NMM4
This post is part of the New Mom Monday series! A series about moms and their advice to new moms! Books and videos can only teach us so much, but there’s something special about hearing from real life moms. Honest, true, and always beautifully inspiring!!
What’s your Name?

Lisa Rancier

Tell us a little about yourself!

I am 28 years old and live in Blackfalds, AB. I am a registered nurse and a first time mom! My hubby and I have been married for almost 8 years and have one 6 month old daughter. We are both originally from Winnipeg, MB and we met and started dating when we were 16. I love to run, read, watch movies, and be outside – even in the winter. I am the happiest I have been in my life now that I am a mom.

How many kids do you have? What are their names and ages?

I have one, six month old daughter named Leighton.

How do you find your “me time”?

I have to be very conscious that I am making time for myself because I know it’s something I’m not good at. Instead of running around the house cleaning when Leighton is napping, I try to sit down, relax and do whatever I like – write, watch TV, read, and sew. My husband is really great and encourages me to get out with my friends so I try to see them every couple weeks to keep my sanity!

What is the best baby related book you’ve ever read?

I love the basic – What to Expect When You are Expecting. It gave me a really good idea of what to expect during pregnancy and delivery. Also – The Baby Whisperer was excellent. It gives a lot of tips on how to get to know what your baby needs based on their physical actions.

What’s the most useful baby product you have? Why do you love it?

Our Moby Wrap has been a lifesaver! Leighton loved to be held when she was younger so it was helpful for nap-time on the go and if she was generally cranky. It saved me a lot of back pain. It is a great starter wrap and hopefully I will invest in something sturdier in the future.

If you could say something to yourself when you first brought home your first baby, what would you say?

Don’t panic, you will be okay. Use the support you have around you, and don’t try and do it all yourself!

How much planning did you do before your baby was born, and how do you think that it helped or didn’t help?

I did a moderate amount of planning. I read a lot of books on baby sleep patterns and breastfeeding but at the end of the day we just did what worked for us. When something is no longer working then we change it. The reading helped because I had a good idea of what was “common” for babies and had some strategies on how to deal with crying/sleeping/breastfeeding issues.

What do you believe are the top three pieces of advice a new mom or someone trying to conceive should know?
  1. Don’t be so hard on yourself.
  2. Just because you struggle sometimes does not mean you are failing.
  3. Don’t try to rush through each stage – try to live in that moment. Life goes by too fast.
What is your best memory so far of being a mom?

When Leighton was around 6 weeks old, I was sitting with her in the rocking chair after feeding her. I was exhausted from being awake the night before and was just trying to make it through the day until my husband got home. After she was done nursing I tucked her into my arm and started singing “Skina ma rinky dink”. She looked right at me and smiled for the first time. I started crying immediately because it was easily the most beautiful thing I have even seen. My heart was so happy.

Give us the short form version of your birth story.
My water broke two weeks early so I ended up being induced at the hospital. The start of induction to time of birth was just shy of 12 hrs. My husband was the only person there with me other than the doctors and nurses.
Going into labor I had no birth plan – after 3.5 years of trying to conceive I just kept telling the doctor “do whatever you need to do to get her here safely”. Being a nurse I know how many things can go wrong during labor so I was ready to just wing it. I was however, very disappointed that I had to be induced because I was hoping to experience a natural labor. Because the contractions were so intense with the induction I did opt for an epidural. It was wonderful! I was able to get some rest so I had the energy to push when time came.
Right after Leighton was born she stopped breathing. This was hands down the SCARIEST moment of my life. I heard the nurses call a code and she was taken to NICU. Luckily my husband was able to go with her so she was not alone but the fear that sat inside me was unbearable. The worst part was that I was unable to go with her. The good thing is that she only needed breathing support, her heart didn’t stop and all her blood work was normal. The doctor expected her to make a full recovery.She was born at 7 am and by that afternoon she was able to come back to the room with me. She breastfed like a champ right from the get go and has had no problems since!
Lastly, for fun, define motherhood!

