← CHEERS! with Avery Woods
CHEERS! with Avery Woods
postpartum + newborn life | avery woods
00:49:44
Avery is putting her nurse hat back on. In this solo episode, she pulls from her years as a PICU and NICU nurse and her own postpartum experience to give new and expecting moms the real talk nobody else will. She opens up about the night feeds that broke her, the guilt she carried as a working mom who couldn't afford the fancy stuff, and why social media is setting mothers up to feel like failures. Then she runs through her full list of baby and postpartum must-haves, the same one ICU doctors used to ask her for. Fed is best, sleep when the baby sleeps, and trust your gut.
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Avery (Host of Cheers with Avery)
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Avery (Host of Cheers with Avery)
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Avery (Host of Cheers with Avery)
Hey, it's Avery. Welcome to Cheers. I am so excited for today's episode. This is for anyone that plans to have kids that might be expecting a baby soon or for any mamas going through postpartum trenches because I know how hard it can be. As a previous pediatric ICU cross trained neonatal ICU nurse I feel like I have learned so much not just about babies but also educating myself on postpartum and also what baby supplies and mama supplies will actually be used and are not a waste of money. I feel like social media has almost ruined motherhood a little bit with the high expectations of what you should be doing, what you should be buying and it's just not realistic and it can make mothers feel really down about themselves. And when I had my kids we were in a completely different phase of life. We were on a very normal family income as myself being a nurse and David being a police officer and and I remember opening up my phone and looking online at what other moms were doing, what they were buying and it wasn't realistic for me. I got a 12 week maternity leave. I had to go back to work and work 12, 13, sometimes 14 hour shifts. I couldn't afford a nanny so David and I would work opposite days. I saw everyone buying those beautiful nuna strollers and car seats and the snu bassinet. Those were not things that I could afford. Forward as a new mom it made me feel lesson. It made me feel like I wasn't doing a good enough job as a mom. I had an immense amount of guilt but as time went On I realized what was necessary, and that was a happy, healthy mom, a happy, healthy baby. You don't need a lot to survive motherhood. And all that matters is that you're able to take care of yourself and your baby. So I hope this episode will help anyone that's going through that, anyone that might go through that in the future. And I just want to have a very honest conversation about postpartum hormones, newborn life. And I also wrote down some of my favorite items that I think are incredible for babies coming from a PICU nurse, as well as items that really helped me when I was postpartum. I have a notes folder in my phone from 2023 and I've been adding to it, taking away ever since. Because anyone in my life that gets pregnant or has a new baby always ask me what I think is necessary to get. And I've just kept that list with me ever since because everything is always changing and evolving. There's so many things out there now that did not exist when I had kids, and I wish that they did. But also during that stage in my life, I couldn't afford it. So we made it work. I have happy, healthy, incredible kids. And I was able to get through postpartum with not a lot. And that's okay. And I just, I hope it helps you guys. I hope this conversation can be healing for you or you can come back to it when you're struggling. Because as moms, we should be able to stick together and lean on each other. And at the end of the day, it's okay not to be okay. So we're gonna go through everything together. I first want to talk about postpartum because I've always been a very strong, level headed person and I didn't struggle with my mental health until recently, before I had kids. And during postpartum, I didn't struggle with my mental health. So I didn't think I would experience any sort of postpartum depression, baby blues, hormone changes. I was very naive to that. But I remember when Ziggy was born, David only got three days off. And so when my baby was only three days old, I was a brand new mom all on my own. I never breastfed, I'd never done all nighters with a new baby. I didn't have a lot of people around me to lean on for help and I was very overwhelmed. And Ziggy would always cluster feed at night. I remember as soon as the sun would start to set, it was game over for us. He wanted to be latched all night. All night. I am talking like, I did not leave my recliner in the living room. We didn't even have a recliner in his nursery. I just slept out in the living room all night long with him because he would not go to bed. And David worked nights, so he was gone as well. And I remember when I would sit in the living room, I would face the window and as soon as the sun started to set, I would just sob. It was just uncontrollable. Like it. It would just came immediately because I knew what was to come for that night. And I was so exhausted and overwhelmed and I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to help him. And mind you, this is from someone that has a background in newborns and breastfeeding and nursing. And I didn't know what to do with my own baby. It was so overwhelming. So my first piece of advice is, it's okay to ask for help. Please ask for help. I am such a strong willed person. I have a really hard time admitting that I need help, but I