Secret Agent Mom

Before both of my pregnancies, I would start a prenatal vitamin as part of my every day routine. Proper nutrition before conceiving is vital to help sustain and grow a healthy baby. My first pregnancy, I bought Walmart brand prenatals. At $4 a bottle, in the bag! Your typical pop and swallow pill. This was all fine and dandy until the gaggies rolled in with morning sickness. I was popping them every morning. But as my morning sickness increased, my vitamin intake decreased. If I DID get them down, I felt sick. My ob-gyn suggested switching from intake to evening intake. This helped, but there were still days where that lumpy pill wasn't making it past my throat.



With my second pregnancy, I tried a bunch of different ones. I tried Isotonix from Market America. It's in powder form that you mix with 2 ounces of water in a shot glass and shoot it down. It tasted like grapefruit. BLAH. I hate grapefruit! Add in an incredibly picky palette and it was disastrous. And I wasn't even pregnant yet! I quickly switched back to the horse pills from Walmart because anything was better than a shot of grape fruit on an empty stomach.



After 6 (long) months of trying, we have a positive pregnancy test! YAY!!! And same as last time, it wasn't too far into my pregnancy that I couldn't stomach getting pills down. I mentioned this at my ob-gyn appointment and they sent me home with Select-ob+DHA. A chewable prenatal similar to Flintstones but...not as tasty. The DHA gel pill was separate and huge so those never went down. It was about 3 weeks later that the IRON kicked in. I was SO constipated I was dry heaving every time my bowel would try to move food along....not to mention I was already gaggy to begin with. Coupled with not drinking enough water, I was the trifecta for...kidney stones. And I had one. It was the largest size a preggo could pass without medical intervention. I labored on that stone for EIGHT MISERABLE LONG DAYS. Three ER visits, one overnight and a week and a half off of work because I was tanked on pain killers that conked me out. At any moment I could go from fine and functioning to ZZZZZZzzzzz. :( NOT. FUN. I threw away any vitamins I had left and steered clear of iron like it was the plague. It took me a good two weeks to finally get somewhat turned around. I settled on taking Flintstones (chewable, decent taste with the immune system boost orange box) because I couldn't find anything else. I was tired of buying vitamins and throwing them away. If I didn't take the Flintstones, I knew my daughter would. No waste.



After birth, I still took a prenatal. I went back to the swallow ones...those got old. Finally tried the gummy prenatals...eh. They were ok. Ok enough that I bought two bottles worth and I have since ran out. Enter PreMama.



PreMama is a natural powdered supplement formulated to support preconception through post natal nutritional needs. No honking horse pills, the drink mix solution contains high-quality, clinically-studdied and physician-approved ingredients. The powder packets are designed to blend seamlessly with liquids and soft foods. Just mix and enjoy!



Ya'll had me at "No honking horse pills". For reals. So, I put PreMama Fertility Reproductive Support Supplement in a shaker with 12 ounces of Gatorade...there was no powder at the bottom of the cup. Not chalky. No funky taste. Nothing. No need to re-shake or stir. The next day, I added it to my morning blended breakfast shake with banana, rice milk and peanut butter...again, I noticed no difference in taste or consistency. A glass of apple juice? If someone would have mixed the glass for me and handed it to me without telling me PreMama powder was in it, I would have been none the wiser. WHERE was the magical potion while pregnant?!



I absolutely love that the PreMama line thinks of a woman from pre-conception all the way through lactation. There's Fertility support, Prenatal Essentials, Prenatal Essentials + DHA, and Lactation. All with the same wonderful powder packets, just add to 12 ounces of non-carbonated beverage, stir and bottoms up! No gagging, no chalky after taste. Just non-GMO, gluten-free, and vegan/vegetarian friendly supplements. PreMama was really sucking up to the first trimester preggos by putting in an extra dose of B6 to help ease morning sickness. Yay! Bonus round!

If you are looking for PreMama in the stores check out: CVS Pharmacy. If you love to shop online, direct your browser to: cvs.com, amazon.com, buybuybaby.com or check out the drinkpremama.com website.

OR   :D

You can enter to win your own box of PreMama Fertility containing 28 supplement packets. Contest ends September 15, 2015.


a Rafflecopter giveaway


**I was given this product to test. All opinions are my own.

There is nothing to compare how a woman feels when she takes a pregnancy test is and met with only one line. Every month, it's the same roller coaster: "I'm fertile, let's do this!" "Did we time it right this month?" "Did I ovulate for sure?" "Did we jeopardize any thing in the process?" "Am I pregnant?" "Was that a wave of morning sickness?" "Do I take the test 3 days early?" And then it's the dreaded one pink line. One. Lonely. Pink. Line.



