Scarlett Victoria

Hello! It’s been way too long since we’ve writen a blog post. I am finally typing out Scarlett’s birth story before I forget all the details, and I also wanted to talk a little about my pregnancy and postpartum journey. I’m sharing some of my favorite breastfeeding products at the end of this post, as well as some postpartum progress photos, too!

Scarlett’s pregnancy was pretty similar to Cal’s in that I felt pretty good for most of it. I definitely felt more exhausted with her pregnancy, and I contribute that to also chasing and carrying around a 3-year-old this time around. I ended up gaining just over 40 pounds this time! I was so determined to keep the weight gain to around 25 pounds, and I was actually feeling cute and super proud of myself up until about 20 weeks. But after I hit 25 weeks that goal started seeming more and more unrealistic and I just fell completely off the wagon, haha. By 32 weeks I was living strictly in lulu align leggings and sweatpants. Yikes!

Scarlett’s delivery happened fast. Bear with me as I share the details - I know this is way too much info, but I want to remember the morning of her delivery and weeks leading up to it exactly how they happened! 

At 35 weeks I was already dilated to a 2, and 80% effaced, so I was super hopeful that she’d come early like Cal did! But sadly, at my 37 week appointment not much had changed. My doctor “stripped my membranes,” and then again at 38 weeks. I was scheduled to be induced at 39 weeks, which fell on a Friday, and since my doctor doesn’t do inductions on Friday’s, I had to schedule it for the following Monday. He had me come back one more time on Thursday, the day before I turned 39 weeks, and said he’d try to strip me one more time to try to put me into labor before the weekend. He even said he tried to break my water at that appointment?! I thought that was weird but I guess he was just trying to get things moving so I didn’t have to wait until Monday! After that appointment, he said he wouldn’t be surprised if my water broke in the next hour!! I was shocked (and also sore after how aggressive he was trying to get things going - sorry, TMI).  Well, that didn’t happen, BUT my water did end up breaking two days later! 

On Saturday morning, May 16, Dan and I were having a lazy morning in bed. Daniel had gotten Cal out of his crib and brought him into bed with us around 7:30, and we snuggled together watching segments of some of Cal’s favorite movies we had recorded on the TV. At around 8:30, as I was readjusting to get comfortable (which, as anyone who’s ever been pregnant knows, takes a lot of effort when you’re 39 weeks pregnant), I felt a sudden gush of water! It wasn’t a ton and and I remember lifting my pelvis up and saying, “oh my gosh, what the heck?” I thought maybe I had peed my pants a little! Daniel asked if my water broke and I honestly had no idea because it was enough to get my underwear wet, but didn’t soak through to the sheets. Anyways, I got up to go to the bathroom and called Sidney to tell her what happened. She suggested just calling the hospital to ask what I should do, since I was still 50/50 on whether my water had broken or I’d peed my pants, haha.

The hospital nurse told me to come in ASAP, even if I wasn’t sure. But then I called my doctors office, and the on call nurse told me to wait a while and see if fluid kept trickling out, and only to go in if it was enough to soak through a panty liner?! I was so confused and didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to over react, and go to the hospital, only to find out I HAD just peed my pants! Lol. 

I ended up showering, washing and blow drying my hair, and painting my nails before deciding I was still feeling enough fluid “trickling” to head in to the hospital. I also got one more slow dance in with Cal to Toy Story’s “You’ve Got A Friend in Me” (a favorite ritual of ours and something he begs for almost daily) while he was still my only child. It was such a sweet couple of minutes with him and I started getting emotional thinking about his world being flipped upside down the next time I saw him.

We said a big emotional goodbye to Cal and left him with Sidney, then headed to the hospital! 

We got right into a room and the nurse checked me. I was still only 3 cm dilated. She couldn’t tell if my water was broken or not, so she ended up having to go in with a speculum and collect a sample of the water to see if it was amniotic fluid. So fun, right? When she came back to tell us that it was, we knew for sure my water had broken and it was go time. 

I got my dreaded COVID test done (awful) and then my doctor had the nurse start me on a low dose of pitocin to get the contractions going. I got to the hospital around noon, and by this time it was around 2pm. Side note, my doctor was not on call that day, but because he stripped my membranes on Thursday, he made a note on my chart that he would come in if I went into labor over the weekend. Sooo nice of him!

