Have a Beauty Routine...which is helpful to your baby too!

Greetings Beloveds,

Motherhood is joyful, wonderful, life enhancing and it is also time-consuming, life-changing and unpredictable which makes it beautiful!  Naturally you're glowing if you're pregnant or basking in joy after giving birth so have your outside beauty match your inner contentment.

Of all of the pregnancy related books, classes, or workshops I've attended, I've rarely seen anyone encouraging the mommy to have "mommy beauty time." If you're like me, this is the last thing that may be on your mind, however I learned I have to make this aspect a priority, here's why.

Whether you're an Oscar winning actress, stay at home house wife, executive, all women have one career in common-being a woman. Unfortunately, society still judges women on their outward appearance. Invest the the time to always look your best. Hearing comments from co-workers or a spouse/partner "she let herself go," being passed over for an acting gig or interview because you look disheveled or glancing in the mirror and not recognizing yourself can cause stress. And whether the baby is in your womb or in your arms., any type of stress isn't good for your baby.

Here are some benefits of having a beauty routine: 

*Some women avoid taking pictures if they're having a "bad hair day" but this is a happy time so take as many pictures as you can with your bump or baby. Trust me children love to see pictures of themselves but they will prefer you in those pictures.

*You will be on your A-game at work and at home. Redefine "Hot Mama" and let them know you still got it!

*If you master a beauty routine it will save you time, precious time you could be spending with your child.

*If your baby/child see you combing your hair, filing your nails, they may be more inclined to let you comb their hair. Which makes life easier!

*You will feel refreshed instead of stress. And that's one of our goals here at Natural Crowning to empower you to be refreshed...naturally. The happier you are, the more peaceful the home will be for your child.

After I gave birth I was so focused on being a supermom I still exercised (stay tune or a future exercise blog)  but I didn't stick to my beauty routine. I started skipping deep conditioning my hair. As a result, one Saturday evening it took me about 2-3 hours longer to do my hair. Every thirty minutes or so, I took breaks to breastfeed Empress and I sensed she could tell I was tired. So I had to quickly regroup. Later I changed my beauty routine to deep conditioning my hair overnight so it's nice and soft the morning of hair wash day. Problem solved! 

Also I had to schedule time for DYI manicures. My nails are long bu if I don't keep nail polish on them, they break. Just take a look at the picture below. Amongst breastfeeding, changing diapers, reading stories, painting my nails just wasn't a priority. But I learned, it saves me time to manicure my nails.  This isn't vanity, it's a safety measure too. Your hangnails or unfiled nails can be harmful to your baby.

And a baby's sharp nails can be harmful to them as well as you.For the first six months, I had to place mittens on baby Empress hands because she kept scratching herself. On occasions I would lay  her down to sleep anSo create, master or stick to a beauty routine today!

With Love & Light,

Regena

Yikes!

After cutting and filing my nails...and filing Empress nails too!. (the only way she would keep her hands still for the photo was during storytime, lol)

Knowledge is power....and sometimes life-saving!

Greetings,

I believe what separates success in most situations is knowledge. Knowing what to do, when to do and how to operate. And when it comes to pregnancy and parenthood, learning as much as you can is a gift you can give your children.

As I mentioned in the blog that talks about Natural Crowning's purpose, access to information is key. The classes I took played a key role in my great pregnancy experience and help prepare me for motherhood. And I even bonded with the health educators and other moms. They were very much interested in my journey.  During discussion it was evident how one mother was able to save her baby's life with the information she gleaned. So I'm sharing the wealth! Below is the list of classes I took at the Eisner Pediatric Medical Center in Los Angeles. All of them are free except for the Hydrotherapy Class.  You do not have to be a patient to attend, but for some of the classes you need to rsvp. Most classes have food and sometimes offer gifts. (Below I offer tips for my readers outside of California)

http://www.eisnerhealth.org/

Lamaze 1 & 2

Healthy Nutrition & Fetal Development

Prenatal Exercises

Baby Basics

Postpartum Care

The Birth of Your Child

Breastfeeding

Hydrotherapy (cost)

And here's the bonus. They implemented for the first time a Daddy's Boot Camp class which my husband attended! Sir was so engaged in the class, they asked him to come back as a speaker, along with our baby Empress. I encourage Dads to attend. And just so you know, the wives are banned so it's men only. The Dads received organic baby carriers, t-shirts and a reference Daddy book.

