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The New Mom Podcast is a Christian motherhood podcast for women navigating pregnancy, postpartum, and early motherhood.
Whether you're a first-time mom, expecting, or in the middle of sleepless nights, this show offers real, honest conversations about motherhood, marriage, identity, and faith. We talk about birth stories, postpartum recovery, relationships, mental health, and trusting God through every stage of motherhood. If you're looking for encouragement, practical advice, and a reminder that you're not alone—this podcast is for you.
Our prayer is that New Mom leaves you feeling seen, strengthened, and a little more equipped for the beautiful calling of motherhood!
New episodes weekly.
Hello, and welcome back to New Mom. I'm your host, Carrie Alexander, and I am so excited to be with you here today. Today's episode, I got to have my cousin, Paige Koznarski on the show, Paige Wampler, Carrie Wampler. We're the Wampler girls, but calling her by her married name. If you are trying to watch this episode, this one's a little different.
Carrie:It's just audio. And that is not because we messed up any video features this week. That is because I'm actually back in my hometown. I'm at my parents' house. We recorded this episode in their basement.
Carrie:We just brought the mics and Paige is local and I love her. And I think she's such an awesome mom. And so I was like begging her. Was like, would you please bless me with an episode of this, even if there's no video? So she and I sat down in my parents' basement while my mom watched the kids and we just chatted.
Carrie:And it's so fun to catch up with family anyway. But Paige is awesome. She's got two boys. She's had two C Sections in recovery. She's in the thick of postpartum with her second.
Carrie:She's a working mom. And she's older than me and wiser than me. And she and my older cousins, I look up to all of them. So it's just been so fun to get to catch up with her. And I know that so many of you new moms are going to be blessed by just her encouragement and, the wisdom that she has to share.
Carrie:So without further ado, here is my conversation with my cousin Paige. Paige, welcome
Paige:to New Mom. Hi. Thank you. I'm so happy to be here.
Carrie:I'm so excited that you're here. This is crazy because I don't know that I've like ever done one that's not on camera at all. Like, we've had it happen where the camera hasn't worked since like, I've just released the audio, but I've never like not... I feel like I'm gonna keep accidentally looking at the camera or something, but we are just audio. So if you're listening and you're like, where's the video?
Carrie:We don't have it because I'm back in my hometown. And to be honest, we just didn't wanna bring the whole set. But I'm so excited. And I asked my cousin Paige, who is amazing, to be on and come to my mom's basement and just like grab a mic low key and and have a conversation.
Paige:Anyway, here we are.
Carrie:For being here. Yeah. You're welcome. And here we are holding mics with the babies upstairs. Archie is taking a nap in my mom's closet.
Carrie:And my mom is watching Colin, your youngest. So we're doing the thing. Okay. So this is so fun. Tell me a little bit.
Carrie:For those of you who don't know, Paige is my cousin. You're my first cousin. And you're... How many years older than me? Seven.
Carrie:We just talked about this. Yeah. You're six. Six.
Paige:No. Six years older.
Carrie:Six years older. Yeah. Which I was saying when we were little, felt like you were a complete adult. I was Absolutely. Such a age gap.
Carrie:Mhmm. And then and then now it's so weird because our kids are even that different in age and now we feel the same age. Mhmm. And that's such a gift of like, I don't know, just growing up and and womanhood and stuff and getting to...
Paige:Being able to connect now at this age.
Carrie:And like with Bethany and Amber, like all of us, like, it's it's just really been... It's just been cool as we grow up that it's like, oh, all of a sudden like the age gap shrinks. But yeah. So you're still living here in our hometown of
Paige:the I am Tope actually just moved back. I was That's true. I've always been in the Dayton area, but, I recently moved back in June. So here I am.
Carrie:Welcome back. Yay. Okay. Yeah. So tell us a little bit about yourself for those who don't know, like maybe how long you've been married, your kiddos.
Paige:I've been with my husband actually fifteen years next month. We But, we'll be our dating we've been married for four years. No, five. Was five.
Carrie:Yeah. August.
Paige:Because you got married 2021. 2021. Oh, yeah. Okay. And let's see.
Paige:I met my husband. We worked at the grocery store here in Tip City together.
Carrie:See, I love this story.
Paige:I was like, you're like the food town romance.
Carrie:Our little town has had the cutest grocery store that was Shamil's then turned food town, like, when we were growing up.
Paige:Yep.
Carrie:And it was just the local grocery store and you worked there...
Paige:It was my first job. I got it... My first job when I was 16 as a cashier. And he started working there a year or two later as, a guy that stocked the shelves and bagged the groceries.
Carrie:So I was... Did he go to tip high school too?
Paige:He did. Yeah. We we grew up together pretty much. I mean, we didn't really know each other super well in school, but we knew of each other. Okay.
Paige:And we definitely, got to know each other better at at Food Town. And I mean, I always loved being able to pick up the phone and call in the speaker for Kyle to come bag for me. That's so cute. And how long do you
Carrie:guys work together before? Like, when did when did
Paige:this turn romantic? Okay. So we didn't start dating until we were in college. Okay. Yep.
Paige:And he was going to the community college here, Sinclair. And I was at Ohio University. And I'd come home on my breaks and I'd I'd work at Food Town and we started talking. And, you know, we liked each other. We definitely liked each other.
Paige:So we started dating. We did one year long distance while I was at Ohio University, and he would drive late at night to come see me after he got off a late shift at Food Town, stay the weekend with me.
Carrie:Which is so... Like a guy driving after a late shift, like, however far that was. Like, that's how... It's a good one.
Paige:Absolutely. Oh, I'd fall asleep on the couch, leave the door unlocked, and he would just pop in. Hang in here.
Carrie:Oh, hang out. Yeah. Yep.
Paige:And then, we did that for a year and then he ended up transferring to Ohio University.
Carrie:That's right. Yes. Oops.
Paige:Just drinking water. So we ended up going to college together. Well, We... He asked me to be his... No.
Paige:He we were already dating long distance. Sorry. So you all this out where I'm screwing
Carrie:up my memory words. How dare you? So Kyle will be like, excuse me, you don't know our love story.
Paige:But yeah. So then he transferred to Ohio University and we just finished college together. I actually, I'm a year older than him. So I finished first. And, my degree is in meteorology.
Paige:Which is so cool. So I would... I had to do like the weather girl thing for a little bit. I did it there at school for like the the school channel, which is like a PBS channel, w o u b. You were adorable.
Carrie:I remember seeing those videos at John and Trina's house back in the day. Oh, yeah. I know I know a weather girl. Such a
Paige:fun job. Yeah. So I did that and I bartended while I waited for him to finish up his degree. And then we moved back home together. Actually worked at Food Town again for a little bit while we were searching for jobs.
Paige:Amazing.
Carrie:And we
Paige:both got our jobs and here we are. I am no longer a meteorologist, but I work, I do formulation for animal feed. It's a completely different field, but here I am and I'm I'm doing it. Yeah.
Carrie:It's amazing. And then... So you guys got married four years ago. And then you got pregnant with George. So you you had him like a year later?
Paige:A year later. Yep. So August 21, we got married and then October... Or 11/22/2022, George was born our first. Yeah.
Carrie:And now you got two boys.
