You recently launched a skincare line…tell us everything!

Yes, Baeo! A direct-to-consumer organic skincare line for the entire family with only four products: Bare Face, Bare Butter, Bare Suds, and Bare Kiss. Within a few days of our official launch, we were sold out! We decided to launch with baby and family first, but are in development on a line dedicated to women and one for men plus wellness! We’re taking this time to learn the business and our customer before we launch the next category. Plus, we test all of our products so as for allergies and everything’s verified USDA organic—a certification that takes a considerable amount of time.

When I was pregnant with Wyatt, who is five now, I did a full overhaul and detox on my home. At the time I found it nearly impossible to find an organic skincare line that I connected with as well as had an offering for the entire family.

Simultaneously I had a friend that was making skincare and cleaning products from her home, and they were the cleanest products! Therefore, we started to brainstorm what it would look like to formulate based on her recipes and create an organic, plant-based, eco-friendly, line offering products for the whole family that also gives back to charity (we’re a partner of Baby-2-Baby). And so we began! Over the next few years, we created all of the formulations ourselves as a female-run business (two moms, one professional and four kids!). Plus, we do it all ourselves from packing to shipping all with handwritten notes out of our LA office!

What’s the story behind the name Baeo?

After going through several different names that were all taken, I was in the shower one day, and it came to me like a bolt of lightning! It should be BARE(!), bare everything because it’s super clean and pure. In the end, we landed on Bare Essential Organics and BAEO for short.

What does it mean to get an organic certification?

Our boutique manufacturer assists in the USDA certification process and to obtain the certification all of our ingredients must be organic. They look at our formulations +  ingredients and decide based on that information.

How do you manage your working commitments and being a mom?

I believe the key to raising kids anywhere is a strong support system—especially when you live in a big city like LA with no family (my mom’s in Arizona, and Erik’s parents are in Iowa). We’re incredibly fortunate to have a handful of close friends that had babies around the same time as us, plus my Baeo business partner’s kids go to the same preschool; therefore, some days I pick up her kids, or she picks up mine. We lean in a lot to help each other.

It’s crucial to be able to count on people in that way and have friends that you can lean on when you don’t have family around otherwise it can be isolating. I also have a fantastic nanny that helps with my kids—she’s like having a sister wife, I love her so much!

Plus, as a bonus, running my own company is helpful too! Because, sometimes your two-year-old needs to come to the office on launch day with hundreds of orders coming in and amongst all of the chaos, opens a bunch of the lip balms all over the sofa! Guess that’s the definition of being a working mom—you make it work!

You have to build your tribe. Many people don’t live near their families; therefore it’s important to become friends with moms and help each other out!

Do you think it’s important for kids to see their mom working?

Yes and no. Being a mother in and of itself is a huge job. If you’re a mom that stays home with your kids and is able to be involved in their school events and activities, that’s so important and wonderful! But, it’s equally great for a mom to have a job that she’s passionate about.

Personally, I’m extremely grateful to have a job that allows me to both work and pick-up my kids up from school!

Growing up, my mom worked really hard for 25 years to build a dental practice, while my dad was a pastor—a job that allowed him to be at home with us most of the time. It was amazing to have both influences in my life—the support of my dad at every school function plus a strong working-mom role model! Sadly, I lost my dad when I was pregnant with Esme, which was so hard to be both pregnant and lose my father at the same time. He was sick for a while with early onset dimension at 54 years old. It was unexpected that he died so young, but he had been in pain for many years from different things.

Do you prioritize self-care?

For the last couple of months, while preparing to launch Baeo, I neglected myself. However, typically I do yoga, plus I workout at home with this incredible app called Every Mother. It’s organized by issue (I had separation in my tummy after both pregnancies) and checks in with you on the daily. I’m also a big believer in the power of essential oils and use them for everything, from my neck to my feet. If any of us start to feel the slightest bit sick, I cover us all in essential oils.

I also enjoy a bath alone. And, I started reading again! A few girlfriends put together a book club and it’s such a pleasure to read something unrelated to work—it taps into a different part of your brain and feels like a vacation!

What was the decision to become a vegetarian family?

My husband and I had been thinking about it for a while and the more research we uncovered about the planetary impact of eating animals the more we wanted to go meatless! We told our kids that we’re going on a “new adventure.” Fishetarian, my son, calls it. It’s been hard for him to give up meat and has asked to have it once or twice when we’ve been out somewhere. Typically though, after a bite or two, he usually feels like he’s had enough, and we leave it at that.

I grew up on a farm eating meat and cheese. However, that was the idealistic way to eat meat, straight from a farm. It’s never felt right to go to the grocery store and buy meat wrapped in plastic. Even though it went against everything Erik and I experienced growing up, when we finally decided to pull the plug, it felt so right. I thought I was going to miss bacon, but in the end, I don’t!

These days there are so many options and amazing recipes out there for vegetarians.  The Minimalist Baker, is a great site of which I’ve made a number of her dishes. Plus, my kids love this sweet potato hash I make with kale, garlic, onions, and a fried egg on top and I also make a lentil loaf which is like a meatloaf, but not.

What can we look forward to with Your Zen Mama?

Teresa is pregnant, which has been very exciting! Therefore we’re doing a ton of Vlogs that focus on pregnancy while Teresa is in the early stages of hers. For 2019 we’re ramping up our activations to meet our audience and the people that are contributing to the YourZenMama community. We have two in the works as of now! A meet & greet wherein we invite some of our audience, and another event featuring women in our community talking about wellness, balance, and mom life. We have a few exciting things coming up in addition to all of this, but the ink is not sign yet, so we can’t speak about it!

Besides Baeo and Your Zen Mama, any new projects coming out?

In January I begin filming a new Netflix show called: Spinning Out!  

And, I have a film coming out in the new year called: The Place With No Words, with my partner in Your Zen Mama, Teresa, and her husband. It’s a fantasy independent movie with a sweet story directed by Marc Webber, Teresa’s husband. It’s really stunning. Erik, Teresa and I are all in it, so it was great fun to make as well!

Any Advice…

Don’t be so hard on yourself! Mom-guilt is a thing and I struggle with this too. It’s OK to work and it’s OK NOT to work, but in the end, all our kids really need is love.

There are few ways to describe Meg without including descriptors like soulful, hilarious, wise, beautiful, authentic, and of course, strong. The first time I met Meg was for a quick drink at 6p, but instead, we closed the restaurant with our friendship sealed. With Meg, the conversation is always real, and you leave the table a better person because of it.

Last June, when I sat across from her at dinner, and she explained having to go in for a very serious 24-week scan the following day, I was worried about her. Then, when she texted the next day to explain she may lose the baby, I was gutted. Over the next three months, I watched Meg, a pillar of strength taking each day anew. Herein she shares her powerful journey of becoming a mother, the solidarity and support she felt from her community, the bliss of motherhood, and how her life and perspective, will forever be altered. @meganalida @dorseyofficial 

And so it began…

By the close of my first trimester, I thought I was in the clear. 

To preface, I am a health hypochondriac, I worry about myself all the time, and I when I finally hit the 12-week mark I thought I was able to take a deep breath and enjoy my pregnancy. We’d cleared all of the genetic tests plus the blood work, and I’d made it through the horrible morning sickness. All in all, I felt great and was elated to be pregnant as I’d miscarried on June 23rd of last year, a significant date because it was the same day they put termination papers in front of me this year. 

Two and a half months in and I’d only put on about three and a half pounds. I’d lost some weight with the morning sickness, but I wasn’t nervous about it as it’s not uncommon. For the entire first trimester, I ate Saltine crackers and drank Ginger Ale—both of which I’ll never have again.

In any case, as the pregnancy progressed past 12 weeks, I was going to work every day and getting back to my typical eating habits, with no particular cravings. Overall life was good. When it came time for the 20-week scan, we started the day at my OBGYN’s office at 12p, wherein she said to me: “Enjoy your second trimester, I know you worry, but everything is fine.” Then we headed to the high-risk specialist at 2:30p for the anatomy scan. At the close of the appointment, they said everything looked great, and to come back for the 30-week scan. 

About an hour later, we got a call. The doctor reassessed all of our measurements and determined that she was measuring small for her gestational age. The woman on the phone said we would need come back in four weeks to review whether she’s had a growth spurt. I hung up the phone shaking and immediately started googling. As expected, I found a mix of devastating as well as uplifting stories. Worse case scenario was a blood infection or some abnormality, and the best case was that my baby was merely small. At that point, it seemed as if it could be anything, so for the next four weeks, I tried to take it easy, eat more calories, and do my best to put it out of my mind.

Finally, we made it to 24 weeks and went back in to get measured, only to find out that she’d dropped from the 20th to the 2nd percentile. They declared she had Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR), a rare condition, which meant she wasn’t growing. They continued to explain that it was either a chromosomal abnormality (not typically detected in the first 12 weeks of tests) which can only be discovered when the baby comes out. Or, a blood infection that would destroy the baby’s nervous system, with nothing that could be done to save the baby so we’d be forced to terminate—the only way we would have aborted. At this point, they needed to test me for at least six blood infections, of which I could be A-systematic, but if any of them came back positive they would have to terminate.

We refused the termination and pursued the discovery. However, this far into my pregnancy meant that if we had to terminate there were only two doctors in LA that would do it. Apparently the period between when we refused the termination and the discovery phase legally placed me into a grey area as to when you can or can not abort a baby. It was a mess, but my OBGYN was phenomenal and she instructed us to hire a specialist. At our first meeting, she said to my husband and I: “I don’t know how this is going to end, but I’ll tell you that you two are already parents, and you already have a baby, so you have to fight for this. You have to go home, get in bed, eat well, do the tests, and take of yourself. We’re going to do this one step at a time. I’ve had only two patients throughout my entire career that have had to do a late stage termination. I don’t believe you’re going to be the third.” 

For the next three weeks, we saw geneticists, fetal heart specialist, high-risk specialists, and tested for every abnormality possible. Still, it seemed the doctors couldn’t tell us what was wrong. It was a nightmare. Time stood still, and I was trying to absorb it all, but it was too big emotionally. At 24 weeks, I looked pregnant, and everyone knew that I was pregnant. I just kept thinking: How am I going to survive this and be normal?

By 27 weeks, as the checks came in negative and they couldn’t figure out what was wrong, the specialist told us (with grave caution) that it was reasonable for us to go forward with the pregnancy.

I spent the next three months on bed rest trying to put on weight and seeing how far we’d make it. At one point we were goal-ing for 28 weeks, then 30, then 32, and with each milestone passed, we celebrated a small victory. In late August, as par for the course, I was diagnosed, after much persistence on my part, with a very dangerous blood clot called, Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) likely from being on bed rest. Nevertheless, we carried on.

On September 22nd at 8:04 am, after ten highly emotional months, Vivienne was born, perfectly healthy. 

There are no words to describe what it felt like to have my healthy baby girl placed on my chest, it was and still is the happiest moment of my life.

How did you emotionally handle so much uncertainty?

I felt more loved through this experience than I ever have before, and I held onto that. It was intense, profoundly humbling, and life-changing. Some days I spent the entire day on conference calls and others I stayed in bed crying. Some days I felt strong and others I was paralyzed by fears. I learned to take things one day at a time. 

Coming out on the other side; I’m a different person. My relationship with my husband is better as we got through it together. We were in survival mode which makes you realize, nothing matters except being healthy. I used to say obnoxious things like: “I don’t want to put on weight” or “I want a girl or a boy, or I hope she has blue eyes.” However, in the end, I only wanted a healthy baby. 

My entire pregnancy everyone said to me: “Omg, you don’t even look pregnant! You look amazing!” When the truth was, I looked “amazing” because I wasn’t putting on weight. Something was wrong, and what’s typically considered a compliment in our society to “look skinny” while pregnant was a deep and scary thing for me. Ironically, before I was pregnant, I used to dream of being that gorgeous, barely affected pregnant girl. Then when I was pregnant and going through something terrible, the very words I’d dreamed of hearing were so awful and intense. Through that lens, I realized how dysfunctional we are as a society to compliment women on looking skinny while they’re trying to grow a human. It was a fascinating way to filter that sort of compliment because, in any other scenario, I would have loved it. 

Plus, people were saying how strong I was, but the truth is, I’m not. The only way out was through, and I believe that you do what you have to, to survive. It’s not the cute things about pregnancy that are important when the reality is, things can go wrong. Given that reality, I can’t believe what women are capable of and able to achieve. I’m in awe of women in general.

An unexpected Instagram community?

About six months into my pregnancy I started posting everything I was doing for my pregnancy in my Instagram stories. The doctors’ appointments, waiting rooms, scans for my DVT blood clots, weekly hospital visits, and sweet moments at home enjoying my bump. I was overwhelmed by the response from women who wrote me through DM’s about their pregnancies and complications; they shared words of support and encouragement, and this beautiful community of women I never met stepped in with sound advice. My authenticity was matched by theirs and it made social media a place to connect rather than a place of isolation. 

How important is it to have a solid support system? 

Your community changes the experience for you. I was in bed for three months, and people would come to hang with me on Friday and Saturday nights with wine (for them) and food—which meant the world to me. I also think your doctor is critical. It was interesting to see how much we were mentally affected by our OB who was encouraging and positive vs. our specialist who was very negative. In the end, it took about 150 people to get us through this whole thing safely. This experience has made me feel massively connected to other humans; it was life-altering.

What does it mean to be an advocate for your health? 

When I thought I had a blood clot, the doctors insisted I was wrong. However, when they finally found it and questioned how I knew, I told them I did my research online plus I listened to my body. Recently my doctor reassured me that I’m not a hypochondriac, but instead, I’m an advocate for my health. 

What do you do on bed rest?

I worked throughout my entire pregnancy (up until the last 24 hours), and have never been so productive—it kept me sane. My husband cooked every meal for us for three months and took care of everything in the house. We called him the house Doula. Friends came by and prepared meals for us as well. I was only allowed to sit up for meals and to shower, plus I was allowed two 10 minute walks a day—frankly, I lived in sweats. Overall we felt supported. We felt loved. We found a new normal. 

How did you deliver?

I had a scheduled c-section, as delivery on blood thinners with DVT’s is high risk. It took 10 minutes to get the baby out. Just as they told me they were pulling her out, the last two years of trying to have her and everything we’d been through welled up inside me. I have never felt that kind of emotion. I was so proud of myself, for making it through.

How’s mom life?

Absolute bliss—side from the breastfeeding.

We’ve been loving on Simone for years, watching-slash-attending her go-to workouts. Therefore, we were excited to catch up with Simone at the tail-end of her pregnancy to chat about her experience becoming a new mom, at 44. From milk blisters to getting back in shape, plus paternity leave, and the incredible support she’s felt through Instagram (i.e. the best resource for advice, ever!), we covered it all. @bodybysimone

Life as a new mom?

It’s been incredible, both the greatest love I’ve ever experienced and a complete shock to my system. It’s giving me new meaning to life and working hard. Overall it’s been an absolute dream to have a child at age 44. I thought I’d missed my opportunity, and I’m beyond grateful.

Plus, I’ve become incredibly efficient and a master multi-tasker. Case in point, I’ve learned to eat in under three minutes, and I’m breastfeeding while talking to you.

What was the birth experience?

Last time I saw you was at the very end of my pregnancy and I was feeling fabulous. I didn’t have a “birth plan” per se, but wanted to have a vaginal birth and went into labor with that intention. However, after 24 hours of laboring, I wasn’t dilating, his heart rate continued to drop, and we had to have an emergency C-section. This was a shock. As much as I was trying to stay open, I wanted to have him naturally. Considering I’m such a physical person, the idea of not being able to get out of bed for days was unthinkable. My post-birth recovery was a lot more complicated than I’d considered. Also, in the days following his birth, I’d assumed my milk would come in quickly. And it did not. Apparently, it’s common for milk to be delayed by five days with a C-section. Therefore, with no sleep, no milk, no movement, and on the verge of a breakdown, I opened the conversation about my struggles on Instagram. To my surprise, this powerful community of women both on and offline rushed to my rescue with sound advice and tips for what to do! With most of my close friends in Australia and London, it’s been such a beautiful and unexpected gift to feel supported through Instagram.

So, the milk finally came…

One of my biggest fears was that I wouldn’t produce milk because I’ve always been active and lean, plus my mom wasn’t able to so I worried it could be genetic. Then, after days without milk and on the brink of switching to formula a great friend and lactation specialist came to see us. She talked me off the ledge. With her guidance, I managed to push through. Now, we’re in business, and it’s been an incredible bonding experience with my baby.

