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Product review: Our Changing Table from IKEA

THE SNIGLAR from IKEA sniglar-changing-table-white__08177_PE084938_S4sniglar-changing-table-white__0255227_PE399559_S4

Yeah its nothing fancy but seriously if you are on a budget and you need a good sturdy table in a room with not much space this was one of the best ones that we found. Its made of solid beech and has a fiberboard as the shelves. The cost was a whole $34.99 and it didn’t even take that much time to assemble, was really easy too actually a little too easy but it has held up so far. We didn’t want to go for a big clunky dresser with a changing top attached it would of taken up too much room in his room. People aren’t going to go and say , “OMG did you see that changing table they got , I can’t believe they would change a baby on it!” Fuck those type of people anyways if they are judging you on a fucking changing table. There are plenty of other things people should be focused on other than where you’re changing shit diapers every two hours.

It has a big under shelf for putting diapers and wipes on and anything else you want to put on the ass of your baby. We even got a really great changing pad that fits into from IKEA as well.

SKÖTSAM Changing pad IKEA

The SKOTSAM from IKEA.

It blows up on the sides and has a thin soft pad to lay the baby on. It makes wiping pee and poop off pretty easy. Not much of a comfy pad but seriously the baby is not going to be sleeping on the fucking thing so no need to go out and buy those 40 dollar plus changing pads. The price for this… $6.99!  There is also and cover that you can buy for 5 bucks! (see below) But I wouldn’t just buy one that baby will poop and pee all over this bitch and you’ll be taking it off every other day and laying another one down in no time. So all in all we spent a total of $47 dollars on a full on changing area FUCK YEAH ! SKÖTSAM Cover IKEA

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Going back to work.

For the people out there wondering how much time is enough time off from work to be with your newborn there isn’t enough time out there. I took a week of Paid Time Off when my son was born and because he was in the hospital I went back to work after. I then took an additional three weeks of FMLA (unpaid) to help my wife adjust to life with a newborn at home. It was definitely worth it and I really wish I could spend more time at home with both of them. I really want to be a stay at home dad but right now since the wife hasn’t been working for a while because being on bedrest I have to be the bread winner.

There are some dads out there that I asked on how much time off work they have taken off and the rough amount of time I get is usually a week or so. I think some dads just get bored and want to go to work and not be at home watching mom breastfeed the kid and feel hopeless and not being able to help for those late night feeds. My wife on the other hand tried breastfeeding but she never produced more that an ounce of milk every pump and then the baby would be even hungrier than before. So she just said “fuck this shit I’m tired , he’s hungry. Fuck this” and we went to formula and bottles. He had a hard time latching on because while in NICU she was only able to breastfeed him about two times the whole month and a half he was in there. So most likely he preferred the bottle nipple opposed to the real one. So I was able to feed him late at night and we are able to take shifts throughout the night. Most dads also said that the babies are boring at that stage, I think that’s completely false. It’s the best time for the baby to get use to your smell, your voice, your overall presence and having both parents in the moment with him puts him at ease. I loved spending the afternoons watching a movie with him asleep on my chest and being there when he wakes up from one of his naps and just opens his eyes and stares at me for minutes on end.

Now some people are different, some want to wait for when the baby shows more of a reaction when talked to, to take time off. I’m not here to say you dads out there taking a week off because a baby is boring during the first few months are wrong. Some people may not be able to afford to take a really long periods of time off work because they need a paycheck to come through and have bills to pay and not live with family like me and the wife do. If you can though I do suggest you take the full amount of time off if possible. Yeah your boss might give you a hard time but seriously being for the early stages I believe are just as important. You learn a lot of what the stay at home parent will be going through day to day. You’ll have a bigger appreciation for the little things. You learn not everything will be perfect and messes pile up around the house and you just have to get them done when you can.

Going to back to work for me will be the hardest but I got to keep reminding myself that it’s all for my little family!

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Leave

So far I’ve been on Family Bonding Leave. Unfortunately it’s unpaid, but the paycheck that I’ll be missing I only have 200 to 300 dollars in bills. My parents are going to help me cover those bit seriously bonding leave should be paid. FMLA gives you 12 weeks of leave without losing your job but it’s all unpaid. The case can be made that it’s  unfair for people that have kids shouldn’t get preferential treatment over the people that chose not to. Still me only being able to take 3 weeks off the 12 weeks doesn’t help at all. It’s taken us a while to get adjusted with having the baby home and I feel we won’t get fully adjusted for another month or two. I don’t know how single parents do it major props to them for sure.

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Day 35.

It still seems that Cassius was just born a week ago. The trips to the nicu have all blurred together. Nurses all look the same to me now. I’ve waited 20 mins driving around the parking lot to make sure I get a spot that’s close to the entrance , and with shade. I’ve eaten terrible hospital cafeteria food, 4 bucks for a slice of pizza! Doctors come in and say, “Have any questions?”. Yeah when can we get the fuck out of here is the first one that comes to mind. I usually ask though if anything major has changed that we should be concerned about and I get the same answer. “No.” So if you’re wondering , like I have this past month, why the fuck are we here, this is the break down.

Preemies have all sorts of shit that need to develop. They didn’t have time to cook and mature in the womb and they have to do all that still. Doctors and nurses still go off our due date and still tell us it could take all the way up until then for him to go home. Preemies usually need help to breathe, have jaundice, can’t control their body temperature and can’t eat off a breast or bottle yet. So in order for a baby to go home they need to do all of that with no complications. By complications I mean heart rate has to stay at a certain level and oxygen levels have to stay at a certain amount or else these fucking machines go out and it takes everything in your not to smash the fucking thing and chuck it to the nearest staff person.

Luckily for us our son was off a breathing tube within a week, under the jaundice light for about the same amount of time. He’s been gaining weight steadily everyday and doctors are already talking about getting him to go home soon. Till next time everyone much love and take care.

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