Tag Archives: pregnancy and getting through the first trimester

WE ARE EXPECTING OUR 3RD AND FINAL BABY!

I know. This is wild and insane and we will soon be part of the 3 under 4 club which is crazy and I know we will have a lot of things to do but I am so looking forward to never being pregnant again. Spoiler Alert: This is the hardest pregnancy I have ever had!

Photo by lucas mendes on Pexels.com

I also want to say too that before I even begin, I am nearly out of the first trimester. By this time this is published and I am releasing it it will be just over 13 weeks. I had full intentions to actually write how I was feeling week by week as an update because with Felix I had given an update every 4 weeks. I will start doing weekly updates though going forward after 12/13 weeks. I am more so wondering if this is harder because I have 2 under 3 right now and am literally busy most of the time.

Right now I have had more morning sickness than I have with both pregnancy combined. Just the last week alone as I write this I have been getting sick multiple times a day. I know that I could have it way way way worse but for this it was a lot. There has been a lot of sleeping. I feel like I am up every 2 hours to the bathroom which is totally insane because I do not remember being up that much at night so early on and I am already sore. I have been taking baths regularly and also even showers where I just stand in the steam and just relax as much as possible. I have been pretty regularly trying to just sit on the couch in my housecoat and relaxing because I feel like I need to. I am counting the days till this is over because I feel like its another chapter that is closing.

As for the gender. A lot of people we know are assuming it is a girl. Due to the fact I am way sicker however I won’t be really thinking about gender till it is confirmed due to the fact that Vincent and Felix were so different pregnancy that I really have no idea. I will say the being sick if that is in fact a thing more so with a girl I would be kind of leaning towards a girl. We do hope to find out the gender like we always have though because we are super impatient and unable to hold it in. I think if it was a girl or boy it will be such a nice ending to our family since we will be done with children.

Another thing I thing I am looking forward to is that this pregnancy we will be due the beginning of August. With the boys I was pregnant through the entire summer and that made me miss out on so much. Obviously I am not saying I regret anything either, I love my children and wouldn’t change it for the world. Having our own home and a nice large back deck where we can sit and enjoy the weather and animals at night has been so pleasant that I am so looking forward to it this summer. Also I am looking forward to having some puffs too because I do miss smoking a bit of weed but it’s something that I have just gotten over and I quit fairly easily. Just like every pregnancy, I even talk about it in a post here.

Photo by Somben Chea on Pexels.com

As for cravings I don’t think I have really been craving a whole lot. Lots of salty and some sweet. More specifically Wendy’s Fries and dipping them in Frostys. I have been kind of craving slushies but NO WHERE in Halifax seems to have any and if that ain’t disappointing I honestly don’t know what is. I had some thing similar a “Misty” from dairy queen but that wasn’t the same. I also had a craving for a hot fudge sundae from dairy queen so I got a peanut buster parfait without the peanuts. And for my birthday this past January I had to specifically order the cake because I was dying to have something that had real buttercream not the window front store cakes with the whipped cream icing that isn’t sweet at all. I also have been trying to randomly eat different things because I swear sometimes I have eaten things and within a few hours I know I’m about to be sick and low and behold I end up getting sick.

I have been trying to keep busy though and have been trying not to nap in the day time because I feel like its such a wasted opportunity when the boys are sleeping to be able to get things done. Or I have been trying to do things as I go while they are doing things or I am cooking supper. Like if I am in the bathroom with Vincent I will try to tidy a few places or change the garbage. Stuff like that which is helping to get back on track. I swear though this pregnancy I have been unable to get enough sleep. Even sleeping in the day when I try to nap at night I am exhausted and then I find myself having trouble sleeping for long periods. One thing I need to start doing is reading beore bed. I need to stop being on my cell phone because it’s not making me sleep any better if anything its making me stay up later. I have some great books that I need to read and what better time to do so than now.

Overall I am hoping the next 2 trimesters go by way smoother and I am super scared about the actual birth which is a whole other blog topic as well as something I won’t be even thinking about until later when it is way closer to the due date but still. Here is to the final pregnancy that I have and hoping things go great. I cannot wait to meet our final missing puzzle piece to our family!

Prepping for Final Baby

There is no secret here that I am pretty open about our family and how big we want it. My partner and I are planning on having 3 children provided that everything is alright though and everything aligns right. As you know having a baby can be challenging. I even talk about the 5 tips to get pregnant easier here in a different blog post. These are the things that I have been doing for the past little while in order to prep for the final baby we hope to welcome to our family!

Photo by Melike Benli on Pexels.com



One thing I have been doing since August was taking prenatals. They say you should be starting to take these 3 months prior to trying to conceive. That being said though, prenatals will not make you become pregnant faster. The purpose of this is to build the vitamins and whatever else up in your body to help carry a baby better. Obviously there are times though that people are not able to do this with surprise pregnancy’s and things however if you are actively planning like us than yes, take them 3 months before hand to help your body become ready!

Another thing that I am trying to do is continue to lose weight. Having 2 kids and thinking about another pregnancy I want to make sure that I am not tired and sluggish. I want to hopefully lose maybe 25lbs (Hopefully since you know I write these in advance I will have you all updated on the Thursday’s Self Care) and I want to also be able to have munching and snacking in control so that I don’t have to worry about over eating. With my first pregnancy I gained a lot of weight and it was hard. With my second I didn’t gain that much. Which was great however I want to hopefully lose weight and not gain like I did with my second. Chasing kids around will be challenging so I really want to make sure that I am healthy and at least not carrying around extra weight unless it has to do with the growing baby!

Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels.com



I am also slowly thinking about bedrooms. Currently we have 3 bedrooms upstairs and right now my youngest is in the biggest room with the crib and my oldest in his own room in a big bed. That being said, whenever number 3 comes along hopefully it happens the same as it did with my first two which was relatively quick, that I would really like to low key plan the babies room. Chances are my youngest will have to be in a big boy bed. Not to mention I will have to put both of the boys in the same room. Then move the baby to the little room. I am not in a huge rush obviously due to the fact that I am hoping that we can keep the newest addition in a bassinet for a period of time but I would like to at least mentally prepare for the changes of rooms.

This also may sound super silly, but I am also mentally preparing myself for another c-section. It was really hard on me, so hard in fact I talk about the 3 things that were the hardest part of a c-section here as well as the parts of a c-section that no one talks about here. Maybe it was part of my fault because I never really thought “It could happen to me” and I knew literally nothing about it. All I knew was that they cut open your stomach. Not the time, what happens in recover, or anything like that. I want to be fully prepared to have another c-section if that is the route that is safest way for myself and for the baby to make it to this world. I know recovery won’t be easy because of the fact that I will have 2 little fellas who would be running around and I really hope that at the end of the day we do not have to go that way however if it does I want to be prepared as well.

And finally, I am also prepping for the fact that this will be my last pregnancy. We always planned on having just 3 children and as much as I feel like an alien and that I was low key not a huge fan of it. I will say that we were pretty lucky. I was basically minimal pregnancy symptoms and was able to do a lot more than friends of mine were though. That being said though, every pregnancy is different. I know this will be the last time that I can feel little kicks on the inside. I know that this is the last time my body will carry another human. I am okay with that and I hope the 9 months fly buy. I am ready to also take this time to really reflect on the fact that our family dynamic will be changing for a final time also too.



It feels super surreal though to sit here and be thinking about a 3rd pregnancy. From the first and to the third it will be a total of 27 months of pregnancy. That is over 2 years being pregnant. I still cannot believe that such a short time ago I was announcing that we were pregnant with our first and soon we will be announcing that we were pregnant with our last. It marks the end of an era so to speak. My partner and I always wanted to have our children close together in age for many reasons, maybe because we are a little bit crazy but still! Before we know it we will soon be out of diapers, and they will be off to college! Never do I ever wish memories and time away, but boy does it ever pass fast! I still am in shocked that my youngest is nearly a year old and here we are, going to be trying yet again!

What People Wish They Knew About Pregnancy – Part 3

Before I begin, I want to say this is something that I had asked the people on the app “Peanut”. This is an app where mothers sign up and can meet other moms around their towns and essentially become friends and hang out (Not a sponsor). However for me I felt it was far too overwhelming and in typical fashion I stopped using the app. I did however ask a question to the community, that question was “What is something you wish people told you about pregnancy or birth”. These are some responses and once the other parts become active I will be posting them below with links. And you are more than welcome to check them out yourself too!

What do you wish people told you about pregnancy and birth Part 1
What do you wish people told you about pregnancy and birth Part 2

Photo by Burst on Pexels.com

Fundal Massage for uterus was something that I had NO IDEA about when I had given birth the first time. I will say having a c-section for my second I did not notice if there was any massage which I assume there was not due to the fact I had just been cut open there. However with my first vaginal birth HOLY MOLY it was tough. The nurses literally will put their palm or even their fingers and wiggle it around your abdomen to see if your uterus is shrinking back and it does not tickle. They check this periodically and it is absolutely not comfortable at all. Yes it is important and needs to be done but just know that it does not feel great though at all. I know when it comes to having our third and final child, as much as I am hoping to have a vaginal birth similar to our second I am HOPING that this massage happens quickly and it becomes short lived!

*** If you would like to support this blog financially you are more than welcome to do so by clicking this link here to bring you to my Ko-Fi website. Supporting the blog via tips is NEVER pressured however if you feel so inclined to help out in another way this is a perfect way to do so! You can see some behind the scenes items as well as insider info on the store updates and uncensored blogs also coming soon!


Forceps or vacuum was something I knew very little about and thankfully with the 2 children I have (And hopefully the 3rd when the time comes) we dont need to know anything about these! This is where you have to have these tongs to help pull your baby out. And the vacuum is just that, it will suction to the top of your babies head to help them come out of you. I was only told about these in my 1st pregnancy when the doctor was half threatening me with gaining too much weight and how this may be something that is needed if I kept gaining. Luckily I never needed them as my son came so fast however I have heard of these being essential in giving birth for whatever reason. In the moment I can imagine they are horrifying and worrisome.

Lack of sleep from labor to months later is something that you may think is assumed however it isn’t. I will say that with my first two son’s they have been nearly incredible sleepers compared to stories I have heard from friends. As obvious as it may be no one really talks about the lack of sleep you get after a baby is born. For my second pregnancy I found it was a lot harder to sleep the bigger I had gotten however I don’t remember that with my first. Afterwards you are also looking at about 2 months of lack of sleep where the first month you are basically a zombie in the process. I know it sounds crazy but it is true. Babies do drink every 3 hours so they need to really be up that much. After about 2 months both of my son’s slept alright averaging maybe 6-9 hours a night. What makes this challenging is that when you have multiple children. With my first I was able to sleep when he slept and catch up on sleep. However with my second that was not entirely possible due to the fact that he was on one nap per day and the newborn didn’t exactly sleep when you wanted them to!



Mom Guilt is something that I dont think anyone ever can prepare you for. This also can be parenting guilt too. One of the first things I know I felt guilty about with mom guilt was not wanting to breast feed. It is hammered down our throats as a mom that if you don’t you are depriving your child of certain things that they never talk about all the reasons why breast feeding may not be right for your family. For me, mentally I just was unable to breastfeed. I did not enjoy it, I felt wrong doing it, and when my son had jaundice and feeding was super important to make it go away it scared me and made me paranoid that he was not drinking enough. That is not to say that it doesn’t work for other people but for me I loved the fact that my spouse was able to feed our children and I was able to sleep a bit, or that I wasn’t hooked up to some sort of pump the entire time or waking every 2 hours trying to make things happen. The guilt I felt this for my first child was tough. It was extremely hard to even get past. I have a friend who breastfeeds her kids and she said flat out fed is best. There is such a stigma about parents who choose to formula feed that it needs to be stopped. It would probably help with things like postpartum depression as well if we never had so many pressures on us parents before the baby has even been born!

As you can see there is multiple things that may seem pretty obvious to others however this is not the case. This is something that maybe by writing these out a new parent may know before the situation arises! And if you are pumped to read this I can’t wait for you to read the other ones when they come out too!

If you would like to purchase the book you are more than welcome to do so here, though the link is for the Canadian site you may need to be redirected to the Amazon sited for your Country to be able to purchase a copy for yourself!

What People Wish They Knew About Pregnancy – Part 2

Before I begin, I want to say this is something that I had asked the people on the app “Peanut”. This is an app where mothers sign up and can meet other moms around their towns and essentially become friends and hang out (Not a sponsor). However for me I felt it was far too overwhelming and in typical fashion I stopped using the app. I did however ask a question to the community, that question was “What is something you wish people told you about pregnancy or birth”. These are some responses and once the other parts become active I will be posting them below with links. And you are more than welcome to check them out yourself too!

What do you wish people told you about pregnancy and birth Part 1
What do you wish people told you about pregnancy and birth Part 3

Photo by Daniel Reche on Pexels.com

One subject someone said was the decreased sex drive while breast feeding. This could be strongly because while in the first few weeks and months after the birth of your child, if you choose to breastfeed, you will spend a lot of your time with them attached to your chest. Maybe you are pumping for relief though so others can also feed your little one however if you are exclusively breastfeeding you will be spending a lot of your energy with them attached to your breast. Which obviously to some extent will make you maybe not have the sex drive you once had before giving birth.

*** If you would like to support this blog financially you are more than welcome to do so by clicking this link here to bring you to my Ko-Fi website. Supporting the blog via tips is NEVER pressured however if you feel so inclined to help out in another way this is a perfect way to do so! You can see some behind the scenes items as well as insider info on the store updates and uncensored blogs also coming soon!

How long to feel normal varies from person to person however it does not happen over night. If I remember correctly I feel like giving birth vaginally made it so that I was able to feel normal a whole lot sooner than it did when I had a c-section birth. I even went as far as talk about the two difference between them in a blog here and I also talk about how there were challenges that I had to overcome with having a c-section in this blog post here. The fact is giving birth to another human has a lot of challenges. However no one prepares you to ever have to wait a long time to feel normal and healed or even yourself again. When will it stop hurting when you walk up the stairs? Who knows but that is something to think about as well. And if you take longer to feel normal compared to your friends who have had kids there is absolutely nothing wrong with it taking longer or maybe quicker. Times vary from person to person.


What to buy what not to can be a bit subjective. In the fact that what someone might recommend might not be needed for other families and whatever. That being said, I know someone out there needs to hear that, there is NO NEED to over buy every single toy you see on the shelf or every single type of shirt, pants or outfit on the rack. If you have enough clothes to go through a week without doing laundry or even a few spare clothes because accidents do happen, you do not need everything under the sun. You will find that as your child ages there is also people who will be buying different things that will continue to fill up your home. I’m not saying don’t buy anything just ask yourself if you need it. For the most part my children have so many toys from friends and family and holidays that I even hide half of them in the other room and swap them out every few months so that they have new things to play with and it is a surprise too.

Second hand shops save money as well as Facebook market place. There are some specific things I wouldn’t buy from those places like maybe stuffed animals because at the time some things may be hard for cleaning purposes however if it is a plastic toy or something that you can clean regularly there is so many things that people can re-use instead of buying new. And if you want to get some sort of savings or even be a family with toys every where (guilty) then this is a great way to save money.

Photo by lucas mendes on Pexels.com

How lonely it gets is something that I dont personally thing that I feel a lot however I do understand it. Especially with Covid and people with babies are trying to limit contact with people outside of their immediate family however it is lonely. When you have multiple kids you might even be finding yourself isolated, and not on purpose, from people who are like minded. Sure it is great to hang with your children all day but it is also important to get out and have adult interactions. I have a spouse who is home nightly who I talk to and I do regularly talk to friends on messenger and things. That being said I am also looking forward to doing things like walking and little play dates in the summer with friends too. It is import to also have your own time whenever possible away from your children even just for some self care.

Drastic hair loss is something I have been fortunate to not have with either of my pregnancy however I have seen the mental damage it has done to people and friends who have encountered this not talked about enough issue. It is something that may happen every pregnancy, maybe one or two of your ones, or maybe it has different varying degrees too. It also has no timeline on how long it will last. I know for myself, as a woman, even though I have thick hair I can empathize with how it would make a woman feel when they have clumps of hair that have fallen out.

As you can see there is multiple things that may seem pretty obvious to others however this is not the case. This is something that maybe by writing these out a new parent may know before the situation arises! And if you are pumped to read this I can’t wait for you to read the other ones when they come out too!

Pregnancy Scares in the First Trimester

Being pregnant is one of the most exciting times of your life. Whether you are pregnant or your partner is. Being one of the most exciting times does not make it any less scary though. There is a lot that can potentially go wrong especially within the first trimester. For me, I feel like my second pregnancy I was more nervous in the 1st trimester than I was in my 1st pregnancy. Why? I honestly have no idea. Maybe it was due to the fact that I had more symptoms during my second pregnancy than I did for my first. These are some of the things that scared me, and hopefully reading this will help you or someone you love feel a bit easier during their first trimester also too.

One of the major things I was worried and scared about was a miscarriage. I had never been pregnant before but for some reason it really scared me. It also didn’t help that I was using a fertility app where there was a bunch of people symptom spotting and nearly everyone was searching for their rainbow baby. This is when they have had a miscarriage and the next baby is the rainbow baby. I dont even think anyone in my family had a miscarriage either. One thing I did find comfort in if you can even find that, was researching that if there is a miscarriage chances are it was something to do with the chromosomes. It made me feel a little better knowing if something did happen that the chances are it was at such a cellular level that there was nothing that could be done to prevent it. It also helped to stop looking at the app and reading all of these stories because it certainly did not help me not panic about it or become paranoid.

Another thing that barely happened with my 1st pregnancy and happened a bigger time with my second was spotting. No spotting in pregnancy is ever considered normal. But spotting is a common thing that happens to people. With my first it was such a small amount that it was not a big deal. It scared me but I talked to a friend and it was alright. This second pregnancy I had wiped once and it was a pink color and that scared me. I booked an emergency appointment. They said it was my cervix and booked an early ultrasound about 7 weeks. Everything was fine!

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

Another scare that I had with both pregnancy’s was morning sickness. You always panic and worry when you hear the horror stories. People who can barely get out of bed or barely eat and what not. With my 1st pregnancy I was very luck in terms of morning sickness. If I was sick I would go to bed. Or if I was tired I would nap too. With my second pregnancy I felt more nauseous and would try to nap more when my son napped. Or where there is covid and some reduced hours in work places my boyfriend would be home early and I would nap when he was home. I still feel extremely lucky when it comes too morning sickness. Most of my yucky feelings was in the evenings when my son would be going to bed or already in bed. When it came to combating this I would have little candies to help suck on. Some instant breakfasts that helped to drink something so I wasn’t feeling so empty when I woke up. I would have ginger cookies around to munch on if I needed it also too. And ginger ale also was used. All these little things helped when it came to feeling icky and trying to make it through the day easier without feeling like I was dragging my butt along.

And finally, not so much a scary thing, kind of exciting but also something to worry about, when do you tell people! We ended up telling my boyfriends parents early with my 1st pregnancy due to the fact that we went to visit them. And I told a few friends who I was close with who also had kids early in their lives. That way I had some folks to talk to about it with. Then we waited to tell my family til we went home which was about 10 weeks. With our second one we told people publicly about 10 weeks because we were buying a home and were frustrated with how the housing market was and figured why not share some great news with our friends and family. With our family though we told them a lot sooner, maybe like 6 or 7 weeks and just kept it quiet til we told everyone after. A lot of people suggest waiting til after 12 weeks because thay is nearly out of the first trimester. That is in case something were to happen. Really, I think it is a personal choice. Whenever you want to tell family or friends that is your choice to do so.

As you can see, even with one of the happiest and exciting times of your life, there can still be some scary things happening. For me, I tried not to dwell on what scared me and I tried to wait til I knew for sure. Thinking about what-ifs can be very taxing and stressful. And as time progresses during pregnancy you lose some of this fear and the excitement gains more control than being scared. Or your fears change, or evolve too. I know it is harder to say than do, bur don’t let your fear overshadow the miracle of bearing a child and creating a family!

Have you or someone you know been pregnant, and did they or you have the same things that scared you also?

Was there anything different that you had to deal with that you were fearful in the 1st trimester of pregnancy?

Let me know in the comments below! Maybe others or even myself have had the same fears.

Getting Through The 1st Trimester

Finding out that you are pregnant can be a very exciting time in anyone’s life! I know when we first found out we were pregnant with my first child, and now our second one we were excited! However I feel like my first pregnancy I was a bit lucky because I barely had any symptoms except for being tried. When I was tired I would just sleep But now having a toddler and being pregnant for the second time things are way more challenging. Here are my tips to help me get through the first trimester (With or without a toddler!).

SLEEP! In the first trimester you are probably losing a lot of sleep. Not only that but suddenly your bladder seems to be super small and you are running to the bathroom nearly every 3 hours especially in the middle of the night even if you did not do that to begin with before. Thought I was really lucky that my partner was home often I was able to sleep when I felt like it because he would watch our son. However, if he was working late I would still try to nap when my toddler did. It can be hard though because some days I would be super tired and go to sleep and would have one of those days where my son nearly never slept his nap time. However a lot of times it works really well to be able to nap when he does. It may not seem like a lot but it really is a decent amount of time to be able to sleep and not over sleep. Though be warned that sometimes I tend to find myself more tired after this. But catching up on sleep is really important if you are able to sleep during the day. I will say, going into the second trimester there is some relief in terms of when you need to run to the bathroom from your sleepy slumber but in terms of the increased bathroom visits. They will still be a lot due to the fact your body is housing a baby! Try to also drink water early in the day (Something that I do not do) And limit it late at night so that you find yourself hopefully nearly empty when it comes to having to get up to relieve yourself!

Prepping for morning sickness or food aversions was something I did with my first pregnancy and now this one even though I did not think I needed it much. I had certain staples in my kitchen such as ginger ale, little sour candies that would help with morning sickness. I also had carnation instant breakfast’s as well. They really helped in the morning when I was not interested in eating breakfast a lot and still filled me up though to be able to function at some point. I still have been pretty lucky even with this pregnancy in terms of morning sickness. Even when I did have it it was mainly after supper and by that point my boyfriend was already home and was able to take the the lead when it came to putting my son to bed and getting him ready for his sleep. Having things like this was a huge help especially the ginger cookies which I would have a few snacks on in the mornings when my stomach was just a bit more upset though.

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

Make it fun and have an app or two! When I was pregnant with my son I used two in particular, they were Ovia Pregnancy and then What to Expect. These are super fun to use because you are able to pick a subject to compare the size of your baby! When I was pregnant with my son I used the “fruits and Veggies” theme for both. Every week was a milestone and it would compare the growing baby inside to whatever fruit it was comparable to! This time around I have chosen to do one for 80’s and 90s nostalgic items, and then another one in the “Fun and Games” category. This is a great way to compare the size of your baby to things you know the size of already. With baby number three I assume knowing myself I would be picking a different category to compare the size of the baby to! Another thing that is huge when it comes to these apps is every day or so it will post little tips and tricks about what is happening with the growth of your baby. From things developing and changing. Sure you may have multiple children but still is exciting to see how things develop since you may not remember when things happen as they happen.

Regardless about what you try to do when it comes to surviving the first trimester, there is really multiple things you can do to make it through. Another positive thing to remember is that even if the first trimester is rough, chances are things will slowly level out towards the 2nd trimester. I have been lucky and have found that whatever symptoms I have been feeling does normally seem to disappear a bit. However on rare occasions there are people out there who have to deal with major symptoms in the second trimester also. However, there are also medical interventions that you are perhaps able to take for things such as morning sickness if you talk to your doctor about how you are feeling.

Lastly, remember that there is also so many reasons to sick it out because at the end of everything no matter how sick you get you will have your little bundle of joy to be thankful for! When you see your child you suddenly forget all of the heartaches and sickness you may have felt as it just melts away!

Is there anything that you did when you were feeling a bit wonky in the first trimester?
Do you follow any of the tips and tricks that were mentioned above too?


Let me know as I am sure a lot of other readers would love to read about it also!