A breastfeeding giveaway!

If you are pregnant, nursing, or know someone who is....keep reading!!

I recently had the chance to try out and review 3 great products from Fairhaven Health. Read my two blog posts below to get a better understanding of why I love these!  They have been so generous as to allow me to giveaway all 3 of the products I tried to one lucky reader!

(Hint: I am going to ask you questions from these posts for your entry...so be to sure check out the posts)

World Breastfeeding Week...& A Review!

and

A Little Postpartum Honesty

 

 

Now is your chance to win!

 

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World Breastfeeding Week...& A Review!

Breastfeeding has been one of the most exhausting, challenging and rewarding things that I have been able to do since becoming a mother. My breastfeeding journey has been going on now for 2 years and 28 days. We have overcome postpartum depression, a tongue and lip tie, mastitis, pumping at work, nursing through pregnancy, and now tandem nursing. As hard at it has been at times, I wouldn't take it back for the world. I have never been so proud of myself for sticking with anything in my whole life. I take great pride in the lifelong benefits that I am providing for my children (and even myself!)

I want to say Happy World Breastfeeding Week to all the momma's who have given breastfeeding a chance. Whether it was for one day, one month, one year or even more!

As some of you may have read, I recently worked with Fairhaven Health to try out their Sitting Pretty Soothing Spray for postpartum pain and healing. They also let me work with them to try out two of their products for nursing moms! I got to try out the Milkie's Milk Saver! I have seen this thing everywhere. It's been on Pinterest, shown up on my Facebook feed, it's been posted in the breastfeeding groups I belong to...and I couldn't wait to try it!

Let me explain. It is a storage device that holds up to 2 ounces of "Liquid Gold" that would otherwise be wasted while you are nursing on the other side. You just slip it in your shirt over the nipple of the breast you are not going to be feeding on. (I recommend getting yourself situated for nursing first so that you don't knock the container loose while trying to get access to the breast you will be nursing on). If you are a mom who leaks a lot while nursing, this thing is going to be your best friend. I typically get anywhere from 1/2 ounce to a little over 1 ounce when I use this. If I have an extra hand, I find I get more out if I massage my breast while my letdown is happening. As a bonus, it saves your nursing pad from getting soaked so you can put it back in!

(Milkies Milk Saver is ON SALE NOW for $27.95)

It gets better....Fairhaven Health also allowed me to try out their Milkies Milk Trays. These are  perfect to pair with the Milk Saver! The Milk Trays look like ice cube trays, but for your milk! They allow you to freeze your milk in 1 ounce "Milk Sticks" that fit through ALL bottle openings and allow you to thaw just the right amount of milk for each feeding. I find that I don't use these much when I do my normal pumping session when I pump 10 ounces or so, but I almost always pour the milk I saved with the Milk Saver into these. Not only do you not waste your milk, but it also saves storage bags from only having 1 ounce in each (which get expensive!)

(Milkies Milk Trays are ON SALE NOW for $19.95)

I have to admit, it's really nice having products in the home that are designed for breastfeeding. I never really felt like breastfeeding was something that anyone could ever "help" with. I use these two products together to allow myself to take "mommy breaks". My little guy is 6 weeks old and drinks about 5 ounces at a time. That means, that for every 5 times I remember to use the Milk Saver and freeze my milk into the 1 ounce sticks.....I get to take a break. Daddy can throw a couple sticks in the bottle, warm it up, and I can go take a walk outside, alone. I love being a mom, but I also love my very short...and very rare...mom-breaks. And for that, I thank you Fairhaven Health!

A Little Postpartum Honesty

Yesterday I went back to work after being off for 6 weeks after having my beautiful baby boy Wyatt. You think you know everything when you become a mother for the first time, but it is amazing how much there still is to learn. Some things are exactly as I remembered them, and others are almost the polar opposite. Let me explain...

When I had my daughter 2 years ago, I remember recovery being terrible. I would tell people that recovery was worse than the labor and childbirth itself. This time, not so much. I was more prepared when I went into the hospital and I knew what to expect. Which was why I teamed up with Fairhaven Health to work with them on a review for some of their products. I knew I was going to need something for my lady region from my experience last time. They offer a product called Sitting Pretty Soothing Spray and I was excited to try it. You see, the hospital offers a brand of soothing spray called Dermoplast. I wanted to avoid using it this time because of the ingredients. Take a look at the difference in the two soothing sprays ingredients.

