Mid-Week Mom Chat: Our Birthing Story

so many questions myself. I'm learning a whole new world, and so I just want to have some conversation with you all about what I'm going through. This first episode, I want the Middle of the momm Middle of the Week mom Chat already have mom brain. I had mom brain before I had a kid, and now it is so intense, like I can't remember anything and sometimes I

can't speak words. So forgive me if I sounded fool sometimes on this episode when I'm just talking with no one to talk back to, because that's dangerous, me alone with my thoughts and a microphone. Um. But this episode, I want to talk about my birth experience because a lot of you have asked me about that, and I just think that I had no idea how intense the feelings are with trying to create a birth plan and then having your child. So I had had so many friends.

I'm an older mom of thirty six. I was thirty six when I had Sonny, and I had done a lot of analyzing on my friends who have kids, because I've always wanted to be prepared before I get involved with a brand new, big experience, and so having a baby and childbirth and all that, it was a very huge experience. I was very nervous and scared about it for a long time because it's just such a huge responsibility, and I didn't know if I was prepared already yet.

So I studied all my friends you've had kids before me and my sister and my family, just cousins, tons of women who have gone before me, who have had children and who have been so gracious to share their their journey with me. I realized that having a birth plan, it's kind of setting yourself up for disappointment a lot

of the time. I'm not saying a birth plane can't work out, and I'm not saying you shouldn't have one, because I think it is great to have one, and it's good to have intentions on what you want and to have your mind set wrapped around what you are going for, because I think it's always good to have a plan, but I do think with a birth plane, you've got to hold it loosely because anything can happen in labor and delivery. M That's what happened to me. I had hired a doula, Michael, and I had gone

to birthing class. I was really wanting to have a natural birth. I really even wanted to try to go with out an nepdural. That was my goal in my mind. I wanted to go into labor, have contractions, getting a bathtub, feel it, breathe through it. I've done years of yoga, so I was like, oh, my yoga is going to really help me move through my labor process. I want to feel it. I want to feel the pain. I want to know what this feels like. And so that

was my goal in my mind. But I knew because I've had so many friends who had birth plans like this and then it didn't work out, there was a chance that wouldn't happen. So I didn't let myself get too attached to it. And I'm glad because um sorry, y'all. Sometimes I have a hacking problem. I had coffee this morning after I breastfed. I tried to have my coffee right after a breastfeed, so then I have two hours to get out of my system, so I don't have

caffeine in the next feeding. Um. But it sometimes airtates my threat. So sorry, I'm coffee, but turns out with me and Sunny. I was a week late and she was do she was forty one weeks and I tried everything to get her out. Naturally, went walking four miles, ran stairs, a drink raspberry tea. I got a big yoga ball and bounced on it. I um, Michael, and I had sex. Um. What else did I do there? I took oh primrose oil. I took that and then I put it applied it vaginally. I literally did everything

I could think of to get this baby out. And she was zero percent of face and zero percent dilated, which means nothing was happening. I was not going into labor. I was showing no signs of labor, and my gynecologist said that she really didn't want to go past one week late, just because the baby was already measuring really big. I'm thirty six years old, and it just something about

my age plays a factor in it. I don't know what exactly, but so she was like, Okay, we're gonna induce you or you can get a C section, And she was not promoting c section because it's major surgery.

And I had never talked about wanting it, and she was like, all about it if I wanted it, but she was like, you've never talked about this, and I don't want you to do something and you know not and regret it in the end, I guess because it was never part of our conversations the whole time I was checking in with her and the whole process of me being pregnant. But when I got um got to the final hour. Oh. Also, I had group strup B, which sounds like an STD, but it's not. I don't

have an STD. Group strap B is in thirty of women, and you have to get put on an antibotic if you have it, because it can really hurt your baby or even potentially be fatal for your baby um if you have group strap B and your baby is born vaginally. And so I had a lot of anxiety about that, and I was already gonna have to be put on an antibotic right my water broke, if my water even broke.

