Oh my, Mother Tucker!

~Product was received to facilitate this review of the Mother Tucker tank by Belly Bandit. All opinions are my own!

I have been eyeing Belly Bandit for years. I don’t think I knew about them until well after Ryan was born and since Rebecca has been born their collection has grown to include so much more–plenty of items for before, during, and after pregnancy! There’s legwear and tank tops, shapewear and maternity wear, and tops for nursing.

Have you heard about the Mother Tucker line? It’s as awesome as it sounds… “Don’t nip it

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Bonding with Baby: 5 babywearing benefits

My first was born by a slightly traumatic cesarean and we faced bonding issues from the start. I hate to even think back on that period of our lives because of how much I struggled emotionally. My second was a VBAC, born at home, and the differences in emotions are night and day. I even wrote a post comparing how I felt after each. Because of my experiences I’ve read a lot about bonding with baby, what can affect it, what effects it can have (on you AND your baby), and

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postpartum feelings: a c-section to VBAC comparison

The differences postpartum between my first birth and my second are like night and day. Completely different experiences, mindsets, and feelings. I don’t even know where to start…

After Ryan was born, I was depressed. It was absolutely beyond the baby blues and although I was never diagnosed with PPD, I believe that is what I had. PPD manifests in different ways for different people. I wasn’t angry and I didn’t hate my child…. I was a zombie. There were just simply no emotions at all. Of course I spent lots of time crying,

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body after baby: one month postpartum

I gained 40 lb this pregnancy. I only gained 30 when I was pregnant with Ryan, but I also started 10 lb heavier with Ryan…. so basically I was the same weight at the end of pregnancy for each child = ~147 lb.

40 weeks

So far, I’ve lost about 15 lb, putting me at ~127-128lb. Right after Rebecca was born, I was at 140 and then I dropped 10 lb easily in the next week. A couple more pounds have come off since then, but I’ve been pretty steady at

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more than just the blues

I definitely suffered from depression after Ryan’s birth. I was never diagnosed with PPD (postpartum depression) because I never went to get help, but I’m pretty positive I had it. For a long time. Hormones are a bit crazy after birth and emotions run wild. Even if you don’t get PPD, a lesser form known as “baby blues” typically occurs for many women. I think it’s not talked about often enough. Moms need to know they aren’t alone and that the feelings are normal–and that there is no shame in asking

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Placental encapsulation

Not too long ago I wrote a post about Anderson Cooper discussing placental encapsulation on his talk show and why I’ve decided to do it after this birth. One of my great friends from college, Sheena at Diapers Full of Blarney, wrote this guest post for me on the topic so please read on and show her some love!

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After the birth of my son I felt elated, energized and as if I were on cloud nine. I had

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Eating your placenta goes mainstream!

Thanks to one of my google alert emails, I stumbled across this article about Anderson Cooper’s talk show: Would you eat your placenta? Cooper saw a headline in New York magazine about the idea and, not surprisingly, thought WHAT?! WHO DOES THAT?!

When he had Sanjay Gupta on the show, Cooper asked him about it. Yep, totally a real thing, called placentophagia. It’s a great source of nutrients and the main reason it’s consumed after birth, I think, is to help ward off postpartum depression.

Okay. When

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