Stop Looking at My Belly! The Transition from Pregnancy to Motherhood - From Belly to Breast

We were so honored and excited that Nicole from Skirts Sports wore and used our BINSI Products! She writes a wonderful blog - you should really follow it! Here is her blog entry about it:

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I spent the majority of my pregnancy celebrating my belly. As you could see from all the maternity photo shoots, I was totally focused on the amazing changes my body was making. Looking back, it's still awe-inspiring. Our bodies are miraculous. I can still spend hours appreciating the wonders of women's bodies. But now the baby has arrived.

Within moments of delivering Wilder, I was totally "over" my belly. In fact, I didn't want anyone to even sneak a sideways glance at my belly. Especially not in its post-birth condition. I'm trying to think of a good way to describe it and all I can think of is the word floppy. My belly is in post-birth floppy phase. I know it will someday evolve from floppy to firm; I'm not too worried about it at the moment. There will be time for that later.

What I find much more intriguing are the two cushions located just above my floppy belly. My breasts. Yes! I actually have breasts now! My belly was the safe haven for our girl for nine months, and now, my breasts are taking center stage. The focus has officially shifted - from Belly to Breast.

Tired eyes, but big smile while
rocking baby Wilder

Let's face it. This is a major life transition - for Wilder and for us. The whole sleep thing is in full-swing. I can only describe it as having a series of naps for the past six weeks. The longest nap has been around four hours. We are not only living in a sleep-deprived fog, we're also in a state of constant second-guessing (i.e. She just ate but she's making sucking noises. She couldn't possibly need to eat again. Or could she? Should we try not to feed her? Oh no - she's having a meltdown. Quick, stick her on the boob!). First-timers have it the worst. We have NO idea! So I've decided to take as many short cuts as I can and have happily accepted tons of hand-me-downs and even better, tons of advice for those little tricks that make life just a tiny bit easier during the "Belly to Breast" transition. Read on for some of my must-have gear picks for the first 6 weeks of Wilder's life.

During Labor and Delivery:
One of the things that was important to me was what I would wear during my labor and delivery. I didn't want to wear the hospital gown, but I didn't want to be naked the entire time. I found an awesome company called Binsi; in fact, Binsi is a Skirt-centric company, that specializes in labor and delivery products. I wore the PrimaMama Sport Birth Skirt, the Go Go Top (this snap-off bra was and still is one of my favorite nursing bras) and of course their headband since my hair was a nightmare and bugged the crap out of me the entire time.

To read the rest of this article click here.

How to Recover from an Unplanned C-Section: The Only Thing I Didn't Research!

We were so excited to see Nicole DeBoom, owner of Skirt Sports, wearing our BINSI Hairdo-la! Please read her blog, it is a great perspective on unexpected cesarean birth.

I was a researching fool throughout my pregnancy. I was fastidious. From exercise, to nutrition, to symptoms of early labor, to recommendations for the birth and delivery -- I basically got a bachelor's degree in "pregnancy for the active woman." I truly enjoyed the entire pregnancy, even the two weeks of limbo after my due date passed but before I was induced. I was good to my body. I was incredibly healthy. I was prepared for just about every possibility - except for the one that happened. An unplanned, emergency cesarean section.

Assuming I had experienced a vaginal birth, I was prepared for my lowest level of fitness to be the last few weeks of my pregnancy. After the birth, I thought I would enjoy minimal recovery time before "getting my body back" one step at a time. I imagined that within a few weeks I would be able to start swimming, cycling, hiking, and running at an easy, introductory level. However, as it turned out, my fitness level could indeed decrease even further, as dictated by the unplanned c-section.

A cesarean section is abdominal surgery, plain and simple. It's not arthroscopic surgery where they extract the baby through a minor incision. The medical team literally makes a large incision (5-6 inches in my case), cutting through layers of skin, muscle, and of course, the uterus, so they can safely bring the baby into this world.

To read the rest of this article click here.