April Q&A

baby travel tips, postpartum body changes, pediatricians...

I loved the questions sent in on Instagram last week. Some personal, some general, almost all about babies!

What are your plane tips with baby?

We’ve been on maybe 10+ flights with George already. At first, he sat in my lap, but after the very first trip, we quickly switched to getting him his own seat and traveling with the Doona (which doubles as a car seat). It fits into any plane seat. This new formula has been a game-changer! We’re lucky he’ll fall asleep in a car seat—the hum of the plane really does the trick for him.

Also, you do not need to worry ever about fitting all baby items into one carry on tote or bag. You can literally carry any number of baby bags onto the plane zero questions asked (per my experience). I think on one flight we had 3 totes, 1 Yeti filled with frozen milk, 2 Away carry ons, and a Doona car seat and it was no problem. Don’t stress! Everyone looks the other way when they see a mama coming through! They even have let me take water through TSA because I say it’s for formula. If people ask questions just say, “my baby needs this!” with confidence. :)

Since George switched to bottles at around a month old, I had to figure out to have warm bottles on the plane. Now, he’s fine with room temperature milk. But for the first several flights, I would ask the flight attendant to fill my Yeti tumbler with hot water and then I would place the bottle with milk inside for five minutes to get it warm. Kind of like a double boiler. I know some moms have portable bottle warmers but it felt like more gear to me.

I also have a million stasher bags I travel with so that things aren’t free floating in my totes. Also definitely need disposable changing pads or a washable changing pad (I throw mine in the wash after each trip). Nurse or bottle or pacifier during take off for the ears! I always travel with baby nail cutters (they grow so fast), baby thermometer and Genexa baby meds just in case, and infant homeopathy kits.

I’m sure I’m forgetting something but that’s all I can remember! I love traveling with our little family. You need to rip the bandaid off to build confidence and learn your baby.

What shots did you get while pregnant?

None!

When do I need to start brushing my baby’s teeth?

I had the same question. My pediatrician said once several teeth start coming up close against one another. George *almost* has four teeth up top, and once those extra two pop out, I’ll probably start brushing with just water. Eventually with Waleda toothpaste.

How have you dealt with postpartum body changes?

With grace and wonder and patience! (TW: I’m going to mention lbs.—please skip ahead if that’s not for you. I always appreciate the details when I go deep on Reddit, so I'm sharing mine here.) I’m very lucky that I have an uncharged, generous relationship with food. I’m passionate about cooking nutrient dense foods and love nutrition—I am not worried about my size or the scale. They’re two very different things!

During my pregnancy, I gained 52 lbs. That was creeping up to almost half of my body weight! And it all came in those last four months! I know the “norm” is 25-35 lbs. Surprisingly to me, this didn’t freak me out. I had faith that my body did what it needed to do and it will continue to do that to find equilibrium again. I didn’t have gestational diabetes or high blood sugar or high blood pressure or any complications.

Now postpartum, I haven’t “tried” to lose weight or held myself to a timeline. Breastfeeding didn’t help me shed weight like many people say. 10 months postpartum, I’m around 8-ish lbs above my “regular” weight. I’m one jean size up from “normal”. Some of my friends were back in theirs at 8 weeks. I’m on a different timeline! I kind of relate this to my knee surgery I had two years ago. Some people take six months to heal from ACL surgery. It took me 2 years. No stress, I’m on my own timeline! I’m really not stressed about postpartum body changes. I’m healthy and am lucky that I have so much self-love and self-confidence.

That said, I will admit that it was frustrating that I couldn’t express myself in the clothing I wanted to wear for while. I love my clothes! And literally none of them fit for the first 4 to 6 months. I had to buy all new jeans for those first several months. My tops didn’t fit. It was very annoying!! I think our clothing is a reflection of our inner vision, so that part, I admit, was annoying for a few months.

What did you like most about pregnancy?

I think I felt like a superwoman. I thought it was magical that I was growing a baby! And I felt like strangers thought it was magical too. I love when I see pregnant women! I loved the fact that I was a walking miracle!

Why did you switch pediatricians?

I wanted a pediatrician who I could learn from, not simply be told what to do or else.

Why do I keep having chemical pregnancies?

I’m so sorry. This can happen for a few reasons. The most frequent is generally chromosomal abnormalities. Something about the embryo's DNA made it unable to develop fully, and the body gently let go. Or sometimes progesterone levels aren’t high enough to sustain implantation and there are hormonal imbalances going on. Sometimes it has to do with the uterine lining. Sometimes, concurrent autoimmune factors are going on and the body has its defense up against a growing embryo. I would recommend working with someone you trust to run panels—thyroid, progesterone, recurrent pregnancy loss panel.

Also, sometimes the body just needs time to find the right moment. Your body could be practicing how to receive life. Souls could be checking in. If that resonates, I would recommend reading Spirit Babies to start communicating with your baby.

First time mom with 1 month old. In love but overwhelmed. Tips?

At 1 month postpartum, I was a walking zombie. Weepy and overwhelmed and disheartened. I would definitely tune out the noise of the moms who are in “bliss” at month 1 because that isn’t your journey right now and it’s hard not to play the comparison game. I literally remembering thinking “you’re so annoying” when I would see the moms with glowing smiles in the delivery room. I had just returned from war and could barely see straight after my delivery!

Aaaand now 10 months later I am that blissed out mom, completely in heaven! So my tip is to give it time and like I said above in the postpartum body changes answer, work on your own timeline. Whether it comes at month 2, or 6, or 2 years later, you will absolutely find your groove!

Eventually, once you settle into this new reality, I would encourage you to push yourself out of your comfort zone to build confidence in your mom-ing. “New” things and getting outside the house for extended periods would really stress me out that first month or two or three because the thought of a single cry from George would put me over the edge! But it really helped me to push myself out of my comfort zone. Very quickly, it built confidence and I got to actually see what George was capable of. Little by little, I added new “George accomplishments” to the back of my head (basically the fact that he could nap most places especially if I’m walking around and on the move). Babies are very adaptable and they just want to be with you and part of your everyday happenings. I never put George on a schedule and I do my best not to plan my days around him. I plan my day and then figure out what kind of nap he will take, whether if it’s on a stroller walk or in a carrier if I go on a hike or in the carseat if I’m on a longer drive. I feel like I can do most things and I’m not scared about doing things. (I don’t spend the night away from him but this falls into a different bucket and topic for me). It really helps me to surround myself with moms who are not afraid of their babies. That one is big for me!

But none of this matters right now! Month one is still survival mode? Or it was for me! Don’t compare!

Least used baby gear?

Ummm I don’t understand how the SollyBaby wraps work. I felt so dumb trying to put them on in the mirror.

Never used my bottle warmer.

Did not like the ArtiPoppe (that is a very unpopular opinion). It hurt my back so badly!

Bought a Snoo in my postpartum delirium and sold it on Facebook Marketplace the next day.

I think there is literally so much that went in the trash unfortunately.

Next month I’ll write must haves (it’s not much).

---

Okay let me know if you liked this! If you agree/disagree! I’ll ask for another set of questions for next month!

Xo, Brooke