Monday, June 11, 2018

Colton’s Birth Story

It’s about time I wrote this up. But before I get to the actual birth story, let’s back up, since that helps set the tone.

A few weeks into finding out I was pregnant, I decided I wanted to pursue a water birth, and since water births aren’t allowed in NYS hospitals, the birth center was going to be my best option. The first time I met Dr Katharine Morrison, I was SO impressed by her and her philosophy. After my anatomy scan, I made the decision to switch my OB care to the Buffalo Birthing Center. Everyone here is absolutely amazing and treats their patients like they are their only patients.

We had centering OB appointments every two weeks. We still got our individual check ups, but we also had group appointments that had a certain topic each week. Even as a Mom with two other children, this was so beneficial for me and I learned so much! And met some AMAZING women who will now be lifelong friends because of the connections we all made with each other.

Throughout most of my pregnancy, I was low-risk. I saw the chiropractor regularly which kept me sane and kept my back happy. At 28 weeks, I started having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions and Katherine wrote me down at work to part-time for risk of pre-term labor. Other than that annoyance, I felt relatively fine! I was active and hardly gained weight and the weight I did gain, was totally up front!

At my 35 week appointment, Katharine, sent me for pre-eclampsia blood work because at that point, my blood pressure had been slowly rising over the weeks and my feet were increasingly becoming more and more swollen. The good news was that my blood work came back perfect. But she wanted me to monitor my BP at home and to text her every couple days what it was so we could keep an eye on it. And at that point she decided she would like to see me for weekly appointments instead of every other week centering appointments.

Then again at 37 weeks, she did follow up blood work again and all of my numbers looked wonderful again, so I just kept checking the BP at home.

During all of this time, I was experiencing on and off prodromal labor. I would have contractions most evenings that would linger and not go away, then they would always die off when I went to bed. Sometimes they were just annoying and other times I thought it could possibly be pre-labor. They were never painful. Which is exactly how my labor with Remi started.

At 39w3d on May 2nd, I started having lots of contractions that morning, and they were coming consistent and happening about every 10 minutes. Then they would die off, then pick right back up. I had an OB appointment that night and they told me to bring my bags just in case it was the real deal. Of course, it was not, and Katharine decided to do a cervical check and she estimated I was at about 2 cm and 40% effaced. This was my first cervical check and only done to see if I was in labor or close to it.

Prodromal labor is a serious mind-fuck, every time the contractions start, you really think they could be the start of labor, then they die off. This was happening sometimes multiple times a day, and happening just about every single night. I began to question whether I would even know if I was in labor because I was just used to having contractions all the time.

At 40w3d on May 9, I had an OB appointment that morning, BP wasn’t great, but overall it was a great appointment and she sent me for another round of bloodwork (which came back wonderful again). She also put a call in to Children’s to setup for the  following day for a Non-stress test since I was now over 40w. At every appointment, she made sure I was not having headaches or blurry vision, which I was not.

Well wouldn’t you know that that night overnight, I experienced the worst headache I had had probably all pregnancy and no matter what I did, it would not go away. And my BP shot up higher than it had ever been to at 154/96. I texted Katharine and she told me to meet her right at the office that morning. While at that appointment, Katharine did another cervical check where I was still about 2 cm and around 60% effaced and my blood pressure wasn’t getting any better. At that point, Katharine decided that I was too high of a risk to deliver at the birth center and would need to be medically induced at the hospital. I was now one of the less than 10% of women at the birthing center that had to be transferred to the hospital. Something I never expected. Gestational hypertension was rearing its head and we needed to get the baby out of me.

