We are officially 3 weeks into this whole newborn thing. Time is seriously flying, but I wanted to take a few and answer one of the most asked questions I get — what is a “can’t live without” item for those first few weeks. Honestly, it is hard to limit it to just one, so I figured I would give you my top 5 for month one! I linked them all in the picture below for you!
SILVERETTE NURSING CUPS — if you are nursing, these will save your flipping boobies. I haven’t had any discomfort or bleeding or anything with using these. I never take them out of my bra except when I am feeding him.
Boppy pillow — I need something to rest him or my arms on while breastfeeding. Holding him up for 20+ minutes (especially after elbow surgery) is just not it. I love this for the middle of the night or for feedings on the couch in the middle of the day. I bought the plain one and got 3 covers so I can wash them because…dogs, ya know?
Hatch sound machine — I didn’t think I would love this as much as I do, but the rain sound is so soothing & helps with all of the household noise while he is trying to sleep. We have 3 dogs and 2 humans who are getting ready for bed and such after he’s already asleep. The constant sound machine by his bed I can only imagine helps him sleep that much better.
Burp cloths — I didn’t realize how much spit up a baby could make & these ones are super absorbent and also thick enough to keep anything from soaking through to your clothes. They are practical size to go perfectly over your shoulder, too.
Moby carrier — I was suuuuuper intimidated by these wrap carriers, but I seriously watched one tutorial and figured it out super fast. He fusses every time I put him in here, but once he’s all tucked in, he almost always falls asleep. He’s close to my chest & will nap but I have two hands free for laundry & dishes. Double win.
Truthfully, there are so many more handy items that I have found (& obviously you need a billion diapers & wipes), but these are the things that make my days easiest.
An honorable mention goes to these two (which I included links to if you tap on the graphic) —
a swing or bouncer so baby can be hands free — for us, this is touchy and depends on the day. If he is already asleep, sometimes we will take him from his carseat and put him in it and then he will sleep for a little, but he really doesn’t enjoy being in any of these for a long period of time yet
a swaddle — seriously this has been such a struggle for us because home boy loves to have his hands right near his face. That being said, we have stuck to attempting a swaddle at night and 3 weeks in, we are just starting to have it figured out. He currently likes the swaddleme one, but I can tell he will break out of this one very soon, so we are going to start looking for other options.
Tap the picture to get all the links to these items
I’m going to try to make this short winded, but no promises. I know everyone chooses how to bring their baby into the world differently & that’s the beauty of it. This is what we chose and thought was best for our baby while in labor.
Monday 12/13/2021
I woke up around 3:30 AM with bloody show at 40 weeks and 5 days pregnant. If you know my past history, you know the blood can be a trigger from my miscarriage. Around 7:30 am, contractions woke me up out of bed. They were very uncomfortable, but not totally the worst thing ever. I tried to call back asleep and couldn’t, so I laid there reading a book and cuddling the pups.
By about 8:30, I could tell they we’re getting a little closer together. I started timing them on my app — lasting 30 seconds every 5-6 minutes. I told josh we should go for a walk to see if they were still coming after that. We took a 2 mile walk then I took a fabulous shower. Around 11:15, I checked in with my midwife via phone call because all contractions were 3-5 minutes lasting 45-60 seconds. I also had still had the bloody show and baby wasn’t moving a ton.
We cleaned up the house so our dog sitter wouldn’t live in a mess, and left to go to the hospital. At 1pm we were in OB triage with contractions averaging 4 minutes apart. I was 70% thinned, 2.5-3 cm dilated, soft and a -1 position. The OB on staff said “we’re having a birthday today!” I stayed down there another hour to make sure we were progressing. By the time I got checked again and moved up to the labor & delivery floor (3:00pm), I was a solid 3 and 80% thinned.
