Busy Business

I don't believe I've ever posted about work on this blog. It won't happen often. I like to keep this as a personal blog, not work-related. But in case you didn't know, I am a Registered Dietitian.

I have a lot of nutrition ventures happening right now. I am very excited about it all and thought I'd share. If you choose to engage, that would be awesome.

There are two main reasons that I would even post about this and why I'm so excited. One is that these businesses would allow me to be a stay-at-home mom while still making an income and being a Dietitian. Two professions I love. I'm always wanted to stay home with my kids but did not know how that would look. It seems this may be an answer. The other reason is because I do truly want people to live healthy lives, and I have the knowledge, expertise, and tools to help people do just that.

I believe word of mouth goes a long way, so even if you do not need the services right now, please keep it in mind and share as you see fit.

My newest adventure is an Etsy shop called NutritionRx. I am selling recipe books! These books won't break the bank, and you will not have seen these recipes before, I guarantee it. If you want to give your palette something to talk about or need a unique gift, this is for you. Each recipe is geared to increase nutrient intake, tips and tricks included, a comprehensive nutrition facts label, and beautiful photos. Several books are out, including breakfast, lunch, or dinner with five ingredients or less and prepared in 20 minutes or less; holiday entrees, sides, appetizers, and desserts - individually or a 4-in-1 book; one for your muffin tin, not just baked goods but savory recipes for a meal or snack, too; a book packed with just salads; and a 3 week meal plan filled with recipes, shopping list, prep guide, and more. The plan is to make more books, so keep coming back to the shop! Be sure to scroll down to "more from this shop" from this link. https://www.etsy.com/listing/1359350423/holiday-affair-new-recipes-to-love

I have an online consulting business called Nutrition Prescription LLC. If you can take the out-of-pocket expense and need general nutrition advice, this is the option for you. I provide many different programs, such as no added sugar and mediterranean, while also offering nutrition consults on any topic you desire with many different schedules, such as weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. All of this is virtual unless you are in my Georgia area and would like the kitchen makeover or a grocery store tour. https://www.nutritionprescriptionllc.com/

Lastly, I have an online nutrition consulting job through Dietitians on Demand. They are a nationwide, reputable company that connects dietitians to facilities in need and has now expanded for individuals to be connected to a dietitian, too. If your insurance allows nutrition counseling and/or you need specific nutrition counseling (like diabetes, renal, or cardiovascular), this is the option for you. There are several packages at different price points to choose from and you will not be pressured for a larger than needed package, I guarantee it. Be sure to ask your insurance about covering Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT).  https://bit.ly/RDJessie

Talking with a non-fad diet, research-driven, lifestyle changes mentality Dietitian is extremely beneficial and can be as easy as two visits or as involved as over the course of a year. It depends on your needs, desires, and goals.

Don't fall for gimmicks, fads, pills, uncomfortable clothes, or anyone who doesn't have an RD credential behind their name.

The last thing I'll share to testify of potential benefits with Dietitian-lead nutrition services is a short story of a patient I worked with:

After working with a client for 8 months on diabetic management, she met her goals of lowering her A1c, getting off diabetic medications, and losing weight. We met for four sessions weekly then six sessions every other week and the remaining sessions monthly. This patient was able to lower her A1c from an 8% to a consistent 5% during our time together -- it was checked three times and was always at 5% after starting our sessions! The patient adhered to my guidance of making lifestyle changes and kept every appointment. She was taken off diabetic meds and loved everyone noticing her better-looking body after a little weight loss. From our sessions and her hard work between sessions, she not only met her goals but also had all questions answered, increased her energy, grew her knowledge of proper portion sizes, and gained a better understanding of how many carb choices to have per meal and snack, and more. She gratefully shared the steps of her success to all who asked!

Screenshot of Etsy shop

Aunt Jessie

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Typically low stress but all the same great food with family.

This Thanksgiving was pretty special because my whole immediate family was together, and it was by baby girls first! Not only that but I got to be Aunt Jessie for a while, a role I have not played for a very long time.

I also snagged the elusive nap. It was magical.

We met at my brother's house, who lives in Georgia. My grandma Lulu traveled with my parents to be there. Everyone pitched in to bring something or make something. In the midst of crazy work schedules, everyone was able to make the meal and spend the day together!

One of the few traditions my family has kept is to go around the table and say what we are thankful for, as you hold a leaf. The leaf indicates your turn to speak, though little ones definitely spoke out of order, haha! My brother's kids are 6 and 4 and they were both thankful for "baby cousin." :)

Aunt Jessie got to play with her niece and nephew outside, playing games and talking and laughing. Others watched football, played with the dogs, ate too much, sat and relaxed. Everyone held baby cousin. I felt I barely saw her, which was a refreshing break and a nice way to know she is so loved.

I am very blessed and praise God for all He has done. I hope you feel the same.

Napping with my niece.

The Current Worst

Motherhood isn't always rainbows and butterflies. Shocker. 

There's a lot of good, and I'm optimistic, so, I try to focus on those things. However, there is a downside. For me, the top three worst things are... Lack of sleep. Mommy brain. Different body.

I've never been good with lack of sleep, like never. I need 8-10 hours a night to feel normal and rested, I'm not a morning person, and I only remember pulling one all-nighter in all my schooling. I vividly remember my parents asking me all the time over the phone in college, grad school, and even well after that in life about whether or not I was getting enough sleep.

When baby girl was born and nursing, I think I got 2 hours of sleep at a time, max. I've been sleep deprived but this was a scary, new level. Even my husband, who can go with lack of sleep and still function and has had multiple horrible work schedules to mess with sleep, said this was a whole, new kind of exhaustion. And I was exhausted! I feel it got better for my husband a lot faster; I still feel tired most days, ha! 

I know, I know. Sleep when they sleep. Yet, sometimes that's hard to do or not possible.  

One side of me feels like one day it will magically get better but the other side of me synically thinks this is a strange and horrible new norm. 

I'd have to say this takes the cake. Being so tired to function well is no good for anyone.

Not only am I grouchy and short on patience, I'm also somewhat delirious and always hoping to catch some zzz's. Sometimes I'm unable to do what I need to be doing with baby, with work, with the house, with Blue, etc, etc. -- to clarify, unable to do all goals that I have set for myself for the day, not the basics for all involved to survive.

Thankfully, I missed the boat for postpartum depression. I feel for anyone who has had to go through that on top of everything else.

I simply did not and do not feel 100% myself for multiple reasons but lack of sleep was definitely high on the list of reasons. Looking back at July and August, I actually don't know how I got up and functioned except adrenaline, new mom mode, and God's grace.

My exhaustion definitely did not help my memory. I don't think I have that great of a memory anymore anyway but the new "mommy brain" is a trippy rollercoaster, lemme tell ya. I had "pregnancy brain" for just a couple episodes, I would say, but "mommy brain" is for real and most definitely here to stay. My husband will ask me something and I will have absolutely no idea what he is talking about because I don't remember, I didn't hear it, I didn't see it, or a combination of the above. It's kind of demoralizing and slightly worrisome but, by golly, I can hear her faint little cries from a mile away!

A super brief Google search on brain changes during or after pregnancy made it seem like it was a thing. I didn't want to go too far into the rabbit hole, so I'm just going to say that, in my experience, changes are real and evident.

I know hardly any sleep, cloudy thinking, and a very different body may seem obvious, especially to anyone who has had a kid. Still, there's some part of me that never truly understood until I went through it. 

I knew my body would change but now I'm still wondering if it will ever go back to being even a little bit like it was. Please God?! I have tried to get used to the copious amounts of hair loss that should have been collected to form a small wig and the bigger body parts of all the body parts, haha! Except my feet. My feet are still the only thing on my body that has not changed, which I am very thankful for especially since I read feet can change sizes due to the extra weight during pregnancy.

How did my friend say it? My body was hit with by semi truck or a freight train? Yes, just yes. And pushed out a tiny human! So, I need to heal. I'm trying to give myself grace. Hopefully things just take a little time to get back to my "normal." 

And, even if they don't, God blessed us with a baby girl. Worth it.

Nothing can be worse in her eyes! She wanted food 😂 and then took a better photo.

Notice she is sleeping, not me 😉

Nursing

Nursing is a little weird when you think about it too long but very beautiful.

Nursing is a designated time to feed my baby i.e. I sit by myself with a small human next to my chest.  And now that I've been nursing for 4 months, I'm pretty good at it and so is she. 

To be quite honest, I wish I was one of those nursing moms who was productive during that time or bettering oneself by reading a book or something. I'm not. I'm either closing my eyes trying to get sleep because I am exhausted or I'm on my phone looking at email, social media, photos, or whatever. On a rare occasion, I've been absorbed binging a show. But, more often than not, I'm in a very quiet environment which is conducive to thinking, putting pen to paper so to speak, reflecting, and more. It's great. 

Lately, I've been thinking of my Nana who passed a few days ago, thinking about my oldest brother Jordan who passed when I was 17, and thinking about my grandpa who passed almost 2 years ago now; they'll never know Kinsley in earth but I hope they meet in heaven one day. I also reflect on "being a good Mom" and what they would look like and about maybe being a grandparent myself someday.