So I just had a lot of fears. I had a big fear about the cord being wrapped around her neck because I've just had a friend who lost their baby um and it was due to a cord being wrapped around the neck. And not that that's like rare, These are all rare, freak things. But I just had a lot of fear. And all of all who followed my journey, I know that we had miscarried, and I had a chemical pregnancy, and we tried almost a year to get pregnant. So I just unfortunately had a lot

of anxiety during my pregnancy. I wish that I wouldn't have, because I don't think that's good for the baby or the mama, But and I worked really hard not to have anxiety, but I just did, and that was my journey. And I think a lot of moms who have gone through miscarriage can relate to me that no matter how much you don't want to have anxiety, you do because the fear of losing your baby, and I'll cry talking about it, is overwhelming when it's all that you wanted,

you know. So I'm still I'm counting this as hormonal because I still have hormones, and I just I actually just put Sunny down. I was just rocking her in my arms and I was just thanking God for her and that I was blessed with her, because it's such a blessing to have a baby. But it's so overwhelming because there's so much that she's gonna have to experience in this life, like pain and heartbreak and unfairness and

just situations that are going to hurt her emotionally. And I hate that she has to go through all that, but I know that is the human experience, and it just like, oh God, it recks me. But it also I know that she's here for a purpose and a reason and all of this things will make her stronger and it is my job to guide her and comfort her and be there for her. And it's just a huge responsibility being a mom. But it's like the greatest

blessing you could ever have. And I think that it makes you have to strengthen your faith because someone told me that when you have a child, your heart is now on the outside of your body. That makes me cry because it's just so true. Your heart does not belong to you anymore once you have a baby, and it's such a blessing, but it is so overwhelming. So anyway, uh,

I don't even know what I was talking about. Oh yeah, So I had a lot of anxiety um before I went into labor, just that I was going to lose her in the birth process. And I know that's crazy because it's so unlikely, but that was just my journey

and my truth. And so when we got to forty one weeks, there was a fifty chance that I would end up in an emergency C section anyway, because I was gonna have to start protasin I was percent dilated or faced, and it is um sometimes that can lead to just an emergency c section of the baby's heart rate drops too much or it just there's a million

reasons why. I just had a friend who had an emergency C section and it was not what she had wanted and it was emotional for her, and I've had several friends that have had them, and I was just I just didn't want to end up in an emergency situation. So I talked to Michael about it a long time, and we both decided that though this was not what we had originally wanted, our ultimate goal always was to have a healthy baby and a healthy meat. That is the ultimate goal. Yes, did I want to have the

natural experience? Of course? Yes? Was this my plan? It was this not my plan? No, this is not my plan. That's Michael texting me right now. Um, but here I here, I was in this situation where this was my option, Like I was definitely gonna have to either get induced or which was and then I wasn't going to go natural without an epidural that way, because I just heard protocin is like so painful and so hard, and so here I was just in a new situation that I

wasn't prepared for preparing for. But this is what this is my circumstances. And I decided to go with a C section because I didn't want to end up an emergency situation and I wasn't gonna I mean just it wasn't going to be the natural experience I was wanting to have anyway. And so we went with a C section. And I called my sister the day before and I cried and cried and cried and cried, and I was so upset that I wasn't that it wasn't going how

I had wanted it to go. And she told me the best piece of advice that I think you can have as a new mom, and it is, you know what, the sooner you can accept that the journey of parenthood is never how you plan it. It is never going to be how you think it's going to be, the sooner you can let go of control and just embraced

the journey. I don't know exactly her words that she used, but it was this sentiment, the more free you're going to be, and the better mom you're going to be, because parenthood is a wild journey and you know, you just cannot control it. And so I really took those words to heart and I just got my cry out and I let go of what I had thought I had wanted, and I embraced what we were going to do, which was a C section, and I'm going to tell

you it was an amazing experience. I was super emotional about it because we got there and I realized when I got there, I was about to be cut open, which was terrifying, terrifying, but everyone was amazing. My antithesiologists was amazing. All the nurses were amazing. My gynecologist was incredible. She did an amazing job. The surgery went fantastic. Michael was the most supportive husband ever. He was so awesome and so with me and just such a great partner.

