5 Baby Items You Don't Need

So last week when I shared a few of my favorite baby products I was asked if there were any products that I really didn't use. Yes and YES. Holy cow, I feel like with baby products they make you think that you need everything and that it has to be the best and most expensive thing out there. So not true. Here are a few things that we totally didn't need and what we use instead of them.

||1. Baby bath|| We live in an apartment and so we wanted to stay away from having a ton of huge baby items that we had to store. I'm so glad that we didn't get a baby tub. Instead I would go for either a baby bath sponge or a folding mat, we just slip it into our sink and then fold it up when we're done. They are both super inexpensive and can be stored extremely easily.

||2. Wipes Warmer|| I had quite a few people swear by their wipes warmer to me and so we ended up getting one but guess what, warm things make babies pee...on you. Every time I changed Jocelyn's diapers she would pee on me when I used warm wipes, I couldn't figure out what it was until we had to switch wipes because she was so sensitive. When we started using cold ones it magically stopped. So yes, wipe warmers made the whole diaper experience way more difficult then it needed to be.

||3. Diaper Genie|| My sis in law passed this little piece of info on to me and I am SO GLAD she did. Instead of paying tons of money for the dumb diaper genie refills we just use good 'ol zip loc bags to put the diapers in. No smell and no expensive refills!

||4. Bassinet|| Matt and I got a little Pack n' Play bassinett and I really regret it because in the beginning weeks when she was getting up every hour I had to get out of bed to even really see her because the bassinett had deep sides that I couldn't see into. Instead looking back I would do a co sleeper like this or something like this that can be moved around really easily.

||5. Changing table||  I looked at a ton of nursery furniture when I was decorating and they are all so overpriced. Instead of getting a changing table I repainted a dresser that I found at a thrift store and then put a $20 changing pad on top of it. It works perfect, I have all of her clothes right underneath for blowouts (because lets be real that happens like at least twice a day) and all of her changing stuff on the top and it only cost me $40!!

***okay so I just though of one more that's not in the pic above. I would totally skip out on a monitor. For me at least I got serious mommy radar after I had Jocelyn and I can hear her little grunts before she even starts to cry from our bedroom at night. If I had a monitor too I might lose my mind. She's always close enough for me to hear really well and I had no idea how easily I got accustomed to being tuned in to her. So yes, monitor is a no go for us:)

One Of Those Weekends

This weekend was one of those weekends that keeps you smiling during the week. We went to a tulip festival, had some good eats and then celebrated Easter. It's crazy how with a baby going out into the world takes on a whole new meaning. Going to the tulip festival worked out perfect, we weren't in any kind of rush so we just left when Jocelyn started napping and then stayed there until she woke up. But church was a total failure. Right when we needed to be at church Jocelyn needed to eat, so she was just crying until we pulled up to the building, we were so frazzled that she got to church in her sleeper and didn't even make it into a dress.Once we got there Matt got to go in to the meeting while I just sat in the bathroom and fed Jocelyn, to which she squirmed and kicked the whole time because she was under a nursing cover and didn't know what the heck was going on. I just stared at the other moms like, "She never does this.ha." Finally after fighting the battle for 40 minutes I grabbed Matt and told him we had to go home so Jocelyn could eat. And there you have it, that was our first week back to church. If I've learned anything since having Jocelyn though it's that you just have to keep trying. Try over...and over....and over again until eventually things work. So we'll try again next week, and hopefully this time we'll all be fully clothed:)

My 5 Essential Baby Products

 

So over the past weeks I have realized that there are some things that I bought that were a total waste of money. It's kind of depressing really. But then there are a few products that have completely saved my life and I wanted to share a few of them with you!

||1 Bag Balm|| So Jocelyn has the most sensitive bum in THEEE entire world. I'm talking welts and blisters that would not go away no matter what I tried. I tried Decitin, Butt Paste, Mustela, Balmex...seriously there's just an entire full of diaper rash creams that didn't work just sitting there all full and useless. This has been the only one that works and that continues to work. I don't go a single diaper change without it. I got mine at Walgreens but you can also find it on Amazon here.

