Secret Agent Mom

That awkward moment when you are deep in conversation on the phone with your sister, and you want to make sure Bear's bottle isn't too hot...you do what you always do...raise it above your head and squirt some in your mouth. Then you realize that you just drank your own daughter's breast milk. #itdidntcomeoutofabottleinmyday

"Bella, do you want to smell the confuser? Mom put happy oils in it." said my 5 year old Elliot to his sister.

Diffuser Confuser and essential oils is a wonderful thing!

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.

Huckle Berry Buckle is a summertime staple at our house. A moist coffee cake, fresh blueberries off the bushes and a crunchy cinnamon sugar topping…it's sure to delight everyone's sweet tooth! This recipe has been passed down through the generations so it's had years of perfection in the making.

You will need:
9x9 square pan
1 large bowl (or Kitchen Aid)
Spatula
Fork
Small bowl/soup bowl

Prep your square pan with cooking spray and set aside. Set your oven to 375F.

In your large bowl, combine:
1/4 cup butter SOFT (I either use butter out of a tub or if it's a stick, microwave for 10-12 seconds, 1 egg, and 1/2 cup milk. Mix wet ingredients well.

Next add in 3/4 cup sugar, 2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Combine wet with dry.

Then add 1 & 1/2 cups of flour by 1/2 cup increments, mixing well in-between. If you have a kitchen aid, after adding in the 3 wet ingredients and mixing together, I just leave it on low and add in the dry stuff one of by one.



The final step is adding in 1 & 1/2 cups of huckleberries or blueberries. You really can't go wrong here, as I have added more if you like a lot of berries in your cake :P Your batter will turn purple….even more so if using frozen berries. Pour the purple batter into your square pan using a spatula, shake the pan until it's evenly distributed and set aside.



Now we make the crumbly crunchy cinnamon topping. Grab your small bowl, I just use a soup/cereal bowl with high sides. Toss in all of the following: 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 3 tablespoons of soft butter. Using your fork, combine the ingredients. It will be a crumbly mixture. If you are in a humid climate, it will be sticky. I make two batches of topping to cover the purple batter completely in this case, otherwise one batch will do just fine! Tip your bowl over the batter and use the fork to sprinkle the topping, evenly over the entire pan.



Pop that baby in the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes. If your tooth pick comes out clean from the center she is DONE! The cake will rise in the center and the edges of the topping will be a bit dark and caramelized from the sugar.


Technically…..we use use blueberries in place of huckle berries (shhh!!) but I'm sure you could use all kinds of berries, raisins, nuts….and it would still be a great dessert :) If you try a twist to this recipe please share! My Grammy makes this without the topping to be more in line with their dietary restrictions. I say you are cutting out the best part! :P




Even Malo likes it !!

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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