To begin, it is very important that you understand I am writing this simply for your advisement and consultation. It is in no way a substitute for  the opinion or advice of your doctor.  Secondly, and this is the most important thing you can remember, pregnancy and child rearing are different for everybody!  What happened to me (and/or worked for me) might not be the same for you and vice versa.  People like to assume that what happened to them is universal—this is not the case!  All of our bodies (and our babies!) are different and we respond to pregnancy in different ways.  Follow your gut and ask questions!

With that in mind, I proceed with telling you things that I wished I had known the moment I became pregnant……..as well as some things I have learned as a new mom.

1.  The early weeks:

For nine long weeks I was nauseous every moment of the day.  I remember being nauseous as I slept!  If I didn’t have some kind of bread product to stick in my mouth the moment I woke up in the morning, my first stop would be the bathroom!  If I wasn’t at work, I was laying on my couch because I was just sick, sick, sick.  Didn’t really throw up so much as I was woozy, nauseous and couldn’t stand up. 

So my diet for that entire time consisted of bland, boring, mild (you get the picture) foods like bread, waffles, plain rice.  No condiments.  The thought of salt, sugar, pepper, ketchup, mustard, etc used to make my stomach turn.

I ate so many carbs a day that I became sensitive to the wheat gluten (I would sneeze as I ate).  The good news is that I found a lot of gluten-free products at Whole Foods that worked very well for me. I even learned that most people are sensitive to gluten, so I have tried to continue a fairly gluten-free diet to this day and have found that I feel much better and that (excuse me) my plumbing works much better.  The fact of the matter is that we over-process grains and ruin them.  A lot of the “pooch” in our lower bellies will go away if we eliminate gluten and lactose (from dairy) from our diet.

Chewable Gas X was my very close friend because I would get bad indigestion and hiccup and burp for hours at a time. 

I remember not being able to brush my tongue (when I brushed my teeth) for four months because if the toothbrush would touch my tongue it would set off my gag reflex and make me yak.  (Just in case you are wondering, I swished a little mouthwash to kill the bugs)  I thought maybe I was alone in this, but an acquaintance at work said she experienced the same thing.

2.  Maternity Clothes:

Motherhood Maternity in the mall has clothes on clearance almost year-round.  Check it out sometime.  You can get very good deals.  I see that now they have come out with some shorts and pants that have a larger belly panel that is very slim so it doesn't show underneath shirts.....that's great, because the unattractiveness of full belly pants is that they have that big elastic that shows through right across your belly!

First rule of thumb:  For four months you will be so impatient, wanting the whole world to recognize your growing belly as affirmation of the beautiful life growing inside of you.  Who am I kidding?  Its really because you know you’ve been getting heavier and you are afraid everyone just thinks you’ve been eating too many ho-ho’s and Swiss Cake Rolls.  This will actually be the case for 5 or 6 months, maybe.  Heck, my sergeant at work told me that I finally “looked pregnant and not fat” when I was 7 months along!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Boy, did that make me feel better……..not.  It is true that you will grow in width before you grow out forward, creating a paranoia of fat-ness and frustration that you cannot ignore for several months.

Save some money to buy full-belly pants to wear during months 7 to 9.  Those “demi-panel” pants are cute until the seventh month.  After that, your belly will be so round you won’t be able to keep the half-panel pants from sliding down your crotch.  The last thing you want to be thinking about is wondering if your pants are falling down (highly annoying).  I can’t emphasize this enough:  Partial or no panel pants are more fashionable, but totally wrong for your last 8 weeks.  With that said, if you see some decent full-panel pants….buy them!  They are few and far between these days, so even if you see them early on during pregnancy, go ahead and get them.  One exception:  if you are very pair shaped, your hips might be able to keep the demi-panel pants up without a problem.  But I still don’t think so…..

Don’t spend too much $$$$ on clothes you will be wearing for only 9, 18, or 27 months of your life…….duh!  lol

Save about $75 and take it to Target (or comparable) sleepwear section.  Do this a couple of weeks before your due date so that:

1.      you are ready with the right clothes

2.      it will satisfy your increasing nesting and preparation compulsion (instinct).  This is stuff you need, so you can shop and be happy, without spending too much or on things you really don’t need.

Pre-pregnancy, I wore a small or medium.  So I took my money and bought several cute support tanks, boxer shorts, fashionable sleepwear pants, and those little fuzzy Mary-Jane socks with non-slip stuff on the bottoms.  I bought this stuff in large or x-large.  This was one of the smarter things I’ve done.  The aforementioned items became my official uniform for the first 4 weeks of Tyler’s life.  The stuff was big enough to get around the leftover baby weight, was comfortable, and I didn’t look half bad.  This is very important because people are going to knock on your door and visit you and the baby.  These visitors may only stay for a little while, but nonetheless you and your baggy, puffy eyeballs and low-maintenance hair want to look as good as possible with the most minimal effort!

Bring maternity clothes to the hospital for the trip home. Bring a couple long nightgowns to the hospital to wear in bed.  Don’t be as naïve as I was…….you will still look five or six months pregnant when you leave the hospital to go home.  It’s such a crock of crap, I know.  The worst part is that at least your full baby belly was nice and round, firm and cute.  There is nothing cute about the pile of mush around your waist that will be left over after giving birth

3.  Diet:

Watch what you eat.  I mean, watch it as it goes in your mouth……the chocolate, the pizza, the ice cream…..

No, I am just kidding.  It is recommended that we only gain 25 to 35 lbs if we are of healthy weight at the time of pregnancy.  You’ll really only need 100 extra calories the first trimester and 300 extra calories (per day) during the second and third trimester.  Any woman knows that 300 calories is really not that many!  So we can’t pig out during the entire pregnancy, however, a little extra is just fine.

Here’s a few things that are very important to add to your diet:

            Calcium……from milk or orange juice that have added calcium

            The baby sucks calcium from the mommy….so make sure there is plenty in your body to support both the baby and you (you need it for strong bones, teeth, nails, hair)

            A recent study found that post-pregnancy women experienced bone loss in their jaws if they did not have enough calcium intake during and after pregnancy

            A pre-natal vitamin is a must, and keep taking after the baby is born, too

            I recommend the DHA/ARA omega fatty acid supplement, to help with brain cells and eyesight

Constipation:  yes it will happen.  Be prepared for the occasional back up.  Ask your doctor, but a little Senokot is OK to get things moving….

Castor oil is not a good idea.  I took it in the 38^th week and it cleaned me out more than I could ever imagine.  My stomach rumbled like a freight train all night long…….it must have been so loud in utero that I am surprised that it didn’t deafen my kid.

Some women claim that castor oil will stimulate labor if you are late term.  This most definitely did not occur with me.  Nor did the attempts at acupressure that I read about on the internet. 

4.  Massages/Back Support:

I asked my chiropractor for acupuncture later term because of horrible back pain I was having.  Evidently acupuncture has been shown to stimulate labor because he refused to do it.  So we had to use alternative methods for treating my pain.  When you are no longer pregnant I highly recommend acupuncture, I thought it was all hooey until it worked on me.

The YMCA of Boynton Beach offers massages specifically for pregnant women.  I wish I had known this.  Because I desperately wanted a massage throughout my pregnancy but didn’t know of a place with a therapist trained in prenatal massage.  This is a requirement, because a regular deep tissue massage on a flat table can be dangerous.

Get your massages now because you will love the relaxation (and deserve it) and you are not going to have time for a massage for many many many months ( I am lucky just to get my toes painted, at this point).

I highly recommend a maternity back brace for your later months, you will conserve a lot of energy and your back will thank you later!

5.  Swelling:

This started happening after the seventh month.  I cut out sodium and increased water intake and it went away.  If I took a walk around the block my hands and feet would blow up, but it subsided with rest.

At Tyler’s birth and one week after, I swelled up like I couldn’t believe.  I was really very concerned.  The doctors and nurses kept telling me it was normal, but it looked like my skin was going to burst!  My legs looked like tree stumps and my feet were HUGE.  It worried me, but it went down little by little after the first week post partum

6.  Post Partum depression:

I did not experience this, so I can’t add anything about it.  All I do know is that you should never be afraid to see help from a professional if you are feeling down, or guilty, inferior, inadequate, or overwhelmed.  These are all to be expected to some degree and there is someone out there to help you get through it.  Every mother feels overwhelmed at some point.  There's a ton of support groups, both online and in your community, that can help you work some of the feelings you may be having.

