EP 51: Preparing Mentally, Physically, & Emotionally for Baby James

It's me, Kaitlin, your loving host. I am so happy to be here with you today. It is the first episode of September. Like, how in the actual world are we already in September? Baby James will be making his appearance next month, which just seems unreal like I feel like the first half of this pregnancy just drug on and on, just so slowly, painfully slow, but then the second half has just really made up for lost time and is absolutely flying by. So by the time this episode airs, Oakley and I will have already been on our little baby moon and James's shower slash sprinkle will be coming this Saturday, so not this Saturday when I'm recording, but this Saturday when it airs. So, needless to say, things are getting real, like in all caps, real in all caps. And as much as I'm ready for him to be here, I am also very anxious, nervous lowkey, terrified of what it's going to be like having not one but two kids. It just I mean, I know that it's all going to work out and I know that so many people do it and I just hope that I do it well. But it is actually really a good segue to introduce our topic for today's episode. We are going to dive into how I've been preparing for James's arrival. So how I've been preparing mentally and physically, how we've been preparing our house, preparations I've been making for Ellie, just all of that good stuff.

So today's episode is way more on the personal side of things and less on the, you know, teaching and educating side of things. But first there are just a few weeks left to book your coaching spot before doors close until the new year. Because, you see, I'm about to have a baby and during that time I will still be seeing my one on one clients, but I won't be taking on any new clients. And if you're thinking about waiting until the New Year to jump on board one of these private programs, I have a little incentive for you to help you take this step for you sooner rather than later. So if you sign up for one of the remaining coaching spots by the end of this month, I'm going to add a bonus kickoff call to your package. So essentially you get an additional call added to our time together. So let me also remind you that there are three whole months between now and the New Year. Imagine the gains you could accomplish inside of three months if you start now. You could start the new year on such a confident, confident foot, feeling prepared and ready to tackle the year. And I want you to ask yourself, what progress have I made on my own inside the past three months? If your answer to that question does not make you feel so totally proud of yourself, then I encourage you. Take the step now. Do not let another month go by. Take that step now and honestly, I can sit here all day and just tell you why now is the time, but truthfully, it's gonna be way easier for me to be able to show you then just tell you. So let's do this. Let's do this together. If there is something inside of you nudging you, saying I kind of think this feels right, send me a D M Let's chat, or head straight to the link in my instagram bio to schedule a call with me. Yes, and just again, whether or not a private program whether or not one of these one on one spots, is a fit for you, I am always here rooting for you. So for all of the Info on coaching, go to thinkhappyco.com/coaching. Okay, Luke, I'm writing that down because that was a big cough.

Okay, so now back to the content for today. How I've been preparing for a little baby James to make his debut into the world. So we'll start with how I've been mentally and physically preparing. The physical part of this is easier for me to answer, so I'm gonna Start there. Physically, I have been preparing just by staying active with exercise.so when I was pregnant with Ellie, I also stayed active. I continued to teach and take group fitness classes, so cycling classes and Bar classes, up until I think about thirty two weeks and then I ended up having an emergency c section with her and which I was not expecting. But truthfully, the cover, the recovery was as good as I could have ever imagined it to be, and I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that I did stay active throughout pregnancy. Right. So, obviously, this is something that is going to be unique to each woman, unique to each pregnancy. So, if staying active is not something that you're able to do, you know, do not beat yourself up over that. What is most important is that you take care of your body, that you've listened to your body and that you take care of yourself and your baby.

So I just have really, really been blessed have gotten so lucky with two pregnancies that I have been able to stay active throughout so um, at the time that I'm recording this, I am twenty nine and a half weeks pregnant and I just cut back from teaching four mornings a week to now teaching three mornings a week. And, honestly, a big reason for that cutback was just my exhaustion level, not so much that movement wasn't isn't feeling good anymore, because movement does still feel so good, but I for sure have hit that, you know, the wall then the third trimester, where you just get so tired once again, so exhausted. So I'm trying to give myself grace with that and so taking, you know, just like slowly starting to cut back on those early morning exercises, I'm hoping will help me be able to sustain continued movement as long as I possibly can. So, yeah, needless to say, staying active with Ellie the first time around, having a c section recovery went as well as I could have imagined. So I'm really trying to take that same approach with the second round, because James will also be delivered via c section.