He played Tom Petty wild Flowers the whole time. God, why is this making me cry? Because it was the best day of my life, truly, He played Tom Petty wild wild Flowers and Sunny came out just screaming, screaming, screaming, screaming, and she had the most intense eyes, which she still does, just so much focus. And they pulled her out and laid her next to me and we rubbed noses and it was the most magical experience I've ever had in

my life. And I know Michael felt the same way, just seeing her face and realizing who had been inside of me, who God had sent to us, this little soul that has choosing this experience of life, and Michael and I are getting blessed enough to be her parents, and just who this little being was, who we've grown, and who's been growing inside of me for almost a

year that we have the privilege of parenting. And it was just so overwhelming to meet our human And I'm telling you, everyone says that being a parent, the day you meet your child is the best day of your life. And then of course all these parents want to show you pictures and they think their kid is so cute. And I used to think that was so annoying. I was like, Uh, it's just a kid. Nobody wants to see your kid. But I get it. I get it.

The love is unbelievable. It's love. It's overwhelming because there's so much fear too, because now all of a sudden, you're so worried about this child for the rest of your life. But the love is just so big. And it was the greatest day of my life. I loved being in the hospital. Like we had three days in the hospital. We had tons of friends come to visit us. My family came in, my parents, my sister, my brother in law, my niece came in. Jenevieve. She thinks that

Sonny is her baby because she's a cause aunt. She's tenured, No, she tan or nine. I think she just heard nine. She's a cauzant, she's an only child, so she is Sonny's aunt and cousin. So she could mind it to

be her cousin aunt, and they came in. Michael's dad and brother came in, all of our friends came in, the band family, a thousand horses all came It was so beautiful and magical, and Sonny was surrounded by so much love, and so were Michael and I and it just was like a moment in time where time stood still. We got off social media completely, which I'm so glad we did, because I just wanted to be in this

moment with her. I wanted to be in this huge, huge experience that was so powerful and so spiritual and so much bigger than the day to day grind that we're so used to living. And I really wanted to be in that moment, and so did Michael, and so we really didn't get on social media at all, and we just were there there with this new child that was sent straight from God, our family, our friends, in this magical experience, and I'm just so thankful for it.

It was the best experience of my life. And I wasn't worried about weight gain. Even though after you have a baby, you still look six months pregnant. I mean, you still have a big belly, after you have a baby,

the whole process. I think because I was an older mom and because I had had a miscarriage and I knew how incredible this experience was and how privileged I was to be carrying a child, I really didn't care about the state of my body because I was just so in awe of my body that my body could do this, that my body created this child and carried it.

And I wasn't worried about my body. I was so thankful and happy and grateful for my body that it would give me this honor and do this for me because I didn't do anything my body did at all, and I just marveled at it. And it's been amazing to watch my body go back to how it was before. It's not exactly the same. I still have ten or fifteen pounds left to lose, but it's going back on its own and I'm just taking it easy and not stressing out about it. And I'm so thankful that I

can be in this mindset. And I just think it has to do with gratitude and just being older. And I got to do so many things when I was younger and live so much life that I got to a place where I realized that looks in your body and physical image. Yes, I want to feel good and be strong, but that is not the goal for me anymore. The goal is health, and the goal is happiness, and then, of course the ultimate goal was to have a healthy baby.

So I just haven't been stressed out about it. And I'm thankful because a lot of my twenties I was very stressed out about physical appearance, and so I'm very thankful that I was able to not stressed out about that during my pregnancy. I mean, of course I had moments that triggered me into it, because I did struggle with eating disorders and all sorts of stuff when I

was younger. But the most part, I've just been able to enjoy this experience, to be grateful for my body and not hate on my body, and so thank you for that body. Um. But it's just been amazing. The first week she came home was pure bliss. But y'all,

the hormones were no joke. I have never experienced the waves of emotion that I experienced when I came home with Sunny, because they say it takes you like nine ten months to get all these hormones that you have when you're pregnant, and then you lose them all within

six to eight weeks. It just draw hops. I cried every day, and not just cried, I weeped, like I have to use the word weep, because it was gut wrenching, guttural cries like worn comes out of your nose and you have to bury your hand, your face in your hands because your rying so hard. And I didn't even know what I was crying for. I was crying for Stunny, my love for her, my worry for all the things

that could happen. The whole world, like the whole world creeped into all my thoughts, like the overwhelmingness of everything that is happening in the world, all the children in the world that don't have homes, like all the natural disasters that are happening, the pain of the world that Sunday is going to have to experience, that all these things that were just so heavy, like I felt everything, and then I just felt nothing too, Like I didn't

even know why I was crying. It was just hormones. Really, everyone says it's hormonal, and you think that people are just using as an excuse. It is freaking hormonal. So women who are going through hormones after a baby, or even like your cycle, your period, it is no joke. I mean women are rock stars. And that's another thing I have realized. Women are amazing. We are so amazing.

The fact that we are able to nurture ourselves, nurture our husbands, nurture our friends, nurture our families, nurture a pet, then nurture child, grow a child, or raise a child, be there for a child even if you're not a mother. Just our nurturing instinct is so amazing. Plus the fact that we're so capable of holding jobs and careers and multitasking. I'm just in awe of women. I really am, like more than ever and so God bless us. I love us women. We're killing it. We're doing a great job,

and it's emotional to be a woman. We do have all these hormones that make us feel more intensely and insanely than a man a lot of the times. And you know what, I'm grateful for that because I love to feel. It hurts me to feel so much sometimes, but I feel so thankful that I am able to feel all the way to the bottom of my soul because I want to experience this life and I want to know the depths of my feelings and I want to live it. And even though things can hurt, I'm

glad that I can feel. That is my birthing story. And every day it has just gotten so great. Yes, I was exhausted in the first few weeks because Sunny was up around the clock. I was learning breastpee. We breasted right away. I'm very lucky that Sunny latch John first try, and we've really gotten a great rhythm. I started working on schedule. I follow moms on call Um for my schedule, which is a book, and it just

really works on getting them and rhythm early. And honestly, a lot of people say you should just hold your baby, you shouldn't get him on a schedule, and I support that totally. I think whatever works for you is what you should do. And we all know his mom's what feels right for me. I wanted to get Sunny on the schedule because I worked better with the schedule and then I was able to identify what she needed, Like, was she crying because she's tired, Oh, let me look

at the clock. Yep, it's time for a nap. Is she crying because she's hungry? Let me look at the clock. Yep, it's time for her to be fed. Like it was a I was able to. It's make it. It It makes it easy for me to know what she needs. And because of that, she's really happy and we don't. She doesn't cry very often. She only cries if she needs something. She's smiley, and it just worked for us. So I

think that that is you should do whatever works for you. Also, I've been blessed enough to have a night nurse come one or two times a week. Um, Nashville Boss Baby. Let me make sure I'm saying that correctly. Um, I'm I'm looking up on Instagram Nashville Baby Boss and Paula Power is the night nurse and she's really the one that taught me how to get on the schedule and what my baby needs. Because I didn't know anything about babies. I don't know about y'all, but I didn't grow up

around newborns. I didn't babysit like that wasn't I wasn't just a baby person. I wasn't of that person that just wanted to hold all the babies like I would go see your baby, and I love your baby, but I'm not like, oh, let me hold the baby. I just never felt comfortable babies. I was kind of scared of them that they were going to break in. They're so fragile, and so I just needed a little guidance

and Paula has been amazing. Um it's also been great to have the support of my mom and my sister and all my girlfriends in Nashville who are moms who share so much information with me. Something I will recommend to new mamas that has been a game changer for me is get your girl tribe, because your husband is amazing and he is going to be there for you

the best that he can. But get a woman's group or a friend, or find someone or even a blogger or anybody who is sharing information about being a new mom. Because I'm inna text chain with six new moms. We all had our babies like within three months of each other, and we bounce ideas and questions and thoughts and fears

and all sorts of stuff off each other daily. And it is so incredible to have a group of women to talk to because I mean, you talk about breastfeeding, talk about using more bottles, than than your boob, Like, that's something I just struggled with. A sunny was taking a bottle more and I really wanted to sleep better, and so she was quitting eating on my boob quickly, quicker than she would on a bottle. So I'm using

more breastbed bottles now. And believe it or not, that's emotional to not have her just breastfeed because that's such a bonding thing. And you know, just to be able to talk that stuff through with your mom friends is really amazing. To talk about colic, to talk about diaper rash, What creams do you use? To talk about swaddles? What swaddles working? We use the Miracle swaddle, by the way, and it really really works to talk about things that we love. I'm gonna tell you something that gives me

