What Can I Eat When Breastfeeding?
What foods can I eat when breastfeeding? The short answer is: anything that sounds good! Shortest. Blog. Ever. Oh, you’re still reading? Okay! When it comes to a mother’s diet during breastfeeding, we hear the craziest stories from our clients about foods they were told to avoid. (And as a reminder, we are not licensed…
Bethenny’s Baby Nurse
Believe it or not, I first learned what a baby nurse does on a Bravo TV show. Long before I became a doula, I was a “Real Housewives of NYC” fan. Oh, the gloriously trashy and mindless entertainment! When I watched this faux-reality series, the characters included Countess Luann de Lesseps and Bethenny Frankel. At…
Looking for a Baby Nurse?
Looking for a baby nurse to help you after the baby is born? I recently spoke to a grandmother-to-be. She called in looking for a “baby nurse” to help her expecting daughter after her baby arrives. “When I was a young woman in New York city” she told me, “people with newborns would hire a…
How Long Should My Baby Nurse?
During the first few weeks of breastfeeding, you may wonder: how long should my baby nurse? How long should my baby nurse on each side? Does my baby need to nurse on each side, every time? These are very common questions! How long should my baby nurse? Heads up that the info in next section…
Parents Need Help Not Judgment
Raise your hand if you’ve ever had to deal with a Judgy McJudgerpants in your life? I recently wrote about coping with a colicky baby as a new parent – what made it better and what didn’t. Three aspects of the situation made it harder: lack of support judgment and unsolicited advice. I was exclusively…
Will My Colicky Baby Get Better?
My baby boy was beautiful, healthy, and perfect in every way. Except — he had colic and it was really, really hard. Prior to this I didn’t really know what colic was, but I was about to find out first hand. The first two weeks were fine. He slept. He ate. He made silly and…
When Should Baby Start Solid Food?
I was so excited to start solid foods with my first baby. With ingredients from our community-supported agriculture delivery, I made her baby food with love. I ordered special spoons (to help with her ergonomics) and bowls, plates, cups and storage containers. And then guess what? She hated pureed food. Finally I tried giving her…
The Best Toys for Your Baby
When I was expecting my first baby, I had so much fun buying baby things! Each item was researched ad nauseum, compared, considered and chosen with care. One purchase category got extra time and effort: toys. Of course, I wanted my baby to have the best. I was influenced strongly by natural parenting circles and…
“Mommy, I Pooped My Pants”
The story of a Christmas tree excursion that didn’t go exactly as planned. It was a dark evening in the Christmas tree tent, as 3 year old Jack and 8 year old Shane ran around giggling with glee during their annual hide-n-seek game. The other tree-shoppers didn’t seem to mind. They had also been touched…
What’s the Best Formula for My Baby?
We are often asked, as lactation counselors, what formula is best for my baby? (Yes lactation counselors are experts in ALL modes of infant feeding, not just breastfeeding.) This also comes up when we are supporting families as postpartum doulas. For us, the best baby formula should follow three simple rules. As a reminder, we…
Adventures in Morning Sickness
Morning Sickness. If that isn’t a misnomer, I don’t know what is. Morning Sickness, or as I like to call it, All Day Sickness, should really just be labelled pregnancy nausea and vomiting. A lot of pregnant folks experience it and there are various different degrees of severity. It can happen in the morning, or…
Tampa Bay Hospital VBAC Rates 2019
Planning to have a VBAC? (VBAC = vaginal birth after cesarean.) Do you know the VBAC rate for your hospital? I know we say this a lot, but it bears repeating: the hospital that you choose to deliver your baby at has a huge impact on the outcome of your birth experience. In fact, it…
Healing Damaged Nipples
Breastfeeding should never hurt. Breastfeeding should never hurt, but that doesn’t mean it actually never does. How can you heal damaged, cracked and bleeding nipples? Fix That Latch! First, you’ll need to take corrective measures to stop the damage from reoccurring. This almost always means encouraging your baby to latch more deeply. In a shallow…
Tampa Bay Hospital C-Section Rates 2019
Do you know the c-section rate for your hospital? Without a doubt, your hospital of choice has a huge impact on the outcome of your birth experience. There are numerous factors to consider when choosing your hospital, and their cesarean rate should be at the top of the list. Experts explain more in this article…
Newborn Care Class for Adoptive Parents
Congratulations! You are adopting a newborn baby. We know that so much thought and effort has gone into this journey. The child you have been dreaming of and waiting for will soon be in your arms. This baby means so much to you and naturally, you want to do everything right. But – there is…
A Home Visit from a Lactation Counselor
When I had my first baby in North Carolina, we had significant breastfeeding challenges right away. Each time the frustration (and tears) became more than I could bear, I’d schlep my sore postpartum body back to the birth center to visit with the IBCLC (international board-certified lactation consultant) for help. In fact, I clearly remember…
Caring for Baby After a C-Section
Healing from a c-section can sometimes be overwhelming. You, a warrior, just had major surgery. Now you not only have to care for yourself, you have to care for your baby! This is a challenge that is sometimes forgotten. Once you’ve left the hospital, how can you easily care for your newborn? First of all,…
Concierge Pediatric Care Tampa Bay
We recently met with Dr. Heather Thole (virtually, of course!) and learned all about her concierge pediatric care. We love that she comes to see you in your home and the freedom that this provides to families. We invited her to share more about this on our blog: I am Dr. Heather Thole, a board-certified…
Exclusive Pumping 101
Breastfeeding: the most natural thing on the planet, according to many loud opinions on the internet. Right? What happens when breastfeeding proves to be a challenge? Some families turn to exclusive pumping as a means to feed their babies. Can we tell you a little secret? It’s still breastfeeding. You are providing your baby with…
Why Is Postpartum Support Important?