Also regarding, you know, physical preparation, I have been trying to eat healthier than I did with Ellie, and it's not that I didn't eat healthy food when I was pregnant with Ellie. When I was pregnant with Ellie, but I definitely did take more of the approach of Oh well, I'm pregnant so you know, I'm growing anyway. While I'm not drinking alcohol, so I can indulge in the extra desserts, plural, you know, things like that. So I, I'm trying to eat a little healthier. I'm trying to be more cognizant of the foods that I'm consuming this pregnancy, and it does help because I'm always making healthy foods for Ellie, right, and so just having those on hand helps me also continue to eat those healthy foods. So when I make her breakfast each day, nine times out of ten I eat exactly what I make for her. Also, right. So if I make her oatmeal, I eat oatmeal. If she's eating a breakfast for Tato with potatoes, spinach and sausage in it, I'm eating also a breakfast for Tata with spinach, potatoes and eggs in it. Right. So that has really helped me. I just I have close to zero energy or desire to cook these days and unfortunately, you know, the truth of it is, is just sometimes the most convenient things to eat are the unhealthy options. And I am well aware that I am in complete control of what goes into my body. And I am not making excuses. I could still be so much better at what I'm eating during pregnancy, but what I can say is I am being way more mindful than I was my first pregnancy with Ellie. my primary vice right now, and this has stayed true for most of pregnancy, is cereal, and not healthy cereal. So for so long it was primarily lucky charms that I was wanting. Now, really it's just any sugary kid like cereal. So I'm talking fruit loops right now. I think we have honeycomb in our Pantry, you know, cereals that I hadn't eaten literally since I was growing up and still lived in my parents house. That is my major vice right now. but I have been making a point of mixing in lots of Salads, so I'll very commonly eat salad for lunch, mixing or making sure that veggies are present and most every meal and just always having clean, prepped fruit on hand is also a huge life saver. And Yeah, you know, I'm just doing my back.

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So mentally okay, how am I preparing? Mentally? This ebbs and flows. Mentally. I have had a lot going on between, you know, having a new baby, how Ellie's going to handle it. Right around that time I'm gonna be leaving my nine to five and going into think happy co full time. We had some unexpected speed bumps with childcare that have just really thrown me for a loop and, honestly, have been really difficult for me to navigate. They're just I feel like has been a lot going on lately and, my mental state probably has not been at the best, at at its highest for me personally, lately. But I do feel like, I am coming out of that storm. a couple of things that I use to help, you know, from my toolbox to help me with my mental state journaling is a big one. Talking to family, talking to friends. You know, my mom is someone who, I am very close with and who very commonly, will help me get through times like this, my best friend Megan, my sister Bailey, Oakley. So just really trying to stay aware of how I'm feeling, being open about how I'm feeling and reminding myself to just give myself grace and to be kind to myself is helping me to mentally get through this and to mentally prepare to add another Kiddo to our family.

Okay, so how am I preparing our house? Well, just small things going on at the Cuevas House. We are adding a new bedroom, that is going to become our master bedroom. So the new bedroom that we're adding will be Oakley in my room and then our current bedroom will be James's nursery. So it has been a little tricky because I haven't been able to start actually prepping his his nursery because Oakley and I are still living in his nursery, like that's still our bedroom, so that's how we're preparing our house. We had no interest in moving, so, you know, adding another bedroom was what we decided would be best for our family. The good thing about this is that it is not affecting Ellie's room whatsoever, which I'm so thankful for because, you know, it's not affecting her naps, it's not affecting her nighttime sleep, which just really is so great. Really, I think just Oakley and I will be the ones that are mostly impacted by having to eventually, you know, start sleeping in the guest room for a little while. and Um, I have mentally prepared for this renovation, this addition, to not be finished until after James is born. So I have mentally prepared to bring James home to our guest room with Oakley and me, just, you know, assuming that our master bedroom isn't going to be finished yet, or his nursery. So, yeah, that's how we're preparing our house. And then, of course, I've been, you know, going through all the toys and putting toys that are going to be age appropriate for James in, taking those out of Ellie's rotation and just putting them up in the top of our closet. and really, I mean that's it for the house, the the adding on the new bedroom is really the big thing for our house.