||2 Honest Company Baby Wipes|| See above for horrifically sensitive bum explanation. Should we talk about Jocelyn's bum some more...oh the humanity!! The alcohol in all the other brands of wipes completely irritated the rash and prevented it from healing too. It was only when I combined these wipes with the Bag Balm that the rash finally went away. You can find them here.

|| 3 Woombie|| So I first tried this when Jocelyn was a day old and it was a total joke, she was way too little for it, she first slept on and off for sometimes only fifteen minutes at a time so putting her in this was a nightmare. But when she started to sleep longer stretches at night I started using this only for night time and it increased the amount of time that she slept at night by 3 hours. You guys, three precious hours. That's like years in newborn time. Anyways, it keeps them tight in a swaddle while they sleep so that their startle reflex doesn't wake them up. It.is.a.game.changer. You can buy it here.

|| 4 Solly Baby Wrap|| There are just times when Jocelyn won't stop crying unless I'm holding her. And holy crap it seems impossible to get things done. I got this wrap and put her in it and she passes out and then I can get things done!! Can I get a what what for actually being able to function!! You can buy it here.

|| 5 Lansinoh Nursing Pads|| I got a ton of washable nursing pads before I had Jocelyn but the second I started actually nursing I realized just how much I needed to change the nursing pads and I would have to wash them once a day if I wanted to be able to use them, so HELLO disposable pads. They are my best friends. I never leave the house without a stash in my bag. You can find them pretty much anywhere or you can get them online here.

Are there any baby products that you swear by?! Because I am willing to pay you in brownies for some good 'ol mama knowledge:)

Glasses USA Review

 So I agreed to do this review before I decided to stop doing fashion posts and I'm a woman of my word so here goes one last fashion item...ish review!!

I made it super clear with them that I was going to be really honest about my experience with GlassesUSA so let's get talking!

So I decided it was high time I get myself some dang glasses. I'm usually a contact only girl and it had been forever since I'd had eyeglasses because they are typically super expensive with my high prescription but when I was contacted by GlassesUSA I figured I'd give it a go!

Picking out the glasses was actually really easy. They have this shnazy virtual mirror feature where you can upload a photo of yourself and see what the glasses would look like on your face shape which was awesome because shopping online for something like glasses can be hard when you don't know what they'll look like on but the virtual try on is actually a pretty good representation of how the size and shape will look like on your face.

Here's the tool below if you want to give it a whirly whirl.

Buying the eyeglasses online was easy too, I just uploaded my prescription information, chose my lenses and checked out. I was actually surprised by how cheap the glasses were at check out. They're competitive with Warby Parker prices (especially because they're always running different promo codes) but I actually liked the quality of my glasses better than Warby Parker (I had some sent to my house to try on a long time ago but ended up not ordering any because they felt like they would break WAY easy, has anyone else noticed that or is it just me??), anyways for being discount glasses they have a great quality.

The glasses then were delivered to me in about a week! Here's where the trouble came in though, when I received the glasses that I picked out which were originally a different pair, I ordered them with the thinnest lenses possible because of my high prescription and figured they wouldn't look thick. But once they arrived the lenses looked coke bottle thick, I'm talking grandma style in the worst way possible. I was super bummed, I'd ordered the thinnest lenses possible and they still looked huge. So I contacted a sales rep, told them my story and they actually explained that certain glasses styles go better with certain prescriptions and I had chosen possibly the worst style of frames to go with my prescription.

So they let me send back my frames that were too thick and pick out this new style. Even though it took longer than I would have liked and took two tries to get the right pair I was really impressed by how committed the customer service was to getting me a pair that would work for me at no extra cost. It's great to know you aren't buying from a company that will leave you high and dry if something goes wrong.

