Hiee babes and welcome to my mom truths blog post! I’ve teamed up with Motherhood Maternity to share my mom truths so grab a coffee and snuggle on the couch. I’ll be sharing things I wish I knew after delivery and how things are now as I have become a new momma to two beautiful angels. What?! I still can’t believe I have twins. If you are a new momma or currently pregnant this post will definitely help a sister out. Haha!
Post-partum? Yes, we often see on TV women who have a baby and magically everything is perfect, but no one talks about the reality of life after birth. LoI. Thankfully I knew what was coming because hello, I was giving birth to not one, but two babies. Having sisters with experience also helped me in this area. I mentally prepared myself and expected the worst. When I delivered the girls I was like oh my wow! Haha! I honestly could barley walk, I know, TMI. My sister had to give me a shower at the hospital. I was swollen to the max and kept asking my sister if this will go away? And then I kept asking, wait, are you sure? Haha! But it did. Three weeks later everything started coming back to normal and things were starting to look up. Tips that helped me after the hospital? First off, I don’t know what I would have done without my sister. She cleaned my entire apartment, stocked up my fridge and pantry with snacks, and in my bathroom added a basket next to the toilet with all the postpartum things I needed. Honestly, that was so helpful. If you don’t have anyone to help you with that, try to prepare beforehand if you can because all you are doing after baby/babies are born is feeding, (pumping for me) and pretty much changing diapers. Haha! You ain’t got time to think about yourself. lol So I am forever grateful I had my sister to help with these little things that honestly made my life so much easier after birth. Down below I am adding all the things that helped me post partum and what was in my basket at home.
Now on to breastfeeding. For me this was a struggle. Due to the magnesium I had to be on during my hospital stay, I wasn’t able to breast pump. I was so sick and had no energy after the girls were born. If you can, I’d even suggest bringing your pump to the hospital. I also had no idea I needed to start pumping to get my milk started. I thought things would just flow. Yes, some women have it easier and get the colostrum and then milk flow sighing the first could of days. In my case though, I didn’t have anything come in until I started pumping on the fourth day, the day after we got discharged from the hospital. I used the Medela breast pump and I absolutely loved it! I also loved this hand held pump that I would use during the day when the babes cry so I could run over and help them without being attached to the wall. Haha! Once my milk started coming, I used the handheld pump more often because I can get milk out within 15 minutes and feel like I can get more out with it. I absolutely love the Motherhood nursing bras. I have all the colors and love how soft and comfortable they are. Also, if you didn’t know your nipples bleed the first two weeks of pumping (TMI) but I found a cream that helped me so much. I am linking it down below. Yes, motherhood is not very glamorous but so worth it. Since I had two babies I didn’t have enough milk for both, so we are supplementing. One thing I want to share with new moms, find a formula and do your research before hand if you can in case you experience something like I did or absolutely have no milk. And please remind yourself that you are an INCREDIBLE mom whatever you choose for your baby because you know what’s best. And every mama knows that a fed baby is best so you are doing amazing!
This past month, motherhood has taught me how to be selfless and to have so much love I could explode into a million pieces. I have learned to be more patient, cry when I need to cry and tell myself that I am amazing, strong and the best mom for my girls. I learned how to care less about things that don’t matter and most of all TAKE TIME FOR MYSELF. I still get my nails done every two weeks. I get a facial once a month and my hair done when it’s needed. There is nothing wrong with taking care of yourself. You need self care and self love to keep going. So DON’T STOP! Just because you have a newborn doesn’t mean you have to stop all the things you love. This reminds me, I started working out this week finally after my 6 week check up and it was insane but left me feeling so good. I want to be an example to my girls and be strong for them. To show them that being active is so important. Agh, I love being a mom and these mom truths have helped me because I am learning from them so I wanted to share them with you all.
This post is short and sweet but to the point. I love sharing products that helped me Postpartum and will continue to do so. Below are items I loved and can’t live without currently, including my nursing bras. I told Surge I am never going back to regular bras haha because they are so comfortable! Thank you for reading babes!
xo, Alena Gidenko
Have a great day! xxxx
Shop my pajama set:
xo, Alena Gidenko
My basket post-partum items in my bathroom:
Breast feeding favorites:
Alyssa says
Omg the swelling! And only being able to hobble! I was not prepared for that! Thank you for sharing!