Big City = Big Baby Shower!

You haven't seen gift bags until you've attended the Big City Moms' Biggest Baby Shower Ever event in NYC! I left with a ton of stuff. Seriously, check out this photo! 

In addition to the standard (GIANT) gift bag filled with bottles, booties, hats, nursery decor, organic snacks, lotions, coupons, books, and more, I also left with a Britax carrier, two Bright Starts Mombo feeding pillows (somehow my husband walked out with an extra one), and a Diaper Genie Deluxe. 

Although my husband insists these things weren't "free" because we bought tickets to the event, I still crossed the carrier, feeding pillow, and diaper genie off my registry!

The trade show-like event took place Wednesday at the Metropolitan Pavilion in NYC. Over 100 vendors had products on display for expecting moms (and dads). 

In addition to the big players in the industry like Skip Hop, Britax, Chicco, UPPAbaby, Fisher Price, Moby Wrap, and Baby Jogger, it was interesting to meet some of the other new innovative companies out there: 

Sage Spoonfuls - Liza Huber had a great demo table displaying her cookbook and products for making easy and healthy baby food. Plus, her mom, Susan Lucci, was on hand supporting her daughter. That was nice! The cookbook had user-friendly recipes made from a variety of fruits, veggies, and meats. I added the book to my registry.

Magnificent Baby - Immediately caught my eye with their magnetic closures on baby onesies, jammies, and gowns. Seriously, not even Dad could mess this up! So smart!

Baby Brezza - One-step baby food maker was pretty impressive! You can steam and puree in the same appliance! Looks like a super time saver!

Belly Bandid - This is the belly flattening wrap for post-pregnancy that Kourtney Kardashian endorses. I'm curious if it makes a real difference versus not wearing it. Any thoughts on this?

The Honest Company - As if Jessica Alba isn't busy enough, she founded this all natural line of products for baby, mom, and home. I'm really looking forward to trying the fragrance-free lotion because my skin has been so sensitive during pregnancy!

You also had your choice of seminars throughout the evening featuring the following speakers:

Tia Mowry - discussing her book Oh, Baby!, the highs (and lows) of preganacy

Dr. Bob Sears - Everything you need to know about Colic

Dr. Alan Greene - Good Taste Begins with Mom: Developing a Healthy Eater Right from the Start

Jessica Alba - The Honest Company

Melissa Joan Hart - Business of Being Born

For those of you who know me, you already know the celebrity sightings were my favorite part of the event! Seriously though, it's great to see successful women who are also involved mothers! Clearly these stars have better things to do than make appearances in a room full of crazy pregnant ladies (ie: Jessica Alba was just at the Met Costume Gala a few days before). So it leads me to believe, they really care about the topics they were promoting!

That goes for all the entrepreneurial moms demonstrating their products at the event. You know they probably came up with the idea at their kitchen table in the middle of the night somewhere between birth and the first year. It's inspiring! I'd love to be able to do the same! You never know what motherhood may bring!

Thanks Big City Moms!

New mom vs 600 sq ft apartment

I love reading the real estate section in New York mag titled “Life Swap: What If You Left?” Like if you traded in your 600 sq ft, one bedroom apartment in Manhattan, you could get a 6,600 sq ft, four bedroom house in Ohio for the same price.

Yes, it’s sickening. And asks the question: why do people live in Manhattan when you can have so much more someplace else? Someone once told me, you stay in New York for one of three things “career, love, or money”. So obviously for me, it would be for love, and for my husband, it would be his career. But I think it’s more than that too.

This weekend, the thought crossed my mind that we might actually stay in the city (like forever). A year ago, that was an absurd impossibility. What do you mean stay in New York with kids? But I need a house, and a dining table, and a car in the suburbs. I need space with normal people. I want my kids to have a yard and play sports after school.

Well the more time I spend in the city, the less I want to eat at the same Italian or Mexican restaurant in the suburbs every Friday night. The less I want to drive 20 minutes to pick up milk. The less I want my kids to live in a sanitized fishbowl with other guppies that look and act just like them. (Future post about my fear of raising Gossip Girl kids to come.)

A friend gave me some great advice about having a baby in the city. Most importantly, she said think about what you NEED and what you don’t NEED. For example, you probably don’t need a baby monitor when your child sleeps 5 feet away from you. You probably don’t need BOTH a swing and a bouncer, because you just won’t have the space. On the other hand, you NEED to invest in a really great stroller because walking 50 streets or 5 miles isn’t so out of the ordinary.

