4 Tips From My First Few Months of Motherhood

This post is sponsored by Evivo but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

I’m excited about sharing some more personal things on the blog again. As you may know, if you follow me on Instagram or subscribe to my newsletter. I had a baby in May! And needless to say, he has taken over my life (in a good way) for the time being!

I’ve been on a casual maternity leave (still sending emails, publishing blog posts and designing items for my template shop).

I’m loosely planning my return to work but want to be open to change in this transitional time in my life. So I’m leaving things a bit open-ended and trying not to have too many expectations for myself one way or another.

We’re getting used to our new normal around here. Keeping business goals simple for now: if I do one task per day I’m happy. That can be as simple as getting through a few emails. Because my little dude is priority right now.

But I won’t sugar coat it… it’s been HARD.

Zander works long hours and late nights so all of baby duty falls on me.

My thoughts go a little something like this these days…

which swaddle helps him sleep best… is he getting enough milk … is he getting enough tummy time… enough stimulation… too much stimulation… do I just live covered in spit up now… how can I protect his future health… wow, that was a SHORT nap… another dirty diaper… does he realize that it’s 3 am?

I’ve realized right from the get-go that things will not go as planned. He definitely didn’t enter this world as planned.

When I got to the hospital I was diagnosed with severe preeclampsia and was put on medication that basically turned me into a zombie. After a day of labor followed by 6 hours of pushing, I had to have an unplanned C-section followed by a recovery much harder than I could’ve ever imagined. The first few days I didn’t even trust myself or don’t think I was physically capable of picking up my newborn out of his bassinet in the hospital.

We had to supplement with formula for a few days in the beginning because he did not gain his birth weight back due to my milk not coming in because of the medications I was on.

Once we got home, one of the biggest struggles we’ve been having is with spitting up and gas at night. There was a point where I swear he was grunting the entire night – I probably didn’t get more than 30-minute chunks of sleep at a time because every noise he made I woke up and I still continue to wake up for every little peep that comes out of him. The exhaustion is real y’all.

So I started thinking of solutions… maybe it’s the swaddle, maybe he’s cold or hot, maybe I need to try infant massage, what about probiotics? I started looking into probiotics and found Evivo and it really stood out to me because it’s the first and only clinically proven baby probiotic.

By taking a proactive approach to your baby’s gut health now, you can set baby up for lifelong health down the road. Evivo is the first and only clinically-proven baby probiotic that restores the good bacteria, B. infantis that is critical for a healthy infant gut. There are other probiotics on the market, but Evivo is the only one specifically formulated to partner with breast milk. Evivo transforms the nutrients in breast milk into valuable nutrition for baby. 

Good bacteria is critical for the development of a healthier metabolism and stronger immune system. Without B. infantis in baby’s gut, bad bacteria can thrive.

Bad bacteria in baby’s gut is linked to a higher risk of autoimmune and metabolic issues like colic, eczema, allergies, diabetes, and obesity later in life. When more good bacteria are present in the gut, it creates a strong, protective wall and crowds out the bad bacteria. Unfortunately, today, 9 out of 10 babies are experiencing a disruption in their gut causing more bad bacteria to thrive. 

Here are a few myths that I found really interesting about baby health:

MYTH #1: Baby probiotics are only needed when symptoms appear.

FACT #1: Probiotics are not just for fixing symptomatic conditions. In fact, Evivo is the only probiotic clinically proven to repopulate baby’s gut with the good bacteria they are missing 100% of the time, every time.

MYTH #2: There’s not enough science to prove probiotics are really helpful.

FACT #2: Evivo is the result of over a decade of research and clinical trials studying the importance of B. infantis in the gut, and the many benefits it provides to baby’s gut health.

MYTH #3: All probiotics are the same.

FACT #3: Strain does matter. Evivo is the only baby probiotic clinically proven to be 100% effective in restoring B. infantis to baby’s gut while reducing bad bacteria by 80%.

One by one things slowly become better, so if you are in these beginning stages of motherhood, I want to give you a few tips for what’s helping me get through it!

1. Find A Community

Attend some sort of mom/baby group or get together with mom friends with children around the same age at least once a week. At around 6 weeks I finally felt the confidence to get out of the house by going to local mommy/baby groups. I knew this would be a safe place with other moms in the same stage of motherhood as me. While going to a coffee shop or the grocery store felt totally unmanageable in the early days, getting to one of these groups felt doable. This really helped to make me feel not alone and getting out to baby-friendly exercise groups to get my body moving again. It’s so important not only keep your baby healthy but to keep yourself healthy as well so you can be a good parent to your child.

2. Follow A Routine Not A Schedule

Download a tracking app to help you notice trends – but don’t be anxious to set a schedule too early. Try to pay attention to a routine or cycle (like eat, play, sleep) and your baby’s cues more than watching the clock. I really like the Hatch Baby app for this. It has a great hour by hour view to help you compare days so you can somewhat know what to expect.

3. Talk To Your Pediatrician

Talk to your pediatrician about things you are struggling with early on and talk to them about probiotics. Evivo even has a PDF you can provide with all of the important details. Keeping an open line of communication with your child’s doctor helps to provide your baby with all the support early on to set them up for lifelong health. The first 6 months of baby’s life is critical for autoimmune and metabolic development.

4. Don’t Overthink It

Try not to Google every little thing and TRY not to overthink things. This one is hard. Because when you’re up in the middle of the night, it feels like mindlessly scrolling Instagram or Googling every little thing are your only options. Now at 3 months, I’ve finally cooled out a little bit with the online forum rabbit hole. As soon as I let go of the stress of how something is ‘supposed’ to be it always seems to fall into place soon after without me forcing anything.

I want to know… have you given probiotics to your little one? Have any tips to add to help other moms in their first few months?

Learn more about Evivo and the benefits of B.infantis and how it can help keep your baby healthy for life. Make sure baby is set up from day 1 with the good gut bacteria needed with Evivo. 

Want to try Evivo probiotics? Get $10 off a 4‐week starter kit with code: BLOGXQ8NP or $20 off an 8‐week or greater starter kit with code: BLOGC5TJ7.