Yoga classes at Yoga West, http://www.yogawestla.com/

Pregnancy Goddess Yoga with Khefri

Prenatal Yoga with Sada

These classes were uplifting, therapeutic and I connected with my baby in an unique way. I also bonded with the other moms and learned about their culture and traditions.

There are other classes in the LA area, I just listed the ones I had a great experience with. I was originally with Cedars and they offer classes for a fee, however when I switched to the midwifery team at Eisner, I just decided to go to their classes.

And here's some tips no matter which state you live to find great classes.

Ask your ob-gyn/mid-wIfe if they offer classes.

Check with your church, YWCA/YMCA or community groups that you belong to.

Check with your health insurance. I was surprised to learn mine health insurance offer classes.

As always, do your research and enjoy being a student for your baby!

P.S. If you enjoyed this content and would like more in detail, please become one of my supporters at https://www.patreon.com/Regena. It can cost as little as $1 a month.

With Love & Light,

Regena

Natural Crowning's Purpose-2nd Dimension

Congratulations Mamas and Daddies too!

         Welcome to the Natural Crowning blog. Chances are if you reading this, you're an expectant mama, budding parent or have decided you want to have a child, in either circumstance, congrats!! By reading this blog, you're taking the time to invest in knowledge that will assist you on your journey.

So here's the purpose of this blog...

Filled with gratitude and excitement, I learned I was pregnant in April 2016.  As I brimmed with a desire to have a safe and natural birth,  I soon realized there was a lot of conflicting information about pregnancy, rigid health insurance policies and unfortunately a capitalistic approach to birth. Meaning I felt some some doctors were more interested in how much money they could make from each patient versus a strong focus on the health of the mama and baby.  

Disheartened, I was determined to have a pleasant experience and healthy baby. I did lots of Google searches, read books, talked to some of my out of state friends who were already mothers. At the time I had only lived in LA for two years  so I didn't have any friends who were moms. And being in the entertainment industry, most of my colleagues were actors or writers without children. To complicate matters, my ob-gyn touched me inappropriately with the ultrasound handle so it was time to switch doctors. Shocking isn't it?.  My doctor was at a prestigious hospital but hey it doesn't matter if you're not treated well (that's another blog).

Divinely, I was serving at a charity event along with a group of soccer moms and one of them suggested I find a pregnancy support group. Great idea. So I did an internet search and many of the pregnancy groups info was outdated or the locations were an hour away. What kept popping up the most was pre-natal yoga. Ironically an awesome pre-natal class took place right down the street from my home at Yoga West in Beverly Hills. On my first day, during the introductions, the yoga instructor asked me where was I giving birth? She sensed it wasn't a good fit for me and she was correct. After class, she gave me a couple of doctors/options and as a result I switched to the midwifery team at Eisner Pediatric Medical Center.   This changed the trajectory of my pregnancy journey which led to great medical care, a series of free classes, two doulas, plenty of gifts, a baby shower and a beautiful healthy baby girl Empress born naturally! Eisner even had the right pediatrician for Empress. Wow! The experience was amazing. I ascertained my yoga instructor is a connoisseur of information. Eisner is a medical powerhouse. This made me realize that having access to information is key, and in some situations life-saving.

       I vowed to give back and the opportunity came sooner than expected. During my pregnancy journey, I was dubbed a champion mama and expectant mamas would ask me questions. And after dilating from 3 to 10 centimeters in thirty minutes and giving birth to Empress,  a multitude of women and their husbands asked me to share my insight. Eager to share my passion and the course of events gave birth to Natural Crowning. So allow me to be your connoisseur of information and online coach to help you navigate through this exciting journey. It's a blessing for me to be of service and I will be cheering you along for a wonderful birth and parenthood.

Sending you love and light,

Regena