I didn’t expect this:  I missed having that baby in my tummy.  I will tell you that pregnancy is just plain uncomfortable at times.  The side effects of pregnancy are long and it really interrupts your life.  There is a lot to complain about!  But in the weeks after I gave birth to Tyler I realized how I had come to like having that little guy in there.  Despite loving every minute of being with my baby in the outside world, a part of me mourned not having him in my belly.  Its hard to explain this one in words, just know that it’s normal and its ok if you feel like you miss being pregnant and having your little baby inside you.

7.  Random Cleaning Suggestion:

Clean a little bit every day, so that you are not overwhelmed with a big mess that you are too:

a.       sick

b.      tired

c.       busy

to clean up.

Nap when the baby naps, except substitute one of the naps with 15 minutes or so of cleaning (empty dishwasher and swiffer the floor or fold a load of laundry and dust a cabinet, etc)

8.  Spicy foods:

If you can tolerate spicy foods while pregnant, eat as much as you can.  The spicy flavor will seep into your amniotic fluid which the baby consumes.  This causes the baby to get used to the spicyness.  Some even like it.  If the baby gets used to the spicy foods in utero, he will be used to the taste in your breast milk.  This means you can eat spicy food postpartum and your baby will not have adverse reactions to spicy breast milk.  I couldn’t tolerate spicy foods while pregnant.  As a result, Tyler would get fussy after eating breast milk that had been tainted with spicyness (like when I had buffalo wings for dinner).  That was not fun………

9.  Baby wise:

If you remember just one thing from this booklet, remember this!  READ “ON BECOMING BABYWISE”.  It is available from WalMart and Barnes and Noble for $12-15.  It changed my life!  I read it when Tyler was five weeks old.  I had been rising out of bed 3 times per night to feed my hungry, crying baby.  Although I did learn that you can still watch music videos (!!!!!)  if you are awake between 4 and 6 am on VH1 and MTV, I would have preferred to sleep for at least six continuous hours.  Within three days of reading this book and implementing its instructions, my baby SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT (11pm to 6:30 am) and followed a fairly predictable schedule during the day.  I now even know that I could have let him nap more during the day and he would have still slept through the night.

I will not yammer on about this, just READ THE BOOK!  It’s a miracle in paperback.  It will take you about three hours to read cover to cover and it is the most awesomest book ever……who doesn’t like babies that sleep through the night?!  J

Put the baby on this schedule:  feed, wake, sleep.  Do not let your baby fall asleep after eating.  Playtime/waketime comes after feeding, napping comes after waketime, feeding comes after naptime, etc and so on.  Read the book for the details!

Remember the 10 minute rule. Put baby down for nap while still awake, with light music/mobile which plays only a few minutes.  Baby must learn to soothe himself and put himself to sleep.  If he/she is still crying after ten minutes, pick up, pat, hold for a minute, talk softly, reassure, and then put back into the crib.  Then try again for baby to fall asleep.  Wait ten more minutes.  Hope that baby falls asleep.  If baby is still crying after ten minutes, rescue the baby, have some more waketime/playtime and try again for a nap later.

10.  Hair:

This doesn’t happen to everyone, but a lot of people experience this post-partum:

            --my hair began falling out in clumpfuls.  It was all over my house, on the floor, in the couch, around the shower drain.  It was insane.  It made me cry.  Once you are done with the pregnancy hormones, you no longer store hair in all the follicles and it sheds out.  For nine months I retained almost all my hairs, didn’t shed much.  Post-pregnancy all that pretty hair fell out…….how sad.  I finally went and got a haircut because the longs hairs everywhere were annoying.  And Tyler liked to pull on it, which hurt!

11.  FMLA/Maternity leave:

Your pregnancy will probably end up seeming like the longest nine months of your life.

FMLA however, will seem like the fastest 12 weeks of your life.  Take five minutes everyday to be quiet, look at your baby, and reflect on how awesome this time with your baby is.  Because it is.  Many, many things bring pleasure and value to our lives.  But nothing compares to the blessing of time with your child.  If you don’t have to work during your kid’s early years, don’t do it.  It is absolutely, no doubt about it, best for your child to be home with him.  Children bond and create feelings of SAFETY by being with their moms full-time.  They learn to trust people when they know that their parents love them and will not abandon them.  That said, I work, I love my job, I love being a mom, and I am just doing the best I can to make the best of the situation.  I know you will, too.

12.  Tummy time: 

Get the details from your doctor, but don’t forget about tummy time!  Research tells us that we can’t put our babies on their bellies to sleep anymore because of the increase in the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.  Because we are now raising a generation of back sleepers, babies these days are slower to develop strength in the heads and necks.  To counteract this, place your supervised baby (onto his belly) on a floor mat with toys a few minutes each day.  He will practice lifting his head and gaining needed strength to hold his head up and subsequently sit up.

