Five Star Postpartum Meal Plan+Prep in DFW

Your to-do’s are nearly ta-da’s. You’ve done a lot of planning and prepping. And you’re pretty sure you’re ready for this bebe.

You’ve got her room ready, your camera batteries are all charged to capture that first smile, and you’ve picked the perfect postpartum recovery and loungewear. But what about that first meal after the birth?

ProTip: After your birth YOU WILL BE RAVENOUS

Do not look back upon this momentous occasion to see hospital grade turkey on wheat hanging from your pearly whites as they feverishly grind every last calorie out of that warm lettuce.

ASHLEY PACKs An EPIC POSTPARTUM PICNIC BASKET

Coming home to a calm, collected nest is a cornerstone of the Welcome Home, bebe! partnership. This includes a healthy, well-stocked kitchen full of fresh, ready-to-eat foods in reusable, easy-to-clean containers. This means shopping lists, an organized pantry, and cabinets and shelves stocked with nutritious foods you love that are easy for anyone to grab-and-go-forth with family-feeding bliss. This includes instructions for your friends and family to shop, prep, and feed you food that you’ll actually eat.

What happens when you get home? 

You need to eat. Your infant needs to eat. Maybe there’s a really helpful sweetie snuggled up with you and that bebe, and he needs to eat too. But sometimes you’ll forget how long it’s been since you ate more than granola. And your friends are going to forget that you have allergies and intolerances. And one day the casseroles are going to stop showing up on your doorstep. 

infants + new parents get hungry

Let Ashley help you get your kitchen squared away before your birth. You’ll customize a meal plan that is just for you, your family, your food – that you like to eat. Want an Ayurvedic complement to your meal planning? We can do that. Managing a special diet with your Doctor? We can share tools to make that easier. Ready to get your already-busy life on track so you can be the healthiest version of YOU for your dynamic family? 

Let Ashley put your kitchen on auto-pilot

The magic happens when we put planning, preparing, and plucking together in your fridge and pantry. We’ll use tools to get you on the right track for managing a post-bebe-haze kitchen, complete with support for busy schedules and healthy meals. And until you’re ready to rock it on your own, Ashley takes care of it for you.

You can choose from one of Ashley’s Postpartum Meal Planning Packages, attend a Meal Planning for Busy Moms workshop, or contact Ashley to curate a custom experience in your kitchen today.

QUESTIONS? ASK ASH!

Successful Breastfeeding

There’s more than one way to feed an infant, but if you’ve decided to feed your newborn breastmilk you’re in the right place for education, support, and resources.

Ashley has worked with hundreds of breastfeeding families over the years and recognizes that there’s only one real rule about breastfeeding:

#FedIsBest

She’s helped mothers who exclusively pump, mothers who use SNS, families who use donor milk and mothers who donate. Ashley has supported gender non-conforming and queer families, mothers of multiples, and mothers transitioning back to the workplace. She supports those who provide breastmilk exclusively as well as those who provide donated and moms using artificial breastmilk.

Ashley is a seasoned lactation counselor and breastfeeding educator, working since 2004 to help mothers achieve their breastfeeding goals.

comprehensive breastfeeding & lactation support


Breastfeeding is as much a headgame as it is a physiological and neurological mechanism by which you can feed your bebe. Exhaustion, mythic expectations, and outdated advice can make something you’ve been told is “natural” a complete nightmare. But it doesn’t have to be such a mess. 

You’ve done hard things before. You’re going to rock this, too. 

QUESTIONS? ASK ASH!

Friends, let’s talk about sleep training for a second

I just got off the phone with a brilliant, wise, scholarly, kind, intuitive mother. She has a lovely child under the age of one who is a crappy sleeper. Hard to put down, had to keep down, accumulated sleep debt for everyone in the family. During our chat there are ideas to explore, systems to suggest, and resources to offer.

But you know what’s really a mess about this mother?

Our conversation was the first of many she’s had with a professional that didn’t make her think she is screwing it all up. This mother, this wife, this friend, this professional who supports many people in her own line of work was made to feel inferior and inadequate because she refuses to let her infant cry itself to sleep.

Please hear me, mothers:
You are not screwing it up.
Your children are not broken.
There is not one right way to be a mother.
Infants are not a red light/green light game.

Trust your intuition.
Reach up for help.
Be patient with yourself.
Love your bebes.

And you call me if anyone is bullying you to think otherwise.

xox
ash

Co-Sleeping! Bed Sharing! Safe Sleep! OH MY!

Hey friends! Today we’re talking safe sleep choices for your growing newborn.

First, let’s get some definitions settled. Often when we hear the word “co-sleeping” we presume the speaker means bebes-in-the-bed.

On the contrary, co-sleeping is defined as “a practice in which babies and young children sleep close to one or both parents, as opposed to a separate room.” It is currently accepted that co-sleeping is the practice of parent and child sleeping in sensory proximity to one another, anchored by touch, smell, taste, or noise and refers to children in their own safe sleeping environments in the same room as their parent, also referred to as room-sharing

Bed Sharing is just what it sounds like: parent and child sharing the same sleep space. 

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) encourages room-sharing because it’s shown to reduce the risk of SIDS; while stating without exception that “your baby should not sleep in an adult bed, on a couch, or on a chair alone, with you, or with anyone else. If you bring baby into your bed to feed, make sure to put him or her back in a separate sleep area, such as a safety-approved crib, bassinet, or portable play area, in your room next to where you sleep when you are finished.”

Included in their 2011 Policy Statement, the AAP directs:

  • Always place baby on his or her back to sleep, for naps and at night, to reduce the risk of SIDS.
  • Use a firm sleep surface and keep soft objects, toys, crib bumpers, and loose bedding out of your baby’s sleep area to reduce the risk of SIDS and other sleep related causes of infant death.
  • Avoid wedges, positioners, and other products that have not been tested for safety or effectiveness.
  • Do not let your baby get too hot during sleep.
  • To reduce the risk of SIDS, women should receive regular health care during pregnancy, and not smoke, drink alcohol, or use illegal drugs during pregnancy or after the baby is born.
  • To reduce the risk of SIDS, do not smoke during pregnancy, and do not smoke or allow smoking around your baby.
  • Breastfeed your baby to reduce the risk of SIDS, but if you bring your baby into your bed to breastfeed, make sure to put him or her back in a separate sleep area in your room next to where you sleep when you are finished.
  • Follow your health care provider’s guidance on your baby’s vaccines and regular health checkups.  Evidence suggests that immunization reduces the risk of SIDS by 50 percent.

Many of the families I work with prefer to have their infant as close as possible to facilitate late-night, frequent feedings.

Arms_Reach_Bassinette_CoSleeperAll of the families I work with want to bond deeply and fully with their bebes, and the most popular safe sleep choice they’re making is the Arm’s Reach Cambria Co-Sleeper Bassinet. Boasting mesh sides for good breathability, well-functioning wheels with locking casters, adjustable leg height, and sides can be folded down and locked in place for co-sleeper or kept static for use as a standalone bassinet. Having an infant safely snuggled up close to you often facilitates more sleep for bebe AND parent. Importantly, this model attaches to the bed via an adjustable length strap that fits under mattresses as wide as a King. I tend to suggest the full-size versus the mini as it allows for a growing infant to have a bit more time up-close and safe before transitioning to a crib, but *it is * heavier and clunkier than the smaller version.

You can find this popular co-sleeper at Amazon, BabiesRUsBuyBuyBaby, and Target. If you’re looking to buy gently used and/or resell your co-sleeper, Kid2Kid has a great reputation for gently used items, with locations all over the country, and the Just Between Friends (JBF) children’s and maternity consignment sale is a must-visit on every new parent’s  field trip agenda.

QUESTIONS ABOUT IMPLEMENTING SAFE SLEEP PRACTICES WITH YOUR INFANT? ASKASH!

 

#WeatherfordMombieTribe

No members. Just moms.

What is the #WeatherfordMombieTribe?

We are a group of professionals, who are mothers, with a passion to educate, empower, and encourage women through the adventures of motherhood. Get to know us:

Michelle Parker, DC
The Chiropractic Place for Mommy&Me
Aledo, Texas

Amanda Prouty, LM, CPM
Beautiful Beginnings Midwifery
Fort Worth, Texas

Dewlene Broyles, IBCLC
Mom Support Breastfeeding & Lactation Services
Weatherford, Texas

Cassie Barbosa
Barbosa Studios Photography
Aledo, Texas

Ashley Coones
The Professional Doula for Your Modern Family
Aledo, Texas 

You can keep up with us on the book of faces

AskAsh: What can I do about engorgement?

Engorgement! Swelling! Boobs like basketballs, Oh My!

Reverse Pressure Softening

Try this if pain, swelling, or fullness creates problems during the early days of learning to breastfeed. The key is making the areola very soft right around the base of the nipple, for better latching.

  • A softer areola protects the nipple deep in baby’s mouth helping his tongue remove milk better. Mothers say curved fingers work best. (Fig. 1 or 2)
  • Press inward toward the chest wall and count slowly to 50.
  • Pressure should be steady and firm, and gentle enough to avoid pain.
  • If mom wishes, someone else may help, using thumbs (Fig. 5).
  • (For long fingernails, try another way shown below.)
  • If breasts are quite large or very swollen, count very slowly, with mom lying down on her back. This delays return of swelling to the areola, giving more time to latch.
  • Soften the areola right before each feeding (or pumping) till swelling goes away. For some mothers, this takes 2-4 days.
  • Make any pumping sessions short, with pauses to re-soften the areola if needed.
  • Use medium or low vacuum, to reduce the return of swelling into the areola.

engorgement-reverse-pressure-softening-ask-ash1

engorgement-reverse-pressure-softening-ask-ash1

 

Cabbage Leaves and Compresses

Cabbage leaves may also be used to help decrease the engorgement, as can ice packs and cold compresses. Some studies suggest cabbage may accomplish this more quickly. If you are unable to get the baby latched on, start cabbage leaves, start expressing your milk, and give the expressed milk to the baby by spoon, cup, finger feeding or eyedropper and get help quickly. See also the information sheetWhen the Baby Does Not Yet Latch at the websites nbci.ca.

  1. Use green cabbage
  2. Crush the cabbage leaves with a rolling pin if the leaves do not take the shape of your breast.
  3. Wrap the cabbage leaves around the breast and leave on for about 20 minutes. Twice daily is enough. It is usual to use the cabbage leaf treatment less than two or three times. Some will say to use the cabbage leaves after each feeding and leave them on until they wilt. Some are concerned that using them too often will decrease the milk supply
  4. Stop using as soon as engorgement is beginning to go away and you are becoming more comfortable.
  5. You can use acetaminophen (Tylenol™, others) with or without codeine, ibuprofen, or other medication for pain relief. As with almost all medications, there is no reason to stop breastfeeding when taking analgesics
  6. Ice packs also can be helpful
  7. Some women get a large lump in the armpit about 3 or 4 days after the baby’s birth. Cabbage leaves may be used in that area as well to help the lump go away.

Epsom salts

(Please note: We have not had much experience with this approach but have heard some good things about it. We include it to provide an alternative to the above).

This technique is adapted from handout Patient’s Treatment for Engorgement, by A. Stolz, with notes from Lawrence, R; Ingle, B; Hunt, A)

The breasts may be soaked in a tub or basin of epsom salts for a few minutes to help with engorgement.

  1. Fill a small container or basin with warm water, deep enough that the breast can be submerged (You may need about 1 litre of water, or more).
  2. Place 1–2 handfuls (what fits into the palm of the hand or about 30 to 60 grams), of Epsom’s salts crystals (magnesium sulphate, MgSO4) and dissolve before putting the breast in the water
  3. Mother can lean over the basin so her breasts soak in the solution
  4. This should not be painful and any cuts or trauma can be covered with All Purpose Nipple Ointment
  5. Leave soaking in very warm water until water is cool or at least 5-10 minutes
  6. Wash off solution with plain water after, to wash away salty taste for baby
  7. The salts may act as a diuretic for excess fluids in the breast
  8. Repeat before each feed or 3 or more times a day as Mother wishes
  9. Usually good results can be felt in 24 hours
  10. Mother can do this treatment for up to 3 days if desired

 

Engorgement, Revised 2009
Written by Edith Kernerman, IBCLC, revised by Jack Newman, MD, FRCPC © 2009
Reverse Pressure Softening written by Jean Cotterman, illustrations by Kyle Cotterman, © 2008
Epsom Salt notes from A. Stolz

Welcome Home, bebe!

You’re home. You’re together. You’re a family.

What now?

I  know how good you’re going to be at this. And I know you need some help.

…and some sleep. and a snack. and maybe a shower.

