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postpartum

Mila Rose // 2 Months

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I. cannot. believe. it’s. been. two. months! SERIOUSLY. It feels like she’s been around for way longer, but also? HOW is it already two months since her birth!? Crazytown. That’s how.

But real talk — I’ve been holding out on telling you something. Because I’ve been afraid to say it out loud:

Mila is such an easy baby. There. I said it.

It’s been one of those situations where I’m afraid to say it out loud. But here I am… saying it. She’s a really good baby.

She’s a great sleeper, she’s a wonderful napper, and she’s an overall happy baby. And I’ve just been afraid to tell you out of fear that I would jinx it.

From the night we brought her home from the hospital and slept for 5.5 hours straight, I was spoiled. Since then, she’s been sleeping regularly from 8:00 PM to 3:00 or 4:00 AM. So, basically, waking up at 3 AM and then again at 7 AM. That’s a huge change from my previous children. Having had two children that were awful newborns, I’m certainly not used to this.

But, after Mila’s two month well checkup, I’m learning to accept that this is real life.

She’s just a fantastic baby. And if she was my first baby, I would have 17 babies. She’s easy. She sleeps. She eats well. She is (mostly) happy. She is lovely. Truly… lovely!

While I still have moments of postpartum hormones (anxiety and sadness), it’s been fairly manageable. I suppose that’s one of the joys of having an easy baby.

But just do me a favor, okay? Please reach over and knock on wood for me. I’m still just a tad bit superstitious. 😉

Breastfeeding Tips for Increasing Milk Supply

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My breastfeeding journey is complicated. And before I get started I need to disclose that fed is best. Period. But for me, it was absolutely important personal decision that my children be breastfed. That does not, by any means, mean that this has been an easy journey.

When my first child was born nearly 6 years ago, he had issues latching in the hospital. A couple of months later he was diagnosed with a pretty severe tongue tie, but at that point, I had already been exclusively pumping every 3 hours. Yes, I would even wake up in the middle of the night to pump and make sure that I kept my milk supply up for my baby. It was exhausting.

So when my daughter was born a couple of years later, I was determined that she would latch. I had several visits from the lactation consultant while in the hospital and they confirmed no tongue tie and her latch was great. My milk even came in while I was only 24 hours postpartum! It was crazy. In fact, I had an oversupply (thanks to my body being in overdrive from exclusively pumping with baby number 1). I needed to use a nipple shield to prevent my oversupply from choking my poor baby! But we worked through it.

Fast forward to the present day. I’m 7 weeks postpartum with my final exclusively breastfed baby. My milk came in even faster than with baby number 2. The lactation consultants actually came to visit me in the hospital because I was an anomaly with an oversupply and they wanted to talk to me about it. Obviously, I realize this is a great problem to have; but my supply has evened itself out already and we’re just trucking along.

So my body has literally been all over the place when it comes to breastfeeding — exclusively pumping, oversupply, undersupply, and everywhere in between.

Here’s what I can share with you to help

increase your milk supply while breastfeeding.

Eat and Drink. 

It can be difficult to make sure you’re eating enough when you’re stuck underneath a needy newborn, but the most important thing you can do for your milk supply is to keep a constant supply of water on hand and plenty of snacks. Our bodies use a lot of energy to create the milk for our babies. If we aren’t keeping up with our own caloric and water intake, our bodies won’t be able to produce food for our babies.

Empty your breasts after each feeding.

After you finish nursing your little one the last thing you want to do is be tied down even more. I know. But set that little lovebug down and bust out your breast pump and fully finish emptying your breasts. It will seem tedious at first and you likely won’t get much milk expressed, but if you keep up this practice it will help keep up with the demands of feeding.

Every new mom can check to see if they qualify through insurance for a new breast pump. The Aeroflow Breastpumps website makes it super easy to find out! All you do is complete the Aeroflow qualification form and then Aeroflow contacts your insurance provider and submits the paperwork to your doctor — and you get to choose your brand new breast pump!

If you’re serious about building your supply I suggest using a double-pump. My personal favorite (and go-to since baby number 1) is the Medela Pump In Style. The backpack design makes it super convenient for busy moms and the double-pump design maximizes your time by letting down both sides at once.

If you’re looking for a manual pump, Aeroflow Breastpumps also offers an array of those. Whatever your style is, just make sure you have a breast pump on hand to help with your supply. Even if you’re not getting much milk from expression, it is helping your body to know to produce more for your baby.

Make cookies!

Does it sound too good to be true? It isn’t! Eating the right kind of oatmeal or oatmeal cookies have been shown to increase a mothers milk supply.)* The combination of oats, brewers yeast, and flaxseed seems to do the trick! I’ve found a couple of great make-at-home recipes here and here.

If you’re not a baker and prefer to purchase cookies premade, I’ve had both Milk Bliss cookies and MilkMakers lactation cookies. Both are good, but as someone who doesn’t like chocolate, I prefer to make my own.

Have a beer. 

Again, this is not too good to be true! Hops, fennel, and barley are all known for increasing milk supply — and those are all found in beer! Now, I’m not saying have 5 beers, but an occasional beer before bed has helped myself and other mamas I know to increase our supply.

A bonus? It can help you to relax, which in turn will help you to produce more milk.

Pop a fenugreek pill.

Fenugreek, an herb, can be found in many lactation tea blends, but it doesn’t taste very good. With my first child, I bought fenugreek supplements at my local pharmacy (most big box retailers will have them near the prenatal vitamins). These, along with the methods above were honestly the key to my success with exclusively pumping for one whole year with baby number one.

Here’s the deal with breastfeeding — it’s hard. It’s really, really, hard. But never once was it not worth it. It was always worth it for me. And if you find yourself reading this, and looking for tips to help you on your breastfeeding journey, it’s obviously important for you, too.

So I will leave you with this advice: Seek out support and know that your body is capable of amazing things. And if at any time you need advice or a listening ear or just to vent, please email me. My first breastfeeding adventure was rough and I still decided to have two more babies and breastfeed them both!

*Parenting.com article

Disclaimer: I am not a physician, nutritionist, or lactation consultant. These are just my personal experiences and experiences of those close to me. Always consult with your physician and lactation consultant. And, as always, FED is best.

Life Lately // a Balancing Act as a Mom of 3

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Oh, hi! I promise I’m not just over here having babies and leaving you high and dry. I’m also living a relatively normal life — or at least trying to!

Here’s what we’ve been up to recently:

Bottoms Up Yoga at Sibling Revelry Brewing. 

I jumped at the opportunity to meet up with some fellow Cleveland bloggers for an afternoon of yoga, beers, and laughs, courtesy of Bottoms Up Yoga at Sibling Revelry Brewing!

I brought my mom, Mimi, with me so that she could hang with the big kids while I brought Mila in with me. I mean, she’s a newborn and sleeps most of the time anyway — and this was a class with a bunch of gals I know really well anyway!

Well, she started making those newborn grunts while sleeping in her car seat. I spent most of the time rocking her car seat in between downward dogs before I just gave up halfway through our flow and stepped out.

I ended up ordering some food and sitting down with a flight of IPAs to wait for the class to finish and for Mimi to arrive back with the big kids, so it all worked out in the end.

Sometimes you've just gotta put yourself out there and try to do something fun, even if the end result looks different from what you planned Click To Tweet

Sometimes you’ve just gotta put yourself out there and try to do something fun, even if the end result looks different from what you planned, right?!

The Cleveland Flea.

I’m not a big shopper. I’m just not. But one of the events I most look forward to each month is the Cleveland Flea. Perhaps because it combines my love of Northeast Ohio with my love of finding unique items and food? Yep, that’s probably it!

Well, the last Flea I brought both of the girls with me on a little girls day out. We ate donuts from The Vegan Doughnut Company and walked around for a bit before we settled into a cozy spot for some relaxation and people watching.

Remy is such a social child and she really loves to be given a little space to explore, so I let her do her thing for a bit while I fed Mila.

Work.

I’ve been back to work for weeks now and it’s not all that bad. Mila is with me at all times and the bigger kids have the chance to play and get some energy out for a bit in a different environment. I start teaching cycling again in just a few weeks so our schedule will get even busier, but I’m anxious to get back into the swing of teaching again!

Prepping for Kindergarten.

Ari starts Kindergarten in a week. I’m so excited for him and anxious at the same time. Our school shopping is nearly complete and I have his teacher and room assignment! The only thing we have left to do is attend orientation!

It’s safe to say I’m going to be a complete wreck those first few days. I don’t know if I’ll actually cry, or if my anxiety will just go into overdrive. I know for certain he is ready. He’s so excited and hasn’t even muttered a word about being nervous.

Food Fridays al Fresco at Cascade Plaza.

So many amazing things have been happening in my city over this last year. There are so many events happening on a daily basis (oftentimes at the same time), I’m bummed I’m not able to make them all. Such is life with three kids, I suppose!