Paige:Yep. And then I knew I wanted about a three year age gap because that's the gauge gap between me and my brother. And I really like that that they felt like it was great, having him be a senior while I was a freshman. I really loved that. So I was aiming for that.
Paige:It didn't work out perfectly. They actually... With the... Colin being born in August, he'll be a four years behind
Carrie:Oh, I did. School. You're right. Because George almost four. Gotcha.
Carrie:Yeah. Okay. That's amazing. Mhmm.
Paige:But actually, it works out great because Tip City is, building a new school, k through eight. So they'll be able to go
Carrie:to that school together
Paige:while. For Yeah.
Carrie:That's that's gonna be a great school. I'm excited about that for the boys. I remember you were pregnant at my wedding. Right? You were like super pregnant.
Paige:I was like thirty four weeks pregnant.
Carrie:Yeah. Because I got married in October. You had George in November. Mhmm. And you were so cute and pregnant.
Carrie:Bethany didn't know she was pregnant. We had like so many pregnancies going on that didn't. Like, you were like, I'm ready to have a baby. Our cousin Bethany didn't know she was pregnant with her oldest, But she... Yeah.
Carrie:That's right. And then there was somebody... Janelle was pregnant.
Paige:Yeah.
Carrie:We have a big family, guys. But a lot of pregnancies are happening at my wedding. I remember you were so cute with your... Four cousins this year are having babies. Yeah.
Carrie:You're right. There's so so many. It's like the Wampler clan, like the baby the baby boom is very real. But anyways, now you have two boys. And I I guess that I should ask you my first question.
Carrie:I always like get so into the nitty gritty and then I'm like, wait a second. What is the Lord teaching you in this season of motherhood?
Paige:I would say that he is teaching me how to grow my love. With my second child just being born, I... You know, when I was pregnant, I wasn't sure how on how on earth am I gonna love another kid as much as I love my first because, oh, boy. I love Yeah. George so And my heart has grown as opposed to, you know, having to divide that love and split it between the two.
Paige:I've just learned to love my first even more. And I... And this new one, oh my gosh. I love him so much. So he's definitely teaching me how to just just grow my my heart.
Carrie:That's so beautiful. So the... It just it just grows. Like, that's so cool because Yeah. I feel like before we had before we had, Archie, we would always be like, it's just the two of us.
Carrie:Like, it's just me and Connor. And we were so excited to have a baby, obviously. But we were a little bit nervous about like, oh my gosh, like, it's not just gonna be the two of us. We're gonna have this child. Like, will we love each other less?
Carrie:Like, well... And then your heart grows. Right? Like, I love my spouse even more because we have this child than I love this child. So anyway, we're thinking about baby number two and we're like, okay, but like, well, our hearts...
Carrie:Like that's such a valid question I think so many moms probably have when you think about the second baby is you fall so in love with your oldest Yeah. Your first. And you're like, I can't imagine splitting time. Yeah. How how has George done?
Carrie:Because I've only seen him around him a little bit, but he seems to love it.
Paige:He loves being a big brother. He loves helping. As soon as we... Anybody hears Colin cry like upstairs, George is the first one to start running towards the staircase to go help him. So cute.
Paige:Tries to get the pinky
Carrie:He's like, baby, he needs me.
Paige:Yeah. He's doing great. Being a big brother, he definitely is lacking a little bit of attention. So I've tried to do some special just one on one time with him. And I think that's definitely helped, because he would misbehave a little bit, you know, just trying to get any attention was good attention type of thing.
Paige:But I took him like on a donut date, just me and him. And then we went to the playground afterwards and that that helped a lot last week.
Carrie:That's so cute. Mhmm. They do say that. That's like their little love tanks get empty. And when you refill it, it's like you watch their behavior get better.
Paige:Absolutely.
Carrie:Archie's kind of just starting to get to that age where I notice if there's a day where I'm working a little more or something, I'm like, I feel like he's acting out a little more just because I haven't had that
Paige:Oh,
Carrie:yeah. Quality time. And you just notice that more than I think when they're a baby. Mhmm. But that's so that's so sweet.
Carrie:Yeah. He's such an adorable big brother. How did you do like the... Like how did you... Did you tell him the whole time like that you're just growing another baby?
Carrie:Like how did okay. You
Paige:The whole time I told him there's a there's a baby in my belly. And I definitely had to tell him earlier too or like right away because I didn't want him, jumping on me and, you know,
Carrie:those sorts But, of
Paige:yeah, he had just told him the whole time and he thought it took forever because it does. I mean, nine months is a very long
Carrie:time for a reel. Coming out. Yeah.
Paige:Yeah. But, yeah, he he he understood it. He grasped it pretty well.
Carrie:Was he excited beforehand? Yes.
Paige:He was. And he'd always ask me like, if I had a doctor's appointment, he's like, oh, is the baby coming out this time? Like, he always thought every time I had to go to the doctor that the baby was gonna come out because he knew that, he was gonna be a C section. So he understood that like it was gonna be something that I knew I had to go do and the doctor was going to take the baby out.
Carrie:Yeah. George is smart. Yeah. George is very smart. He came over the other day to my parents' house and he was like, I really like your fridge.
Carrie:I really like this shiny hardware. Handles look great. Yes. It was like, now my fridge is side by side, but yours, the fridge is like the the freezer's down here. I was like, this kid is 12.
Carrie:He's not three going on four. It's amazing. He is super smart. He is. He's adorable.
Carrie:And I think having brothers is so special. Like just seeing him already like
Paige:Oh, yeah.
Carrie:Is so sweet. The brotherly blonde. Yeah. Mhmm. It's adorable.
Carrie:Okay. So you... I feel like... So I had a friend that had a C section recently and you were such a resource and texted you like 50 times for her on her behalf. I should've just given you her number.
Carrie:Like... And also this. But you had two C sec... Two C sections.
Paige:I did.
Carrie:Mhmm. Walk us through your like birth stories experiences a little Sure. Bit Okay. Of why that happened.
Paige:So with my first George, he... I... It was a normal pregnancy. I thought for sure I was just gonna be giving birth naturally, until my thirty eight week appointment. And they went to Oh,
Carrie:didn't realize that.
Paige:Oh, yeah. It was... Oh, that's a really
Carrie:good game.
Paige:Uh-huh. And I... They checked to see if I... Maybe it was thirty. It might have been thirty seven.
Carrie:Either way. But it was very late. Yeah.
Paige:They checked to see if I was dilated at all. And the person checking me was like, I don't feel ahead. And I was, you know, first pregnancy. I'm like, what does what does that mean? You know, was so confused.
Paige:So she called up an ultra- had an ultrasound, right away. We went wheeled me back for- went back for an ultrasound and they checked and for sure enough, he was breech. And then she's checking my file and she sees that I have what is called a bicornuate uterus, which is a uterus that has, kind of like a septum down the middle of it and it it turns it into like a heart shaped uterus.
Carrie:Okay. Yeah. For So that a
Paige:one big, like, chamber. There are two different chambers or two horns, they'll call them. And so I found out that because of that, he was positioned in a way that made him transverse breach actually, which you can see is kinda like sideways. His head was in my rib cage and his feet were in my other the other half of my rib cage.
Carrie:Had he... Like had you had other ultrasounds where he was head down or you didn't know yet?