Dermoplast: Benzocaine (20%), Menthol, Acetylated Lanolin Alcohol, Aloe Vera Gel, Butane, Cetyl Acetate, Hydrofluorocarbon 152A, Methylparaben, PEG-8 Laurate, Polysorbate 85

Sitting Pretty Soothing Spray:  Witch Hazel, Vegetable Glycerin, Water, Organic Calendula Extract, Organic St. John’s Wort Extract, Organic Grapefruit Seed Extract, and Organic Lavender, Peppermint & Tea Tree Essential Oils.

Without going into too much detail, I was glad that I packed this in my hospital bag! It really helped with the discomfort of just giving birth, I feel like I healed really well and quickly, and it didn't smell like chemical spray like the other brand. It was such an opposite experience from my last post labor experience. All in all I would recommend making sure you have it on hand if you are getting ready to head into the hospital!

It's actually on sale right now for $14.95 on Fairhaven Health's Website!

Labor with second baby ♥

While I was pregnant with baby boy, I was very vocal about my labor fears. I had a wonderful labor and delivery with my daughter but this one scared me. I was scared for two different reasons. One being that the doctor had estimated this baby to be almost 9 lbs. My daughter was only about 7.5 lbs and I thought that was big enough (in my opinion)! The other was I had heard how much faster second babies can come, and I was terrified picturing my husband delivering a large baby in the back of his truck.

I was delighted that everything worked out well!

My labor started in the evening around dinner time. Having been pregnant before, I knew right away that these were no longer Braxton Hicks and they were the real deal. The contractions came at intervals around every 15 minutes and the evening wasn't so bad. By the kids bedtime, the intervals had gone down to 10 minutes. I assumed I would be waking my husband up around midnight like my last pregnancy. However, I was so wrong. Contractions slowed down to about every 30 minutes overnight, but we getting more painful. I did my best to try to get rest but waking up constantly to being in pain made a good nights sleep impossible. I remembered the importance of getting as much sleep as possible from my last delivery where I delivered on only getting 3 hours of sleep the night before.

By morning the contractions picked back up. They stayed right around 10 minutes for a long part of the morning. My husband and I decided to try to speed things up by walking around the neighborhood. Our doctor had told us not to come in until contractions were 5 minutes apart for a half hour. We walked circles around our street and the one next to us, talking to neighbors who were amused that I was home during labor. I was hot from the heat and wanted to go inside to take a break. As soon as I sat down on the sofa to close my eyes, I had a VERY STRONG and LONG contraction. It lasted for just over 2 minutes. All of a sudden I rushed upstairs to use the restroom. I told my husband my mucus plug had come out and by the time I was done telling him....another contraction. And then another while I was walking down the stairs.

And just like that....contractions went from being round 8-10 minutes.....to 2 minutes apart! We immediately left for the hospital.

We got to the hospital and I was 5cm. By the time they checked me in, put in my IV and got my to a room, I was 8cm. They told me it could still be 2 hours until delivery so I opted for an epidural. The anesthesiologist came right in and got me hooked up. My doctor arrived right after to do an exam. He looked at me and said, "Um, theres a head right here. I'm going to go change into my scrubs. You're going to be holding your baby in 5 minutes." I couldn't believe it.

When he came back, I pushed 5 times in just about 5 minutes and I was holding my chunky baby boy. He weighed in at 8lb 4oz and looks just like his daddy. It was the easiest, fastest labor that I could have imagined. (However, my labor was not lacking curse words or snippy remarks to my husband trying to comfort me....but all is forgiven now!)

So while my fears did not come true...I still think my labor was fast enough for my liking after it rapidly picked up. Thank gosh it was a weekend and my husband was home. Had we waited any longer to leave for the hospital I am not sure we would have made it!

&& He is here!

He is here!

Our son is finally here! Baby boy Wyatt was a wonderful Fathers Day gift for my 

 husband. Our daughter has adjusted seamlessly and all is well with everyone. I can't wait to share my labor story and give updates on our (rapidly) growing baby boy!

PinkBlush Winner

Thank you to everyone who entered the PinkBlush gift card giveaway! The winner has been announced on the post and contacted via email. If the winner does not claim within 72 hours I will redraw a new winner.

Stay tuned for more reviews and giveaways!

Nursery Sneak Peak

Baby boy's nursery is taking me a bit longer to complete than his big sisters did. By this time in my pregnancy with her, every detail was in it's place and drawers were organized. However, I am sure he will forgive me for not being ready 2 months early :)

I have, however, picked up his wall decor and some odds and ends. Hopefully this weekend or next, I can figure out hanging locations and get everything hung! This is what we have so far. By the way...without naming names....notice the "W" I picked up? ;-)

PinkBlush Maternity Review & Giveaway

32 weeks pregnant. I repeat, 32 weeks pregnant. If you have ever been here, you know that day and night you feel....enormous. It was almost time for my "Sprinkle" (baby #2 in the oven!) and I hadn't even thought about what I was going to wear. Why? Because I have nightmares about clothes. Sometimes I feel cute walking out the door, and then catch a glimpse of myself in a storefront window and I'm reminded that I look like I'm smuggling a beach ball. But joking aside, I do love how the female body looks while carrying a child. I had so much fun "dressing my bump" last pregnancy. I have to admit I've been doing less of it this time around. Which is why I was so happy that PinkBlush Maternity asked me to work with them in reviewing their site and products.

