Tag Archives: Pregnancy Scares

Prepping for Final Baby

pregnancy, , , , , , , , ,

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

pregnancy, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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

pregnancy, , , , , , , , ,

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!

The 3 Hardest Parts of a C Section

Life, Parenting, , , , , , , , , ,

Having a C Section is scary. There is no sugar coating that part at all. As someone who had an all natural birth for my 1st child (You can read all about that here) and a surprise C Section for my 2nd (You can also read that story here too!) I would have to say there is nothing that could prepare me for how hard a C Section is. There is so much that they don’t talk about for varies reasons. To say I was unprepared for a c section is an understatement. Sure, I knew it could be possible due to the fact that obviously I knew it could be an outcome of getting pregnant. I never thought it would happen to me though, especially since I had a natural birth for my 1st. I thought hey, if I had a natural birth with my 1st the following ones must follow the same suit right? I was so wrong. Here are the 3 things that I found the hardest with having a C Section.

Photo by Vidal Balielo Jr. on Pexels.com

Mental health is something that obviously can vary drastically from person to person. Before having a C Section I would like to think that I had pretty good mental health. I could handle most situations and what not. Having a C Section for sure impacted my mental health for various reasons. One being that I am unable to do anything. Since you are unable to lift for the first 6 weeks or so, anything heavier than your baby, it really impacted my mental health especially hen it came to not being able to pick up my first son. I am so used to grabbing him up and having hugs and kisses and tickling him on the couch that not being able to do that was really hard for me. Another thing that was hard for me was not doing any house work. No laundry, no dishes because standing for that long was really hard for me, I couldnt even bend over and put my left over food in the compost bin under our kitchen sink. The mental aspect of having to know you are unable to do simple every day tasks is incredible hard to come to terms with especially in my case where I was able to have a fully natural birth before hand and was able to do things pretty normal compared to this.

*** 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!

The physical recovery I do not think is talked about far enough. The pain you are in for the first about a week and a half was horrible. After having the surgery you are made to get up within 6 hours to walk around. You are encouraged to move around and walk around frequantly. It is really a catch 22 because you are encouraged to move around a lot to help with healing however you also are told to watch you dont push yourself too far because you will really be feeling it. Not to mention in the hospital I was pretty lucky with nurses really taking the time to make sure that I had gotten pain meds at the right times so I was pretty pain free. At home I know I slipped a bit and let to much time pass between doses and I know I was feeling the difference for sure. It was incredibly hard to adjust to getting up in the middle of the night because you really cannot move super fast. I found after the intial days of being home it was hard towards the end of the day. I found I had a lot of energy to start the day and little to no pain. However afternoon I would start to feel a bit sore, and by early evening to over night even just laying on the couch for an hour felt like a bolder was over top of me when I tried to get up.

By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

Asking for help was extremely hard for me. Though I do like having help with certain aspects of my life I really struggled with this. Something as simple as picking up a bag of garbage to change the bag or laundry basket was hard. My first shower back home I also had to ask my partner to help me because bending and twisting in the shower was challenging. He was a huge help to making sure i had everything cleaned and felt fresh. Even getting bottles in the middle of the night because getting up so fast to make sure that my little guy was not super fussy was challenging. Asking for help is hard when you are so used to doing things on your own. Something as simple as turning in the car while waiting on an appointment to look back or pass something to your first son is hard. Getting in and our of a vehicle was hard. I really cannot say what wasn’t hard in the first week anyways. But again, No one really talks about how challenging it is to physically move around after having a C Section. You rarely hear about the aftermath and how you really need to plan things out. I was so thankful to be able to have my spouse home during the holidays and able to have the time off to really help with the first little while.

Photo by Jonathan Borba on Pexels.com

I know I have said this time and time again, I have no idea how a single mother can physically do this on her own especially if she has had other children before that she needs to take care of also. This was something that I had no idea the scope of how hard it will be until it actually happened. I am thankful that myself and my partner are planning on having 1 more child so that if it did come to another C Section (Which OBVIOUSLY we hope it does not) that I will at least know what to expect for it all. Even talking to people who have had a C Section before really does not prepare you for actually having one. I am glad as I write this I am nearly finished the 6 weeks after (Though obviously this will be schedule long after I have healed!) but I would not wish this on anyone. It is so very hard to remember that this is considered a major surgery.

