HOW TO BE A GOOD FRIEND TO A NEW MOM, PT. II

Well, some more months have passed since my original installment and I am chalk full of new ideas for ways you can care for the new mamas in your life. I got to thinking about this, seeing as so many ladies in my life are pregnant or hoping to be soon!

1. Buy her a Netflix subscription. I'm pretty sure that 93% of Americans have a subscription already, but on the off chance that your friend does not, this would make a really wonderful gift. When you can't do much and you're awake most of the time, you might as well watch a ton of TV. (Wait, what?)

2. Buy her fancy pajamas. A couple of months after Finnegan was born, I bought myself a couple of pairs of pajamas that I felt really good about wearing and being seen in. Prior to this purchase, I was mostly a big t-shirt and underwear kinda girl, but when you're home a lot and want to be comfortable and not feel like a total slob, the fancy pajamas have a way of making you feel more human and less sloppy human pacifier. Keep in mind the needs of a nursing mama when making your purchase. I'm thinking something like this or this or this.

3. Ask to see pictures of her new baby, like, as often as possible. Nothing makes me happier than to scroll through the hundreds of pictures of Finnegan on my phone for any person with a pulse. But I don't ever jump into this unless someone asks (and then they never do again) because it just feels so pushy and self-involved. I usually assume that people don't really care to see the pictures and are just trying to be nice, which actually means a lot.

4. If you live in a different city, pay for a meal and have it delivered. I live across the country from many of my friends and this seems to be an easy way to lighten the load of new parenthood.

BARE ESSENTIALS: CLOTH DIAPERING A NEWBORN.

Classes for Justin's first semester at grad school came to a close yesterday (Yay! Awesome! You're incredible, Justin! We did it!).  Now it's Saturday night, he is paper writing, Finn is sleeping, and I'm partying on over here furiously typing up my innermost thoughts about diapers of the cloth persuasion.  Exciting stuff over here, friends.  So here it goes.

You know what?  Cloth diapering is so not a big deal.  It is completely doable.  The most complicated part of the entire process for me was sorting through the hundreds of forums and websites trying to figure out what insert works with what cover, what a prefold is and how it should be folded, what a pocket diaper is, blah blah blah.  So much information!  So much confusion!  Here, my friends, I am going to sum up this process.  Now let me start with this one caveat:  I have only been doing this for three months.  My baby has never eaten anything other than breastmilk, so I can't really speak to what this experience is like with more (ahem) mature poops, but breastmilk-inspired poop is a weird, chartreuse mess that I have totally mastered.

Moving on.  Cloth diapering is awesome for a lot of reasons, but here are a few:  your bank account loves it, your baby's butt loves it, the Earth loves it, and a cloth diaper can function as a totally hip baby fashion accessory (modeled below).  It involves a bit more work than disposables (or so I'm told) but washing diapers doesn't take much time and quickly becomes a no-attention-required part of your routine.  You might also feel disgusted at the idea of touching a pee-soaked cloth, but in all honesty, this becomes (by far) the least of your concerns as far as gross baby-related happenings go.  Also note that these are, by nature, bulkier than disposable diapers.  What you sacrifice in size, you make up for in adorable-ness.  Just be aware that you'll probably end up sizing up in clothing sooner.

I'm Finnegan Francis, and I endorse this message.

HOW TO BE A GOOD FRIEND TO A NEW MOM.

"HI FRIENDS COME SEE HOW CUTE MY BABY IS!!!! BRING ME THAI ICED TEA!!!!! XOXO, MEGAN"

The weeks following pushing a baby out of your body are kind of insane.  Your body feels weird and sore and you're tired and you can't imagine having to actually live life on top of taking care of this new human.  Here are a few things that you can do to ease the stress of that transition for your friends.

1.  Answering a phone is simply too much to ask of new parents and yes, I am completely serious.  Or if you really want to call and actually be supportive, don't expect anyone to answer and leave a voicemail about how awesome your friend is and that you don't need or expect a call back.  Send a text or an email and expect to get a reply back at 3:46am when mom is up breastfeeding with iPhone in hand.