I loved breastfeeding my son and feel very lucky that we had a relatively “easy” journey with it all. But no matter what kind of breastfeeding journey you have or how long it lasts, there is a laundry list of invisible struggles that most of the world doesn’t see. And that laundry list is LONG. Nothing on this list is easy. A lot of it also comes as a surprise. I truly never knew how much I would despise sterilizing pump parts and bottles, for example. It’s usually pretty hard to explain to someone who hasn’t experienced these things, so, if you’re feeling extra exhausted today, I GET you. Cheers to all you mamas carrying a pretty heavy invisible load...
All my life, I’ve had this fear of trying new things because I might look stupid or I might fail. It’s a fear of embarrassment, really…a fear of what other people might think. I remember vividly one summer when I was a kid that I was super nervous the night before starting musical theater camp. I loved to sing and dance, but I played sports. Other than singing and dancing in my living room to Spice Girls and Selena, I didn’t have much experience with performing at that time. And I didn’t know ANYONE going to the camp. I was totally afraid of sucking and totally afraid of having no friends. After BEGGING to go to this camp, I cried...
Jeannine here again! I’m BACK! In case you forgot, I’m the founder + designer of Ailana J. Nursing + Pumping Apparel. I have been collaborating ALL MONTH LONG to bring you March Mama Month with Rachel DuPree, clean beauty enthusiast, lifestyle + fashion blogger, and mama of 2! Today, I’m sharing one of the THREE guest blog posts I wrote for Rachel’s blog – if you want to check out the other two, head to www.rachdupree.com! Now let’s get to it… Even though we just had a HUMAN COME OUT OF OUR BODIES, most of us postpartum mamas are NOT feeling confident with how our bodies now look. A lot of change happened to grow that human and have that...
March Mama Month CONTINUES! Rachel Dupree is BACK for another amazing guest blog post. She's sharing her TOP clean beauty must-haves so you can ditch all those harmful chemicals found in some of your favorite products and make sure your beauty and personal care routine is SAFE for your little babe. ------------ I know it can be very overwhelming to shop for beauty products let alone think about all the ingredients to look for and avoid. Here I have compiled a list of my favorite must-have brands and products. As we covered last week, there are many ingredients to research the why and the how behind. I would recommend to continue to dive deeper into what ingredients will typically be...
March Mama Month x Rachel DuPree continues over here at Ailana J.! This week, Rachel is talking all about how she discovered the dangers of certain ingredients in cosmetics and personal care products and why pregnant + breastfeeding mamas should stay away from these as best they can! --------------------- Where I started… I often hear soon-to-be moms share that they became hyper-aware of what products and ingredients they ingest, use on their body while pregnant, and what they will eventually use for their babies. I was one of them as well! Through my own exploration and curiosity I dove deep into the products and food I already used and ate, to see what was even in them. It was scary...