Okay, now, so preparations that I have been making with Ellie. So I'm just gonna be so totally honest here. I feel like I should be doing more. We talked to her about how she's about to have a baby brother, but you know, she's still only one and a half. She's she's twenty months at the time I'm recording this. there's she doesn't she doesn't even come close to fully understanding what is actually happening. She's obsessed with my belly button, which is so funny. And you know, I try to tell her that her baby brother is inside up there, but I don't want her to get confused when he's actually here and in the flesh and she was thinking that baby brother was my belly, but now baby brother is this baby. So, yeah, I just I don't know. I don't know what I'm doing. Does anyone know what they're doing when it comes to this stuff, because if you do, please let me know. I have no idea what I'm doing. I have no idea. Of course, you know, logistically I feel like I do have a handle on that stuff. I have childcare set for her through the end of this year. She'll be doing a combination of mother's Day out and, um, staying at home with a nanny. So she'll do mother's Day out two and a half days a week and then she'll be at home two days a week. So that's that's a nice combination for her. Starting in January. I would really like to get her into a couple more days of Mother's Day out. Um, ideally, you know, four days, but we're on a on a couple of waiting lists, so we'll just see how all of that unfolds.

My ultimate goal is is when I'm able to do think happy full time, which is just around the corner, I would love to not work on Friday's and have that time to be with both Ellie and James. So if there is a way for me to avoid getting her signed up from Mother's Day out that, you know, really locks her into being in on Fridays, I would like, you know, I do want to to try to avoid that just because I want to be able to have that time with her and James Together, which makes me so happy. And then, of course, so you know, for other preparations with Ellie Oakley and I are just super lucky to have an amazing community here in Houston with us, my parents, my sisters, his brother Peyton and his wife Ashley, and that's just the family support that we have. We also have amazing friends who we can lean on when things are undoubtedly going to get overwhelming with adjusting to our life with Ellie and James. And you know, some of those things I just know are going to fall into place naturally. I have to remind myself that a lot of this stuff just falls in place naturally and that there is only a certain amount of things that I have control over, that I can plan for, and the rest I need to let go a little bit, you know, not not put so much pressure on and and just be able to go with the flow a little bit more. And of course, I a hundred, one hundred percent trust and God and his plans, which, for someone like me who craves control of my life, who, you know, I crave predictability, I crave routines, that having that trust in his plan is times easier said than done. But I will say, when push comes to shove, I know for a fact, without a shadow of a doubt, that he has already seen this Cuevas family transition through and I know we're going to come out of it with hearts that are just even more full of love than they already are, which feels physically impossible, but I mean I'm just sitting here smiling so big because I can't wait too, to have a little James here with us ultimately. So, yeah, you guys that this episode has been very therapeutic to me. I hope there's a nugget or two that you're able to take out of it and use your in your own life.

I can feel James Moving around right now, which I think is kind of sweet. I think he's wanting to say hi to all of you. So, yeah, today we talked about how I'm physically and mentally preparing for James, how we're preparing our house with the new addition, how, what I've been doing to make preparations with Ellie, how I've been, you know, trying to figure out how to prepare her for the change, for the adjustment, the addition, not the addition of the house, but the addition of a brother. and Um, yeah, just ultimately, I want to remind you that we are so much stronger, then we give ourselves credit for so. If you are going through some sort of transition, whether it's similar to this transition that I'm going through with, you know, adding a new baby to the family or changing jobs um or if it's another transition that you're going through, you are stronger, then you give yourself credit for okay, you are not an exception to that, absolutely not.

So last thing before I sign off. If there is even a small part of you thinking that taking advantage of the few remaining one on one spots in private coaching is a good fit for you, send me a D M and let's chat, or just go schedule a quick call with me. You can do that through the link in my instagram bio. I would love nothing more than to chat with you about, you know, what the coaching could look like for you personally. So, my friend, that is a rap. I will be back in your ears next week with another brand new episode of the think happy podcast. I will see you in from the bottom of my heart, thank you for joining me for this week's episode of the think happy podcast. If you just can't get enough, find me on Instagram at think happy underscore co that's CEO and online at thinkhappyco.com See you next week.