The next 4 hours were spent in the labor & delivery room visiting with some family, still contracting about 4 minutes apart and being cared for by the hospital staff. Around 7, the midwife came in to check me and I was 5.5cm dilated with contractions 3 minutes apart lasting 45 seconds to a minute. She asked if she could break my water and I said yes.
The next hour of labor was probably the worst! My contractions were not necessarily closer together, but they were SO much worse. I did dilate to about 8cm, but was getting very nauseous, squeezing Josh’s hand and getting counter pressure applied by my sister on my back. I asked for an epidural at this point, but all the anesthesiologists were preoccupied in surgery. I figured I had missed my window to get one and was gearing up for how to get to 10cm and still have any energy left to push.
Like a gift from God, another anesthesiologist showed up at our door and administered the epidural around 8pm. I then took the best nap of my life — 2.5 hours of relatively pain free bliss after an exhausting day of labor. I woke up around 10:30 and was checked again around 11:30. I was completely dilated, but baby wasn’t quite in birthing position. Our options were to wait for him to move down or to bear down and push him down. We start to work towards pushing him down around 12:10am on 12/14.
Around 12:30, I got my first little peek at the top of his head. It was miraculous. This is around the time things got crazy — my contractions were coming further apart, but basically two on top of each other. Because they were coming back to back, Ryder was becoming distressed (his heart rate was dropping drastically). So now I’m pushing, on oxygen & shifting positions so that we can bring his heart rate back up after watching it drop dangerously low during contractions. This went on until about 2am when I was physically exhausted, Ryder was constantly being watched and dangerously close to not being okay, and they were going to start Pitocin because my labor had drastically slowed down (back to 5ish+ minutes apart).
The next 15 minutes were extremely hard – my midwife suggested a c section based on how poorly Ryders heart/oxygen levels were responding to labor, the way my body was slowing labor (probably to protect him) and the amount of time he’d been in the birth canal which wasn’t helping his heart rate (he was in an odd position with his head coming out at an angle). So at 2:18am, we decided to go in for a c section.
I was rolled into the room for prep at 2:43 and at 3:10 I had given birth to our beautiful baby boy. I wish that’s all we experienced, but our c section was so traumatic — because of how low Ryders heartbeat had been, we had a team of NICU nurses take him away as soon as they pulled him out. He wasn’t breathing and needed oxygen and suction to get him well enough to come out with us. This was essentially due to his location from pushing. One nurse had to push him up while the doctor pulled him out. Because of his position, my cervix and uterus suffered intense trauma and tore on both sides. They had to stitch me up extra inside and told me I could only deliver via cesarean if we decided to have more kids because the trauma was too great. We heard the doctor express in not appropriate IG words during surgery that this was not going according to plan and something was wrong. We didn’t know that it was this until he told us other, but we are thankful it wasn’t anything worse.
Between the trauma to my body, the meds in my body and the lack of anything but a bagel and a handful of grapes in 20 hours, I was extremely sick during and after the c section. I cried when they took Ryder away and didn’t bring him to us immediately. When they finally brought him out, josh held him and moved him over towards me to show me but all I could say was puke. I welcomed my son into the word with my face in the puke bag my amazing husband was holding with my son in his other hand. But once I knew my son was safe and healthy and in the hands of Josh, my body just gave in. They left to go back to the room (which Josh wasn’t happy about and was angry no one would tell him how I was doing) to do skin to skin.
Meanwhile, I was basically coming in and out of consciousness while the anesthesiologist kept trying to bring me back around while they finished closing me up. I was exhausted & in pain and my body didn’t really know how to respond. I could tell I didn’t look good based on the looks on my mom and sisters face when they rolled me back into my room and I could barely get my eyes to focus on anything. The nurse came over and got Ryder to put him on my chest for skin to skin and my body responded so well. They also brought me some ice chips that I began to eat.
Holding my boy for the first time
Coming off the meds, the ice and holding my son must’ve been euphoric for me because probably 10 minutes later, I was a different human. Chatting with my family they let sneak in and competent in awe of my amazing son.
