Pregnancy

Dealing with Postpartum OCD & Intrusive Thoughts

Photo by Sydney Sims on Unsplash

May was Mental Health Awareness Month, so I wanted to talk about something that I’ve been struggling with over the course of my pregnancy and postpartum experience. I’ve been working on this post for a while since I’ve been trying to find ways to cope, which is why it’s a little late. I was also a little hesitant to share as part of what I’m going to talk about. This has a way of isolating you, making you think you’re crazy. It’s something that I don’t think is talked about enough. Trigger warning- I talk about postpartum OCD, anxiety and depression.

Continue reading →

Top five reasons why you should absolutely do a maternity photoshoot

Alpine Rose Photography

Your body is changing, your clothes might not fit, how could anyone possibly recommend that having someone take your pictures right now is a good idea?! Well I’m here to tell you that it is an AMAZING idea, and one you should definitely consider. I almost cancelled my photoshoot, but I’m so glad I didn’t. If you’ve read my posts, you know that I struggled with my pregnancy, from my mental health to my body image, but even going through those struggles I would do a maternity shoot all over again. Read on to find the reasons why, plus see some of my favorites from my shoot!

Continue reading →

Six things to stop saying to pregnant women

Everyone is super excited when a family announces that they are pregnant. A lot of parents talk about how fun it is to be a parent and how life gets so much better when you add a baby to the mix. BUT sometimes in everyone’s excitement, people can say things that they don’t realize are stressing the mama-to-be out!

Photo by Camylla Battani on Unsplash

I’m going to blame the hormones for this, but when I was pregnant, with everything that a lot of people told me, I was pretty nervous my life was going to suck after I had Max. I thought I’d be like 500 pounds, a sleepless zombie, and that being a mom was going to be the hardest thing in the world in the worst way possible. I’m happy to report that none of these things happened. Being a mom is actually awesome, despite what everyone had me believing while I was pregnant. It’s not always sunshine and rainbows, but it’s not the hell that some people will lead you to believe. So I put together this list of things to stop saying to pregnant mamas, because even with good intentions or saying these things light heartedly, you could be really scaring them! Here are the top six things to stop saying:

Continue reading →

11 things that surprised me about postpartum

I thought I had a lot of surprises when I was pregnant, so I felt like I was pretty ready for postpartum and all of the changes that would come. I was ready to be back in my body and have everything be normal again. I knew about postpartum hair loss, to expect to look pregnant for a while after, but I mostly thought I would deflate and might be a little hormonal.

Some of those things did happen, but there was a lot that surprised me once I finally reached the postpartum stage. For the most part I was too wrapped up in learning how to be a new mom for any of these to be too crazy annoying, but nonetheless I think it’s important to talk about all these things because it seems like not many people do. So many people talk about how to care for your new baby, products you might need for postpartum, products you need for your baby, but not too many people go into detail about what exactly might happen once you are in the postpartum phase. So here are some things that took me by surprise:

Continue reading →

Bringing home a newborn in a pandemic

Disclaimer- I am not a medical professional in any way; the things that I talk about in this post are simply what I’ve learned from my own research and doctors and how we’ve taken the information and used it during this time. Please consult your pediatrician and physician to find out what is best for you and your baby as far as Covid guidelines.

Pandemic newborn sign
Photo by LOGAN WEAVERon Unsplash

Bringing a newborn home is scary. I remember driving home from the hospital in the back seat kind of panicking that now we were responsible for this baby. It’s a crazy feeling. When we got home I sat in the car for a while before I went into the house, just sort of processing what was going to be our new life of caring for a child. And on top of the regular anxiety of caring for a newborn, new parents are dealing with a whole other level of responsibility, because now we have to try to keep our babies safe, and figure out how to bring home a newborn in a pandemic.

Continue reading →