Also, don’t forget to kick his legs, stretch his arms.  Help him do a little baby workout!

--Waketime (see babywise section)  can include these aforementioned things plus the following  things:

            -baths

            -laughing

            -talking or singing to the baby

            -changing his diaper and clothes

            -smiling

            -swinging

            -bouncer seat

Soon you will see your baby learn to imitate your smiles and laughs and he will anticipate (like when you say one, two, and on three raise him in the air) your actions.

13.  Solids:

Try not to start solids for six months.  Start rice cereal at six months, feed for three weeks in addition to milk, twice per day.  Then add a vegetable one at a time (for three days to assess reaction) for three weeks.  Then a fruit one at a time (for 3 days) for three weeks.

The American Academy of Pediatrics is stating that you must hold off on feeding solids for six months to decrease the chances of your baby developing a food allergy.  They recommend strictly breastmilk for the first six months. 

They also recommend you avoid feeding the following foods for the baby’s first year(in order of significance):

            Seafood

Cow’s milk

            Wheat gluten

            Soy

            Nuts

            Corn

            Eggs

These are all foods that have been deemed “highly allergic” and should be avoided for at least the first year.

14.  Intimacy:

Be intimate as often as you can throughout the pregnancy.  It is healthy for the relationship and you will be too tired and busy after the baby is born to keep up the same schedule, so take advantage now!

Communication with your partner is key!  Interact together, don’t let every moment be about the baby.  Go through this experience with your identities as wife, husband, mother, father, and friend intact.  Do things as a family, as individuals, and as lovers.  Find a reliable sitter for a couple of hours……….you cannot be effective parents if you are not effective spouses!

Try to have as many dates as you can while you are on FMLA. Now that I am back at work, I feel guilty about date night because I miss so much time with Tyler during the week. 

15.  Inducement:

If you are scheduled to have your pregnancy induced they will tell you not to eat after midnight (I was to arrive at 9am the next day).  I wish I had ignored that directive……

            -they tell you not to eat so that you are prepared for anesthesia should you need an emergency c-section. 

            -this overlooks the fact, however, that it takes many hours of cervical softener and pitocin before you either have the baby or they know that you need a c-section.  I lay in bed for 26 hours before they made the c-section decision.  I am thinking that most people will be in bed for at least eight hours and therefore there is no reason you shouldn’t be able to eat breakfast before you show up at the hospital.  I am not suggesting a binge at Denny’s, but a light breakfast (juice, fruit, milk and an egg) should move through you in well enough time to not cause a problem.  Remember, that if you have a bunch of poo in your colon, it can excrete during heavy labor pushing.  Very embarrassing, but I hear it is very, very common.  I starved for over 32 hours (I have never savored a bowl of jello so much in my life) and that was so miserable I hope never to go through that again……

16.  Doctor visits:

--I found that OB’s are not usually forthcoming with a bunch of information, so write down your questions and take them to the office with you.  This is important because BABIES KILL YOUR BRAIN CELLS and you will forget your questions if you haven’t written them down.

After the baby arrives…………..

17.  Breastfeeding:

-obviously to breastfeed or not is a personal decision.  For me, I knew I had to at least try because it is baby’s perfect food and the benefits far outweigh those of formula.  Why?

 --it is way faster and easier to whip out your breast and feed (you have to warm, mix, sterilize to prepare a bottle and when baby is crying in the middle of the night this sucks)

--studies indicate breast fed babies have a 10 point IQ advantage over formula fed babies

--babies are rarely allergic to breast milk, but can be very allergic to cow’s milk

--FYI:  many cow’s milk allergic babies are also allergic to soy

--my baby is lactose intolerant like me, so while I breast fed I eliminated dairy from my diet. I also cut down on gluten and soy and this made for a happy baby.  I will not elaborate further, but if you experience colic with your baby or your baby has screaming/crying fits for 20 minutes after a feeding, please contact me, I can help (I think).

-studies indicate the healthiest babies are fed for the first time and (have the best chance at latching on without professional assistance )within an hour of their birth.  This will be almost impossible if you have a c-section because you will be away from your baby (this is terrible and each minute is an eternity), but try to tell your nurse that you want to be with and feed your baby ASAP.  If the nurse knows you want to feed the baby ASAP, you should be reunited with the baby sooner.