Motherhood is unconditional, wonderfully heartbreaking, overwhelming, and amazing love. It is the best and most challenging thing I have ever done in my life.

To hear more from Lisa Rancier be sure to visit her blog Say It In Your Batman Voice and follow her on Instagram.

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If you would like to participate in New Mom Mondays please feel free to message me by using my contact form! I would love to not only feature you on my blog but learn from your answers, as I’m sure many readers would too! 
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NMM3
This post is part of the New Mom Monday series! A series about moms and their advice to new moms! Books and videos can only teach us so much, but there’s something special about hearing from real life moms. Honest, true, and always beautifully inspiring!!
What’s your Name?

Keisha Boutilier

Tell us a little about yourself!

I’m a mom to two beautiful littles. I live around Vancouver, BC but an east coaster at heart. My high school sweetheart moved to this area 7 years ago and fell in love with it. My blog is my “me time” as a new mom to two I have lots going on in life and love connecting with other moms. I love knowing that I’m not alone on this crazy road.

How many kids do you have? What are their names and ages?

Owen 7 years and Ella 8 months

How do you find your “me time”?

Right now I’m running on nap time and when my husbands home…

What is the best baby related book you’ve ever read?

I don’t have much time to get into books but parenting magazines are always my go to and blogs. Its easier for me to read short stories with busy kids!

What’s the most useful baby product you have? Why do you love it?

There are so many amazing products offered to moms now. When I had my first born there wasn’t much to choose from and you kind of went without a lot. But since having Ella I love my Aden + Anais swaddles and of course so much easier to wrap those babies up. I also use it as a feeding cover and car seat cover. 

If you could say something to yourself when you first brought home your first baby, what would you say?

And so it begins… The transition into parenthood. It was nice knowing you sleep!

How much planning did you do before your baby was born, and how do you think that it helped or didn’t help?

I did a lot for my first and little for my second. I loved the whole idea of making a plan but in reality plans go off track all the time. It became difficult until I just started to go with the flow!

What do you believe are the top three pieces of advice a new mom or someone trying to conceive should know?
  1. Don’t get discouraged
  2. Have a good support team behind you
  3. Don’t compare yourself and your stories with others.
What is your best memory so far of being a mom?

Watching my son and daughter play. It always gives me a sense of relief knowing that I’m doing a good job. Knowing that even with the large age gap they can still play and laugh. Knowing my family is complete.

Give us the short form version of your birth story.

Owen was born in a hospital with a doctor which was more stressful. He came out with a fight ending in an epidural episiotomy two hours of pushing and stitches. For both births I only had my spouse in the room with me.Ella was also a hospital but with a midwife.Much easier she came out easy peasy. No epidural no episiotomy  15 minutes of pushing and no stitches. I loved my midwife. She even let me delivery half of the way. As soon as her head and shoulders were out I got to pull her onto my chest. The most memorable moment of my life.

Lastly, for fun, define motherhood!

It’s a whirlwind of fun stress love and craziness. I have good days and I have bad days but at the end of each day theres no place that I’d rather be than with my littles. xo

To hear more from Keisha Boutilier be sure to visit her blog Loving Littles and follow her @lovinglittlesblog

NMM3-2

 

If you would like to participate in New Mom Mondays please feel free to message me by using my contact form! I would love to not only feature you on my blog but learn from your answers, as I’m sure many readers would too! 
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NMM1
This post is part of the New Mom Monday series! A series about moms and their advice to new moms! Books and videos can only teach us so much, but there’s something special about hearing from real life moms. Honest, true, and always beautifully inspiring!!
What’s your Name?

Hannah K.

Tell us a little about yourself!

Hello, I’m Hannah! I married my high school sweetheart, though we met at church and he was from the country and I was from the city. God perfectly placed him in my life. We were married at 20, I had our first baby at 21, and now we are expecting our second baby in the Fall 2015. 3 things I like: sports, chai lattes, and fashion. 3 things I dislike: shopping, onions, and swimming pools.

