Editor’s note: I started this post months before my baby was born and now she is almost 16 months old. So that gives you an idea about how hard it is to run a blog, have a job, consult on the side, and be a mother (at least an ok one), all at once.
I haven’t been super active on the blog recently. The reason: I’m not thinking about fashion too much these days due to the much more time-consuming thought of carrying a tiny human inside me and calling myself their mother. Although it’s out of this publication’s general topic, there is so much that you have to learn before embarking on this journey that I thought some of the information could be useful if you are thinking of having a baby and you care about sustainability, health, fitness and a more data-driven approach to life.
I was surprised by the lack of specificity provided by the “experts” in regards to some of the areas surrounding pregnancy and motherhood, such as prenatal vitamins, nutrition, exercise and labor preparation. Most of the advice I’ve found is online (YouTube in particular) and it comes from other moms or moms-to-be, so I’m not comfortable taking advice from people speaking about their personal preferences and offering tips based on anecdotal evidence. Of course, those stories are important because they give you an idea of what to expect, and if their baby is alive, they have passed the first big test, but the truth is that we would have to study each pregnancy and baby for years in order to determine which kind of advice “works” and which doesn’t.
These are my recommendations, and what I have to back them up is:
- A super healthy pregnancy
- Good recovery to my pre-pregnancy weight
- A healthy baby
- Overall, the feeling that I managed all the things I could control the best way I knew how
On the “sustainable” part, the main thing for me was to not get carried away buying a lot of maternity wear or baby products before I knew I really need them. In terms of trying to have a baby in a more sustainable way, I’m going to fail you in providing specific advice other than having a home birth (which I WOULD NOT recommend) and buying a lot of secondhand clothes.
Preparation
Although there isn’t really anything you can do to prepare you for the massive undertaking that having a baby is, you can calm your OCD tendencies by doing some (or A LOT of) research and visiting specialists in the areas you are concerned about.
Before we started trying, we visited an in-vitro fertilization (IVF) doctor to figure out if there could be any red flags that could make it hard for us to get pregnant and/or any potential risks in terms of genetic issues with the baby. The doctor was a bit puzzled since we were both young and very healthy individuals and, after explaining how ovulation works, ordered all the labs possible for both of us in order to look for any possible issues. He also explained what is the risk for down syndrome and other genetic issues we were concerned about.
Another reason to visit an IVF professional is that we really wanted a girl and we didn’t want to take any chances. After he explained that there is a rare but non-negligible risk to IVF babies, we decided it wasn’t worth it just to choose the gender. All the labs were clean and we started trying ASAP.
“Trying” meant having sex every day. Every. Single. DAY.
I was pregnant that month.
The CVS product that will make or break your relationship
Prenatal vitamins
For this, I looked for specific advice on which supplements are better than others and what Vitamins and Minerals I should take based on my specific needs. The truth is that it is very difficult to come up with a custom “recipe” just for you. Unless you have a dedicated dietician and you can get labs done just to determine if you are deficient in some micronutrient, I found that, as long as you address 2 key areas, you should be ok with most prenatal vitamins:
- Folic acid. The one takeaway from the labs we got done with Mr. “I explain ovulation to all my patients” was that I carry a not-so-uncommon gene that weakens your body’s ability to generate the active form of folic acid, called 5-MTHF. He advised me to start taking the active form of that compound that comes “ready” for your body to absorb. I started taking Methyl Folate 400 mcg immediately.
- Vitamin D. Most people are deficient in Vitamin D3 and, if you are a fan of Rhonda Patrick, you are always looking for easy and safe ways to get ahead of vitamin deficiencies, so I started taking one 5,000 mcg Vitamin D supplement capsule every day.
With this said, I chose THORNE Research Basic Prenatal. I started taking them since I learned I was pregnant and for all the time I was breastfeeding (about 6 months).
I also supplemented with MANY other products, but I won’t list them all here, since you should consult your doctor, blah, blah, blah…
Books
I can’t say any of these books were super helpful, but they helped me feel like a responsible adult (still not sure I am one).
Pregnancy clothing
Read my post on ethical and sustainable maternity fashion.
Pregnancy apps
- What to Expect
- Kicker count
- BabyCenter
Ultimately, these most apps want to sell you something. Especially if they are free. Don’t fall for it! The kicker counter was the most useful one.
Labor and delivery
[This is what I wrote before giving birth: Anything I could tell you about this is speculative, as I haven’t gone through it yet. I have watched tons of YouTube videos of women explaining their birth story and I found those useful to know the array of things I can expect since the process is different for everyone but there might be common aspects to these stories that can help you be mentally prepared. ]
I still can’t believe I had a baby. When I think about it, it’s hard to remember every detail… between the epidural, the hospital noises, nurses, and the surrealness of it all, I just can’t. What I can tell you is that it was the most incredible experience ever and words can’t do it justice, so I’ll stop here.
Baby clothes
See my directory category on Pregnancy and baby. Here are my favorite brands:
- Burt’s Bees Baby
- Finn+Emma
- Huxbaby
Also, here is my list for every non-sustainable and sustainable baby product I bought in the first few months.
Baby diaper bag
My list was based on a combination of The Baby Book checklist and YouTube videos. Here are the basics:
- Diapers
- Baby wipes
- Nursing pads (disposable)
- 2 baby Onesies
- 2 swaddle blankets
- Baby booties
- Baby hat
- Baby towel
Mom bag
- Mom hospital purse
- Laboring robe
- Slide sandals
- Sleeping robe
- Socks
- 3 pairs of underwear
- 2 nursing bras
- Google home
- Laptop
- Phone
- Notebook/journal
- Makeup bag
- Lip balm
Looking back, it is insane to think this was just the beginning. Life since then is completely different now and I wouldn’t change anything about the way things happened.
The one thing I wish I had done differently is to have a pregnancy-specific journal where I focus on all the different feelings and emotions. I tried to do that in my regular bullet journal, but it’s just not as easy to look back and get a good picture of what life was like.
This the list with all my favorite sustainable beby products I ACTUALLY bought (and non-sustainable too because life).