Birth Story

Everyone I would like you to meet my little girl Phoenix. 

She decided to make her big debut 3 weeks early from her estimated due date of April 26th. She is healthy and doing wonderfully. 

I was 37 weeks and 2 days pregnant when my doctor decided that I needed to be induced due to my membranes being ruptured, which means my water was leaking and to not risk the chance of infection to me or the baby this needed to happen.

For about 4 days before getting induced I started to notice some clear liquid every time I would stand up from a sitting or laying down position and at first it started out small and so I thought it was just an increase in discharge which can be a symptom toward the end of pregnancy but as the days went on I noticed  that the amount was increasing and had a feeling that this liquid could be my amniotic sac fluid which turns out it was.

I called into my doctors office and they had me show up to labor and delivery and they ran a test on the fluid and sure enough it was amniotic fluid. My husband and I had a feeling that the baby could be on the way and thankfully we packed out hospital bag quickly and installed the car seat before heading to labor and delivery. We wanted to be ready in case we needed to stay at the hospital.

As we were sitting in the hospital room my doctor comes and and looks at both of us and says "it's time to have a baby" and my husband and I looked at each other and smiled and said "okay!"

That was such a surreal moment. We were excited that we would be meeting out little girl and nervous all at the same time.

This being my first pregnancy I really had no idea of how labor was going to feel and I still can't properly describe how it feels other than "Woah!"And "Wow I just did that!"

It amazes me how God had designed the female body. It is truly amazing the whole process of pregnancy and child birth. I am proud to be a woman.

It was a long 24 hours of labor. They started the induction process by giving my pitocin around 4:00 in the afternoon on April 6th I started to feel some contractions and it was a long night. the contractions t that point weren't too bad that was until 6:57 the next morning. 

I was laying down on the hospital bed trying to get some rest as my husband slept on the most uncomfortable looking fold out couch, when I felt this strong pop feeling in my belly. I was-int sure what it was but it kinda hurt and then it happened once more and then the rest of my waters had completely broken and I just felt this huge gush of warm liquid, I remember trying to sit up quickly and telling my husband wake up my water just broke!

He woke up all startled and got the nurse after helping me up to the bathroom and from the moment my water broke the contractions got immediately stronger. I don't even really know how to properly describe the way contractions feel but they were intense. I hopped in the shower for a little while and within 2 hours I had went from a fingertip dilated to 5 centimeters at which point I decided to get an epidural.

I had a great epidural experience and it was not what was in my original birth plan but I am glad I had it and I was able to get some rest and then just a few short hours later I was at 10 centimeters and with about 2 and half hours of pushing I gave birth to my sweet little girl.

The most life changing experience. I thank the Lord for a healthy and safe delivery. 

Pink and Gold Baby Shower

Over the weekend my mom threw me a baby shower. It was so much fun and there was so much love put into this shower. My mom drew, painted, and handmade nearly all the decorations for the party. There was a lot of food and sweet desserts. It was a really great turn out. I felt so much love and support from all my family. The theme of course was for a baby girl and the colors where pink, gold, and white.

My mom made a beautiful diaper cake filled with little goodies for baby. It is so pretty!

The games that were played at the baby shower were

• Guess how many- this is where the guests get to guess how many candies were inside a jar the closet guess to the correct number of candies in the jar is the winner and wins a prize!
• Guess Mommy's Tummy Size- Everyone gets to guess how big the baby bump is and you use a piece of string to estimate how big around the baby bump is. The closet string to the size of the baby bump is the winner and gets a prize.
• Don't Say Baby- This game is a lot of fun. Everyone gets a safety pin or a clothes pin and the rules are you can not say the word baby, if you hear someone say baby you can take their pin away. The person with the most pins wins and gets a prize.
• Diaper and Wipe Raffle- Anyone who brings a package of diapers or wipes gets to enter into the raffle. At my baby shower we had one winner for each the diaper and the wipe raffle. You draw a name out of a box and the person with their name on the ticket or piece of paper is the winner and gets a prize.       

The games were a hit and everyone had so much fun.

There was a display of food ranging from chicken croissant sandwiches, cucumber and cream cheese pin wheels, fresh green salad, fruit, chips, veggies, and different dips. 

The dessert table looked so delicious with a cake, vanilla and strawberry wafers, different types of cookies, a strawberry sorbet punch bowl and pink decorated rice crispy treats. 

Instead of a sign in guest book my mom drew vintage baby clothing and decorated them and hung them on a string to make it look like a little clothing line, The guests were able to write a note to me or to baby Phoenix on the little paper outfits. These made such a great keepsake!

For the centerpieces my mom decorated little flower pots and placed them on top of gold doilies. They came out so pretty! She also made a bouquet of flowers using baby socks, mittens, and little wash cloths! 

The entire day was so much fun! It is definitely a day that I will always remember.

A big thanks to my mom and my aunties who did such a wonder job with my baby shower, I am so grateful!

33 Weeks Pregnant

Only 43 days until my due date! Can you believe it? My baby is almost ready to come into the world. It has been a very busy last few weeks. We have moved and our room is still such a mess from all the boxes and the lack of clothing storage. We still need to replace our old dresser. We have A LOT to get done in the next 43 days! It is slightly overwhelming but I know things will come together.

My belly bump is getting huge, been feeling a lot of pressure down below and walking long distances is getting really uncomfortable. Baby girl has been wiggling and kicking and she is getting so big! We had our baby shower yesterday and that was so much fun! The weeks are going by so fast and I am so excited to meet my little girl.

You can watch my 33 week pregnancy vlog here....

What Fruit are you? Baby is as big as Durian according to Thebump app

Due date:  April 26, 2016

How far along:  33 weeks and 7 days

Next appointment:  March 15th

Gender: Girl

Total weight gain/loss: 17 pounds at my weigh in 2 weeks ago

Exercise: light walking and stretching

Stretch marks: no new ones, but the ones I had have spread a bit wider

Swelling: hands and feet

Maternity clothes: nothing new 

Belly button in or out: Still an inny, but barely! It is getting stretched out and getting flatter

Sleep: I have been feeling extra tired these days and taking lots of naps during the day. Sleeping at night I wake up almost every two hours to use the restroom. At this point I am constantly switching my sleeping positions to get comfortable. 

Food cravings: Lots of fruit and smores poptarts

Food Aversions: milk and cereal

Symptoms: lots of pressure down below, some cramping, swollen feet after a long day, acid reflux, using the restroom a lot more, from all the extra pressure on my bladder, tender breasts after laying down for a long time.

Movement: Lots of wiggles and kicking! This little girl likes to move up under my ribs!

Labor signs: none, I think

What I miss: getting in and out of bed easily, 

What I'm loving: feeling my little girl move around. I find it so comforting. 

What I'm looking forward to: Setting up baby's sleeping area and getting her car seat installed and packing my hospital bag

Best moment this week: Attending my baby shower!!!

29 Weeks Pregnant

Another week of pregnancy has gone by and as the days and weeks go by the more excited I get at the thought of getting to hold my baby girl in my arms. This week although the days seemed long the overall week went by pretty fast. I caught a sinus cold this week and it has just so exhausting. I have been feeling so tired this week. I also have had horrible heartburn! On the worst night of my cold I had the worst case of heartburn ever. It lasted nearly 14 hours long and it was not any fun. I got hardly any sleep and feel like I am still recuperating for that crazy night. 

Sleep lately has just been quite difficult, mostly due to not feeling the greatest with having this cold still but, pregnancy related my bump is getting so big and heavy! My baby girl is growing big and strong. Feeling her movements throughout the day and even during the night always puts a smile on my face and brings me so much happiness! 

Also this week we have some pretty big news, we will be moving again. We will be going back to our old place and have our old room again. We have a lot to do to get ready for the move and to get everything ready for our baby's arrival. This now means we will have moved a total of 2 times since I have been pregnant. We are moving back for some personal reasons but it is for the best. I was looking forward to having my sister with me during the early weeks of being a mommy but life happens and things need to be adjusted accordingly, 

So lots of things that need to get done and as soon as I am feeling better I will start tackling things on my to do list! 

You can watch my 29 week pregnancy vlog here...

What Fruit are you? Baby is as big as Acorn Squash according to Thebump app

Due date:  April 26, 2016

How far along:  29 weeks and 7 days

Next appointment:  February 16th

Gender: Girl

Total weight gain/loss: still currently a total of 15 pounds until my next weigh in at my appointment

Exercise: light walking and stretching

Stretch marks: no new ones, but I feel like the ones I already had are getting a bit darker

Swelling: hands and feet. My wedding rings are started to get a little more snug on my ring finger

Maternity clothes: picked out one of the outfits I will be wearing for my up coming maternity photoshoot

Belly button in or out: Still an inny!

Sleep: This week sleep has been hard to get. With catching a sinus cold and having heartburn, I have been feeling so exhausted!

Food cravings: Still really liking cheese and crackers. I have liked toastadas and turkey meat. I have been liking a lot of dairy and have been eating honey nut cheerios!

Food Aversions: Beef, I have not really been wanting it and have been choosing ground turkey over hamburger meat for some dinner meals

Symptoms: light cramping here and there, I am not sure if these are braxton hicks or not. But I know it is probably due to baby getting bigger

Movement: Feeling a lot of strong movements this week. Like little knees and elbows and hands moving around. Baby is getting big and her living space is getting more cramped! I feel her moving up around my rips but thankfully she is gentle and has not caused me any real discomfort

Labor signs: none

What I miss: hot dogs!!!

What I'm loving: Getting things ready for my upcoming maternity photoshoot!

What I'm looking forward to: Painting our bedroom before we move into our old room and my maternity photoshoot and baby shower

Best moment this week: Picking out paint color for our room, purchasing a new king size mattress and feeling all kinds of movements from baby. 

28 Weeks Pregnant

I am in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy and the count down to baby's arrival is really happening. Only a few more weeks until little baby girl makes her big day appearance. I am really looking forward to enjoying the rest of my pregnancy and getting to meet this little one. It is going to be so crazy when I get to hold the little baby that I have been carrying all this time. I wonder what she will look like and will she have a lot of hair at birth? What color will it be? And what color will her eyes be? There is so much to look forward to in the next coming weeks. I have a maternity photo shoot coming up and my baby shower is next month. I am so eager to set up everything for baby and to see everything come together.

You can watch my 28 week pregnancy vlog here....

What Fruit are you? Baby is as big as eggplant according to Thebump app

Due date:  April 26, 2016

How far along:  28 weeks and 7 days

Next appointment:  February 16th

Gender: Girl

Total weight gain/loss: A whole 7 pounds since my last weigh in! That brings me to a total of 15 pounds since becoming pregnant! 

Exercise: light walking and stretching

Stretch marks: no new ones

Swelling: Feeling some swelling in my hands and feet but nothing that is super noticeable

Maternity clothes: No new maternity items this week

Belly button in or out: Still an inny!

Sleep: I'm still getting enough sleep but this week it has gotten more difficult at night time. I can't get comfortable easily and switching positions is so exhausting! I make up for my restless nights sleep by sleeping in and taking naps through out the day.

Food cravings: cheese and crackers! I have been loving that combo all week, caramel apple spice and chocolate croissants from Starbucks. 

Food Aversions: Bananas. I bought some for the house and when I ate one it made me feel sick for a long while. So no I think I'll just steer clear of them for a while

Symptoms: Feeling tired, aching hips if I lay down on one side for too long, 

Movement: Baby is wiggling around and stretching a lot and I can now feel her hiccup! 

Labor signs: none

What I miss: Coffee and tea! I can't wait til I can drink these things again

What I'm loving: Feeling baby's movements and her hiccups!

What I'm looking forward to: My upcoming maternity photo shoot! I get to shop around for a pretty dress to wear and capture this sweet moment in my life!

Best moment this week: My husband feeling the baby hiccup in my belly and feeling her movement.

27 Weeks Pregnant!

*My view when I look straight down!

Another week of pregnancy has gone by. Tomorrow I will be 28 weeks pregnant and will then officially be in my 3rd Trimester!!! Sayy whatttt??? That is super exciting! So let's see, this past week has been a good week. I spent some time with my mom and we went to the store and purchased some things for my up coming baby shower. My mom will be hosting it sometime in March and I am really looking forward to that!

This week I have been craving cereal and chocolate! My hubby was so sweet and bought me a box of assorted chocolates from See's filled with my favorites too! I have kept it on my night stand for a sweet little treat.

Baby girl has been moving a whole lot and I am now familiar with her movement patterns. She is active on and off throughout the whole day. She moves around the most in the mornings and in the evening time. Her movements are getting strong and sometimes even catch me off guard.  For example, I will just be laying down in bed watching a show or movie and she will give me a huge kick and it makes me be like "woah there sweet baby" I love feeling her movements and she is just going to continue to get bigger and stronger! I can feel her stretching out and it is such a strange yet really cool feeling.

You can find my 27 week pregnancy vlog here...

What Fruit are you? Baby is as big as Rutabaga according to Thebump app

Due date:  April 26, 2016

How far along:  27 weeks and 7 days

Next appointment:  February 5th 

Gender: Girl

Total weight gain/loss: Next weigh in is at my appointment in february. I am so curious how much I have gained since my last weigh in

Exercise: light walking and stretching

Stretch marks: no new ones, still the few I had on my thighs

Swelling: Not too much. I am really glad that my wedding rings still fit comfortably

Maternity clothes: No new maternity items this week

Belly button in or out: Still an inny, but getting stretched thinner

Sleep: This week I have noticed that I am getting tired a bit more and have been taking little naps here and there. Still getting lots of sleep at night

Food cravings: Reese's Puff cereal and chocolates

Food Aversions: Tortillas 

Symptoms: Feeling more tired, ligaments stretching in inner thigh area

Movement: Baby seems to be having a lot of fun playing, lots of strong fetal movements

Labor signs: none

What I miss: Soda, I really want a nice cold soda but won't drink any soda during pregnancy and I really want a turkey and avocado sandwich from Togos. I miss lunch meat! 

What I'm loving: My growing belly and strangers feeling confident to congratulate me on my pregnancy. 

What I'm looking forward to: Reaching the 3rd trimester and my upcoming baby shower

Best moment this week: My husband got to feel our baby girl as we were laying down getting ready for bed. She was moving around all kinds that evening!