An old friend of mine just sent a link around to this MotherStyles quiz and I found it really interesting. It’s a Myers-Briggs type quiz analyzing your mothering/parenting style.  Turns out I’m an INTP mom, or a “Love of Learning” mom, who excels at calmness, and fostering independence and love of learning, but struggles with routine and order.  I think that’s pretty accurate, and if I remember correctly, my Myers-Briggs type is INTP as well.

What’s your mothering style?

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I am a huge fan of Victoria’s Secrets Soft & Sexy Wrap.  It’s not marketed for maternity and nursing wear, but that’s what so special about it.  It’s a good wardrobe investment that you can wear for years to come.  I’m 17 weeks pregnant and it fits great and is cute, I expect I can continue wearing throughout spring and it’ll make a great nursing cover-up in the fall and winter.  Isabella Oliver Maternity carries a similar style in ivory and black that is on sale now for $122, and is not as versatile in the ways it can be tied because the sweater fabric is thicker.  The Victoria’s Secret version comes in 11 different colors (I’m wearing it in Coral Madness right now and love it!) and can be tied in many different ways.  Even better?  It’s on sale right now for $39 and Victoria’s Secret ships worldwide.  Take a look:

The above twist-front tie back style I think could work well during nursing.  Just put a nursing cami or tank top underneath and the part covering the breast can be lifted up to create a nursing opening while your tummy stays covered by the wrapped part.

What do you think of the Soft & Sexy Wrap?  Do you have any tips for non-maternity/nursing clothing that is versatile enough to work during pregnancy and/or nursing?

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I’m currently in my 16th week of my second pregnancy.  With my first child, I was nauseous during the first trimester, but hadn’t thrown up at all.  I wasn’t surprised to find a few weeks in that I was getting nauseous this time around.  I wasn’t even surprised the first few times I threw up, about 8 weeks along.  I figured every pregnancy is different and this time my morning sickness was a little worse (not to mention it was usually dinner I was throwing up, so I liked to refer to it as “evening” sickness).

By week 10, I was throwing up pretty much every lunch and had stopped eating dinner.  I was trying all the home remedies against nausea I could find.  I made a super strong ginger syrup for making homemade ginger ale.  I tried meditation, blackberry juice, yoga, cumin seeds, peppermint tea, chamomile tea, pressure point therapy, apple cider vinegar, rice water.  Nothing helped.

Within a few days, I was throwing everything up.  Previously, I could at least count on keeping breakfast down, but that time was over.  I was even throwing up black tea and mineral water.  I was getting weaker and weaker, and soon I couldn’t leave the house except to visit the doctor and split my time between the bed and sofa.  I relied on the television to babysit my two year old.  I just didn’t have the energy to care for him.  He got microwave lunches and lots of educational videos.

My husband would take off half or full days whenever he could, and the neighbors would take my son Oliver whenever they could, but it was tough being an expat and living so far from family.  It was lonely being stuck in the house, not having contact with friends, and I struggled with depression and homesickness.

My doctor suggested I check into the hospital for a few days, but I hate hospitals and couldn’t bring myself to consider it yet.  She prescribed dimenhydrinate suppositories (the active ingredient in Dramamine), they helped me keep down food better, but I had problems with the side effects.  The doctor switched me to Nausema, a high dose tablet of vitamins B6, B1 and B12.  It didn’t have any side effects, but was also hardly effective.

Things got worse and worse.  I was losing about 3 pounds a week.  A pound is 3,500 calories, so if you think about it, I was undereating by over 10,000 calories a week.  I was looking towards the end of the first trimester as an endpoint, things would get better then, and I had planned a trip to go home to my family in the states at week 13 of my pregnancy.  I thought that things had to improve soon.

Then I discovered the H.E.R. Foundation website (Hyperemesis Education & Research).  It confirmed what I suspected, that common nausea remedies don’t generally work for HG (Hyperemesis Gravidarum - excessive nausea in pregnancy).  It also said that HG usually doesn’t stop at the end of the first trimester, it usually lasts into week 20 and can last the entire pregnancy.  I decided to check into the hospital.  Before going in, at week 12, I was 18 pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight.

