[blparent] baby shower

[Jennifer Bose]

Hi, listers.

Hina, here are some more ideas I thought might be good to give you:

>From a blindness perspective, I would suggest getting a talking
thermometer to take the baby's temperature. You can look for one at
www.blindmicemegamall.com, the Independence Market at www.nfb.org,
Independent Living Aids and probably other places to see if they have
them. I know the first two places I listed have them and I'm almost
sure the third one does. Also, a talking scale can be great if you're
going to bottle-feed your baby and need to weigh bottles of formula. I
breast-fed and bottle-fed my daughter, which brings me to another
thought: No matter how you feed your baby, get a special cushion
designed to be a comfortable surface onto which you can lay the baby
while you're feeding him. There are at least two brands of these
cushions: Boppy and MyBreastFriend. I'm sure there are more. Also for
bathing, get a small baby-size bathtub. Get baby shampoo, diaper balm,
baby lotion and baby powder. You don't always have to use all of
these, but they're good to have on hand. Get hand sanitizer and maybe
a bottle of nice scent to spray in the room, such as Nursery Mist.
Another blindness-friendly idea: If you're a Braille reader, get a few
print/braille board books to read to the baby. Even as a newborn who
won't understand specific words too well yet, the baby will just like
listening to you and watching you read anything. Also, another
blindness product: Get a small detector that lets you know if lights
are on or off. That will help since you're totally blind and will be
trying to get the baby used to the idea that people are awake during
the day and go to sleep at night when most lights are off. Getting
into a good sleep routine will take some time, but that should help.

In terms of looking for support, don't be shy. Maybe you could tell
the people at your baby shower that you could use their help with
adjusting to life with the new baby, or withdoing other tasks. Or you
could ask them to refer you to people who could help you.

Best of luck and come back with more questions.

Jen