The pitocin started kicking in and by 4pm I was starting to feel the contractions pretty bad. Sidney had done a natural labor just two and a half weeks earlier, and although I’d always been a pro epidural type of laborer, Sidney had inspired me to at least try to feel the contractions for as long as I could. When the pain started getting pretty bad, the nurse came in and checked me and I was still only a 5!! I called Sid and told her I didn’t think I’d make it much longer. She tried giving me some encouragement, but since I hadn’t prepared at all for natural labor and didn’t know any of the breathing techniques or counter pressures, different positions, etc., I wasn’t able to relax at all and was just in SO much pain. Like, I’m not a swearer, but I was quietly cursing to Daniel, and kept saying things like, “I swear I am not being dramatic, this FREAKING HURTS.”
I went on like this for another hour, but then told my nurse it was too much and I needed the epidural. I thought for sure that since I was only 5 cm dilated just an hour earlier, I still had hours to go and I just couldn’t keep going like that. Daniel was being so sweet and encouraging and was trying to help me with the pain (Sidney and her husband were sending him videos of THEM acting out what he could do to help me, haha), but nothing was working. I told the nurse I wanted the epidural and the anesthesiologist came right away.

He gave me the epidural (yessss), and it kicked in pretty quickly on my left side (the side he had me lay on after I got it), but I was still feeling total pain on my right! Nothing was numb on my right side and I started to PANIC from being in so much pain with each contraction. 

The nurse decided to check me again at that point and, to all of our surprise, I was at a 10 and ready to push!!! WHAT?! She called my doctor (who was at his HOUSE), and told him to come ASAP because I was ready!

I was starting to feel pressure, but wasn’t really in pain “down there.” I was still feeling those sharp pains on the right side of my lower abdomen, but I slowly started to feel everything start to numb up.

Daniel was right up in on the action, holding my leg. With Cal I really didn’t want him anywhere within view of what was going on down there. But with Scar it all happened too fast for me to even care. So much so that I didn’t even realize he was filming and got Scarlett COMING OUT ON VIDEO! As horrified as I was when he first told me this, and after I watched it back for the first time, now I actually think it’s kind of amazing and am glad we have it.

Once my doctor arrived I pushed for five minutes and she was here!! She was born at 5:30pm on May 16, and weighed 8 lbs 1 oz - healthy and perfect! 

We spent 24 precious hours in the hospital, just her, me, and Daniel. I’m actually grateful for that time we got with just us three (thank you Coronavirus). It wasn’t hectic. It was peaceful and felt like we had a little piece of heaven right there in our arms. I felt close to my mom knowing Scarlett was too.

I got to nurse her right away in the hospital and she’s been such a good eater. Nursing has been something I’ve come to love and I am so so grateful it’s been going well. I credit our success to the Taking Cara Babies guides, and to Sidney’s diligence in nursing Tori and not giving up despite all the hiccups they’ve faced (I’ve been bugging Sidney to share her birth story too, by the way). I very well may have given up on nursing if it weren’t for Sid. It’s been amazing having our girls so close together. It makes slipping away to nurse when we’re with people or in public way more fun!

A couple of things that have been SO helpful with nursing are:

1. This Dr. Brown’s silicone breast pump. I use it every single time I breastfeed, and have a freezer full of milk JUST from using this! I suction it on the side I’m not nursing on, and pull my bra up over the bottom of it so that it doesn’t fall off if it gets bumped. I whole heartedly believe this little pump is what has kept my milk supply up!

2. Breast pads. I wear these at night because I’m usually leaking in the mornings! The Dr. Brown’s brand stay in place the best and are the most comfortable (other brands have felt itchy in my bra).

3. These Dr Brown’s Rachel’s Remedy Breast Relief Pads. When my milk came in these were honestly the only thing that gave me any kind of relief. They felt amazing on my sore breasts! You microwave the flaxseed pillow insert and stick them on when you’re engorged. They can help unclog milk ducts and can increase milk supply!

4. This video teaching how to get a good latch every time. I had no idea what I was doing, and watching this video before I delivered was so helpful!

5. Taking Sunflower Lecithin to optimize milk flow and supply.

Scarlett is almost three months old now (looking back at her newborn photos and I am crying because of how much bigger she’s gotten so quickly), and I am just starting to feel like I’m getting a handle on two kids. Scarlett’s delivery and hospital stay was such a night and day different experience compared to Cal’s. Having a newborn is never easy, but taking care of her does feel much simpler than it’s ever been for Cal (even currently)! I am grateful for both experiences, and have learned a ton from both.

Cal wasn’t super interested in his sis when we first brought her home. But now he has really taken on his role of big brother and is sooo sweet with her. He begs to hold her all the time, pats her softly, and gives her kisses without being prompted. I am so so proud of him!