needed help and I asked my mom. I had so much guilt and being away from my baby and sleeping when my baby was up with my mom or with David or sleeping when baby sleeps, which I'll talk about later. But I just remember calling my mom desperately and just begging her. I was like, can you please just take the first half of the night shift? Because I had never been that tired of my life. I remember Googling like, how much sleep can you survive off of? Because I thought I was going to die. That's not an exaggeration. I literally was like, I'm going to die. I don't know how people do this. And then I had an immense amount of guilt when my baby was sleeping that I needed to go be proactive and productive and clean the house and do laundry and do all these things. Yes, sometimes those things need to be taken care of. But it's also okay for you to ask for someone to help you do those things that you can also take a nap. And that's what I want to transition into is, I know everyone says it, but you've got to sleep when baby sleeps. You're never going to sleep otherwise. If you are up doing God knows what while your baby is finally taking a rest, that baby's gonna wake up and you're gonna regret it. You need to take a little nap. It's okay. I remember staying in bed with Ziggy all day long. Like, I remember being in the trenches and he's just, you know, a week or so old and David's working, and I would just sit and lay in bed with him all day long. We would nurse, I would take a nap, I would put on a show. I would hold him, cuddle him, change him. But I didn't leave the bed. And I had no guilt about that. I was so exhausted, and it was what I could handle at that time. Every day was different. There was days I woke up and I was like, I can handle going on a walk today. There were some days where I didn't want to leave the house because I didn't have it in me. And that's okay, and you shouldn't feel guilty about it. That's the hard part about people sharing so much of motherhood on social media is you see these people live these very unrealistic days with the newborn, and you're like, am I the shittiest mom ever? Like, am I not doing enough? Why are they able to do that and I'm not? And another thing I want to talk about is do not compare yourself to anybody, whether it's online, whether it's your friends. I compared myself so much to my friends that had babies. When it came to my body, I, in no way, shape or form, was blessed with the type of body that sheds all this baby weight when I'm breastfeeding. I held onto every single pound until I weaned my babies. I made a lot of milk. I was really grateful for that. But when I breastfeed, it just. My body holds onto that postpartum weight, and it's okay. It took me a long time to get rid of it. I breastfed Stevie for 14 months, and it wasn't until she was about 3 years old that I was like, okay, I'm finally getting back into a comfortable shape of I'll never be what I was before I had babies, and that's okay. But I was not like a lot of my friends that would breastfeed and their weight would just, like, fly off. And it made me feel really bad about myself. And I was like, what is wrong with me? What am I doing wrong? Don't compare your baby to other babies, too. Every baby hits different milestones at different times, and every baby is a different sleeper, a different eater, a different latcher. There. There's no one child the same. And as a mom of two, I can tell you I gave birth to two completely opposite children. I remember because my best friend Ashley and I planned our kids together. So they were born exactly 20 days apart. So she gave birth first to Cali, and poor Cali had tongue tie. So Ashley was a champ and breastfed her for so long. And Callie would just be up all night long, and I remember her. And I would talk on the phone on a daily basis. And I'll be the first to admit, I was so naive to this, but Ziggy was such an easy baby. Like, I really lucked out having a really easy baby my first time around. And it's funny, because I was like, oh, no problem. When I got pregnant with Stevie and then Stevie was born, I was like, oh, this is what it is to have a hard baby. Because Stevie was much more difficult. She was a very. A very different child than what Ziggy was as a baby. And I remember Ashley and I had a conversation maybe only like a year or so ago, and she was like. I remember looking at Ziggy and being like, what am I doing wrong? And it broke my heart because crew, her son was the easy baby, and Stevie was a little bit more difficult. So we kind of swapped, and it just shows, like, we were doing everything pretty much the same. We had planned what we were gonna do postpartum, their sleep schedules. We sleep trained them with taking care of babies. We ordered all the same shit from Amazon, but we had different babies because they're different kids. And I feel like sometimes I'll look online of a mom doing, like, a postpartum routine or even filming themselves in the hospital. I'm like, oh, my God. I, you know, had a C section. I was carrying around a Foley bag. Like, no way in hell would I have, like, opened my phone and recorded myself. And I think it's amazing. I give them so much props for doing that. But I don't want any moms to ever feel guilty because they don't have the ability to do that. And their postpartum experience is. Is really difficult because, again, everyone has a different capacity and everyone's baby is different. And I feel like it can be really toxic to compare yourself to what other moms are doing online because everyone has a different opinion. Everyone's going to have a different routine, and at the end of the day, everyone is going to raise their children differently.
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Google Pixel User/Advertiser
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Avery (Host of Cheers with Avery)
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Avery (Host of Cheers with Avery)
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Avery (Host of Cheers with Avery)
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Avery (Host of Cheers with Avery)
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Avery (Host of Cheers with Avery)
If you are in the postpartum trenches, I want you to at least try to take minimum 10 to 20 minutes for yourself a day. When I tell you my shower was like a godsend when I was postpartum. Like breastfeeding crusty sticky milk spit up blowouts like you just feel disgusting and you're Also recovering from birth, whether it's vaginal C section, your body went through a traumatic experience like you're literally wearing a diaper every day. I wore Depends every day I was walking hunched over like this basically like a 90 degree angle because I had a C section. And so it hurt really bad to sit up straight when I got that 10 to 15 minutes just to soak in the shower and I had a little bit of quiet time. It was a game changer for me. I felt so revitalized being able to do my skin care. It shouldn't feel like a luxury to have to, you know, have a little bit of self care. It shouldn't feel like a luxury to get to do that. That should just be what comes with being a human being and a mom is being able to take care of yourself and your hygiene. So please ask someone to watch your baby for 10 to 15 minutes if you can, so you can take a shower so you can do your skin care so you can maybe take a little nap. It's so important to fill up your own cup so you can be the best version of yourself as a mother. I also want to talk about nursing and feeding your baby. Fed is best. Please do not allow people to make you feel guilty if you do not have the ability to breastfeed your baby. Some moms give birth and that's not even an option. They don't want to breastfeed and that's okay. But some moms give birth and they're very anti formula. And unfortunately, sometimes you don't get to choose. Sometimes you don't produce enough milk and your baby's underweight. Sometimes your baby doesn't have a good latch. Sometimes you need to use nipple shields. Sometimes your baby has a milk allergy. There are so many factors when it comes to breastfeeding. And if you are a mom that's breastfeeding and you're struggling and you feel like you have a good milk supply but your baby isn't latching the best, your nipples are hurting. Whatever the case may be, my best friend Ashley and I always talk about there's just this one hump you have to get over. And I'm not saying that you need to. If breastfeeding is not what is best for you and your baby, fed is best. As long as they are happy, they are happy and you are happy. Trust me, they're going to sleep better, they're going to cry less, they're going to have more regular bowel movements. But if you can push through and get over that little hump. Breastfeeding becomes such a beautiful, magical thing. But also feeding your baby is so beautiful and magical. I remember even my husband loved to give Stevie bottles when I was at work. And it is such a bonding experience because they're just so happy to eat. But never allow anyone to make you feel guilty for the way you are feeding your baby. I. I actually just got a message the other day from one of the moms that I helped take care of. Her baby was in the PICU and he was really, really, really young, just maybe two weeks old or so. And I remember him being on oxygen and I would help the mom latch and we did a lot of breastfeeding education. And she messaged me the other day and she was like, I'll never forget how much you helped me in the PICU with my baby when I couldn't get him to latch. I'm so grateful for that. And it just, it was the greatest thing ever and it made me so happy. But also, if that baby wasn't able to latch, then we would go over other options. And I hope for the sake of whatever your journey is, you have incredible providers in your corner, whether it's your ob, a lactation consultant, your pediatrician, that will give you other options for you to stay sane and for your mental health. Because breastfeeding is a very emotional, hormonal thing. And if you don't get it right, you feel like the worst mom in the world. And I remember Stevie having latching issues in the beginning and it crushed me because I blamed myself, right? I just wanted to feed her. She was starving and screaming and she would get so worked up that she couldn't latch. And we finally figured it out. But I knew in my head if that wasn't gonna be our journey, then we had another option and that was formula. Another thing I wanna talk about is listening to your gut. Even if you are a first time mom, nobody knows your baby better than you do. And you're gonna get so many outside opinions. Oh my God. You're gonna have family members, friends. If you share your journey online, strangers are going to give you their opinion. Or if you're on like one of those, like Facebook mommy forums. I've seen some of those where I'm like, oh my God, what are these people talking about? It's actually concerning. Please don't listen to any of those people because they don't know, they really don't. Unless someone has an education and a background in what you're going through, please don't listen to them and don't let them make you feel guilty. You know your baby and you know your body. If your gut is telling you something is wrong, something is wrong. And it's okay to ask for help. It's okay to call your doctor. Your OB has an emergency 24 hour line. Your pediatrician has a 24 hour emergency line. Reach out. Because if something's not wrong, great. At least you called and you can sleep at night and know everything's fine. But listen to your gut, because there is no instinct like a mother's instinct. Be honest with your OB and your pediatrician when you are going in for those wellness checkups, filling out those forms about postpartum depression. If you are not educated in this, when you are going to your OB checkups and even your newborn appointments, you will have to fill out forms every time you're there about the headspace that you are in. It's okay to be honest about that. It'll ask you questions like, on a scale of 1 to 5, how happy was I today? On a scale of 1 to 5, how sad was I? Have you ever had thoughts of not wanting to be here anymore? It's important to answer this correctly. I know it can feel shameful. I know it can make you feel guilty. But there is no experience like postpartum hormones. It's. It's really a trip. And it's something that you don't expect. You hear about it, but until you feel it, it's something that takes over your entire life. And filling those out honestly is what will get you the help that you need if you are in that. That space. And again, you can't be the best version of yourself as a mom for your baby if you're not doing okay yourself. All right, I want to go through some of the items on my list of must have baby items, must have postpartum items. And when I say must have, I just want to say one thing. People gave birth in caves, okay? You don't need a lot to have a happy, healthy baby. Your baby wants to be fed, your baby wants a clean diaper, and your baby wants to sleep. Those are the three things that your baby needs. I'm telling you right now. The amount of shit that people buy nowadays, when I see people packing a hospital bag, and I'm not hating on it, like, when I had my first baby, oh, my God, I literally brought an entire Target store, like, and no reason did I need to do that. It was like everything I got from my baby shower to be so overly prepared and if you being overly prepared makes you feel better, then that's amazing. But for the moms that don't have that ability, I'm telling you, it's going to be okay. You will be a great mom, your baby will be happy, and that's all that matters. These are just items that have made my life easier as a mom and that I've seen help moms that are in the NICU or the picu. Yeah, I just feel like if you have the ability to make your life just a little bit easier, there's nothing wrong with that. So I'm going to go through these items, give a quick little explanation. Please don't ever feel pressured to have to spend all this money and buy all of these things again. It doesn't matter. Your baby just wants to be loved and your love is all that they care about. It's the best feeling ever. And by the way, none of this is sponsored. I'm not being paid to talk about any of this. This is just what I've experienced. For sleep nursery, I highly recommend a sound machine. My favorite's the hatch. I like the Hatch Restore. That's the new one now, but that one has like the alarm clock and like, you know, birdies to wake you up. Don't put an alarm on for your baby. I'm telling you right now that baby needs to sleep if you don't have the ability to afford a hatch. My favorite sound machine I bought for like $20 on Amazon when I was broke, as was the portable little round white noise machine that clipped to Ziggy's car seat. It was incredible. I put it in his nursery again. It was like 20 bucks. Any white noise is incredible. It reminds them of being in your womb because your blood is always pumping. And so it almost sounds like a white noise in the womb. So that's automatically going to help your baby feel comfort and also eliminate any outside noise when everyone in the house is trying to be quiet. If you have a white noise, you can live a little and your baby won't wake up. Number two, my favorite form of a sleep contraption, I guess, if you will, was a dockatot. Now, I know there's a lot of opinions about sleep safety when it comes to a dockatot. I personally loved the dockatot. I know a lot of people use the Snuggle Me Organic I think is what it's called, which is a very similar shape. You can always prop your dock a tot up so there is no risk for sids. But also if you are observing your baby, if your baby's in a very early newborn stage and swaddled, that baby isn't going to be able to turn. So just sleep safety is obviously very important. Number one. My number one favorite thing to put my babies in was the Dreamland Baby weighted sleep sacks. Oh, my God. Stevie literally slept in those till she was like 2 years old. She was obsessed with them. They have a bunch of different sizes and types. They have ones all the way from swaddles where you can velcro their arms down. And then you zip up the sleep sack, and it's like a beanie bag kind of weighted material on the front of their body. It's incredible. It makes them feel comforted. It makes them feel like they're either laying on a chest or that your hands on them. And it gives them a form of safety. And it is safe, by the way. It's not heavy enough that it's going to affect the respiratory system. That is one of my favorite items. And Stevie was obsessed with hers. They were not a thing when Ziggy was born. I wish they were cozy swaddles. If you want to swaddle a baby, I'll show you how to swaddle a baby. Not trying to toot my own horn, but I am the master swaddler. No one can do it better than me. Except other NICU nurses. They also are incredible. But the key to a good swaddle is having a stretchy, stretchy, stretchy swaddle blanket. I like cozy because they're very thin. So when your baby's in a diaper and then in a onesie and then they're swaddled, they can get very hot and sweaty. So the ones that are really thin and stretchy, you can swaddle them so tight, but they're not going to get overheated. So I really, really like those swaddles.
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Avery (Host of Cheers with Avery)
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Avery (Host of Cheers with Avery)
The natural marble inlay is so elegant
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- [28:59]
Avery (Host of Cheers with Avery)
My kids just had their last day of school yesterday, so IXL is already
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- [29:35]
Avery (Host of Cheers with Avery)
Another thing that you might want to get for your nursery, if possible, is a humidifier. Babies tend to get very, very stuffy, especially when they're first born because of, you know, all of the Vernix coatings and things that are coming out of your body. They've been sitting in basically a pool of water for nine months so they can get very easily stuffy. Plus their nasal passages are so tiny, so a humidifier really helps them breathe just easier, more effective, and it kind of just clears them all out in a healthy, happy way. Last thing I want to say is a good baby swing goes a long way during the daytime. Obviously, like you don't want to put your baby to sleep in a baby swing. It's not safe. And also they're going to get used to that constant rocking highly. Don't suggest that, because then you're gonna have a really hard time putting your baby down in their crib when it comes to that time. But for me, having a baby swing in the corner of my living room where I could safely strap them in, be able to do dishes, clean up a little bit, play with my toddler while Stevie was sleeping, that was so nice because they were so happy. There's a song, it'll swing them right to sleep. And also they have something to look at, usually like some sort of little toys or whatever. Let's talk about feeding supplies. Personally, my favorite bottles are Como Tomo bottles. That is probably because I did breastfeed my babies and Como tomo have a fatter nipple, almost like what your areola would be. And my babies just both loved them. I use them for Ziggy. Stevie also loved them. Obviously. There's a million bottle brands out there. Those were just what worked for me. You don't need to buy like the crazy expensive glass bottles, all the filters, all that shit. Unless your baby has some sort of issue with eating or swallowing, or your pediatrician suggests a different type of bottle. My favorites personally were Como Tomo. Another thing that's incredible, bottle warmers. Oh, my God. Bottle warmers are the best. They have like all this fancy shit. Now they have like a formula Keurig thing that like will mix your powder with your hot water. Yeah, I didn't have any of that stuff.
- [31:49]
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No, no, no.
- [31:51]
Avery (Host of Cheers with Avery)
I had a Costco chest freezer full of stored breast milk for when I went back to work. And I just didn't want to put my breast milk in a microwave and heat it up for a minute. It felt wrong to me. So I will say, though, bottle warmers are great. They're really inexpensive. On Amazon, it heats the bottle up within like a minute. And when your baby's pissed, you want that, you want that milk as soon as possible. If you do not have the ability to purchase a bottle warmer, do not fret. Get a bowl, fill it full of hot water, set your breast milk or formula, whatever you're using in the bottle into the hot water and let it sit there. It will heat up eventually. It will take longer than a bottle warmer, but it will get the job done. So don't feel like you have to buy a bottle warmer. The bottle brush and grass drying rack. Holy shit. The ugliest thing, most non esthetic kitchen item you could ever have. I didn't care.
