Family leave is important!

This past week, General Mills was all over the news in the Twin Cities. Not for a cool new cereal, but because they overhauled their family leave policies to better support their employees. Instead of 3 months maternity and 2 week parental leave, now General Mills employees are eligible for 18-20 weeks of paid maternity leave for a birth mother and 12 weeks paid leave for partners and adoptive parents…how amazing is that?? This news, along with the fact that it’s Labor Day weekend, got us thinking about parental leave policies in general and why they are so important.

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Moms Like Tech Too!

Isn’t it crazy how quickly technology can change? Kristin found a couple really interesting articles about new tech for breastfeeding and pumping and we thought it would be fun to write about new tech out there and what’s on the horizon. Not going to lie, we’re pretty envious of what is new and coming soon! We do not endorse any of these products and cannot speak to their effectiveness. We just found them interesting and want to share. 🙂

Pregnancy

Reliefband

Nausea/morning sickness got you down? Hate the taste of ginger? We’ve been seeing an uptick of these nausea relief bands. I am super curious if they work, because it could make a huge difference for so many pregnant mom’s early (and for some poor souls majority) pregnancies. (Photo from Reliefband’s website)

BabyBuds

Ok, this one is lost on me. I’d heard of playing music for baby in-utero… but this just feels too far for me. If anyone has tried this and believes it had a positive impact, I really want to know. All I can think of is the game my siblings and I played as kids, attempting to have a conversation under water while at the pool. Did any of you do this growing up? How well did it work for you? (Photo from BabyBuds’ website)

Breastfeeding/Postpartum

Nanit Baby Sleep System

This is no regular video baby monitor. Nanit mounts above the crib to show you a bird’s eye view of your lil’ babe. It tracks baby’s movements and gives you insights into theisleep habits, giving your average sleep and wake times and rating how well they are sleeping. This information is then used to give you tips on how to improve their (and your!) sleep for future nights. (Photo from Nanit’s website)

Willow Wearable Breast Pump

Confession: we both are jealous of anyone who owns this. A breast pump that is truly wireless and cordless? Game-changer!! Instead of using bottles, the Willow pumps directly into self-sealing storage bags, so you can just take them out and pop them in the fridge or freezer without having to worry about spilling a drop of that milk you work so hard for. The pump comes with one unit per breast, and you can pump one at a time (how cool if you need/want to pump while baby is nursing on the other side) or simultaneously. PLUS it hooks up to your phone via Bluetooth and will tell you how much you’ve pumped! Seriously amazing. (photo from Willow’s website)

Yoomi Self-warming Bottles

Unless you get a magic baby who will take cold bottles, you’ll probably need to try to figure out how to warm them up when your baby is hungry. Enter Yoomi, who made a self-warming bottle!! The warming part is “charged” in your microwave, then is ready to go whenever you need it, which is perfect for those on-the-go feedings. (Photo from Yoomi’s website)

What amazing tech did we miss? Let us know!

~ Kristin & Karen

Father’s Day: An Ode to Kris and Zach

For this post, Kristin and Karen will be writing a little special something for Finn and Ellie’s Dads, Kris and Zach. These two guys are pretty awesome and we are so thankful to have such loving and supportive partners.

A Father’s Day Ode to Kris

To my amazing husband,

I still can’t believe we have this perfect, loud, smiley, goofy kid – can you? Watching him grow and learn is an incredible adventure, but it’s also been a thrill watching you become a dad, a role I think you were born to do.

Things We Like: Breastfeeding Edition

As two breastfeeding moms, we’ve tried a ton of stuff to try to make ourselves and baby more comfortable and these are the winners! Do you have any others you can’t live without? Let us know in the comments!

Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means that if you click on a product link, we may receive compensation. This compensation comes at no additional cost to you, and we only recommend products we love! We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Prices are subject to change. 

Spectra S1 Breast Pump – $200

amazon

This is my #1 recommendation for you if you’re planning on pumping.

Our First Mother’s Day

In this very special blog post we share what we did for Mother’s Day. Never having been through this, we weren’t sure what to expect. Our husbands and kids really made it special for us.

Karen

It’s actually a rather bizarre feeling to know that this Mother’s Day it was my turn to be celebrated. For my entire life up to this point I have spent Mother’s Day with my mom and the other moms near and dear to me and it feels so strange to be on the other side of the table. It’s like a super secret club I have now earned my membership to. This super secret club even gets a day for which we all get a fancy brunch. I am not one to be a part of the secret club, but if someone mentions “brunch”, I’m in. If I would have known having a kid would get me my very own day with brunch included, I would have had a kid long ago. Kidding, not kidding.

Adventures in Crib Transitions

One week ago we decided it was finally time to move Finn to his crib, meaning for the first time since birth he wouldn’t be in the same room with us! Honestly this was probably overdue (he’s definitely outgrowing his bassinet!) but it’s harder than I thought to actually do it – it’s so nice to just look over and check on him, not to mention how easy it is to pull him into bed and feed him in the middle of the night. Well all that aside, the time had come. We crossed our fingers and hoped for the best. What follows is my log of our very long night.

Postpartum Survival Guide

You had a baby! Congratulations! …now what?

Take it easy.

Take a minute and think about what your body just went through. You pushed a kid out of your body or had a c-section! It’s hard to force yourself to slow down and allow time to heal, but do it. I was probably 5 weeks postpartum and got really confident and started trying to go out and about like I did before baby. My body let me know REAL quick that I needed to cool it. I was sore again like I had been weeks before and my bleeding increased (I’d say TMI but whatever, we’re all adults here.). So listen to your body and allow yourself that time on your couch guilt-free.

What’s in My Diaper Bag?

 

So this thing definitely has way more than diapers in it. It should be called a “Parent Emergency Bag” instead. Every parent has their own way of packing this thing (Kris even packs his a little differently than mine!*), but here’s my way: