2 Under 2 Necessities

The Haaka– Y’all. Run, do not walk to get this bad boy. The Haaka is a suctioning mini-pump you attach to the breast your baby is not feeding from. It catches the milk from each let down that would otherwise go into a breast pad or all over your shirt! I cannot tell you how much this has blessed my life. I have not used an electric pump and I already have a huge stash saved with 0 effort. It’s so easy to use and is an absolute MUST.

Stretch-mark Cream– Ok, this stuff is actual magic. My mom purchased this for me based off the amazon reviews and they were RIGHT. After a week of using this stuff most of my stretch marks are completely gone! My stomach was fully covered in long purple stretch marks and now I have 4 tiny ones left. I wish I would have taken before and after photos. The ones I have left have no color anymore and are almost invisible! A little goes a long way and it’s so easy to apply. 11/10 would recommend!

Lactation Balls– I love these things so much! When you have 2 under 2 and you’re breastfeeding, feeding yourself is important and difficult. You have to make sure you’re eating nutrient dense food but with what time?? The hospital gave me a recipe for lactation balls and we decided to try them out. WOW they’re amazing and SO easy to make! You can prep them in advance so you don’t have to worry about time. They have ingredients that support breastmilk production and are an easy grab and go option. Pinterest also has different options for lactation balls, cookies, and smoothies to fit your needs!

Double Stroller– We were gifted this incredible stroller and we LOVE it. It’s the Contours Options Elite Tandem Double stroller. The seats can switch around to accommodate our growing babes. It can hold the carseat and Winifred and can change for when Daphne gets older. It’s nice and compact so I don’t feel like I’m taking up the whole sidewalk or store aisles. It also has a huge storage space under the seats, which is amazing. Winnie loves being in the front and seeing everything, and I love that I can see baby Daphne. It works for walks to the park, in the library, at the mall, and everywhere else we need to go. It’s definitely a city stroller though, not meant for hiking or beaches.

Toddler Activities- Alright this one is hella important. I have a 13 month old who doesn’t understand why she cannot be in my skin while I feed Daphne. We kept having meltdown after meltdown while I was breastfeeding and it was stressing me out. So, I decided to have fun activities or simple things for Winifred to do while I feed her sister. I’ve searched Pinterest and found some fun things to have Winnie do that is minimal prep and super fun for her! Checkout my Pinterest board on what I’ve done/plan to do!

YOUR VILLAGE- This is by far the biggest necessity. With 2 babies, I needed HELP. It took me weeks to accept that this was difficult and I couldn’t do it completely alone. My mom was staying with us the first few weeks after having Daphne. At first, I wanted to do it all by myself because “I would eventually be on my own”. This led to multiple anxiety attacks and many many tears. It was hard; really and truly hard, and I needed help. Once I accepted the help, I could breathe again. I could let my mom hold Daphne while I prepped to breastfeed, or let someone do the dishes for me. It didn’t mean that I couldn’t do it on my own one day, it just meant that I needed time to adjust to our new normal. LET. PEOPLE. HELP. YOU. You can be supermom later.