If only wanting a baby was as easy as making your favorite dessert!

While baby making takes quite a bit more time in baking....there are certainly many different recipes that will achieve the same outcome :)

One of the most common and easy fixes is not having enough lubrication. User beware: Not ALL lubes are created equal. You may think you are giving the swimmers the boost in their flippers...when really it could be death by chemical warfare.



Astroglide TTC Trying to Conceive™ is a sperm friendly lubricant designed specifically in supporting fertility. With an all natural, water based solution giving sperm optimum mobility giving sperm a better chance of survival compared to traditional lubricants.


How it works:

When trying to conceive, it is vital to provide an environment where sperm has a chance of survival. Environmental conditions are affected by pH levels, osmolality (the concentration of substances like sodium and potassium) and the consistency of egg white cervical mucus. While traditional lubricants may affect these conditions and inhibit sperm motility, studies have shown that Astroglide TTC™ is compatible with sperm, oocytes and embryos and allows sperm to move freely.



Astroglide TTC™ comes in pre-filled applicators so it is easy to use and less messy because you don't have to fill them yourself. And at $12.99 for 8 applicators, it's the best value compared to any competitor.



For more product information.

You can find a list of retailers that sell Astroglide TTC™ here





Astroglide TTC™ sponsored this blog post. The opinions and text are all mine.






Astroglide TTC™ sponsored this blog post. The opinions and text are all mine

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While on maternity leave, I always felt guilty spending any money…even if it was for a necessity. Sure, I had 6 weeks paid leave, which was great, but I also took an additional 6 to max out my FMLA. This left us with 6 weeks unpaid leave, 6 weeks of watching our budget with a close eye. What was even was was all 12 weeks landed over October - December; prime gift buying season!



What if you could off set some of the income pressure simply by sharing your opinion, straight from your own couch? Sounds like a dream right? :) It sure is and it's one that you can achieve!

Enter Opinion Outpost which offers great rewards like cash via PayPal and Amazon.com Gift Cards. I don't know about you, but I am constantly ordering something from Amazon.com, whether for the kids or for the house. I can only find my baby Purex laundry detergent from Amazon.com. Not to mention the ease of having diapers, bottles and other baby necessities delivered straight to your door step! Yay for not having to juggle the baby, diaper bag, purse and purchases! Just for sharing your opinion there's also iTunes Gift Cards up for grabs to entertain your very active toddler when Mom just needs a break.

It's free to sign up and no credit card is needed. Simply create an account and the site will notify you when you have surveys to complete. The more you complete, the more you earn. Surveys can be taken anytime, which means whenever you have downtime (who isn't stuck to the couch breast feeding because that's where it is easiest to feed??) you can pop open your email and start sharing your opinions on popular and trending topics.

Every quarter you also have the ability to enter the $10,000.00 Quarterly prize drawing. You have to participate to enter!

Oh, PS….you should totally use some of this to spoil yourself! Us Mommas need it :)

Follow Opinion Outpost:
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Every winter, without fail, I am left trying to find a solution for fixing my dry skin on my face. Most notably, my forehead, nose and chin. I'm a T-zone oily face so I need something that will moisturize without leaving me looking like I took a dip in the tub of Vaseline. 



Enter Instanatural's Vitamin C Moisturizer. It's virtually scentless, I was thinking it would smell like a chewable vitamin c. Not so. It leaves my skin feeling supple without the grease pit that makes my makeup slide off. There are no parabens, dyes or any other processed junk in it. I was using Pond's lotion because it was the only one I could find minus the parabens. But hated dipping my fingers into the jar. The Vitamin C moisturizer has a push pump dispenser, similar to popular drug store foundations. 

You can check out Instanaural's website (http://www.instanatural.com) to read more about this fabulous lotion that's great for face and body, and their other products.

If you haven't had a chance to check out the One Direction Makeup Case, you are missing out! Remember Caboodles? This case is so much better than that :) 

The 1D Makeup Case comes full of makeup. Want smokey eyes? Got you covered! 80's flash back? No problem! The color combinations are endless to match any outfit you can pull out of your closet and it all fits in this totally cute case. There's tons of room in the bottom for your other makeup staples to fit in one place. You can dress up the case with stickers that comes with it or leave it as is with the One Direction stamp. I think it feels like a locker that's been on tour with the band.