-I have no regrets about breastfeeding.  I know that I would regret it if I hadn’t tried.

-I was concerned that my breasts would stretch and sag if I breastfed, but I actually learned that breastfeeding has no bearing on what happens to them.  Surprisingly, it is during the pregnancy that they grow (thus causing potential stretching and sagging) and there is no way to prevent that.  That is purely genetic.  They are going to grow regardless, in anticipation of nursing the baby.  So even if you formula feed, you could end up with saggy boobs…..so why not give breastfeeding a try?!

Here are some benefits I experienced:

--special “me and baby” time.  Holding a bottle to Tyler’s mouth did not elicit that same great feeling that I had when I nursed the baby.  This was our time……skin to skin contact in which it felt so great to know that I was providing the healthiest possible sustenance for my baby.  It was priceless to watch him eat and be happy.  The rest of the world did not exist while I fed my baby. 

--Breastfeeding causes your brain to release l-dopa, the happy hormone.  It felt GOOD while I nursed the baby.  Some women have pain with breastfeeding, and while I really feel compassion for them, it is not the usual outcome.

--the baby and I were exposed to several people with bad cases of influenza over the winter months.  We never got sick.  Breast milk and lactating mothers have greater immunity from sickness.  This was a lifesaver, as having a sick baby is so much more exhausting……..

--if you have to return to work you will cherish that nursing time to look at and feel your baby.  I looked forward to coming home from work and being “mom”.  Sorry, but you just don’t get the same feeling from a bottle of formula.

--DO NOT BE AFRAID TO ASK EVERYONE (INCLUDING MOM) TO LEAVE THE HOSPITAL ROOM SO THAT YOU (AND MAYBE THE NURSE) CAN LEARN TO BREASTFEED COMFORTABLY FOR THE FIRST TIME.  THIS IS CRUCIAL, BECAUSE IF YOU ARE NERVOUS OR UNCOMFORTABLE YOUR MILK WON’T DROP AND THE BABY WILL HAVE A HARDER TIME LATCHING-ON.  THEN YOU’LL HAVE A CRYING HUNGRY BABY AND YOU WILL BE MORE INCLINED TO GIVE UP BEFORE GIVING BREASTFEEDING A REAL TRY.

--BREASTFEEDING IS NOT INSTINCT!  IT IS A LEARNED SKILL…….this was news to me, and for days and days I struggled with getting Tyler to latch-on and feed.  By the time I went to the lactation consultant, my breasts were as hard as bricks, Tyler couldn’t get the milk out despite all his efforts, and my frustration was at an all-time high.  Pay the $60 to the lactation consultant right away, so that you have smooth sailing and don’t give up without a fight!

--Buy a quality breast pump.  I recommend the $250 Medela double electric pump.  It worked great for me.  I took it to work and pumped twice a day for three months.  I have even pumped in the car on the Florida turnpike using the battery-option  J

 --if you pump once in the morning, pump 3 oz to relieve engorgement and store it in the freezer.  Feed the baby the rest of what’s in your breasts for breakfast.  This milk will last 3-4 months and can be used when you return to work or when you

need to be away from home with the baby.

--BREASTFEEDING BURNS CALORIES!  This is awesome!  You will drop the weight so fast (except for probably the last 10 pounds) if you breastfeed.  You’ll burn up to 500 calories a day making milk—how great is that?!  If you combine a light exercise program of walking, push-ups, and crunches you can maintain milk production while getting toned up.  A home routine will work best, so keep it simple but steady.

--My breasts leaked for the first 6 weeks, then it stopped.  I preferred the Lansinoh bra pads over the Medela brand.

18.  Diapers:

Costco has the best deal going on diapers @ 17 cents a piece, but don’t count out the mass merchants.  If you clip coupons and watch the weekly sales you can sometimes beat the Costco price.

Costco baby wipes dry out too quickly, but they sell Huggies wipes that smell so lovely—cucumber, melon, and aloe.  Their Huggies wipes are way cheaper than other stores.

Huggies baby lotion is cheaper than Johnson and Johnson and they smell so good!

Baby oil gel—a must for each diaper change.  It lubricates, moisturizes, isn’t messy, and protects baby’s skin from being in wet diapers.  But beware!  Babies should not have access to the baby oil gel--in case of accidental ingestion or inhalation it can be deadly.  The oil gel will slowly spread out and cover lung tissue, effectively suffocating a baby.  There's only been one documented case of this occurring, but it is certainly worth mentioning!

