ashleypajor

2020 is a weird year. A year that has been a whirlwind for so many people. For me, 2020 was a weird and complicated year. In January I got pregnant and I thought 2020 was going to be great. Then came March and Covid 19. I got scared, like many people. Scared for myself and for my growing baby boy. Thankfully I was able to work from home full time, so I spent months in the house. My job as a counselor is stressful as is, and it usually impacts my mental health. But having to dive into the world of telehealth so suddenly was crazy! Plus so many of my clients were beginning to struggle. A lot of them lost their jobs, some found themselves still working and being in the line of Covid. There was so much going on for my clients, and for me. It was a struggle to try and manage my 100+ person caseload via phone and Zoom. I had to go to doctors appointments alone for my pregnancy because my husband couldn’t attend them with me. Mental health is something that is important for everyone to addres...

This is the definition of postpartum:  of or noting the period of time following childbirth; after delivery. Such a simple definition for something so complicated.  For some women the physical part of postpartum is the hardest. For others it’s the mental and emotional part of postpartum. For some women it’s everything.  I call myself one of the lucky ones when it comes to the physical part of postpartum. I was lucky enough to have a short labor, an easy delivery, minimal tearing, and avoided the c-section. I remember sitting in the hospital and the nurses kept coming in and asking me how my pain was. I was confused because I didn’t have a lot of pain. I wasn’t sure if it was still the epidural in my system or what. I remember thinking to myself, well it feels like a baby just came out of my vagina but that’s normal. LOL! Over the course of the next few weeks I was uncomfortable but was never in any real pain. I bounced back really quickly. Everyone that saw me had told me...

Throughout my whole pregnancy I kept hoping and wishing that little man would be a champion breast feeder right from the jump. I had this vision of breastfeeding him and pumping to have a supply when I got back to work. Well I got my wish, he was a champ from the start. A great latch, no pain, just a great experience from the start. About 2 weeks later, it was exhausting but still worth it. But being the only one who could feed and comfort him was taking its toll on me and my husband. I started to pump at about 3 weeks so that he could have 1 bottle a day, at night so that daddy could help more. When I started pumping it got even more exhausting. I would feed Caleb and then try to pump an hour later, but then I wouldn’t have enough when Caleb was hungry again. Leading to a fussy baby and frustrated parents. No matter how I tried, my supply wasn’t building. I tried breastfeeding exclusively more, lactation supplements, power pumping, and nothing. Very soon I couldn’t keep up with Caleb’...