Motherhood Archives | Page 19 of 23

Creating the Perfect Changing Station

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #MoreHuggiesMoreSavings #CollectiveBias Crafting the perfect changing station is actually super important. With a new baby, you do a lot of diaper changing. Like a lot. My baby is almost 1 year now, and I am still changing his diaper a lot. With two older toddlers and a baby, it is essential to have everything you need right next to you. My sister is due in a few weeks with her third baby, so I popped over to help her craft her perfect changing station to ensure she’s ready to take on life as a mom of three. Creating the Perfect Changing Station First, your diaper choice is very, very important. We both use Huggies®. I recently signed up for a Sam’s Club Membership because they have a super special happening! The Savings Membership level…

Where To Start When Shopping For a Stroller

I’ve been obsessed with strollers in my almost-five years of being a mom. I’ve had joggers, double joggers, umbrella strollers, standard double strollers and more. There’s some information you should know when you are a new mom thinking about which stroller you might want to invest in. I talked about how I forgot an umbrella stroller on my first registry. I’ll go over that here, as well as what each stroller-type is, and the kind I recommend. It’s important that you know all of this because I had no idea, and ended up buying and returning a few strollers. This post contains affiliate links. First, think about how many babies you are planning on having. I originally chose the BOB Stroller for my first baby. If you are planning on only having one child, this stroller is AMAZING! There is a reason it’s so popular and I loved it, but…

Seriously Honest, Non-Sugar Coated Labor Tips from A Mom of Three

No matter what pregnancy I was mentally preparing for, I ALWAYS read a lot of labor stories near the end. I had like to envision situations and read about mothers who survived the pain. After reading many posts on prepping for labor, I felt like a lot of the truth, and hard reality of labor was left out. You know, how the pain really felt. The things that could go wrong. I decided to write down some of the things that I know would’ve helped me mentally and emotionally prepare, even if it isn’t what I wanted to hear. You have to go through labor no matter what, and I think being prepared for all things is really helpful. I actually wrote this post a couple years ago, while my sister and I were pregnant at the same time. She was pregnant with her first, and me my third. It…

Tips To Help Daddy Bond With A Breastfeeding Baby

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SimplyBonding #CollectiveBias Breastfeeding a baby is such a special bond. Feeding a baby in general creates an important bond of trust and love. One that I feel so blessed to have experienced now with three little ones. I am still breastfeeding my 10-month old baby, and I think it’s important not to leave Daddy out on all this special bonding time. For first-time parents, it can be difficult to allow daddy an opportunity to bond with the baby. I never had my husband do the middle-of-the-night feedings because he had to work. I just reasoned that only one of us should be in a zombie-like state, and we don’t need him functioning half awake while working, so these ideas are all great ways to have daddy bond with the baby, without having him…

The Honest Way To Lose The Belly Pooch After Baby

Losing the pooch after baby is one of the most difficult aspects of postpartum weight loss. Sometimes it feels as though we can lose weight everywhere, BUT THE BELLY! The pooch can linger too long. But there are some honest realities when it comes to the pooch that need to be understood, to move forward and work that belly back down. I’ve had three babies now, and my stomach will never be the same, nor will it ever be super flat. That is a harsh reality, but through healing and specialized core work, you can repair your abs. Encourage them to come back together as much as possible. In this program, you can follow along with Pilates-based, diastasis repairing workouts. The program also has a three-week plan to heal your core. No PDF exercises, but real videos walking you through and causing you to correctly breathe, use your abs, and…

5 Reasons Losing The Baby Weight Is So Darn Hard

I recently wrote about how I lost the baby weight by the 6 weeks postpartum. I am more than concerned that post makes the process sound easy. It’s not easy. Losing the baby weight is hard. Losing weight in general is hard. Keeping a fitness routine as a mom is hard. A gym is expensive and working out at home with kids is not fun. Losing weight after baby, while breastfeeding, is HARD! Staying motivated to lose the baby weight isn’t the hardest challenge we will face as mothers. Managing our homes, keeping our children alive, dealing with the wining, protecting our homes from sheer destruction and attempting to be a decent adult who wears clothes is actually really hard too. As moms we are thrown into a whole new world of hurdles to jump over and it never ends. Let’s jump into why specifically losing the baby weight is…

What I Love and Hate About Co-Sleeping + The Softest Nursing Bra

This post is sponsored by Bravado, but all opinions and thoughts are completely my own. I only accept sponsorship from products I know I love, and hope that you will too! #upliftingineveryway I wasn’t prepared for the tremendous sleep deprivation a newborn baby brings. There’s not really words to describe it. I remember it being worst with my first baby because I wasn’t used to it. I would try to sleep, then be jerked awake at the smallest sound of the baby making a noise. I also didn’t know how to get a baby on a sleeping schedule, without having him cry his lungs out, so it was a big mess of dark circles and zombie hair for the first few months. I was literally trying everything to get my new little bundle to sleep. A swing, crib, swaddling and bouncy chair. Nothing was working, and in pure desperation I…

6 Super foods You Will Actually Eat for a Belly-Only Pregnancy

There’s a lot of lists of super foods for pregnancy out there. Many of them are full of green goodies, that a lot of normal pregnant women don’t really want to eat, especially when pregnant. I mean, let’s get real, how many of us get a craving to munch on spinach leaves? Or want to gobble up heads of broccoli? Yeah, I lived off nachos the first 20 weeks really, so let’s be honest about these food lists. Sure, we can attempt to saute the spinach into something manageable, but it’s not the first choice. I recently discussed how to have a belly only pregnancy, and I wanted to also talk about some foods to help with that as well. Luckily, I’ve done my homework, as well as figured out some great super foods that you will actually eat after being pregnant three times now. Here are some that are…

4 Awesome Tricks to Ease Aches and Pains Post Delivery

Thank you Biofreeze® for sponsoring this post. Biofreeze® is also available for purchase in retail. Click here to find a store near you. Finding your feet again after having a baby can be overwhelming. Our bodies are going through so much repair and recovery from giving birth, that there seems to be an increased soreness that happens while we are trying to get back into shape. Dealing with sore muscles, on top of aching shoulders from various nursing positions or headaches from lack of sleep is a lot. I’ve got some great tips to help ease the aches and pains that come post delivery while you are trying to get back into shape. Let’s get into the details for some pain relief. First, some Biofreeze® Professional. This is really some topical magic. What it does is override the pain signals with cooling signals. Basically, the cool sensation distracts your mind from the…

Tips for Each Trimester to Have a Belly-Only Pregnancy

Gaining only the belly weight and recommended extra weight is near impossible with intense cravings, insomnia, aversions to all things healthy, obsessions with specific flavors, and exhaustion. The first trimester is the most difficult for me. I have the all-day nausea that sets in at about 11 am. It then gets worse and worse, yet I am plagued with this idea that eating will make me feel better. It does for the moment I take a bite of bread and cheese, crackers and cheese, nachos, straight cheese. Anything with cheese and salt and carby is what seems to do the trick for 15 minutes. Then I lay down, only to get back up to go to the kitchen 45 minutes later. This cycle lasts about 15 weeks for me, and I gain way more weight than I should in the first trimester because I’m like a carb-and-cheese vacuum. Needless to…

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