ashleyd /

Taking 30 Minutes For Me

image

Now, more than ever, I’ve found that taking 30 minutes to relax and rejuvenate each day allows me to be the best version of myself. I was told by multiple parents that it’d be hard, especially during these first few months, to find time to do much more than shower each day but, if possible, take 30 minutes to invest in myself. I took this advice to heart, and thanks to Bo’s support, have been able to enjoy at least 30 minutes each day the past few weeks to relax and disconnect. This is the one time each day when I allow myself to be free of a to-do list, any household chores and just indulge in my favorite things.  After seeing a few other people share their self-love or self-care routines, I thought it’d be fun to share mine.

By 9:30 most nights Katie is fast asleep in her bassinet and I am able to transition my mind to relaxation. I head downstairs and pour myself a glass of wine, before going back into our bedroom. I often reach for an oaky Chardonnay or a fruity Pinot Noir and am working my way through the bottles we bought during our Babymoon in California. Once I’m back upstairs, I light my favorite Diptyque candle and then change into something more comfortable. After wearing a nursing bra and clothes that are nursing-friendly but not necessarily the most feminine or flattering, I spend my nights in something a bit more feminine. When Lively offered to send me a pair of set of their matching bra and underwear, I laughed, thinking that there could be no worse time to offer lingerie to a woman. In fact, I dreaded taking them out of the bag, fearing the way my post baby body would feel in the black bra and underwear. Much to my surprise, I’ve started wearing them multiple nights a week as the silky, soft bra and underwear set is feminine but comfortable. The bralette is a perfect sleeping bra while the mesh trim makes it more fun than anything else in my drawer. Want to try Lively? You can use code AMB-healthyhappier to receive $10 off your order! 

The next order of business is trying to get my skin in order with a combination of brightening potions. A few nights a week I apply the Beauty Counter Brightening Face Mask while the other nights I apply the Brightening Facial Oil followed with a night moisturizer and eye cream. While I’d love to use one of the many stronger brightening products (specifically Rodan+Fields Reverse) you all recommended, most of them aren’t recommended for use during breast feeding due to the retinol. If you have another recomendation, please let me know as I’m tired of this pregnancy mask! I have also started using a moisturizing hand cream each night since the daily bottle scrubbing has started to wreak havoc on my hands.

Finally, I squeeze in 15 to 30 minutes of reading before going to sleep. While I initially found myself reading parenting and baby books, I have decided to switch gears and save those for daytime while my evening reading is strictly reading for pleasure. The stack of books next to my bed is embarassing and clearly points to a naive new mom who thought she’d spend all her nursing hours reading, only to realize that her baby currently requires two hands to hold and cuddle while nursing.  These are the books I’ve renewed multiple times at the library and am finally finding time to read now that Katie’s sleep is allowing me this nightly routine.

What books are you loving right now? What is part of your self-care routine?

Share Button
Follow:
ashleyd /

Baby Diamond–Week 39

 

Ashley 6.18.17
Happy Tuesday! It is hard to believe that this is most likely the last pregnancy recap I will write since I’m currently 40 weeks and 1 day pregnant. This journey has been incredible and unlike anything I could have ever expected. I have so many thoughts regarding my pregnancy experience, but I am going to wait and share all my thoughts after Baby Girl Diamond has arrived. I am so thankful that overall it has been a very healthy pregnancy with only a few hiccups of excitement along the way. While I know that the average first child comes at 41 weeks and 1 day, I have a feeling that Baby Girl Diamond will come a little bit before that. In fact, Bo and I both keep saying that we think this Wednesday would be a great option! I kicked off the day with what is most likely my last Orangetheory Fitness class before Baby Girl arrives and am now staying busy by finishing a few more final work projects, blogging, cleaning, and going through my hospital bag one last time.

Let’s dive into the latest and greatest details of this pregnancy, focused on how I felt last week, June 11th through June 17th during Week 39 of pregnancy.

Baby Size: As of Week 39 Baby Girl has plumped up and is around 7.5 pounds and over 20 inches long. Her brain is still developing each day and she can flex her limbs already! She was extremely active all week, especially during the afternoon and loved moving from one side to the other side, never settling in the middle.

Weight Gained: As of last week’s 39 week doctor appointment, I have gained 33 pounds, some of which could be water weight due to the extreme Summer heat.

Symptoms:  Last week, I started to feel discomfort on a more consistent basis. Sitting in chairs grew so uncomfrotable that I finally borrowed a neighborhood mom’s stability/exercise ball to use during the day and in the evening. Sitting on the ball provided immediate pelvic and rib cage/upper back relief, where I was feeling the most pain. Towards the end of the week, I started to feel some pretty severe Braxton Hicks in my upper abdominable region, but no true contractions yet. I took lots of warm showers and enjoyed another prenatal massage to relieve some of the tension and pain. During both my doctor’s visits last week my blood pressure was in the healthy range as were all my other lab results.

Workouts: My doctor continues to reinforce the benefits of staying active, as long as the activities are workouts that I’ve done throughout pregnancy and are indoors with sufficient air conditioner and fans. Based on this, last week I swam once, did one prenatal yoga class, two prenatal pilates class at Aline Pilates and two Orangetheory workouts. Based on how I was feeling, I actually hopped back on the treadmill as incline walking, at a slower pace, felt better than bike this week. Swimming was harder cardio-wise but still felt amazing. I kept my pace slower and shortened my workout to 30-minutes and then spent 15 minutes doing some gentle exercises in the pool as well as pool walking/jogging. My doctor attributed the increased difficulty to the baby’s position and pressure on my ribs and lung area.

