Happy and blessed Monday to all of you ❤️✨

Good morning to each and every one of you who make life in this wonderful community. Today I feel like sharing with you a very interesting and educational post, full of anecdotes and tips about what worked and what didn't work for me as a new mom before, during and after the arrival of my firstborn Maximiliano. In this publication I will tell you from my experience and share all the information offered by other moms from my personal environment and recommendations from my baby's pediatrician that I have collected, put into practice and that have been wonderful for my motherhood and parenting in this short period of time.

Create a single and exclusive monetary fund for all expenses related to the baby's arrival 🍼

Whether planned or unplanned, the arrival of a baby, in addition to joy, also generates expenses. From the first day you hear the news of the baby on the way, you should start saving, even if it's just a little bit at a time. From vaccinations to medical consultations if you take him/her through private health care, food, medicines, toiletries and so on. Even the hospital stay can generate expenses. In our case, all the meals were given to me but not to my companion, who was my husband. So he had to eat many times in the street for this reason, because our house was very far from the hospital. We try to organize ourselves, but the truth is that being out on the street all day and eating the food you bring from home cold is not pleasant.

Another variable to encourage savings is that you don't know what type of skin your baby will have. Our son has atopic skin and they don't know how many products we try before we find the right ones for them. So watch out for this.

"All Maternities, Bodies and Babies are Different"

Don't get caught up in the comments of the crowd because you will drive yourselves crazy. As a good friend told me: "Motherhood is completely intuitive. You are going to know how, where, when and what your baby needs at the right time."

Every individual by nature is born, grows and develops differently depending on the upbringing that has been instilled in him, what he sees and imitates; thus marking a before and after in his personality as he goes through each stage of a human being. Never compare your child with other parents' children because each one has a different development. - Oh that (x)'s child got teeth at 4 months" - That's great, congratulations! But if your child is 6 months old and still hasn't got his first tooth, that's not bad either. It is necessary to read and become more informed. Much of this information has a medical or scientific reason because nowadays studies have been done on the physical, mental and behavioral level in the development of a baby. Also, there are babies who sleep through the night from the beginning and others who are out and about in the wee hours of the morning.

The same goes for your body. "So-and-so smeared codfish oil on her belly when she was pregnant and not a single stretch mark appeared". Well, what a success! This has more to do with genetics than with diet and lifestyle. Many women darken several areas of our body such as armpits, neck, face, among others. I took care of myself as much as possible during my pregnancy, both my body and my diet, but it was not enough because I did not escape from preeclampsia and taking insulin to control my gestational diabetes and I had to take care of myself three times as much. This is due to the fact that in my family my maternal grandmother and an aunt are hypertensive, my maternal grandfather died of a heart attack and it should be noted that my grandmother also suffers from diabetes. Besides, in the past I have had episodes of high blood pressure due to work stress. You have to remember these things and write them all down. In addition, the age I was when I conceived my baby (30 years old) and the age at which I had my cesarean section (31 years old) was a determining factor for this clinical condition. But fortunately everything went well under medical care and taking the right medications.

Your body has given life to another human being, you should be proud. Don't worry about stretch marks or flaccidity in your belly. The support of your partner is also important and stay away from people who think you don't have a mirror in your house. But if you want to accelerate the process of getting back to your former body, then use girdles, eat healthy and exercise. But always consult your doctor before putting it into practice.

Don't buy too many clothes and unnecessary items for babies

I know you want to go crazy buying things for your baby but for the car. Babies grow super fast and in my case, there were acquaintances close to my sister-in-law who heard about my son's arrival and offered her huge bags of clothes for my baby. I was super happy with this beautiful gesture from these people but I can't deny that I did my smart shopping according to my tastes once the doctor confirmed the sex of my baby.

Maximiliano has a closet full of clothes until he is 4-5 years old, imagine that. As new parents, we don't spend a lot of money buying clothes and items for our baby. We wait for the winter and summer sales because the baby was born in May 2022. I bought absolutely nothing size R/N (newborn) because if I put two or three things on my baby, I would be lying to you. But my mother-in-law was coming from Venezuela to Tenerife and a very close friend of hers gave her several pieces of the above mentioned size and she brought them to me. My baby at one week old was wearing clothes size 1-3 months because he was born weighing almost 4 kilos 😮‍💨 A big boy! We still only bought sets of 5 or 7 pieces of each age range, which are commonly called "weeklies", one for each day. And another very important fact is to buy clothes according to the season or climatic season where you live. Because there's no way to buy winter clothes 🥶 where it's 40-42 degrees Celsius and it feels like summer 🥵

Talk to your partner and make all the points clear before the birth of the baby

Don't procrastinate because you may not have enough time between all the things that need to be decided and done. From the color shade of the baby's room to the type of upbringing and religion you want the baby to adopt, mom and dad should talk about it beforehand. And above all, "no one has the right to intervene in the decisions they have made as parents of the child".

