Breakfast at Lilly's

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by BabbleBoxx.com. All opinions are my own. 

Last week I shared all about new baby must-haves but today it’s time to share all about the new mama must-haves. So many moms struggle to a new routine with a new baby so it’s important to have as many comforting items as possible.

I’m so excited to share the contents of my new mom must-haves BabbleBoxx with you today.

As a first time mom, I haven’t experienced the discomforts of nursing quite yet, but I know how important it is to be prepared. Mustela’s nursing balm helps keeps skin comfortable while nursing and is fragrance-free, dye-free, and safe for breastfeeding.

Nursing bras are an absolute must for any new mama and these from Playtex completely fit the bill. The sleeping bra makes nursing easy with its criss-cross opening and flexes to fit as your size changes so you won’t have to worry about buying a new bra all the time.

The underwire bra has QuickStrap® clips that makes nursing easy anytime, anywhere. Finding a good nursing bra that you can wear daily is key.

As someone who has never had a baby before thus never had to breastfeed, I am not sure what to expect when it comes to supply. Having these Milkflow Lactation Coffee Pods from Upspring on hand will be nice because who knows what my supply will be like.

These are the first and only lactation coffee pods that include Fenugreek and Blessed Thistle to help naturally promote breast milk supply. The Upspring pods can be found at Target in the baby aisle.

The LiftActiv Peptide-C Ampoule Serum from Vichy has been a game-changer for me lately. The formula targets visible signs of collagen loss, wrinkles, and makes your skin more radiant and firm.

If you want to try it out for yourself, you can get 15% off your purchase with the code VICHYBABBLE2020 from now until 2/14.

Love Without Boundaries  is an incredible nonprofit agency that provides hope to orphaned and vulnerable children through ongoing programs in Cambodia, India, Uganda and China, and more.

Download the Heart of an Orphan  by Amy Elderidge for free and learn more about LWB’s story.

So I want to know…What are your new mom must-haves? Let me know in the comments.

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by BabbleBoxx. All opinions are my own. 

I can’t believe that baby Suneson will be making their appearance in a few short months. We have already been hard at work preparing our house for all the changes and studying up on all the important things that new parents need to know.

Although baby isn’t here quite yet, I am so excited to be able to use these in just a couple of months.

I am thrilled to be able to partner with BabbleBoxx on this fun campaign and showcase these amazing baby products to you.

Here’s a quick look at all of the baby-related goodies that were included in the box.

First up, we have the GUND Tinkle Crinkle Activity Ball and Caterpillar. These two make the perfect gift for any mom looking for toys for her new baby. They are both soft and machine washable which is always a plus. I love that these toys are sensory-stimulating and encourage tactile play.

Baby lotion and baby balm are always great to have on hand. This set from Pipette is going to come in handy – that is for sure. The baby balm is deeply moisturizing and helps replenish the natural balance of your baby’s skin. Even Good Housekeeping thinks so as they’ve included the balm in their recent article on page 49. The baby lotion is extremely hydrating and helps increase moisture levels.

I am super stoked about the snuggle kit newborn gift set from aden + anais™. The material of all the items in this kit is super soft and helps keep baby cozy no matter what. You can find the snuggle knit collection at adenandanais.com, on Amazon, at retailers including Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s and Saks Fifth Avenue, and at select specialty boutiques across the country.

I’m sure you’ve all heard of Boudreaux’s Butt Paste before and for good reason because it works wonders. This butt paste improves diaper rash in as little as 3 hours and is free from dyes, preservatives, parabens, and toxins.

Last up we have the Lil’ Squish Jellyfish Sensory Rattle + Teething Toy from Baby Banana. This product is made from soft, durable silicone and promotes hand-eye coordination. As a first time mom, it’s hard to know what kinds of toys baby is going to need at what stage so I am excited to give this a try when the time comes.

All you mommas out there, I want to know your new baby essentials. Let me know in the comments below! 

First Trimester Recap

In case you missed it, a couple of weeks ago I announced that I’m pregnant and now it’s time to share the lowdown of what happened during the first trimester of my pregnancy.

I actually found out that I was pregnant about a week after my missed period so around 4 weeks and before then was experiencing those normal pre-period symptoms like bloating and cramping.