Photo: My mom, Liz, with my newborn baby, Shane, in January 2007 “All you need is one person, just one person who trusts and believes in you, and then you feel you can do anything.” Esther Wojcicki Here is a little story about how postpartum support was important for me. My first son was born…
Infant Reflux: Why Does My Baby Spit Up So Much?
Infant Reflux seems to be one of the most diagnosed issues we see among our clients today. The rise in diagnosis could be contributed to many factors, one of which is the internet. Hop onto any forum and ask about your baby crying and you’re likely to hear “it’s probably Reflux!” from at least a…
Newborn Twin Nursery Set Up & Essentials
Congrats, it’s twins! When you find out you’re going to have a newborn twin nursery it is often overwhelming. Setting up one room for two brand new babies can seem like a daunting task. With a couple helpful pointers, you can set up a nursery that works perfectly without all the extra clutter. Newborn Twin…
What is a Night Nanny? Choosing Newborn Care
What is a “night nanny”? While searching to get some extra winks of shut-eye, new parents often find this term. It can get confusing because they will also find terms like “night nurse”, “Postpartum Doula”, and “Newborn Care Specialist”. These terms are not created equally. The primary responsibility (caring for your newborn) falls under each…
Newborn and Infant Bottle-Feeding | Formula Fed Babies
Newborn and Infant bottle-feeding can be daunting! Feeding their newborn is one of the first things in most new parents’ minds, right behind a birth plan! No matter which option is chosen, most parents need to use a bottle at some point. From leaving baby with a caregiver to get a well-deserved break to letting…
There’s No Perfect Bottle for Your Baby
Have you been searching for the perfect bottle for your baby? Some babies take right to bottle feeding with no problems. Some babies have a bit harder of a time with bottle feeding. Marketing and commerce have convinced us that there is a perfect bottle out there and if we only spend $653 trying all…
Newborn Care: The Circumcision Decision
To circumcise your newborn baby or not is a serious decision for parents to make. There is a lot of controversy regarding circumcision and it can be a challenge to find unbiased information. Here are some quick facts and helpful resources to assist in your research and decision making regarding this procedure:
When Will My Period Return after Pregnancy?
Lovely bonus of pregnancy? No periods! Unfortunately, at some point postpartum, your period will return. But when? Breastfeeding suppresses menstruation at least for a while. For some mothers, there may be an absence of menstruation for weeks, months, and even years while still breastfeeding. Some mothers will even need to completely wean before they see…
5 Things a Women’s Health Physical Therapist Can Help With
We recently met with Christina Noonan, a local Tampa Physical Therapist who focuses on women’s health. We learned all about the services she provides and are happy to share more information here in our latest guest blog post: As we all know, having a baby is not an easy task. It is also not easy…
When Should I Start Pumping Breastmilk?
Unless you need to be separated from your baby early on or circumstances require you to start pumping immediately (such as having a preemie in the NICU), it is recommended to wait about 4-6 weeks before you begin pumping. During these first few weeks your body is acclimating to the needs of your baby. When…
Pregnancy Diabetes: What Is Gestational Diabetes?
What is Pregnancy Diabetes / Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM)? According to Stanford Children’s Health, pregnancy diabetes, gestational diabetes mellitus or GDM, is “a condition in which a hormone made by the placenta prevents the body from using insulin effectively. Unlike type 1 diabetes, gestational diabetes is not caused by a lack of insulin, but by other hormones…