Speaker 1: Welcome to Katie's Crib, a production of Shonda land Audio
Speaker 1: in partnership with I Heart Radio. But my O B
Speaker 1: I couldn't believe how many babies she has coming. Parents
Speaker 1: have done more than just watch Netflix during this spect year.
Speaker 1: Hi everybody, and welcome back to Katie's Crib. I have
Speaker 1: been wanting to do an episode on night nurses for
Speaker 1: a long time. There are a lot of myths about it.
Speaker 1: What the heck are they doing all night? What's a
Speaker 1: night nurse? What's a postpartum duela? What's a newborn care specialist?
Speaker 1: What's a baby nurse? How are they different? How are
Speaker 1: they the same? And I was like, I gotta get
Speaker 1: Alexandra in here because she was my newborn care specialist
Speaker 1: with Vera. She was here for fourteen nights of Vera's
Speaker 1: first I guess we were home the third night of
Speaker 1: her life, so the first seventeen days of her life
Speaker 1: she was here at my house. Let me tell you
Speaker 1: a little bit about alex Andrew Latin Argosino. She is
Speaker 1: a newborn care specialist in a postpartum doulah. She has
Speaker 1: several years of experience taking care of hundreds of newborns
Speaker 1: as a babysitter, a summer oh pair and nanny, and
Speaker 1: a nurse. She recently started a blog in a podcast
Speaker 1: herself called Babies in Business, which is a source created
Speaker 1: for other newborn care professionals to share information, education, inspiration
Speaker 1: and motivation. She was born and raised in Europe, in
Speaker 1: the Netherlands and graduated with a nursing decree, and from
Speaker 1: setting routines with your baby to sleep training to being
Speaker 1: there for you in the most vulnerable times in a
Speaker 1: new mom's life, she is the one to call. So
Speaker 1: welcome Alexandra Latin Argansino to Katie's Crib. Thank you so
Speaker 1: much for in finding me as a guest on your
Speaker 1: amazing podcast. It's an absolute pleasure to talk with you,
Speaker 1: and I'm so excited to share a little bit more
Speaker 1: about my work and tell me where you're from, so
Speaker 1: everyone knows how this stunning accent came to be. I
Speaker 1: was born and raised in the Netherlands, that little country
Speaker 1: from the wooden shoes and cheese and wind meals. She came.
Speaker 1: I interviewed one person and it was her to take
Speaker 1: care and help me and my daughter. And she came
Speaker 1: in and she's also beautiful. You were in your scrubs
Speaker 1: and your accent behind a mask, and I was like,
Speaker 1: can you please just take care of me and my
Speaker 1: newborn baby, which I have not yet met. Okay, my
Speaker 1: first question for you is do you call yourself a
Speaker 1: night nurse? Is that what you say you are? No? See,
Speaker 1: I'm already messing up. I would like to briefly touch
Speaker 1: on the title night nurse. The title night nurse is
Speaker 1: actually not the correct title. For many years we were
Speaker 1: known as a night nurse or commonly known baby nurse,
Speaker 1: but many in our industry are not a nurse, and
Speaker 1: it is illegal to call yourself a nurse when you
Speaker 1: don't have a nursing degree. So in two thousand seven,
Speaker 1: in a National Nanny Association invented this title. Created this
Speaker 1: title Newborn Care Specialists for those who are supporting parents,
Speaker 1: specifically during the transition into parenthood, those first few weeks
Speaker 1: or months after birth. So that brings me back to
Speaker 1: your question. We are here to support, serve, guide, and
Speaker 1: most importantly, to educate parents in all aspects of newborn
Speaker 1: care and help them become confident and well equipped with
Speaker 1: plentiful of resources. Can you believe this? Ladies and gentlemen,
Speaker 1: I mean, when I hear you speak about what it
Speaker 1: is you do, I'm like, come back, not for vera,
Speaker 1: but for me. Okay, so you go by a night
Speaker 1: nurse because you are a nurse as well. So let
Speaker 1: it be known that not all newborn care specialists have
Speaker 1: a nursing degree. Correct, And if that is something important
Speaker 1: to you or a value to you when you are
Speaker 1: interviewing people who are going to help you take care
Speaker 1: of your newborn, if you want them to be a
Speaker 1: night nurse with a nursing degree, that that is something
Speaker 1: you ask about. Yes, So, okay, there's a night nurse,
Speaker 1: baby nurse, newborn care specialist, postpartum doula. These all sort
Speaker 1: of get confused. I think we can completely forget about
Speaker 1: night nurse and baby nurse. It is bitter and also
Speaker 1: more accurate when you refer to people in my industry
Speaker 1: as either a new born care specialist or a post
Speaker 1: bottom dula. I refer to myself as a new moon
Speaker 1: care specialist, and parents always get that extra medical background
Speaker 1: as a bonus, just to you know, limit the confusion.
Speaker 1: I love that. Now, how did you come to this
Speaker 1: line of work? You know? For me personal it was
Speaker 1: a very organic and natural transition UM. I worked as
Speaker 1: a nurse and pediatric care and really enjoyed building relationship
Speaker 1: with parents and answering their questions, mostly from overwhelmed and
Speaker 1: sleep deprived parents. And it's so happened that one of
Speaker 1: my closest friends went through a very difficult postpartum phase.
Speaker 1: I spontaneously offered my help, and that joyful decision sparked
Speaker 1: my desire to work one on one with parents and
Speaker 1: their newborns. And who doesn't love to hold a teeny
Speaker 1: tiny baby? Right? How many babies have you cared for
Speaker 1: in your career? Would you say? Gosh, I lost count
Speaker 1: over the years, but it's definitely over three hundred. Oh
Speaker 1: my gosh. You know you came and worked with us
Speaker 1: for two weeks, But I would say for the most part,
Speaker 1: you you are with families for about three months would
Speaker 1: maybe be your average. You know, every family has different
Speaker 1: needs and quite frankly, it's also a decision regarding your finances.
Speaker 1: So every family you know makes a decision and shares
Speaker 1: their goal with me, and we come up with a
Speaker 1: timeframe according that you know information, but anywhere between two
Speaker 1: weeks and twelve weeks. Sometimes I have parents who want
Speaker 1: to really be sure that their baby is sleeping through
Speaker 1: the night, and then I stay sixteen weeks, but twelve
Speaker 1: weeks is the average. If you are looking for a
Speaker 1: newborn care specialists, a lot of people will interview via
Speaker 1: zoom now or in person. What are the three questions
Speaker 1: you think you get asked the most when you do
Speaker 1: one of these sort of interviews. How long I have
Speaker 1: been doing this, how many newborns I have taken care of?
Speaker 1: And what I personally understand about supporting parents during this transition,
Speaker 1: because you want to be sure as a new parent,
Speaker 1: as oftentimes the first time parents, that your parenting philosophy
Speaker 1: is lined up with the person you are booking or
Speaker 1: hiring to help. You know, guys who are listening. It's
Speaker 1: it's a really vulnerable time. You're really in these first
Speaker 1: couple of weeks understanding your baby's cues crying and how
Speaker 1: much and how little they eat, or what kind of
Speaker 1: sleeper they are, Are they gassy? Are they allergic to something?
Speaker 1: Here's the good news about someone who's been around three
Speaker 1: hundred babies or someone if you're lucky to hire someone
Speaker 1: who knows a lot more than you do about this.
Speaker 1: It's like you talked me off the ledge like it's
Speaker 1: not a big deal this. I've seen this before. She's
Speaker 1: probably allergic to something in your breast milk. And you're right,
Speaker 1: and it's not a big deal. We're already under the
Speaker 1: new thing. Let's be honest. It has to be an
Speaker 1: energy exchange. You are in such a vulnerable and personal
Speaker 1: situation as a new parent or first some parent. You
Speaker 1: want someone that you if you're comfortable with, and who
Speaker 1: creates that safe environment for you in your home. There's
Speaker 1: a contract that comes along with a newborn care specialist.
Speaker 1: Can you tell us a little bit about that? So
Speaker 1: when a client thinks that I'm the right fit uh
Speaker 1: and books my newborn care services, then we sign a
Speaker 1: contract and from that day on I reserve my time
Speaker 1: for that one specific client. And every client has different
Speaker 1: needs and wants, and it also depends on their individual lifestyle,
Speaker 1: which day switch ours, how many weeks they need help.
Speaker 1: So for example, in my case, you would show up
Speaker 1: at ten pm and leave at eight am. Correct, I
Speaker 1: was going into labor with plans of having a vaginal labor,
Speaker 1: but I did at the end decide to be induced.