This was literally my worst fear the entire pregnancy that I wouldn’t be able to deliver at the birth center. It was my dream to birth here. I wanted the natural birth, possibly birth in the water, and take my baby home with me within hours of giving birth. And suddenly that all felt like it was thrown out the window. Of course there was a lot of crying that morning at that appointment and I told Katharine that my biggest fear of going to the hospital was feeling like I couldn’t “do it” (as in have a natural birth because in the past at the hospital I had epidurals) and Katharine reminded me that the difference this time was that I was going to have HER there with me. And that was a nice reassurance. With both Hank & Remi’s births, I didn’t know a single person in the delivery room (besides my husband of course) and I got the OB on staff to deliver them, so I was lacking in the support department with the OB not knowing me and what I put out to achieve months prior. And by having Katharine there with me, she knew exactly what I wanted. I didn’t even have a birth plan written up like I did with Hank and Remi.


So Katharine told us to arrive at the hospital between 3-3:30 pm. We of course had to stop for some food at Qdoba on the way up!! We got there and they immediately hooked me up to a monitor which showed I was having contractions (which I knew, they were the same prodromal contractions I’d been having for weeks on and off) and I honestly wasn’t phased by them because I was just SO used to them!! As they were getting ready to place an IV, Katharine arrived and put a kabosh to that since she didn’t deem it necessary, YAY for not being tied down by that thing. And put in an immediate request for wireless monitors so I could move around as needed.

Since I had a “favorable cervix,” Katharine decided to use cervidil to get things going. She said generally if there is already a lot of effacement, it’ll just be the push the body needs to get into full blown labor and that it should only take 4-6 hours to get things going. So at 5:45 pm, the cervidil was placed on my cervix and the wireless monitors were also placed. I ordered some food and put it in the fridge in case I needed something substantial as labor progressed. At this point my contractions were about 5 minutes apart but like I said before, they were the same old contractions I was used to. So I decided to rest the best I could since I figured labor should be starting soon.

At 12:45 am, Katharine came in the room and I told her what my status was and she decided to do a cervical check because she thought I would’ve been in labor by then. Much to all of our surprise, I was STILL at 2 cm and about 60% effaced. Katharine was fully convinced that that cervidil was a dud (or in her words “lacked juice”). So she decided to pull that one and put in an order for another cervidil.

She placed the second dose of cervidil at 1:15 am and at that point, I decided to sleep some more. Really hoping this time that labor was pending. At 3:30 am, I woke up feeling a LOT of pressure and the need to poop. As soon as I got up out of bed, I noticed that my contractions were coming every 2 minutes and lasting 1 minute. I was like woah! How much of that was I sleeping through?! THAT just goes to shows how used to the contractions I had gotten haha!!

At 3:35 am, I shot Katharine a text (she was down the hall), and I said “Think this cervidil is working. Contractions getting strong and about 2 min apart it seems” and at 3:52 am I sent another text that said “Wanna come down here?” to Katharine. In the meantime, at 3:45 am, I called my doula, Savannah, and asked her to come to the hospital and I also texted my photographer, Lisa, to update her of what was going on and she decided she would head in to the hospital.

As the minutes went on, I realized that this was the real deal and that I was actually in labor YAY!! At 4:10 am, I decided to get in the tub and labor in there (in the 40 minutes or so prior to this, I was mainly walking around laboring and leaning on a counter when I would get a strong contraction). At this point while I was climbing into the tub, I still would not call them “painful” but present, strong and consistent. At 4:15 am while I was laboring in the tub, Katharine pulled out the cervidil and ripped off the wireless monitors. When she pulled out the cervidil, I’m sure she knew where I was at (cm & effacement) but didn’t say a word, and I am SO glad because honestly being told I was only 2 cm at 12:45 was a bit draining thinking it would be a LONG time before I would have a baby.

