Growing up, I liked turkey but it was never my favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal. I loved my Dad's homemade mashed potatoes and Mom's dressing she made from scratch the most. Last year I made my first Thanksgiving dinner as an adult and I might be biased, but it was amazing! All of my sides came from Paula Dean recipes and I went through a few pounds of butter, but the turkey is seriously what stole the show. I used Kidd Kraddick's Brown Bag Turkey recipe that I had been hearing about on the Kidd Kraddick Morning Show on the radio for years and it didn't disappoint. You will not believe how moist and flavorful this turkey is and it's super easy to make!
Read moreMissed The Boat...Why I Should Have Been Floating in Pregnancy!
I am always looking for things that will make my clients lives a little easier and help them to really focus on self-care during and after pregnancy. Last week I met Ray Thoma, the owner of The Float Spot in Frisco, Texas. I told him I wanted to learn more about floating and to try it myself before I recommended it to clients. I did a one-hour float and now I'm sold! For that hour, I had none of my usual back pain, I got to truly clock out and rest and I didn't have to care about a thing.
Read more5 Gift Ideas for NICU Parents
The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is the unit in the hospital where premature babies or babies with medical complications can stay for days, weeks or even months. This often-unpredictable time for families can come with fear, disappointment and unexpected hardship. The experience of a NICU stay, no matter how short or how happy the ending, can leave parents feeling overwhelmed and anxious for their new baby.
Read moreConfession: I’m a Birth Doula and I Had an Elective Cesarean
I have to start this blog post with a heartfelt apology for the doula I used to be. When I started out as a brand-new doula in my senior year of college, I had a whole lot of passion and a whole lot of bias. I was immersed in the natural birth community and I was an activist for everything “natural” birth and breastfeeding. I understood that those things weren’t options for everyone, but in an effort to raise awareness for them and support those who were choosing them, I alienated and likely hurt other parents and for that, I’m so sorry.
There was a time when I thought the perfect birth looked a certain way and I didn’t understand why people would willingly choose anything else. Then, I found a doula training organization that challenged me, made me acknowledge my bias and made me a better doula. It might not be a popular opinion, but I no longer believe I can be an activist and a truly nonjudgmental doula. I had to unlearn a lot of things and really change my perspective. I can genuinely say that the perfect birth to me is perfect because the parents think it is. I feel like the best doula when my clients feel heard, supported and encouraged through their birth experience, no matter how their baby comes into the world. I leave every birth knowing that my clients only got nonjudgmental support for all of their choices from me and I truly believe they made the best decisions for their family.
Read more6 Tips for Road Trips with Infants and Toddlers (or Both!)
As a follow-up to our post on flying with infants and toddlers, here are 6 of our favorite road trip tips for babies and toddlers. My daughter has never liked riding in the car for any amount of time and by that, I mean she screams like she’s being tortured for hours, so big trips take a lot of planning and a lot of patience. We still have to limit our road trips with her, but we’re hopeful she’ll outgrow this soon. The only thing worse than navigating Dallas traffic, is navigating Dallas traffic with a howling child six inches behind you, so hopefully these tips help you as much as they have helped us and our friends.
Read more6 Tips for Flying with Infants and Toddlers (or Both!)
This week we are talking all about travel with little ones. My daughter was just under 7 months old when she flew for the first time and it was just me and her. I was pretty used to a double team defense strategy, so being on my own with her for her first flight was a little scary, but we found some helpful tricks for traveling with a baby beforehand. I’ve also added a few to my list from friends and family.
Read moreA Cleaning Schedule for the Busy Family (With Free PDF & Pantry Organization Tips)
After we had our daughter, our clutter multiplied and our time for chores became super limited. She’s 17 months old and we’ve only just started to get into a good cleaning schedule and not have to throw things behind closed doors really fast if the doorbell rings. If you’re struggling with postpartum anxiety or just feeling overwhelmed, it can be helpful to create systems and schedules with predictable times, places and ways to clean and organize the house.
Read moreThe Effects of Fear on Labor
There is a strong relationship between fear and birth. Fear is normal, but can very easily become consuming and interfere with the body’s labor process. With any unknown, and each birth is, no matter how many times you have done it, there comes some degree of fear or anxiety. It’s hard to relinquish control and to go into something so huge with so much at stake. Common fears for birth range anywhere from perineal tearing, interventions like inductions or episiotomy, or sometimes surgery or a c-section. Every fear, no matter how small or how big is valid and deserves to be processed. We all bring baggage with us to our birth in the form of emotions, fears and experiences. We need to condense that baggage down into a nice, small carry-on size before the big day so it fits nicely into the process and doesn’t interfere with the “trip”.
Read moreAttuned Doula Services at Bloom: A Night Out for New and Expecting Moms
Collin County Moms Blog is hosting Bloom: A Night Out for New and Expecting Moms this Thursday night at Gather in Downtown McKinney. Attuned Doula Services is proud to be a table sponsor at this fun event.
Doors open just before 6:00pm and attendees will be able to mingle, enter giveaways, enjoy some light treats and mocktails and check out their awesome swag bags. This is a night to get to know other moms in Collin County and meet local businesses whose job it is to support, spoil and make life easier for families.
Read moreWhat if I Don’t Want to Surrender in Labor?
There is something to be said for the metaphorical duck calmly gliding through the water, but frantically paddling its feet beneath the surface. Some people are really good at hiding their anxieties, fears and tension and projecting an image of grace and control. I am one of them and I know it’s not always as easy as just relaxing in labor.