How many kids do you have? What are their names and ages?

I have one little girl who is almost two, Annaliese. And then we are expecting our second child in late September 2015.

How do you find your “me time”?

I sneak it in while my little girl takes her nap during the day, since it is a 2 hour nap I am able to take care of me. Or if I am in the need for some “girl time” with my friends and I will plan a coffee date, shopping trip, or movie night for when my husband gets home from work. That way when my coffee date turns into a 4 hour coffee date, it doesn’t upset the schedule of my family.

What is the best baby related book you’ve ever read?

The What to Expect When You Are Expecting series, they have books for pregnancy and the first few years of your children’s life. I found them informative and useful.

What’s the most useful baby product you have? Why do you love it?

I love our white noise machine, we found it at Shoppers Drug Mart around Christmas time (Annaliese was 2 months old at that point). It is small and compact and ran on batteries so I was able to throw it into the diaper bag if we were going to visit family. Since both my husband and my own families do not know how to control their volume while in the presence of a napping baby, it was super helpful to create a familiar setting for our little girl to nap in.

If you could say something to yourself when you first brought home your first baby, what would you say?

Keep it simple and remember to pray when you’re overwhelmed. I remember the first week of having our new baby I would cry and cry when it was night time because I had this overwhelming fear of SIDS – even though we kept her bassinet clear, we didn’t smoke and we didn’t have any high risk factors that related to SIDS. Thankfully my husband understood my high emotions and we would pray to God for protection for our baby girl and for trust in Him.

How much planning did you do before your baby was born, and how do you think that it helped or didn’t help?

I am a planner. And while I was pregnant I had a reception job that was very relaxed so I would go through the millions of articles on Pinterest and on parenting website. I educated myself pretty well with newborn information and I think it paid off very well.

What do you believe are the top three pieces of advice a new mom or someone trying to conceive should know?
  1. Talk to your spouse about everything child related before you conceive and especially before you give birth. You both need to be on the same page about how you are going to raise your baby/child. Are you going to use sleep training? Are you going to use the cry method? Will you discipline your child with spanking when they grow older? Do they know that a woman does not do everything child related, that helping husbands make for happy wives?
  2. When thinking about your life as a mother/soon-to-be mother, don’t let the confinements of your ideal, perfect life ruin what you are going to have. Let God’s plan for you be the only plan. Let your plan go. It’s okay to dream of a life and plan, but don’t get stuck on it. Don’t feel ruined when you only wanted to have two children, but you suddenly got pregnant with a third. It seems silly to say but I have met a lot of women who would feel lost and destroyed if their plan didn’t become a reality. Motherhood is wonderful, let it take you places that you would have never gone before.
  3. If there is one thing that will make you feel normal after having a baby it is taking a shower. Do it once a day and you will be able to make it through that day. Makeup is optional. But showering is a necessity when your breasts are milk machines, your body is still an oven (even though there’s no bun in it), and you probably have spit up or poop somewhere on you. Just lay your baby down in a safe place like their crib or on the floor with some toys, and take a quick shower. You’ll be happy you did.
What is your best memory so far of being a mom?

Every year we go to a Christian Retreat in Central Alberta for a week. And this one particular year I went alone for the week with my husbands family while my husband worked for the week and would come down for the weekend. Annaliese was 7 months old. Each night we bathed her, it was part of her night time routine, but when we were at this retreat they only had showers in the rooms. I remember this one night we were both ready to get into the shower and I turned on the shower. The noise of the water coming out of the shower head must have startled her and she released her full bladder’s content on me (aka she peed on me). I was shock but had to laugh it off, what else could I do? I was alone, naked and freshly peed on with an equally naked baby on my hip. That’s life!

Give us the short form version of your birth story.

