When I first became pregnant and was learning about breastfeeding and the different decisions I had to make regarding that experience, I was a little overwhelmed! I quickly learned that all mothers have their opinions about what they think is best and I had to determine what I thought was best for myself and my baby.
I was torn about whether or not I was going to pump at all when my baby was born because I had spoken with my different mothers, each with different thoughts and stories. Bottom line, you have to do what feels right for your body, mind and your baby. It’s totally okay if this changes along your breastfeeding journey too!
A few things I've learned since breastfeeding that really helped:
✨ Have something to catch your letdown (in the boob not being feasted on), especially in the beginning before your supply levels out. This not only helps with mess but allows for extra milk to be frozen/given to baby as needed (I used the ladybug hakka)
✨ For me letting my baby guide me in how much he wants to eat and when, has been really helpful. Every baby is different of course, but they really do know more than we give them credit for! In the beginning this wasn’t always the case (as we were both new to breastfeeding!) so I did follow a bit of a schedule in terms of putting the feeding opportunity in front of him to see if he was open to eating every 3-4 hours. It definitely takes time, but you and baby will learn one another and get into a rhythm. You’ll be able to learn your baby’s hungers cues much easier!
✨ Get a breast pump that works for you (if you want!). The first one I got was a hand pump a few mornings after birth as I really needed boob relief and munchkin was not hungry! So we woke up and I had one sent via Instacart as we really weren’t leaving the house yet. The second one I got was (Name it here) during the middle of the night when my boobs just couldn’t take it anymore 😜
🚨 I could go on and on about this, or you could grab my new guide Breastfeeding 101 for New Moms here that is packed full of resources and tips!
There are so many different thoughts and feelings around the word autoimmune. Some define it as your immune system mistaking parts of your body as foreign and therefore attacking healthy cells by releasing proteins known as autoantibodies.
Others say, not so much. In fact, when we believe our own body is attacking us we not only hinder our healing process but often feel our body betrayed us and we become the scapegoat for this 'disease'. When the medical industry cannot seem to figure out what is causing symptoms like fatigue, inflammation, dizziness, aches & pains it gets labeled as an autoimmune condition.
I know that because of my autoimmune (and the fact that I breastfeed too!) my body needs some extra TLC and that's my focus. I take care of myself for my son and I ignore what anyone else thinks or says haha and you should do the same! The #1 concern as someone who has an autoimmune is to take the extra measures needed to take care of you.
Here's three ways I make sure to give my body some TLC:
✨FOOD
If you know anything about me, you know that food is my number one thing I go to when it comes to healing anything or simply feeling better. I truly believe that there is not one particular diet that literally works for everyone, however there are some overall ideas that typically help us all.
✨Oils
I never, ever, ever leave home without them. There are many uses for each one but some of the ones I carry with me for that extra TLC are lavender, believe blend, RC, lemon and white angelica.
✨Water
Hydration is super key for every single person. There is the balance of electrolytes when drinking water (I used LMNT) and you can drink too much water (yup this does happen), but for many people they're not getting enough. The general guideline for most is to take half your body weight, and drink that amount in ounces of water.
PS: these are things we can all benefit from; even if you don't have an autoimmune!
Breakfast is the one meal that I always get questions on from women and moms. They want to eat breakfast, but don’t know what to have or they currently don’t even eat breakfast at all! Believe it or not, the idea of breakfast foods is a fairly new invention when it comes to looking at human history.
Whether you look at one of its first mentions by the Tudors in Elizabethan England or more recent by Mr. Kellogg himself (that’s a dark one too)-it’s not necessary to have ‘breakfast foods’ as we’ve been taught to (think cereal which is usually loaded with things we may want to stay away from more often then not).
While that may be the case, as a breastfeeding mom, it's important that I nurture my body and having a healthy (key word) breakfast helps me start off on the right foot. My mood is so much better because I'm not running on an empty stomach and my blood sugar is balanced (which affects our mood!).
Here’s some that help us keep our blood sugar balanced and hormone levels rocking, which is especially important for moms out there! (although truly everyone):
- Chia seeds soaked in almond milk with organic fruit, nut butter (organic raw almond) and protein powder (I like @four sigmatic for it's ingredients)
- Sprouted oatmeal with added protein powder, organic fruit and cocoa powder if you like chocolate!
- Smoothie with 1/2 cup organic coconut yogurt, 1/2 an avocado, water or coconut milk and added protein powder
The main goal with breakfast is for it to be nourishing to your body and packed with good ingredients. Breakfast is the first meal of the day and you’re essentially coming off a “fast” from sleeping overnight. This means if you pump your body full of sugar first then it’s going to negatively affect your body because your stomach is empty. This is going to result in a crash and burn out situation, which we want to avoid!
I'm sure you've had a pumpkin spice latte before if you love pumpkin, but I can promise you haven't had one like this! Rather than being full of sugar, this one is delicious, flavorful and actually has health benefits!! I promise you won't be disappointed.
Ingredients:
- 2 teaspoons of pumpkin puree
- 1 drop Cinnamon Bark essential oil
- 1 drop Ginger essential oil
- 1 drop Nutmeg essential oil
- 30 ml espresso or any strong coffee ( I use this one because caffeine and breastmilk don't exactly mix!)
- 250 ml milk of your choice (I use my awesome little milk maker and make coconut milk!)
Directions:
- Put the pumpkin purée in a large heatproof glass or mug.
- Stir in the essential oils and coffee until combined.
- Put the milk in a saucepan over a low heat until it’s steaming and frothy.
- Pour into the coffee mixture, and spoon over any froth.
- Stir to combine, and dust with cinnamon or pumpkin spice flavouring before serving.
Before we found out we were expecting, I knew there were certain products I didn't want to use because I had learned so much about them and what was in them. Being someone who has an autoimmune, it's so important to me to put good products in my body and I wanted the same for my baby!
I choose to use Young Living products for our family because I've done a lot research and I trust this company and what they create (I have even been to a few of their farms). Their products are free of fragrances and other harmful chemicals that can cause more irritation and issues with baby.
Here are a just a few products I don’t use and why!
✨Water Wipes
You’d think they'd just have water in them right, nope they have several ingredients including, FRAGRANCE! We avoid "fragrance" because it's how companies can put harmful ingredients in their product and not have to disclose what it actually is.
✨Desitin
This is definitely something we didn't know wasn't so hot to use when we were growing up, but in fact, it's not really the best at all! It has petrolatum (petroleum, which studies suggest that exposure to PAHs are associated with cancer), dimethicone (dries out skin and it's the main ingredient in the endocrine disruptor known as siloxane, a synthetic silicone-oxygen hybrid), and PEG-30 dipolyhydroxystearate (its starting materials are highly toxic to humans and are known to have carcinogenic properties). So no thanks.
✨Johnson and Johnson Baby Shampoo
The amount of things I could say about J&Js 'baby' products and just how toxic they are, without even going into the cancer lawsuits they have going for their baby powder, but I won't or we'd be here all day. Just know that it's full of harmful ingredients and we refuse to use all of the products created by them.
The #1 recommendation I can make is to just be mindful of what's in the products you use! The #1 thing I look at is the ingredients list and if I see the word fragrance, it’s a no.