a lot of peace of mind is the outlet. You put it on their foot and it's a monitor and it monitors their heart rate and their breathing, and it's kind of an investment. It's sort of expensive, but that gives me so much peace of mind. Jesse James Decker is the one who told me about that. She said that she used it on her kids, kids or kids. I don't know if she used it on all of them. I don't know if it's around for her first children, for her first child, but it has given me so

much peace of mind. I put it on Sunny's foot every single night when she goes to sleep. You can check her stats on your phone to see what her heart rate is, to see how her breathing is, and it just lets me have so much peace of mind. So that is something I recommend if you're going to make a big investment, that would be what I would suggest.

That has really really calmed my mind. So I can sleep at night because and then if if she stops breathing, her heart drips, stops drops down, an alarm will go off and it will wake you up. It's loud, and so it's just a peace of mind. So that's my suggestion. The outlet um and you know, every day is just a new day. I'm learning with Sonny, Michael's learning. Michael

has been so sweet. He's cooked every single meal. He's become a off of the house because honestly, it's hard for guys in the beginning because the baby if you're breastfeeding, which is my experience, so that's the one that I can go from. You know, the baby's on your boob all every three hours, and the baby is super connected to the mama because she's been inside of us for almost a year. She knows us, she knows our smells,

she knows who we are, she knows our voice. And it's harder for the the dad because there's not as big of a role for them in the beginning. But I'm telling you to have a supportive husband who just supports you and helps you as a wife out. That has been what Michael has been doing for me, and I'm grateful of it. He found a way to really help me out, which is to cook all the meals because I don't like to cook, and he's become the

best chef. He always was a great chef, but now he's like really like dope, dived dove, I don't know the grammar, how about this. He's really jumped into cooking and really makes amazing meals. And so that's been awesome and I think that that's just the best thing for me. And in my experience that a husband can do is just help support you um and be willing to communicate because in the beginning, there's a lot of feelings, and it's a lot of work. It's a lot of work

on the mom a lot. You know, you're waking up mill of night to feed, you're exhausted. Make sure you talk to your husband because you don't want resentment to build up, and you need to have an open communication because it's easy to get tired and to not communicate with your spouse. And um, I just think that that's key. Michael and I've had to have some some real conversations just because when you become a parent, thanks get real. You got to talk about stuff, and if you don't

talk about it, you'll resent your partner. And you don't want to do that because you obviously love your partner. You married your partner, or you chose your partner, You had a baby with your partners, so there's a lot of love there. You just got to make sure you don't let your exhaustion and all the things and tasks that you have to do with this newborn take away

your love from them. So just communicate, communicate, communicate. So Okay, that is my birth experience and that takes me to today where I am, which is just blessed and thankful and happy, to be here, so I'm gonna answer somebody else questions. How okay. A lot of y'all asked me about my pumping because I put on Instagram like where I pumped seven or eight ounces of milk on my left boob. That's my money maker boob. That only happens when I don't pump for like six or seven hours,

which is really not a good thing. I'm just figuring out how to pump. I don't even know how you're supposed to pump. I think you're supposed to pump or breastfeed every feeding, and I wasn't doing that. I was pumping like every six hour, every two feedings, and so I get more milk um. And that's when I get six or seven or eight ounces, is when I wait like six or seven hours, and so I do think

that can cause mastitis. And I just realized that I had some clog ducks because my friend Haley hubbard Um told me that I should massage my boob and see if I have some clog ducks in there. And I end up getting like an extra two ounces out of my right boob, which doesn't produce as much, and so that just lets me know that I um had some clog ducks in there, and so I don't know if that's from not breastfeeding or pumping every feeding, but I do see. I do think you need to do it

every feeding. And when I pump every feeding, I get like three and a half to four ounces on my left boob and like one to two on my right boobs. So it's not like I'm killing it if I was pumping every session. Does that make sense? So I only get a lot of milk when I wait a lot of hours, which is not probably good for your boobs because nobody wants messiitis. Okay, what's my bedtime routine with her?