Paige:My previous ultrasound, I think, was my twenty weeks and he wasn't Okay. In that position yet. Or maybe he might have been, but it wasn't
Carrie:Small enough to like do the swirls. Still
Paige:moving around.
Carrie:Yeah. Crazy.
Paige:But I was always... I'd always wondered why my ribs hurt so bad. So that explained that.
Carrie:Like wrapped around your whole body.
Paige:And she was just like, okay, well, we're gonna get you scheduled for a C section because he's he's in that position and he's not gonna come out of it, this late in the game. So we got the C section scheduled. They actually, they called me to schedule it for November 9 and I called them back and said, no, I want 11/11 because that was his due date. And it happened to be Kyle's grandma's birthday. And we just thought that was so special.
Paige:And they said, okay, we can do 11:11. That's great.
Carrie:That's good. They were, they adjusted for you.
Paige:That's so sweet. Yeah. It was great. So... And that was my exact due date.
Paige:And I made it to 11:11. And he... We went in for my C section and, you know, it's it's it feels weird getting a c section. But it feels odd. You feel the tugging and the pulling and you're you're numb, but you still feel movement.
Carrie:I was gonna ask... Okay. So, well, first of all, what happens if you like... Well, maybe I'll save this actually birth story round two because that question I think maybe gets answered in that one. But what what were you...
Carrie:Like, were you disappointed when you had... Were gonna have a c section the first time? Were you nervous?
Paige:I am very type a. So having it on the calendar was awesome. I loved knowing, okay, this is when I'm having my baby. I don't have to worry about, you know, any surprises or anything like that. So, yeah, just having it scheduled and knowing that, you know, oh, my hair and makeup were done and,
Carrie:you know I love that.
Paige:I was ready to go. I I really liked it. I liked the planning and like I just... Yeah. I knew exactly when it was gonna happen and where and why.
Paige:You were
Carrie:fine with that. You weren't like super disappointed about not having it that year.
Paige:I mean, I feel like most women are kind of nervous and scared to give birth. Yeah. So... And I was. I was one of those.
Paige:I was very scared and just knowing it was gonna be easy. Yeah. C section is easy. Yeah.
Carrie:Yeah. It's like complicated but easy for you to just kinda lay there in. Yeah. Yeah. That makes sense.
Paige:Yeah. Simple. Yeah. I was confident and I would felt safe. I didn't...
Paige:I wasn't scared for the c section at all. It was it was... Really? Yeah. Oh, yeah.
Paige:It was great. Round two, I was a little more nervous just because it was the second one and I don't know. I just had more anxiety with this pregnancy, my second pregnancy. But no, it was...
Carrie:Did you consider a VBAC or were you like, we'll definitely just do all c sections?
Paige:I asked my doctor and she said no, c section. So I was like, okay, then Okay. It's not an option, it's not an option. I don't know. She didn't give me a reason why, but she just told me nope, c section is gonna
Carrie:be okay. Wow. Mhmm. That's crazy. And then how did this recovery compare to the first?
Paige:It was a little more difficult. I think it I felt more pain and I'm I'm just guessing it's because of the scar tissue that they have to cut through.
Carrie:That makes sense.
Paige:Yeah. It's because it goes through the same incision both times. Mhmm. With a three year old at home crawling on me and wanting to be held and carried and it it was tough just to get through that. But I...
Paige:No. My husband was a great help and my mom was also there. She was a great help. So I was just pretty much on the couch the whole time. I had a bassinet by my couch and and recovered from there about the first week and then was able to to move around a little bit more after that first week.
Carrie:Yep. Tell us your birth story because it's kinda crazy.
Paige:Second one. Oh, my goodness. Okay. So he, well, the whole pregnancy was a little, more complex, complicated than than George's. He was growing big and they were monitoring me for excessive fetal growth.
Paige:So I had to go to a maternal fetal medicine, an MFM, the whole pregnancy, and I had ultrasounds all the time. It was like every four weeks at the beginning and then it went down to every every week after thirty two weeks. So I was there all the time with that. Yeah. And then I also had to get the, non stress tests where they go...
Paige:Where you go into your OB's office and they hook you up with, like, monitors on your belly and they, track the baby's heartbeat, the heart rate. And then you have to, like, press a button every single time the baby moves or kicks. You press a little button, and then they'll track that movement to see if heart rate goes up fast enough. So they're trying to see if... Make sure that the...
Paige:Like, when you're running
Carrie:Yes.
Paige:Your heart rate goes up. So they wanted to make sure the baby does the same thing when they move that their heart rate goes up and that makes... Means they're healthy and and good. All those went well and all my ultrasounds went well. But there was one actually, one ultrasound where they measured my amniotic fluid and it was low.
Paige:But we had happened to have one of the hottest summers here this summer. And I was just minding... Like just slightly dehydrated and that's what caused it. So they had me drink as much water as I could come back the next morning and I got it checked and it had over doubled. Woah.
Paige:Yeah. So I'll... Wait. I... So drink your water if you're pregnant in the summertime.
Carrie:Okay. I genuinely didn't know this. I thought when your fluid was low, like, was just gonna stay low. You can get it... You can get it back up by hydrating.
Carrie:Oh my gosh. Okay. That's like such a... That's so good to know because I've had so many friends that had low fluid and like have to, you know, they're like, oh, I... I'm prone to low fluid or whatever.
Carrie:That's really good to know. Yep. Chug our water and electrolytes. Absolutely.
Paige:And then... So, yeah, ultrasounds were going okay. But he was big. Every single one, he was over ninetieth percent... He was ninety ninth percentile in size at one at one point.
Paige:Really? Yes. So they were telling me, okay, he's huge. You're gonna have your C section at thirty nine weeks is when they had it scheduled. That would have been August 24.
Paige:And so I was... It was two weeks before that. Yep. It was August 9. So the tenth would have been exactly two weeks.
Paige:But it was August 9 and it was George's first day of preschool was August 10. So August 9 was his open house at the school where we got to go meet his teacher and all that stuff. And we went to his open house. We got all dressed up because we had a picture taken there and we, you know, I love that picture now looking back on You're like, oh. And I drove home.
Paige:I can't believe I drove home. I drove home. And as soon as I got home, I walked into my into my house and my water broke as I was stepping into my house. My water broke. And my husband was already upstairs and I'm yelling up to the stairs, my water broke.
Paige:And he was scared to
Carrie:death. And there was like no denying.
Paige:We weren't... Yeah. We weren't ready for it at all. Hospital bag wasn't packed.
Carrie:Nothing. And I also... I don't know why, but this is what I was gonna ask earlier. I'm like, I'll save for this story. For some reason, when a friend says they schedule a c section, you're like, well, you're not gonna go into labor before that.
Carrie:Like, it's scheduled. Like, I don't know why in my brain, like, I'm forgetting... You're still pregnant Yeah. And you very well. Anytime.
Carrie:Yeah. Could still... So like... So you just weren't ready. You were just like, oh, no.
Carrie:This is when we're having the baby. Nope.
Paige:Funny side note is I had been asking my husband to get the suitcase down from the attic for quite some time. Luckily, had the hospital bag, like, stuff that was gonna go inside of it all stacked up and ready
Carrie:to It's like ready.
Paige:It's just not in the bag. It just wasn't in the bag.