Pregnancy Paranoia

Life, Parenting, , , , , , , , , , ,

Being pregnant is something I have done before. Some of you may have even stumbled upon this blog based on my 1st pregnancy and the adventures we went through with my son. Though, with no exceptions friends of mine had said that every pregnancy you will find yourself paranoid about different things. I am here so say that they are most certainly correct. I even wrote about things that made me paranoid in my 2nd pregnancy here if you want to check that out also. Here is the things that have made me paranoid about this pregnancy.

Number one that made me very paranoid and still does as I am sitting here at 32 weeks is movement. I think because in the beginning I felt movements way earlier this time than with my first I feel like I should have felt stronger ones more often. This is not the case because obviously the baby is a lot smaller! Now that I am nearing the end I am finding myself panicking I don’t feel the baby moving enough! Which logically doesn’t make sense because the baby would be running out of room here! Another thing that I do which does not make any rational sense is that I have these thoughts always after I am doing physical activity. Therefore he is most likely sleeping inside not moving! I never wonder if he is moving enough after Ive been resting it is always after movement! Silly right?! Normally when I try to relax and focus on feeling him move, everything is fine. I never was one to necessarily do kick counts because I felt if I did I would be super paranoid and over analyze whether or not I was getting enough in the time I should be getting them. This is another reason why I never purchased a fetal Doppler either. I know myself and if I did get e I know that I would be obsessed with it and continuously stress myself out more than I need to trying to heart his heartbeat.

Another major paranoia I had was if the baby was head down. An ultrasound at 31 weeks had showed that he was already head down which was a huge relief. With my 1st pregnancy I never really thought a lot about this. For this pregnancy and some reason I did! Maybe because I felt movements it almost tricked me to think the head was up and not down already. Now I also know that at some point there is a chance that the baby MAY flip back however the chance of that happening when their head is down already is down. I feel like I have felt his head being down for a while but sometimes it can be tough. I cannot say I have felt him drop or anything because it is far too early for that as I write this but it still has been crazy though. I feel like I can feel he is head down a lot ore this pregnancy than the last one though. Maybe because I felt my hips or joints loosening far more this time but I really am not entirely sure. It is crazy to think about how in a few more weeks we will be bringing our second child, our second son into the world!

Overall I don’t think I am that paranoid with being pregnant a second time. Nearing the end I feel like time had passed super fast. Maybe because I had so much happening during this pregnancy it felt like it flew by. Especially with our cross province move as well as not receiving out things for 5 weeks also too. There has also been I think more stress this pregnancy due to certain events and not to mention the uncertainty of things like covid and the changes surrounding the rules. Thankfully my partner has been vaccinated for a while so when incomes to the recent vaccination mandate in our province we have not had to worry about it.

By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

Though I also realize everyone is different and I am sure that there is people who are not paranoid at all during pregnancy. For me it was little things that I get paranoid about. After I vent or talk about it with a friend or my partner it seems to make things a lot easier and my minor fears loosen up also. That being said. If there is any legitimate concerns you may have being pregnant do not hesitate to contact your doctor or see professional help to make sure everything is okay! I personally have not had to ask you doctor anything except for if they do sweeps in this province and when they do it also too. I will explain why I asked this at the 32 week update also! Which you can expect to see in the next few blogs

Regardless if this is your 1st pregnancy or 5th one, I feel like some level of being paranoid is normal. As long as you don’t let it consume you. If that begins to happen it might be time to talk to a professional because the excessive stress may not be good for your baby! For me I never fixate on something for long, and if I get worried I talk about It or I try to occupy my mind with a chore or something too! It is crazy that one pregnancy you can be very worries about certain circumstances and this time around it be a whole new set! Thankfully I also have a partner who is level headed so he understands that can over worry about things sometimes and knows how to settle my mind too!