I will explain the above with a curious anecdote: it happened to me that rain, thunder or lightning, before conceiving my son, I already had a name for him. If it were a boy, his name would be Maximiliano, and I would not mind if I were married to the King of Spain himself. Obviously, I told my husband the name I wanted for our baby and he agreed. It was enough for me to make public the name of our firstborn for my husband's family to intervene. They didn't agree with this name, which I didn't mind very much. He was our son and we were in agreement and happy with our choice. There were plenty of comments like - "Why that name? It's not like he was Italian". This type of comments seemed to me a lack of respect towards the decision we made as parents, but first and foremost I imposed myself. I was not going to let myself be bent by anyone, much less satisfy the wishes of a third party. So be careful with this, if you want to include your families in the choice of the name or any other decision about your children, always make the points clear beforehand.

Don't overcrowd it with toys

Children do not know about brands, nor about economic value, what is fashionable and what is not. They are happy playing with the lids of your cookware set and your dirty cholas with which you come and go everywhere. This is what someone who lives it in the flesh tells you. A funny thing is that my dear husband, went crazy when he found out that our son would be a boy and I can tell you that I can quietly set up a toy store with everything he bought him 😮‍💨 I tell you this because I come from a low-income family and I remember well that when there was 💸 well and when there wasn't, too. I am neither a hoarder nor a supporter of filling the children with toys. Moreover I had already discussed the subject of toys with my husband but well, let's assume that the emotion blinded him and I relaxed. I took advantage of some deals at various toy stores while I was pregnant and bought several collectible toys that 'maybe' the boy will appreciate when he's older. I'll have fun telling you more later 😅

For what you love most, do not self-medicate your baby.

Neither with herbal teas, nor with medicines that are not specific for a baby. When you make a tea from a plant, you don't really know the concentration of the active or chemical in it because you prepare it by eye percent. Many times intoxications are produced by these practices mentioned above, so avoid them at all costs. If your baby has any symptoms such as fever, vomiting or diarrhea, call your pediatrician immediately or take him/her to the emergency room of a medical center so that the professionals can take care of it. Let's be responsible parents.

Exclusive breastfeeding or formula feeding?

Do not feed your baby with wheat, corn, oatmeal, etc., because your mother or grandmother fed you that way and "nothing happened to you". During the first six months of life it is important to breastfeed on demand, full exclusive breastfeeding. If you don't get milk, don't worry, there are infinite formulas for all kinds of cases (gluten-free, lactose-free, anti-colic, etc.) on the market and always consult your pediatrician to find the one that best suits your baby. Remember that you are not the worst mom in the world for formula feeding your baby, nor are you the best for feeding your baby from your breast if you are not feeding well. It's all going to depend on your body's anatomy and breastfeeding has to be enjoyable, not torture.

Prepare your backpack/purse 🎒 in advance

I started arranging my bag with everything I needed for my baby in the middle of seven months of pregnancy because "a wise woman is worth two". In my baby's bag I put everything from disposable diapers N/B, cloth diapers, changes of clothes according to the weather, personal hygiene products, wet wipes, blankets, socks, cloth hats, combing brush, special clothes to take him out of the hospital, among others. Also prepare a bag for yourself with the things you will need during your stay in the hospital, whether it is labor or cesarean section. In my bag I put: comfortable breastfeeding gowns/pajamas, several high-waisted panties, girdle-type panties, post-op sanitary napkins, sports or nursing bras, deodorant, a special outfit for leaving the hospital, comfortable sandals, toothbrush and toothpaste, hairbrush, phone charger, healthy snacks and my cell phone.

As I explained above, I speak from my humble experience at all times. None of these practices are imposed or forced. Each family is free to choose what is best for their baby 🍼 It goes without saying that you should give lots of love and patience to your baby🐣 Thank you for reading me. Until another time 🍼😘

🇪🇸Este texto es redactado por Hive account@royvego55 y traducido al inglés utilizando el traductor de DeepL / 🇺🇲This text is written by Hive account@royvego55 and translated to English using the DeepL translator.

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|||🇪🇸Todos los derechos reservados / 🇺🇲All rights reserved / Hive account@royvego55 |||

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🇪🇸Todas las fotografías fueron tomadas y editadas desde mi XIAOMI REDMI NOTE 11S / 🇺🇲All the photographs were taken and edited from my XIAOMI REDMI NOTE 11S