I love her so much. She was laughing at nothing. Aleksia and Richard were playing a high five game and she was just totally cracking up. Hilarious.

at 11:28 PM 0 comments

Win a Medela PISA!

The Baby Store Plus has a great giveaway for a medela breastpump going on right now.

at 11:05 PM 0 comments