This was the first time I’d been in the hospital that it felt good to be there.  I’ve lost my hatred of being hospitalized.  I was on an IV drip with dimenhydrinate and electrolytes.  I still felt lousy the first 2 days in, but by he third day I was feeling a little better, although I still threw up several times during my stay.  I was in for 4 days, until the day before flying to the US.  The doctors at the hospital didn’t really want to let me out, I think the doctors would have kept me there for weeks if I didn’t insist.  I lost 2 more pound while I was in hospital.

I requested dimenhydrinate capsules for the trip, the only side effect of the capsules was that I’d get tired, avoiding the problems I had with the suppositories (you don’t want to know about those, but if you use your imagination, I’m sure you could figure out what might have been the problem).  I was prescribed the equivalent of 8 Dramamine a day.  If anyone has taken 1 or even 2 Dramamine for motion sickness, you know how even that small a dosage can knock you out.

The trip to the US was torturous.  I was in tears by the time we made it to the gate of our second plane in Amsterdam.  I threw up during the transatlantic flight, despite massive doses of anti-nausea medicine.  But things have been improving in the US.  I’m surrounded by family, who help with my son and let me get all the rest that I need.  I’ve managed to gain back 8 pounds in the half month I’ve been home, although the calories haven’t been the most healthy.  I find myself mostly craving comfort foods, like hamburgers, ribs, Reese’s cereal, and Baskin Robbins ice cream.  I’m not worrying too much about eating right anymore.  I’m still nauseous, although I’m throwing up much less frequently.  I just eat whatever I have desire to eat.  Some days I’ll look at an apple and think “Yum!” sometimes I think “NO!!!”  I don’t force the issue.  Whatever looks appetizing goes.

Because of the dosage of medication, I spend most of my time sleeping, or zoning out on the couch.  I’ve managed to leave the house twice since arriving.  I went to the supermarket on Christmas Eve, and that was fine, although it took me 3 days to recover.  Yesterday I went to Target to try on some maternity clothes (I got a really cute dress), but it was too much and I ended up making two rushed, extremely uncomfortable trips to the restroom, which was full of moms and kids, and was just not a place I would ever want to be sick in again.

I’m waiting desperately for the nausea to ease up.  I try avoiding doses when I can, just because I feel more with it when I’m not on the medicine, but I also know I need to keep eating and I need to break the nausea cycle.

I have a few good days in between the bad.  The first few days after a good day are the worst.  The good day makes you think things are getting better, then it all comes crashing back.  The day or two after a good day, I often find myself in tears at the slightest provocation.

My husband and I canceled our vacation next week in New York.  My husband goes back to Germany on the 7th and my brother goes back to work after New Years.  I’m a little nervous about how the month of January here is going to go.  I wasn’t expecting to still be ill.  If I’m not better, I don’t know how I can manage the flight back alone with my 2 year old at the end of January.  I just hope I’m one of the women who feels better by week 20.

For more information on HG, I recommend the HER Foundation website.  If you have a friend or family member suffering from HG, there is a great section on what you can do to help them.

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My son is now nearly two months old and yes, I do manage to nurse him. He takes ages to get full up, so I sit a LOT… I try to walk about nursing him sometimes, but it isn’t always a good time or a good idea… So, I have to sit comfortable when he is at it or I get really sore!

When I was pregnant with my first, I purchased a nursing chair. It was sold by many baby shops in the UK as a nursing chair, but was also available widely in other stores.Dutailier

This was the Dutailier Express Jamie Recline Glider & Stool. It cost at the time around £500. This recliner had a nice gliding motion and reclined. The recliner could be locked into several reclined positions and promised to be very comfy. I found the design of the chair was quite old fashioned. The other things I did not like was: the footstool could not lock into position - it rocked with the recliner, so it could get dangerous when babies start crawling and tries to pull themselves up on it. When I sat for long periods of time on it, my behind got really sore and numb in the end… So when my daughter was big enough to crawl, I got rid of the chair. The gliding and reclining was good, but just not that amazing to make me keep it.

