10 things i won't do next time.

1. buy mostly high end bamboo outfits. on one hand i loved having a selection of nice outfits to put my new baby into, and on the other hand i cringed anytime they got dirty, and got quietly frustrated watching him grow out of them after a few quick months. i couldn't believe that some of my go to outfits were hand-me-downs from my sister! (go ahead teddy- have a blow out and stain this one. it was free!) next time i'll buy one nice hospital take home outfit, and one 6-12 month outfit that can be a little baggy for the first few months. (and of course i'll also have teddy's old clothes, which for the most part are gender neutral.)

teddy at 2 months. swoon. 

2. not hiring a newborn photographer. this one kills me. when i didn't schedule anyone early enough, i told myself i could take pictures myself and they'd be more intimate. (the first of many bad decisions i made.) after we got home, i was in a haze for months. i took pictures here and there, and i love looking at them, but i didn't let someone else take the load, and i regret that.

*next time i'll also hire someone to take some maternity shots (i'm lucky gid snapped these shots of me 2 days before teddy came- he did so good, but i want him in the shots next time.)

3. not having enough support. three words guys: post. pregnancy. underwear. i didn't realize what a big deal these would be after my c section. these babies saved my life after i had my surgery, and i could've used 10 pairs easily. i tried a lot of other post c-section stuff, but these were hands down the best. (and way the cheapest!!)

4. purchasing outfits other than comfortable pajamas for the first 3 months. i was gifted some darling newborn outfits, but they were scratchy and rough on his little newborn skin so they never left the hanger. next time, i'll know- if it isn't soft, don't buy it in a newborn size. pajamas. all day every day, except maybe when he gets blessed. (and even then, his blessing outfit better be soft and comfy.) buy cute target and gap outfits in size 3-6 months and older, never in newborn. that's just silly.

5. not buying the best pump i could afford. this one keeps me up at night. our insurance offered us a free pump that had pretty good ratings, or an excellent pump for a fraction of its normal price. i thought i'd be a world champion nursing mother (ha!), so i opted for the free one, and i've regretted it ever since. it turns out i'm not an awesome breastfeeder, and sometimes i think if i'd had a better pump, my milk supply might've stayed higher, and i could've had more opportunities to encourage teddy to nurse.

6. not sleeping enough when teddy was tiny. everyone warned me that new mothers need to sleep while the baby naps, but i didn't. you know what i did? i watched mindless television. i packed boxes. i washed dishes, and tidied up the house. i used the bathroom. (a 15 minute process there for a week or so). i think i nurtured a habit of avoiding sleep that developed into the most serious insomnia i've ever experienced. i still struggle with it horribly.

7. buying multiple pairs of newborn shoes. ugh, i know- i keep coming back to items of clothing i bought. when i brought teddy home i had a newborn pair of sandals, tennis shoes, slippers, flip flops, and two pairs of church shoes. you know how many of them he wore? zero. in my defense, newborn shoes are suuuper hard not to buy because the smaller they are, they sweeter they seem. next time, maybe one pair of newborn shoes, if that. teddy is 7 months and barely wears shoes one day a week.

8. not taking it easy after my c-section. when teddy was 3 weeks we moved from utah back to idaho, and i didn't hesitate to lift things that were well over the 8 pound weight limit my doctor gave me. c-sections are supposed to take 6 weeks to heal from, and mine took over 12. i still feel sharp stings of pain every now and then (which is pretty normal), but next time if a have a c section, i'm going to take it as easy as i realistically can. it's so much more worth it than i realized.

9. pushing breastfeeding more. when we were in the hospital, teddy's weight got so low the doctors talked about admitting him and i freaked out. we started using the supplemental nursing system, and when we got home and my milk still hadn't come in, we gave him a bottle. after a week or so my milk had come, and i tried to exclusively nurse but it never caught on fully. at 7 months, teddy only nurses one or two times a day. if i would've pushed harder we could've saved hundreds of dollars on formula.

10. waiting until teddy was 7 months to buy a jumper. holy life saver. this thing lets me take a 15 minute shower during the day without teddy getting even a little sad. it wears him out so he sleeps harder. he pants excitedly when he sees it. gideon had to beg me to buy it. i should've gotten that thing like 4 months ago.

i forgot about the pictures on this post from when teddy was 2 months, and they made me all nostalgic for things i wish i would've done better. but you know, at the end of the day i think mammas are just doing their best. and for me, my best has been good enough. next time though, i'll have a few tricks up my sleeve.

what things would you not do the next time around? i'm always up for advice.
hope you have a good day, guys. thanks so much for stopping by. xo