New Mom Report Card

Happy 2012, my oh my how my year has changed.
My sweet girl is now 5 weeks old, so I thought I would give myself a little report card on my performance.  As a new mom alot of what I do is trial and error so I wanted to share with you what has worked, what has FAILED and what got me an A for effort.

Our first Cold: Nora got a pesky cold right before the holidays, as a neurotic new mom I immediately called the Pediatrician. After checking her out they suggested a few non medical treatments, I also did some research on a more natural way to help get her through this cold.  What has worked for us:
1. Sleeping with a cool-mist humidifier (night time sleep as well as napping)
2. While my husband or I are in the shower we close the vents and steam up the room, we bring Nora into the steaming room and hang out for a few min.  We immediately noticed a difference in her congestion after her steam room experience.
3. The Bulb Syringe is our Friend, sucking goop from her nose on the hour every hour. 
4. Sleeping on an incline, we propped up her mattress with a blanket to create an incline to increase nasal drainage.
With these techniques her cold is on its way out.  I give myself an A for this one!!!

Night time Sleep: To help Nora establish a "better" sleep schedule we created a routine.  After a short feeding around 8:30 pm we start our night time routine.  Starting out; warm shower with mom, we did not have good luck with the sink bath tub (F for fail) so one night I put her in the shower with me, she literally fell asleep in my arms from relaxation. (A+ !!!!) We now shower for a short time every night; this also helps with her congestion (extra credit!).  After the shower we lotion with aveeno Lavender scent, put on warm P.J, and then feeding to top off her appetite.  To end the routine Daddy and Nora rock or dance to a few soft tunes on the Ipod. (A++for cuteness).  Knock on wood; we have got 5-6 hours of sleep every night this week!!!

Giving up Caffeine: Over the holiday I over did it on the caffeine intake (C- oops), by the end of the holiday weekend, Nora had a diaper rash and was going much more often the usual.  I eliminated caffeine from my diet and wa laaa problem solved.  If your little on is having this issue take a look at your diet (if breast feeding) try eliminating items to see if the problem clears up on its own.  Non Medical Cure, always and A+.

Overall I have to give myself an A+ for effort and Love