I labored in the tub for probably the next 20 minutes or so; getting a stronger urge to push with each contraction. At one point I screamed “I CAN’T DO THIS!!” and Katharine said in her sweet, reassuring voice, “but you ARE doing it,” which was exactly what I needed to hear. And at that moment I thought back to a conversation I had had months prior with my photographer and friend, Lisa, who said that at every birth she’s witnessed where a Mom has said she couldn’t do it, she was in transition. In between a couple of my contractions, I asked Casey to snap some pics of me in the tub, in case Lisa didn’t make it in time. At this point, I KNEW we were close to delivering a baby. Also while I was in the tub, Savannah arrived and immediately started rubbing my lower back as I was having lower back pains. And her and Casey made sure I stayed hydrated in between contractions as I was doing A LOT of work and really out of breath. At about 4:30ish, Katharine decided I should get out of the tub as the baby’s head wasn’t coming down with the contractions and would go up a little after each push. We assume that my water broke at some point while I was in the tub because I never felt or saw it breaking.


She suggested I try the birth stool. Oh the birth stool. The stool that I looked at and thought who the hell would want to give birth on this thing. HAHAHA!!! And let me tell you, getting out of that tub WHILE contracting with a baby’s crowning head was one of the hardest things ever that morning! At 4:40 am I was on this stool and with each contraction, I was pushing with all my might. It was SO amazing pushing when my body felt the need and not being coached to do so. At 4:42 am, Katharine informed me that the top of Colton’s head was out to about the top of his eyebrows and I was able to feel his full head of hair. And she said with the next contraction our goal was to get his head out. Lisa arrived somewhere around this time. (Sorry for downplaying labor, Lisa! Haha!!). And Casey told her she might want to get her camera out because a baby was coming haha!! But she did one better and decided to video the contraction that would be the one that allowed me to push my baby out. At 4:44 am, with the next contraction I pushed with all my might and not only did his head come out, but so did the rest of his body. The kid literally popped right out in that one push like a wrecking ball!! Colton finally decided he was ready to meet us at 4:45 am on Friday May 11, 2018.


I now made THE longest walk of my life with a baby in my arms and a cord between my legs from the bathroom to the hospital bed. As I laid down, upon quick inspection, Katharine suspected a second degree laceration. They checked his APGAR and wiped him up while he was doing skin to skin with me. At 5:10 am, the cord stopped pulsating and I cut the cord. It was SO cool. I’m so glad I got to experience that. For about the next 1.5 hours, Colton stayed on my skin just cuddling and nursing. It was so amazing being able to hold my baby for 2 hours before anyone else touched him.


While I was holding him, I pushed out the placenta, which to be honest, was WEIRD haha!! It felt nothing like I thought it would feel pushing it out. And as he was skin to skin, Katharine decided it was time to inspect the tears and repair the damage that a 14.5 inch head caused. She determined I had a FOURTH degree tear that needed to be repaired. Casey gladly went and got the room Tim Hortons haha!! (And brought me back the best bagel of my life). Before she would sew me up she gave me two lidocaine shots to numb the area, and let me tell you, those HURT!! And she spent easily the next hour sewing me up.


I finally agreed to give the staff my baby so we could do an official weigh in. Everyone was making guesses, most of us in the 8 lb area. One of the baby nurses said when she first walked in the room that he looked like a 10 lb baby, and I was like NO WAY! Haha!! Well sure enough, the moment arrived, she set him on the scale and everyone just started laughing and exclaiming he weighed 9 lb 14.8 oz!! 1 oz away from 10 lb! I still am in AWE that I labored and pushed out an almost 10 lb baby with a 14.5 inch head vaginally without a SINGLE pain med!









Let me tell you, short labors are extremely intense, just like everyone had told me who had short labors. But I will still chose that any day if given the choice over a longer labor! I “joked” that I was going to end up with a car birth (Remi’s labor was much shorter than Hank’s by hours) & now I seriously think it could’ve been a possibility if I were to go into labor spontaneously!! Thank goodness that didn’t happen!!

I may not have been able to have the EXACT birth I wanted at the Birth Center, but I still got the birth I wanted and dreamed of for 9 long months! I DID IT! I FREAKING DID IT!! I may have had to use every intervention under the sun to get pregnant with my babies, but man did I know how to carry them and birth them!! My body was MADE to birth a baby, and birth a baby is exactly what I did. And I would do it again in a heartbeat! It was the most amazing birth experience one could ask for. I had the best support system around!


Welcome to the world, Colton Cash Astry.


Shout out to Dorky Stork Photography for the awesome pictures!

Monday, February 27, 2017

Thinx Review

So Thinx...they're something I had been considering for awhile, but couldn't bite the bullet. I just didn't know...you've probably seen them in your Facebook feed as the "period panties."

Backstory, since I've had Remi and got my period back a few months ago, I have not been able to use tampons. I have used them since high school, and suddenly can't use them anymore. So now I feel 12 again having to use pads. Period talk is a little awkward for me, but I feel compelled to share my story, because it may help others.

Ever since I had Remi, my vaginal area has been very sensitive and "sore." I did tear quite bad with Remi and it was at the same exact place that I tore with Hank, so possibly a scar tissue issue? I plan on bringing this up with my doctor at my next appointment. Since my period has come back, the pain has become even worse. I've tried to use tampons and I can literally feel them inside of me and it's the most uncomfortable feeling and frankly HURTS! No matter what kind I use or how/where I insert it, or adjust it, it just doesn't work. My periods are also quite heavy. I do like using the soft cups but on heavy days they aren't practical or convenient because the only place I can change them is in the shower. So I've just been dealing with wearing pads...until this month.

I decided to give Thinx a try. Haven't heard of them? They are period underwear. You can use them on their own or as a backup to a pad, cup or tampon.

From the Thinx website (because they do such a good job explaining what they are): They're made up of four bits of tech that makes them anti-microbial, moisture-wicking, absorbent, and leak-resistant. The top layer fights bacteria and absorbs any liquid into the über thin layer right beneath it, so you always stay dry. This way, you can wear 'em all day long. And no, they don't feel like diapers, and it's not like sitting in your own blood. Boom.

They make them in different absorbencies and different styles. So you get what works for you. So here is my official review after using them for ONE cycle. At this point I only have 3 pairs of Thinx.

Day 1: Medium Flow: Used pads (because I didn't know exactly when I'd get my period).
Day 2: VERY HEAVY FLOW: Used pads because I only have 3 pairs and wanted to use them when I felt would work the best.
Day 3: Heavy flow. Wore ONLY the Thinx underwear. By about 3 pm, it seemed like they were going to "leak" so I decided to use a soft cup and had no issues the rest of the day.
Day 4: Medium flow. Wore ONLY the Thinx underwear and felt dry all day, no leaking, and frankly it didn't even feel like I had my period, which was awesome!!
Day 5: Light to Medium flow. Again wore ONLY the Thinx underwear and even better experience than the day before. 
Day 6: (Thinx were in the wash): But I plan on ordering more

I would HIGHLY recommend these for ANYONE. They feel dry all day long. You can't see the blood (AT ALL). They make me feel fresh (unlike pads). They're super comfortable!! I plan on ordering a few more pair so I can have them for backup on those first couple days and it'd be nice to have a pair at the end too and not have to worry about scrambling to do wash haha!! At the end of the day, you just rinse them out using cold water, and wash. I chose to wash them with towels, just in case haha. But they say you can wash them with your clothes, but I'll stick with my towels for now. Then you hang dry them (another reason I want more since they take longer to dry).

So if you'd like to give Thinx a try, here is a $10 off coupon for you (that helps me get $10 to use toward an order as well): http://fbuy.me/e2w41

Here's the product video too!! 

Feel free to ask me any questions as well!!

Thursday, December 22, 2016

Feeding a Newborn Baby Resource Guide

Hey!! So it's been a REALLY long time since I've written a blog post, I apologize for that. Life sure likes to get in the way, doesn't it?! This topic has been on my mind for awhile now, so I figured I'd go ahead and do a blog post about it.

