Fiercely Alia – Lifestyle & Motherhood Blog

September 14, 2020 / Uncategorized

Building Mia’s Gut Health

This post is sponsored by Evivo, but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

I can’t believe as I am typing this how fast the time has gone. Mia is embarking on her 9th..yes 9th month of life!!!! She has grown into a sweet bubbly and easy going little girl. She loves sweet foods, and is still exclusively breast feeding even as start on solids!

These nine months have been a crazy whirlwind of adventures. Mia has been so fortunate to have stayed healthy and happy so far. I love that I can attribute her health to Evivo.

Most people don’t know that exclusively breast fed babies don’t poop everyday like formula fed babies. I got really worried when a week went by and no dirty diaper. When we had her 6 month appointment I asked her doctor and she explained that it’s common, but my diet could contribute to her constipation or the solids she started eating. The doctor asked if I was still using Evivo and I said, it’s been a while! (Mom brain)

With the reminder from the doctor we started Mia on Evivo and regained the comfort of knowing her gut health was in check, which is a safe haven for mom.

Only Evivo contains B. infantis EVC001, a proprietary strain clinically proven to create a protective environment in baby’s gut. This strain protects babies from the harmful effects of gut pathogens and helps safeguard baby’s short and long-term health. Evivo reduces the bad bacteria in baby’s gut by 80% and as a result, lowers the pH level of your baby’s poop to a more protective range.

I cannot recommend Evivo enough! Mia had thrush a month ago, about the same time the doctor asked if she was taking Evivo (again, I stopped because I got lazy). But once we started her on medication for it and I gave her Evivo and it cleared up so fast! I also did not get it!

Evivo is an investment in Mia’s health and now I know that while I’m breastfeeding, I’ll be giving her Evivo. It can help with so many gut health related problems, and lowers the pH in her poop. It’s a win- win!

Don’t miss out on your chance to get $10 off your Evivo starter kit of 4 weeks with code (BLOG66GGX8), or receive $20 off your Evivo starter kit of 8 weeks or more with code (BLOG2893WN)!

What are you doing to help with your baby’s gut health? Have you tried a probiotic? Let me know in the comments!

August 31, 2020 / Uncategorized

Monitoring Baby

I remember my sisters husband saying “baby monitor? you don’t need one, when you hear them cry you just go in the room!” when I was registering for baby items with my first born. I knew he had a point. But I also knew me, I would be going into that room repeatedly to make sure my brand new precious little baby was still sleeping, breathing, alive, and well. I was gifted a monitor from a friend and we used that thing until it literally almost burned the house down. I woke one night to the monitor cords smoking.

Well three years later I needed a new one. One that wasn’t going to burn up in the middle of the night and one that would give me more than the satisfaction that my child wasn’t making sounds.

2020 has been a HELL of a year. I thought this year was going to be so much more than it has been. With the birth of Mia, I was excited for the future. Technology has come such a long way since Dax in 2015. I will say I am happy that 2020 brought us the Miku Monitor for Mia.

Heres what I absolutely love about the Miku Monitor

It connects to my phone, no need for wires, or another piece of tech running around your house.
The app can be used wether I am home or away.
It monitors her breathing, tracks her sleeping, sends notifications to me when shes awake, and when she falls asleep.
I love that I can connect it to my amazon Echo “hey Alexa how is baby doing?” She replies “Mia is asleep”
It safely is mounted to the wall and I get a complete view of her crib with night vision.
It is very affordable!

I almost forgot! It has music, white noise, two way talk and records activities ( so I can see if my husband REALLY gave her the paci or picked her up)

I honestly didn’t think i would be here writing a whole post about ONE baby product, here I am. I can stop raving about it my friends. I truly love this monitor. I love that I can have the app open as in the background of my phone. I can use other apps and still hear for Mia. It’s mind blowing how amazing the technology is on this thing!

Tell me, what is your number one needed baby item!?

Thank you to Miku for gifting this monitor, without you I would be lost!

