baby Archives - Jessica Mandujano

Healthy Lactation Cookies

Posted on August 2, 2017 by jessicamandujano

All of us nursing mamas know that supply is everything! Some of us (gasp) want to get in shape and lose the baby weight but it can be a struggle to maintain supply while doing that. I was having a little trouble with supply and I started looking up ways to increase it. Lactation Cookies kept popping up but one thing I noticed was that I couldn’t find any healthy lactation cookies recipes. I tried a recipe that I loved, I played with it a bit and I adjusted it to make me feel better about incorporating them into my diet. Are they extremely healthy? Well, no. But they are healthier than what I was making and I think they are a good start! **affiliate links Read More

What They Don’t Tell You About Having a Baby

Posted on April 13, 2017April 20, 2017 by jessicamandujano

There’s a lot of things you’re mentally prepared for before bringing your precious bundle of joy into the world and mainly it’s the pain of giving birth. Yes, giving birth is no walk in the park, it hurts! I had an epidural with my first pregnancy but this time it all happened so quickly that I chose to go all natural. And yes, it really does hurt. But there are other things that happen during labor and after giving birth that you may not hear about. So here you go, what they don’t tell you about having a baby: The bleeding afterward! Holy cow! How do I still have that much blood left?! Where is it coming from? Am I dying? Tummy Massage. Don’t get it Read More

Dilated at 35 Weeks, this is not a drill ?

Posted on January 24, 2017January 24, 2017 by jessicamandujano

I had a routine checkup today with my doctor and while I was there also had my Group B Strep Test, my doctor asked if I’d like to go ahead and have my cervix examined. Sure, why not? Come to find out I’m dilated at 3 cm ? wait, what? What does that mean? My doctor said it basically meant that I was off to a good start and if I have signs of labor “just head on over to labor and delivery”. Oh my gosh. This is not a drill. I’m not ready! I’ll admit I panicked quite a bit right away, I mean we are still 5 weeks away, I’m supposed to have more time! After the hubby and I went to lunch and Read More

Monkey See ?, Monkey Do ?. Why organization is so important to me now, more than ever!

Posted on November 6, 2016December 22, 2016 by jessicamandujano

Finding out that I’m having a daughter has really had a strange effect on me. I was NOT expecting to have daughter, for some reason I had it in my head that I was going to have a little army of boys – my very own personal bodyguards! I was already planning all the things my boys would do together, what their rooms would look like, the sports they’d play together…it was just obvious to me, I’d have boys only. But then I heard the ultrasound tech say “It’s a girl” and I was completely floored. It took me a few days to process and probably an entire week to even let myself get excited. But in that week I started thinking “what can I Read More

Today Was Tough

Posted on November 6, 2016November 6, 2016 by jessicamandujano

Since my son was born we’ve had our share of doctor appointments, ER visits, I mean we spent 13 days in the NICU. But today, today was tough. As I mentioned in a previous blog post I kept hearing a click in my little mans hips and our pediatrician referred us to an Orthopedic Specialist. I was really nervous going in to that appointment, I didn’t want to hear what they were going to tell me and I didn’t want to see any x-rays. Turns out my guy has some hip problems. Hip Dysplasia, well super early hip dysplasia. Basically if we don’t take steps to actively help him now he could have full on hip dysplasia when he gets older. His sockets are shallow, his Read More

Play Time!

Posted on September 30, 2016November 5, 2017 by jessicamandujano

One of the things I love about my house, the hardwood floors!! One thing I dislike, having my son play (and fall) on those hardwood floors. I’ve been using blankets, usually 2-3 depending on the thickness, so that he can be comfortable on the floor and it seemed to solve the problem. Finally I started using an old down comforter folded lengthwise and an old queen size duvet also folded lengthwise and that was really perfect for his playtime. What wasn’t so perfect was the hassle of setting it out every morning, putting it away every night (that duvet is freakin heavy!) and if he spit up or spilled juice on it then guess what I had to clean the whole thing. I was getting Read More

Happy Reading

Posted on September 21, 2016November 5, 2017 by jessicamandujano

I LOVE BOOKS! And now that I’m a Mom I LOVE buying Joaquin books! Lucky for me Costco has an amazing inventory of kids books at such affordable prices. Best thing about it, I don’t ever feel like I’m wasting money on books! A few days ago I headed to Costco all by myself, it was seriously like I was on a mini vacation! My Mom was at home with my little man so I literally had all the time in the world to just browse and sip my decaf Pumpkin Spice Latte ?? Yes that is literally my life now, don’t judge me. But anyways…I started looking at the books because I really wanted to start working on ABC’s with my little guy. What Read More

Big Boy Food

Posted on May 3, 2016 by jessicamandujano

Joaquin is now a year old! Still having a hard time wrapping my mom brain around that lol But it became pretty clear that I needed to start feeding him accordingly. I could tell he was getting tired of pears every morning so I knew I needed to switch things up. The problem was what? We haven’t had the best experience with apples and he definitely has some digestive issues…for a minute I even considered buying him already made food because I just wasn’t sure what to feed him! Alex and I took a trip to the Co-Op at the Village to check out their produce and I meandered over to their baby food section, prepared to convince Alex that we needed to just buy some. After I Read More

Our Late Night Trip To The ER

Posted on March 18, 2016March 18, 2016 by jessicamandujano

We made it exactly 11 months without having to make an emergency trip to the ER. Minus the two weeks spent in the NICU and the ongoing constipation issue, Joaquin has been (knock on wood) pretty healthy. We’ve had a few different cases of the cold at home since he was born but nothing affected him. Maybe he built up some immunity while he lived at the NICU for the first two weeks of his life or maybe I’m just that good at disinfecting 🙂 either way, we’ve been lucky. But yesterday we had to do it, we took a family trip to the ER at midnight. My stepson was prepared with his tablet, charger and a book…way to plan ahead! Alex, who had been Read More

No Picasso Necessary

Posted on March 2, 2016March 2, 2016 by jessicamandujano

No Picasso necessary in our house! One day way back when I was pregnant, my then 10 year old, now 11 year old, niece Makayla brought over a picture she drew for her little unborn cousin. When I saw it I couldn’t believe how much time she must have spent on it, she said it was just some cars on a hill – well each little car had exhaust coming out, all of the wheels had rims, the cars had lights, the streets had lanes, I just couldn’t believe she drew this for a baby she hadn’t even met! My pregnancy hormones kicked in and I just knew right away that I had to save it and put it up in his room. Well, I Read More