Real Women. Real Experiences. - Natalie C

Q: Tell me about yourself. Where are you from? How many kids do you have?

A: Hi my name is Natalie. I am 28 years old. I’m from Alton, Illinois born and raised and currently live in Godfrey, Illinois. My husband and I have been together for 12 years and we have a 6 month old son Parker. I am a licensed Esthetician in St. Louis Missouri 

Q: How was your pregnancy? The good? The bad?

A: Honestly my pregnancy was amazing I got very lucky! In the first trimester I was just very tired and mild headaches. The rest of the time I had extremely bad heartburn other than that it was amazing and went by pretty fast. In third trimester we had a scare on one of his ultrasounds that his femur was measuring less than 1% my doctor mentioned dwarfism (which he shouldn’t have without being completely sure) that worried us but it ended up being fine. Sometimes 3rd trimester scans can be really off. 

Q: How was your labor and delivery? Did you birth at home? Hospital? C-section?

A: As crazy as this sounds my labor was fun! We were scheduled to be induced at 40 weeks but he decided to come 5 days early on his own! I had never really experienced contractions and woke up at 4:30 am one morning and that wouldn’t stop. Me being a Boujee girl went and got my lashes and a facial while have 7 minute apart contractions. We even had a follow up doctor appointment that day and I was dilated to a 3 but was told to go home. I kept timing the contractions on an app and it kept saying go to the hospital, so we went in at 5 pm that night. I was dilated to a 5 by then and got an epidural at a 7. They broke my water and then all of a sudden I was pushing. Unfortunately Parker’s heart rate was dropping I had to have an episiotomy and they vacuumed him out. All of that sounds scary but I was in good hands. He was born at 2:39 am and weighed 7 lbs 1 oz! As a joke I took a picture giving my doctor the finger and said “he wasn’t a dwarf” like i said we had fun. 

Q: Describe your postpartum experience. Did you experience postpartum depression? Postpartum anxiety? Postpartum rage? Were you aware of these things postpartum?

A: Honestly the first 2 months were a blur. I already struggle with depression so I was definitely worried about it. I was mostly just nervous being a first time mom that I was scared to hold him and change his diaper I just felt like I was doing everything wrong and that he was so fragile. After my husband went back to work I got more confident and spent more one on one time with him and it got better. I’m now 6 months PP and starting to feel back to normal but I still have my days of being overstimulated and still and probably always will get anxiety. 

Q: Did you breastfeed? If so, how did that go for you? If it was challenging, what were your challenges? 

A: I unfortunately didn’t breastfeed. I tried, but Parker had a tongue and lip tie and was really hard to latch. He could barely take a bottle in the beginning too. Luckily we got pediatric therapy and his tongue and lip tie released. I pumped for a good month but it become too much physically and mentally and my husband and I were running on no sleep. I praise all moms who breastfeed and pump! Seriously amazing! 

Q: Did you have any pregnancy cravings?

A: I craved ice cream and slushees all the time! 

Q: What's something you never knew about until you were pregnant?

A: A weird thing that happened to me was my eyesight got really bad and I saw a lot of black dots ( it wasn’t preeclampsia) the doctor said that it was normal for my eyesight to change and not to get a new prescription till after pregnancy. 

Q: What was something that surprised you about your postpartum journey? 

A: How amazing our bodies can heal! I remember looking in the mirror the day we came home from the hospital and my stomach was already so much smaller. Even with my episiotomy I was taking stroller walks that first week ( probably shouldn’t have)! And with little to no sleep you still take care of your baby, your body just gets used to it. 

Q: If there was a gift to give a new mom, what would it be? 

A: All the postpartum necessities! Ice packs, underwear, epsom salt, nipple cream, etc! Door dash gift cards, homemade meals ( meal train), coffee. All the meals people sent saved me! In the beginning you don’t have much time to eat and you need to eat to get a good supply of milk. 

Q: If you could give a new mom some advice what would it be?

A: Soak it up! Time really is a thief it goes by so fast! Take tons of pictures and videos. Don’t compare your babies milestones to other babies. Get in some self care for you! Go to the grocery store or target by yourself, get your nails done. Do something for you once a week and don’t feel guilty about it. And I promise it gets easier you and your babe are both learning to adapt to a new life. Being a mom is amazing, there’s nothing like it <3