Carrie:That what that was... We we had like a... Not a scare, but like I thought my water broke the night. I even know if told you this, I thought my water broke the night before I did go into labor. So we ended up going into the ER at like 3AM, like ended up being like two days before Archie was born.
Carrie:But we thought that was it. And we were beating ourselves up because like we ended up there like, no, your water didn't break. Like, you just had a bladder issue at night. I was like, oh, that's embarrassing. Okay.
Carrie:Great. We're gonna pack
Paige:it up. Because they do, they check it to make sure it's true.
Carrie:This is not fluid. But I was like, okay, great. And so anyway, we went home and then Connor and I, we were like, we cannot procrastinate anymore because we like, kinda similarly, like, we had stuff out. Mhmm. And we kept being like, we're pretty...
Carrie:I mean, we could do it. And then we loaded our car right when we got home from the hospital that day. We're like, no no no. No more messing around. I was thirty nine weeks at that point.
Carrie:I was like, we need to have this ready. And he was like, you're right. We got the car seat in, all the stuff. And then sure enough, I went in. I started having contractions like two hours later.
Carrie:Yeah. I'm like Oh my goodness. Thank goodness. Because, yeah, we just... We were the same way.
Carrie:Like, you... You're like, you think you're ready to go to the hospital because mentally you kinda know where everything is or like Yep. You're kinda ready. But then when push comes to heaven, your water breaks, you're like, oh, we're actually like not
Paige:that ready. Yeah. No. The car seat was not in the car. Yeah.
Paige:And we drove to the hospital with the car seat not in the car. Kyle had to leave after I... After the c section was done. He had to leave and go back and get.
Carrie:And also didn't you tell me that looking back you were having
Paige:contractions? Yeah.
Carrie:Okay. So tell
Paige:that Yeah. Let me start from the very beginning. So that was... He was born on a Sunday. The Thursday before that, it was Thursday evening.
Paige:It was it was actually in the middle of the night, Thursday night, I was sleeping and I woke up from from contraction pain. And I thought it was Braxton Hicks. I thought it was definitely false labor. I was thirty six weeks. It wasn't time yet.
Paige:And they were spaced pretty far apart about every ten minutes. But the pain was was intense. It was more than I'd ever felt Yes. And so they were happening all night long. I couldn't fall back asleep.
Paige:I was nerve... I know I was getting a little nervous. I I never woke my husband up though, so I definitely didn't think it was for sure. I ended up getting in the shower at 04:00 because I thought maybe some hot water would help, you know, how that helps with like period cramps. Thought maybe it would help with some contraction pain.
Paige:And by the time, you know, I was out of the shower, I was like, okay, it's time to get ready. I gotta I gotta take my my son to daycare and I have to go to work. So I just got up, got ready, went to work, and I had contractions the Yeah. Whole day at Didn't know it. Didn't know it.
Paige:Yeah. Now that I know that I had a... You know, I was having my baby Sunday, that's crazy. Dang. You're crazy.
Paige:I was in actual labor. Yeah. And I went to my office job, the whole day. I was in meetings and people were asking me, are are you okay? And I was like, no, this is just false.
Paige:It's gotta be false labor. I'm fine. I'm fine. And I did not come back to work on Monday.
Carrie:Yeah. They're like, we aren't surprised.
Paige:Like, we got the baby. They're like, yeah.
Carrie:Obviously. We figured. That is just so crazy to me because Kyle was laughing about that the other day. Was like, yeah. She would...
Carrie:You were driving driving home from the open house. All this stuff being like, oh, you know.
Paige:Yep. The contractions were Did you tell
Carrie:him at all that you were having them or not really?
Paige:Yeah. He knew. And I was like, oh, I think I'm having another one as I'm like on the highway. It's probably like, oh my gosh.
Carrie:So then your water breaks. Mhmm. You go to the hospital. Okay. So what happens when...
Carrie:Yeah. Like, your water breaks before your... You just... It just become a emerge... Like a last minute c section?
Paige:It was. They considered it an emergency c section. What is also crazy is we had our our son with us because Oh my gosh. We didn't have a babysitter lined up for an... You know, it was a So luckily my mom lives really close to the hospital.
Paige:So I called her and she was able to meet us there and and take care of our older son while while it was all happening. But no, they wheeled me back. They got me checked in. They they tested the fluid to make sure it was definitely my water breaking and it was. She was like, wow, that turned purple really fast on the strip, on the test strip.
Paige:She's like, definitely was your water. And then they got me in. I think, let's see. We got back from the open house around five. We were at the hospital by 05:40.
Paige:And then we were back for my c section at 07:15. He was born at 07:37.
Carrie:That is wild. See, that's the crazy thing about the c section is the how quickly you go from no baby to Oh, baby.
Paige:We have a baby. Oh my gosh. And I... Kyle will tell you too. It was the craziest thing.
Paige:When my water broke, he was freaking out. He about passed out. He was so like... Yeah. It was crazy for him.
Paige:But I was just cool as a cucumber. I was, oh, this is fine. Let me go change my clothes real fast. I went upstairs to change my outfit because my water broke. So I obviously had to change my outfit.
Paige:Let me grab a few things for the... Since the hospital bag's not packed, let me grab a few things. And and he's like, what are you doing? We have to go. We have to leave right now.
Paige:And I was like, everything's fine. It'll be okay. It'll be okay. It was the weird... I had never felt more calm in my entire life.
Paige:And I am somebody who's usually a little anxious. So to feel that calm, it was it was it was insane.
Carrie:That's amazing. And good thing. It's like at least one of you needs to be feeling that especially like before It was perfect. Yeah. Had George with you.
Paige:So it's
Carrie:like, if you're both like running around with chicken with your head,
Paige:you're probably like, what's going on? Yeah. You've been scared to death. Oh, yeah. So it was good.
Paige:I felt great, going into it. But then as soon as I was checked in, oh, the tears started coming. Like, I was like, oh my god, this is actually... And I really like being pregnant. And I was like, I'm not ready to not be pregnant yet.
Paige:I totally get that.
Carrie:I miss being pregnant. Yeah. It's a it's a sweet feeling.
Paige:Yeah. So... But they got checked in, wheeling back, got the the spinal and and there I was having my C sectioning. And Kyle said that I did way better with my second. Oh, here's a fun story.
Paige:They let you listen to music while you get a C section. Can pick which music you wanna listen to. Oh. And with George, he was born in November. So I did, Christmas music.
Carrie:Obviously. Christmas songs.
Paige:And this time I hadn't thought about what I wanted to do. So I was like, okay, well, let's just do Christmas songs again.
Carrie:Are you serious? We were listening to Christmas songs
Paige:on this.
Carrie:Okay. That's so memorable. The boys are gonna love that when they're older. Like, yeah. There were Christmas songs playing when even the August baby, like, arrived.
Carrie:So how many weeks were you when you...
Paige:When you were 36, six days. So I was one day away from being full term, but I was considered preterm. Mhmm. He's considered premature. They were prepping us for the NICU just in case.
Paige:Mhmm. But luckily he didn't have to go. He was ready to come. Mhmm. Yeah.
Paige:He was definitely ready.
