“I’ll just deal with it.” Does this sound familiar?Last week I shared a little about my postpartum mental health and said I would share more details this week, but something important happened 2 nights ago I want to share first. (I’ll still share what I planned but probably in a few more days.) This week was an important pivot in my postpartum mental health journey.
all of the testing
the waiting
the bills
the sobbing prayers
questioning God
questioning ourselves
all of it.
🎉 Baby Ollie just turned 9 months old! We just got back from her checkup tonight & I was so eager to see how much she has grown!
A couple summers ago (this week actually!), life threw me a major curveball. It was 100% out of nowhere, completely unjust, and threw my world upside down. I felt broken, like a failure, and saw my future disappear within seconds. Zach & I were just reflecting on this experience and how applicable this prompting was to another hurdle we are facing this year.
When the pandemic cancelled our dreams of a big family gathering for her baby blessing in Oregon, I felt really sad bc we couldn’t give Ollie the celebration she deserved - the big gatherings & beautiful luncheons I’d seen countless other friends host for their children. And I felt like I had done something wrong since she was already 8 months old and much older than the usual age. I wanted to do everything I could to make our small event as special and symbolic as possible. We went up Big Cottonwood Canyon to snap a few pictures to remember her blessing day by - we just took these on our phones and they turned out so much better than I expected!
Their relationship is my favorite ❤️
To the man who has dreamed of being a dad since he was little. Who works hard and loves God. Who is kind, gentle, patient & thoughtful. Watching Zach become a father over the last 8 months has been the sweetest experience of my life. I love watching him be a dad more than I love being a mom. I will forever remember his reaction the moment Ollie was born - the look in his eyes when he said “she’s actually here” and “she’s so precious” over and over.
They have their own little games together and he makes her laugh way more than I ever could. He is the only person who can get Ollie to sleep - she just melts into his arms. I love watching the way he looks at her - it’s a look in his eyes I’ve never seen before.
Today has been the sweetest day celebrating this incredible man. I spent my entire life hating Father’s Day - who was I supposed to celebrate? An abusive father who died or an abusive stepfather who hated me? It was always forced and uncomfortable and full of lots of complicated emotions.
After we started trying to have a baby, Father’s Day took on a new sting. We would leave church depressed after hearing all the talks about fathers and wondering when that would happen for us. It has been the greatest blessing of my life to watch God bless us with this miracle baby and make Zach’s dreams come true.
Watching Zach as a father has healed some of the pains of my childhood. I feel joy knowing Ollie won’t have the same experience and will always feel safe & loved by Zach. The best thing I did as a mother was to choose Zach as the father of my children. He makes up for all of my shortcomings and holds our family together.
(My heart aches every Mother’s & Father’s Days because I can still feel the sting of infertility, unmet expectations, and strained/missing relationships with parents. If these days are hard for you, I hold space for you - you don’t have to celebrate them and however you feel today is 100% valid. ❤️❤️❤️)
🎉Baby Olive hit the 7 month mark this weekend!🎉 Every month passes faster than the last and it’s hard to remember her as a tiny newborn.
In between a pandemic, earthquake, real estate agent mistakes, postponed closings and a 5 month old...we somehow managed to buy a house & move in! We hadn’t planned to buy right now, but sometimes you get put into situations and have to roll with it. Even though the timing wasn’t ideal or our choice, we feel endlessly grateful we were able to buy a single family home in the crazy Salt Lake housing market in the exact development Zach has been dreaming about for the last couple years. And instead of being right on the street, the house faces the cutest pocket park - no need for a big front yard when we can go out there and play everyday! Now I just need Ollie to get a little bigger!
Ollie is still a rockstar sleeper - she seemed to skip the 4 month sleep regression completely and still sleeps 10-12 hours a night without waking. I’m guessing she is almost 16 lbs and is still in between sizes - she’s wearing a 0-3m onesie in these pictures. She’s talking more and more but it sounds like a cross between a frog, a cat and a dragon. 🤣
She looks more and more like a big kid every day, and we’re excited for this next phase of development. She loves to grab anything in her sight and wants to eat any food we have. Not yet though! We are excited to start Baby Led Weaning soon and see how she reacts to trying different foods. I know I’m sure excited to not need to pump as often!