Feeding a newborn baby should be a pretty cut and dry subject one would think...think again!! Feeding a newborn is definitely one of the hardest aspects of parenting. As a breastfeeding Mom you're constantly questioning yourself, mainly because you want the VERY best for your baby!! So I figured I'd put together this awesome resource guide. No matter if you're pregnant, just had a baby, or your baby is older, I'd like to say it's a good guide!

A little bit about my breastfeeding journey, I've collectively nursed my two children for just over 2.5 years. Hank who's now 3.5 nursed until he was 18 months and Remi who's now 14 months old nursed until he was 12.5 months.

Hank's breastfeeding journey started off very rocky as his latch was HORRIBLE causing me extreme pain, bleeding, cracking, you name it!! Once we fixed it (Medela Therashells cough cough, nipple cream, lots of air & making sure his mouth was open wide), it was pretty much smooth sailing all the way until he weaned at 18 months.



Remi's early breastfeeding journey wasn't much better since he was born with a lip tie and has an extremely high palate (the breastfeeding odds were stacked against him). We went through many nursing strikes with him and finally got his lip tie fixed at 6 months (after being told he didn't have one). Don't be like Angie and wonder haha. Go to an IBCLC and have them check it out!! After getting that fixed, he nursed much better! And with him things were *mostly* smooth-sailing until he weaned at 12.5 months.



So seriously, if I can do it with the odds thrown against me, anyone can haha!!

Because I have such passion for breastfeeding, after studying for over a year, in June, 2016, I officially became a Breastfeeding Counselor through Breastfeeding USA! Yay! What do I do? I provide peer support to mothers using evidence based information! It's so rewarding!!



So here's my favorite list of resources, if you have some favorites, please comment and I'll check them out and possibly even update the list!!

1) IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant) Directory. IBCLC's are the BEES KNEES when it comes to breastfeeding. They know all when it comes to lactation. And they are GREAT to have on your side for any/all support! They are healthcare professionals specializing in the clinical management of breastfeeding and lactation. You may even have one right in the town you live in, look one up and "put them in your back pocket" http://www.ilca.org/why-ibclc/falc

2) Breastfeeding USA's website! Lots of great articles here: https://breastfeedingusa.org/content/article/breastfeeding-information-articles and to find a breastfeeding counselor near you: https://breastfeedingusa.org/content/breastfeeding-counselor-locations -- I do most of my BC work online so definitely feel free to reach out to me personally as well via our chapter facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BFUSAWNY/ or shoot me an email!

3) Kelly Mom -- Ahh one of my favorite resources!! So much evidence based information on here. Everything from how much should you pump while away, to seeing if your baby has a good latch, to what to do if baby goes through a nursing strike. You name it, you'll find some great information on this website! http://kellymom.com/

4) The Honest Company's Feeding Page. Lots of great supplements here!

  • Their organic nipple balm is awesome and no need to wipe it off before you latch the baby, which is such a plus!! 
  • I really love their whole-food based prenatal. Mama needs to take care of herself in order to take care of her baby. So having the best prenatal is so important (YES, you need to still be taking prenatals even after you have your baby!)
  • Another thing I really loved was their lactation plus! It's made to help support healthy lactation & breastmilk production. It was just the kick in the butt I needed to up my supply for when I was pumping at work while away from baby
  • Check out the page here: https://www.honest.com/feeding

Like I said, I'm still looking for more breastfeeding resources to add to my back pocket so if you have some, please tell me about them!! Haha! I'm very interested in evidence based articles that are non-biased and helpful to mothers just trying to feed their babies! 

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Healthy Baby Home Party

Seventh Generation is doing their latest round of Healthy Baby Healthy Home parties!! Below is information & how to apply!! You get enough goodies for 10 guests to try all sorts of products!! Seventh Generation is an awesome eco-friendly company with great products!! By posting this on my blog & sharing with all of you earns me an extra entry into getting selected to host a party!



