The 5 Truth Bombs About Having Babies Back to Back (& tips!)
Children are a blessing and a gift from the Lord. // Psalm 127:3
Best friends will change your entire perspective on parenting.
Having best friends who are in the same season of life as you, or have experienced it, you can truly unfold everything in life.
The struggles, successes, challenges, wins, loses, problems, solutions, growth…
There is nothing better than being able to cozy in on our favourite couch, throw an afghan over you, a cup of beige coffee in hand, and let the kids run wild while you chit chat. This has helped me remain strong, grow from the difficult times, and have a hand picked support system in place!
You will gain an insane amount of knowledge (and grace)
Replaying the same stage of life over and over and over… But with a slight twist: a new baby and an older toddler.
Since your experiences are replayed so close together, I found it incredibly easy to reflect on what didn’t work, what could have worked, and what absolutely worked. I have now been a “go- to” advice mom for so many women who need an experienced opinion.
I have a tried and true routine for resetting the house, doing laundry, managing toys, heck… even the dishes! As a family, we started getting intentional about “getting in the groove”!
The most humbling life experience has been having children so close together.
Infants, toddlers, and young children are the most grace giving, forgiving individuals I have ever met.
On the days that I feel like I may be falling short, they still greet me with a joyful face and positive attitude. I could not be anymore grateful to have been brought the opportunity to becoming a mom of so many kids so quickly.
Let’s be real.
Dishes pile up.
Laundry is unfolded.
Toys explode.
Kids cry in sync.
There is never time alone.
Coffee is always cold.
There is an endless to do list.
It gets overwhelming, fast. I have never been so understanding of other peoples circumstances until experiencing life as a mom of 2 under 2, 3 under 3, and 4 under 4!
If you don’t have some sort of routine, you need one.
I need a routine for myself AND the kiddos! I have a routine that saves me so much anger and overwhelm:
Wake up minimum 1 hour before the kids.
Instantly make my favourite tea or coffee to drink it hot in silence
Turn on a podcast that will help you grow your mindset + perspective, while being encouraged so the next task is more fun!
Make a list of 3 to- do’s that will brighten your day. I always choose a quick kitchen tidy, respond to emails, and dishes! If I’m lucky, I will even start a load of laundry.
I will hop in the shower, and get ready! I pick out my clothes the day before
Set up + prep breakfast.
I am telling you, doing this every single day, you will a productive and relatively good day. You got 3 big to- do’s out of the way, spent time creating a solid mindset for the day, and have prepared for a smoother day tomorrow!
For the kids, I really stick to consistent nap + bed times; meals + snack times; and when we run our errands. We never do anything exactly off the clock, but we stick to a loose schedule so we can work together.
Natural health saved me… here are my tips on how and why!
remineralize + nutrition
I focused so heavily during my pregnancies + postpartum periods to ensure I was constantly eating real foods that were high in minerals + vitamins to ensure bone, body, and teeth remineralization. (Vitamin A, D, E, K and minerals: iron, magnesium, calcium
You will hear me say repeatedly: I feel like my teeth are going to fall out.
Remineralization is KEY! I will link some articles: here, here, here, and here.
Ladies. I know having babies close and back to back can be difficult financially. This means not always eating 100% organic, natural, non- GMO, and whole foods. I encourage to try your hardest, but know that fed is quite literally best.
Detoxing
You will hear multiple people claiming that they sell a product that helps with detoxing. The real detoxing is through your liver and intestines/ bowels, and getting it OUT of the body. I know, super sexy.
Your liver is what stores excess hormones, toxins, and the “junk” that you want to get out of your body! I usually take milk thistle or dandelion capsules or tea!
When you detox your liver, you need to also do the same to your intestines! Bentonite pulls out the toxins, excess hormones, and essentially “junk” out of your body. If you do not do this step, everything that you detox out of your liver will just be reabsorbed in your excretory system.
(note: I get ALL of my products from a natural health food store. You will also want to take magnesium if you do this detox, as bentonite can constipate you. It holds 15-20x it’s weight in water!)
(disclaimer: I am not a doctor, or licensed professional. There are plenty of resources confirming this. I recommend a naturopath to evaluate what minerals and vitamins you are deficient in, and confirm this detox!)
red raspberry leaf
I wrote an article: My Biggest Tips to Successfully Breastfeed that talks all about red raspberry leaf tea!
My favourite herb to take while being a woman with periods, hormones, experienced pregnancy, breastfeeding, and postpartum is: red raspberry leaf.
Red raspberry leaf tones and tightens the uterine line, helps balance hormones, prepares the uterus for pregnancy AND labour, boost fertility, relief of nausea, factually helps reduce interventions with birth, factually related to shorter birth length, helps with digestion, and is nutrient dense in the goods.
Vitamins: B + C; Minerals: magnesium, iron, zinc, phosphorus
Interesting excerpt from a great website: Red raspberry leaves contain polyphenols like tannins and flavonoids, which act as antioxidants in your body and can help protect cells from damage. In addition, the leaves contain small amounts of ellagic acids, which have been shown to neutralize carcinogens and even contribute to the self-destruction of cancer cells.
If you think it’s too good to be true, click the underlined text above, and here for more info.
So, there is no secret… but my tips:
breathe + pray
take each moment by moment, day by day
reach out for love and support
know that there is no such thing as a graceful transition to motherhood\
give yourself G R A C E
everything will be okay!
I would love to hear how you loved this resource! PLEASE share, comment, and let me know if this was helpful! I hope that this was able to help you in some way, shape, or form since I know everyone is on a budget! I encourage you to check out ways to work with me here, or go binge on my podcast.