Carrie:What do you... What would you say, would be some pieces of advice or some things you think could be helpful for moms who are planning for a C section in terms of like recovery, maybe like items that you bought that were helpful, like any anything else.
Paige:I definitely recommend, the Boppy pillow and not not only... Like that's usually considered a breastfeeding pillow. But even if you're not breastfeeding, it's good just to put that pillow around your stomach and then to hold the baby when you're giving them a bottle. Oh, that's smart. Really helped out.
Paige:The, just a good, like, compression kind of underwear that can come up over top of your incision is great. I wore them quite often after Yeah. Way after my c sections too. They're they're just... They're great postpartum underwear.
Paige:I also recommend, taking the medication that they give you.
Carrie:Say that. Yeah.
Paige:Yeah. Yeah. The prescription painkillers are, yeah, are a must. Like, the pain is is intense. I mean, it is a serious surgery.
Carrie:People are scared to take those. So that's actually like you've had two... That's like, I I trust your opinion for for saying that because I know so many moms are like, whatever they have, they're just like, I just wanna take Tylenol. I'm scared or ibuprofen or But you did and you were okay. Yes.
Carrie:And like, it was helpful.
Paige:Absolutely. The pain is is too much to not take them. Yeah. I think. And then, I don't know.
Paige:Just definitely re... Like just take your time Mhmm. To moving around, getting up. It's it's a lot. Have help getting up.
Carrie:How did you do the toddler thing? Like how was your... I mean, he's old enough to kind of understand maybe.
Paige:Yeah. He was... Yeah. He was old enough to understand. So if I would have had like a 15 old or a
Carrie:That could be tough.
Paige:Someone under two... A kid under two, that would be hard if they couldn't understand why mommy can't hold hold me. But I I was explaining to George a lot before the birth. Mhmm. It's gonna be a while before I can hold you.
Paige:Like, after I come home with the baby, I'm gonna... You know, I also explained to George how much time I was gonna have to spend with the baby too. So that that helped him realize like, okay, I need to go to daddy to ask for help with anything or I need to go to daddy more. Daddy's gonna be helping with bedtime more. So we had Kyle help do bedtime a lot more before I gave birth just to get George transitioned for that that change.
Carrie:Just not like all at once.
Paige:All at Because I was the preferred parent. I... It was me doing everything. George wanted me for every last thing he needed. But we started incorporating Kyle into the routine a little bit more before.
Paige:So now Kyle and George are besties. So that's...
Carrie:It probably really bonds like the the dad with the toddler.
Paige:Oh, absolutely.
Carrie:It's really sweet.
Paige:I feel like like chopped liver sometimes now because they've been doing so much Yeah. You guys
Carrie:really liked bedtime together. Bedtime or whatever. Yeah. Okay. That's good.
Carrie:I just wanted to ask because I know a lot of moms are like, what do I expect with a c section? Or like, how do I... Yeah. How long do you feel like it's potentially... And I know you've just experienced.
Carrie:But like, what would you say, hey, hang in until X day, you're gonna feel better?
Paige:One week. I feel like that the one week mark for both of them, that's when I started feeling better. When I was able to get up, I could throw in a load of laundry. I could wash the bottles.
Carrie:Could Okay.
Paige:You know, actually get up and do a few things. Felt a little more useful, is... It helps your mindset, I think, when you're able to get up and do those things.
Carrie:Totally. Totally. And what is it looking like? You're still on maternity leave. What is life looking like right now?
Carrie:Because like, Georgia was to school, so you're home with just baby. Is that really... Like, how are you feeling about that?
Paige:Is it enjoyable? I'm loving it. And I know it's like a just a once in a lifetime, you know, I'm never gonna have this time again. And I'm definitely trying to enjoy it as as much as possible and just really just hoping it goes as slow as possible because Yeah. It's amazing.
Paige:With George, he was born in the wintertime and I didn't have an older child to take to preschool. And so we were just inside all the time, never going anywhere. It was cold, but it was it was cozy and warm and snuggly. But with Colin, I take George to preschool every morning. So we are getting up.
Paige:We're getting out of the house. It's it's amazing. It's keeping me, you know, just... It's keeping me energized and and just kind of in a good headspace because I know that those baby blues can creep in.
Carrie:Mhmm.
Paige:And I haven't felt them because I'm I'm moving and I'm getting out and I'm getting in the sunshine.
Carrie:You said that. Those are the first things you said to me. You're like, I'm getting out with him. Yes. Like, I'm not intimidated.
Paige:Exactly. Oh, the confidence is so much higher. Like getting him into the... Like he'll be dead asleep. It's like 06:30 in the morning dead asleep but I have to...
Paige:We have to leave around 07:00. So I'm waking him up Mhmm. Putting... Giving him a bottle or feeding him and and then, or nursing him and then getting him into the car seat and, yep, if he falls back asleep, that's great. If not, you know, we'll we'll deal with it.
Carrie:Yeah. The confidence with the second is exciting to me. Very busy. He was just like, we're just gonna roll with it. Yeah.
Carrie:Making it happen. And then what about... Oh, okay. Couple things I wanna talk to you about. First of all, breastfeeding.
Paige:Mhmm.
Carrie:So what was your breastfeeding experience with George? Because I don't actually know that.
Paige:Okay. So with George, he had a little trouble latching. So we did use one of those like those like rubber nipple shields
Carrie:Oh, yeah.
Paige:For a while. We had to use that for exactly one month. It was on the day that he turned one month old. I've always tried to get him to latch without it. And on the day he turned one month, he he did.
Paige:He latched. So that was that was a success, a win. He did great breastfeeding. We breastfed for nineteen months. That is a
Carrie:long time.
Paige:Like, very long time.
Carrie:Did he wean himself? Himself?
Paige:He... Let's see. So we stopped bottles at 12 and I would offer breast milk in like a straw cup sometimes, but he didn't need it. We we were doing shredded solids at six months and he was, I think, at three meals at 12 so Mhmm. Of solids.
Paige:So he didn't really need the breast milk anymore. But we just nursed at nighttime.
Carrie:Okay.
Paige:Because Georgie did not sleep. That's great. He woke up. He never slept through the night. Never ever slept through the night.
Paige:He woke up four or five times every day for so long. It was hard. I think my body just got used to it.
Carrie:Yeah.
Paige:Yeah. And the fact that, you know, like, okay. So when you get up in the middle of night and you have to use the restroom and you kinda keep your eyes closed Yes. To keep yourself sleepy, I would do that.
Carrie:You'd like almost like zombie feed him and then put him back over.
Paige:Yeah. Yep. I would just walk over because he barely needed... He only just needed it enough to just fall back asleep. So it wasn't like he was needing a diaper changed every time.
Carrie:Mhmm.
Paige:So it was just I'd walk over to his room. I'd nurse him for two minutes, rock him for a little bit, and then he'd be back to sleep and back in his crib. And then... But he, you know, an hour or an hour and half later, he'd do it again, forever.
Carrie:Was like, I felt like... It's a long time.
Paige:And then I was so afraid to quit breastfeeding because I'm like, okay, but that's what I do to get him to go back to sleep. So I can't quit breastfeeding because that's that's the method.
Carrie:But you weren't feeding him during the day at
Paige:that point? No, not at all. Okay. Yeah. Unless...