June 22, 2020 / Uncategorized

Creating good sleep habits

This post is sponsored by Ingenuity but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

Sleep, does it really exist when you have a new baby? I know that with each child the sleep process has been very different. I remember the first few weeks with Mia she wouldn’t sleep unless she was in my arms. Glad we grew out of that fast! She is now sleeping in my room at night in her bedside bassinet and part of me wants her to stay next to me forever! This is great news for me because the entire first year of her life she gets to as the bassinet adjusts to crib alternative as she grows!

We love how comfortable the Ingenuity™ Dream & Grow Bedside Bassinet makes her feel. The design is made to have it right at arms length and bed height! Makes for easy late night feedings.

I have learned with all three kids how important white noise is. As my boys play during the day I rarely get upset with how loud they are because I know the sounds are drowned out by the white noise in her room. At night it helps soothe her to sleep. The Ingenuity bassinet has this perfect white noise that hangs on the side of the bassinet.

It even has a soft light that I use when I need to find diapers or that forever missing pacifier!

The bassinet converts to a crib alternative that we use as we are transitioning her into her big bed just a door away! The open mesh sides allow me to see her and her to see me!

We keep both rooms dark with black out curtains. This especially helps during the day. Having it darker than the day light allows her to know its time for sleep, along with the white noise.

I never had a bedside bassinet and always wanted one but at the time the ones made were beyond our budget.

I love how affordable and functional this one is. I recommend this to everyone who’s about to have a baby. With this bassinet it can be adjusted right at your bed level. Keep your baby safe, and mom comfortable. It has these amazing storage pockets for diapers, wipes, extra pacis and literally anything you need at arms length and you don’t have to worry about a messy bedside table.

Creating healthy sleep habits can be confusing in the beginning days, but having the proper accessories to make my life easier makes it easier to focus on what I need to with Mia. Click the link here to add this amazing bassinet to your cart today!

May 26, 2020 / Uncategorized

Growth Relief for Mia

This post is sponsored by Evivo, but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

Life lately with a growing baby can be rewarding and exhausting. Every mother knows that!

What is really hard is when your baby is fussy or not sleeping through the night as they surpass growth milestones.

I’ll be honest, I started Mia on the Evivo Probiotic and then got lazy and stopped. What I failed to notice, the reason she was screaming at night was she would get a very upset stomach. She also would only get one poopy diaper a week! Even though my pediatrician said that could be “normal” for breast fed babies, I felt like there was something missing!

I started giving her the probiotic again and immediately she was regular, no more blow outs!! She also has now been going down to sleep easier and easier.

She will be six months in a little over a month and the first 6 months are key for babies to establish a healthy gut microbiome. Evivo has helped her immune system by repopulating her gut with good bacteria that was missing.

Bad bacteria is linked to a higher risk of autoimmune & metabolic issues, like eczema, allergies, diabetes and obesity later in life.

I am so glad that I don’t fear every time she poops. It would blow out and I would have a mess everywhere! She had been so backed up that it all came out and I will spare you the nasty details but you can use your imagination.

She is now regular. Consistent and no blowouts! She has been SO happy. I feel much more confident about her sleep schedule we are developing and know she isn’t fussy because she is irritated by gut-related issues. Now it’s her fighting a nap, or angry at the toy she can’t fit into her whole mouth!

I can’t recommend this product enough. It’s safe, mixes easily with my breastmilk that I can capture from using the Haaka. It’s simple and Mia has no issues when she takes it! It gets delivered straight to your door on a schedule, who could ask for more?!

Learn more about how Evivo helps develop a stronger immune system, and don’t miss out on your chance to get $10 off your Evivo starter kit of 4 weeks with code (BLOG88Q758), or receive $20 off your Evivo starter kit of 8 weeks or more with code (BLOG2DH62B)! You won’t regret it, I promise!

March 6, 2020 / Personal

Why I’m Giving My Baby a Probiotic

This post is sponsored by Evivo, but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

There are a bajillion things you are concerned about when you have a baby. Is she cold, did she get enough to eat?. How wet can her diaper be and for how long? How long is too long of a nap? Am I eating the right foods to produce good breast milk? If I typed out all the things this post would never end.

