If you follow Mountain Laurel Digital on social media, you’ve seen glimpses of my latest adventure: motherhood! Growing a business and a family can seem like an impossible desire, but in my experience thus far, I’m able to do more than I’d ever imagined, and I’ve been pushed further personally and professionally in profound and surprising ways.

During my pregnancy, I definitely struggled with letting go of control. I was plagued with every mom’s typical fears: that I wouldn’t have a healthy birth, that as my body changed, I was less beautiful, that I was often overly emotional... and oh so much more. I reached out to the beautiful mamas in my network and was recommended countless resources. They’ve been wise, encouraging, and loving.

Outside of this circle, however, was another profound support. In the case of other personal and professional topics, I’ve immersed myself in the digital world to find perspective, data, clarity, and documented experiences. I’ve always found that the digital world and specifically Instagram, could help me tap into even more resources. So why should pregnancy and motherhood be any different?

The truth is, there’s an amazing wealth of digital resources for new moms that I’d love to share with you. These resources have not only helped me to get through the dark stuff in pregnancy and postpartum life, but they’ve helped me to feel more confident, too. I encourage new mamas to use this list as a great tool for navigating the wildly insane road of pregnancy and parenthood.

This list highlights the digital content, tools, influencers, apps and more that soothed my heart and mind through the birth of our beautiful daughter, Sadie Rose, who is now a little over a month old and who has brought us heart-bursting joy and love. I hope this digital content will help anyone feeling lost, scared, or alone. I hope it helps you to feel empowered and relaxed about your own personal motherhood journey.

Learn Your Baby App:

Glow Nurture

Glow Nurture is a fabulous app you can have on your phone. It gives you daily updates on your baby’s development and a platform for you to log your health. The logging tool was super helpful for me because it gave an accountability list (like how much water to drink), tracked my morning sickness, and helped me record and account for any new symptoms to mention to my doctor.

It’s also a fun way to incorporate your partner in your pregnancy journey. I would take a screen-shot of the fruit corresponding to my baby’s size every time it changed, and I’d text it to my husband. The app provides educational content around what’s happening in each developmental phase. It includes forums with other moms, too!

Classy Mama Boss Content to follow:

Hatchgal

This blog and Instagram account were of course started by a mama boss, instagram.com/arianegoldman/. Her content offers chic style solutions for every phase of pregnancy, non-toxic beauty recommendations, and an inspirational community of women helping women through the ups and downs of pregnancy, birth, and newborn life. I specifically love watching the Instagram stories featuring mother to mother panels and real talk discussions on modern motherhood.

Motherly

If you’re looking for digital content that makes you cry happy tears while thinking about meeting your baby, this is the place for you. Motherly curates beautiful videos that connect with mothers around the globe. I have been such a “cryer” throughout my pregnancy journey, and I loved a good cry watching the videos about the astounding beauty of motherhood and the miracle of birth.

The Bump

This is my favorite blog to read when I’m looking for straight, to the point “real talk” content about the journey of parenthood. I love the honesty and transparency of the imagery and overall messaging. I found relatable and educational content on The Bump, which has been immensely helpful for a new mom like me. The website is extremely easy to navigate and search specific topics, which is key when you only have one hand
or a tiny amount of time to find research a new adventure with your child!

TheEveryMom

TheEveryMom blog is a sister website to the “the everygirl” blog which is focused on inspirational content for professional women of all types. TheEveryMom offers articles curated to encouraging mothers to go after their creative dreams. The real mom stories provide interviews with amazingly strong women throughout the world who make you feel like anything is possible. I struggle with “mom guilt” like most moms, which is a highly covered topic on the blog. The content is SUPER practical for working moms who want to keep their professional dreams alive and grow as a mother!

Health, Community & Emotional Support:

Doula / Homegrown Babies / Birth Team

Get you a doula and a birthing team! I couldn’t recommend building a birth team more. We worked with Home Grown Babies here in Asheville to find our perfect doula, Chelsea Gomes. And she was a game changer; she was incredible with prenatal massages before birth, personal coaching during birth, and loving support after birth.

My husband, who was my rock during it all and still is, attended birth classes with me, and that really helped us prepare in heart and mind for this baby. My mom and sisters were also integral to the whole process, helping and supporting me each step of the way.

Your team is everything. I cannot stress enough how important your people and community are during this crazy transition in life. I encourage Asheville locals to visit

Planet Earth - Blue Planet

I know this one is random. But oh man, do you need a go to show that will soothe you and your baby! We had a really hard time learning how to breastfeed. My initial postpartum days were intense in the first few weeks back home. Blue Planet offered relaxing visuals, calming sounds and just a way for me to get away without any drama or intensity. If you're emotional and sensitive like me, just watch it! I promise it will be a surprisingly healthy outlet.

Muse Meditation App:

Meditation is an incredible practice during stressful times like transitioning into motherhood. The Muse meditation application is perfect for you if you struggle with finding a structured way to meditate. It measures your stress with sound ques, like storms when you lack focus, and birds when you've calmed your mind.

PS: I found journaling to be a highly meditative practice, too.

“Real Talk” Instagram Mama Influencers to follow:

Senae Nelson & Amber Fillerup

These two mamas gave me inspiration for my nursery. The colors of their Instagram feed and beautiful family-feel of their imagery gave me life during the tough days of my second and third trimesters. These mamas make me feel connected to the creative side of motherhood and how dreamy growing a family truly is. Although beautiful, their Instagram Live content feels real and honest. Their focus on feeling beautiful and curating your own mama fashion made me feel warmly attached to and inspired by them.

Bekah Martinez:
I have learned so much from Bekah. Her voice is blunt, eye-catching and you just can’t not listen to her story as a new mom. I followed her birth story before my baby was born, and hers was the most realistic out of most of the birth stories I’ve read. She offers great resources on her Instagram Stories about postpartum in particular, and she gave me a peek into the hard stuff moms go through during the fourth trimester of pregnancy.

Catherine Giudici

Hilarious. That’s the word I'm using to describe this mama. I started following Catherine after she appeared on a season of The Bachelor, and I just can’t get enough of her or her hubby, Sean. They showcase the need to always have a little humor as parents. Catherine is someone who just makes motherhood FUN, as it should be, though it's sometimes tough to have that outlook. She reminds me to just relax and not take everything so seriously. She’s such a cozy human.