But one of the events I knew we had to make it to was Food Fridays al Fresco, which happens every Friday during lunch in Cascade Plaza in downtown Akron. Basically, a bunch of food trucks, backyard games, and live music smack dab in the middle of a weekday!

I was adventurous enough to take all three kids out to this while solo-parenting. It was an adventure, but they had fun running around the big, grassy, plaza.

Edgewater Beach, Cleveland.

While searching for new places to take the kids, a friend suggested going to Edgewater Park and walking along the beach. It was a gorgeous day so I thought, why not?

The water was closed due to rough current, but the kids only really cared about the sand anyway. We walked and explored and played before giving in to the heat and heading back home.

Northeast Ohioans are lucky to have so many adventurous places to explore. This was just the tip of the iceberg for us and I cannot wait to continue taking my kids on these little adventures.

 

In reflecting on all that we’ve been up to lately, I can confidently say that adding a third baby changed everything and yet changed nothing. We’re still doing our thing. We’re still living our lives. We’re still having fun, and working, and playing. It just looks a little different.

In what fun ways

have you been

exploring lately?

 

Birth Story of Mila Rose

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Part of me wanted to write this while it was fresh in my mind. I had jotted down bits and pieces just after delivery but I somehow failed at getting it all out coherently. Perhaps it was all too raw to put into meaningful sentences at the time, but I’m finally ready to put pen to paper.

Although this would be my third baby, I was terrified of labor and delivery. In the days and weeks prior to my due date, I kept giving myself pep talk after pep talk. I stayed hydrated. I made lists. I did everything I could to make this a smooth process. But the fear of both previous deliveries weighed heavy on my mind.

A little recap if you’re new around here: Ari (my first) was a 24-hour labor with intense vomiting and dehydration. I ended up getting an epidural at the 23rd hour and finally dilating from 3cm to 10cm in a matter of 60 minutes. Remy (my second) was the most incredible labor process: I was able to speak in between contractions and felt fine without any pain medications. But when it came time to push, I felt like I was going to die. I ended up pushing her out drug-free and very quickly. 

Like previous pregnancies, my due date — June 16th — came and went without fanfare. I awoke at 1 am on Tuesday, June 19th, with some painful contractions. I readied myself for a long day by trying to sleep in between, but it was difficult.

But that’s good, right? That meant it was real labor!

So I called my mom at 7 AM and let her know that I was up most of the night with contractions. I was sending Chad to work for the day so I told her to go ahead and go in and I’d call her later, too. She had a 5-hour drive ahead of her, but I had a friend locally that would be taking the kids until she arrived.

Around 2:30 PM or so I let my friend Kerry know that I needed her to come and get the kids. The kids were picked up and Chad arrived home a few minutes later. He went upstairs to lie down for a bit and prepare for a busy evening of baby-birthing!

I finally decided to call my OBGYN and let them know about my contractions. They had been between 3-8 minutes apart since 1 AM and I was finally getting the constant “I have to poop” feeling. The office urged me to come in right away since my contractions were so close together, so I woke Chad up after only 10 minutes.

When we arrived at the hospital at 4:30 PM, triage checked my cervix. I was only 2cm dilated. Not surprising, considering my history of not dilating until the very last minute. I communicated that to my nurses. They basically ignored me. I was told that they would admit me under the pretense of knowing that if I didn’t begin to dilate further within a matter of 2-hours, they would take measures to help induce labor.

I gave them the answer they wanted to hear at that point — “Okay.” But I very much discussed with Chad that if they tried to break my water or give me pitocin, we would decline. I was still going for my epidural-free delivery and any interventions of the sort would have caused me to have more pain before my body was ready.

So I was admitted to my room and continued to labor with increasing intensity. I tried the birthing ball and walking, but I just couldn’t get comfortable. The only way I was making it through my contractions was by standing up and leaning on the counter in the room. Chad tried cracking jokes a few times and I shut it down immediately. This was hard labor and I was not up for the jokes.

Every contraction felt like I had to push. Several hours of this feeling and check after check revealed very little change in my dilation. At one point the anesthesiologist came in to introduce herself. I kindly let her know that I was attempting a drug-free delivery and she acknowledged but insisted that we still go through the questionnaire regarding my health history.

Around 10:30 PM I had a contraction that I knew was the beginning of “transition”. For the first time, I grabbed a barf bag and as that contraction hit, I couldn’t stop throwing up. I was literally crossing my legs every contraction. for fear of pushing. The resident checked me again — only 5cm dilated.

Only 5. Hours and hours into labor. I was so discouraged. Each contraction was getting increasingly more intense.

