Persevering Momma

Taking The Day One Spoon At a Time

Choosing The Right School System For Your Child Is Stressful!

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Ever think you have it all figured out and then your mind is just blown by a new idea? This is me right now. While I was pregnant we had decided that when our son is old enough that we would homeschool him, but now here he is almost 2 and we are questioning our decision.  I am quickly realizing that choosing the right school system isn’t as easy as I thought it was going to be.  My son will be 2 this winter and I am already stressed about Preschool.

Why are we questioning the decision to homeschool?

We aren’t questioning homeschooling our son because we have something against it. Instead we are questioning true social aspect of homeschooling him. My hubby had two siblings at home with him so there were no issues with social integration, but little Raiden is an only child, at least for now, and that makes us wonder if we should look into other options.

Where we currently live we are not comfortable with him going to public school. The area is rough and that schools really aren’t a good option for him. That is why we are considering Montessori school as an option for our son.

We live in an area where we are lucky enough to have two different Montessori schools within a reasonable driving distance and it makes us curious to see exactly what they are all about.

What is a Montessori school?

I’m That Anxious Mom

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Yes, I am that anxious mom. I’m just not the type of anxious mom that you’re probably thinking of. I am not one of those clingy moms that is worried about every little thing that’s has to do with my son. No, that’s not me.

I am a mom with anxiety.

I have battled with anxiety my whole life and have always found ways to push through it, but man being a parent is hard work!

My anxiety has never been as bad as it has been since I became a mom and today I am admitting it to the whole world.

Being a parent isn’t easy and more often than not it is very stressful. When I am stressed things get rough. That is when my anxiety flares and I start to lose it.

When my anxiety hits I can’t sleep and I’m always tired. I struggle to force myself to be active and interact with my son and the people around me. I tend to have a short fuse and often become very emotional. This all often leads to me not leaving the house. I become a homebody because it’s just too hard to function in the real world.

It’s a daily battle and some days are better than others.

In the past two years my anxiety has never fully gone away. Some days are significantly better than others while some days I struggle to get out of bed. Battling anxiety with a child is tough because it causes even more doubt and even more anxious thoughts.

I’m not depressed, but there are days when I feel like a failure because I back out of a play date for my son or because I just couldn’t sit and play with him like I wish I had one day.

Prepping For Breastfeeding a New Baby

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Prepping to breastfeed your new baby can mean a variety of different things to different moms. New moms often feel lost and overwhelmed by everything that is out there. Even seasoned moms can feel overwhelmed by everything that is out on the market for nursing moms. It has been 3 years since I have shopped for breastfeeding supplies and I have done a lot of research as to what I will need this time around.

A Good Breast Pump

A good breast pump is a must have item for any new mom that plans to be away from their baby for an extended period of time. Most US health insurance plans offer a variety of different breast pump options for free. If you are low income and are on WIC this is also another way you can try to get a breast pump. I would recommend picking one with a closed system as those are easier to clean. In addition to an electric breast pump you might want to look into a manual hand pump or something like the Haakkaa breast milk collector. This works great to catch milk off of the free boob while the baby nurses on the other side. 

Milk Storage Bags

If you are pumping then you will want to look into milk storage bags. I liked the Kiinde Twist bags when I had my son 3 years ago because they stand up nicely. If you aren’t planning on having a big milk stash in the freezer then I would recommend these because you can pump directly into the bags with ease. However, if you plan on having a freezer stash I suggest you choose bags that freeze flat to help conserve space in your deep freezer. There are a lot of different breast milk storage bags on the market so you will want to do your research to see which ones work best for you. I liked the Lansinoh bags. For freezing your milk flat you will also want to look into the MAMMaway Freeze It Flat. I would recommend splurging and getting the double version so that you can freeze two at a time. If you will be pumping a lot then you might even want to invest in more than one of these to help speed up the freezing process.

Baby Bottles

Most people think of baby bottles for formula fed babies, but these are important to have if you plan to be away from baby at any time. We tried a million different baby bottles with my son and this time around we are going to try some different ones again. The Comotomo bottles are highly rated as great bottles for nursing children as they help to mimic the shape of the boob. We will also be trying the Evenflo Feeding Proflo Venting Balance bottles.

Nursing Pillow

A good nursing pillow is ideal for at home nursing because a nursing baby gets heavy after a few minutes. So, if you plan to nurse sitting up I recommend getting a nursing pillow. There is quite the variety of nursing pillows out there. I used the Boppy Nursing Pillow with my son, but I am looking into a couple of other options this time around. The Boppy was a little snug on me last time so I want to see if there is something that will fit around my plus sized curves better this time around.

Having Options To Unbuckle Your Child With Physical Limitations

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Becoming a mom is terrifying for most if not all women, but for me it was even more terrifying. I had extra fears and apprehensions about becoming a mom. I knew from the get go that it was going to be a daunting task, but the day when reality set in was the hardest. That was the day that I realized I physically would not be able to unbuckle the car seat straps without help!

I remember the day like it was yesterday. I was about 6 months pregnant and we had decided it was time to look into what car seats we wanted to get for our son. We had done tons of research, but ultimately we knew that it had to be a car seat that I was able to use. We walked into Babies R Us and walked straight over to their display of car seats. This where things went wrong.

I walked up and down the aisles trying to push the harness release buttons. There wasn’t a single one in the store that I could remotely push. At this point I didn’t know about the regulations stating how much psi was required for these buttons. If I had known I never would have tried because I have never had that much strength in my hands.