Sure, more living space is my biggest concern (Need? Want? Need?). I’d love to be decorating a nursery for my son instead of squeezing his portable crib into a corner in our room. I’d much rather be picking out nursery furniture than cleaning out a drawer in my own dresser to store his little wardrobe. But with the going rate for an additional 100 sq ft bedroom at $1000 more per month, I don’t think my son NEEDs his own room right now.

The good news is that instead of his own room, I can give my son so much more just by living in New York. I’ll give him the Highline and Hudson River Park. I’ll give him music class, kids yoga, and Billy’s Bakery. I’ll give him swim lessons at Chelsea Piers or skateboarding at the skate park or mini-golf at Pier 25. I’ll give him the Bronx Zoo and Central Park Zoo. I’ll give him the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum. I’ll give him the beach at grandma’s and grandpa’s in the summer and ice skating at Rockefeller Center or Bryant Park in the winter.

Maybe one day, I’ll decide I really do need the space and move out of the city (like many parents before us). But for now, I think we have everything we need.

Not my mom's maternity clothes

As a young pregnant woman in New York, I still want to look good... for me, for my husband, and for everyone else who's ever speculated as to what is going on with my mid-region. I don't want to look or feel any bigger than I already am. That rules out any clothes my mom may have worn in the 80s and 90s (sorry mom). But loose baggy clothes just look awful. Why wear a tent? Plus, I want people to think that I'm pregnant, not that I'm hiding a beer belly.

Here are my essentials:

Skinny jeans - Who am I kidding, at 12 weeks there was no way I was buttoning my jeans. During my first trimester, I used belly bands, basically tube tops for your belly to hold your pants up without buttoning them. Then, I bought two pairs of maternity skinny jeans, one from the Gap and one from Old Navy. They both have the belly panel that comes up to your boobs. They are super comfy and keep their skinny shape. Just because I have a growing belly, doesn’t mean I want a baggy ass too.

Black trousers - aka yoga pants for work. I have one pair of these from Old Navy maternity that I wear a couple times per week at work. They have a loose waist band and still look professional. Considering I’ve worn them so much, they’ve also held up great after multiple washings.

Spring dresses - At the first sign of 60 degree temps, I purchased about five colorful and trendy cotton maternity spring dresses from Old Navy. I think maxi dresses are so cute with a bump. Old Navy has great prices and frequent sales. One time, they were offering 30% off AFTER I had already submitted an order but gave me the discount anyway when I called customer service. Excellent!

Long fitted tops - Kill me if I ever wear a shirt that says ‘bun in the oven’ – seriously, who does that now-a-days? Honestly, I have bought as few tops as possible because during the winter I could easily wear long sweaters and button-up-shirts from pre-pregnancy. Recently, I bought some maternity long ribbed tanks with ruching on the sides to nicely fit the bump. They're great for layering under cardigans or button-up-shirts that you can no longer button. I also love layering tanks or cami’s under normal shirts and they stick out a few extra inches at the bottom for extra coverage. For the first six months, I also wore flowy tops and loose “bubble” dresses that I owned pre-pregnancy.

Leggings - I still wear my normal black leggings. Thank God these are trendy! I purchased 2 great pairs of black leggings with a belly panel from Old Navy but I actually prefer normal leggings now that I’m bigger with a waist band resting under my belly.

Swimwear - There are plenty of cute maternity options out there, one piece or two piece, that don't involve a grandma skirt. For my upcoming babymoon, I purchased a maternity tankini top and a halter bikini top with extra coverage and support to accommodate my growing bust. I'm not afraid to show the belly at this point and luckily I don't have any stretch marks to hide. Otherwise, I've also seen cute cover up dresses and wraps.

While its easy to go into a shopping-frenzy for maternity clothes and baby stuff, my husband's shopping manta has been "do you need it now?". Which I think is a good way to approach maternity clothing. Who knows how fast or how much weight I'll gain throughout my pregnancy, so why buy items too early or items I'll outgrow. Extending the life of my current wardrobe and buying only essential versatile pieces has really paid off. Did I mention I look good too?