Read moreTop 10 Ways to Support a Friend with Infertility
Infertility is becoming less and less taboo to talk about and that’s really good for the 1 in 8 couples struggling who can find themselves feeling isolated, depressed, or hopeless. It has been found that people who are navigating infertility can have the same level of emotional trauma as those diagnosed with cancer, HIV or chronic pain conditions. It takes a toll on individuals, couples and families. Sometimes it takes couples years to get pregnant and stay pregnant for the first time and other times, they conceive easily with their first and face secondary infertility when trying to conceive subsequent children. No matter where they are in their infertility journey or what decisions they have made about their fertility or family planning, these couples all deserve to be loved and supported.
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Four Organization Ideas for Baby Things
Full-disclosure, I have never been a very organized person. I am a faithful stack addict and I have no problem getting dressed straight out of a laundry basket in the morning, but I am trying to do better for my minimalist husband. We joke that I am the Type B- to his Type A, but he knew what he was signing up for. Since adding a tiny human to our home a year ago, we have acquired a lot of “stuff”. There is kid stuff in my living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, nursery and car. It seems to be never ending, but I have found a few organization tips for baby things that are helping to tame it. I’m even less creative than I am organized, so I skipped Pinterest label ideas and went straight to Amazon for a label maker and it has made this process kind of fun. These are 4 baby organization ideas that have made our lives easier and our house a little more functional.
Read moreThat's Not My Target Receipt...and Other Book Ideas for Parents
“Touchy feely” books are the ones my one-year-old daughter has loved the most. Her favorite book is That’s Not My Lamb, written by Fiona Watt and illustrated by Rachel Wells. It’s one of many in a series, so we also have That’s Not My Puppy and That’s Not My Kitten. I just bought her, That’s Not My Dinosaur, as an Easter gift and I’m sure we’ll have it memorized just as quickly as the others. Although our daughter still tries to eat her books when we aren’t looking, she will completely tune-in when we open That’s Not My Lamb. She loves to listen along to “That’s not my lamb! Its spots are too fluffy…its back is too fuzzy…”, turn the pages and touch the different textures on each page. It’s pretty neat to watch her go through the book and go back to her favorite pages.
Read more5 Ways to Date Your Partner...Again
Most couples go through periods of time when intimacy is a little (or a lot) lacking and there is some disconnect between partners. Life has a really annoying and sometimes devastating way of getting in the way and that can be really compounded by having a baby. When you add a new little one into the mix of jobs, errands, to-do lists and bills; it can shock even the strongest relationships.
Not many people want to feel disconnected from their partners, but they also don’t really know how to fix it. You may feel like you are just in a funk or the two of you are slaves to your routine. Whether you just want to spice things up a little, or you don’t even know where you left the spices, there are some really easy things you can do to make your partner a priority again.
Read moreMy Daughter's First Birthday
Today my daughter turns one and leaves infancy behind to embrace everything toddler. She is walking, calling me “Momma”, throwing tiny tantrums and letting us know what her opinions are. I love watching her learn new things every day and become a tiny person with her own personality, but today I am happy and a little sad too. I feel like I blinked and my squishy newborn became a toddling little girl with a toothy grin and a purpose.
Read moreLovenox Injections in Pregnancy
Some women like me, know before they ever get pregnant they will have to be on anticoagulation (blood thinning) therapy, like Lovenox injections during pregnancy. Others have never heard of it and can be scared when they think about having to give themselves injections every day. Lovenox can be prescribed for a variety of reasons. For me, it was a history of a DVT, deep vein thrombosis (blood clot) in my leg. My DVT was a postoperative complication of my spinal fusion surgery, but once you have had a clot, you are at risk to have another. So for me, that meant 546 injections in my stomach over 39 weeks to get my baby here as safely as possible. Factor V Leiden thrombophilia in pregnancy and history of some pregnancy losses or fertility treatments are also reasons a woman might be put on anticoagulation like Lovenox. Pregnancy increases a woman’s risk of blood clots and they can be detrimental if they travel to her heart, her brain, the baby’s placenta or the umbilical cord. Although it can be intimidating, if your obstetrician or midwife prescribes Lovenox or anticoagulation therapy, it is because the risk of a clot outweighs the risk of the medication in your pregnancy.
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My Top 5 Pregnancy Hacks
Pregnancy is a pretty amazing feat, but it’s not always easy. It can be downright uncomfortable, clumsy and painful sometimes. I had a double whammy of being pregnant with a lumbar spinal fusion. I remember thinking my body couldn’t possibly handle one more unexpected change I had to google, and then I was hit with a few things I couldn’t even pronounce. I became a pro at finding things that make life easier during pregnancy. These are my top 5 favorites.
Read moreGreat Grandma's Chocolate Crinkle Cookie Recipe
We all have those favorite recipes and comfort foods that make us feel warm and nostalgic. I was lucky to know my Great Grandmother and to spend holidays at her house as a child. Some of my earliest memories are of her Christmas cookies and Easter egg hunts in her front yard. Every year, my mom and her sister make Great Grandma's chocolate crinkle cookies at Christmas and I eat my weight in them over the holidays.
Read moreChiropractic Care in Pregnancy Part II
Dr. Amber Galipp owns Legacy Family Chiropractic in McKinney and is our go-to Webster Certified Chiropractor for pregnancy. She sees patients of all ages, but her focus is on pregnancy and family chiropractic care. Her patients travel from all over North Texas because she is incredibly knowledgeable, fun to talk to and wonderful with babies and children. I was able to get her take on a few pregnancy-specific questions recently. Here’s what she had to say.
Read moreChiropractic Care in Pregnancy Part I
I have had the pleasure of getting to know Dr. Amber Galipp over the last year and I can’t sing her praises enough. I found her while I was pregnant myself and searching for a Webster Technique certified chiropractor. She has taken such good care of my entire family. She owns Legacy Family Chiropractic in McKinney and provides chiropractic care for all ages, specializing in pregnancy. I asked her to tell us a little bit about her practice and the benefits of chiropractic care.
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