Side note: I realize I spend way, way too much time on my phone. Never mind the fact that I'm currently speaking into the microphone to "write" this, ha! Another side note is I heard social media takes away your focus and how is that not true?! I am so focused on stuff that I don't need to be, like Facebook and Instagram, and I literally put my phone on a "focus mode" so I don't use them! First, I need to focus on my baby girl. Second, I need to focus on myself -- self-care and my work. Third, I need to focus on the rest of my family. Way more important things than watching all those Facebook videos :/

Back to nursing. I am so grateful that I am breastfeeding and able to do so. We haven't had too many issues after the first week that my milk was not quite in yet and she was not latching super well. After that, it's been pretty smooth sailing using a nipple shield! Praise God!

Baby girl is gaining weight well, communicating her need to feed, and sucking down that milk! I know some people get weird about breastfeeding and get heated about breastfeeding vs formula...  but I really enjoy it and know that baby girl is getting good stuff. That said, I did realize after having her that I am very connected to my choice of breastfeeding and would have been extremely disappointed if it had not been able to.

I had my baby girl and she immediately grabbed onto my breast seconds after being born and seemed to be doing fine, but then my milk wasn't coming in and she was having difficulty latching so we had to use donor milk. Which, by the way, I did not know the hospital had donor milk and I hadn't done a ton of research about it, but I was very thankful in the end that we chose to use it and that it was available. With my extra hormones and emotions and my desire to breastfeed, I was crying and getting anxious about the whole situation when things were going south. The bad thoughts I had didn't come true, in the end, thankfully.

It definitely was in that moment of not being able to feed her myself that I realized my very strong desire was to breastfeed and that I would have had trouble if I had to use formula. I was especially wanting her to at least get the colostrum, which was proving difficult. I knew breastfeeding and formula feeding are both very viable options, but now going through the experience, I would definitely approach someone differently and can more easily relate to someone wanting to breastfeed who might not be able to. Lord willing, I was able to do two of the most major concerns of mine: have a natural birth and be able to breastfeed.

I had several lactation consultants work with me and my baby over several sessions to fully breastfeed as we are today. I even used a life line and texted my Aunt, who is a lactation consultant. I ended up needing and using a nipple shield every feeding. You get used to it and you would not believe how many women tell me they also had to use one, too.

My goal is to breastfeed for at least a year as long as I am able and all goes well. It has been an adjustment but a good one. I have a lot more time sitting, which I'm not entirely used to from the past, but I'm enjoying the time with my baby.

My schedule is her schedule. I'm just the milkmaid, haha! I mean, providing milk at the exact desired moment was my sole job for several months as a full time, no pay gig. It doesn't feel as full-time now...

I'd say I'm an average to an above average employee for this job in most categories. Probably below average in one category: timing. My boss has definitely had meltdowns and ferocious screaming episodes when milk is not delivered at the exact moment wanted, which is usually after a nap with the only signal being a slight stir, 3 hours after the last feed, or when the noise sounding like "nay" comes out of her mouth. I've got about 5 seconds with each of those scenarios to get the baby to the breast before total frustration and meltdown mode ensue. There are just some days that I go 10 seconds and pay for it.

Overall, one of the best jobs I've had. Very rewarding; time to reflect; alone time per se; getting to a better work-life balance with time and practice; getting more sleep; and more good than bad days with a boss I love.

Momma

"Hi! It's Momma!" can be heard a lot in my house because it is my favorite phrase to say to my sweet girl right now :) There's a 95% success rate of getting a smile after saying it.

In fact, one of the best things about being a Mom is seeing my little one recognize me and then smile. It takes a second for recognition to kick in - little eyes searching, little wheels turning - but, then it does, and warmth and happiness flood over us both, I imagine.

The pure joy that spreads across her face is priceless and oh, so precious.

It's fun to watch her wiggle around and know she is learning. It's unique to have inclinations as to what she is thinking and needing when she can't even roll over yet, much less talk. It's neat to watch her grow, going from 5 pounds, 6 ounces to over 12 pounds currently. It's a reward to be able to breastfeed and provide her nutrients (p.s. I have a new found appreciation for my body; from birth to now, my body is incredible. God is so awesome to design me this way!). It's hilarious to see her breastfeed sometimes - pop off, look up, smile, pop back on haha! It's magical to be able to stay home and play with her and listen to all the cooing during the day.

Let's not forget the super cute outfits I get to put her in! Teenie tiny girl clothes are just too adorable.

Another "best" is almost unexplainable. The best thing about being a Mom is literally being a Mom. I just knew the instant she was born I was overjoyed and in love. And I had a new job and role.