Speaker 1: I just kept texting you like this is when I'm
Speaker 1: going into the hospital and you were like, would you
Speaker 1: like me there the first night you come home from
Speaker 1: the hospital. So for those of you looking at contracts
Speaker 1: and things like that, most newborn care specialists, it's not
Speaker 1: like it starts on this exact day. It's like you
Speaker 1: guys are in touch about when the baby is coming,
Speaker 1: because sometimes nobody knows when the baby is coming except
Speaker 1: for the baby. Correct And then you are very open,
Speaker 1: which maybe not all are. But you know, what worked
Speaker 1: for us was ten to eight. But I'm sure some
Speaker 1: people want to do nine to seven or want to
Speaker 1: do you know, different hours seven to seven or twenty
Speaker 1: four seven. It's all depends on you know their lifestyle
Speaker 1: and you know their priorities. Right there are I have
Speaker 1: a friend in the market right now looking for someone.
Speaker 1: I'm like, that sounds amazing. I mean, newborn care specialists
Speaker 1: book up very far in advance. Yes, I don't know
Speaker 1: if that's like that around the country, but it is
Speaker 1: in l A. And I feel like you were booked
Speaker 1: up to like fall of or something like that. Like that.
Speaker 1: It's like, typically I'm booked, you know, six months in advance.
Speaker 1: You booked me pretty early two and I think that's
Speaker 1: the safest to go because when you have to find
Speaker 1: someone at a you know, last minute, your options are
Speaker 1: very limited. Currently we are in a baby boom COVID.
Speaker 1: I went to my checkup at my oh B and
Speaker 1: they hang up on the board how many birds she
Speaker 1: has coming up? And I was like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: I couldn't believe how many babies she has coming. Parents
Speaker 1: have done more than just watch Netflix during this that year.
Speaker 1: Take me through what a typical and we can do
Speaker 1: one of my nights, but like, what is a typical
Speaker 1: night look like? Because I think people get very confused
Speaker 1: about like where does the newborn care specialists sleep? And
Speaker 1: if I'm breastfeeding, how do they wake me up? And
Speaker 1: all of those sort of uncomfortable, weird questions that someone
Speaker 1: who is essentially a stranger who you have a good
Speaker 1: vibe with is now staying in your home with your newborn.
Speaker 1: So when I arrived at your house, it was always
Speaker 1: greeted by your dog Ruger, and those chats with you
Speaker 1: and Adam at the beginning of the night were always fun.
Speaker 1: Most parents fill me in about their day and then
Speaker 1: I answered their questions, share some tips and tricks and
Speaker 1: help them find solutions that works best for them. Basically,
Speaker 1: when I arrived, I am in most cases met at
Speaker 1: the door by exhausted parents. Um some parents are in
Speaker 1: bits within thirty minutes after I arrive, and then some
Speaker 1: parents they like to stay up and chit chat a
Speaker 1: little bit. But typically when I arrive, I take over
Speaker 1: from that moment because I want to give parents sleep
Speaker 1: that is really needed. It is so important for parents
Speaker 1: after having gone through labor giving birth that they catch
Speaker 1: up on sleep. Whether you carried and gave birth to
Speaker 1: your baby, yourself, a surrogate carried or gave birth to
Speaker 1: your baby, or you adopted a baby. Becoming a parent
Speaker 1: in any way is overwhelming, nerve wracking, and it involves
Speaker 1: a multitude of emotions. So having someone who supports you
Speaker 1: doing this journey is incredibly important. I stay mostly in
Speaker 1: the same room as the baby so I can keep
Speaker 1: a watchful eye. I change diapers, swallow suit. In the beginning,
Speaker 1: I do the umbilical court care, circumcision care when it
Speaker 1: is a boy. If mom chooses to breastfeed, I support
Speaker 1: her in establishing a breastfeeding relationship and routine. If parents
Speaker 1: choose to bottle feed, I feed the baby either pumped
Speaker 1: breast milk or formula. I remind and make sure that
Speaker 1: Mom's stay hydrated, bring her a glass of water, a snack,
Speaker 1: check in how she feels, and mostly try to create
Speaker 1: an environment of trust so she feels safe to share
Speaker 1: her feelings and emotions with me. And then I also
Speaker 1: check in with a spouse or partner who is also
Speaker 1: adjusting to a new normal. I want both parents to
Speaker 1: feel supported and valued. It's so so, so great, And
Speaker 1: I didn't sleep if I didn't have you, because I
Speaker 1: would be someone checking on the baby's lungs every two
Speaker 1: seconds to make sure that the body was going up
