Lifestyle

Meet Bella Mary Bomgren!

Our sweet baby girl is here! Meet Bella Mary Bomgren…

Bella was born on Friday, September 27th, just a few days ahead of schedule.

Bella’s Birth Story

I woke up Friday morning feeling a bit more ‘crampy’ than normal and actually told my husband, ‘I think it’s going to happen in the next 24 hours!’ 

Since I’m home with Brody on Friday’s we did our typical Friday morning pancake meal prep, and just as we were finishing up I started feeling contractions on a more regular basis.

So I called my husband to come home, and labored at home till about noon when my parents arrived to take Brody and we headed to the hospital.

Long story short we labored for around 9 hours. And since my contractions were only 2 minutes apart from the get-go, there were a lot of ‘holy bananas’ (if you’ve done my workout videos you know what I’m talking about). I also swore I’d never have another child mid-contraction, ha!

All our prayers were answered, because there was a period when they thought I might have an infection and have to go into C-section, but after some fluids and meds we got to have the birth we’d hoped for.

And at 6:44pm Bella entered this world, and one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever held was placed in my arms ♡!

She was 20.5 inches long and weighed 7lbs 9oz; which believe it or not were the exact same measurements as my son, Brody, when he was born at 36 weeks.

We named her Bella Mary Bomgren; Mary after my mother.

She has a full head of dark hair like me when I was born. She latched right away like a champ (if there’s a next time I’ll remember to bring my nipple cream to the hospital)! And naturally I think she’s the cutest little lady I’ve ever seen.

Brody’s been the sweetest big brother, smothering his little sister with lots of kisses.

I have to say the transition to two kids has been much smoother for me. I’m so grateful for:

1. Our amazing team of midwives, Willow Midwives, who do amazing work and offer great postpartum care like in home lactation visits.
2. The superwoman team of nurses that supported us at The Mother Baby Center.
3. Paternity leave! My husband actually gets to be home during this transition which makes a world of difference.
4. Our super supportive friends and family who’ve been stopping by and bringing us food.
5. My right hand lady, Rachel, who’s continuing to work on sharing the content we have prepped for you guys during this season of me taking some time off.
6. The freezer meals I prepped so I don’t have to cook during this season.

The greatest challenge so far, and the cause for my postpartum tears, has been not getting as much play-time with Brody B. My heart aches to see him adjusting to sharing mom and dad, but I know ultimately we are giving him the greatest gift, a sibling.

One Month Update

We’ve officially been a family of 4 for one month! And currently:

• Bella is giving me 3-4 hour stretches between feedings at night which is AMAZING. I am finally starting to feel human again with a bit more sleep. We still have our rough nights, thanks to a gassy tummy, but overall Bella’s been a great baby.
• Brody is also sleeping much better (praise Jesus) and settling into his big brother role and sharing mom and dad’s attention. He loves being my diaper gopher. And somehow his sister magically wakes up from her naps whenever he’s nearby ;)...’look she’s moving mommy, she’s awake now.’
• Tim, my husband, is officially back to work. We were so grateful for his paternity leave! And now we are getting back into routines and adjusting to our new normal.
• I’m doing well. The transition to two has been so much smoother than my transition to one. I really struggled with postpartum adjustment, anxiety, rage and depression when my son Brody was born. So as you can imagine I felt really anxious as Bella’s arrival neared. But I’m happy to report it’s been such a different, and beautiful experience this second time. Of course we still have our ‘hard’ days where overwhelm and tears come easy, but the good days far outweigh the bad. I’ve added movement and some workouts back into my routine 3-4 days a week; something that’s great for my mental health. But I’m taking it slow and really focusing on re-building my core.

Words of Encouragement for Fellow Mamas

You’re AMAZING!

Whatever your journey to motherhood looks like; you’re a warrior — fertility, pregnancy, labor, delivery, adoption, fostering, the newborn days (or daze), the fourth trimester — NONE of it is easy.

But it does remind me just how amazing God created our bodies to be.

You’re doing sacred work raising a little. Work that God designed for ONLY you to do. No one’s chest feels quite like home to your baby as yours does. You were made for this.

And when the exhaustion sets in, and the overwhelm becomes more than you can bear. Look up at your Creator, and the Creator of your little. Your burdens become lighter when you lean into Him and your soul will find rest knowing that he’s designed you, and ONLY you, to mother this babe.

A Final Note

Thank you for all the love and support and kind messages you’ve sent. We are doing really well!

Enjoy the remaining beautiful Fall season, and all the upcoming content we’ve worked hard to schedule out for you! I look forward to shooting some awesome new workout videos for you in January 2020.

Till then, I’ll be attempting to disconnect as much as I can and enjoy these Bella and Brody snuggles.

*A special thank you to Alma Films for capturing these precious moments. 

Note, I’m not planning to post any more baby updates here on the blog at this time, but I will be sharing some glimpses into our newborn days on my Instagram.