Is there anything that worried you with your pregnancy or your spouses?

How do you settle your mind when you start to get those slight paranoid feelings?

Let me know in the comments below! Maybe others will be able to learn from you and your coping strategies, or maybe they also have small fears that are the same!

Pregnanacy 36 week update

Uncategorized, , , , , , ,

I cannot believe we are actually HERE and we are nearly finished growing this human being inside of my freaking body! How incredible is that. By the time this is released I will probably be about 37w since it is nearing the end of the month and of course I have to put the monthly update up also! But it will be up none the less!

I would be lying if I said that I was not nervous. My boyfriend has said he is not as nervous since we have done this before but I am still just as nervous. You really never know! Maybe the fact that his ultrasound was measuring ahead also has me slightly freaked out. But at the end of the day I just cannot wait to not be pregnant again. The waking up every few hours for the bathroom is something I forgot about. The heartburn also sucks equally too.

One thing I am slightly nervous about is that my partner is away from Tuesday this week until Friday, and home for Halloween weekend and then next week from Monday to Friday. Thankfully he will be only an hour away so I can call him in case this little guy decides to make his appearance earlier than his due date! The other thing is I really have to make sure that I have all of the bags packed. Myself, and the little guy. Plus a write up for Vincent who will be staying home. I have a friend who is going to come over and hopefully watch him until my Mom is off of work and can come over after. I wont be contacting my sister as I have mentioned before about her Anti-Vac ways and my brother and I are not exactly on speaking terms currently due to his attitude towards myself. So this is the best case scenario happening.

Other than the usual things that I need to do, I want to make a little to do list for myself to be able to get things going for the time it is just myself and Vincent. Just little things to get done around the house and to help time pass also too. Like Organizing bottles, cupboards, microwave stand, things of that nature. I do not want to push myself because being home alone can be challenging as I am afraid of the dark anyways, but I would like to really keep busy so the time passes. Might I add nesting perhaps? I want to not be rushing or left with things undone. Not to mention Vincent is current sleeping in the Baby’s room because we will use a bassinet for the 1st 6 months, so we can get a twin bed for him and what not eventually. But with this set up I need to make our bedroom a bit better suited with a basket of diapers or wipes, obviously we will not be running into the room to change diapers if our 1st son is asleep! So things like that are what I need to get done. Thankfully I just bought some new note bad paper for my clip board so you KNOW i am excited to organize this and plan!

Another thing is now that we are at 36w we will be having a doctors appointment every week. This week we have an appointment and also get checked for the dtap? Maybe it is called. It is the bacteria where if you have it when baby is born you have to get antibiotics in your IV to prevent anything from happening. I never needed it with Vincent, but every pregnancy is different.

Overall I think we are anticipating that he arrives sooner than later but as we all know babies will come when they come! I still have some more things I would like to accomplish before he does come however I have been slacking on that too. I really need to hammer out another list and get that done. Not to mention the moving may help to efface more and dilate to prevent any time of inducing too!

By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

I also feel like this pregnancy I am a lot more awkward in terms of shape now. I know it sounds weird but I feel more round and whale like. I am longing for the part where I begin to have my body back and I am able to feel like myself again, not that I dont completely now but man is getting in and out of bed a challenge. We recently bought a new sectional also and well, getting on and off from a laying position is not the easiest thing I have done in my life either! I am not too sure how many more updates I will be posting since in a week not much can be changing, Simply put I will just be looking at hopefully getting sweeps done to make labour start hopefully but even that is a 50% chance it may do nothing too!

Even though this is our second child, it still is a bit surreal to think we will have yet another baby here and be doing the entire thing about getting up every 3 or so hours to feed him, and change him, his snoozing and him being tiny! I hope the transition from one child to two is easy even though I do expect some challenges! I also hope Vincent understands and will be the best big brother ever! Which I know he already will be even if he does have his little nearly 2 year old attitude too!

Is there anything I should know about a second pregnancy that you remember being different, Or any tips or tricks to help it go along smoother?

Let me know in the comments below!

Pregnancy Scares in the First Trimester

Life, Parenting, , , , , , , ,

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!

By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

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.

5 Tips For Getting Pregnant Easily

Life, Parenting, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Contrary to popular belief, based on movies and TV shows. Getting pregnant is not an easy feat. There actually is a lot more than just, doing the, you know, that goes into getting pregnant successfully. I am on my current and second pregnancy and from reading articles or checking out fertility apps ai may have some quick answers and tips to questions you might have to make having a baby easier.

Ladies, tracking ovulation does not just have to happen when you decide you want to procreate. There is a whole ton of apps put there that can be used to track cycles. Now, mind you an app is only as good as you use it. If you don’t use it a lot or skip months it will not be as accurate as it can be. If you want to truly know and understand when you ovulate, using an at home ovulation kit may be the way to go. That being said if you are not actively trying to have a child using the kits just for the sake of accuracy might start to become costly. Starting with tracking your first day if your menstrual cycle til the end day can help a lot in terms of knowing when you decide to go further, to start taking the ovulation kits. I have used an app for years just tracking my cycle which I am lucky enough to have it be pretty regular. But for some people who are unsure of their cycle it is a great tool to be able to know approximately how long your cycle can be to find an average length.

By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

This next part is way easier said than done. When trying to conceive, don’t make sex a chore. When you start scheduling or making it a big deal, to keep it blunt, it takes the fun out of it. There are many ways to drop hints and make sexual gestures to your partner that you do not need to be standing there with a clock or calendar and waiting for the perfect moment. Obviously planning is a huge part of getting a sperm successfully to an egg but that doesn’t mean it needs to be planned. Even having a secret code or something is a lot better than scheduling. And if it does not happen this cycle it will hopefully eventually happen! Making a baby does not normally happen the first month of trying.

If you are in a committed relationship, which I hope you are, I would suggest if you and your spouse plan on having any children and you are on contraceptives such as the birth control pill, have an IUD or have had the hormone shots or patches, I would suggest planning to come off of these long before trying. I also mention committed relationship because if you are someone who thinks having a baby will strengthen a fragile relationship you are wrong. I tall about how relationships change after having a baby here. Making sure you are in a good spot mentally, and physically for a baby is important. Of course, accidents do happen, but if you can prevent that it would more likely be the best. Remember, a baby will not fix your current problems, and if your relationship is already failing chances are it will put even more strain on that.

Being healthy yourself is a major issue. And yes this also includes the men also being healthy to help with better sperm quality and counts also. If you are a women that is way over weight or many health issues that are preventable, than you should be doing EVERYTHING possible to get yourself on the best shape you can. I am not the smallest person around, in fact I am probably over weight myself. However by some chance it was relatively easy for me to become pregnant. There are a lot of reasons why people are unable to get pregnant especially when it comes to health and lifestyle (that is controllable!) that if you find yourself struggling sometimes it may be best to evaluate your life. Are you eating healthy? Exercising regularly? Getting important vitamins and minerals? Another side note is that some people may not be aware, if you are planning on having a baby it is nest to take pre-natal vitamins 3 months before trying. This way your body builds up the reserves needed to have a healthy birth.

And lastly, and certainly not least, have patience! If there is a couple perfectly healthy, each month trying they only had a 20% chance of getting pregnant. Not to mention the same perfectly healthy couple it can take them about a year to have an egg implant also. And if after about a year you still not having any success that is when I would suggest maybe going to see a fertility specialist. If you have previous issues with any reproductive organs maybe before the year is a better option for you, but the rule of thumb is after a year. And if everything else fails there is always the route of adoption even if you have not thought about it previously either.

There you have it! I know some of these may be hard to follow especially patience and not stressing or planning when to make love with your partner. But have no fear there is multiple reasons and multiple ways to become pregnant if doing it completely naturally is challenging for you. The journey have procreation ia not a short one. And it also ia never equal to anyone else’s either. Heck, even your first or second child might be completely different or one may have taken longer to catch than another. It honestly depends on so many factors that enjoying the experience with the one you love makes it all worth it!

Have you used any of these tips before?

What helped you to conceive if you have before?

Let me know in the comments below, I am sure people are eager to hear different experiences!

3 Things I Was Nervous About in my 1st Pregnancy

Life, Parenting, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Having a baby is scary. Exciting. But also scary. Sometimes there are even things that can make you super nervous about too. A friend of mine mentioned that with each of her kids she became more and more nervous but about different things. One she was nervous about them having a cleft pallet. For me. I had basically 3 things that made me nervous about my 1st pregnancy and I am sure that there would be the same 3 for the next pregnancy that I also have too.

Breast feeding made me low key uncomfortable. I know. I know. It is a natural thing that happens to a woman’s body hen they give birth to their child to feed them and nourish them with their milk. For some reason breastfeeding made me uncomfortable. When I gave birth to my son I was in the hospital for 2 nights, came home for one, then I had gone back to the hospital, home and back to check up on him since he had jaundice. I was super nervous not to mention I was in Quebec and most of the nurses either did not fully understand English or they choose not to listen to English and spoke french. I was uncomfortable not just because it was a totally new experience but I was nervous regardless of there being next to no support. By the end of the week I had decided to do formula and my boyfriend was supportive of that also. It also is extremely forced and pressured to breastfeed as well. When you even mention formula you are kind of frowned upon as if you are doing the wrong thing for your child. With another baby would I consider breast feeding? Sure, I wouldn’t mind giving it another go. The other thing is that breastfeeding is not as easy as they make it look in the movies. You have to make sure your baby is latching properly, and that they are drinking the proper amount too. That made me paranoid my son was not drinking enough when in the hospital. Not to mention being in a different province my boyfriend would go home to sleep and be home with our animals so I was there alone when maybe with our next baby he will be there as we will be in Nova Scotia.

Gestational diabetes was something I was so worried about having partly because I love candy and sugar not pregnant so why wouldn’t I love it when I was! I was super nervous even though I was naive to the true risks of what it really can have happen. I would probably look more into this and hope that with future pregnancy that I don’t post a risk or at least minimize my risks of having it at all too. I remember feeling a bit of relief when I took the sugar drink and was able to find out about whether or not I had it. A part of me wants to look up more about it but I also feel like if I do at the same time I will probably be super

C-section was something that I think I was the most scared about. Crazy right. I don’t know I just felt like if I was to have a C-Section it would mean that I failed as a mom and was unable to give birth. I know it sounds totally insane to have this mindset but for some reason it was something that really crossed my mind though. The thing that made me feel better was when I talked to my doctor at the time she had stated that sometimes there is absolutely nothing you can do to avoid having a c-section. You can do everything right and it just comes to the point where you have to have one. There might be nothing you can do. Not to mention some woman’s bodies does not have the space to be able to birth a baby and they only thing they can do is have a c-section as the baby physically would not fit through the path it needed to go. I think this will probably make me feel nervous based on any pregnancy I have just because it really freaks me out the whole being awake but not feeling anything while they they open you up makes me nervous but we just will have to cross that bridge when it happens I suppose. No use stressing about it if it never happens either.

Next pregnancy as I write this I am currently a few weeks and not really thinking about delivery yet. Though I do randomly have the thoughts about previous pregnancy and what made me nervous. This time I am trying to be more aware of my weight and really trying to exercise or at the very least try not to gain the major amount of weight that I did before. It will be a bit difficult as I don’t want to really watch calories but just want to try to be mindful is all. I need to remember the huge myth that when you are pregnant you are not in fact eating for two. The baby is so small in the beginning that you can’t eat for two or you legit would be totally over eating and that will put the weight on QUICK! Another thing I want to do more especially where I have a kid already is to take more time for myself. Not push myself and to really take time to sleep well, if I am tired have a nap when I can. Take better care of myself for self care and things of that nature. I did not do that as much as I should have with my 1st and I want to that now especially with the stress of moving and things.

What are some things you were worried about during pregnancy? Or maybe you were worried about it with your partner?
Did they change or stay the same with multiple pregnancy’s?

Let me know in the comments below!

Want to know all the details before they come out? Sign up for FREE on the email list! Be the first to hear about bonus streams, Giveaways for FREE artwork, as well as helping to choose character names in upcoming novels!

By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

Pregnancy 16 Week Update

Parenting, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Where do I even begin! I feel like this pregnancy if some what going fast and some what going slow. It is hard to believe that the next update we will have together will be the official half way point! And I will be also in transition between Quebec and Nova Scotia and hopefully figuring out things with my doctor in Nova Scotia to be able to be referred to get a new labor and delivery doctor to follow me. My goal is to hopefully get everything set up so that it goes as seamless as possible and I wont be behind on blood work or anything else that may be needed.

My energy levels seem to be going back to somewhat normal levels thankfully. That is huge for me already being a Mom to a 15 month old and having to chase him around. I find myself not needing to nap as much as I did before and also not having to lay down as often. The bathroom breaks at night seem to also be a little less depending if I find it is a good idea to drink a liter of water an hour before bed or not. As for nausea, I sometimes feel an upset stomach if my boyfriend makes something gross like fish or whatever and I find myself feeling yucky. Still only ever got sick the one time which I think is honestly a blessing!

I also have gotten blood work previously which you may or may not know I hate doing. The first I think is the hardest due to the fact they take so much. And I am a wimp so I would have loved to have my boyfriend there holding my hand but that wasn’t the case. He was watching our son and I went on my own. I did not cry which was good and I never even looked either. For some reason giving blood stresses me out. Maybe because I never had to do it will I was about 20. And then when I did it again after I was pregnant with my son. Lucky would be an understatement or maybe that asthma does not usually require blood work!

I also had a doctors appointment as well! Which I am super happy about and hopeful to be possibly getting an ultrasound before the big move. It was a pretty standard appointment.

By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

We talked about my blood work results which are great. The only thing was I am not immune to something called the “5e maladie”. The doctor was not sure what the translation in English was however it is when a child in particular gets a fever or rash for no apparent reason (not like a teething rash or whatever) if I was to get the same thing it could really effect the baby inside. Which would not be good and result in complications. Other than that everything was great. She asked if I would like to have a final check up before I moved which I said yes to! I am getting more blood-work just after 16 weeks and that would be for the 2nd part of my “Trisomy 21” screening. This is to check for abnormalities such as down syndrome and what not. With my son our numbers were extremely low so I am hoping for the same results here.

Next we did a quick check up on me. Checked my breathing and heart rate. My blood pressure was already checked by a nurse when I arrived and that was great. Which obviously was good for me considering the stress of moving and what not! And of course we listened to the heartbeat again which was also great. I still wish my boyfriend would be allowed to go to appointments but it just doesn’t make sense with the pandemic and if that was the case I am sure so many people who didn’t need to be there would be.

And lastly, my doctor put in a request for a 19 week or so ultrasound. Normally this would be done after 21 weeks but I am excited to hopefully have it before. With my son the placenta was in the front so movements were not felt as easily and part of the placenta was covering the cervix. I would like to obviously know this and not have to wait til maybe 25 weeks or more when things happen in Halifax after the move. Oh, and for sure. I would also LOVE to know the gender of the baby too! My boyfriend and I are thinking about names but not entirely til we find out the gender though. It overall would be a great feeling to have this done before we move so we know everything so far is alright!

Over all I am relieved that it went well and cannot wait to hear about an ultrasound. It will be great. I am so happy that I am feeling more like myself again also. That alone can be really exhausting when I am tired and feeling different. Especially with the move coming up I am relieved to be able to finally have energy to get things done. I haven’t felt overwhelmed by anything thankfully I have a partner who can take care of a lot of things on his own. I am starting to plan and pack what we all need to bring for the car and a few nights in a hotel but other than that things are alright! I wont be waiting til the last minute that is for sure! Be on the look out for moving blogs as they come up! I talk a bit about that here.

Oh, and it is probably time we start with belly updates so here is the 16 week one!

Im sure at the 20 week update I will be equally as big by then! I should be in transition to the new house but I will still do my best to update you all on time! It just might be a bit challenging if I have to do it all on a Tablet!