While our birth didn’t go AT ALL as I had thought it would, we could see Gods hand in all of it — the way he took care of me and Ryder and the staff he put into our crazy 20 hour journey. They were the sweetest & allowed my family to come meet our boy and take care of us far beyond visiting hours and policies. Y’all. My family is the real champs. Both sides of our family sat in the lobby of the hospital for 12 hours waiting on this baby to be born. They had work and life going on the next day and they sat and prayed and waiting for the news that he was here & healthy.
So far, we haven’t seen any adverse symptoms from his time under trauma and I’m healing from my c section as well as can be. If there’s one thing I can encourage my mamas to be with it’s this — have a plan and hold it loosely and fight for what’s best for you and your baby. Your health is more important than a birth plan or the opinion of someone in your life.
I’ve been setting goals for the past few years, but this year I decided to go about it the same & also differently. I’ve always chosen goals in a handful of different categories — not to overwhelm, but to keep focus on all areas of life. I choose the following 6 categories to set goals/intentions in —
Spiritual
Relational
Financial
Physical
Mental
Social
I also like to pick a word to focus on each year. This year, my word is PRESENT. I want to be present in the life of my family & my son. I want to watch him grow and see the things that light him up. I want to watch them happen in person, not through a phone screen.
As you set goals/intentions this year, choose actionable ones. Choose ones that you can break down into daily/weekly/monthly tasks to see how close you are getting to completing them. Choose ones that you want to pursue & start with a baby step to get there.
Here are some examples for each category from my goals for the year:
Spiritual – pray with Josh before bed each night for each other & for Ryder
Relational – take Ryder on a trip to meet all extended family
Financial – save for downpayment on home on land
Physical – 3 servings of protein & 3 servings of greens a day
Mental – 1 PD book a month
Social – 1 reel with 1 million views (this is a lofty one, but I’ve gotten to 750k+ before)
How do you set goals for the new year? I’d love to hear some of yours!
Josh & I are BIG readers. We love a good personal development book, but we also love a good fiction book. We are even working on doing a new devotional together that has us reading through the whole Bible in a year. Anyways, we thought it would be fun to compile a list of books that are on our Christmas list/to be read list and share it with you. Maybe you can get some ideas for where to start reading in 2022 or maybe we can inspire you to pick up a book if it has been a while.
You’ll notice that most of Josh’s have to do with physical fitness or entrepreneurship/leadership. This is a season that he is heading into and he wants to be the best at it that he can be. Most of mine have to do with personal development or being a mom. This is a brand new season for me, so I am planning to learn from other seasoned moms, the Bible and podcasts as I embark on this new journey.
There are so many voices out there when it comes to these types of books & we do a lot of research before we choose who to listen to. We don’t blindly follow the current big name in the industry just because they are trending. We want to learn from people who have experience and align with our core values (or who differ from us in a good way) and take the information we learn to apply it to our lives and business.
Well anyways, here is our to- read lists for December 2021. Let us know what you are planning to read next in the comments!
A few posts ago I was sharing our Christmas lists & decided that it might be fun to share some of our holiday traditions with you. I always love seeing what other families do, so we wanted to invite you in and let you know what Christmas looks like for us. As you know, this year we are adding a little bundle of baby joy to our family so this is probably the final year that things will look like this. Next year will more than likely be a year of transition as we decide what traditions we want as a family of 3.
Anyways, here are a few of our favorite traditions around the holiday season! I would love it if you would share yours in the comments as well!
Marc & Barb Christmas Dinner: We started M&B 3 years ago as a small business venture with my sister. We launched in June of 2019 on Etsy and have grown to mostly in person markets since then. I don’t share about it a bunch on here, but I do over on my IG sometimes. Anyways, the first year we were around, my dad told us that he was treating us and our hubs to the Marc and Barb Executive Team Dinner around the holidays. He said that running your own biz is a lot of work and he wanted to treat us to dinner to celebrate all that we had accomplished in our first year. Then it became tradition. Now each year we get together nad reflect on what was different & how we grew that year and dream and set goals for the upcoming year. There are usually some gifts involved & a really yum dinner. It is fun to get the 6 of us together and just celebrate our business and growth.