Powder—good for putting on baby after a bath, to dry the skin.  Since his skin is still damp when you put the diaper on him it is good to put on a little talc to deter rash.  Be careful with the talc, though, because a cloud of powder can get into his lungs and be harmful.  Burt's Bees makes a diaper powder that does not contain talc and is safer for the baby.

19.  Clothes:

Don’t go overboard with buying clothes until after the baby shower—your guests will probably provide all the clothes you’ll need for baby’s first 3 to 6 months. If you're going to buy, buy in the 9-18 month range because you will receive the fewest gift items in these sizes.

Don’t overbuy newborn clothes, cuz baby will only wear them for 2 to 4 weeks!

Dress baby in a long sleeper for nighttime, so that you don’t have to leave a blanket in the crib that could suffocate him.  Keep the crib empty until he is an independent sitter—you have to be sure that he’s strong enough to move himself off of something that could smother him (blanket, stuffed animal, etc).

A onesie and a pair of socks is great for day, a sleeper needed at night.  Don’t forget the socks!  Even in Florida, the baby should have socks on to help regulate his/her temperature.  Remember that baby’s can’t regulate their temp as well as adults can.

Swaddle the baby early on, or don’t bother.  Learn more about this from:  Graco Sweetpeace

20.  Swing:

I recommend you purchase the kind of swing that will go both forward/backward and side to side.  Why?  Because you don’t know what your baby will prefer.  Some prefer front to back swinging, while others like my baby, prefer side to side swinging.  I had a gorgeous swing, but a baby that thought it was the worst thing ever to have to sit in it.  I took him to my Mom's house where she had a different style swing and he was happy as a clam.

22.  Colors:

We never know how many kids we’re having, so my advice is to not marry a hard-core boy or girl color scheme.  Don’t go crazy with the pink or blue equipment because if you buy an expensive pink stroller you can’t use it for the second child if he turns out to be a boy (and why not re-use as much equipment as you can, as long as it is still safe?!)

Be practical with your color choices so that they can work for either a boy or a girl.  I’m not saying that you shouldn’t buy anything in pink or blue.  I’m just saying that strollers, swings, Bumbo chairs, high chairs can all be purchased in unisex colors (that might look really good with your existing home/car color scheme).  I felt bad for my friend’s six month old son who had his Christmas picture taken while he sat in his older sister’s pink Bumbo chair.  Can you imagine how many people thought that he was a girl?  Maybe I am just cheap, but I think that it is great to get second life out of baby equipment so long as its still in safe and clean working condition.

23.  Things you need and things you don’t:

Boppy pillow and several covers:  yes

Baby wipe warmer:  yes (much happier baby during changes)

Basket for washing bottle parts in washer:  yes

Bottle sterilizer:  no (just use high heat setting on dishwasher)

Eddie Bauer travel bed @ Target:  yes!  So easy to take on-the-go for a safe place for baby to nap and/or sleep

Baby pants:  no  (a pain in the butt to remove at each diaper change)

Overalls:  after 6 months

Onesies:  yes!

Bumbo chair:  yes!  Your baby will get needed assistance to sit up on his/her own.  Its great....just don't leave him in the chair on a high surface because he can fall out.  Tyler would sit in the chair at 3 months and play with his toys on the floor, which gave me a few minutes to clean up around him.

Walker:  no!  baby needs to learn to crawl!  If baby skips crawling phase, his brain will miss out on developing the skill of highly sequential thinking. 

Exersaucer:  yes, as long as baby still practices tummy time/crawling

Large blanket that can be spread on the floor:  yes, lay out toys and let baby play, reach and grab  Large play gyms work, too.

Well, that is all I have recorded for now.  Tyler had his first swimming lesson (he loved it!) and his first few meals of sweet potatoes this past week.  He is six months and one week as I finish my first writing this (I have been working on this for the last 8 weeks!) and in the last two weeks he has learned to:  sit up by himself and play with his toys in each hand, grab a spoon and feed himself, hold his own bottle, and splash and kick in a pool.  Each day with him is SPECTACULAR and I wish you the same happiness once your baby is born.  If you have any more questions, please ask me at anytime.  I will gladly share whatever I have experienced.

I'll write more below as time passes and I have a few more snippets of mommying to share.