I still haven’t found any time to work out or start getting “back in shape,” other than a couple little hikes and some casual tennis matches with family and friends. I’ve lost about 25-30 pounds and still have 10-15 to go! I know talking about weight these days is frowned upon, but I personally like seeing progress photos, so here are some pictures showing my journey from the day before Scar was born until now(ish). I had my nurse help me put on this belly band as soon as my doctor was done stitching and cleaning me up after my delivery, and I do feel like it helped my tummy start to go back quicker.

I am feeling good, in general. Scarlett has been such a good baby and sleeps 10-11 hours at night usually (BLESSED!). I love being a mom and feel like the luckiest with my two sweet kiddos ♡

Little Blessings

Sid and I (Regan) finally shared the news about our two little babies on the way!

It’s been a super emotional past few months for our family, as many of you know and can imagine, but the news of welcoming two new little blessings so close together, has definitely brought lots of smiles and joy and gratitude into the situation. Sid and I couldn’t be happier about being able to go through this stage together, and about our little babies being so close in age (our due dates are less than a month apart!).

I wanted to share a little bit about how we both found out we were pregnant and the backstories behind it.

My pregnancy process actually started almost two years ago. Some of you probably remember me sharing my IVF journey when we did my egg retrieval and froze our embryos a year after Cal was born.

Well, we finally decided we were ready to try for baby number two, and planned on starting the frozen embryo transfer process this past summer of 2019.

When my mom got sick I wasn’t sure if I should put the transfer on hold, since I knew I’d want to be down in California visiting her a bunch. My mom and I had a really close relationship, and spoke on the phone every single day, if not multiple times per day. I ran almost everything I did by her, and always wanted her opinion on everything (I still do, and still ask for help even now that she’s gone). She, of course, didn’t want anyone to put anything on hold on account of her, and convinced me that it was the perfect time to do the transfer, and that we should move forward with it.

We had our frozen transfer scheduled for September 3rd, and I started the medication (the dreaded shots in my bum) on August 13th, 3 days before my mom passed away.

Up until the day I started the meds, I was still so torn as to whether I should go through with the transfer or not. My parents were in China for cancer treatments for my mom, and I had gotten a Visa to visit so that I had the option to go and be with my mom if needed. My parents kept convincing me that I should go forward with the transfer, and my doctor and IVF coordinator were so sweet and understanding, and told me that even after I started the meds, I could still stop for any reason and push back the transfer date.

Long story short, I went through with it. When we got the news of my mom passing away, I was an emotional mess, needless to say, and I don’t think the extra hormones I was taking for the transfer helped. I kept taking the shots (Sidney and my husband, Daniel, were my nurses who gave me most of them! So grateful for them), because I didn’t want to make any rash decisions, and because I knew my mom would still want me to move forward with the transfer. Still though, I wasn’t sure if I might end up stopping and pushing back the transfer date. We were in the middle of figuring out how we wanted to celebrate the amazing life of my mom (she didn’t want a funeral) and I didn’t know how I’d work it all out, and also if the added stress would be good timing for the possible pregnancy.

Then about a week later…Sid found out she was pregnant!!!

This was a huge surprise to all of us, including Sidney and her husband, Morgan. A good one though! Although very emotional and heart-wrenching that our mom wasn’t here for it. But we knew she was there in spirit, and how happy she must have been, and we were all so thrilled for Sidney and Morgan!!

The cool part of Sid’s story is that our mom had been encouraging her to start their family over the last year or so. She’d remind Sid of the importance of being a mother and starting families, and that nothing should put that on hold. Sid knew it too, and although they weren’t trying to get pregnant, she also felt like it would be fine if it happened.

Well, Tori always gets her way, as we always joke! It felt like our mom definitely had her hand in how this all played out, and we were/are so happy and grateful!

It was actually such a cute and emotional morning the day she found out. Our grandma, mum (our mom’s mom), was here in Utah so that we could all be together after we got the news of our mom passing away. She randomly asked Sidney a few times if she was pregnant! She said something about her looking pregnant - that she had that pregnancy glow. Sidney didn’t think at ALL that she could be pregnant, but happened to have a pregnancy test leftover from a film shoot she did (she is a cinematographer), and decided to take it one morning. Sidney and Morgan live in our basement apartment (so fun, btw), and the rest of us were all upstairs while Sidney was down in her apartment showering. The door to the basement was open, and we suddenly started hearing Sidney urgently yelling for Morgan to come downstairs. He wouldn’t tell us what was up, but I, being the nosey sister that I am, ran downstairs after and she told me the awesome news. We both cried and I videoed as she came upstairs to tell my dad and the rest of our family who were at the house. There were more tears of happiness and many more smiles and phone calls made. Such a tender moment.