Regnaert Girls Christmas Cookie Baking Day: This one started probably 10 years ago when my grandma decided it would be fun to get us all together to make cookies. Now I think I shared some pictures from last year’s baking day, but it went from “let’s make a few of everyone’s favs” so let’s bake all day and barely eat because we can’t stop making cookies. My grandma is one of those people who knows all of her neighbors and is always looking after others so she mostly takes the cookies to those she cares about most & then we each take a small plate of our favorites for our families. As you know, though, it is truly not about what we make as much as it is just spending intentional time together — laughing and making cookies. This year I will try to remember to document the event & share what cookies we choose on here for you!
Marciano Family Christmas Eve: Josh and I got engaged a few days after Christmas in 2014, then got married in early February of 2016. Since the first Christmas I spent with his family in 2014 (we actually met at a christmas party in 2013), we have celebrated on Christmas Eve. Back then, his brother still believed in Santa, so we opened gifts from his family on Christmas Eve and then they got Santa gifts on Christmas Day. So when we got married (even though no one believes in Santa anymore), we kept this tradition going. Each year, we spend Christmas Eve with his family which usually consists of church, appetizers & then Christmas presents and pjs with a Christmas movie & punch. It is so nice to not be stressed about going back and forth between two parents’ houses on Christmas Eve & we love soaking in every minute of the celebration with his family. For the last handful of years, we have sent Christmas lists to each other & all picked a spending limit to stay within. There’s only 4 kids (Josh + me & his brother + his fiance), so that’s kinda how we roll.
Regnaert Family Christmas Day: When we got married, we bought a house 0.8 miles from my parents house. Basically that means that its walking distance on Christmas morning to head over there. We’ve always lived close & so do my grandparents, so usually my youngest sister will text me when they wake up over there & we will get dressed and head over to celebrate with my parents (& whichever of my siblings make it for the holiday). We will do stockings over coffee/hot cocoa/tea in the morning with cinnamon rolls (pillsbury, we aren’t too fancy here). This is while we wait for my grandparents to show up. Then we do gifts (i’ll explain in a second), and then stuff our faces with the biggest brunch you’ve ever seen. It’s one of my favorite things. Then we usually split and all go home and take care of our pups and all reconvene that evening for dinner & games (& sibs who didn’t open gifts get to do it now). Usually with dinner comes grandparent gifts and all the dessert. I actually think this is the first year that all the siblings will be in town for Christmas Day (which is pretty exciting).
So a few years ago, we all got married/engaged and that made our kids count up to 7. We decided that year to change up our “kids Christmas” and start drawing names for a secret sibling. My mom comes up with a new way of assignment each year, but her and dad do a drawing and you get a text with your secret siblings name and their list to shop from. We put a spending limit on it and only buy for one sibling each. Only rule is you can’t draw your spouse. It’s a fun way to shop for one another and celebrate Christmas with siblings without feeling the need to spend an endless amount of money on the other 5 sibs. As the family grew, my parents and grands switched how they did things two. Mom & Dad do 3 gifts (at 3 different price ranges) and wrap each person in their own wrapping paper. It’s a fun view when you walk in and try to guess which is yours. Then grandma and grandpa started doing a white elephant sort of game with the numbers. So they buy gifts in a similar price range, we all draw numbers and pick gifts in that order. You can steal and swap and all that good stuff, then they usually top it off with a food or Target gift card. Shopping for 7 grandkids is a lot of work so this is a fun and low stress way to still celebrate the holiday season.