Symptoms by Weeks: 

Weeks 4-6: 

• Sore Boobs – I’m pretty sure this was the first symptom I felt. My boobs were just sensitive to the touch. It was awful.
• Acid reflux – Through this period, I experienced so much acid reflux. It didn’t matter what I ate, I felt like I needed a TUMS prescription.
• Peeing a lot – I always associated frequent peeing with happening later in pregnancy but to my surprise, weeks 4-6 were spent relieving my bladder all the time.
• Constipation – I experienced so much constipation when we were on our vacation during week 6. It was bad. Thankfully this symptom seemed to have disappeared for the rest of trimester one because I was getting nervous.
• Bloating – The bloat was real weeks 5 and 6 – actually scratch that – it was bad all of my first trimester but it really started showing itself during week 5.
• Nausea & first time I threw up – Thankfully my vacation to Maine/Boston ended up falling during week 6 because I would’ve been miserable if it was any later in the first trimester. I made it through the whole vacation feeling fine but the day after we got back I experienced my first wave of nausea and got sick for the first time in my pregnancy.

Week 7-9: 

• Exhaustion – Y’all I kid you not I slept like a newborn during weeks 7-9. I went from sleeping 6-7 hours a night to a solid 9-10 hours every night because I was just so dang tired.
• Nausea all day every day – Week 7 is when nausea really showed up and lasted nearly all day during weeks 7-9. It was the longest few weeks of my life haha.
• Throwing up often – At this point, I started throwing up more frequently and even had one day where I threw up like 4 times in one day.

Week 10-12: 

• Continued off/on nausea – During this timeframe, I had pretty steady nausea but thankfully it wasn’t all day long anymore.
• Throwing up almost every single morning – My nausea lessened, but I still found myself hugging the toilet every single morning like it was my job.

Cravings 

Honestly, I can’t recall having any specific cravings during my first trimester. I always crave sweets so that’s nothing new but there was no weird combo of food that I craved or any out of the ordinary cravings that happened.

Aversions

Y’all – chicken was not my best friend during the first trimester. I didn’t like outwardly reject it but it just never sounded good to me and I usually am all about chicken.  I can’t think of anything else that absolutely repulsed me on a day-to-day basis but random things made me gag here and there for no reason at all.

Body Changes

Honestly, not too many physical changes during my first trimester. I didn’t gain any weight during this time frame and didn’t really see a bump start appearing quite yet.

Favorite Apps 

I have loved using the What to Expect app and the Bump app. It’s been so fun to track my baby’s growth each week and learn more about each step of pregnancy because your girl is pretty clueless about all these things right now.

Final Thoughts…

I’m already a few weeks into my second trimester and am looking forward to seeing what all happens during this trimester. I will see you guys soon as we will be announcing the gender this month.

Okay first off, I wanted to say that I never intended to take this long of a break from posting on the blog. I have missed posting here and being active on Instagram more than you know.

In the summer my business Savvy Podcast Agency tends to get even busier so since that’s my main priority, my blog tends to take a backseat.

I am so happy to be back and with some really exciting news.

WE’RE HAVING A BABY!

Baby Suneson is due June 2020 and we couldn’t be happier.

It’s been hard to keep this a secret for the past few months but I’m glad I am finally able to spill the beans.

We’ve had 2 ultrasounds so far and seeing our little baby on the screen has been such a surreal experience.

I wanted to include a quick little Q&A here addressing some questions y’all might have.

How far along are you? 

Tomorrow I’ll be 15 weeks so that means I’m just barely out of my first trimester. Thank the lord because the first trimester was ROUGH. I’ll be sharing more about that in a future post. The baby is due on June 15, 2020.

Were you trying? 

We weren’t trying but we weren’t not trying if you know what I mean. I kind of knew I’d never really feel ready to have a baby (I plan to share more about this later) so it was just like an okay great if it happens, it happens situation for us but we’re so thrilled and cannot wait for the baby’s arrival in June.

When did you find out that you were pregnant? 

I found out I was pregnant a few days after my missed period. At that point, there weren’t any real symptoms other than missing my period but I kind of figured something was up considering I’m normally like clockwork when it comes to my period.

Are you showing yet? 

Not quite. I just look a tad bloated but no bump here quite yet. It’ll probably be arriving over the next few weeks though.

Will you find out the gender?

Of course! I actually took a blood test at week 10 which is supposed to be 99.1% accurate so I’m just waiting a few more weeks for the gender scan to confirm before officially announcing.

Also, don’t worry – totally not just going to become a mommy blogger now. I definitely have plans to share some pregnancy updates and even motherhood related content down the line but that will never be the sole focus of my content on the blog.

With all that said, Michael and I are over the moon to welcome our baby in June 2020. It’s definitely going to be a big change but we are beyond excited to be parents and can’t wait for next year.

I plan on sharing my first trimester recap soon so stay tuned for all the details on that in the coming weeks.