One thing we should all be concerned about is the health of your baby. It turns out, good bacteria has been disappearing from the bellies of babies born in developed countries due to the unintended consequences of modern medical practices like C-sections, antibiotics, and formula feeding. In fact, 9 out of every 10 babies born today are missing the key B. infantis bacteria. Evivo is the only probiotic that is clinically proven to repopulate your baby’s gut with the good bacteria they are missing 100% of the time.

The first 6 months of a baby’s life are critical for autoimmune and metabolic development – and the composition of baby’s gut microbiome plays a significant role in this process. Too much bad bacteria in the gut early in life is linked to an increased rate of autoimmune and metabolic issues such as asthma, eczema, allergies, diabetes and obesity later in life. I also recently learned that it can contribute to colic, fussiness and even rashes.

Mia is 2 months old now and I know how important gut health is now. Mia was extremely colicky when she was born. Every night she would scream in terror and we had no clue why. I thought she had the same issues Troy had with the dairy protein allergy. The pediatrician noted it could be just an upset stomach or plain colic. After I started giving her Evivo that terror scream never happens, she is also going to sleep much faster and calmer. I have also noticed she is a little more regular. She is growing and I know the body changes, but after we started giving her the Evivo I’m not worried about her being constipated or gassy!

I feel like as adults we are playing catch up and trying to incorporate more probiotics in our daily intake to keep us regular and gut healthy, we should be just as cautious for our babies.

With the advice of our pediatrician, investing in a good probiotic will help with her gas and colic issues. Evivo is my #1 choice and I love that it works best when mixed with breast milk ensuring an easy intake for Mia. Don’t miss out on your chance to receive $10 off your Evivo starter kit of 4 weeks with code: BLOGMV5CFB, or receive $20 off your Evivo starter kit of 8 weeks or more with code: BLOG383946!

February 25, 2020 / Uncategorized

My Experience with veneers

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been insecure about my teeth. I never thought much about cosmetic dentistry, I thought it would be too expensive. I also didn’t think the issues with my teeth could be fixed.

I will never forget the day I came home after a week at lake Powell feeling tan and great. A kid belonging to a friend of mine comes through the door and says, “Whoah, what happened to you? Did you lose a tooth?” I was like what!!? Then he realized my little lateral tooth was just hiding and it only looked like I was missing one.

I’ve never been happy with my teeth but I’ve tried to convince myself they were a quirky part of who I was and I “should” be happy with them. But I’ve always felt people noticed the gap when I talked or smiled. It made me feel insecure and I wondered what they might be thinking.

Then I met Dr. Corey Rush. He discussed how easy it would be to get the smile I wanted. Just two veneers and the process would take two to three appointments.

The procedure is easy. After a few shots of novocain, so no pain, teeth are drilled to half the size or smaller. A mold is cast, a temporary made and you’re good to go until your permanent veneers are ready. Dr. Rush has an amazing state of the art 3D scanner so no plaster. It definitely makes the whole process much easier.

A photographer then takes SUPER specific pictures and notes of each little flaw, shape and color of your teeth so the veneers match. I felt extremely confident walking out that he was going to make the perfect teeth for me.

(right after my temporaries)

When your permanents are ready, Dr. Rush simply pops out the temps and fits your new veneers. Dr. Rush is a perfectionist and has an excellent eye for symmetry and giving you a natural look. I now have two new teeth and my smile feels so natural. They will never change color, never stain or get cavities!

I am completely happy and in love with my teeth. The confidence I have smiling and talking is amazing. With all the photographs I’ve posted over the years, it’s a shame I hated so many simply because of a tooth.

Tell me, have you wanted to get your smile done? How do you feel about my before and after? Let me know in the comments.

Also, if you are willing to travel or live in Arizona I highly recommend Rush Dental. Their pricing is extremely competitive plus the service and quality of the whole experience was a 10/10.