What traditions do you love with your family? I’m considering making homemade cinnamon rolls on Christmas Eve to enjoy Christmas morning, but it might be a little much to take on with a newborn this year so that might have to wait until next year. We also want to incorporate the Christmas story into our morning Christmas routine. Maybe we will read it to Ryder this year. There has to be a kids version of the story in a book out there somewhere, right?
Most importantly, we are looking forward to spending a lot of time with family soaking in life and the holiday season as a family of 3.
I thought it might be a fun way to get to know Josh & I by sharing our personal Christmas wish lists with you.
I have a whole blog post about Christmas traditions in each of our families and how they will probably shift & change next year when we have a one year old, but for now I thought it would be fun to share with you what we are asking for. We are the kind of people who very rarely order things without a sale, so we did do a little shopping of our own with the early release of some deals. These are a few things we picked up —
Tap the photo to shop our BF purchases
Caraway pot/pan set: I have had my eye on this FOREVER & am obsessed with it. They only do maybe one sale a year so when I saw it marked down 15% off, I had to buy it and Josh supported me. He called them my early push present. Our cookware is from our wedding 6 years ago and it is just time for new stuff. It is pretty gross and I have learned with these types of things, you get what you pay for. It was worth the price upgrade for us to get nice pots & pans
This is the dutch oven I had planned to get before I got the one that came with my Caraway set. It falls right in the middle of the price range and has amazing reviews
Dyson cordless vacuum: Josh’s family has always been a Shark family. We’ve had two pretty big & heavy duty Shark vacuums in our years married because i have a lot of hair and we have dogs. We’re constantly cleaning up hair from everything we own. Well I did A LOT of research on vacuums and realized that I wanted something way less top heavy & cordless to use when baby comes. I know that I will be wearing baby around while doing household chores and I don’t need the dogs running around knocking over vacuums or unplugging cords while I’m using the little time I do have to straighten up spaces. So I splurged on this vacuum and have had it for about a month now & I have ZERO regrets.
A deep freezer: breastmilk. Enough said. But seriously, We have left our fridge/freezer open one too many times over the years for me to risk losing precious pumped milk to an open freezer door. I needed something to store my pumped milk in and this one was the winner for us.
Well those are the most expensive things that we got for ourselves before babe came. Here are the majority of the list items that we sent to our families for Christmas this year —
Tap the link to shop Josh’s Christmas List for your loved one
Josh:
Carhartt beanie: if it is even a tad bit cold, josh is wearing one of these. He is even more stoked on them because now he can match Ryder in them
Cowboy hat: i have a cowboy hat that a college boyfriend got me, but Josh wanted a black one, so here is one just like the one he asked for. Ya know, that Tennessee boy at heart
Nike Metcons: this is basically all he wears to workout in. He has them in gray and royal blue already and would probably buy them in every color if he could
Mic: Josh & his friend Tim are starting a fitness/health/wellness podcast in the new year so he needed something for crisp audio recording (but idk how he’s going to block out the chaos ensuing in the background)
Food sensitivities test: one of our friends did this and ever since, Josh has been super into it. He eats SO many different foods in a week and he would love to know what he is sensitive too. He’s been talking about doing this for a year so he finally put it on his list this year
Blue Light Glasses: if you know Josh, you know he’s kind of the king of losing things, so he picked out a 5 pack of blue light glasses because he does so much computer work & actually does think they help, but when he spends money on one nicer pair, they end up lost or broke pretty quick. This is a budget friendly pack
Pyrex containers: seriously meal prepping in glass has been a long time coming. He keeps using plastic, but we have been wanting to get away from it, so we added all glass meal prep containers to his Christmas list — practical, ya know?
My list was actually a little bit harder because most of the things I really wanted, Josh and I ended up buying just because of the price point that they were at. We also love to pick out experiences, but lots of things still have restrictions that we aren’t fond of or don’t meet because of being pregnant/having Ryder so we had to go with more material things this year which isn’t really our jam.