That day I walked out of the store feeling defeated. I was a mess of tears convinced I’d never be able to go anywhere alone with my son because I couldn’t get him out of his car seat. I felt like a failure as a mom and for a moment I had given up.

I thought I would never be able to go anywhere with my son alone. At least not until he was out of car seats. This was devastating news to me.

Then I found the solution I was searching for!

It was just a normal day when I came across the Bucklebopper of Amazon. I started to do research and found that many other devices were starting to pop up in the market for moms and grandparents who needed assistance to press the release buttons on car seats and other Baby related items.

The Bucklebopper

BuckleBopper Unbuckle helper

The Bucklebopper was the first device that I tried using with my son. This device fits into the palm of your hand. You place one hand behind the buckle on the car seat and with your other hand you press the post that’s on the Bucklebopper into the button to allow it to release.

For me there was a learning curve with this device because my hands are pretty awkward to hold things and it took me awhile to find the way that felt the most comfortable and actually got the buckle to release. Thankfully it worked well for me for a year before the rubber was worn away and it was no longer working well for me.

The Bucklebee

Bucklebee Unbuckle helper

I was finding that traveling with the Bucklebee was becoming problematic because I liked leaving it in my car, but still needed a way to get my son in and out of his car seat when I wasn’t using my personal car. It was then that I began looking online again and found the Bucklebee.

The Bucklebee is different from the Bucklebopper because this one stays attached to the car seat. The bottom of the device clips around the tongue of the car seat buckle and will hang loosely from the tongue at all times. Again with this device you place one hand behind the car seat buckle and with the other hand you press the device/lever into the button to get it to release.

This one worked very well when my son was in his infant car seat. We didn’t feel comfortable putting it on his convertible car seat, however, due to the fact that he had begun getting curious and we didn’t want him attempting to unbuckle himself while driving. I will also admit that we did also have issues with it coming off of the buckle tongue which was an issue for me because my hands are not strong enough to get the device in place.

This particular device is something that we are interested in reintroducing when our son is old enough to understand that he needs to be buckled in safely into his car seat. I know as he gets older he will want to be more independent and this device would help him to unbuckle himself when we get to our destinations. I will admit that it might not work with all car seats due to the padding on some of the buckles. It will be a trial and error test with some buckles to see if it can reach to unbuckle the straps or not.

The UnbuckleMe

UnbuckleMe Unbuckle helper

This device I watched a million videos about for almost a year before I finally took the plunge and tried it. Watching the videos I was really unsure that my hands would grip this device well and thought it would not be something that would work well for me.

I was wrong! The UnbuckleMe is my current favorite car seat assistive device. I have found that it is easy to slide the back piece behind my son’s buckle and then press down with the palm of my hand while I pull the buckles free at the same time with my other hand. I feel like this device takes less time and is more comfortable for me to use in my hands.

I also like that I can put the device onto a key chain so that it is easier to find and grab from my bag when I need it.

The Car Seat Key

The Car Seat Key Unbuckle helper

The Car Seat Key is designed similarly to the UnbuckleMe, however, this device is much smaller and is made from a much firmer plastic. This device is perfect to keep on a key chain with your keys all the time because it is so small.

I personally do not recommend this device to other people with muscle wasting in their hands because the plastic is so hard that it actually hurts to press it into the car seat release. I wince every time I try to use The Car Seat Key because of this. I do not really have any meat to my hands so the device is pressing into fleshy tissue and bones. There is nothing to pad my hand from it.

I do however feel like it works really well for many people and would be a great option for women who get their nails done. When you have long nails it’s nearly impossible to press buttons without breaking them so if you have a device like this you can use your palm instead of your fingertips to press the release button.

If you are looking for something small and don’t have hand strength issues this would work for you. I have seen it work great for women with long nails who struggle to press the button without breaking their nails.

There are finally options to help unbuckle car seat straps!

As you can see there is quite the variety of options for people with weak hands to help them unbuckle car seats. We no longer have to rely on others to help get our children out of their car seats! These devices give us independence that we aren’t ready to lose.

I’m Pregnant with Baby 2 or 3… Depending on How You Look at it.

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You may have seen on social media that we announced a new pregnancy! We are very excited to add another baby to our family. Raiden couldn’t be more excited and neither could we. This pregnancy wasn’t planned, but doesn’t change anything for us.

Baby Coming November 2019!

I’m pregnant with baby 2

We are excited that this time around we are a bit more prepared. (Kind of a given after you have already raised a baby into toddlerhood.) We own our own house, have the space for a second child and already have a decent amount of baby items from when Raiden was born. Of course because I love to help other moms some of our stuff isn’t currently in our possession, but that’s okay! I know many other babies are getting to use some great products in the meantime.

Definitely be on the look out of tons of baby content coming because I may only be 8 weeks pregnant, but all I have on the brain is BABY, baby, baby! And that means I’ll be pulling out all of my favorite baby products to share with you all. This will include products for all parents as well as products that are especially useful for physically handicapped parents like myself. If you have any specific concerns feel free to leave them in the comments so that I can try to bring them up in future articles.

Is this baby 2 or baby 3?

My biggest question this time around is whether this baby should be called baby 2 or baby 3. I keep asking myself this question when talk with other moms in moms groups because as a family this is our second child, but realistically there is another little one out there that is a part of our extended family. She was born in my arms, but is being lovingly raised by another amazing woman that feels like a sister to me. We do view her as Raiden’s sister and loved being able to have them finally meet last month. So what would you say?

What do you think, is this baby 2 or baby 3?