Paige:Okay. The breastfeeding, the... It was a good tool to use if he injured himself though. I would I would sue them
Carrie:Almost like to sue them. Yeah. So that's what he... So that
Paige:was one other option or one other time I would do it. But then, so finally, I knew my supply was dropping. I saw... I had stopped pumping at sixteen months because I was still pumping at work just to keep my supply up.
Carrie:I was gonna ask
Paige:how you... Oh, for sixteen months at work. Yeah. It was so long.
Carrie:What a hero. It was crazy. It's lot.
Paige:Yeah. And then... So I finally was like, okay, I can't do this anymore. Like, I'm just... I'm I'm done.
Paige:I think my my milk isn't there. I'm... We gotta be done. So I kind of explained to him. He was old enough to understand.
Paige:I said no more. Like, we're we are done. And I just rocked him to sleep that night, put him in his bed and he slept through the night. That story kills me.
Carrie:That story kills me. I couldn't believe it. I said, okay. So I had it wrong. Wait.
Carrie:I'm sorry. What? I should have
Paige:quit months ago. Like, wake ups. She's like, oh, oh, no. Fine.
Carrie:No more, mom? Okay. Yep.
Paige:Good night. He said that there was no more. So... Yeah.
Carrie:Dang it. That is so crazy. Okay. So that was your experience with him. And then Colin...
Carrie:I mean, you're still so early days.
Paige:How old is So Colin is seven weeks.
Carrie:Oh, wow. Yeah.
Paige:He's going
Carrie:fast. He
Paige:is Yeah.
Carrie:Crazy. He's so little. So sweet. I know he's so newborn. But how has breastfeeding been with him?
Paige:He... It was... It's a struggle. So in the hospital, he did not... He barely latched.
Paige:He would get a latch, but as soon as he latched on, he would take maybe one drink and then go to sleep. So with the lactation consultant, she just kind of explained to me with him being born at 36, he was just a little, underdeveloped, not... He just didn't have the coordination or the strength to to breastfeed and keep a feed going for a good enough... Good amount of time. So we pumped at the hospital and fed him the cla- claustrum through a bottle.
Paige:And then we also had to... And because it was early, my milk hadn't come in quite enough yet. So we had to supplement a little bit with formula, which I was just like, let's do it. If it would have been George, I would have been... Probably...
Paige:Would been freaked out. Yeah. Because I was totally on the thing of no formula, no way with George. But this time around, I'm like, okay, I know better than that. Like It's gonna be fine.
Paige:Yeah. He needs to eat. Give him the formula. So we were giving him bottles of this of of this formula and that worked out fine. But then my milk came in more and more as I was at the hospital because I was there for like three days since it was a C section.
Paige:So then I was pumping enough that we didn't have to do the formula anymore. And I was just pumping away and and trying to nurse. I would try every now and then, but it was always the same thing. He would get a latch and then he would and then he would, fall asleep. But then would
Carrie:he take the bottle? Okay.
Paige:He take the bottle. Great. Yeah. He was great with the bottle. He didn't have any tongue ties or lip ties or anything.
Paige:So that was... He was still good with the bottle. But, we did... I did even try to nipple shield with him too. He latched better with the nipple shield.
Paige:So at- so every time I tried after the hospital, I always used the nipple shield. And he- he would scream and he would cry and I would cry and it was- it was really hard. I definitely am proud of how persistent I was because we kept trying. I I had to pump exclusively. So I was pumping every three hours and the engorgement was insane because I was getting an oversupply from pumping so much.
Paige:And, which is great. I'd rather have an oversupply than an But undersupply.
Carrie:This is tiring.
Paige:It was painful.
Carrie:And You're probably I mean starving.
Paige:I changed flange sizes. I did everything, but the pumping was was painful. Everything was just so painful about the whole journey. And... But I would try every now and then.
Paige:I started trying less and less because I was getting so just defeated with the the tears. And I would just be like bouncing him and singing to him and shushing him and patting him and getting him down. They tell tell you to do skin to skin to help them, you know, get the natural instinct kicked in for them to do it. And it was hard. But one day, it just clicked for him.
Paige:And and that was recently. It was it was just last week or just last weekend and what's today? Wednesday? So that's only been a few days now. Let's go.
Paige:He latched without the shield and he fed for ten minutes straight and he got a full feed in. And I was so, so proud of him and he figured out he knew how to do it. And every time I've offered it to him since he just blotches right on and he's doing it great.
Carrie:Amazing.
Paige:Yeah. So, and what I realized is it took George until one month. So he was four weeks old when he was able to latch real good on his own and feed real well on his own. And Colin is seven weeks, but he was born three weeks early.
Carrie:So it's basically Exactly. Exactly.
Paige:Same. Mhmm.
Carrie:That's... Okay. I'm glad you said that. That's really good for moms to hear. And I also think it's really encouraging that you're...
Carrie:You found your flow and it took seven weeks. Because think so many of us put that pressure on ourself if it doesn't happen in the hospital, if it doesn't happen in the first week
Paige:Mhmm.
Carrie:It's not gonna happen. Or our story is gonna be that it just... I have to exclusively pump. So many... And I'm not shaming anybody for this.
Carrie:I just have seen it with so many friends because you just don't know what to do. But breastfeeding's overwhelming. I've seen so many mom friends just be like, screw it. I'm just gonna pump exclusively. Starting like week one.
Carrie:Yeah. They're like, it's just too much. He's crying. I'm crying. Whatever it is.
Carrie:And I totally get it. And so I think it's important to hear stories like this where you're like, if you... If it's important to you and you wanna be consistent, like you did pump but you also just kept at it.
Paige:Oh, he had hundreds of bottles. Like so many bottles. We were washing bottles all the time. And like, I was like, okay, he's had so many bottles now. He's never gonna learn.
Paige:Like, he's just so used to just laying back and getting fed. Yeah. And it's so... He's a lazy baby. Yeah.
Paige:But, no, I just I just kept offering. And I... And like I said, I I was offering fewer and far between Mhmm. And and he still got it.
Carrie:That's so encouraging. It encourages me too. Because like, I really hope that my next time around, I really would love to have like a good experience. And I did... I guess my my experience was like, was good for the first month until that until that tongue tie procedure.
Carrie:And then it just never was good again. So I was always bummed because I was like, oh, I felt what it felt like when it was seamless. And then it just never was again. I almost had the opposite experience of most people where it's like, it gets better. Mine was like, where'd it go?
Carrie:Yeah. It was so nice, you know. So I really hope that next time around, like, get to have that. But it's nice to know even if the next baby, even if like it doesn't happen right away Mhmm. It doesn't mean it's not going to happen.
Carrie:You can have that experience.
Paige:Gonna be persistent. Yeah.
Carrie:So great. Okay. Talk about the 100 foods. I bet your moms are gonna be... See, I didn't do this.
Paige:But I bet a lot of other moms are gonna
Carrie:be like, I did this or I wanna do this. I've heard about it.
Paige:Yeah. So there is... We're talking about, starting solids. So Yes. With my first George, he, started solids at six months and I was excited to do it.
Paige:I was following an Instagram account called, I think it's called Solid Starts. Mhmm. And they sell a meal plan, for the first one hundred days of food. And they and they give like a breakdown of how to cook the food, how to prepare it, how to like cut it up, what what size that you should offer the the the baby. And, and pretty much they would, like, give you ideas for, like, crazy foods that I had never even tried before.