What is a Healthy Baby Home Party? 
Seventh Generation's home parties are powered by people like you who are focused on creating a healthy environment for the next generation. Developed with input from non-profit partner, Healthy Child Healthy World, they are a great way to get together with friends, share helpful information, and make an impact!
Healthy Baby Home Party kits are provided to all selected hosts and are filled with educational info about our environment, helpful tips, a fun game, and samples and coupons from Seventh Generation and other favorite family-friendly brands like bobble, Plum Organics and Zarbee's Naturals.
What is the Application Process?
  • Sign up at generationgood.net to join the Generation Good community, or log in if already a member.
  • Accept the Healthy Baby Home Party Application offer on your Generation Good dashboard and complete the application.
  • Applicants will be notified by end of March if they have been selected to host a party, via an email to the email address assigned to their Generation Good member profile.
  • All selected applicants will then need to confirm their participation by accepting the Healthy Baby Home Party Mission in Generation Good and confirming their shipping address.
  • 1,900 FREE Party Kits will be distributed in this round.
  • Hosting spots are open to US residents only at this time. Canadian parties are planned for later in 2016!
  • Full terms and conditions are available within Generation Good in the "Healthy Baby Home Party Application" offer.

Saturday, January 9, 2016

Remi's Birth Story

I've been meaning to post this for awhile. I don't even have any excuses because I had this mostly typed up in the hospital!! Oops!! Anyways, here it is :)


Monday morning 10/26/15
* I woke up with lots of pressure, took Hank to daycare, came home and hung out & watched my newest guilty pleasure, The Real Housewives of Orange County
* Had a lot of Braxton Hicks, that were wrapping around to my back, but they were not intense
* Tracked my "contractions" on & off and they were about 8 minutes apart then I stopped tracking because I got annoyed! LOL
* Chatted with a girlfriend saying we were ready to have our babies and she told me to drink some of my red raspberry leaf tea!
* Picked up Hank from daycare at 12:30 pm & mentioned to the girls that I was feeling "off", I got home and put him down for nap & ate some lunch
* Timed contractions again & they were about 5 minutes apart but a little more intense than they were in the morning, but still not bad by any means (snuggling with Hank when he woke up) 

* Because they were averaging about 5 minutes apart, I called my OB at 2:20 pm and they said to head to L&D to get checked out
* Called Casey to come home from work & told him to take his time because I wasn't sure if I was in actual labor or not. I texted Mary that she needed to take Hank and she sent Marcus over to pick Hank up and we headed to the hospital at 3:20 pm, but not without stopping at Redbox first to drop off my movie (Pitch Perfect 2) 

* Contractions got closer (about every 2.5 minutes) and much more intense on the way to hospital. I think Casey was getting a little nervous as I kept grabbing ahold of the "oh shit handle". Thank goodness we were before rush hour and didn't run into any traffic problems!
* Casey dropped me off while he went to park his car, I went to the ER and got lots of stares and the person on duty brought me up to the L&D unit. 
* Got into triage and was checked and the resident estimated I was around 5 cm, but then the Doctor came in and estimated I was closer to 7 cm. Holy shit! I really was in labor. While waiting to get into a delivery room, I went to the bathroom and saw my bloody show. I also texted my birth photographer, Lisa, to let her know she should head to the hospital. I think I gave her a mini heart attack 
* I was officially admitted at 4:38 pm
* Contractions were getting really intense and I asked for epidural because the back pain was unbearable. At this point I was picturing a long night ahead of us. So, I asked for the epidural at 5:30 pm.
* They started an IV and wanted to get antibiotics started ASAP since I was GBS+. They prefer to have the antibiotics in for at least 4 hours. They were happy I asked for the epidural in hopes it would stall labor a bit so I could have as much of the antibiotic as possible. 