Tap the photo to shop my Christmas list for your loved ones
Low tox swaps for my kitchen: weck jars, glass storage jars (for baby Ryder), swedish dishcloths & stasher bags — we are slowly switching our house out to the lowest tox swaps we can. Our bathroom and cleaning supplies were easier than our kitchen. These are some of the final swaps that we are making
Low tox dry shampoo: one of my final bathroom/personal care item swaps. I have one that I currently DIY, but i don’t love it. I have heard great things about this brand so want to try it out
A planner: I asked for either this or Jess Massey’s Hustle Sanely weekly planner. I was a planner girl at heart when I was teaching, and I’ve tried using a planner since working from home, but I just haven’t been about it. I know that next year I will need to be better organized. If I am going to show up for myself, my baby, my husband and my business, I need to get a good schedule and take time to plan things out. This is my goal with a planner
A steamer: tbh we haven’t owned an iron in the 6 years we have been married, but there are times now when some things just need to be pressed. My lazy self is happy with a steamer over an iron because I’m not the best at ironing (aka I don’t know how to iron)
Facial steamer: the one above is for my close, this one is for my face. You can add essential oils and just sit and let it steam your face. If this isn’t 30, I don’t know what is
Mama tee: because I’m a new mom and I want everyone to know what my proudest title is — MOM
Anyways, there is a little peek into our lives and into our Christmas! Can’t wait to see what we end up with & share with y’all how we use it!
This is going to be a post all about the “not so glamorous” parts of pregnancy. I didn’t truly realize (& honestly probably still don’t know) what goes into those days of healing postpartum, but I have done a lot of research and learned from some friends. The number one recommendation was to have a basket or cart in the bathroom full of just things that you need. This way, you can go to the bathroom like normal without having to remember lots of things, because they are already there.
These are the items that I added to mine. I am planning to deliver vaginally so these are the things I plan to use for healing.
Here’s a list of what I have in here:
Adult diapers (I went with more mesh underwear than full on diapers)
extra long and large pads (for when I no longer need the diapers)
Fridamom peri bottle (to spray when I can’t wipe)
wipes (to transition from peri bottle to toilet paper
tucks (basically wipes to help heal hemorrhoids)
claraderm (a healing spray for down there)
Fridamom padsicles (you can also make your own) for those first few days post delivery
With each bathroom trip at the beginning, I’ll have to fill the peri bottle with warm water (I’ve heard its better that way) and bring a padsicle from the freezer. These are only for use the first few days home, so hopefully I won’t need them for too long.
Anyways, that is what I have ready and prepared. It is in the crib for now since I won’t actually need it until I get home from the hospital, but the second I get home, it’s going to find its new home on the back of my toilet.
Any questions about why I picked some of the things or recommendations for certain items? Let me know. I always love to chat.
One of the most commonly asked questions that I get are what oils can I use in pregnancy? Is this oil safe in pregnancy? Are you using this oil in pregnancy? or similar questions. First I want to start by saying that I am NOT an expert or a doctor. THIS IS NOT MEDICAL ADVICE and this is just my experience with oils during my pregnancy.
I use the highest quality essential oils through young living. If you want to get your hands on some, message me here or on IG or shop through my link. These are the only oils that I am comfortable using on me and my growing baby. Also, I have been using essential oils for 3+ years. If you are just starting out, make sure to dilute your oils properly and only use what you feel comfortable with.
There is an amazing group that I can plug you into if you sign up with me that has SO MUCH good information about breastfeeding & pregnancy and essential oils. That is where I get so much of my information from along with these two books —
Again, this is just what someone recommends. Do your own research and make your own decisions. All throughout this blog and my IG, I share my fav oils for different points in pregnancy, but this is what I feel comfortable with. I think I tend to be a little more careful just because of our miscarriage, while it seems seasoned mamas really only avoid Clary Sage.