So we feed off feed her at four. I follow Moms on Call that book is That's what I would suggest, following Moms on Call, which is now she is at the eight to twelve week one and so she feeds at four, then we play. Then she has a quick little nap like an hour out from five thirty to six thirty. At six dirty she wakes up. We go straight to the bathtub. We have a fun bath. She loves the water, and then at seven pm we start feeding and I try to give her a big feeding.

That one so she can sleep long. Um, six ounces at least I want not at least six ounces is the goal that I give her. And she's eight weeks old right now and so um. And then at seven thirty put her down and she has been sleeping until about like three in the morning or four. So hopefully that can start stretching and we can make it to seven am, because the goal is to go from seven thirty to seven am. That's the goal. We're getting close. Um.

Do I take any supplements? Have an amazing molk suply? No? I don't. I'm very thankful that I have a great moolk supply. And like I said before, I kind of pushed it and so that's why I had more. Um. Let's see, did I always want to be a mom or did it just kind of happen when you met Michael. I actually there was a time in my life when I didn't know if I wanted to kids. In my twenties, I was living it up and having so much fun, and I didn't know if I wanted to have kids.

But when I hit about thirty years old, something swished to me and I knew I wanted to have kids. It was when I met my niece. My sister had my niece and I really got to know her a baby for the first time, and I got to see my sister's love for her child, and I got to feel that love. I had never loved a child so much, and it made me realize that I wanted a child. Because my love for my niece was so strong that I knew I wanted to have a kid. I wasn't

ready yet, obviously. That was like thirty when I was thirty, and I'm thirty six when I had her, So I waited a long time. But I think when I was in my yeah, when I hit thirty, I knew I wanted a child. A favorite nursing raw simple wishes that one hands down is amazing. It's great. Um, I what is your typical pump setting on your pump? Do you change the mode as you pump? I used a Spectra And because I've been pumping more, my nipples have gotten really sore. So I started off at nine because if

I started at eleven, it kills kills. Sometimes I'll even started at eight and then by the time I'm done, I end up at eleven or twelve. And I pumped a full thirty minutes each session because I have full boobs, full milk in the boobs. Um, let's see what else do we have here? Does breastfeeding make you happy? Yes, it does. And like switching to bottles, it was really hard for me because I was losing in my mind

that bonding time with her. But I had to analyze and decide what was more important that she's getting enough food or that we're having a bonding session. And so I tried to breastfeed at least once or twice a day still, but then the other times she has six feedings a day seven am feeding uh nine, seven ten, one for seven thirty, and then maybe one in the middle of the night, so she has five or six feedings a day. And so if I can get one or two breastfeedings in there, I feel really I feel good.

I feel like we still get our bonding time. I haven't lost breastfeeding altogether. And then I know the other times she's getting her full ounces in social sleep well and she's going to grow, And it just gives me more peace of mind to know that she's getting the milk that she needs because I just didn't. I just was worried about it that she wasn't getting enough when she was breastfeeding. So that's what's working for me. I think everyone knows what works, what works for them. That's

what works for me right now. And he used to say that I won't change that because I feel like that's the thing in my motherhood. Everything changes all the time. Um so On says, I remember seeing you pack a belly bandit in your hospital back. Have you used it? Oh, that is something I would recommend so much. I used the belly bandit every single day for the first month and a half after Sunny was born. I put it on every day. I used the belly bandit and I used the Lux. I used the Lux. It's l u

x um. I forgot what something about lux and any belly band It's amazing. I wore it every single day all day. It dramatically shrunk my stomach. It just made my stomach tighten up. So I cannot recommend the belly bandit enough. I mean, definitely get that and wear it every day. It did not even fit in the beginning.

