Things I found incredibly helpful during my pregnancy and beyond

Having Lux has been the most rewarding experience of my life. But, as many of you know—and will eventually find out—having a baby is no joke. Time flies, there is so much new stuff to keep up with, on top of growing an entire human being inside of yourself! So I thought I would gather all the helpful supports that got me through my pregnancy and prepared me for the first few months with my newborn.

DOULA

We chose to work with Megan from Bump + Glow.

• She prepped Chuck and O on how to advocate for my needs in a clinical environment.

• Gave us information to properly prepare us for the many curve balls this experience might throw us. 

• She helped us prepare for when Lux arrived and what to expect in regard to feeding him and connected us to our lactation consultant.

• She let us know what to expect when we take our baby home

• She walked us through the postpartum recovery and what would be needed, which was so great because it really helped Chuck to know how to help me through the thick of it.

• She was handy before, during, and after the labor if I had any questions about what was happening or if I felt that I couldn’t trust what the nurse or doctor was saying.

LACTATION CONSULTANT

We chose to work with Winona McCarthy (contact her here)

• Empowered me to feel like I could breastfeed even before I had my baby. 

• Encouraged expressing milk before birth (don't start until after 37 weeks because it could induce labor)

• Helped me to understand my routine for using the haakaa while breastfeeding. 

• Came to see us to help us with positioning

• Was available for any questions I had even beyond the first couple of months

• I stand by having someone who specializes in breastfeeding to help me with it, rather than a lactation consultant at the hospital or CLSC. Often clients tell me when they rely upon those options they still have many issues with breastfeeding, so while it is great that they are free options, if you are having a bit more of a struggle I HIGHLY suggest contacting a lactation consultant like Winona.

OSTEOPATH

We chose to work with Adrienne Colby (contact her here)

• Helped us with Lux favouring one side. He would only look one way, 

• Helped us to figure out how to do tummy time in a way that would exercise his neck

• Gave him so much relief because he was really tense because of his favouring one side. 

YOUTUBE VIDEOS

• This video helped us with learning the different ways to burp Lux and help with his pooping because he was a bit colicky about that

• This video truly helped me to understand the cues newborns give, especially with sleep, and helped us to pay attention to his awake windows, and save us from an overtired newborn.

• This doula has MANY videos on so many topics, from pregnancy, labor, and postpartum

• This is my fave video about the 5 sounds that newborns make, and I could hear them with Lux! So it really works!!

And ONE THOUSAND PERCENT swaddling your baby. Every baby loves a swaddle, if they are fussing and getting out of it, that means it's not firm enough. Try swaddle sacks if actual swaddles are too difficult for you. Lux preferred the actual swaddle, but the swaddle bags did come in clutch when we were told to not swaddle up his legs because of his hips’ growth from being a breech baby for most of the pregnancy.

Also the second he was able to roll we put him right into a sleep sack and he was fine with that. So transitioning out when they are 3 months and past the fourth trimester wasn't as hard as I was worried it would be! Now in the summer he even sleeps without the sleep sack, so he isn’t dependent on that to sleep which is another worry I had.

I am going to do a blog about the details of settling a colicky baby, how we approached our daily routine, and how we worked with Lux when it came to his sleeping. These are all things I had to and still have had to research like crazy on the fly, and my hope is by putting them here will help our readers prepare for these challenges with their babies.

If you recently had a baby and were helped by someone, something, or a video or blog please comment below and link it! We all need all the info we can get haha!