Mid contraction:

In between contractions:

* After the epidural was placed I was feeling the contractions still & at this point the contractions were on top of each other with virtually no break in between them, so the doctor gave me a second dose and it finally started kicking in by probably 7 pm
* I told them I kept feeling pressure in my bum so they decided to have me checked again and I was fully dilated. This was just minutes after the epidural had kicked in. 
* So I started pushing at 7:10 pm 
* I said "maybe baby will be born in the caul!" because at this point my water still had not broken & they said waters bulging, then pop and it broke 
* Since the epidural had just kicked in, I couldn't feel when I was pushing, so it was basically guessing game. It's not something I would recommend. I would rather have that feeling of when to push. Had I realized I was "right there" I wouldn't have gotten the epidural. 
* I got to feel his head as he was crowning, it was the coolest thing!
* I had Remington Scott Astry at 7:50 pm. 7 lb 15 oz, 18 3/4 inches. We were "team green" and Casey told me "Remi has a weiner!" Apparently the OB spilled the beans in the delivery room when I was pushing, but neither of us caught it thankfully!! Haha!

* I needed an episiotomy (again) and had a 3rd degree tear in the same spot as I had with Hank. They told me the healing process would likely be worse this time around but instead I healed much faster and felt much better after this birth than I did with Hank. I had no problem at all moving around!
* I was able to do skin to skin with Remi for probably an hour, during which that time he pooped on me! They said he probably would've been 8 lbs had they weighed him when he was first born haha!! 
* We nursed for the first time in the delivery room when he was about an hour old, he had a VERY strong latch! I told the doctors he was a little piranha!!
Overall, I had an awesome labor and delivery experience! I hope my next labor goes just as fast!! I'm so glad I hired a birth photographer to capture my labor & delivery, if you'd like to see the pictures, here's the link: http://dorkystorkphotography.pixieset.com/remingtonastrybirth/

I also ended up getting my placenta encapsulated this time and I'm so glad I did!! I felt so amazing just days after giving birth & best of all, no PPD!! Hallelujah!! 

First picture as a family of 4: 

Look at that hair!!

Heading home: 


Here's my Detailed contraction history from the "Full Term" app: 


My morning contractions :



Saturday, March 21, 2015

Hank Bumps Video


So I realized that I NEVER shared this with you guys!! I can't believe I forgot! I came across it the other day to share with a friend so I wanted to put it on here as well. My brother in law, Tyler, put this together for me last Summer! Casey wanted me to take a picture every day when I was pregnant with Hank, if I'm remembering correctly, I started the pictures around 8 weeks or so. The last picture was taken at 39w5d as I was sent to hospital in the afternoon on 39w6d and had him at 40w.

PS Pay close attention to 20 weeks in ;)

Enjoy! 

8 week update


Soooo, this pregnancy I have been SUPER nauseous!! It's definitely a big change from when I was pregnant with Hank. It's occurring on and off all day long! I'm starting to get used to it though, it started when I was around 4 weeks along!

We announced our pregnancy this week, so that was exciting! I couldn't believe it that the Facebook video had over 4K views! (here's the original post) Insane!! I appreciate everyones thoughts, prayers and support!!

My "bump" is growing SUPER fast. I know they say you show sooner with each subsequent pregnancy, but holy moly! I couldn't hide this baby if I tried haha!! My ovaries are still very swollen but fluid seems to be going down so that's good! Lots of growing going on. I'm feeling it in my uterus and lots of round ligament pain too. Which is normal, it happened super early with me for Hank as well!

Below are some pictures and our flipagram announcement video :D

PS -- in case you haven't "heard" we are NOT finding out the sex of the baby until birth :D

Our Flipagram Announcement video


6 weeks pregnant



7 weeks pregnant

7w1d ultrasound -- released from Buffalo IVF. HB 134 BPM

Due in October :D 7w1d here

8 weeks pregnant

8w1d ultrasound -- 1st OB appointment. HB 174 BPM.