My birth story started when I got up at 11:30pm to go to the bathroom, I was one day overdue at that point. When I rolled out of our bed and stood up, my water broke on the floor. I stood there in disbelief thinking “Did I pee myself? There’s no way I peed myself, I have excellent bladder control!”. But when I realized what had happened I woke up my husband immediately. We cleaned up the mess and grabbed our hospital bag (which was already pre-packed). The Royal Alexander Hospital was literally across the street from our apartment building, so a quick skip and a hop and we were at the hospital. I was not having intense contractions at this point.

After we were registered, at midnight my cervix was checked and I was 4cm dilated so I had to stay in the hospital. Then the fun part started. My cervix was dilating very slowly, a centimetre every 3 or 4 hours. And by the time it was noon (I think), I was having intense contractions. Our birth plan was to have no drugs or epidural or c-section. We were going to do this birth natural. And I only wanted my husband in the room.

I hate needles so when I had to get an IV inserted into my arm, that may have been the most horrific part that I can remember. I remember not wanting my husband to touch me as I road out the contractions one after the other. And I would sometimes look over at him in between contractions and he would be on my iPhone playing Candy Crush, and then I would feel mad at him. But it was that was my own choice.

After a long time of slowly dilating and contracting, I was offered a shot of morphine. And I happily accepted. And once that wore off I was offered another drug, similar to morphine and again I happily accepted. One was added to my IV and the other was a shot in the butt. But I can’t remember which one was which.

At around 10pm they had the anesthesiologist come and talk to me because they were going to need to give me an epidural or prepare me for a c-section if I did not dilate quicker because our baby was becoming stressed in my womb. Just before the anesthesiologist came in, I was given one of the drugs from above and I was unable to keep my eyes open because it helped me relax in between the contractions. But I assured him I was awake and listening, just closing my eyes.

Then everything happened so quickly. After he left, a nurse came and checked my cervix I was at 9cm. Then it seemed pretty quick again because my doctor came and checked my cervix and I was at 10cm, and ready to push! I watched as the nurses set up the equipment and tools for the doctor to deliver. I was so used to riding out my contractions that when the doctor was ready and in position, she had to remind me that it was time to push because I was in a different mind set. It took 15 minutes of pushing for my baby girl to be born. It hurts, ladies. But it was the best part of the whole labour. Because it meant it was over. Annaliese was born at 11:34pm. It was a great surprise too because we had not found out the gender of our baby and I was so certain the baby would be a boy but when the doctor announced it was a girl it was the best surprise ever!

Lastly, for fun, define motherhood!

Motherhood is about changing your selfish ways into selfless ways. It will bring out the best and the worst of you but you will never feel a love and joy more powerful than being a mother to your children.

To hear more from Hannah be sure to visit her blog Honey & Betts and follow her on Instagram @honeyandbetts

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If you would like to participate in New Mom Mondays please feel free to message me by using my contact form! I would love to not only feature you on my blog but learn from your answers, as I’m sure many readers would too! 
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NEWMOMMONDAYS
I don’t know what it’s like to be a mom.

I can read endless books, I can pin thousands of articles. But I will never know until I am one. There is one thing I can do that is bound to help me lots when mentally preparing myself. It’s meeting other moms. Asking them questions and learning from their answers. It’s hearing real stories about birth, best moments, and THEIR advice to new moms or those Trying to Conceive (or TTC). I have found over 30 moms that want to share their story. Some are fellow and prominent bloggers, others are coworkers and friends, some are family, but no matter where i found them, and how drastically different they are, they have one thing in common: They are moms. They are beautifully strong women who BIRTHED LIFE. And that makes them all incredible. Follow along to meet them all, Their stories will be up every other monday!

I hope you like hearing from them as much as I do.

If you would like to participate in New Mom Mondays please feel free to message me by using my contact form! I would love to not only feature you on my blog but learn from your answers, as I’m sure many readers would too! 

Check out past New Mom Monday posts here!

