Interview with Madeline Dominguez

April 21th, 2022

M: Our day in the life has changed quite a bit since welcoming our new baby girl at the end of February! Each day looks a little different but as a stay at home mom, I wake up around 8:30 to nurse, change and snuggle my daughter (1m) before my son (2.5yrs) wakes up, usually around 9/9:30.

Then we all head upstairs to have some breakfast. Coffee is a must first thing in the morning. After breakfast I usually will get a sensory activity set up for my son! He has been loving these lately! If the weather is nice, I like to get the kids outside, so either a walk, park date, or I will just let my son play in the backyard while I do some things around the house.

Also, at least once or twice a week I like to take my son either to a play place, zoo, or some sort of outing/adventure! After a morning of play (or lazy movie watching, depending on the day) we have some lunch, then my son takes a nap around 1:30.

I always struggle with either being productive during this time, or relaxing…I know moms can relate. Most of the time, I like to get as much done as I can before nap, so I can use this time to relax. When nap time is over around 4/4:30, we play some more until dad is home at 5:00. When dad comes home, I either start dinner, or we all hop in the car and go grab a bite to eat!

Twice a week we all have chiropractic adjustments so on those days we will go there first, then out to dinner! After dinner we play some more, watch a movie, or play outside.

Bath time is around 8:00, and then we do our bedtime routine with our son which consists of cuddles, books, pajamas, then bedtime at 9:00! Once our son is down for the night, we get our cuddles in with our daughter, and since she is still a newborn, she is not on any sort of routine or schedule quite yet and sleeps most of the day. While we get our cuddles in with her, my husband and I watch whatever show we are watching at the moment. Some of our favorites have been, Ozark, Narcos, Maid, and more! Then around 11 it’s lights out for us!!

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M: Love this question because I have experienced two types of births. One induced medicated birth and one hands off unmedicated home birth. My best piece of advice, no matter what kind of birth you are having is know how to advocate for yourself, and if you cant, have a support person that can advocate for you. Labor and birth can be such an intense time where things can happen quickly and decisions need to be made.

So it’s important to go into it with a plan for different birth outcomes, and what you want and do not want. My first birth I had zero plan and didn’t advocate for what I wanted, but I also didn’t really know any better.

Looking back there are some things I would change but overall it was a great experience. With my second birth I really advocated for what I wanted and didn’t want and I truly got the birth of my dreams.

M: As soon as I got pregnant with my daughter I knew I wanted to go with a midwife but still deliver at a hospital because I was adamant on having a medicated birth. An unmedicated birth was not even a thought, nor a want at that point. Throughout my care, I ended up seeing 7-9 different midwifes in my midwives group and never built a connection with anyone.

I don’t even think I saw the same provider twice. I truly just felt like a name in the system and my appointments were 15 minutes or less, I never really got the holistic care I was looking for when I wanted to go with a midwife.

At my 28 week appointment, I came home crying to my husband because I had seen yet another provider that I have never met before and it was just the worst care. At that point I decided I needed to switch up my birth plan and provider. After long talks with family and lots of educating myself, I decided to switch to a midwife at a birth center.

This was a huge decision for me because birth centers are unmedicated births only, and knowing me that was a big change. From then on I really started to dive deep into unmedicated births. I took courses, watch unmedicated birth Vlogs, listened to podcasts, read books, followed some educational accounts, and really prepped my mind and body for this.

Ever since I had switched my birth plan to a birth center, I really couldn’t shake this feeling of birthing at home. Any time I pictured labor and delivery I could only picture my house. I knew if I was going to be in such a vulnerable state, I wanted to be in the comfort of my own home. So once again I switched my birth plan to a home birth. It was the most beautiful birth and it went exactly how I wanted. I gave birth to my daughter Wilder in her room.

M: So many good ones!! This is tough… okay I have to name a few.

-The Hakka!! Such an amazing thing to have if you’re breastfeeding. Ive build a whole freezer stash just by using my Hakka!

-This one I just discovered, The Oogiebear! You know those boogies that you just can’t get with your finger because your baby’s nose is so small?! Well get this cool gadget cause it makes it so easy to get them!! And it’s so satisfying 😂 ew, I know.

-Lastly I’d have to say an infant lounger, we love our SnuggleMe!! I’ve used one with both babies and they are so nice to have!