Wow, this is way too long for glasses ammmiright. Anyways, glasses, love them, wear them all the time,moral of the story, buy glasses online. They are cheap eyeglasses compared to the price you would pay when going to a store. But definitely pick out your frames carefully and if you have any questions about what style of glasses works best with your prescription then call customer service. They were super helpful!

If you're interested in getting glasses you can find some juicy promo codes here, or use the code Blog10 to get 10% off your glasses.

Can You Believe It?!

 (Sorry these pictures are really grainy, they were taken at like 11 at night and I really didn't want to use a flash:))

Jocelyn turned 4 weeks old...holy cow I blinked and she is already a month old?! This month has been such a blur, I think it's the sleep deprivation, or the fact that all I could do was manage to stare at my baby for a month straight or the fact that life completely changed in an instant. Okay I have no idea what it is.

But what everyone says is totally true, you forget just how terrible delivery is right away. I caught myself telling someone yesterday that it really wasn't bad at all. I mean I was lucky to have a relatively easy delivery my first time but by no means was it a walk in the park. I've come to the conclusion that labor is really really hard...but having a newborn is a whole new level of hard, your life completely changes overnight and you have absolutely no idea what your doing, and I think to be able to handle all of the new demands put on you, you completely forget what you just did so that you can focus on the new really really hard thing you have to do. Does that make sense?

Where was I. Ah yes, having a newborn is hard. Anyways, here's what the first 4 weeks of having Jocelyn have been like for me. The good, the amazing and the ugly.

1. You are so so happy but paranoid, you literally stay awake all night staring at your baby just to make sure she's still breathing, but it's okay because holy cow you could stare at her all day.
2. You just can't function anymore so you start to sleep at night, but surprise your baby thinks night time is day time so it's party time!!
3. Getting the hang of breastfeeding is quite the ordeal (I need an entire post for this one, fah real), the thought of having to breastfeed again makes you want to cry, but lets be real the thought of anything and everything makes you want to cry right now, you're leaking at ridiculous rates, the word latch comes out of your mouth like 40 times a day and you've made it to a nick name basis with your lactation consultant.
4. You wake up with baggy eyes completely exhausted after only getting a few hours of sleep. The thought of even just four hours of sleep sounds completely magical!!Getting ready for the day seems like a total joke because your newest accesorie is the spit up on your shoulder and down your back and....is that poop on your hand...hmmm oh well sleep is more important than washing it off.
5. "Aint nobody got time for that" takes on a whole new meaning. Shower? Forget it. Lunch? If you're lucky enough to remember. The top knot is now your best friend and you're debating just buzzing your head because the little one is ripping it out by the mini handful anyway!
6. And then one night your baby completely calms down just from hearing your voice and you melt. You completely melt and it's all worth it.
7. Wash rinse and repeat steps 2-5.
8. And then she smiles, not just half a smile but a full faced "I just went to Disneyland for the first time smile, and really it's just so worth it and awesome....but you'd still really love to sleep again someday soon and not have your boobs hang like udders anymore.

I warned you. Amazing and ugly all at the same time:)

It's Time

I've been thinking a lot about this. A lot. And it's time for me to retire the fashion side of Wearing It On My Sleeves. I firmly believe that there is a time and a season for everything in life. And right now is just not the time for me to be a fashion blogger. This little girl of mine has become my entire world overnight and I want to soak up every minute of it and use my spare time to oh I don't know TAKE A SHOWER!!! I mean really though ain't nobody got time for that! Maybe someday I'll want to pick it up again but for now this will just be a blog about me and my life (and of course I'll keep sewing and making things!). I'd love for you to follow along if you'd like, but of course I completely understand if you're outta here.

Being a fashion blogger is an interesting thing. It's easy to become completely consumed by something as silly as the clothes that we wear. It's so easy to spend tons of money frivilously on clothes you don't need, compare yourself to others and to sell your soul to the devil just for a couple of freebies and I really tried my hardest to keep WIOMS a fashion blog where readers could come to escape all of that and to see a REAL person with a REAL clothing budget and a REAL honest opinion about everything. So I hope that is something that this space can be thought of as.

