by: Kate, new NutriChem Mom

 

 

[This is Part 2 of the series called From Bump to Baby, and Everything in Between! that outlines a NutriChem Mom's guide to the best products at each step of her pregnancy journey.]

 

By the end of the series, you'll have learned about:

[Part 1]  The Belly! (The 8 Products That Will Revolutionize Your Pregnancy)

[Part 2]  The Bag! (Pack a Delivery Room Bag That New Moms Everywhere Will Wish They’d Packed)

[Part 3]  The Body! (Post-Pregnancy “Fun” Times: Help for Breastfeeding, Scarring, and GI Issues)

[Part 4]  The Baby! (The 11 Products for Baby that You Won’t Want To Leave Home Without)

 

 

 

Hello again! My name is Kate, and I am now about to be a third time mom and I have a two year old and four year old daughters. This blog series started so that I could share the information from my own journey with other expectant or new parents; my hope is that reading it will help you in your own journey “from belly to baby”. I like to think of these lists of “Kate’s Favourite Things” to be like the parenting equivalent of Oprah’s Favourite Things.

 

Remember: as you’re reading about these products that helped me have a healthy and safe pregnancy that everyone is different. What was right for me might not be right for you! I, and all staff at NutriChem, urge you to consult your health care provider or baby’s health care provider before using any of these supplements or products. I checked with my OBGYN and my ND for myself: you should too!

 

 

Kate’s Fave Six: Must-Have Products For Your Delivery Room Bag (Wherever That May Be!)

 

I must have read a million blogs to ensure that I packed the perfect hospital bag, but ultimately I really only used a handful of the things I'd packed. I am not packing my hospital bag for the THIRD time and I still had to pull up this list! As you can see in the blog image, I had 3 bags!!! It’s all good to be over-prepared, but honestly you don’t want to be searching through an entire bag of clutter to locate one solitary hair tie in a desperate time of need. Below are some of my favourite items that I was very happy to have on hand. In addition, I actually keep many of these products in my diaper bag or in an overnight baby bag for when we travel!

 

 

A Natural Hand Sanitizer Spray

With with all the visitors wanting to hold your newborn and being a new paranoid Mom, hand sanitizer is a must! I brought this lovely spray in my bag and just kindly spritzed my visitors’ hands before letting them hold my fresh baby. (True story: my daughter didn’t even get her first cold until she was 11.5 months old and started attending daycare.)

 

Throat Lozenges 

Hospitals are so dry! I combatted this by keeping these honey lozenges within reach. They are 99.5% honey with a little bit of menthol and eucalyptus. I didn’t end up needing them but my husband was a big fan, and they moved to my diaper bag after. *Note: you need to be careful with honey for risk of botulism with newborns. I did not take these once I started breastfeeding.

 

NutriChem Organic Lip Love Lip Balm

This is made right at NutriChem in Ottawa! We use local beeswax from Kemptville, organic coconut oil, vitamin E, and natural flavoring in this soothing lip balm. I love it so much that I have about 40 of them in various coat pockets, purses, and spots around my house. My favorite is the Apple flavour, and my lips were so dry in the hospital that I applied this almost hourly.

 

Mints 

After each cordon bleu hospital meal or before we had visitors, it was easy to pop one of these all-natural and sugar free mints to feel a little bit more glamorous in my pjs.



Pssssst.... Here's an actual picture of one of my actual hospital meals. YUCK! How do they expect new moms to feed themselves and their new baby (or babies, for multiples!) on this kind of food that is comforting and (momentarily) filling yet devoid of nutrients?! See my next product recommendation for how I solved that problem...

 

Protein Bars!

Only you, not your husband, get meals at the hospital and those meals are not the greatest. With breastfeeding a newborn what seemed like every 4 minutes, I was starving and these bars tasted great and filled me up! This is my favorite flavour, but I basically had about 10 of these in my bags at the hospital. I also kept a few on hand in my diaper bag for when I got hungry or didn't have time to eat lunch (sadly this happened more than I would like to admit). As well I gave birth to my second at 11:20 pm and left the hospital at 2:30am not a lot of other food options!

 

Nursing Nipple Salve!

A few days home from the hospital, I took my daughter to a wonderful breastfeeding clinic at Mothercraft Ottawa where I discovered that she wasn’t latching properly. With her improper latch, my nipples felt like they were about to fall off. This salve was a great relief to my poor nipples. It contains 100% pure certified organic plant oils, and has no bee, soy or petroleum products. Just remove any excess before nursing.

 

 

A ~freebie~ checklist! (Woohoo!)

 

Here is a fantastic ~freebie~ just for you! It’s a list of items that will actually be useful in your own delivery room bag, with nothing useless included. It's the kind of comprehensive list that I wish I'd had while I was doing my own research!

 

Just click the image below to access it full size:

 

 

 

Well, I hope you found this post (and the freebie!) useful in your own pregnancy journey! Make sure to tune in every week in April to read another installment of this series! As a reminder, I consulted my health care practitioners before I used any of these products. Please consult with your health care provider or baby’s health care provider to see if any of these supplements or products are right and safe for you!

 

 

Coming up next week

 

In Part 3, I will tell you exactly what products helped me with lots of post-delivery issues, from GI troubles to breastfeeding conundrums!

 

If you have any questions about any of these supplements, products or services, please leave me a comment below, or call the fantastic staff at NutriChem!

 

 

Missed a post in this series? Catch up here!

 

[Part 1]  The Belly! (The 8 Products That Will Revolutionize Your Pregnancy)

[Part 2]  The Bag! (Pack a Delivery Room Bag That New Moms Everywhere Will Wish They’d Packed)

[Part 3]  The Body! (Post-Pregnancy “Fun” Times: Help for Breastfeeding, Scarring, and GI Issues)

[Part 4]  The Baby! (The 11 Products for Baby that You Won’t Want To Leave Home Without)

 

 

 

 

Contest Alert!!!

 

 

YOU COULD WIN THESE PRODUCTS! (1 gift basket, over $200 value)
~Products for pregnancy, new parenthood, and baby~

 

These products are featured in our “From Bump to Baby” blog series throughout the month of April!

 

Here’s how to enter: