Pyloric Stenosis

For anyone who does not know what Pyloric Stenosis is, in simple terms, it is when the part connecting the stomach and intestines is too thick to let anything pass which is what causes baby to vomit a lot.

With my son it was very hard to tell because when I got my milk supply up more he gained a lot more weight and everyone was saying "it's just the normal spit up." But from the very first time he "spit up" so much, I was worried, but everyone said it was normal...

Let me tell you, it was troublesome. I had to have a towel under him all the time. Always worried about when he slept because sometimes he might choke on the vomit laying down. Constantly being covered in his "spit up"... just wasn't normal. So the one week where he lost a lot of ounces, we took him to the ER and they actually checked him out that time. This was about a month after the first time we took him in.

They found out what he had and we were transferred to a hospital that was an hour and a half away for his surgery.  I went with him in the ambulance because only one of us could go, and Anthony arrived sometime after his surgery.

I remember just seeing him right before the surgery and how bad he looked. At that point it was really bad and I'm glad we got him in when we did. He kept vomiting up brown stuff even though his stomach was empty. He had to have IV fluids to stay hydrated.

After his surgery he just couldn't move and he had such a weak cry I just wanted to keep holding him and not put him down. The nurse had to help me hold him because he was hooked up to a bunch of stuff and because he was still sore and I didn't want to hurt him.

Luckily he was looking better the day after his surgery and has not vomited since. So I am glad!

For anyone struggling or going through this process with a baby who has Pyloric Stenosis; it can get better! I know it's a difficult and scary time, but in the end it can be all better and that's the good thing ♥

On another note; my milk supply went down a lot during the stay in the hospital... but that's another story.

My son the day after his surgery.

It Has Been TOO Long

Hey everyone,  for those of you who were following my blog, I deeply applogize! I never stayed up with it!

Anyway A LOT has changed so I'm going to try and get us all caught up by summarizing the important stuff.

First things first, we found out my son had Pyloric Stenosis when he was about two months old and before that he was "spitting up" a lot, at least that's what doctors told us. ..but when he lost a bunch of weight in a week was when we took him to the hospital again and they finally checked him and found he had pyloric stenosis.

We had to be transported an hour and a half to another hospital where he would have his surgery.

So during the time we went in which was about 1:30pm until after we were transported and in our room which was about 2am...I could not breastfeed and didn't have a pump! Before he had to have surgery I had gotten my supply up to where I wanted but there it all went... it dropped. So sad.

Anyway...I will expand on the pyloric stenosis hospital stay in future post! Just want to get you guys caught up.

All in all, afterwards he has not vomited at all! So that is good, but he kept losing weight... because my supply wasn't going up! We didn't notice until a month after and so we had to supplement at that point and now...RIGHT now I can only feed him once in the morning...that's the only time he will nurse. :( and I will expand on this later as well.

Another new thing is that we have a new house! It was the house we wanted to begin with when we moved to Pennsylvania.  It is so much nicer!! Also will expand later on this. :)

Then, finally, my baby boy is going to be five months this month and I can't believe it!!

Time really flys!

Sorry again to everyone!  I will be working  on the posts to expand these topics and hopefully have them posted within the week! :)

Have a great day!

Week Five Postpartum

Ok, so I just managed to post my last weeks post today! (I know that was really late.) I even forgot to take postpartum pictures,  but oh well. Things happen.

So we've reached week five and as far as healing goes, I've stopped bleeding completely as I may have actually mentioned in my last post, but it's continued to stay that way so that's good! My stomach still feels a bit mushy but nothing like it was the first week after birth. My organs are probably still trying to move back in place.

As far as Angelo goes, he's already over 11 lbs as of two days ago! And he has been working on his neck muscles with tummy time. He's doing extremely well at it. But today we were supposed to have a pediatrician appointment and we slept over by a few minutes!  I thought we'd make it for sure, but nope! I had to reschedule which is a pain in the butt because our doctor is filled until August...and he seems to ALWAYS be booked. So I rescheduled with another doctor for July 5th but I think I'm going to have to reschedule that as well...Ugh.  It's pretty frustrating...

In other news, I'm officially a pampered chef consultant!  Just got signed up today so I'm hoping to do well with that and earn us some extra money. And the good thing about it is I can do it all from home. There's a way to do facebook parties and all I need is to have people willing to host.  They're completely free and the hosts get benefits as well. So if anyone comes across this and is interested, LET ME KNOW!  I can set you up. :)

As far as things go with this house we are renting...I'd say not so well...most places want you to have good credit before renting. And we are still looking but I still can't wait to get out of here...

Anyway, postpartum pics.. (sorry forgot to take them).

BY THE WAY, SO SORRY GUYS. I HAD THIS WRITTEN AND NEVER POSTED IT. I ALSO APOLOGIZE FOR NOT POSTING IN SO LONG. TIME FOR ME TO CATCH UP!

Week Four Postpartum

Alright,  so we've reached week four already! Not quite a month, but just about!  Time is seriously flying by SO fast.

For most of the week, we've been in NY visiting Anthony's family. We arrived Saturday night and were supposed to leave Sunday night or Monday morning, but turns out we left Wednesday night.

While we were in NY, we went to a few gigs to see Duncan Holmes (a blind pianist) and Anthony's dad, Jim (the drummer) play at some nursing homes and they've played in other places in the past. Pretty sure they've got some recordings on youtube. Here's one of their videos from last year. (I think I'm even in that one somewhere.) But anyway all the nursing home residents adored Angelo! So sweet.

But anyway we had fun and saw a few friends. Angelo had fun meeting everyone. Anthony got a major haircut. I got a trim. And Angelo keeps growin and growin and growin...

Anyway, as for my own healing progression, I found out that I weigh 145 lbs now and pre-pregnancy I was 135 lbs. Then again, I've got a lot of extra boob weight that I never had before, so that might be it.

Also, my postpartum bleeding has pretty much finished now! So yay!

I've been feeling really good. Not having to wake up as much during the night, but I feel like it's making me feel more tired when I do have to wake up. So if anything, I only feel tired.

As for Angelo, he's growing well, but he's still a bit jaundice. Really hoping it'll go away soon...

Last night, I decided to try out some fake nails cause they're a bit easier than painting the nail. I've just got to get used to the length of the nails because I normally keep mine short. But so far I do like them and they look nice. Might as well do something fun for myself when I can. Even if it's just something small and simple. I'm sure other moms understand. ;)

Andddd I'd like to inform you all that I am probably going to be making a future post about cloth diapering whenever we really get into it. Right now it's kind of part time because we don't have our own washer and dryer. And having no washer and dryer can make cloth diapering difficult.

Now, I apolpgize as I always do for my disorganized posts. I'm kind of writing this the night before I post it and just want to get it out of the way and have it ready for you to read by week four (tomorrow). But if you all would rather me organize my posts better from now on because it annoys you or whatever, let me know!  You're my veiwers and I'd like to make as many people happy as possible. :)
Thank you.

Sorry! Posted this a week late (June 16th) which was totally umplanned and don't have pictures this time! :(

Week Three Postpartum

So my baby is already three weeks! Time seems to be going pretty fast now,  and he's grown so much! As of yesterday,  Angelo weighs 9 lbs 14.5 oz. So he's growing very well. He still has a bit of jaundice in his eyes, but I think it's better than it was the first week. Hopefully it'll be going away soon.

Most of the week has just been extremely HOT. Especially earlier in the week. We only had our front two windows open because the others were hard to open with the paint. Eventually Anthony got them open though, so our house has been so much cooler. Yeah, upper 90 degree weather is no fun when you've got no A/C.

Anyway, I've still been doing well. Definitely not depressed, and just a bit tired at times. But I'm getting a lot more used to everything.

Physically, I have no idea if I've gotten any smaller. Lol. I feel like I've been the same since postpartum day 5...but I'll continue with the pics anyway.

Before I end this short post I'll share something hilarious from this week: About two or three days ago I was changing Angelo's diaper, and as I'm changing him he shoots poop out and it gets ALL over me. I bursted out laughing after that. It was hilarious even though it was very messy. So you can say, I've gotten used to the "grossness" of everything. He had a bath right after and I changed my clothes and got myself cleaned up while he did that. I totally wasn't expecting it to happen either! But sure is a funny story to share.

Anyways,  I know this post was short but I guess we didn't have as much goin on this week. Until my one month post!

Here's week three postpartum pics:

Week Two Postpartum

Small update from last week; Turns out, I was just tired that one day because I haven't felt down since, which is good. So I guess I don't have baby blues or postpartum depression. So that is really good...I was almost scared that I'd get something, but nope! :)

So far two weeks has passed but I think it feels longer! Little Angelo is already around 9lbs! So he's still getting enough to eat for sure. Been getting more used to nursing and I can tell the difference between when he's hungry and when he just needs a diaper change now.

As far as sleeping goes, he sleeps pretty well. Occasionally there's days where he won't sleep for a few hours(usually between 6-9 pm) no matter how much I try....but eventually it happens.

As for myself, I've been feeling good. My boobs aren't sore at all anymore, and my bleeding is slowing down. Also, my tear no longer stings. Just feels a little itchy at times. But I don't feel uncomfortable to sit in a chair for a long time anymore.  So I know for sure that I've made progress.

Wednesday morning we actually went to the midwife to have the newborn screening done and then after that we went to our pediatrician appointment; but I had to call and reschedule because we were late and thankfully they still let us in because the next opening wasn't until July! But anyway, we met the doctor and he was awesome! I did a good job chosing for the fact that all I did was look at reviews online to see who looked like a good doctor. But turns out he's better than we expected and not the type of doctor to pressure you into things like vaccines which is pretty much one of the first things he said he doesn't do (some doctors will tell you to get out if you don't choose to vaccinate). So we're happy with the choice I made. (:

On another note, these past two days  have been nearly 100 degrees outside!! And we only have two windows that open upstairs and no A/C. But today I realized A LOT of heat was coming from the attic which wasn't closed off because when the inspector came awhile back, the door for the attic kind of disappeared. So Anthony got some boxes to close it off and that helped a bit. But seriously, every time I passed it, it felt like hot hot air from an oven! The heat has really not been too fun...but we should be moving hopefully by end of June. HERE'S TO HOPING!

Gotta say though, it's pretty amazing how much things have changed in just a few days. My body has made progress way faster than I ever expected, and Angelo is already getting bigger and bigger! It's just all happening so fast!

Now for week two postpartum pictures!

Week One Postpartum

So, It's already been a week since Angelo was born! And you're wondering how him and I are doing?

Well...

We are doing great! :)
When we first brought him home I had some trouble latching him on to eat, but later that day he latched on perfectly. It seemed frustrating at first...but being that it was only difficult for a few hours, I was surprised.  And thankful.

Changing diapers; his first poops were thicker and harder to wipe up and he's peed on us a few times. But over time his poop wasn't as bad and it's actually very easy to clean. Also, having never changed a diaper in my life before,  I'd say I've become a pro! ;) One plus side to breastfeeding is that their poop doesn't smell bad! Hooray! Honestly this is a lot easier than I expected.

For myself, when I go pee I use the peri bottle which feels pretty nice and then pat dry and put on a new pad. The first day I had the worst bleeding and after that it became more like a period and now it's like a very light period. As each day passes I've noticed my stomach is a whole lot smaller!(will post a pic for one week postpartum at the end) Gotta say I am absolutely surprised at how fast my stomach (more like uterus) has shrunk.

Another thing I've done is the sitz bath. It feels sooo good and I'm glad we have it because we don't have a bathtub. My healing thus far has been good. I can walk normally and probably could do more things (although I'm not cause really I'm not supposed to do a whole lot of anything yet).

After about a day or two my boobs were SO engorged they felt like they were gonna overflow (which really is what started happening). That is the sign my milk has come in. And my nipples were very sore up til after the first day my milk came in. I've been using the"Motherlove" nipple cream which has been fine for me since my nipples really weren't that bad anyway. Now that I've been nursing a few days it doesn't really hurt.

When I first started, and he first latched to start nursing at each session, it was a very strong pulling sensation and I literally could feel the oxytocin like taking over my body! Also, the uterus contracting felt like period cramps while I nursed. Now, I don't really feel any of that. Which makes it a bit easier and more comfortable for me.

About a day or two ago he started to spit up a bit. And I was worried he wasn't eating enough. I started burping him more which has helped a lot, and because I think my milk is fast it sometimes goes faster than he can swallow so giving him a little break between has also helped.

As far as growth goes, my nurse weighed him Friday and he was 7lbs 6oz so he lost a bit of weight which is normal. She came by again on Tuesday and he weighed 8lbs 1oz which is wow! So we definatly knew he was getting enough milk.

As far as any depression or baby blues goes, I've got none. I've actually felt happier now! Occasionally I get more emotional but that's it. Gotta say I'm surprised on that too cause I had gotten a few down days during pregnancy and being that postpartum depression is common, I thought I'd have it...but so far so good!! :)

[Small update: I wrote all this during the day yesterday,  but actually last night I was a lot more tired than I had been and it made me really frustrated and cranky and emotional....and I think I may be developing slight baby blues because it's not severe enough to be depression. So gotta keep an eye on it. Also I skipped my usual nap yesterday and gonna try to get more sleep today and see if it helps.]

And as far as anything goes...I feel amazed at what my body was capable of in order to have this baby. Thinking back, it really does get so much harder to remember. And having experienced it, I know I would do it again as most all women always say.

Now time for week one postpartum pictures. :) As you might see, I've also gotten a few stretch marks that didn't show up until near the end of my pregnancy.

My Natural Birth Experience

So as most of you know, I had planned a natural waterbirth at my midwife's house. Angelo was due May 15th but he has arrived not even 24 hours ago! Here is MY experience. :)

So once I hit the 39 week mark I decided to start drinking my red raspberry leaf tea more mainly cause I didn't drink it as much as I planned to during my pregnancy although my prenatals contained some in them. I don't believe I've mentioned the tea in any of my other posts, but this kind of tea is supposed to be really good for toning the uterus and is known by other people's experiences for fast and easier labors. It's also very good for milk production, and many other things. Reading about it, some people say it will do nothing if you start taking it too late and I didn't drink much during my pregnancy at all! But at 39 weeks I had 2-3 cups per day which is when I personally noticed things starting to happen. Could be coincidence but I believe otherwise!

So it started off where I was just getting loads of Braxton hicks contractions which had no pain what so ever. Around 9 pm on Mother's Day I timed them just to see and they were about five minutes apart but lasting different times. Then they eventually tappered off although I was still getting a lot.

In the evening of May 9th I was still getting braxton hicks but started getting a slight pressure like pain that came with them although it still wasn't really painful and they were ten minutes apart. I went to bed with them and woke up May 10th with them. After a shower they tappered off and disappeared for at least two hours.

At 6 pm on May 10th I got the contractions again but this time I noticed a pain that started from my lower stomach and rose up with each one. They were about ten minutes apart lasting different amounts of time. I told my midwife and she said it is possible I was in early labor or pre labor. So I went to bed and was able to sleep some. Midwife said to try and get good rest just in case. So I did. Even though I woke up after four hours and then two hours. But still had good rest.

So morning of May 11th was my midwife appointment and my contractions hadn't been tappering off when I did anything so I felt they were more real especially with that rising pressure feeling with each one. Anyway the midwife said it was possible I'd be going there later that night if it was really early labor but we decided to go to the appointment still anyway. Found out I was 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced at that time. So I was in early labor!  I'm assuming my early labor started at 6 pm on May 11th because  that's when they stopped tappering off entirely and started progressing slowly as time passed.

ANYWAY throughout the day they started moving closer together and that day we went to the park and walked a bit. Thats when my walking really slowed down through them. So I knew they were getting more intense.

After the park we headed home because Anthony's mom had arrived and they brought furniture and spent time unloading that. As time passed I kept timing the contractions with my app and kept updating my midwife. Soon enough they became SO strong I had to seriously work through them. They started being 5 minutes apart lasting about 70 seconds at 7 pm on May 11th. Midwife wanted me to time them and after only a half hour of those they went to 2-3 minutes apart lasting over 70 seconds. I didn't even have the 5 minute ones for an hour which is what they suggest before you leave for birth! Thats when the midwife said to leave by 8 pm!

So we gathered everything and went. At this point I had been on all fours coping through them with deep moans. I rode like that the whole way in the back seat of the car too. The deep moans really helped me get through each contraction. As Anthony drove, he ended up being pulled over by a cop. Of course, I wasn't paying attention to much because I was focused on my own thing and literally didn't care what anyone was thinking.

The cop comes up to the car right as I entered a contraction and from what I heard she wasn't able to escort us but she let us go being that I was in labor, but I recall she said not to speed anyway. Of course I wasn't focused on the conversation so I could be wrong.

We kept going and arrived at the midwife around 9:15 pm. She checked me to see where I was at and while I was expecting like 5cm...I was at 7-8 cm dilated and already entering transition stage. After that we continued and I stayed on all fours and got some back massage from others to help me as they got the tub ready and filled.  Once the tub was filled, I got in and just stripped all down because it's what was comfortable(sorry if you didn't wanna know that, but I'm not holding anything back). They left Anthony in there with me and after awhile I got upset cause whatever he was doing wasn't helping and I yelled at him to go away and get out!(now if I remember I think I got mad cause he started looking at his phone). Maybe I didn't say those exact words, but something like that. He just had no clue how to treat a woman in labor! Lol.
After that he left and the midwife came in to replace him. Eventually Anthony came back and got in the tub with me. He helped give me support on my back and made it more comfortable for me. And seems that someone had given him advice to be of better help which I really appreciated!

When we were in the bathtub, shortly after that I figured I couldn't cope with the pain through moans anymore and thought I had to push. So I started pushing which felt better but then I got sick and threw up the Subway I had earlier before we left not knowing I'd progress so fast. At that point we had to get out of the tub even though I didn't wanna move...but couldn't have a baby born in water like that..so hadda get out and they cleaned it and while that happened I tried out the birthing stool and leaned my back against Anthony. Then my midwife suggested moving to the bed where Anthony would get more back support for himself. So that's what I did cause I didn't want Anthony to be too uncomfortable trying to make me comfortable.

I ended up staying on the bed and not getting back into the tub when it was ready because I really didn't want to move. So I ended up pushing him out on to the bed.

It was very interesting...indescribable...but I gotta say all the pushing felt good and it was one of the quieter phases of labor I think. When his head crowned I knew the burning I felt is what's known as the "ring of fire." It seriously feels like a ring of fire! But gladly after that my hardest part was over. He actually arrived with the broke water since my midwife broke it and somehow it was good that it didn't break earlier cause the cord was around his neck in a way that was pinching the cord and she was able to help guide me to push him out. Those last five minutes were scary for her she said, but I did it!

Anyway...once he popped out they laid him right on me and he was just sooo slippery and Anthony says he was flopping like a fish after he was born. But as we were holding him we just couldn't believe he was actually real..like HE'S ACTUALLY HERE! Then so we were just holding him and waiting for the cord to stop pulsing and Anthony actually cut it. Then all we had to do was wait for the placenta. Wasn't bad at all.

After awhile of holding Angelo I got more cleaned up and took a shower. The midwife weighed him and measured him. He was 7lbs 12.5oz and 20 inches long and born at 12:06 on May 12th.

We stayed the night at the midwife's house and I slept with Angelo on my stomach and I surprisingly got some good sleep even though I thought I wasn't gonna be sleeping.

The hardest part for me was breastfeeding...I think he was just super tired from the labor though because now he's been breastfeeding a little more on a good timing! So yay!

After waking up at the midwife's they made Anthony and I breakfast and the midwife did the filing for the birth certificate and social security. We also changed his diaper which was loaded and as that happened he had more come out!  Who knew a newborn could carry so much poop? Lol. Anyway we got Angelo dressed and in the carseat and then headed home. (:

Also, to add, I only pushed for about an hour and twenty minutes which apparently is really good for a first time mom. I got one minor tear that needed no stitches,  and he was also a posterior baby in which cases you'd normally have really bad back labor, but I had no back labor!!

And THAT was my experience. :)

Ps- I have been writing this since yesterday so it's not posted as soon as I wanted to, but kind of understandable with everything I've had to do.

Week 38

Hey everyone! So, today I am actually 39 weeks, but thought I'd do an update from the last week.

So not much is happening at all really. Little Angelo is just taking his dear time, which I'm okay with. I saw my midwife on Wednesday and she confirmed he is fully engaged. So I'm pretty sure he dropped the night of April 25th because that's when I significantly noticed a difference in my stomach feeling like I wasn't as crowded and also feeling smaller(but apparently I look the same size).

My midwife says they typically come within a week or two of whenever they dropped for first timers. But I've read that it's typically two to three weeks. There's really no way to tell when he'll be here though. I was hoping for Mother's Day (today) but it looks like that isn't happening. Lol. But I guess you still never know...

The waiting game is just making everything drag on feeling like forever though. I try to keep myself busy as possible to pass time. Then I think something is starting only later to realize it wasn't. Waiting at the end really is one of the hardest parts of the pregnancy. I'm a patient person, but I'm so excited to meet Angelo that it's like I just can't wait. I just keep telling myself that he will be here when he gets here because he can't stay in there forever.  So that helps a bit.

In other news,  we will be moving. We just don't know when exactly. We're still looking at places, but we will be getting a much nicer house for sure. So I'm excited about that too. We've got a lot of things packed now just so we can be ready for when we move. And since Angelo will most likely already be here by the time we move, I'm sure it's gonna make things a little more difficult, but we'll figure it out.

Here is me today at the 39 week mark!

And here is a shot of Angelo's crib. It has a few things in it, but those things won't stay there. As I said we're moving so most the stuff is packed yet still accessible. So this is just the basic crib for now.

What's in My Birth Kit?

So most of you know that I plan to have a home waterbirth at my midwife's house. One of the things needed was a birth kit. And some of you  are probably wondering, "what is a birth kit?" It's basically the extra supplies you'll need for after the birth.

Every midwife has her own kind of birth kit and some even make you go and collect everything needed. In my case it was all together in one place with no searching involved. As I said, every midwife is different, but I'm aure all birth kits are very similar if not the same.

So here's what's in mine...

~ 20 Disposable underpads 23x24

~ 2 Depends style disposable undies (pretty sure they gave me 3 instead though. But I'll take it!)

~ 1 Peri bottle

~ 2 Mesh briefs

~ 3 Instant cold peri compresses

~ 1 Plastic sitz bath

~ 3 Syringe needles

~ 1 Quik heel lancet

~ 1 Herbal cord care

~ 1 Peri ease organic sitz herbs

~ 2 Newborn hats, stockinette

~ Adtemp 1 digital thermometer

~ 6 Alcohol prep pads

~ 4 Lubricating jelly

~ 1 Hydrogen peroxide

~ Bulb syringe

~ 1 Gauze

~ 1 Cord clamp

~ 8 gloves

Sorry, I had pictures of everything before but they got deleted and I don't have the kit on me now. :( so this list is all I got.

All About Birth

So, this post is basically going to be about what I personally plan to have for my birth and because I'm planning a natural homebirth, I know a lot of people are interested in knowing more about it, but also going to talk a bit about the hospital type birth too.

For starters, I don't have an OB and I do not have a doctor. I have a midwife. When Anthony and I moved to the area, I was desperatly searching for a midwife and it was the hardest thing to do because all of them are about an hour from where we live and couldn't find any closer(still haven't. Gotta travel an hour, but well worth it). I was quite worried since I was 20 something weeks pregnant and had hardly gotten any care for my whole pregnancy, but soon enough I did find a midwife. Alleluia!

People think that the hospital isn't a "big deal" but for me it is! There's no way I am going to be in a hospital (unless I needed transfer). If it came down to it, I would have rather birthed at a birthing center hadn't I found a midwife. Really, I don't want the hospital environment because I feel like you have "less freedom." You typically can't eat anything while in labor, and you typically have to be on your back with feet in the air to push.  AND you can't push until the doctor says to. So who's rules do you follow? The doctor's of course.

Which I completely understand why people would think the hospital is the safest place to birth. They know how to do all these surgical procedures that you won't get outside of it...BUT that's all they know best. And people feel safer there because "just in case" there's an emergency you'll already be there. While if you had an emergency in a homebirth you'd arrive at the hospital in an ambulance and they would actually get you in MUCH faster than the person there who's waiting for the procedure to get started.

Most hospital staff has NEVER witnessed a full on natural birth. Occasionally you do see it happen in a hospital, but it's very rare and also depends on the hospital. But these surgeries should not happen unless absolutely needed, and a lot of hospitals only do it for their convenience of time. So they convince women they need a Csection or tell them they are "too small" to deliever the baby. In fact laying on your back shrinks your pelvis by 30% so why do hospitals like that position best? It's because that's the most convenient for them. I applaud hospitals that let women birth in whatever position they want!

People think that the Cesarean rate is still low, but it has increased over the years. At one point in time it was only 5% chance maybe even lower. Now in the United States it has risen to about a 37% chance. Sure, it's still under 50% but looking back from the past, it doesn't look as good.

Another fact is that most of the other countries only have a hospital birth IF the woman is a high risk pregnancy. The USA stands alone with only about 1% of the population having homebirths with midwifes.

So, you know those people with low risk pregnancies who go to hospitals will most likely end up in this snowball of interventions that were never really needed, but one intervention surely leads to another which ultimately leads to the Csection. So be wise in your choices. I'm not saying people are failures if they go to a hospital and end up having to get major surgery. What happens, happens. But I want people to know there is  another way to give birth and from what I've seen it doesn't even compare to the typical hospital birth experience.

The main reason people go to a hospital is because women fear the pain of childbirth. For some reason people started building this fear around it that was completely unnecessary.  Women have birthed naturally for YEARS before the hospital started doing it and making people think it was a "safer" and "cleaner" place to have your baby. Back then in I'd say the 40s or 60s, when you had a child in the hospital, you were strapped down and basically knocked out through the birth process. When you woke up you'd realize your baby had  been yanked out by forceps and you maybe even got an epismiotomy. Then they'd carry your baby away and you wouldn't be able to touch him or her right away.
A few personal stories shared here from 1960.

Women who gave birth naturally before the hospital came into play, did so because they trusted that their bodies were capable. What else could they do anyway? There was no hospital to run to. But people think the hospital knows birth better than anything. Birth is a natural process and the woman's body does know how. It's really about getting women not to fear birth and to believe that their bodies ARE capable of getting through it.

For those of you reading, I'd HIGHLY consider looking at all your options before deciding. Hospital birth is not the only option. I would have never thought twice about a hospital birth if it wasn't for Anthony who suggested a homebirth. Then I started liking what I read about homebirth more than hospital. So be wise, know your choices and make the decision because it's a big one to make.

Keep in mind,  most of this is things from off the top of my head that I've learned from books and videos. Also, since I haven't given birth yet...I will certainly be sharing MY experience with home waterbirth because that's what I'm planning. Once I have the baby, of course.

Those of you looking to read more about it, I highly suggest reading Ina May Gaskin's books on childbirth and breastfeeding. She has SO much good information and she's actually the most popular known midwife out there. She's been around for a long time and probably also has more experience as a midwife than anyone else. So I suggest those. I also suggest watching "The Business of Being Born." It was a very good film with lots of good information.

For people planning a natural homebirth like me, you know that there's lots of questions people ask because it's not a "normal" birth. Right?

"How is the baby monitored during labor?"

Well for one, you aren't hooked up to machines like in the hospital. The midwife just checks the heartbeat every once in awhile.

"What about the shots after birth the baby would normally get in a hospital?"

This one, I'm not sure about the Hep B shot they typically give. But you get the vitamin K heel prick done.

"Do you get ultrasounds?"

Yes. But only one is necessary at the 20-22nd week of pregnancy to check how baby is developing. If you get anymore, it'll only be if necessary. Because we don't know how bad ultrasounds might be. Back in the day they used to do xrays until they realized that children developed cancer later in life because of it. So the less, the better since we really don't have enough information on ultrasounds despite the fact that as far as we know, they are safe...as xrays once were.

"Do you get tested for GBS?"

Yes.

"What if something goes wrong?"

Depending what goes wrong and depending on the midwife. Some midwives may carry more supplies for a wider span of emergencies. My midwife has supplies for hemmorages and tears. If anything very serious arises, you'd just be transfered to the hospital.

"Do you get prenatal care?"

Yes.

"How much does it cost?"

Less than the hospital. But most the time it's out of pocket. For me it's about $1000 for everything: prenatal care, birth, postpartum check ups, unlimited breastfeeding advice, and anything else I may be forgetting. It's all included.

"How does the baby not drown?"

Since I'm having a waterbirth, lots of people are curious about this, but the baby is basically underwater it's whole life in the womb. So as long as the baby hasn't hit air yet, they'll be fine since they'll be getting their oxygen from the umbilical cord just as they have in the womb.

...and those are the ones I can think of at the top of my head. Of course, I'm not bothered by any questions that people ask me, but I see it as an opening to answer them and have them learn more.

I actually have a home visiting nurse who visits me every 1-2 weeks, and of everyone she has ever seen over the past 3-4 years of her work, she's never had a girl with a midwife. So for her it's very interesting and she can learn more from me. I actually enjoy it. :) Just another chance to get the word out about homebirth and show that it is not dangerous as people think it is.

I know some of you may be thinking "how can she say all this if she's never even experienced giving birth?!" But, I'm only saying things based from others at this point. Can't wait to share my personal story though. :) Stay tuned to hear it!

Here's some of the things I like about homebirth:

-Can eat food and drink and not restricted to ice chips. Besides, who can function off of ice chips for food anyway?

-Not hooked up to anything.

-Freedom to move around and can be in any position that feels best.

-Holds the baby right after birth.

-Can breastfeed right away.

-Delayed cord clamping which allows more oxygen to the baby and more time for baby to adjust their lungs to the air. Usually it is cut after it is done pulsing.

-No pressing on the stomach to force the placenta out. The placenta delivers it self perfectly fine on it's own and usually is painless.

-Overall, better bonding that comes with the direct skin to skin afterwards.

-Can do what YOU feel best during labor. You are the controller and no doctor tells you what to do. Your midwife may suggest some things to help you get through it, but you're the main runner here.

Hope you enjoyed and thank you for reading! :)

Starting a Vlog

So, I so badly wanted to start doing a vlog only to find out that my videos won't upload without wifi! Yeah, BUMMER.  But I will certainly be starting a vlog once we have wifi! :) I'll probably even continue to make my videos and then just post them all at once when we have wifi.

We'll see how it goes. Just wanted to inform all of ya even though I really don't have any followers here yet. But who knows, maybe some people stop by and read and I just don't know it. Anyway, have a good day and keep coming back for more! :)

Week 34-37

Sorry I've been SO behind on my posts, so I've got a couple weeks to explain. Although I really don't remember much, but I'll do my best to remember.

So we left off where I was going to have an ultrasound done because I was measuring smaller than normal, but turns out everything is looking good and Angelo at that point was over 6lbs and I was in my 35th week heading towards the 36th week. So we have no idea why my measurments aren't matching up, but I'm glad that everything is completely normal.

What I really hated is that during the ultrasound I had to lay flat on my back the entire time! And after awhile she asked how I was doing and I was good; then a few seconds after I just started getting dizzy and then felt cold and hot everywhere and then my feet got tingly and I was trying to hold still but at that point I started fidgeting more since I was so uncomfortable and felt like I would pass out as my vision was getting blurry. I told her how I felt and she told me she was almost done...it felt like FOREVER. But once she was done I rolled to my side for a bit to recollect myself. Lol. I wanted to finish that ultrasound ASAP! And it's sad cause at the end when I felt horrible is when she explained what everything was and when I finally got to see the screen. But at least we got a profile view of Angelo to take home. So I wasn't really upset or disappointed.

The first time I had an ultrasound I just expected a lot more pictures, but this time I guess I didn't expect that. But I got the profile view I've wanted so it was all good.

The next day I had an appointment with my home visiting nurse, and she had her supervisor with her at this appointment so it was interesting I guess. We got into talking a lot about vaccines even though our focus was for talking about breastfeeding, and watched a couple videos on that. But vaccines really kind of took over our conversation. So we talked about a lot of things that day. Anthony and I are still unsure about vaccines since we both really just don't know enough about them. It's hard to make a decision. 

Later in the week on Friday we went to Long Island and stayed a few days.  Anthony worked for the board of election and we left the night after he worked. Not too much baby related things went on while we were there, so I won't explain everything we did.

Day after we got back, I had my nurse appointment again. She gave us information on vaccines, and also a list for pedeatricans (I think I spelled that wrong). So I can get a doctor for the baby and he'll have one to go to after he is born.

That same day, later in the evening I had a sore throat just hit me and I felt pretty bad along with all the extra mucus I've been having to blow out of my nose. I also had been extremely tired and basically did nothing for two or three days because I just felt crappy. But the day after those two or three days I went to the bathroom after waking up and felt something trickle down my leg.....

Now unfortunately my water didn't break so it was something else.  But for sure was weird cause that's never happened before.

I had been texting my midwife trying to figure out what was up and after telling her everything new that had seemed to happen, she concluded that Angelo is now engaged. And I could tell too cause my stomach looked so much lower that night! I couldn't believe it! But I'm glad that things seem to be progressing.

Today the birth kit came so I'm glad it did! I feel more prepared now. And tomorrow I have my midwife appointment. I honestly keep thinking I'm just gonna go into labor right after our appointment, but then again I kinda doubt it. But it would be pretty hilarious at the same time.

And in other news I FINALLY finished writing most of my thank you notes from the baby shower! So yay for being productive. All I gotta do now is keep the house clean and stay prepared for baby Angelo. (:

By the way I am actually 37 weeks and 4 days today.

36 weeks

37 weeks

Week 32-33

Sorry, this post is running quite late and my memory is getting harder to keep up with so I will try my best.

So on March 20th I reached the 32 week mark and have been doing well. Not too much crazy or different has happened in the week that I could tell.

Once I was 33 weeks, I had my midwife appointment scheduled Monday,  but Tony and I were actually in Long Island that weekend for Easter and we didn't leave when we thought we'd leave. So, it ended up being that my midwife had to reschedule because she lost power, heat and water due to the strong winds going on up there. So turns out we had our appointment on Wednesday and drove back to Pennsylvania on Tuesday.

So I'm not going to go into detail about Easter because I don't want to stray too much from the subject unless you guys don't mind(but also because I'm just running behind on my post and trying to make it fast).

Anyway, I had my check up on Wednesday during my 33rd week and seems that everything looks good and he is still in head down position. Only thing is that I am measuring a bit smaller than normal. So, now I'm getting an ultrasound just to double check and check up on Angelo to make sure everything is all good. My appointment for that is this coming Monday so you will hear about it in my next post.

Despite the fact that I'm measuring small, I still feel big and feel like Angelo is running out of room! But he's getting closer and closer to the due date and I have the nursery partially ready, but still waiting to recieve everything else in the mail!  I may or may not show it off once I'm done. But we will see. (: For me, it won't be like some amazing nursery,  but all that's important is that you have everything you will need when the baby is here. So that's basically what I'm doing. Although I'm trying to make it look as good as possible still. ;)

So have a good week everyone! Until next time!

32 weeks

33 weeks

Week 30-31

So, last week I travelled to Ohio and had my baby shower on Saturday. Took eight hours of driving from my house,  and of course I did not drive.  Anthony's mom took me along with his sisters. We had a really good time there, and spent a lot of time making decorations for the party. And I really do LOVE how all the decor looked. Although we spent SO much time on them. We were still trying to get everything together before the party started and a couple people arrived early and helped out. Most the people arrived a bit late though so I think we had a late start. We played three games and didn't get around to a lot of other games that were planned, but its ok. I had SO many gifts to open that we didn't have much time left to open them and as I opened them, people were slowly leaving. But overall it was pretty fun and I am thankful I got stuff I really needed.

Before the party, I went to choir practice and the Sunday after I sung in choir and Ant's sisters did too. They had a good time doing that. And then one of the days I stopped at Kroger to say hi to some of my old coworkers and we all spent a really long time doing that (they were all hugging everyone). Lol.

So anyway...

Some changes I've noticed in the past two weeks have been that I started producing colostrum! (Which some people think is weird, but lots of people like me get excited about that stuff). Also I had strong pelvic pain the one morning which lasted maybe fifteen minutes,  but after that it went away and that's all normal. I've also been getting pain in my upper right thigh recently. It's like a muscle pulling and can make it hard to walk at times.

After I got back into Pennsylvannia I had my midwife appointment the next day and Anthony's mom took me. Everything is looking good and I found out that he is head down with his back along my right side! So that's a good sign. If I were to worry about anything, it would have been him not turning in time. But looks like I'm good now. Although the closer the due date gets, I know I'm going to get more anxious.  I'm also hoping and praying that I can handle the pain well. And believe it or not he's got about 5-8 more weeks! Because any time after 37 weeks is full term. So ya never know what it'll be til he actually comes.

BUT I'M SO EXCITED. I'll be seeing my midwife every two weeks now until it's time to go weekly. And I just know this time is gonna fly! It's been flying and feels like I was just 27 weeks. But that was about 5 weeks ago! So yeah, I can not wait!! Like I have no idea how to express my excitement in words. After he comes I will be so happy and excited to celebrate him! And I know I'll also be tired, but I know it can be so worth it. Gahhh just SO excited. :D but now that I'm thinking, WE STILL GOTTA GET THE BABY'S ROOM SET UP. LIKE WOAH, I DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME. But perhaps we'll be able to move before then. Although it's all taking sooo long I'm kind of doubting that it will be before the baby comes which of course will just make it more complicated when we do have to move. But whatever. I'll just be happy when he's here. :) and gotta make sure his room will be set up in time.

Hope you all have a good week (:

Ps- I've finished this post Saturday the 19th of March 2016. Although I will be posting late since my phone has no wifi or service right now.

Tomorrow I will be 32 weeks guys!  ;)

Until the next time I post.  (:

Week 29

So, it's already Saturday again. This week has really flown by! For my 29th week it hasn't been too terrible and I probably won't have too much to say, but...

For starters, I had extremely bad spring allergies for like three days and I'm surprised they've subsided for the most part now. They were so bad I had to cancel my appointment with my nurse after she already had to cancel earlier cause she didn't feel well. I also lost sleep because my eyes and nose were runny and the one night I was just constantly hungry. So I've had plenty of fluids and took a day to catch up on all the sleep. Since then I have felt better and just feel really dry now, so it seems we really need a humidifier.

Another thing I noticed this week was stretch marks. Not on my stomach, but on my boobs! (Sorry if that's tmi) They aren't extremely noticable, but I wasn't expecting them there. Lol.
I've also experienced some braxten hicks contractions here and there. Like once a day I'll get a strong one if anything. Gotta say, it really does feel weird.  It's like a lot of pressure lower down it feels like, but not necessarily painful. Other times I don't feel anything but notice my stomach harden, so my body is gettin itself prepared for sure.

To add on to the subject of boobs, mine have been feeling a little more sore occasionally, but most likely they're just growing more. And after birth I know they'll be even more sore. So I've got a lot to look forward too...lol. But we all know the new bundle of joy will be worth it all! (:

Other than physical changes, I've been feeling really excited as there's only about two more months left and time just passes so quickly! Also, because my baby shower is soon and I leave in three days for Ohio. Gonna have all this new baby stuff!

So, tomorrow I will have reached 30 weeks with only about 10 weeks to go! Give or take some. ;)

For anyone who doesn't know, I plan to have an all natural and peaceful water birth at my midwife's house. In a future post I'll put more detail on that. So stay tuned!

To add: My week 29 belly shot! Figured I'll start posting these as well.

Welcome to the Third Trimester

So this past Sunday marked 28 weeks for me which now means I have officially entered my third trimester!

I haven't had many issues through my whole pregnancy, but this week I've noticed a couple different things. For one, baby Angelo is definitely growing as his kicks are getting stronger, and my body has noticably been preparing itself for labor!

Just the other day, down south felt extremely sore after I ran to the store to go shopping which was also accommodated by crampy legs. It was pretty random, but I contacted the midwife and she said it means my body is basically preparing itself. Although I haven't felt it get like that since that day and when I laid down it tappered off.  So if anyone has something like that happen to them, it's most likely part of the body's way of getting prepared for the big day!

In other news this week, Anthony and I were going to Walmart and there was a small amount of snow on the ground. As we walked towards the store, snow was sticking to my shoes and it was actually pretty annoying so I was looking forward to going inside and wiping my feet. As soon as we walked in I pretty much found myself lose balance as the soles of my shoes were complete ice and I fell forward onto my wrist. There were NO rugs at the door. The rugs were a couple feet inside and I would have fallen trying to get to them anyway! Anthony was walking to get a cart when it happened and unfortunately I didn't keep up since I lost balance and as it happened I wished he was closer so I'd have something to grab and prevent me from falling. But what happened, happened.

We found ourselves filling out an injury report. Or Anthony did, because my writing hand was out.  After that fall my hand hurt SO bad. I had pain pulsing through my wrist to my elbow and I was shaking.

After all that, we decided to do the shopping we came to do in the first place. Then headed home, and decided to head to the ER to get my wrist/hand/arm checked just to make sure it's all okay. They couldn't do Xrays of course, because it's very risky with me being pregnant. So the doc just took a look and he thinks it is just bruised. So I went home with a brace and ice to put on it. If pain persists then I'll go for a follow up to get it further examined.
PS- We got some body pillows which I've needed for a long time! They seriously do help. Even if you get the ones that are a few dollars at Walmart, you'll be thankful you have anything! Especially for this last trimester.

What an interesting week for me this was...

Tomorrow I will be 29 weeks, and I'll keep updating every Saturday. Although, March 8th-13th I'll be travelling to Ohio for my baby shower. But despite that, I'll continue to update as long as I'm not too busy.

Have a good week! ♥

My Second Trimester

The wonderful second trimester! It surely has been quite a breeze I must say. I no longer felt nauseated and could go about things more normally. There's not really many symptoms that I've had, or the ones I have had have just not occured very often.

In the beginning of this trimester, I would get some pretty horrible headaches which was something I rarely got. Working at the catering hall with loud pounding music certainly did not help. Anyway, the headaches subsided after a few weeks.

When I was in my 18th week I finally saw a midwife and had tests run and everything. I still don't necessarily know the results from them since that's the only time I went there because we were moving a week later.

By this time everyone of importance like family for the most part had known I was pregnant. Of course, a few people we may have missed but in due time they found out too.

So we moved to Pennsylvannia and were there for a week and then went back to Long Island for Christmas and stayed through New Year. Also during the time we visited, I got my sonogram done.

I had my sonogram on December 30th during my 20th week and I had to drink 32oz of water an hour beforehand and not go pee at all. Because the full bladder helps to push the uterus up I guess. But it sure was uncomfortable.

For maybe the first thirty minutes of the appointment, Anthony had to wait outside. It was very quiet in the room but I knew she had to get pictures of certain things and needed to focus so she could get them all. After that she let me go pee and then finished up the pictures and got Anthony. We found out he was a boy of course, and it was so cool to see how the heart beats.

Afterwards we get a picture. Only ONE picture. It was not even a profile view of the baby which is one picture I was hoping to get. Anthony persuaded her to get more pictures and she wasn't going to, but realized she needed to get one more picture and so she ended up giving us one more. BUT THAT WAS ALL. So yeah. It is what it is.

After New Year we went to our home in Pennsylvannia. Just did what we normally did in the day time. A lot of time I would read and clean and eat and take naps as I still do.

More near the end of the second trimester, I started getting random bloody noses when I woke up. It's only happened about five times and each time it only lasted like two minutes. So it was not that bad.

I also have a few days were I seem to go pretty insane with my emotions and I don't quite know why. So really just blame the hormones. I got sad once because Anthony put a wash cloth in the sink that I used to clean with and it was our last one. And the sink was kind of dirty too. So yeah.....and I can't really recall what any other time was about that I got upset, frustrated or sad. But it happens.

One thing I've surely almost forgotten is the movements I feel! I started feeling tiny flutters at about 16 weeks and tiny taps at 18 weeks. I would say he started making movements to where you could see from the outside at about 24-26 weeks. But I sure have been feeling movement for awhile. In the beginning I usually only felt it in the morning and at night when I was laying down. But near the end of the trimester I feel him more often in the day time and I felt him kick like my bottom rib at maybe 25 weeks. I don't remember the exact week anymore. But he is getting big for sure!

During this second trimester I also had to hunt for a new midwife as my plan is to have a natural waterbirth. It was difficult to find a midwife here, but I soon found one. All the midwifes here are about an hour away, but I don't mind that too much. My last appointment was on February 12th and my weight and growth is on mark and so is the baby's heartbeat. So it's all looking good. She also gave me books to read which I surely have been reading and learning so much more.

Now, I'm currently in my 27th week and almost 28th week which is basically the transition into my third trimester. The only new thing I'm really noticing is that I'm getting quite big and it is getting slightly more difficult to get up or get comfortable,  but I really haven't had trouble sleeping at night except maybe one time because I just didn't feel tired.

Anyway, this is basically the stuff that has happened throughout my second trimester and hopefully you were able to read through all that without falling asleep as I know it's ridiculously long. But good news is my posts will probably be more brief as I don't have to summarize a whole trimester all at once now. Yay! Until next time.

Ta ta for now!

My First Trimester

Ok, Since I did not start blogging at the beginning of my pregnancy, I'm going to summarize my first trimester and then do my second trimester in another post. After that, I will be doing posts weekly or every other week as I am currently entering my third trimester now.

To start off, symptoms I was having before I even knew I was pregnant include sore boobs, extreme exhaustion, constantly being tired, feeling weaker, craving for cheese, and of course my missed period. But as far as I knew, my exhaustion and tiredness could have been from working extra hours and I could have just really wanted cheese for no reason. Also, I was having cramping pain which had led me to believe my period was still on it's way. But as we know, that was not the case and my missed period was clearly saying something. I was pregnant. 

So by about week 6, I started having nausea 24/7. It was not necessarily as bad as I would have imagined because I rarely puked. I puked once at 8 weeks, twice at 9 weeks, once at 11 weeks and maybe once or twice at 13 weeks. Give or take some to that amount, I may also have some weeks mixed up,  but it's just an estimate. You can clearly see I didn't puke much. And the reason I puked most the time was because I gagged when brushing my teeth which soon led me to stop brushing part of my tongue which I think led to my bad breath problems. 

Anyway, quick story about the worst puking experience I've had in pregnancy; Anthony and  I went out bowling with his brother and we bowled for a good time. I had plenty of water and also had some pizza.  But near the end, my stomach felt slightly upset. I drank more water which seemed to help, but when we got into the car to leave, it was just extremely nauseating. I knew I was going to throw up because there was always a slight difference in the way my stomach felt when I was actually going to puke. So Anthony said to pullover and we got out and I puked a couple times by a tree as Anthony held my hair back and helped me stay on my feet. Luckily we had a rag available to wipe my mouth off. And it was night time so less people were less likely to see me which is a good thing in that case. Lol. And that was that. 

Now, as far as work went, I was struggling. I went to work feeling nauseated the whole entire time and my exhaustion was killing me. Luckily Anthony was there for me. He was like my third hand and more! He did so much extra so that I wouldn't have to lift anything heavy. The only heavy thing I had to carry was the tray with dinners. That wasn't too bad for awhile, and when I reached maybe 12-16 weeks my uterus had grown some more and whenever I carried it started feeling like I was putting pressure on this bubble in my abdomen. (so this kind of carries into the second trimester.)

During this time, Anthony and I also talked about whether we thought it was a boy or girl and we both thought boy. Anthony tells people that he knows "based on mathematics." Anyway, we also had said we weren't going to name him or her yet because of how early it was and anything could happen. But that was short lived. I told Anthony I wanted to name him Angelo so that is the name we went with since. We didn't even need the sonogram to know the gender. Lol.

I also never saw a doctor or care provider of any kind during my first timester. We were trying to hide the pregnancy form the people who did not know yet I guess and so seeing someone was sort of put off. 

Knowing we were going to have a baby, we knew we had to move somewhere else. We thought about Texas since it would be less expensive, but it's so dang far away. I actually wanted to move to Pennsylvannia since it wasn't extremely far and because it's a very pretty state in most areas. As we try to figure out where we are gonna go, Anthony ends up talking with one of the bartenders at work and he tells Anthony that he has some houses in Pennsylvannia and that he has connections he can hook him up with a job. So that's the opportunity we took. And so for the first trimester we were figuring most of this out.

Now, I know this is extremely jumbled as I tried to include most of what happened in my first trimester. But hopefully it is still readable. Thank you for reading and if you have questions or comments just leave them below. 

Thank you ♥

Finding Out

So, before the actual time I discovered I was pregnant there was a time that led up to that. Weeks before, I actually highly suspected the possibility that I was pregnant and could not get it out of my head. Of course, I pushed the thought from my mind thinking it was crazy and could not be true. During this time I was also working multiple double shifts at a catering hall and I was beyond exhausted. Of course, I had no clue I was pregnant but I am pretty sure the added stress, weaker strength, and extreme exhaustion I had at the time was a contribution from it.

My boyfriend, Anthony also worked at the catering hall and was my partner 98% of the time. And I will say that during the weeks I was pregnant without knowing, him and I didn't do well as partners at all. Probably because I was lagging a lot and almost collapsing to the ground because I couldn't stand many more trips lifting the heavy stuff and I got mad because I didn't want to be making so many trips from the room to the kitchen. Then I broke down into tears because he had said he "never wants to be my partner again." At the time I figured I was just stressed. And I certainly was! But something else was happening that I didn't know about too...

As work days passed, they decided not to partner us seeing that it seemed to only make me more miserable. But during that short time of separation was when we realized we really do work better with each other. And sooner than ever, Anthony was begging for me to be his partner again.

At some point close to this I told Anthony I had been worried I could be pregnant. He did all heavy lifting from then on. And our reason for being partnered at this point was so he could do all the heavy lifting for me. During work I'd get slight symptoms like I felt really cold and sweaty...like a cold sweat during the party and the room wasn't even cold. Then I felt like I could fall over, but luckily I didn't. That day was a huge turning point when more noticable small changes started happening to me. I also started craving cheese and specific things in the very beginning.

A couple more days down the road we went on a double date with Anthony's sister and her boyfriend. We planned on going to the mall, but it was closed so we went out to eat at Ihop. During dinner I came to say that I suspected I could be pregnant because at this point I've missed my period for 2-3 days past and normally my periods are very regular and come when expected! If anything they'd be early. So I was worried mainly because of that detail and I know my body pretty well. I only missed my period by two days once before which I think was stress related. So I assumed this was just stress related because of how stressed work had been for me.

Anyway, after dinner we decided to go to the store and find a pregnancy test. It was kind of hilarious because we were trying to be sneaky about buying it so no one would know. Not even the store people because they knew who we were and we didn't want them to say anything to anyone. Lol. Of course,  I don't think we were that sneaky cause it's kinda hard to hide something you're buying. And what we did probably just added more attention. But it was funny.

We went home after that and Anthony's sister hid the pregnancy test under the sweatshirt she was carrying and took it upstairs.  I went up after her and then we were both in the bathroom as I took the test. There was two tests and I had never taken one before and neither had she (she's a year younger than me) so we had no clue how it really worked.
I peed on the stick and then we waited for lines to appear which actually took forever! But once they showed up, it came out negative. I was pretty relieved. We both were! So I went outside to tell Anthony who was playing basketball, the news.

Later that night, Anthony and I talked. We were saying how we both actually felt disappointed but at the same time we were happy because we weren't ready for that to happen. And we were saying how it would be a huge change and that we wouldn't know what to do. Of course at this time,  I still wasn't convinced of the test so I said I was gonna "take the second test a week later if my period still doesn't come."

So about a week has passed and I STILL had not gotten my period. September 13th which was also Anthony's 22nd birthday, I woke up and took the second test. I had heard that taking it in the morning would be best. I also peed in a cup this time and then dipped the test in just to be certain I got it wet. Also, I was alone this time because Anthony's sister was out somewhere with their mom...

After dipping the test I wait for lines to show up and it didn't take long.  I saw one dark line and keep staring at the test only to see a second line slowly fading in....disbelief was slowly crossing my face. My heart sunk a little as I didn't know what I was gonna do. I started crying a little bit because it turns out I WAS PREGNANT. But I didn't last like that for long. I took a picture of the test. Anthony and his dad were downstairs so after I recollected myself I hid the test inside one of my rolled socks and headed downstairs.

I sat next to Anthony on the couch and showed him the picture(because I didn't want his dad to know). As I'm sitting there I'm holding some tears back, Anthony sees the picture to discover that I am pregnant and then he starts holding me and whispering that he's "so so sorry" and that "I didn't mean to do this to you." So he basically just blamed the whole thing on himself. And I felt bad because I didn't want him to feel bad. It was both of our doing. But he repeated those phrases quite a few times.

Since it was his birthday and our payday for work,  we went out and got our checks.  Then I remember we were deciding what to do. Like I think we wanted to go bowling but we might have seen a movie instead. I know for a fact that we went to eat at T.G.I. Friday's. And that's how the rest of the day went.

So that's basically how I found out and how Anthony found out that we were having a baby. 

There's so many other stories about how other people found out like Anthony's siblings and parents and my siblings and parents and a lot of other people, but I think I'm going to leave those stories out mainly because I can't remember every single one of them that well. But if anyone wants, I may write about how my immediate family found out.

Ta ta for now! Have a good day! Feel free to leave a comment or share stories based on how you found out you were pregnant.

¡Hasta luego!

Welcome!

Hello! My name is Isabella and I've started this blog because I want to share my journey and experiences with you all. 

Currently I am 19 years old and I am 23 weeks pregnant. For those of you who personally know me,  I know you were probably a little shocked when I told you the news. But for those of you who don't know me, you may or may not be a little quick to judge.  You hear about so many young teens who get pregnant getting bad feedback from people. But why do people throw bad labels on pregnant teens? Especially high school girls. Of course, I can somewhat understand that these girls are not fully matured, but its no excuse to bring anyone down. I am here to tell you if you're in those shoes right now, that does NOT mean YOU will be a bad parent. Being young has nothing to do with it. And quite honestly, no one can really understand it until they are right in your shoes.

In my blog I am going to cover the beginning when I found out and up until now. Then I will keep updating as time goes by. I welcome any questions and hope to help and support those of you who need it. 

(: Thank you for visiting! Come again! (;