Category Archives: Mom Truth

Don’t let someone tell you you can’t

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There is a difference of about 5 years between these two pictures yet I’m rocking the same shorts in both! When I got pregnant everyone (literally almost everyone) told me to get ready for a new closet. They said after having a baby my body would never be the same and none of my old clothes would fit. I found the comments to be discouraging, then after a while it was like I was being challenged. Having people tell me I’d never get back to my old size just made me mad. So I worked hard every day to push myself past their comments and get back to close to my old size. Yes they were correct when they say your body will never be the same again. Things definitely change. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get back to where you were or make yourself better. It may just take a little more time and effort than before! I’m proud to say almost all of my old clothes fit again! There are a few items that don’t fit but in all honesty I probably shouldn’t have been squeezing myself into them before. 😂 Don’t ever let anyone tell you you can’t do something. Negativity breeds negativity. Surround yourself with people who are going to encourage you and help you try to meet your goals!

Costco pee incident

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Yesterday was not our best day. Talk about a new Mom fail……Somehow my child decided that our Costco run would be the best time to fill his diaper. While walking around Costco I had him in the front carrier (baby Bjorn). I felt a little wetness on my leg. I was in the cooler area with the fruit so I figured something dripped from above. A few minutes later while walking down the diaper isle I felt my entire right thigh become soaked. I felt under Ryder and he was drenched. So was the carrier. In a panic I almost just left my cart and walked out. But then I remembered I needed that stuff from Costco (obviously the diapers). So I was forced to wait in line with pee soaked pants and a pee soaked child attached to me.

In hind sight I probably should have checked his diaper after we left our lunch date. But in my defense, he never fills a clean diaper in a matter of an hour! Lesson learned. Never underestimate your child’s peeing abilities!

Sleep training

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Sleep training has been the hardest thing ever! When Ryder was 4 months I had him on a perfect sleep schedule. Then at 6 months he started getting bag gas that woke him up every hour at night throwing off his sleep schedule so his naps were all off during the day. At 9 months we finally saw a reduction in the night gas and he started sleeping better. He was back to his daily scheduled naps.

Now at 10 months I am training him to learn to nap in his crib. He will still sleep in his bed in our room till he’s 1 year old. It was recommended by our doctor to reduce the risk of SIDS. But naps will be in the crib since they’re short. Yesterday was day 1 of crib nap attempt. It was brutal! He fought it for an hour. Our dog Sadie was in his room the entire time. She would stick her nose trough the crib rails and whimper at him. I let him cry and would check on him every 5-10 minutes. Near the end of the hour I could see he was really starting to fade. He would doze off, then remember he was supposed to be mad and start crying again. Finally he fell asleep and he slept hard! He was snoring so loud even the dog would look up at his crib on occasion!

I feel like I achieved something by getting him to nap in his crib but I also feel like the worst mom in the world for making him cry. I keep telling myself this is a learning process for he and I, and that it’ll get better (and easier) eventually. But it’s still so heartbreaking listening to your child cry. Good luck to all you moms out there attempting sleep training! It’s not easy but you and your little one can do it!

Summer Resolution

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Swimsuit season is here. We are our own worst critics. I’m guilty of being too hard on myself regularly. I would say 80% of the time that I look in the mirror I focus on what still needs work. I beat myself down pretty often about how I look. I have to stop and remind myself I had a baby! That really takes a toll on your body. AND I’m not 20 years old anymore! My body doesn’t bounce back over night like it used to. I have to work harder now days.

I also have to work hard to not compare myself to others. It’s so hard when I see these instagram moms who got their bodies back after 5 months, etc. I try to remember that everyone’s body is different. What works for one person might not work for others. Some people get lucky with genetics and they bounce back fast. Others take twice as long.

Since we aren’t close to New Years I’m going to do a summer resolution. And that is to try to focus less on what needs work still. Instead I need to be proud of how far I’ve come. I’m constantly telling people not to be so hard on themselves and not to beat themselves down all the time. I need to learn to take my own advice!

Importance of sleep

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We’ve been told since we were little how important sleep is but few people really listen. Sleep is imperative for your body in so many ways. As you sleep you body goes to work healing damaged cells, boosting your immune system, repairing your heart and cardio vascular system, and recovering from the days activities.

These are a few risks of lack of sleep:

•Weight gain

•Increased risk of heart disease •Increased risk of stroke

•Loss of concentration/focus

•Adverse affects on blood sugar •Depression

•Drop in immune function

•Increased inflammation

•Affects emotional state

Sleep is so important to your overall physical and mental health. For the average person 7-8 hours of sleep is a healthy amount of sleep each night. If you’re one who typically only sleeps 5-6 hours a night, try seeing if you can get to bed an hour earlier. That one hour of sleep will make a huge difference on your overall physical and mental health. You’ll actually feel less tired during the day and will have more physical energy. You’ll likely notice a difference in your emotional state as well.

I notice when I don’t get enough sleep my joints hurt, I’m tired all day and I’m moody. As the day goes on I get a little better but I’m never really myself. 7-8 hours a night is not always feasible when you have an infant but I try my best. I go to bed at 9 or 10 most nights in case he wakes up in the middle of the night or wakes up earlier than his normal 6:30am. I want to make sure my body is rested and ready for a full day of running around with him.

