Friday, September 29, 2017

Dad's Role in Breastfeeding

Often times dad's can feel left out in the breastfeeding relationship between mother and child or they feel useless but I put together a little list of ways dads can help during the breastfeeding journey.

Moral Support

The most important way a dad can help his wife in her breastfeeding journey with their children is to provide moral support. Breastfeeding can be challenging not only physically but emotionally and mentally as well. Be her cheerleader and thank her for continuing to sacrifice her body now that the baby is outside of the womb. If she is feeling discouraged about her milk supply, pick up a breastfeeding resource (I highly recommend The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding) and see if you can troubleshoot why she is feeling that way and if that still doesn't reassure her, contact your local IBCLC (find one here).

Make sure mom has water near her

As your wife is breastfeeding, fluids and energy is being pulled out of her body and the best thing for a healthy milk supply is for mom to stay hydrated so make sure she always has water near her.

Bring mom a snack

It's also important for her to maintain her energy so a small snack would be helpful too whether it's a granola bar, a rice cake or a handful of grapes.

Change baby's diaper

If the baby has a dirty diaper before or after the feeding, go ahead and take the initiative to change it so mom can get more down time.

Entertainment

Another extra way to help mom is to keep mom company while she breastfeeds, especially for those middle of the night feedings, if your work schedule allows it or you can make sure she has a good book or her phone/tablet nearby to keep her alert and entertained.

How have you helped your wife during her breastfeeding journey? Any other tips for how dad's can assist mom's who breastfeed?

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stormieariel

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Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Maternity Photoshoot | Baby Boy

Posted by stormieariel

This post was created in partnership with PinkBlush Maternity but all thoughts and opinions are of my own.

I decided to document our pregnancy as a way to get all my feelings and emotions out and to later look and remember this beautiful time in our lives while noticing the differences and similarities with our first pregnancy. I hope you enjoy if you decide to follow along on this life changing journey.

I am so happy to finally share our maternity pictures with you all. Hurricane Harvey first put a damper on the first date we were supposed to photograph these and then the next weekend, we were hit with rain again. Even the day we shot these, we were rained out of our shoot but we still managed enough time to get a few amazing photos in.

And can we talk about this PinkBlush Maternity dress for a second? I absolutely love how it is figure hugging as I really wanted a dress to show off this big ol' baby bump and the fact that it is nursing friendly is a double win since I will also be able to wear this dress postpartum (you know I am all about getting the most bang for my buck) and get to breastfeed my new little bundle of joy while looking nice either for church or any other formal event.

As always, I can never think our friend and photographer Nick from LaPalomento Photography enough for always capturing these special moments in our lives.

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stormieariel

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Monday, September 25, 2017

Pregnancy

Bump Date | 35 Weeks with Baby No. Two

Posted by stormieariel

I decided to document our pregnancy as a way to get all my feelings and emotions out and to later look and remember this beautiful time in our lives while noticing the differences and similarities with our first pregnancy. I hope you enjoy if you decide to follow along on this life changing journey.

I can't believe we are already here at the end of this pregnancy but at the same time, I still feel like there is forever to go. This mama is tired and I just want to be able to hold baby boy in my arms and to lay on my back comfortably, haha. This week, I have been trying to take advantage as much as possible during Sophia's nap time to just take it easy and relax in bed. Thankfully with Anthony being home the last few months, it has helped tremendously to also take breaks throughout the day since he is here able to take over. I am not sure how I would be doing this if he wasn't home although I am sure we would have managed but it is nice not having to, if that makes sense.

Strangely enough, I have also been craving the hospital food. I really cannot wait to have their sandwiches for lunch and the oatmeal for breakfast. And honestly to have oatmeal in general without getting heartburn will be nice. This whole pregnancy, I have had to give up oatmeal because the heartburn is so bad and that is one of the easiest and my favorite breakfast foods.

Baby boy is still having consistent movements and I noticed the times I wake up to pee in the middle of the night are always around the exact same timing, 3:40ish am and between 4-5 am and again around 7-8 am. I normally fall asleep around 2-3 am due to discomfort and constantly peeing and waking up around 9 am for the day for reference of how much sleep I am actually getting. Around 4-5 am is when baby boy is going crazy in my tummy with summer salts and flips so it has me wondering if that is around the time I will go into labor. We have also noticed that Sophia has been strangely extra extra clingy and just acting strange with bath time and bed time so we wonder if she senses brother coming sooner than we think.