Speaker 1: and down. And the thing about passing off the baby
Speaker 1: to someone who's a nurse and a new word care
Speaker 1: specialist was that I could just give the baby to you,
Speaker 1: and I knew that I could really pray for sleep
Speaker 1: to come on quickly. It would because I'd be so
Speaker 1: fucking tired. And then three hours later, just as if
Speaker 1: I just closed my eyes, my door would crack open
Speaker 1: a little bit and it would be Alexander being like hi,
Speaker 1: waving her little hand, and that was my time to
Speaker 1: zombie walk into Vera's room, breastfeed and here's where she's
Speaker 1: such a big help. So I breastfeed. But what's awesome
Speaker 1: is that I just sit there. Alexandra hands me a
Speaker 1: baby in a diaper, because they stay awake better and
Speaker 1: feed better if they're awake. If they're all wrapped up
Speaker 1: and swaddled while you're breastfeeding them, they're are They're sleeping
Speaker 1: through the whole feed, and they're not really eating. Exactly
Speaker 1: when I show up into the room, you're already unswaddling her,
Speaker 1: changing her diaper. Because also, newborn babies poop fifty thousand
Speaker 1: times a day. It's ridiculous. She hands me the cute
Speaker 1: naked baby in a diaper on one side. I breastfeed
Speaker 1: for about, I don't know, fifteen twenty minutes on one's breast,
Speaker 1: hand the baby back to Alexander. She burps the baby,
Speaker 1: and the baby is held upright so that she doesn't
Speaker 1: acid reflects throw up all the breast monks. You just ate.
Speaker 1: Then she hands me the baby on the other side.
Speaker 1: Then you hand the baby back, and after you've done
Speaker 1: the other side, and this whole thing is taken forty
Speaker 1: two minutes, I'm running back to my bedroom and praying
Speaker 1: for sleep while Alexandra is burping the baby again, re diapering,
Speaker 1: re swaddling, and getting the baby down again. It's all
Speaker 1: of that shit that I am not doing, and that
Speaker 1: is a miracle, because all of that stuff takes more
Speaker 1: time away from sleeping. I really wanted to do sunk
Speaker 1: it because I feel like a lot of people have
Speaker 1: no clue what we're doing in the middle of the night,
Speaker 1: and it's a lot what happens if someone doesn't have
Speaker 1: like a bed for you in the baby's room, because
Speaker 1: that used to really upset me, Like I just was like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, Like our nursery is really small and
Speaker 1: we had just to blow up mattress and I felt
Speaker 1: so bad because I had some other friends that had
Speaker 1: like a full queen sized bed like in the baby's room,
Speaker 1: which is amazing, But like, what what do people do?
Speaker 1: Because then I have people say like, well, I'll just
Speaker 1: have the nurse sleep down the hall, and I'm like, no,
Speaker 1: I think that they're supposed to be like in the room, right, Yes,
Speaker 1: mostly I stay in the baby's room. I do ask, indeed,
Speaker 1: to have a place to you know, lay so I
Speaker 1: can stretch my legs. But no, every somebody is different.
Speaker 1: I have slept on many air mattresses, roll away beds,
Speaker 1: pull out couches, beds, a beds um. You know. It's
Speaker 1: a nice way for your your newborn care specialist or
Speaker 1: post bottom dula, you know, to stretch their legs too. Also,
Speaker 1: to be quite honest, if you sit in a dark
Speaker 1: room with white noise going for the full ten hours,
Speaker 1: you are going to fall asleep or dose off. How
Speaker 1: many years have you been doing this? Sixteen years? Oh
Speaker 1: my god, do you have any favorite stories? I can
Speaker 1: share a very real situation and it was actually with you,
Speaker 1: and it really hit me home. I remember we were
Speaker 1: figuring out how vera could become an efficient either and
Speaker 1: your amazing lactation consultant suggested a certain routine and schedule
Speaker 1: of breastfeeding. I believe it was every two or three hours,
Speaker 1: And you tell me, is it I don't have any
Speaker 1: time for that, ship I need to sleep. It really
Speaker 1: was such a real and raw moment because you were
Speaker 1: so sleep deprived. I know stories that you have been
Speaker 1: on with certain families for three months, four months, up
Speaker 1: to a year, for certain very very like high profile
Speaker 1: families who really work insane jobs and could not put
Speaker 1: on their plate like sleep training a baby like you
Speaker 1: didn't leave until the baby was sleeping seven to seven
Speaker 1: for like months on end. So how do you sleep
Speaker 1: train a baby? You know, there's so much confusion about
Speaker 1: sleep training. If you establish healthy habits from day one,
Speaker 1: then sleep until the night becomes a very organic process.
