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Monday, February 27, 2012

review and interview: regal cottage

Baby Ball Toy- Let's Join the Circus
Successful first birthday party, check!

People came, tostones and cake were eaten by all, presents were opened, messes were made. My little baby is now officially one year old.

It took me a while to figure out what to give her as a present. I wanted it to be special and something that would last- something that she could show her daughter one day and say, "Grandma got me this for my first birthday." I also wanted it to be something that she would play with- not another thing that would sit on the bottom of the toy bin.

I finally settled on this ball from Regal Cottage. The ball is made from a rare vintage circus print, vintage chenille and organic cotton. It is about 9 inches across and has a fun little bell inside. As Baby S is just beginning to discover ball play- rolling, throwing, hugging- this toy was a hit! We have already had quite a few sessions of family ball throwing time- everybody laughs and loves it. The print is also super fun to look at and she loves it's different textures. Birthday present success!

Matryoshka Plush
Regal Cottage offers a variety of fun eco-friendly plush toys made from organic fabrics, repurposed vintage fabrics and designer fabrics. I also had my eye on these sweet little matryoshka dolls.. maybe a future purchase?

Regina shares some of her breastfeeding and mothering experience with us:

I have four kids ages 3, 6, 9, and 11. I am really proud to say I breastfed all four of them! Surprisingly though, my experience with each of them was totally different, but that's how kids are. Each is a totally unique individual-even when they are tiny little newborns!
With my first, I was really nervous about my ability to breastfeed. Would it hurt? Would my baby latch on okay? Was my nutrition good enough? What about the middle of the night feedings? I was afraid I wouldn't be up to the challenge of it all. But once my son arrived, the nurses helped me a ton, and he was a real trooper! He was 9 pounds 9 ounces, and boy, was he hungry! I immediately knew I had nothing to worry about (but I still did worry, because that's what new Moms do, right?).

When my daughter was born, I had it all figured out and was much more comfortable with it all. I felt much more relaxed. She was a great nurser, but not with such a feverish gusto, like my son had been. She was sweet, took her time, and was overall an easy baby. 

Then, I had another sweet daughter. We discovered early on she was allergic to dairy. This was incredibly difficult for me, because I am a serious cheese lover! But it was my baby, and I could see it hurting her. Every single time I ate a morsel of dairy, she was miserable, and it broke my heart that my slip-ups had caused her this kind of misery. Let me just tell you, dairy is in everything-breads, cookies, cakes, sauces, soups. It was really hard. 

Then, something even harder happened. I got sick-really sick. I had a major infection in my knee joint that almost killed me when my daughter was just 6 months old. I had to be hospitalized, was put on IV painkillers and antibiotics, and even had surgery to remove the infection. My doctors told me I had to stop breastfeeding immediately. I'm sure you can imagine the guilt and disappointment that I felt. Luckily, my daughter took to the bottle easily, and I had an amazing support system through it all. And because she could have soy formula, she was suddenly feeling a whole lot better-no more of my silly dairy slip-ups. It was a huge relief to us all in the end. 


And then, last, but not least, I had another boy! ThIs time, I really had it down, and I had something nifty to make those long hours nursing go by even faster-my iPhone. This has, in my opinion, revolutionized life for nursing Moms. You can read in the dark, email, pay bills, shop, whatever you can dream up, all while you are feeding that sweet little baby. Wow! Revolutionary, I tell you! 

Thanks Regina! Regal Cottage is offering Breastfed readers a 10 percent discount on purchases- use discount code YAYBREASTFEDBABY upon checkout. Go take a look!


I received a portion of goods and services in exchange for review. The views and opinions are all my own.

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