A Wealth of Information

With the advent of smart phones, Google, social media, message boards, website communities, FaceTime and text messages, I literally have the knowledge of the world and mothers everywhere at my fingertips. Being on maternity leave as a first time mom who is somewhat of a control freak/hypochondriac this can be both a blessing and a curse, but mostly a blessing.   I am able to pull information from a wide range of resources from the convenience of my couch to give me peace of mind that I am doing things correctly and raising a happy healthy baby boy…and if needed, I have the ability to purchase any additional equipment, tools or gizmos to fix any “issues” immediately thanks to Amazon (This past week I have bought two books on sleep training babies and a travel sized stroller).    

Below are just a few things I have learned since Oskar’s arrival thanks to both my iPhone and those around me:

Google has been an amazing resource, leading me to some great websites such as Kellymom.com and La Leche League to answer all of my questions… and I have had plenty of questions including:

• Caring for newborn umbilical cord;
• Infant shakes head while eating  (due to Oskar’s wolverine approach to eating); 
• When can you stop waking baby at night to feed? (turns out it is once he regains his birth weight…what they don’t tell you is that once he reaches his birth weight, he will stop sleeping at night); 
• Newborn eats till he pukes but wants more; and later
• How long do growth spurts last? 
• 3 week old, grunting in the early morning; (which led to):
• Helping Baby with Gas / early morning gas in infants, (which led to): 
• How to massage a baby and how to use gripe water; 
• 5 week old eats every 2 hours 
• Do the alcohol breast strips work? (yes, I am a terrible mother) 
• Changing diapers at night / burping at night 
• Places to breastfeed in San Francisco 
• How much expressed milk does a baby need 
• When to use a pacifier 
• 8 week old nap schedule 
• Breastfeeding with food poisoning (I may have eaten a really old slice of quiche one day) 
• How to find history of Google Searches

No joke, this is only a sampling of all the things I have googled in the past 2 months. 

In addition to answers and website suggestions, thanks to Google images and YouTube I was able to get visuals on the various shades of baby poop, learned how to use my moby wrap and how to sign key words/phrases in American Sign Language.

But I didn’t limit my questions and thirst for knowledge to just my iPhone… Through my personal network via Facebook, emails, phones calls and texts I was able to find a baby photographer, elicit information about tongue ties including the medical procedure to fix one, and speak directly to a speech therapist in New York about the benefits and downsides of the tongue tie surgery.

I have also reached out to my closest girlfriends to garner information about my lady bits (what really is normal), alleviate some of my mommy guilt related to breastfeeding and going back to work and find out when my baby belly will go away (turns out any flub left after 2 weeks post birth is up to me and some good old fashioned sweat to get rid of).   Not only a source of information, these ladies have helped to provide a reality check to my crazy ways and to keep me sane these past few weeks.

In addition, I was able to work with a doula after Oskar was born to learn the basics of breastfeeding as well as gain insights into the holistic herbs, teas and vitamins I could drink/take to help in the first few months.  And the Mom Group I joined in the neighborhood has been a great resource for local events and activities including baby swim classes and sing alongs at the library as well as getting reviews on the best products on the market (which I then promptly buy on Amazon). 

While I know information can only get you so far (I have also been relying on my motherly intuition) overall, I will have to say I feel very informed and most of the guidance I have received has been very helpful and insightful.   However I will note that one reference was incorrect.  Contrary to what the movie Sweet Home Alabama implies, you cannot in fact have a baby in a bar.  Martin and I learned that one a few weekends ago when we tried to take Oskar into our local pub Thursday afternoon to watch the Euro Cup Semifinals.  The bartender took one look at Oskar strapped to Martin’s chest and said he couldn’t be in there… it was an over 21 establishment.  6 weeks old and already kicked out of a bar.  (As a side note, just two days later, Oskar was back in another bar and naked this time!)