Speaker 1: Your baby will then gradually sleep longer over time. Three
Speaker 1: am becomes four am, five a m turns into six am.
Speaker 1: But this only happens when everyone is on the same page, parents,
Speaker 1: oftentimes grandparents, nanny, and of course lastly the person who
Speaker 1: is supporting you. Whether this isn't nanny, uh, you don't care,
Speaker 1: specialist or postponeum dula. But I call this approach sleep conditioning.
Speaker 1: You create a condition for your baby to become an
Speaker 1: independent sleeper over time. So sleep training is actually only
Speaker 1: needed when certain habits need to be undone like holding
Speaker 1: a baby for sleep, rocking a baby to sleep, feeding
Speaker 1: a baby to sleep. You know, everyone wakes up during
Speaker 1: the night, We as adults, look at an alarm clock,
Speaker 1: take a sip of water, you know, turn on the
Speaker 1: other side b and then we go back to see
Speaker 1: when a baby wakes up and has been held, rocked
Speaker 1: or fat to sleep. Then they need and want this
Speaker 1: each time they wake up because it has to become
Speaker 1: a habit. It is instilled in them that that is
Speaker 1: only the only way to fall asleep. We call that
Speaker 1: a sleep association. So sleep training is about ondoing dependency
Speaker 1: and replacing them with independent sleep habits. I think this
Speaker 1: is associated for a lot of moms with worrying about
Speaker 1: them being fed right like or you know, it's like
Speaker 1: when a baby wakes up and you're like freaking out.
Speaker 1: It's like, oh my god, they didn't eat enough for
Speaker 1: you know, there's probably like a lot of panic around
Speaker 1: that sort of thing. But also, let's be honest, when
Speaker 1: you have a baby who wakes up at three am,
Speaker 1: you know, crying, it is easier to suit them, you know,
Speaker 1: holding or rocking or feeding them. And as a parent,
Speaker 1: when you are on your own, that is a survival method,
Speaker 1: you know, that's what you do because then you are
Speaker 1: you know, twining in a thirty minutes later back to
Speaker 1: sleep again. As to going through the entire motion of
Speaker 1: you know, instilling healthy sleep habits, ondoing those habits that
Speaker 1: have led to waking them up by or wanting to
Speaker 1: be rocked, or fat or you know, health A lot
Speaker 1: of times, bigger babies have a little bit easier time,
Speaker 1: right because they're not having to feed so much. Is
Speaker 1: that true or am I making that up? It depends.
Speaker 1: We do oftentimes say, oh, when there's a ten pound baby,
Speaker 1: since they have already so much such a higher way,
Speaker 1: you know, everything becomes a little bit more relaxed because
Speaker 1: we don't have to feed every two or three hours,
Speaker 1: so you don't have to wake them up so organically.
Speaker 1: Then you know, might sleep a little bit, you know, longer,
Speaker 1: but it is not necessarily right because they could just
Speaker 1: be like gassy. The other thing about a newborn care
Speaker 1: specialist is if you have your baby in your room,
Speaker 1: a lot of newborn babies make a lot of sounds. Grunting,
Speaker 1: their like working out gas, they're pooping, they're like doing
Speaker 1: all this stuff, and so you never sleeping because you're like,
Speaker 1: what's that? What's that? What's that? What are they doing?
Speaker 1: What are they doing? What are they doing? Vera was
Speaker 1: like really quiet, she still is. She's so quiet. She was,
Speaker 1: indeed from day one, and very quiet sleeper. And I
Speaker 1: had to build up and check on her. Are you okay?
Speaker 1: You know? You said, I think vera is ready for
Speaker 1: a nighttime routine, and you were the one. What do
Speaker 1: you call it again? Was it the four beasts? Yeah?