- [32:47]
Angie Hicks / Simplisafe Advertiser
I.
- [32:48]
Avery (Host of Cheers with Avery)
For probably a year and a half with both My kids that was sitting right next to my sink. It's essentially like a little plastic tray with what looks like little grass spikies that are plastic. And you can set all of your different bottle supplies and pumping supplies on it. And it will dry it. Amazing. It keeps everything separated. There's like a little tree stand you can buy to put like all the little, like rings and parts. Because if you're pumping or bottle feeding, you know how many little pieces are everywhere. It's honestly such a. So having that is really, really nice. And then obviously a good bottle brush to make sure you're cleaning all of that milk out effectively so that you don't have like nasty rotten milk for the next time you, you feed your baby. Obviously you want a ton of burp cloths. And another thing I will suggest when it comes to breastfeeding moms is a boppy. I loved my boppy. Boppy is essentially like a half round donut pillow that forms around your body. I remember being postpartum, like, why are my arms not more ripped from holding this big ass baby head? Because my babies were huge. While my baby's latched, I would hurt and I would like shove pillows under, try to sit in certain angles of the couch. I remember when we were traveling, David would like physically hold my arm for me because it was like dead. A boppy is incredible because your baby can just lay right across you and it's going to support your baby right at nipple level so they can latch effectively and you're not hurting your arms and getting sore. And get multiple boppy covers because the amount of times I will tell you that Stevie would spit up or she would pop off and I'd have milk like spraying all over the boppy. And then I didn't have a clean boppy cover. So make sure you have extras of those and then multiple different pacifiers. Some people don't want to use pacifiers. I get it. Whatever you want to do. Ziggy was obsessed with his passies until he was like two. Stevie didn't want anything to do with them. So again, I had two completely different children. But my suggestion is before you give birth or during newborn stage, whatever you want to do, buy like three or four different brands of pacifiers and see which one your baby likes best. I try to buy all the aesthetically pleasing ones. Ziggy hated all of them. He liked the ugliest avent, like clear plastic pacifier. And that was what he used until he was 2 years old. And I didn't even give A shit because it made him happy. So whatever. Let's talk Diapering Bath and Health, my number one favorite diaper company. And no, I'm not being paid to say this is honest. I was on the Honest diaper subscription with both of my children, and we actually never even canceled it. So from when Ziggy was born until Stevie was out of diapers, we were on the Honest subscription because Ziggy was diapered up until Stevie was born. We didn't potty train him until Stevie was, like, three months old. I love it because, first of all, the convenience of it just being delivered to your front door so you don't have to go out to the store is incredible. I think their wipes are extremely soft and great for sensitive baby skin. Stevie especially has extremely sensitive skin. We still use Honest wipes, like, to wipe their hands and mouths and stuff. I also loved that you could pick out different patterns every month. It just made it fun for me as a mom. And the price was incredible. It was equivalent to, like, if we went to Costco and bought the Costco Kirkland diapers. So I really, really like them. Also, the only diapers I never had blowouts with, I tried every diaper, you guys. Trust me. Honest was the only one I felt, like, hugged the baby's hips perfectly enough where they weren't having blowouts. Butt paste. You gotta have butt paste on board. You never know when a little diaper rash is gonna come up. And it's a great barrier for the skin so that your baby's skin doesn't get irritated. And I swear, if I use butt paste in comparison to any other diaper rash cream that was gone in 24 hours, the best Dove Baby Body Wash and Honest Body Wash are my two favorite body washes for newborn babies and the Honest Baby lotion. I also love Tubby Todd. Tubby Todd has an incredible ointment as well for irritated baby skin, and it's great for sensitive skin. So Tubby Todd's a great brand. It is a little more pricey compared to Dove and Honest, but if you're able to, they're an incredible brand. Hooded bath towels for a newborn is really convenient. Newborns actually control their temperature regulation through their head. So that is why, when you have a baby, they want to put a little beanie on that baby. It's not just because it's cute. It's because that baby cannot regulate their temperature yet. So when a baby is born, that's why they're putting a little hat on to make sure that that baby stays war enough. That's why your baby is constantly being temperature checked. I remember Stevie had a hard time regulating her temperature when she was born. She was on the cold side, so we had to make sure that she constantly had that hat on. So when you're first starting to give your babies a bath, they're obviously going to have their head exposed. They're in water. When they get out, it's a little bit chilly. So having that hooded bath towel really helps to keep their bodies warm. A nose Frida. A nose Frida is amazing. And I know everyone thinks they're disgusting because you're like physically sucking boogers out of your baby's nose. But there is a filter. It's not going to go into your mouth. It's just you need to use that suction to unplug that baby's nose. And again, going side like hand in hand with that is the humidifier I suggested. Having that baby breathe in that moist air really helps, but they can get really stuffy and it's really hard for them to latch to a nipple or a bottle. And when they can't breathe out of their nose because obviously they don't have the ability to breathe out of their mouth when they are eating. So a nose Frida and a humidifier are a great help with that. A no touch thermometer. No touch thermometer, I would say, is not the most accurate way to tell a baby's temperature. Obviously when your baby's going to the pediatrician, they're most likely going to be taking rectal temps, especially if