I can't thank you guys enough for all of the amazing support you have given me. I feel like that has been the most rewarding part and I will miss it so much!!! Please please please feel free to keep commenting and connecting about my life stories because being able to meet and connect with so many amazing people makes blogging worth it:)

I'll leave all of my other social media links below if you'd like to connect with me there. For those of you peacing out, thanks so much for your love and support!

Instagram (@fromsarahsleeve)
Pinterest
Facebook
Twitter

Jocelyn's Birth Story

Matt and I chose to get induced, which in and of itself is an entirely different story, basically my doctors thought Jocelyn was a huge chunker of a baby and that going past my due date might just do me in, so we induced the day before my due date. It was the weirdest feeling ever, the night before we had Jocelyn, sitting there in the movie theatre watching Saving Mrs. Banks, I was going through contractions the entire movie and thinking, I'm going to have a daughter tomorrow. I'm going to be a mom tomorrow. After the movie Matt and I walked hand in hand, me in the only thing that fit comfortably, my sweats and slippers, and I slowly waddled out to the car, Matt patiently walking next to me. The drive home was so quiet, we were both just taking it all in. We were going to be parents tomorrow.

We got to the hospital at 5:00 am (which should be illegal the day you have a baby). We checked in and they induced me right away. At first going through contractions I was like....this isn't so bad....I won't need an epidural for this! Yeah well by 1:00 pm I was doubled over in pain just begging Matt for an epidural while I waited patiently for the anestesiologist. By the time the anestesiologist came my contractions were right on top of each other, I felt like I couldn't even breathe between them. The wind got knocked out of me every other minute and the pain shot up my back.The only thing I can think of to describe it is that it feels like someone is trying to break your back...from all directions. Okay that's not a great description but let's just go with it.

Finally I got the epidural (after two tries of putting it in, not fun, lots of not fun all around) and I fell asleep right away. After my last trimester of being constantly uncomfortable and not being able to sleep well, when my lower half went numb I fell asleep instantly. Epidurals come highly recommended in my book. You know my moto, don't be a champ TAKE THE DRUGS!! Okay so that's not my moto but it is now!

As I said, completely passed out and in heaven, and there I stayed for a couple of hours until all of the sudden I was woken up and people were coming in and out of the room, moving things, prepping things, changing my bed into a delivery table and telling me that I was ready to go and could start pushing. 

Now it's not like I'd ever pushed a baby out of me before so when they told me to push, I was like...ummmm okay....like this?? I obviously wasn't pushing right because the nurse coaching me through the delivery was like, so your baby is pretty much taking one step forward and two steps backward when you push, we may have to do a c section. Apparently that was all I needed to hear to be terrified enough to get that baby out of me because then I pushed three more times and there Jocelyn was! I'm pretty sure it was a ploy to literally scare the baby out of me, Matt said I got really wide eyed and he could tell that I was going to get down to business and make it happen.

All of the sudden the nurse and Matt looked at each other and went WOAH simultaneously and the nurse told me not to push at all because the doctor wasn't ready yet.

That is possibly the dumbest thing that anybody could ever tell a woman. I could have sneezed and Jocelyn would have come out  then and there and then they decide to tell me to not push the human out of me that I've been trying to push out of my body for hours, yeah, dumbest thing ever. Nurses should be banned from saying that.

The doctor moseyed in and played receiver, literally I didn't even push, he just caught and yelled TOUCHDOWN!! Okay I may be exaggerating a bit.

And all of the sudden there she was. This perfect little girl with tons of  BLONDE HAIR??? (so not expecting that!!) and long long fingers that I could hold onto for hours and dark gray eyes and really, SHE WAS PERFECT, all of her was totally and utterly perfect.

Jocelyn Anne McCammon

6 lbs 13 Ounces

19 Inches 

Born 2/27 at 2:27