I can help you welcome your newborn with confidence

I’m a professional postpartum doula, newborn care specialist, infant feeding educator, sleep coach, and family manager serving North Texas.

I work my magic at offices in Aledo, Burleson, Dallas, and Fort Worth. I provide education, support, and hands-on help that will empower your innate abilities to nourish each other during the early weeks of your parenting journey. Keeping you fed and well-rested, providing pro-tips for managing your nest, anticipating the fitness and nutrition needs of your changing body and family: that’s what our postpartum partnership brings to your family in your earliest days home.

Whether you’re booking me for an infant sleep consult, joining me for a parenting preparation workshop, reaching out for infant feeding support, joining other folks to get your kitchen under control, or maintaining your sanity thanks to my unparalleled postpartum doula services, support after your birth is just as vital to your success & satisfaction as support during your birth.

My specialty is supporting families as they navigate
Mind-Body Connections
Developmental Milestones
Practical Management
the postpartum transition

There’s a lot to take in at the website, and I’m glad you’re here. I’m adding new blogs, classes, content from experts around the globe daily. You can even check out the details of my CV. Please poke around, and let’s speak soon about how I can help you find your postpartum & parenting bliss.

QUESTIONS? ASK ASH!

What do you tell your friends about your doula?

Have we worked together?
Have we made magic?
Are we ride or die colleagues?

I’d love it if you’d tell people about how a foul-mouth sherpa makes your life a little easier.

Maybe I took you on a transcendental journey to a place of birth & parenting bliss.

Or maybe I taught you CPR.

Or how about that one time you slept so well you woke up knowing how to speak another language?

Or maybe we had a beer and a good laugh and that was more than enough.

I want more clients like YOU.
YOU were the perfect match for me.
Tell your story so I can connect with others like you.

Please leave me a facebook review or testimonial

xox

Lunch+Latch Meetups in Aledo

Facilitated by a Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC) and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), small group sessions for breastfeeding & lactation help are a wonderful way to engage in a weekly support environment, getting professional help and peer feedback in a centering environment. 

2015-08-16 15.19.04

Private appointments allow us to work through your unique needs in the privacy of a one-on-one appointment. Combining group sessions and private appointments is a wonderful way to support consistent changes in your infant’s behavior at the breast. Join us for lunch to meet the team, or book your private appointment below to get the unique attention your infant needs.

Get to know Dewlene Browles and Ashley Coones, your group facilitators.

 

Breastfeeding & Lactation Help IN ALEDO, TEXAS


the chiropractic place for her
601 N FM 1187 #5
Aledo, TX 76008

12:30-1:30pm
Bring a lunch and meet other mothers making the best of breastfeeding. We talk about all ways to feed your infant breastmilk, including donor milk, pumping, and bottlefeeding, but our primary focus is getting that infant on and eating well at the breast. Pregnant and breastfeeding mothers are welcome.

 

 

 

I’m Ashley. I’m a doula. I can help.

cropped-greenscreen4upface.jpgYou’re home.

You’re together.

You’re a family.

What now?

I  know how good you’re going to be at this. And I know you need some help.

…and some sleep. and a snack. and maybe a shower.

Beginning with the magical hour following birth and defining all the details the 4th Trimester will expect you to expertly manage, my specialty is supporting families as they navigate the Mind-Body Connections, Developmental Milestones, and Practical Management of the 4th Trimester. 

I can help you welcome your newborn with calm, comfortable confidence.

I provide education, support, and trust that will empower your innate abilities to nourish each other during the early weeks of your parenting journey. Keeping you fed and well-rested, providing pro-tips for greening up your nest, anticipating the fitness and nutrition needs of your changing body and family, that’s what our partnership brings to your family in your earliest days home.

Whether you’re joining me for a parenting preparation workshop, reaching out for breastfeeding support, joining other moms to get meal planning under control, or maintaining your sanity thanks to my unparalleled postpartum doula services, support after your birth is just as vital to your success & satisfaction as support during your birth.

Learner. Teacher. Doer. Doula.
I teach a bunch of classes. I cheer families on. I bebewhisper.
I help other women begin their doula careers.
I try to give a little more than I get. And sometimes I cuss when I’m doing it. 

Thanks for visiting.
This website is constantly changing. Poke around. Let me know you were here. 

xoxASHxox