they are sick and they want a more accurate temperature. But it is nice to have a no touch for the head just in case. And then baby nail clippers, baby's nails get all sorts of up. It's so weird. Like they come out just like clawing you. I would have like scratch marks all over my boobs. So having a good pair of baby nail clippers, my favorite actually has like a little light on it so you could really see close up on the baby's fingernail because it would shine that light. And then you're not as high risk to cut their skin because their nails are so thin that you get really, really close to their little nail beds. So just make sure you're being careful with that. And if you get the clipper with the light on end, it can help a lot. Gear and on the go. Oh my God. When I tell you this, do not buy onesies with buttons on them. I'm telling you, you're going to hate your life. Imagine waking up at three in the morning, you haven't slept. You got woken up. After 45 minutes, your baby has a blowout you and you have to button 20 buttons up their body. You don't want to do it. It's bullshit. So having a zipper onesie is incredible, especially one that zips from the top and the bottom. Because if you zip it up from the bottom, you could just take their little legs out. They can stay warm up top, change their diaper, put their legs back in, zip it back down. My personal favorites, though, were the little onesie gowns. Even Ziggy wore them. You look like a little girl didn't even care. He wore like the long little maxi dresses. So they're long sleeves, they're little nightgowns that go down to their legs and you can just shimmy them up, change their diaper and then pull it back down. And a lot of the times they'll stay asleep because once you take their little arms out and they're cold, they're awake. And good luck getting them back down if you have the financial ability to do it. I highly suggest a glider that reclines, that has USB outlets in them. I know, that's so extra. We actually bought our first one from home goods that was on sale and I used that for years. A glider is really nice because a recliner or like a normal rocker is a little much. It can get a little like, roller coaster.
- [41:27]
Angie Hicks / Simplisafe Advertiser
Woo.
- [41:28]
Avery (Host of Cheers with Avery)
A glider is very smooth and it almost makes the baby feel like they're being rocked to sleep without you having to do anything. Make sure you have something where your legs can be up and elevated. Especially when you're postpartum, you get very, very swollen. So try to elevate your legs as much as you can. And then sometimes you're sitting there bored for a while, feeding your baby, and you want to charge your phone. There's nothing wrong with that. And a lot of them will have a little USB outlet you can plug in. A good baby carrier will go a long way. I personally loved the Baby Bjorn carriers. There's all these fancy ones now that everyone has, like, they have all these cute designs and they look really cute. I forget the names of them. You guys will probably know, but there's one that has like a yin and yang on it and it kind of looks like a little sack. I remember when those came out and I had Stevie, I was like, yeah, I can't afford this. This is way too expensive. So I got the Baby Bjorn and It worked amazing and I liked that once she was a little bit older, I could flip her around so she could look outwards because it kind of entertained her a little bit. There's also like the wraps that everyone uses. Those were harder for me because I felt like it took so long to put on. Like I do all this wrap around, like my shoulders and my arms and my hips and I was like, this is taking 20 minutes. Whereas a baby Bjorn, you just put it on your body and you clip it and you're good to go. And it's very safe. Any baby carrier is amazing because then you are hands free and your baby's happy.
- [42:51]
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Avery (Host of Cheers with Avery)
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Avery (Host of Cheers with Avery)
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It has a high neck. It's the perfect summer color. Again, it's breathable, it's lightweight, it's elevated, elegant. You can dress it up or down. I can go get lunch with my husband casually or I can put on some heels and go to a wedding and still look put together. Make your summer wardrobe feel easier. Go to quint.com cheers for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too. That's Q-U-I-N c e.com cheers for free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com cheers traditional old banks charge overdraft and monthly fees. Why pay to get your own money? Chime is banking built for you. That's why they have thousands of fee free ATMs. Chime members can earn up to $1,150 in annual rewards. Fee free. And with a Chime card, you get 5% cash back in a category you choose. You're not just switching banks. You're upgrading to America's number one choice for banking with a chime checking account. Chime is not just smarter banking. It's the most rewarding way to bank Join the millions who are already banking fee free today. Head to chime.com avery that's chime.com avery it only takes a few minutes to sign up. Chime is a fintech, not a bank. Banking services for Chime Card provided by Chime's bank partners. Optional products and services may have fees or charges. Stated cash back for Chime prime only. No minimum balance required. Checking account ranking Based on a J.D. power survey published October 20, 2025
- [45:08]
Avery (Host of Cheers with Avery)