It was so hard to put on. I had I have a large one, and then I had a small one, and I used a large one in the beginning because I still had my belly and it was like six months pregnant looking, but daily it could just get tighter and tighter and tighter and tighter, and then finally I was in the small one. And I'm telling you, my waist is pretty much back to normal and we are eight weeks in, and so I owe a lot of that to the belly bandit. I'm telling you, did you

eat anything specific to increase or maintain your milk supply? No, I did not die it though. I did not die during my pregnancy, and I am not dieting now during um post baby because I just don't want to stress out about food, so I don't overeat. But if I crave anything, I eat it. I'm not necessarily eating fully healthy. I probably have at fifty balance of healthy eat junk food. I am exercising now. I'm doing the peloton. I'm trying to do that at least twice a week, trying to

get some hot yoga in there, but baby steps. I just started this all at six weeks my exercising because I got cleared from my C section that I can start exercising again. But I just am not under eating and I'm not overeating, but I'm eating probably calories a day, two tho maybe two thousand calories today. I'm not Um, I'm just not starving myself, but I'm not over eating. And then I'm working in some exercise. Now. UM, I have not gotten my period. I thought I did, but

I didn't. Um. Let's see. What is something that surprised you when you became a new mom. Just the overwhelmingness of the love. Like I know that sounds cliche, but just the overwhelming nous of the love was just insane. Um. Favorite baby products that you're liking. I love our play match. She plays on her play mat every single day. That has been crucial. Hold on, let me look it up. I'm gonna tell you what it's called. Because a lot

of people have asked me about the play Matt. I'm going to tell you the name of it, so I don't forget. I'm looking it up. Hold on, hold on, um, we got the bright What is it called? It's called bright Starts five and one your Way Ball play Activity, Jim, And it is by. Let me see who makes it? It is by who makes this bad boy bright Starts. That's who makes it. Bright Starts bright starts five and one your way ball play activity, Jim. It's awesome. I

love it. Okay. Another thing I cannot live without is our Lily the complete air Flow six position Uh, it's the Lily Baby, the complete airflow six position sixty aeronomic baby and child carrier. I love it. I carry her in it all the time. It is so good for a newborn, and then it gives you so much support. It's so sturdy, and it grows as she becomes bigger. I love it. A lot of my friends have wraps that they use. I've never been a rap mama. I just I don't know if they since it seemed too

confusing for me. A lot of my mom friends love them, though, but for me, I love the Lily Baby. It is amazing. Um swaddles. You gotta have tons of swaddles. Oh. Something that was incredible during during the hospital when I first started breastfeeding. I wore these for the first week, every

single second of the day that I wasn't breastfeeding. The silverette the original silver nursing cups soothing store crack nipples nipples, so it's called silverette, and they are little metal nursing cups, little tins that you put over your nipples, and every time after she finished breastfeeding, I would put a little bit of breast milk to squired, a little bit breast milk in them, and then I would put them on

my nipples and have a braw on. So they stayed on and I wore them the entire first week and I never got cracked nipples. I never got any problems with my nipples. So I can't recommend that enough. That was great. Um. What else, of course you need, like a changing table, a trash can, cute little towels, little hoodie towels. I got a little bathtub. Um. I love the Dr Brown's bottles. I tried a lot of bottles and I ended up using Dr Brown's just because it

really helps with her not having colic. And I don't know, we just they work for us. That's the ones we like. Um. We did get a heated wipes thing because I just felt like it was Michael actually felt like it was so such a harsh reality to put a cold wipe on your bare on the baby's bare booty every time she had to get a diaper change. So we got a little warmer Um. A diaper warmer. And then the Miracle Swaddle. That's another thing I'd recommend. The Miracle Squaddle.

Our night nurse Paula Power taught us about that and it puts it kind of like locks their arms down so their arms can't get out, and so it makes for a really tight swaddle. Um. That's amazing. And then also something this mar Pack rom Portable White Noise Machine. It's m A r p A c r o h M mar Pack rom Portable White Noise We have two of them. We have one in her room. I put one on the stroller like take it with us in the car seat. It's awesome because you want that white

noise um everywhere you go with a baby. So that is something else that we love. So those are products that I cannot recommend enough. Okay, I'm gonna answer one more question. How is Sugar with her? Sugar has been great. We always say, Sugar, have you seen your baby? Where's your baby? Go? Give your baby some love and she'll go lick her face. And we want Sugar to love on the baby because I think it's good for her to get a little dog norms. You don't want her

to be too clean. And we don't want something to be too clean, not to be exposed to germs, and so the sugar will lick her face and it's sweet and she loves her. Okay, guys, I think that that is it for this middle of the week mom chat. Y'all make sure to keep sending me in your questions and I just love and appreciate you guys. So I'll see you on next Thursday for some more mommy chat by