She is the bright spot of my days, especially now when things seem out of control. I feel so unqualified to be her mom, but so grateful heaven intervened to send her to us. Thank you for always supporting our journey to this point and loving on this sweet baby! ❤️
February 20th. Forget Valentine’s Day - this is my favorite day of the month.
Last week on Instagram Stories I shared about my postpartum mental health and starting therapy. I just want to say thank you. Thank you for letting me be honest, your supportive DMs, for accepting my unglamorous self. Just - thank you for being my friend! I feel like I can just talk candidly like we’ve known each other for years. (Next step - you all need to meet each other!) I’ve also received a lot of negative DMs and comments recently, which tells me we still have a LONG way to go in supporting moms.
🎉Happy 3 months to baby Olive!🎉
3 months is such a milestone - the 4th trimester is over, newborn life is gone, and we’ve got a chunky baby full of personality!
3 months is such a milestone - the 4th trimester is over, newborn life is gone, and we’ve got a chunky baby full of personality!
Thank you to Lumi by Pampers for sponsoring this post. All opinions are my own.
You all know how anxious I’ve been to become a mom. I didn’t grow up expecting to be a mom and wasn’t really around babies much. Before Ollie was born, I think I’d changed one diaper ever in my life! So I was freaking out about labor and delivery...but also that they were going to let me take this little human home with me, no questions asked - didn’t I need to pass some kind of test first??
And if you know me even a little bit, you know my brain runs on data. I have a degree in Neuroscience, I’ve spent years working in labs, and now I use data everyday to make decisions in my job.
So the first couple of months of Ollie’s life were rough. I had no idea what I was doing, anxious I was doing something wrong, and desperately looking for ways to gather data to better understand her routines and needs.
Enter Lumi - Pampers developed this all-in-one baby monitoring system specifically to support parents in understanding their baby’s needs and establish routines, making day to day life a little easier. We started using Lumi at the beginning of the year and it has been alleviating so many pain points from Ollie’s first few months of life.
What’s In The Box?
So what in the heck is all-in-one baby monitoring system? Think the ultimate baby monitor… and more! Lumi arrived at our house in this beautiful box, complete with an HD video camera, sleep tracker, and two packs of diapers. Set up was super easy - it took all of 5 minutes to have the camera up and running and the sleep tracker sending data via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to my phone!
Everything I Need At A Glance
The biggest difference Lumi has made in our life - being able to see how Ollie is doing in a glance, all on one app. Previously we were using like 3 different apps to try to track everything...and only if we remembered to log it! Lumi automatically tracks diaper changes and sleep - so when I fall asleep at night and forget to note when Ollie fell asleep, Lumi has it all down for me. I have especially loved that the sleep tracker uses Bluetooth so I can get all of that data live when I take Ollie to my office, running errands, etc. It’s a baby monitor no matter where I am!
The HD camera is heads and shoulders above our previous video monitor. With our old video monitor, the video feed would freeze or buffer and the image wasn’t crisp...and I could only access it if the app was open. The Lumi video feed is high quality, doesn’t freeze or buffer...AND I can keep the sound running on my phone even if I switch apps or the phone goes to sleep!
We are still working on establishing a firm day routine - Ollie is only 3 months old and still hates naps, but the Lumi app is helping me start to see patterns in her activity so I can better anticipate when to feed and when to nap. It also does a great job of aggregating her daily diaper, feeding and sleep data at a glance, so when we go to the pediatrician’s office and have to answer their questions, I don’t need to rely on memory or check the 3 apps I used to use.
Bonus - Developmental Info With The Wonder Weeks!