obviously you want to save car seat. Please make sure that the safety checks are done and that there are safety regulations on those car seats. Fun fact. If you are a new parent and you do not know how to install a car seat or you feel like it is not installed correctly or you feel like it's not tight enough, all you got to do is drive to your local fire department, any fire station, literally anywhere. They will do a car seat check for you. They will install it for you. They will double check that it's safe. They will make sure that you are good to go. So that's always a suggestion I give to people. I'm like, if you feel like you're not doing it right, you can watch every YouTube video in the world. But sometimes they just, they're really hard to install. I also suggest making sure you get a newborn car seat that has a base that you can just clip out, pull it out and attach it to a stroller. That way if your baby's asleep, you don't have to pull your baby completely out of the car seat and transfer them to a stroller. Trust me, you'll thank me later with your car seat. Get a car seat cover. Again, super cheap on Amazon. They're like a stretchy material and fabric and it'll kind of like shade the light from your baby. So if you're on a walk or at the park with your toddler or driving in a car and you want your baby to take a nap, pull that car seat cover down and it's like a nice cold, dark room for them to take a little nap. Also for the car, I really like the window shades. If you don't have window shades in your car already, there are little suction cup window shades from Amazon. There's like four little suction cups and it almost puts like a screen on the window to help block the light from your baby as well as a car mirror or monitor. So I just had the old school mirror where it would hang on the back of the seat and I could look in my reflection. I'M sorry. I could look at my rear view mirror and see the baby's faces. Just because, I don't know, it's. I just want to see what my baby's doing back there. And when obviously they're reverse facing, you can't see their face. So having a mirror. A lot of moms now have like electronic monitors. It's like a baby monitor in the car. It's wild. I did not have that. A mirror works just fine. A fan that's portable for the car seat and stroller. When we lived in Arizona, oh my God. The car was like 145 degrees and I turned it on so I'd cool it down and then I would always have a portable fan with me. So it's great for summer. It just has like a little bendable bottom. You can clip it to the car seat, cool your baby off, and then you can also put it in the stroller again if you're on walks or whatnot. Also for travel, a good diaper bag. You don't need a diaper bag, like a specific brand diaper bag. Obviously brands are going to charge more advertising for a diaper bag. I feel like just having a good tote bag is amazing. But I do like to have it organized with pockets or some sort of insert organizer. So because you're going to have so much shit as a new mom, don't even get me started. You don't want it to just like pile into a bag. Plus, if your baby's freaking out and you need to calm them down and handle something quickly, you have everything organized in whatever pockets you need and you can just grab and go. Let's talk about some items I think are helpful for moms postpartum. Number one, a good robe. I know that sounds silly. There's nothing like a good robe. Can't help you with postpartum. You're in diapers. You have this boggy stomach with no muscle tone. Okay. You have your tits out 24 7. Breastfeeding. You don't really feel the best. You don't want tight fitting clothes. So investing in like two solid robes that way just in case one of them, you know, you get some bodily fluids from your baby on you can grab your clean one goes a long way. Another one is slippers. My feet were massive when I gave birth and they only got worse. I think I was like 12 days postpartum when they finally went down. I couldn't fit in shoes, not even flip flops. Okay. Having a good oversized pair of comfy slippers to walk around the house when you're uncomfortable is incredible. As well as the hospital, because the hospital is just going to give you the non slip socks. Bring a good pair of slippers. It will help you postpartum diapers. Again, you can use the pads. You can use the giant ass pads that you buy at the store. The hospital will also supply you pads. I thought it was far easier to use diapers and I just bought mine from Amazon. I brought them to the hospital with me. It was just so easy because they rip from the side. And again, having a C section, it was really hard for me to bend down and bend up to put my legs in something. So David would help me put it on, but then I would just tear the side and rip it off and put a new one on. That was a game changer. Good nursing bras and tank tops will go a long way. If you don't want to invest in nursing tank tops because you know you won't use them after you're done nursing. I understand that buying just a stretchy cami tank top that you'll be able to use way after even nursing, that you can pull down to get your boob out so you don't have to pull upwards and expose your entire abdomen in public helps a lot. I loved the nursing bras from Target. They have a little bit of a thicker strap and they have a crisscross in the front. Instead of having to unlatch a little clip every single time and pull my whole boob out, I just pulled it to the side. It was so easy. They come in a pack of two at Target. I sat still have them. I know. That's so wild. I haven't breastfed my baby in four years. No, she was 14 months. She's five now. So yeah, four years and I still have them because they're the comfiest bras ever. But it's like the loungewear brand at Target. They're amazing and they're super inexpensive. Another thing, whether you had a vaginal or C section birth, an abdominal binder will help so much. Again, you have a very boggy stomach with no muscle tone. Your organs are all sorts of fucked up in every different direction that they shouldn't be in. Even sneezing is excruciatingly painful. So if I didn't have an abdominal binder on, I would, like, splint my C section incision so that I could sneeze comfortably because I felt like my guts were literally going to pour out of me. So having a good Abdominal binder will help you so much. It will also help everything kind of just like sucked back into place. Do you know what I'm saying? This kind of goes in with breastfeeding, so we're kind of out of order a little bit. But a haka, a haka for letdown is incredible. Essentially, a haka is a small plastic suction device that you can squeeze and attach to one of your nipples. It is not electronic or anything. And as you're nursing on one side, your other boob is going to have what's called letdown, where your boob will naturally start to leak milk. You don't want to just leak that into a nursing pad and waste that golden, beautiful precious liquid so your haaka will catch it, which is incredible because then you have a bunch of extra stored breast milk and you didn't have to do anything. You just sat there. So I would get so much from