They never told me about a rash

This could be worse than labor, (I'll let you know in 3 months)! I discovered a red, bumpy, itchy rash on the back of my legs. The next morning, it had spread to my butt cheeks as well. I promptly bought some Cortizone 10 that didn't really help relieve the itch at all. This was so weird! I turned to Google, searching "pregnancy rash". Ugh, to my horror, this was an actual thing "chronic hives-like rash" that happens to 1 out of 200 women during pregnancy, 70% of them expecting boys (did I mention I'm having a boy)! It's abbreviated PUPPP. You can wikipedia it.

By evening of day 2, I was slathering A+D ointment on top of Cortizone 10 followed by sitting on a nice cold ice pack. It was intolerable to say the least! This routine continued every 2 hours through the night, in the attempt of getting some relief. In the morning, I went to a neighborhood urgent care clinic. The doctor diagnosed it as a contact allergic reaction (but to what? it's winter, and my white legs haven't seen the light of day in months). I mentioned PUPPP and after she Googled it herself, she said "well you learn something new everyday". Knowing the only cure for the PUPPP rash is labor, I broke down sobbing in tears on the street. I was only 23 weeks, how could I wait that long!?

Do I have to tell you that the $10 ounce size tube of prescription topical steroid cream did nothing? Not to mention, I could have emptied the entire little tube on one ass cheek! I had to take matters into my own hands! I turned back to the world wide web... Babycenter.com had an extensive message board thread on this topic. I could literally see the tears on the screen as hundreds of women asked each other for cures and shared their attempts at remedying the rash from hell.

After tallying the most common solutions, I bought "Grandpa's Pine Tar Soap" and all natural aloe vera gelly from a health store. After lathering with this brown bar of soap from the 1800's, I had temporary relief. The aloe cooled the hot surface of the rash. I still was sitting on ice, finding solstice in being numb in general. Thank goodness it was the weekend, so I could treat the rash every few hours, shower every 5 hours, refresh my ice pack, and air out my tush in the comfort of my own home.

Drying the rash out helped way more than any moisture cream or lotion. I also took Benadyrl to help me sleep at night (I prayed I made it at least 4 hours at a time). Although I emailed my "pregnancy council" of 10 girlfriends, none of them had experienced any kind of rash. =(

On day 6, I had a flare up! Why!? It had been going so well! I think this was honestly stress induced (from work)! My trusted home remedies weren't providing any relief and I stayed home from work the next day. I tried Sarna cream, poison ivy cream, diaper rash cream, and Aveno oatmeal bath in my fight to battle the itch. Willing to try ANYTHING, I searched for "home remedies" or "holistic rash treatments" online. I found convincing testimonials on Earth Clinic by people swearing by Apple Cider Vinegar, Coconut Oil, and Aloe Vera to treat any rash, eczema or acne. At this point, I would have asked my husband to pee on me, if it would have helped!

After showering with Grandpa's Soap, I applied pure Apple Cider Vinegar to the rash. It burned a little from me scratching, but about an hour later, I felt okay. I slept through the night and the next morning, the rash was 50% better! I could not believe it! I continued using ACV in the morning and evening after bathing with the soap. It's been 2 weeks and my rash is completely cured! It's still hasn't completely disappeared, but it is not raised, inflamed, red or itchy. I later read the ingredients in Grandpa's Soap included Coconut Oil - what are the odds!?

This could have been the worst experience of my pregnancy life (I hope nothing is worse than this anyway)! But I have some pretty strong take-aways... A) All natural/organic foods/remedies did wonders that medicine could not do. B) I will approach my son's future diaper rash with a new educated perspective. I like to try an all natural cream versus medicated. My friend loves Emily's Skin Soothers (I'm looking forward to trying it on my dog's itchy feet too). C) I'm avoiding all medicated creams or even body lotions with fragrance for the rest of my pregnancy. D) I'm washing all my clothes, sheets, and towels with baby detergent Dreft for the rest of my pregnancy. E) When my son is born, I will cherish the sleepless nights WITHOUT pain, at least I will not be trying to scratch my ass off!

We all know pregnancy does crazy ass shit to your body, so whether it was PUPPP or a legitimate contact allergic reaction, I'm not sure. (My OBGYN doesn't seem to think it was PUPPP). If my skin wants to be just as sensitive as my emotions, I will treat it with care.

*Thank you also to my own Grandma who recommend vinegar as an old all-natural rash treatment and my mother-in-law who suggested aloe vera worked on her niece's diaper rash that was untreatable by medicated products.