When you are on their site, you will find TONS, and I mean TONS, of adorable maternity clothes. The selection of maternity clothes in every store I go in is always less impressive than I could hope for...but not on PinkBlushMaternity.com. If you follow them on Facebook you can keep up with all of the sales they have. Recently, I have seen great sales like 70% off Flash Sales and 25% off the Entire Site! I knew I wanted something comfortable and was hoping it would help me narrow it down, but it there were so many options. I ended up picking their Mint Green Floral Chiffon Maternity Dress. The dress is regularly $73 but can be found on sale right now for just $56 (see what I mean about the great sales?)

The dress came fast and I was impressed with their customer service. When I opened it I knew right away it was a well made dress. I was excited to try it on! (I made sure I had my hair and make up fixed first...that's always best!)

I felt great in the dress and I had a lot of fun taking pictures for this post. It was really great to feel confident even this late in my pregnancy. I paired the dress with simple earrings and natural colored wedges. I am sure it would look good dressed up or down as well.

Enter below for a special giveaway, loves!!
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Tags: cute maternity clothes, maternity clothing, cute maternity dress, maternity boutique, maternity clothes, maternity dresses, trendy maternity clothes, pinkblush maternity, pinkblush maternity 

Books, books and more books!

My family comes from a long line of book readers. My mom was always taking me to the library as a child and books were a very big part of our daily routine. Ever since becoming a Mother myself, I have noticed that I have already incorporated books into my daughter's daily routine as well. We have quite time at least once a day where she opens a large drawer of book and we read as many as she wants, plus, there is always a story or two before bed. On nice days, we walk to our local library and fill up a big bag of books she picked out and take them home.

If you love to grow your children's book collection like us, you know how expensive it can become. Which is why yard sales are usually my go to when it comes to picking up new books to purchase. Recently, I heard that our local library has a Used Book Sale once or twice a year. It is a 3 day sale, and on days 1 and 2, children's books are only $0.50 each!

Today I had a chance to run in and pick some up to split between my house and Aubrey's Mimi's house. I picked up 36 Board Books for a grand total of $15.00! They threw in the few extra for free because some were small and I had bought so many.

Yes, all of those for $15.00!

If you are from my area (Bel Air, MD) it is the Bel Air Public Library that is having the sale right now!
You can find more info on the event HERE.

If you are not from Maryland, call your local public library and ask them if they host sales similar to this one!

It's A......Gender Reveal!

Baby number two is getting bigger and bigger. We are so anxious to welcome our new addition and to see Aubrey become a big sister. Only three more months until we will be a family of 4. Take a look at my bump update from 24 weeks!

We are pleased to announce...

That....

Names are still up in the air for now, but the nursery is underway! Keep following for nursery pictures and details to come!

Color My Bath Review

I purchased these color tablets for Aubrey for Christmas. My daughter typically loves bath time so there were lots of bath toys on Santa's list this year.

These things are so fun. We typically start running the water and then I start asking her about her colors. She knows her colors so well and I really think it's because we use these almost every night. We talk about what colors there are and what color she wants to make her bath. I always put the tablets in the bath for her to avoid any issue with her putting them in her mouth. They only take a minute to dissolve and the colors are beautiful!

The package includes 100 Large and 200 Small Tablets and they come in Red, Yellow, & Blue. I find that the red really looks more like pink (unless you add a bunch of the same color I suppose.) But this works out because she loves pink!  We mix different colors and sizes of tablets to make new colors, but most of the time I just use one large tablet and it's plenty of color for the bath.

The tablets are available on Amazon HERE for $12.99

Announcement Time!

Aubrey is pleased to announce...

That she has big news....

Our family is growing by one this June! Aubrey is too excited to be a big sister. She has taken a strong liking to taking care of her baby dolls in preparation of the new baby coming. However, I hope that she doesn't think that she will be getting away with putting the real baby in the oven of her kitchen set like she does with her doll...I may have to work on her with that one before the baby comes!

It's time to rev things back up again!

It's time to rev things back up again! Our sweet girl Aubrey is now 20 months old and has gone from baby to toddler in the blink of an eye. Catch up with my family and how things have changed in the pictures below.

I will be following this post with an exciting announcement, so be sure to check back!