my letdowns with, with, with nursing for my haaka. It's like 20 bucks on Amazon. It's amazing. I tell everyone about it and you can kind of set it in your nursing bra so it doesn't fall out. But haaka is like genius invention. I was obsessed with it. And if you don't like to pump, that's a great way to get some extra breast milk stored for you when you're gone or your baby needs a bottle or whatever the case may be. Another thing that will help a lot is nipple cream. Your nipples are gonna hurt. They're gonna hurt really, really bad. I always had nipple cream on board. It helps so much before your nipples start to scab over and you start to get used to it. Nipple cream is amazing. Nursing pads. Yes. You have your nursing bra, but it doesn't have any sort of pads and you will leak through that in five seconds. So having good nursing pads are great. They have ones that are reusable or ones that are one time use. I've used both. I felt like the reusable ones were nice because I felt like I was helping the environment a little bit. But you do have to wash them, dry them and then reuse them. And I had so much milk supply that I was going through them way too fast. So I ended up just getting the reuse or the one time use ones that you just tear off the back and they stick to the inside of your bra and it would soak up the up so much milk where I wasn't leaking all over my clothes, which is so nice. Good breast milk storage bags are also incredible. Make sure you're storing your breast milk laying down. That way everything is distributed correctly and you're writing your dates and times making sure that you are going through them in the correct order. If you are freeze storing as well as refrigerator storing again. We got a Costco chest freezer on sale for like 250 bucks when I was on leave with Stevie. That way I had a bunch of milk saved up because obviously I would work 12 and a half hour days. So Stevie would take multiple bottles from my breast milk from David and I needed to be able to pump at work and come home and store it in the freezer. And it lasts months and months and months. And it's also incredible to have on hand even when your baby isn't breastfeeding anymore for their immunity when they're getting sick. This is a little bougie and extra, but if you're able to do it, it will help a lot. Especially if you live in a two story house and your bedroom's on a different floor than your kitchen. Having a mini fridge next to your bed. I had a little mini fridge on my nightstand. It was incredible. When I did late night nursing sessions and I had a haka on one boob, I would just pour the milk from the haka in the breast milk bag, close it up flat and put it in my mini fridge and then the next morning I would transfer it to the freezer. I was not about to walk my happy ass downstairs and transfer that into a nursing or into a breast milk bag and put it in a freezer. When it's two in the morning, I wanted to go the to sleep. So if you can put a mini fridge in your bedroom, it does help a ton. Lastly, I just wanted to wrap it up by saying if there is one splurge item you have the ability to buy, I feel like it's incredible for sleep safety. I think it's incredible for your peace of mind as a mother. And that's an owlet. An owlet monitor will monitor your baby's oxygen rate and heart rate. And as a first time mom, any moms understand this, you'll just wake up in the middle of the night and like stare at your baby. Are you breathing? The amount of times I would put my finger under my baby's nose just to make sure that they were breathing or watch their chest rise and fall. It's a really scary time as a new mom and you're also so exhausted and you want to make sure you're doing all the right things. So I loved having an Owlette monitor. We actually could not afford one when we had Stevie, so I bought one used from Craigslist and sanitized it and it worked amazing. And I will say make sure it's applied to your baby's foot correctly because even if they move a little bit or squirm sometimes it will get a misread. So just make sure it's on correctly. That to me, that little Owlette sock gave me such peace of mind. And I will say I am very hyper vigilant. I overanalyze anything and I have extreme medical anxiety when it comes to my kids because of my previous job and the tragedies that I saw, especially working in the hospital during the time that I had a newborn. So it gave me peace of mind and helped me a lot with my postpartum anxiety. But if you have the ability to. I really, really love the Owlette sleep sock. All right, you guys, that concludes our little postpartum slash newborn episode. I hope this helped you guys. I love these types of honest conversations and I hope it brings you just a little bit of comfort while you're going through this transition in your life. It's such a beautiful time and I know it's hard, you're exhausted, it's messy. But I look back at those days and I miss it so much. So even on the hardest days, please soak it in. You're doing an amazing job and I'm always here if you have any questions. Your outdoor space is where you unwind and make memories. So make it count. Belgard pavers are designed to elevate your outdoor. Designed forward and built to last. Learn more@belgard.com that's B E L G
- [58:00]
Angie Hicks / Simplisafe Advertiser
A R D.com hi, I'm Angie Hicks, co founder of Angie. When you use Angie for your home projects, you know all your jobs will be done well. Roof repair, done well. Kitchen sink install, done well. Deck upgrades, done well. Electrical upgrade, done well. Angie's been connecting home owners with skilled pros for nearly 30 years. So we know the difference between done and done well. Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find a pro for your project@angie.com Traditional
- [58:33]
Avery (Host of Cheers with Avery)
Home Security only alerts you after a break in. And that's too late. Simplisafe is changing that.
- [58:39]
Angie Hicks / Simplisafe Advertiser
Stop.
- [58:39]
Avery (Host of Cheers with Avery)
This is Simplisafe.
- [58:40]
Dr. Horton Sales Representative
Police are on the way.
- [58:42]
Avery (Host of Cheers with Avery)
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Google Pixel User/Advertiser
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- [58:59]
Avery (Host of Cheers with Avery)
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