Speaker 1: But book, bottle or breast and bet those are the
Speaker 1: sort of things that a newborn care specialist sets you
Speaker 1: up for, like this is the sort of schedule you're
Speaker 1: on now, And then you so graciously are available through
Speaker 1: text even afterwards when I was like, how do I
Speaker 1: I get her to not do this feed anymore at
Speaker 1: three o'clock in the morning, or you said, you know,
Speaker 1: at the seven pm, let's do at six thirty the
Speaker 1: four bees, so that she starts to get into a
Speaker 1: nighttime routine, knowing that every night when she gets a
Speaker 1: bath and books and her breast milk and that and bed,
Speaker 1: she knows that it's different from the naps in the day,
Speaker 1: Like this is the one that's like the long haul, right,
Speaker 1: we all function better on routine. Newborn's the same. So
Speaker 1: when newborn received the same routine every night, they know
Speaker 1: it is the right time to prepare themselves for the night.
Speaker 1: So good finish the sentse parent hood is overwhelming. I
Speaker 1: was gonna say hard. So we must have been as
Speaker 1: we knew we were and always will be on the
Speaker 1: same wavelength people. You mentioned the importance of self care.
Speaker 1: I think that hiring a newborn care specialist if you can,
Speaker 1: is the ultimate self care. Tell me how you help
Speaker 1: as part of your services with the self care. So
Speaker 1: I made sure to always check in with both parents,
Speaker 1: and of course this past year, because of the pandemic,
Speaker 1: it was a little bit difficult. But usually I offer
Speaker 1: to come one night a week earlier so that the
Speaker 1: parents can have a date night, because it is very
Speaker 1: important that parents keep connecting with each other. You know,
Speaker 1: there's so much focus on the baby that sometimes parents
Speaker 1: will get to focus on their relationship or on their marriage.
Speaker 1: So it's important when parents are connected, it spells over
Speaker 1: onto the baby. You know, having a date night that
Speaker 1: is really good for your relationship or your marriage. This
Speaker 1: past year, of course, it was a little bit difficult
Speaker 1: because of the pandemic. We you know, no one could
Speaker 1: go anywhere, but I have been going earlier and then
Speaker 1: parents just had dinner at home and then I took
Speaker 1: care of the baby. But I also make sure that
Speaker 1: I give parents resources, either I share a parent group
Speaker 1: or a mom's group. There is so much support out
Speaker 1: there for parents to check in you know, we live
Speaker 1: in a society where we have this phenomenon of you know,
Speaker 1: being a superwoman, and I think sometimes it is taken
Speaker 1: too far. There is nothing wrong. Was asking for help
Speaker 1: and support. That was around a group of friends that
Speaker 1: had babies a lot in the same time, and a
Speaker 1: few of the moms had a very different experience to me,
Speaker 1: where they actually had a newborn care specialist hired and
Speaker 1: they did a few nights and my two of my
Speaker 1: friends just freaked out and we're like, I'm I can't
Speaker 1: believe this, but I'm in mommy bear mode and I
Speaker 1: don't want anyone else like touching the baby. And they
Speaker 1: were great nurses, but you know, my friends just couldn't
Speaker 1: believe the feelings they were having of like just really
Speaker 1: wanting to have the baby all to themselves seven like
Speaker 1: it was a real primal thing. Now I felt like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, I need so much help. But Adam
Speaker 1: will sleep the whole night. And why he loves it
Speaker 1: is because he's able to do double duty all day,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, Like he's so pumped because
Speaker 1: he's like, yes, fine, everyone hate me for getting a
Speaker 1: full eight hours of sleep, but I promise you, like
Speaker 1: in the waking hours, I'm gonna go so hard because
Speaker 1: I got a full night sleep. That can get in
Speaker 1: full night rest, but that is on day duty. So
Speaker 1: during today you can take naps and shower and like
Speaker 1: eat and just lay down and do nothing, and the
Speaker 1: dad has to like or whoever the support of spouses
Speaker 1: or partner, they can take out the trash, do the dishes,
Speaker 1: do a load of laundry, walk the dog, figure out dinner.
Speaker 1: All of these sorts of things. Well, you don't do
Speaker 1: anything right because when you vote, are he deprived exhausted,
Speaker 1: then that's not going to happen during the day. So
Speaker 1: it's better when one parent is a full night of
Speaker 1: rest because they are then on day duty. There's a
Speaker 1: number of resources that people can go to online to
Speaker 1: get assistance in finding a new board care specialist. We
Speaker 1: have Alexander's Facebook page, which is a postpartum support for moms.