The Lumi app is also helping me prepare for her developmental milestones - I've loved using the Insights section to see how Ollie's brain is changing with perception and motor skills (neuroscience nerd, remember?). Most recently, the 12 week info gave me a heads up about how Ollie's behavior would likely change and why...before it changed! Preparation & data are my love languages.
If you’re interested in purchasing a Lumi system of your own, you can 15% off using the code ELYSE15 upon checkout!
I hope everytime you look in the mirror you smile like this at yourself.
I hope you don’t poke & prod & nitpick what you see.
I hope you always see what a miracle you are.
At church today they talked about good/bad examples and my thoughts turned to you. Because I wasn’t a great example for years before you were born. I poked & prodded myself. I starved myself. I took diet pills that wrecked havoc on my body. Loathing my body, wishing I looked totally different...consumed my thoughts. None of my accomplishments had any meaning bc I still didn’t look the way I wanted.
I want a different life for you. I want you to walk through life fearlessly & boldly. I am working everyday to cast off my bad thinking patterns and develop my own self love & acceptance, so I can set the best example for you.
So instead of deleting this picture bc of my double chin, round torso, giant forearms and claw hand, I am keeping it so I can tell you someday about the fun time we had making faces in the mirror at church*
So here’s to a lifetime of mirror selfies together. Never stop smiling ❤️❤️❤️
I hope you don’t poke & prod & nitpick what you see.
I hope you always see what a miracle you are.
At church today they talked about good/bad examples and my thoughts turned to you. Because I wasn’t a great example for years before you were born. I poked & prodded myself. I starved myself. I took diet pills that wrecked havoc on my body. Loathing my body, wishing I looked totally different...consumed my thoughts. None of my accomplishments had any meaning bc I still didn’t look the way I wanted.
I want a different life for you. I want you to walk through life fearlessly & boldly. I am working everyday to cast off my bad thinking patterns and develop my own self love & acceptance, so I can set the best example for you.
So instead of deleting this picture bc of my double chin, round torso, giant forearms and claw hand, I am keeping it so I can tell you someday about the fun time we had making faces in the mirror at church*
So here’s to a lifetime of mirror selfies together. Never stop smiling ❤️❤️❤️
*after we had to run out of the chapel bc you screamed while your dad was blessing sacrament 😜
(That picture of Ollie sticking her tongue out at herself 🥰🥰🥰 Happy Sunday friends!)
(The 1 picture that made the cut for our holiday card bc Ollie wasn’t crying in it 🙃🙃🙃)
We’ve been road tripping back to Utah the last 2 days - I’m sad our holiday break is officially over but PUMPED to reset for the new year.
My favorite thing about the long drive from Oregon to Utah every January is being able to game plan the new year with Zach. Long stretches of uninterrupted time allow us to internally reflect and then talk honestly about our highs & lows of the previous year, pain points, hopes for the new year and ideas of how to make it all happen! We go over all the big areas of our life: marriage, parenting, finances/saving, spiritual, career, health and travel/fun.” - some areas have a few items, others have long lists.
We abandoned traditional “resolutions” years ago - trying to be perfect and hit some checklist everyday/week/month wasn’t working for my mental health. Instead, we choose a word or intention for the year, with most of our hopes and plans pointing us in that direction.
In 2019 the word was VIBRANT, all about movement and progression (2018 felt very beige!). While we hoped for a baby, we knew it wasn’t realistic...but then Ollie showed up and totally made 2019 a vibrant year!
In 2020 I want to focus on DISCOMFORT. That sounds bad, but I mean casting off the self-created shackles & habits that are comfy, but limit progression. Ex - lots of screen time, oversleeping, ignoring opportunities that seems scary or out of reach, not attending social functions bc of anxiety, etc. I want to be more fearless & confident this year - at work, as a wife, as a mom, online. I want to be as present as possible with Ollie, not scrolling or binging. I want to reach out to new friends, unafraid of judgement & rejection.
So cheers to a new year, new hopes, and seeing what's waiting outside our comfort zone!