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One of the Postpartum Struggles….
Can we stop starting conversations with new moms by saying “What’re you doing?” or “What’ve you been doing today?” New moms are SENSITIVE; our hormones are fluctuating, we are emotional, we are sleep deprived, and it feels like we have the weight of the world on our shoulders trying to make sure we’re doing everything right for this tiny human (or humans) that literally depends on us to LIVE. Then there’s the impending return to work fast approaching giving us anxiety: will my baby be okay away from me? Will he take his bottles okay? Will he get enough snuggles? How will I keep everything done when I have work…
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Protein Mug Cake
I have a sweet tooth….a big one! One of my biggest downfalls is thinking I need something sweet after dinner each night. And although I don’t believe in restricting myself from foods I really want, I do like to find ways to make them healthier. I originally found a very similar recipe from Kale Kouture, I’ll link it here. Her recipe is made using pumpkin, which I really like, but around here that can be hard to find outside of Fall. So I went to work to find an alternative. What you need: Any cake mix Unflavored collagen (I like Perfect Supplements brand best, you can use code AUBREYFAM at…
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Epidural vs. No Epidural
I’ve now had a medicated and un-medicated labor experience. You can read Kenley’s birth story(epidural) here and Hollis’s here (no epidural) I’ve been asked by several different people which I preferred, what I’ll plan for my next delivery, and how different the two experiences were, so I thought I would share some of my thoughts here: Reflecting on my delivery with Kenley I feel that it went great. I labored naturally until I was 7cm and then requested my epidural. This allowed me to have a little time to rest before time to push and my epidural worked well, so other than feeling some pressure, I felt no pain. I…
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1 Month Postpartum Recovery Update
Disclosure: some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. My little man is one month old today and I can’t believe it! Time is going by so fast & I wish I could slow it down! I have 5 weeks of maternity leave left and I’m already dreading it being over. 🙁 Physical Physically I feel great! Breastfeeding…
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Postpartum Recovery-2 weeks
Disclosure: some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. At the time I’m writing this, Hollis is 2 weeks old. I may not publish the blog post for a few more days, so I just wanted to put that out there. I’ve been sharing very openly about my postpartum recovery over on instagram @theaubreyfam but I also wanted…
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Hollis Birth Story
What a wild ride.I could probably end it right there, but I wont lol We again decided to not find out the gender of our baby with this pregnancy. We did this when we were pregnant with Kenley & loved the experience. I gave birth to Kenely at 37 weeks and 6 days (you can read her birth story here), so I anticipated that I would have this baby around that same time in pregnancy. At 35 weeks we moved out of our house and the following weekend, at 36 weeks we moved into our new home! Everyone, myself included, was so nervous that I would go into labor prior…
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Kenley’s Birth Story
We’ll start with the back story: my husband, Blake, & I decided when we got pregnant that it would be fun for us to not find out the gender of our baby. My parents didn’t know my gender throughout pregnancy and I always thought this would be a fun thing to do, luckily Blake was on board. I love surprises, but in today’s world I feel like there are so few true surprises in life……so what better surprise than waiting to find out the gender of your baby, right? Weeks leading up August/September 2019 Blake & I were approved to be foster parents. In our area there is a great…
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A’s Arrival
In our area there is a hefty demand for foster parents. We assumed that once we were approved we would start getting placement calls right away. We had even been told by other foster parents, that they received a placement on the same day of their approval! Much to our surprise when we were approved in August/September, it was November before we received the placement call for our little guy. Legally, I’m unable to share his name at this time, so in the online space we refer to him as “A”. Let me set the Scene It had been a long day at work. I was 32 weeks pregnant with…
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Sausage & Veggies Sheet Pan
While reviewing feedback from my HBA (Hormone Balance Academy) students I heard loud and clear that they would like more assistance with putting together balanced meals. I love to cook, but I also like to keep things simple—quick meals with no complicated ingredients & that’s what I’ll be sharing with you all here! So what makes up a balanced meal? Ensuring that you have all major macros represented: protein, fat, fiber, & carbs. The Breakdown Protein For this meal I used 2 smoked sausages like this from walmart Fat The potatoes, zucchini, and squash were all tossed in Avocado oil which serves as the health fat here. Fiber Zucchini, Squash,…
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Skin Care Routine
I am in the process (& have been for a while) of changing over a lot of my beauty and household products to cleaner, more hormone friendly options. I often get requests/questions about what I use on my skin, so we’re breaking it down today! I have two main sources that I get all my facial/cleansing products from: Perfectly Posh & Beauty Counter These are two companies that I trust and whom use clean ingredients to create healthier products In shower face wash: BFF from Perfectly Posh I have used this product for the past five years and it has never let me down! I originally started using Perfectly Posh…
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