Speaker 1: There's care dot com. Are there other resources that you recommend?
Speaker 1: I always give the suggestion to check with your friends
Speaker 1: because they all have these amazing in with referrals from
Speaker 1: their newborn care specialists or post bottom do lass or
Speaker 1: nanny's and you know, oftentimes your pediatrician or b G
Speaker 1: y N. They are definitely also, you know, good resources
Speaker 1: to ask, But honestly, I only work on referrals. So
Speaker 1: you know your friend or my colleague referred me or
Speaker 1: you know something like that. Okay, So are there any
Speaker 1: options if it's just too expensive? You know, it's definitely
Speaker 1: an expense. In my case, I rather have this than
Speaker 1: like you name it, But I don't know if there
Speaker 1: are people. Are there people who trained to do it
Speaker 1: who are less expensive, Like how does that work? So
Speaker 1: there are a few options. Sometimes when a parent tells
Speaker 1: me like, yeah, we would like to know book your services,
Speaker 1: but you know, we have some concerns financial wise, so
Speaker 1: then we come up with a way either go to
Speaker 1: three nights a week or one night on one night off.
Speaker 1: We do have new bone care specialists or postponum doulas
Speaker 1: who have just entered the industry um and they have
Speaker 1: to you know, get their experience. They are not that
Speaker 1: well trained yet. But you know, when you have someone
Speaker 1: at three am who can hold your baby and so
Speaker 1: you can sleep, that can be definitely an option. Right.
Speaker 1: You know, it all depends on your goals and your finances,
Speaker 1: but there are always you know options. This was so helpful.
Speaker 1: Do you have any last tips for our listeners. If
Speaker 1: you have the ability to book a new ponk, especially
Speaker 1: as a postponum, do left do it? Postpontum support is
Speaker 1: so important. The more lovingly a postpartum mom is careed for,
Speaker 1: the more lovingly she's able to care for her baby.
Speaker 1: And the more support both parents received, the better they
Speaker 1: are equipped to understand their baby's needs and response to them.
Speaker 1: So if you have the option and the finances to
Speaker 1: hire a book a new work especialist or go for
Speaker 1: it will help you so much, you know, in the
Speaker 1: transitioning to become a parent. I completely agree. I can't
Speaker 1: thank you enough for giving us your time and your expertise,
Speaker 1: and I just I'm so grateful that you were in
Speaker 1: our lives, in our household, and in our baby's room
Speaker 1: for the nights that we were lucky enough to have you.
Speaker 1: I was a joy to you work with you. I
Speaker 1: really loved driving to Studio City and you know, having
Speaker 1: the pretzels, having the pretzel, Oh my gosh, Adam had
Speaker 1: me cracking up this about National Pretzel Day and my
Speaker 1: husband's ridiculous. But we were so lucky to have you,
Speaker 1: and thank you for coming on Katie's Crib. And you, guys,
Speaker 1: I want to hear from you. I think this subject
Speaker 1: like postpartum care, a specialist, newborn care specialist like this
Speaker 1: is something that I feel like no one's really understood
Speaker 1: or talked about unless you've gone through it yourselves. And
Speaker 1: we have so many people listening who are first time
Speaker 1: moms or who are pregnant, things like that, So I
Speaker 1: hope this offered a bunch of information to you. Follow
Speaker 1: Alexandra on Instagram. Where can we find you? So Alexandra
Speaker 1: A L e X A N D R A and
Speaker 1: then Latin l A T T E M. Thank you
Speaker 1: so much for coming on Katie's Crib. Thank you so
Speaker 1: much for having me. It was such a pleasure. Thank
Speaker 1: you guys so much for listening to Katie's Crib. Please
Speaker 1: share the episode, tell your friends, subscribe. Do all the
Speaker 1: things that I want to hear from you? What episodes
Speaker 1: do you want to do? What guests should I have
Speaker 1: on topics you'd like to discuss? Questions you have, you
Speaker 1: could always hit me up at Katie's Crib at Shondaland
Speaker 1: dot com. Katie's Crib is a production of Shonda land
Speaker 1: Audio in partnership with I Heart Radio. For more podcasts
Speaker 1: from Shonda land Audio, visit the I Heart Radio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Speaker 1: You never know Me