Paige:So like Yeah.
Carrie:I'm not creative on this stuff. Like, feel like give you same food. So that is very helpful.
Paige:And it was great too because they also show you how to introduce allergens and, like what to give and how how how to give it. I mean, it was great. So I loved having a a plan that I could follow that someone was telling me exactly how to do it. It was it was great. So George did it.
Paige:He ate everything. He was such a good eater. I was hoping that this would help him, like, not be a picky eater. And he he did. He ate he ate everything I gave him.
Paige:He at least, you know, was was curious and interested and tried it all. We never did a single jar of baby food, and we never did a a... I mean, I bought, like, silicone pouches later to put, like, applesauce in on my own. I made, you know, concoctions and put them in the pouches myself. But I never bought baby food.
Paige:Never gave him That's crazy. Puree. Yeah. And he he ate solid food from the very beginning. But what's crazy now is, you know, like I said, I thought that would keep him from being a picky eater.
Paige:Seems like at age three, he decides he doesn't wanna eat anything besides peanut butter sandwich.
Carrie:Toddlers. Yeah. He's like, yeah. I tried it all. It's good, but it's not peanut butter jelly.
Paige:Oh, no. And he'll go, mom, it's just peanut butter on there. You better not put jelly on there.
Carrie:Oh, he doesn't even want jelly. Yeah. That's so crazy. I wonder if he'll stay picky or if he is just at the toddler phase. Because I know so many kids at that age are
Paige:just like hoping it's just the phase. Yeah. And he said... The other day I asked him because I'm like, okay, you used to eat everything I made for dinner. Why why aren't you eating dinner anymore?
Paige:And he said, it tasted better at the old house. Oh. I know. I was like, okay. Well, no.
Paige:Don't say that. I know. We just moved in June. So I'm like, come on. No.
Paige:Please, it tastes exactly the same.
Carrie:Tastes the same, dude. Yeah. Aw.
Paige:I know. I felt bad.
Carrie:You... Okay. So you did move when he was 3.5. Yeah. Was that like...
Carrie:How did he process it? Okay.
Paige:And here's another crazy thing. So, we, his first day at a daycare facility. So he was... When he was a baby, he went to a babysitter's house. And we started...
Paige:We decided to start him at, a preschool, this fall, but we wanted to get him started earlier, in the summer for their summer session because we didn't want him starting preschool around the same time his his baby brother was gonna be born because we didn't want it to be a big... Super big tran... Like two big transitions Yeah. At So we started him in the summer session and we ended up finding a house, buying it, and the closing date just happened to be on the exact same day as his first day at this new daycare. So that morning looked like taking George, dropping him off at this new place that he'd never been before, crying his eyes out, you know, the whole sad, awful, goodbye, I'm so And sorry, I love saying goodbye to him and then driving to go close on our house and and we started moving that day.
Paige:So when he came home from his new day care facility, he came home to a new house.
Carrie:Okay. So he's like, guys, this is too... You're like, you're trying to prevent from like being a crazy change and then it all happens
Paige:the same day. Day. And then to top it off, we go back to Colin's birth story. Collin was actually born on George's first day of of preschool with his new teacher. So summer sessions with a different teacher.
Paige:His first day of actual fall session, Collin was born.
Carrie:So... Lots of transition happening. You're like, you tried.
Paige:You did you did
Carrie:do what you could. Yeah. Oh, but is he liking the new house? Like, does that...
Paige:He does. He loves the new house. We've actually asked him, do you miss the new other house at all? No. It wasn't big enough for me.
Paige:He's like, he's so silly. But... Yeah. So... He's so cute.
Paige:But like, it wasn't big enough for two kids. Yeah. He would've had to share a room with with Colin and I think he's excited to have his own room and... Mhmm. But yeah.
Paige:Know he loves the new house. And he likes his new school. He loves going to school because, well, my mom works there. So that
Carrie:Yeah. Helps out a
Paige:lot that his grandma's there.
Carrie:Pretty precious. That's like really ideal. Like, it's to see her and stuff.
Paige:Yep.
Carrie:So you told me that you are someone who likes to get ready now as a mom, like that that's something. And I... When you said that, I'm like, oh, I've noticed like a total difference when I do that. Yes. Talk a little bit about that.
Carrie:Because like washing your hair... Like, have great hair, by the way. Thank I did tell you this, but your hair is thriving.
Paige:Thank you very much.
Carrie:Is it better? Like, do you feel like your hair has gotten healthier since you had the boys? Well... Because I just know it looks amazing.
Paige:It was short short when I had... I was pregnant with George. I chopped it completely like Oh, yeah. Above my shoulder. Yeah.
Paige:I chopped it when when I was pregnant with George, it was still thick. And then I've just let it grown. I've let it grow out since She's
Carrie:so sick and healthy looking.
Paige:And it definitely gets better, I think, through pregnancy with the prenatal vitamins So and I'm I'm hoping mine... With George, I think after he was born, I didn't have too much postpartum hair loss because I kept taking the prenatal vitamins because I was breastfeeding. And I think that helps just keeping your... Keep... You know, taking in a bunch of nutrients.
Carrie:I think
Paige:it helps with that. Not for everybody, but I've I've heard that that that can help and I feel like it helped with for me. And I'm just gonna try to do the same thing Yeah. This time around. Yeah.
Paige:Because it is... It's probably the health... One of the healthiest it's ever been.
Carrie:It looks so good.
Paige:You're giving
Carrie:me hope. Yeah. I had a lot of postpartum hair loss and plus I had extensions. I think through the whole pregnancy. I had extensions for so long and then...
Paige:And that can damage your hair too. Right?
Carrie:Through extensions. Yeah. I had them in for my wedding on and like kept them in for a few years and then I had them through pregnancy and then my hair got really thick when I was pregnant. Yeah. And so one day when she went to like, my hair girl want to take them out and she was like, just so you know, this is all your real hair and it looked more like your hair right now.
Carrie:And I was like, oh. I was like, I'll take them out. And so I did. And then my hair started thinning, which is like... It's fine.
Carrie:I just ended up chopping it. But I I do get excited about, like, the pregnancy, the regrowth.
Paige:I'm like, can I just stay on prenatals forever? Yeah.
Carrie:Like Why not? You know? Because it's making my hair... Yeah. Like I gotta get that hair back.
Carrie:But... Yeah. But anyway, so sorry. I interrupted. You're fine.
Carrie:But you were kinda just talking about
Paige:Oh, yeah. Getting ready. I love it. So I just... After...
Paige:Okay. So after after I had George, when I went back to work, I was the whole, you know, just getting ready as fast as I could. Showered the night before I was getting up, giving myself fifteen minutes to just like throw on some mascara, brush my teeth, brush my hair and get to work because I was just worried about getting my baby ready. But this time I know I'm not back to work yet, but I have been getting up and getting... Doing my hair, doing my makeup just a little bit, you know, and just just something to make myself feel good because I'm I'm one that's all for, you know, if you've...
Paige:If you look good, you feel good. If you feel good, you do good. Mhmm. So So good. I
Carrie:love that.