Cravings: As soon as the hot weather went away, so did my ice cream craving. Last week I found myself eating more normally, having yogurt bowls for breakfast most days, salads or sandwiches for lunch and enjoying dinner since my stomach had a bit more room due to the baby dropping. Bo and I actually went out three nights in a row, which is very unusual for us. We decided it was time to enjoy some last-minute date nights since we didn’t know how soon Baby Girl Diamond would arrive. It was so fun to just laugh and chat with him over a few casual meals including Mexican and burgers. It wasn’t until yesterday, when the heat returned, that I craved ice cream and fresh fruit ALL day!

Food Aversions: After drinking La Croix throughout my entire pregnancy, I started to crave infused tap water last week versus sparkling water. I made lemon water and lime water most days, trying to ensure I stayed well-hydrated.

Sleep: Last week continued to be tough as I couldn’t get comfortable. In fact, only one night did I sleep “well” while the other nights I found myself tossing and turning, waking up multiple times not only to use the bathroom but just to move into a more comfortable position. I continued to experiment with different pillow configurations each night, one night using all our guest bedroom pillows and our pillows to find support and relief.

Wearing: Last week I think I wore and washed my black dress five days though I tried to keep things fun by changing my accesories. Otherwise, I rotated through the same clothes and shoes as last week.

Other Random Thoughts, i.e work and blogging after baby: Last week marked my last full work-week before maternity leave. While I love my company and my role, I am looking forward to investing 4.5 months with our new bundle of joy. My company, Procter & Gamble, provides 16 weeks of paid leave while employees have the opportunity to take longer, unpaid. At this point, my plan is to return to work on November 1st, which will be about 4.5 months after Baby Girl Diamond arrives. While things are a work in progress, I will most likely still work from home most of the time. We are still working through options in regards to child care but our goal is to do a nanny share with one of the many couples we know who have either just had a child or are expecting in the next few weeks.  In regards to blogging, my plan is to continue blogging while I’m on maternity leave though the frequency will be based on how much time I have. My number one priority will of course be our growing family but I look forward to sharing so much with you all.

Want more frequent updates? Be sure to follow me on Instagram and Insta Stories for daily updates!

Share Button
Follow:
ashleyd /

Four Tips To Work More Effectively

four tips to work more effectively

A few readers have emailed me asking for tips on working from home. As many of you all know, since moving back to New York in July 2015, I work from home 80% of the time. I’m lucky that my company has a terrific office in a WeWork space near Union Square, but I tend to only work there once a week. Due to pregnancy discomfort, last week was the first time in ages that I’ve worked from home every day. Even though I had two very urgent work projects I needed to complete, I had a hard time focusing. Between Baby Girl Diamond’s upcoming arrival and the nesting instinct, my mind was racing constantly.

I leveraged these four steps to help work more effectively last week, even when I had a number of distractions. In no time I was able to make my way through my to-do list and immediately felt a weight lift off my chest. They can be used together or alone but I found that when used together, I was able to power through my to-do list and work far more efficiently. Whether you work from home or in an office, hopefully, you’ll find at least a few of these tips helpful and applicable.

TURN ON A TIMER

If I know I have a time limit, I find that I work more effectively during that time period. Last week I set a time for 60 minutes and focused on my primary task during that time. After each 60 minute block, I allowed myself a few minutes to check email, go to the bathroom or stretch. Some people prefer the Pomodoro Technique, which is a technique that trains your brain to focus by breaking the work into short, timed 25- minute intervals.  While this may work for certain projects, for the task I was working on last week, I found longer intervals to be more effective. I set my iPhone timer to 60 minutes and then, turned it over and worked until the buzzer rang.

GET RID OF EXCUSES

Before setting your timer, make sure to get rid of any excuses to take a break. If you’re like me, when I’m distracted I can easily find 10 other things that need to be done instead of the task at hand. Before setting my timer I refilled my water, grabbed a quick snack, and went to the bathroom.

CREATE A CALM SPACE

This can be easier said than done, especially if you work in an office setting, but try to bring some calm energy to your work environment. I opened my shades to allow natural light to shine through the windows, lit my favorite candle and turned on a chill playlist on Spotify. If you work in an office, bring calm to your work environment could mean putting on noise canceling headphones, taking a few deep breaths or even doing a few minutes of guided meditation before diving into the project.

TURN OFF DISTRACTIONS

Our computers and phones are wonderful tools but they can also be very distracting. Whether it’s the Outlook pop-up window that shows you when you get new mail, a gChat ping from a friend or an internal messaging system that allows co-workers to ping you throughout the day all of these can be very distracting when you’re trying to focus. Before starting my timer, I closed out of Google Chat, Microsoft Lync, and Microsoft Office so I wouldn’t be distracted by incoming messages or pings from co-workers or friends. Next, after setting my 60-minute alarm on my iPhone, I actually put my cell phone in my desk drawer. I personally found this tip to be so effective that I’ve found myself turning off my distractions for at least a few hours each day this week.

I would love to hear your tips for working more effectively, especially if you work from home like me.

Share Button
Follow: