5 Must-Haves for Every New Mom

When you are still pregnant with your first child, you really have no idea what you are in for or what to expect. That's where this post comes in. My little girl is almost 3 months old, and there are a few things (most of which I stumbled upon) that I have found to be absolutely essential to surviving the first few months. So, I'm going to save you a lot of time and crying (both you and the baby) and just tell you right off the bat so you can get it now. Or put it on your baby registry, as the case may be. Here we go!

How to Get Rid of That Pesky Pregnancy Itch Safely and Effectively

When I was pregnant with my first child, my stretch marks developed into PUPPPs (Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy), which is an incredibly itchy rash ALL over my belly that I have scratched so much as to now have open sores. It was supposed to go away after I gave birth, and it did for the most part, but it does still itch some. But I've found something that really, truly works to alleviate that itch for a while.

A Complete Guide to Birthing A Baby Naturally Is Right at Your Fingertips

The story of my first daughter's birth really starts months before when I was twenty-something weeks along and terrified of giving birth. I knew that there was no way I was going to be able to give birth in my purely petrified state. So one day while my husband, mother-in-law, and I were browsing a bookstore, I decided I needed help to get over the irrational fears that were going through my mind and taking me down. I found myself in the parenting section of Mardel and started rifling through books to find one that I thought would help. After looking at several, I stumbled upon "The Birth Book" by William and Martha Sears, plopped down, and started perusing.