Chad finally said, “Are you going drug-free just to say you did it again?” Truthfully, I wasn’t. But I just (thought) I could do it again; I wanted to believe my body could handle it.

I finally said that I desperately needed that epidural in order to make it through labor. The anesthesiologist was about to head out for a procedure but came running in to help me. At this point, the contractions were coming back to back. I was unable to move or breathe and the pushing sensation was intensifying.

As the anesthesiologist was prepping I yelled out that I felt like I couldn’t stop from pushing. I was checked again — 7cm. The epidural seemed to take forever. I was sitting as still as I could, crossing my legs, and screaming out in pain pretty much nonstop. Once the epidural was placed and the medicine was inserted, I thought I had to push again. I was checked once again — 9cm. I still felt all of it. I needed to know when the medicine would start to work. I was screaming at the anesthesiologist, asking why it wasn’t working. To which she kindly replied that it takes about 15-minutes to kick in.

After the 15-minutes had passed I was still feeling so much pain. She inserted even more medicine in hopes to get me comfortable — or at least not writhing in pain. Another 15 minutes later and it seemed to be working. My OB walked in and did another dilation check — 10cm.

I may not be able to handle the pain, but I know my body. I knew that when I (finally) started to dilate, it would be fast. So here we are at 11:45 PM and I’m being told that I can push at my next contraction. I have to say that the epidural must have been placed perfectly because I could not feel a single thing during pushing and it was the perfect pushing experience.

I pushed for about 4 contractions and she was here!

Mila Rose, born at 12:16 AM on Wednesday, June 20th. Weighing in at 8lbs half of an ounce and 19-inches long! Nearly 24-hours of labor but perfect in every way. Welcome to our little family, Mila. You are already so loved. ♥

Photos: Shorter Shots Photography

4 Ways to Help Siblings Adjust to a New Baby

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This is a sponsored blog post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Is anyone else in complete disbelief that we’re nearing the end of July already?! I can hardly believe that our third baby, Mila, is already a month old. It’s all sort of surreal.

These past four weeks have been a huge adjustment for our family. Between bringing a new baby home and having my husband at home 24/7, my two older kids, Ari (5) and Remy (2), have been having some issues. Nothing major, honestly. Just a tad bit of attitude and a few listening issues.

And I have to say that throughout this adjustment period we’ve found little ways to make the older kids still feel special and important.

Movie dates  //

My husband and I have always been movie buffs. When we were dating (aka before we had kids) we would go to the theater weekly. It was our ‘thing.’ And I’m proud to say that we’ve instilled the love of the movie theater to Ari; but up until recently, Remy had yet to go.

Well, lucky for us, the Cinemark Summer Movie Club has been a go-to in our new weekly routine! Remy has sat through 3 different movies with Chad and her big brother since Miss Mila was born.

They think this movie date with daddy is the coolest thing ever — especially since they get popcorn and “fizzies” during their big date!

Special Treats at Steak ‘n Shake  //

Bringing home a new baby can mean lots of ‘fend for yourselves’ meals, which, in our house means lots of hot dogs, fruit, and sandwiches. We’ve been lucky to have a handful of friends bring us meals, too! Otherwise, I fear our children would not have had a single home-cooked meal these last 4 weeks.

We’ve also made it a point to take advantage of special ‘treat’ meals — like our recent adventure to Steak ‘n Shake for their Kids Eat Free weekend promotion. For every $9 you spend, you get one free kids’ meal! How awesome is that?!

Steak ‘n Shake does such an awesome job of making kids of all ages feel special — from first greeting to the last sip of milkshake!

Just look at how happy this little lady is! And she ate every last bite of her (free!) kids meal!

Solo errands  //

There isn’t always time for grand adventures, like those above. But ya know what? Kids don’t need big adventures. Small errands with just one kid are equally as rewarding. That undivided attention is glorious to them!

Whether it be Chad running to the grocery store with just Ari, or me taking Remy and Mila to Target for an hour, they are happy with the extra attention.

Extra bedtime snuggles  //

The one area where the older kids seem to be struggling the most is with bedtime routines. Between illness and toddler sleep regression, we’ve had our fair share of bedtime obstacles; but even on the best of nights, we find ourselves giving Ari and Remy lots of extra snuggles just before bed.

One extra story, one extra leg rub, and one extra snuggle and hug go a long way.

And when all is said and done I try to remind myself that they won’t remember the struggles of these early days as a family of 5. Nope. They’ll remember the special moments that are so small they seem insignificant. That’s the hope that I cling to in the moments of chaos — to just turn simple moments into long-lasting memories.