Motherhood changes you

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Motherhood changes us in more ways than we may notice. I think it’s softened me a bit. I was a gymnast and was always told I was robotic with my emotions and feelings. Having Ryder I think I show my emotions a little more. I make sure to always tell him I love him and I’m proud of him because I never really had much of that growing up. People were always telling me I could do better or I needed to be better. It didn’t matter how many competitions I placed in, how many awards I got or how many A’s I made, I was always told I could do better. I told myself when I had Ryder I would always tell him I was proud of him no matter what. And that’s what I’ve done. Every time he does something new or attempts anything I tell him I’m proud of him. During the day I tell him multiple times that I love him. I want him to always know how loved he is. It’s one thing to show it, but kids really do need to hear it. I think parents forget sometimes how important words are to a child especially in the early stages. Never forget to say I love you 💙

Traveling with an infant

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Traveling with an infant is definitely one of the scariest things I’ve ever done. I get really bad anxiety in situations I can’t control. So before our flight to Kansas City I was a complete wreck worried about Ryder being comfortable on the flight and at the hotel. Had I known how amazing he was going to be I probably could have spared myself the internal freakout.

My husband booked our flights around Ryder’s feeding and nap time which worked out perfectly. Before the plane took off I gave him a bottle. This helped with the pressure and it didn’t seem to bother his ears. After his bottle he fell asleep. I brought his favorite blanket and wrapped him in it because the plane was a little cold. He napped until about 15 minutes before we landed. He did wake up confused and cried a little because he didn’t know where he was. But we opened the sun shade of the window so he could see out and that did the trick! He looked out the window till we landed.

I may have OD-ed it on the packing. I had my backpack (diaper bag), small roller bag and large roller bag. I packed every toy known to man that would fit in my small roller bag. Yes I may have over done it with toys but I wanted to make sure he had everything he needed. In that same bag I packed diapers and wipes. In hind site it would have been smarter for me to just buy diapers and wipes at a store close to our hotel rather than stuffing them into a bag and taking up more space. But I wasn’t sure if a store would be in walking distance in case my husband took the rental car to the golf course. So I just jammed four days worth of diapers in my bag to be safe.

One thing I wasn’t prepared for was the hotel not having a bathtub. If you travel with an infant I recommend calling the hotel before to find out. Lesson learned. If you have ever showered with an infant then I’m sure you’re laughing right now. It is NOT an easy task. I kept our swimsuits on because we had just come from the pool and honestly I felt weird showering naked with my child. The swimsuits were the only thing that saved us. I can’t tell you how many times I almost dropped him because he was so slippery! Ever had a bar of soap in your hand that slipped out and you can’t seem to catch it with your hands and luckily do before it hits the ground? Ok this was nothing like that but it totally felt like it! The swimsuits at least gave us some sort of traction. But he definitely slipped a few times. Next time I will bring our blow up tub for him!

I worried about Ryder being comfortable in the hotel room since it was a new place. We let him stay up a little past his bed time to play in hopes that it would help his comfort level. It worked! He had a blast throwing toys across the room and chasing after them. I’m sure the people below us were wondering what the heck was going on, but hey whatever makes him happy!

As for sleeping, we didn’t want to check another bag so we left his travel bed at home and just let him sleep with us. Each night he curled up next to me and went right to sleep. I’m a back sleeper so I never worry about rolling over on him. I’m sure some people are shaking their heads at me for letting my 9 1/2 month old sleep in the bed and not in his own baby bed but I don’t care. He was safe and slept better with me than he would have in that bed. Plus, we did not need to be those people checking one more bag (we already had like 6).

Overall the trip turned out pretty great. I learned a few lessons for our next trip if we go anywhere again soon. And I’m glad to know Ryder is a good little travel companion!

Changing a diaper on a plane

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I deserve a medal. Actually any parent who has changed a baby diaper ON the airplane deserves a medal! Yesterday flying home from Kansas City, ten minutes into our flight, Ryder needed a diaper change. I asked a friend before we left what to do if this happens. She said she was lucky enough to get someone who was ok with her changing her little ones diaper right there in the seat. I however was not going to do that to the guy next to me. Not to mention, ryder doesn’t have the best smelling diapers, so the scent was sure to fill the plane. I decided to take a chance and go to the bathroom with him to change it there. It’s obviously been a long time since I used an airplane bathroom because I don’t remember them being that small! I laid ryder down on the toilet lid and placed a new, unwrapped roll of toilet paper under his head so it wouldn’t bang around with the turbulence. Only his upper body and half of his hind end fit on the toilet. The bottom half of him was just hanging off. I expected him to cry or be upset but he didn’t make a noise. I swear he had this look on his face that said “you got this Mom.” Because of the turbulence I had to keep one hand on him to keep him from rolling. I then used my knee to prop his hind end up from falling off the toilet. I had to use my elbow to hold the diaper in place while attaching the velcro piece with my hand. It felt like a game of twister. Somehow I managed to successfully clean him without getting anything on me, him or anywhere on the bathroom! It’s not the easiest thing to change a diaper one handed while on a plane with turbulence. However I sure felt like I won a big game walking out of that bathroom! At least now I know how to successfully do it! Do I want to do it again? Absolutely not!!

Back at it

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FDD1304D-FBE6-47B0-9F54-60393CC9897DIm starting to put a little muscle back on. It’s been a battle after pregnancy to put back on the muscle I had before. Your body definitely isn’t the same after you have a baby. Not to mention, feedings really take everything out of you. I’m slowly getting back to feeling like myself again. My strength and energy is back so I’m not as tired after workouts anymore. I still have a ways to go but I feel like I’m on a good path. Consistency in workouts would help but that’s difficult when you’re husband works late and you don’t have anyone to watch your little man. I’m going to try to start up on my in home workouts again. It’s hard with Ryder sometimes because he sees me doing something and thinks he can play too or wants to be held. So this could be interesting! Be on the lookout. I’ll post a few videos in upcoming weeks of my favorite in home workouts!