Alright, so lets break down what oils are recommended to avoid during pregnancy in general –
Hyssop
Wintergreen
Lady Sclareol
SclarEssence
Dragon Time
Harmony
Then here is a list to use with caution
Angelica
Basil
Cassia
Cinnamon Bark
Clary Sage
Clove
Eucalyptus
Fennel
Jasmine
Juniper
Melrose
Mountain Savory
Myrrh
Myrtle
Nutmeg
Oregano
Peppermint
Purification
Ravintsara (look for this in rutavala roller)
Rosemary
Sage
Tarragon
Thyme
Envision
Endoflex
Magnify Your Purpose
Awaken
Egyptian Gold
Geneyus
Common Sense
SleepyIze
RutaVaLa
PanAway
Deep Relief
Again, these are recommendations. There are no absolute right or wrongs. Some use with caution, you might choose to never use. Some you might decide are worth it in pregnancy with the “risk”. Sometimes blends only have a tiny amount of one of these oils so we don’t have an issue with it. Seriously mama, there is not a right/wrong. Listen to your maternal instinct. Do what is best for you and your babe.
This was one thing that I was considering doing, but was COMPLETELY sold once I started following Karrie Locher on Instagram. She is a postpartum expert and was a labor & delivery nurse. She has a whole highlight on how she set up her cart & then a downloadable freebie you can get from signing up for her email list. This literally walked me through step by step on how to set this cart up. I joked on IG the other day that I’ve already eaten all of my snacks because it’s so convenient to have all the things I need close by my bed.
a sneak peek at my whole diaper cart situation
My plan is to bring this cart with me into the living room during the day so I have all the things I need for diaper changes & messes and for me. Then I will roll it into the bedroom at night and put it by the bassinet for middle of the night feeding sessions.
I’m going to go through each of these shelves quickly so you can see what I chose to put in each one. If you go here, I linked my cart (& a few other options) as well as my little white plastic containers so we can be twins.
Click here to shop the top shelf of the diaper cart
The second shelf is my diaper/changing shelf. I included lots of newborn diapers, a whole pack of wipes, a swaddle, a few burp cloths, a change of pajamas and a change of clothes.
Click the photo to shop the second shelf of my diaper cart
My bottom shelf just has my pump, extra bottles, and my haaka for when the time comes to start pumping (around one month is my plan).
Bottom shelf of the diaper cart
Well that’s all I have for you. Like I said, follow Karrie or at least go check out her highlight to see what other moms put on their cart. Make sure it works with you and your plan. Everything is linked if you tap on each picture! Can’t wait to see what you come up with!
So here I sit prepping my little hospital bag & choosing what oils I want to bring with me. Obviously I have no idea what I will need, but I am trying to learn from the people who have gone before me and shared what they loved and reached for and have been taking notes on that.
Since it was time to make some decisions, I figured I would share what I ended up packing. Hopefully I can come back to this post (or at least share on the gram) what I actually ended up using and what I didn’t need/use. For now, though, here is what is currently packed in our hospital bag.
Jasmine, Geranium & Clary Sage to help labor progress once it has started
Peppermint to huff when nauseous
Lavender to lather in when I need calm
Valor (liquid Chiro) and to inhale when I need courage to keep going
Frankincense & Gentle Baby to fill in my diffuser for gentle grounding
Surrender to bathe in with my worship music to remind me that I was made for this
CBD muscle rub (& deep relief) for all the labor pains
CBD calm for a stronger version of lavender & to relax my body post labor
Claraderm to start to heal down there post labor
These are all Young Living oils & the only ones that I want used around my baby. Do your research before you reach for any oils during pregnancy because the essential oil industry isn’t regulated. That means that a company can put whatever they want into your oils and we want only the best for our babes.
If your an oily mama, am I missing anything? Are there oils that you used during labor & delivery that I don’t have on here? Let me know!
hrmarciano 