Stressless

So, when I got to thinking about nursing this time around, I had a look at the Stressless from Ekornes. Now, this one does not compare with the Dutailier at all. Well, not when it comes to price (anything from 800 to 3,000euros) styling or comfort. We wanted a recliner for our living room and the Stressless happened to come in the same colour leather as our sofa. It also comes in different sizes and usually has a footstool as well. The Stressless comes in various designs and sizes. There will be one to suit anyone. We planned to use the recliner in our living room for as long as we needed it there and then move it up into the nursery, where I could even have a nap in it.

Well, we have just come to the conclusion that the recliner will not Poangmove into the nursery. It is everything we had wanted, so it is just too special to be hidden…

Ikea has launched a rocking armchair in their POÄNG series, so I looked at it. It is pretty modern and comes in various colours. Although it comes at a really good price of around 100 to 300 euros (including a footstool), It was just not to my liking.

The FATBOY beanbag is sold in many stores here in our home city, and myfatboy-original-braun-2daughter happened to love playing on them. So I went and tried it out. The FATBOY sits really comfy and looked like it would work. If we wanted to move it to a different room, it weighs only 9kg end you can easily find a comfy seated position on it. We could have a play on it and my daughter can pull it around. So this seemed like a fun item. It only costs 179euros if you buy from the website and delivery was included in the price. I ordered at lunchtime and the next morning it was delivered! I tried it out and found that this was the most comfy for nursing. I created a “bucket” seat for myself, lifting my knees to support my arms, so taking the strain off my arms when holding my baby when nursing. I found I could easily push it into shape to support my head very comfortably so I could relax my neck too. Yes, it could be tricky to get up out of it, but if you shape it so you don’t sit too close to the floor, it isn’t too bad. We love it.

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As the gift-giving season approaches, I thought I’d list a couple of my favorite sites for browsing for gifts, (apart from the various Amazon country sites, of course).

The MoMA Store - This is the shop for the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.  As you can imagine, the focus here is on design.  There are beautiful items for all ages and price ranges, and most items are available for international shipment.  Also, all purchases from the shop go to support the exhibitions at the museum.

Red Envelope - Self-described as the place for unique and personalized gifts.  There aren’t a lot of kids presents, but there are quite a few items that would be great as shower gifts for new or soon-to-be parents.  Shipping is only within the US.

Oompa - Great shop for eco-friendly, wooden and European toys located in the US.

Oliebollen - Cute designer kids clothes and hip toys, a lot of European stuff, also located and ships only within the US.

I thought I’d mention a couple German sites as well.  German sites are much less likely to have gift guides, so you gotta do more browsing on them.

Habitat.de - this is a home store that specializes in cool design.  The kitchen and living room accessories areas are a good place to find gifts for grown-ups.  There is a nice kids section with toys too.  The site is in German and ships only within Germany.

Takotomo.de - A somewhat cluttered site full of novelty items for kids and adults.  There’s a lot of funky stuff on here though, and I’ve ordered successfully several times.  The site is in English and German, and ships worldwide.

Jako-o.com - A great kid’s shop with cute clothes and clever toys picked by parents.  This site is available in a couple languages and ships all over the EU.

What are your favorite go-to sites for gifts?

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The BVS Top Ten Toys of 2009

by Christina on November 2, 2009 · 2 comments

in Toys

As Christmas approaches, I know we’re all wondering what to get for the little ones in our lives.  For some ideas, here are the German BVS, Bundesverband des Spielwaren-Einzelhandels […] Continue Reading…

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With economic times being tough, I had been thinking about putting together a post on what baby/kid items are needed and which we can do without, but it was […] Continue Reading…

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I’ve got back problems, and it was always a pain, literally, to hold my son over the sink to brush his teeth and wash his face and hands.  In […] Continue Reading…

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Being over-expectant

by Janda on September 27, 2009 · 7 comments

in Pregnancy

I find myself 41 weeks and 1 day pregnant today. As Delene was born 11 days after her due date, I had made up my mind since the very […] Continue Reading…

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My 2 year old son Oliver eats just about everything.  The other day, Janda and I had lunch at Aran here in Regensburg, and Oliver had fresh German whole […] Continue Reading…

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