Bringing Baby Along
I’m sure most postpartum moms can relate that the need for self-care is real! There’s so many appointments that you fall behind on when you’re in the newborn trenches (bubble). My partner works all weekdays and we don’t have any family in town. Hiring a babysitter could be possible… but I’m still too attached to Hayes to leave him with a stranger. With all of that, my options were either a) ask clay to take time off work, or b) bring him along!
This blog also serves as a mini guide of postpartum appointments that will help you get back to feeling your best.
In each instance, I called or messaged the salon / technician in advance to ask if it was okay to bring Hayes and if they could accommodate. Every single person said yes and was so sweet about it!
Japanese Head-Spa Treatment… words won’t do justice but WOW. I wasn’t sure what it would entail but I had heard good things. The sensation of the small streams of water across your scalp will have the tension washing right off you. My scalp felt cleaner than it’s ever felt in my life.
Pedicure and Manicure. Naturally, the pedicure was much easier because I was able to hold him, breastfeed, and change his positions. Before we got started on my hands, the nail tech let me change his diaper in the eyebrow room and let him sprawl out a little bit. All was going great until we got to the manicure. Rightfully, he was kind of over it at this point so he was pretty squirmy. The nail tech had to do one hand at a time and worked quickly to get us through.
Next time I will make some modifications to make it easier for everyone.
I won’t book both a pedicure and manicure back to back. I’ll do one at a time.
I will bring his stroller or car seat so he can hang out there during. (I would have brought his stroller but I actually did this when I was in Tulum and I only had the wrap carrier)
Skin Tag Removal. During pregnancy, I got a bunch of skin tags in my armpits. Apparently this is pretty common but I personally was not a fan. I have tons of moles and those don’t bother me, but my skin tags were raised and I didn’t like how they looked. I found a place in Amsterdam that would remove all of them in one session. Hayes sat right on my lap during the process. It was quite uncomfortable getting them removed, so honestly he was a good distraction! His presence reminded me that he is worth all the sacrifices.
Hair Salon. Once again, he just sat on my lap during the whole appointment. I was so proud of him for not being afraid of the blow dryer. The hair stylist was actually pregnant herself so we bonded and it was a really wholesome hour!
Marketing Events. When I was back in Omaha, I had multiple activities at my shop that I needed to do but since I’m exclusively breastfeeding on demand, it would have been impossible to coordinate all of these meetings with unexpected feeding times. For these though, my mom did come and held him most of the time when I was with a customer so I could use both hands. He was there for a video shoot, a staff bonding party, painting and hanging new mirrors, re-organizing, a matcha pop up and more. So fun!
Dentist and Government Appointments. I don’t have photos of everywhere he’s been with me but now that we have the stroller, he’s coming along any chance I get! I love involving him and narrating our days. I think it’s helping making him more resilient.