Paige:Just like if after I drop my son off at preschool, I feel like, oh, I'm... I I could stop at Target. And I, you know, if I... My hair looks good, feel like, okay, I could totally stop at Target. But if I don't feel good, if I don't look good, I don't feel good.
Paige:I'm not I'm not gonna run that quick errand. That's just so simple to do. But Yes. That's so true. But that's...
Paige:I I just feel like if I... Yeah. If I look good, I I feel like I can get more stuff done in a day.
Carrie:I totally... Okay. This is like the silliest example, but I'm just thinking about this, like, implying to my life. Because I usually try to just like just either like clean hair or a little mascara, just something. Mhmm.
Carrie:And usually I like keep up with that. And this is just like so true. When you said like, when you look good, you feel good. You like live life differently. Yesterday, we ended up popping in the car to go get coffee because our coffee...
Carrie:We're at my parents house right now and the coffee machine broke. And we don't do no coffee. So I was like, well, we're going to sip right now. So we went to the coffee shop downtown and I was just in my striped pajamas and a hoodie and I was just like, I've been in this house for days and so it was where like, your your hair is dirty and you don't have makeup on. Was early morning.
Carrie:Mhmm. And I don't even get like, I really don't care. Like, I'll be seen with no makeup. Like, don't even wear makeup all the time, whatever. But it was just like when you're like, I'm rough right now.
Carrie:Like, I'm actually like next level rough. Like, I'm embarrassed.
Paige:Oh, I hope I don't see anybody I know. Exactly. Yes.
Carrie:And we're in a small town. And so anyway, it was just so funny because Connor, we're pulling up in town and I obviously wasn't gonna go in. I'm in pajamas. But he was gonna park right in front of of SIP and I happened to just see like girls I graduated with walking down the thing. And I was like, Connor, I feel like this is like so embarrassing to admit.
Carrie:But I was like, I feel 12 right now. I'm gonna need you to park around the block. I was like, I can't.
Paige:And he was like, what?
Carrie:I was like he's like, you're never insecure. I was like, I just can't talk to people with literally like dirty teeth, no eyebrows. Like, I was like, I I actually just can't. Anyway, all that to say, like, who cares? Right.
Carrie:But it did make me think, you know, like, if I would have just like taken those ten minutes to spruce
Paige:a little
Carrie:I would have said hi to them. And I liked them.
Paige:I was just like, I think you miss opportunities if you don't
Carrie:get ready. I just need to get ready a little bit.
Paige:Yeah. Anyway, that's
Carrie:so practical. Gosh. Before we wrap up, you're a working mom.
Paige:Mhmm.
Carrie:And it's so cool. You did such an amazing job. You're so present. You're such a good mom. And you're like working.
Carrie:What would you say to moms that maybe are pregnant right now and know that they are gonna have to go back to work and maybe they don't want to or maybe they love their job? Like what... If there's like any fears moms have, how would you speak into that?
Paige:Okay. So I know it is it is awful. It is awful going back. It's hard saying goodbye. Mhmm.
Paige:You've spent all that time with your baby and it's been so wonderful. And you think to yourself, oh my gosh, I I get to see them for a couple hours every night. I mean, it's really... It's it's tough. Mhmm.
Paige:It's a
Carrie:big transit. I can't imagine.
Paige:But after after a little while, it's just... It's the new normal. I know that's a silly phrase, but like Yeah.
Carrie:It's true
Paige:though. Like once you get used to it and you get back into the swing of things and then you also remind yourself like, I'm doing this, I'm working and I'm taking care of these kids. Like I can do it all. It makes you kinda feel like a like a super girl and and it feels it feels great. You can just kinda feel confident about being like being that.
Paige:And, it it does. It gets easier. Yeah. And it just... You make sure you squeeze everything you can out of every weekend.
Paige:That's what we do. Yeah. And we get lots of lots of activities in in the weekend and lots of time with our kids in the weekends. We we actually hardly ever, do anything without our kids. We...
Carrie:That's so... Yeah. I mean, yeah. I I could totally imagine that when you have the weekends to, like, soak up family time. I bet.
Paige:Yeah.
Carrie:Yeah. And you were even saying, like, you're like, oh yeah, like I'd run home, you know, and I'd basically like just just get home from work and then start cooking dinner.
Paige:Oh yeah. I'd still have my work bag on my shoulder while I'm feeding the oven and
Carrie:getting I'm stuff so impressed by that. I really am because I work so little right now in this particular season of life. I don't know what, you know, another year will look like. But I think about my mom friends all the time
Paige:that work, that whether they're working from home or they're
Carrie:at doctor friends, like doing all things. It's just like, it's so... Like you said, you do feel like a superhero. I can only imagine because I feel like a superhero and I'm home all day and I'm like, I'm getting it done and laundry and this.
Paige:Yeah.
Carrie:And then I think about my my friends that work hours and then go home and and take care of their kids and are such good moms that are so present. Like, it's a lot in a day. So Yeah. It's really impressive. But that's
Paige:You really really appreciate every minute you have with them.
Carrie:Yeah. Yep. That's really beautiful. So to finish up, what would be your best piece of advice for a new mom?
Paige:Especially if you've just given birth. I mean, this is really for those women that have just given birth.
Carrie:That's great.
Paige:Just if all you've done gotten done that day is brushing your teeth that that's that's good. Say that. Yeah. Definitely. Because it's it is.
Paige:It's those first few weeks are are tough and getting up and if that's all you got done, then you're still taking that baby and you're still doing it. Yeah.
Carrie:Yes. That's so true. Because you just feel like it's forever. You're like, will I ever feel like myself again?
Paige:My... I did nothing today.
Carrie:Yes. My friend today was talking about wanting a second baby. And she was saying that her husband was like, I'm kinda scared about postpartum, but at least this time with post... Like, they're thinking about a second. And she was like, at least this time with postpartum or he was saying, we're gonna know that it's a season.
Carrie:Right? Like we're gonna know when you're not... When you're like, all I do is brush my teeth. Like I'm in pajamas all day and Yeah. He...
Carrie:The baby didn't latch well. Today was a bust. Mhmm. You just know that it's a season. So that's so good.
Carrie:Yes, mom.
Paige:And then something I did hear recently too was like, if if today was a bad day, you'll never have to experience that bad day ever again. Like that was... It's one and done and you can try again the next day and just remember that that's the last time you'll ever have to experience that day.
Carrie:That's so good. Yeah. It's like his mercies are new every morning. We get to we get to start fresh. It doesn't have to be the same.
Carrie:That's that's really beautiful. And I think especially in postpartum, like need that reminder.
Paige:Because you
Carrie:feel today is a new day and you feel like, monotonous. Yeah. Every day. You're like, here we go again. Yeah.
Carrie:Here we go again. Yeah. Oh, that's so good. Paige, thank you so much for being on. You're so amazing.
Paige:You didn't even want to do this. You're so good. I'm like, what?
Carrie:This girl's a pro over here. She's like, I don't know. It's so great. I know that moms are gonna be seriously so blessed by this conversation and I love getting to have like different phases. Like, you're a little more seasoned than than me and then probably a lot of my listeners.
Carrie:Mhmm. It's And great. Just like have the different the different phases. Thanks for being on.
Paige:You're welcome. Thank you for having me.
Carrie:Absolutely. Yay. We did it.