I’d envisioned the first three weeks post-birth to be this beautiful earth mother experience, but, it was not. Once again, I opened that conversation to my female followers and community about how hard it was for me. If you can’t breastfeed or choose formula, you’re not a failure, but it was important for me since I didn’t have the birth I wanted.

Then, I got a milk blister and felt like my nipple was going to fall off…

So, that was fun. But again, I put it out to the community and received tons of tips, like putting tea bags on my nipples or applying lanolin. I was also suggested to breastfeed on both sides for 10 minutes each and then pump for 10 minutes, plus heat compression on my boobs followed by massaging them, et cetera.

Breastfeeding is funny…

I was training one of my VIP clients and, OOPS(!) my right boob was leaking all over the place. Yup, guess that means it’s time to feed. Luckily I have female clients, most with kids, who are understanding, but nevertheless takes some adjusting.

Did you take maternity leave?

Technically, I took six weeks maternity leave. I have a fantastic team, which made that possible, but they still needed to check in with me through calls and email. Fortunately, my husband has paternity leave which has been a tremendous help. I’m back at work now and still figuring out the balance between my clients, office work, and being at the studio while attending to our little family plus find moments as a couple. We don’t have a night nurse, nanny or any help, so it’s been the two of us tag teaming and making it up as we go along.

Best part of being a mom?

Cliche as it may, I never thought I could love someone this much. And, I still can’t believe that I grew a human in my body. This perfect little thing came out of me! It’s made me look at life so differently.

And, what’s been the biggest challenge?

The challenge has primarily been about balancing my work life with my new role as a mum. However, the positive spin is I have a new lease on work, time, and productivity. I’m motivated to provide a good life for him and his future – even though that can prove challenging at times, especially as I’m breastfeeding in the back seat of the car on my way to a client’s house. It’s also made me appreciate everything my mum did for me as a single mom working three jobs.

Getting your body back?

I’ve always told my clients that it takes nine months to make a baby and nine months to take the weight off. However, living that and finding peace in that same advice now is difficult to do, especially since I’m in the fitness industry and my body is my work. I’ve recently started working out again and have dropped most of the weight, with a few pounds to go. That said, I didn’t miraculously lose the weight. Many factors have played a role in my weight recovery, from the way I ate and worked out throughout my pregnancy, plus genetics, and breastfeeding. It will take a bit of time to get back to where I was (hello, six pack!), but I’m making progress.

I’ve also been keen on creating videos and information for other women who’ve had C-sections. There’s a lack of information available regarding safe post-C-section workouts. It’s major abdominal surgery and the abdominal wall needs to heal properly.

How have you been eating postpartum?

I’m ravenous! My focus has been to eat well to maintain breastfeeding as I need 400-500 extra calories a day for milk production. If you lose the baby weight too quickly, your milk can dry up. These days, I have dairy, my portion sizes are bigger, and I’m eating more frequently. In my pre-baby life, when I was training, I would fast and avoid carbs plus dairy. But, I cannot think like that now. I have to think about fueling my body to provide milk for my baby.

Lunch and dinner always include protein, vegetables, plus healthy carbohydrates such as sweet potatoes, rice, or pasta.

I eat eggs, eggs, eggs, and more eggs. Plus, a bit of bread, avocado, yogurt, fruit, oatmeal, and clean, lean proteins such as sausage and bacon.

With all of this said, what’s right for me is not necessarily suitable for someone else. We all have to listen to our bodies.

Any wellness thing to share?

I’m taking my prenatal vitamin and catching sleep whenever I can. Also, I try to take 30 minutes a day for myself and 30 minutes with my husband too — it’s good for the soul.

How do you take the time together?

By the time we put him to bed at the end of the day, we try to check in with each other and have a chat to connect. It’s simple.

Any advice…?

My best advice is to ask for help.

Don’t try to do it all and suffer in silence. Ask for help because it does HELP.

Plus, be kind to yourself, eat well, and prioritize exercise while pregnant. Having a baby is such a shock to your system; anything you can do to maintain and prepare will help your recovery.