Love,

Mariangelica

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steps-to-success

My corporate job is very giving. They provide free snacks all day every day. The majority of the time they are healthy, but some days, they aren’t. Today as I walked into the office, I went straight to the kitchen to fill up my water bottle. I don’t drink nearly enough water and it’s constantly something I’m trying to work on. Filling up my water, I waited for the machine to finish as I glanced about and my eyes spotted something awesome. Pretzles. The ones with the little chunks of salt on them, I mindlessly took a handful, grabbed my water and went to my desk. It wasn’t until I was on the last of the salty snack that I caught myself thinking: 1. Why did I grab these in the first place? I ate breakfast, I’m not hungry – and 2. How is this the last one? Did I already eat the rest of them? Surely someone else must have taken them, because I do not remember eating all of them!! Does this sound familiar? If it doesn’t, maybe your mindless autopilot activities relate to something other than food. Ever bought a shirt because it was on sale and it looked cute, only to get home to put it in your closet to find you have to push clothes strategically to get it to fit and then you’re thinking… Why did I buy this, I don’t even truly need it. Or maybe you say “How are you?” to someone only to catch yourself mid conversation realizing you’re actually not listening? A lot of us function in many ways, on autopilot!

I didn’t make a CONSCIOUS choice to grab the pretzels, I just did, because I wasn’t THINKING. Autopilot isn’t always a bad thing, for example, when you get into a car do you consciously think, “Ok, now I need to grab the seatbelt and pull it across my body, and find the other end, and click it together, and adjust it so it doesn’t bother my neck and ok I’m ready.” No! You just pull the seat belt and lock it in place without really thinking about it! This is good, because the choices we made when we started putting the seatbelt on ourselves (once mom and dad started letting us do it!) created a HABIT. When we were young, we likely did think, ok time to put my seatbelt on, and go through the whole process, because it was new to us, but eventually a HABIT was created and has then turned our mind off of that particular event that most of us do a couple times a day. This is a GOOD habit, it’s when we let habits get created that sabotage our ultimate goals that we run into some trouble because now we’re on ‘sabotaging autopilot mode’ and that is not going to get you anywhere near success.

I am currently reading The Compound Effect, which I highly recommend! It talks about how creating healthy habits, not just healthy as in food and fitness related but even saving money or spending more quality time with your family, can lead you to a life of great success in different areas of your life!

  • You first need to decide what success means to you, think small to begin with so you can get the feel for it. For me, I would achieve success with my hydration if for an entire month I drank my daily requirement of 2.5 liters of water. This seemed easy enough to say out loud, but I found myself ignoring water and sometimes would go a full day without a single DROP. Yikes!!
  • Once you have decided what it is you want to do- you NEED to track it. I used a notepad application on my phone, though you are also welcome to use a REAL notebook and pen to track yourself. Every time I drank water, I would write it down on the notebook. No matter if it was a sip, or a whole glass at once, I would track how much water I drank throughout the day. At the end of the first week I looked at my numbers and was pretty surprised. During the first four days I drank less than a liter a day. Nowhere near my goal. Later in the week, I wanted to be able to write down on my notepad that I drank water so I would purposely CHOOSE to go drink some.
  • Next, continue tracking for THREE more weeks. I know, seems tedious, but you need to develop a HABIT of consciously CHOOSING to do something or not do something, depending on what you are tracking. They say it takes 21 days to form a habit, and that’s what we’re trying to do.
  • At the end you will have noticed a pattern, I now CHOOSE to drink water. I still track it, but I am more conscious of my decision to drink it now rather than my autopilot lack of a choice, to ignore it. I’ve lost some water weight because of this! I was always dehydrated, just chose to ignore the signs, now I feel more awake, and drinking water makes me feel like I’m making a choice in the best direction.
Now you try.
  • Come up with a goal. (Losing weight, Saving money, Being better at your job)
  • Track your behaviour and choices for 1 week. (Track everything you put in your mouth, track every dollar you spend, track how long you spend on Personal Development a day)
  • Look at your results, be conscious of your choices and track for THREE more weeks.
  • You’ve developed a new habit!! Congratulations!

Feel free to comment below what you’re going to be tracking to hold yourself accountable! Be successful, in every area of your life.

 

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