 

 

Postpartum Update // Two

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I can’t believe this little lady has been with us for three whole weeks already! Honestly, the last few weeks have felt like months — but I look down at my still-soft belly and feel my organs still shifting back into place and I remember that, oh yes, it’s only been three weeks.

Sleep  //

We’re riding the roller coaster of sleep over here. Some nights are great while other nights are completely overwhelming. That being said, this child is still a much better sleeper than her siblings ever were as infants. The other night she slept for 6 hours straight, which to this day is still hit or miss with Ari and Remy.

I know, I know… I’m lucky. Very lucky. But there have been nights with constant screaming and zero sleep as well. And those nights are really, really, difficult. I truly think I have PTSD from Remy and on these nights I get incredible anxiety and flashbacks of her infancy.

One thing that has helped is consistency. If I keep her actively keep her awake in the afternoon (which means she’s screaming and angry) and put her down around 7:30 – 8:00 PM, she’ll sleep for a few hours straight. So we’re sticking to this schedule as much as possible.

Breastfeeding  //

Nursing Mila is still going well. My supply seems to have stabilized a bit and I’m no longer engorged. But, gosh, there are days where I wish I wasn’t her only way of nourishment! I know that all nursing mamas have felt this way at some point or another, but there are some days where I wish I could just sleep and hand her off to my husband.

Maternity Leave + Paternity Leave  //

Speaking of my husband, he’s still on paternity leave. Actually, he went back to work for two days before I begged him to take two additional weeks off. I was overwhelmed from having a sick toddler and a newborn (Remy contracted Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease the morning of the 4th of July and has been super contagious ever since). So he has been home with us — Thank GOD.

I decided, however, to get Ari and Mila out of the house by returning to work at the end of last week. It was a gentle transition back for all of us. Ari got to see all of his friends from the YMCA and play all morning, meanwhile I handed Mila off to my coworker and snuggled other babies in childcare. It was great!

The Big Kids  //

HFM Disease really threw our world upside down. I mean, it was awful. She woke up on the 4th with a fever and threw up. I thought “Oh no — another stomach bug!” But the next morning she woke up without the fever, but with bumps around her mouth and booty. And then all over her legs, feet, and hands.

We did a digital appointment with a pediatrician so I didn’t have to take everyone out of the house and she confirmed that, yes, it was HFM. When she found out I also had a newborn at home she cringed. I had to do my best to keep her away from her new baby sister — you know, the one she’s been obsessed over since the day she was born.

That’s the point at which I begged Chad to take another 2 weeks off of work.

Luckily, at 10 days after the fever, all of her symptoms seemed to be completely gone. Which meant she could finally get out of the house for a bit. So I took her to our favorite place — Target!

This cart hammock from Binxy Baby makes our frequent trips to the store a million times easier. Not only do people seem to compliment it nonstop, but I have the entire cart free for groceries (which certainly wouldn’t happen with her giant car seat in the cart).

Ari, however, has been able to get out and enjoy himself quite a bit lately. I took him and Mila on an adventure to the LEGO Store for their monthly mini build followed by lunch and he was in HEAVEN.

I had zero distractions from him since his baby sister slept the whole time, so he loved having my undivided attention.

He’s also been going to Tot Time in the park still and he participated in our community Goldfish Catch (which is basically filling up the community wading pool with goldfish and sending the kids in to catch them — ha!)!

So he’s been living the good life while Remy has been miserable. But here’s hoping we’re on the upswing for everyone!

Mental + Physical Health  //

Mentally, I feel mostly okay. I’m still surprised that I seem to have avoided any signs of PPD/PPA thus far. And my most difficult times certainly seem to be the moments where all of the children are screaming and demanding, which is to be expected.

And physically I’m feeling pretty good. My immediate postpartum weight loss seems to have leveled off a bit. I’ve not ever been one of those nursing moms who drops weight quickly. In fact, my body seems to think it needs to go into hibernation mode while I’m breastfeeding.

So I’m starting back on Weight Watchers to keep myself accountable — plus, they take into account all of the extra food I’m supposed to be eating as an exclusively breastfeeding mom! And I’m definitely looking forward to getting back into my workout routine soon!

We’re still very much in survival mode and I’m certain we have some major changes coming next week when Chad officially goes back to work. So keep sending all of your positive vibes our way!

 

 

Disclosure: I received the Binxy Baby in exchange for my honest review. As always, all opinions herein are my own.