As soon as Sid found out she was pregnant, that confirmed my decision to move forward with my frozen transfer date of September 3rd. We talked about how fun it would be to have cousins so close in age, and the timing worked out perfectly with my mom’s celebration of life, which was held on September 9th.

^^^ there’s our little embryo right after the transfer!

We found out it took on September 13th. I was sooo nervous to find out, and pretty much stressed my entire first trimester about everything being okay. To be honest, I still worry, and I think I will until I feel our little babe moving around more. I think I’ve felt some little movements already, but am still in that stage where I’m not really sure if the little flutters I’m feeling is the baby or not. Lol.

When I finally made it to 10 weeks and graduated from my fertility center, and had heard the little heartbeat multiple times, I was ready to find out the gender.

Since we did genetic testing on the embryos, we actually had the opportunity to choose the gender if we wanted! But we decided not to, and just asked my doctor and the lab to choose the healthiest looking embryo, and not to tell us the gender. I also prayed that my mom would be able to come and have her hand in choosing whichever little embryo was meant to come join our family.

Sid was 14 weeks by then, and I really wanted to find out the genders together! I had my nurse write down our baby’s gender in an envelope, and gave it to Paige. Sid went over to Fetal Photo that same day and was told her gender. So she and Paige both knew what she was having, but no one else did, and only Paige knew what mine was. That night we did a little gender reveal for our family and it was such an exciting night!!! Here’s the video.

TWO GIRLS!! Sid is currently 20 weeks, due April 26th, and I am 16 weeks, due May 22nd. We couldn’t be more excited! The thought of our little girls wrapped up in our mom’s arms, waiting to come join our family is everything! She left us kids the most amazing note before she passed away, knowing she might be leaving us and in it she said, “I’ll also be spending lots of time with my unborn grand children and telling them how lucky they are to be born into our awesome family.” We know that’s exactly what she’s doing and that brings us so much happiness.

Regan's Baby Shower

Last weekend we got to celebrate Regan and her baby boy.  It was the perfect morning visiting with friends and family, and spoiling Regan and her baby. 

We wanted to incorporate the subtle safari theme Regan is doing in baby boy's nursery (coming soon!).  Kristen from Cap + Crown designed the cutest invitations and stationary that went perfectly with the theme (see her designs in the pictures below).  

The shower was in the morning, so we served yummy breakfast foods including our Baked French Toast and Pumpkin Bread in muffin form. The quiche was from our favorite cafe in Park City - always a favorite! And for the guests to take as they left, Noelle from Noelle's Bake Shop made and packaged the most delicious snickerdoodles.  Seriously so yummy! Be sure to check out her shop if you need to order cookies for anything. 

Huge thanks to our sweet friend and favorite photographer Brittni Willie for capturing the morning perfectly.  

We can't wait to meet Regan's baby boy in January! All shower details pictured below :)

Bumpdate: 28 Weeks!

Hi! Regan here :) I am officially in my 3rd trimester, and wanted to share a fun little pregnancy update!

Leggings: Albion Fit (get 15% off through Nov 14th with code SALTYBLONDES)

How Far Along: 28 weeks!

Weight Gain: +23lbs (and I still have almost 12 weeks to go so I'm kind of freaking out, but trying to embrace it)

Sleep: It's getting more and more uncomfortable, but not terrible. I wake up a lot more throughout the night (to go to the bathroom or change positions) and by 10:00 at night I am done for and am usually in bed :)  I also can't sleep in anymore, which is probably a good thing. 

Best Moment This Week: I had my first baby shower down in California! It was so perfect and I got to celebrate baby boy with some of my favorite people! 

Movement: Lots of kicks and moving around. My husband can feel the baby kick now as of the last few weeks and it's the BEST seeing his face when he feels baby move. 

Name?: No name yet! Daniel and I can't agree on any names, so we may be waiting until he comes to decide! Send boy names my way if you have any :)

Food Cravings/Aversions: No aversions. No cravings. I've always had a sweet tooth and that definitely hasn't gone away, but I feel like I've been eating pretty normal my entire pregnancy. 

What I Miss: Running! I ran my half marathon at 20 weeks then took a couple of weeks off from running. A few weeks later I tried to go on a run with Daniel and after a mile I was DONE. I started cramping and just felt too pregnant to be running.  Haha

Stretch Marks: Nope. I haven't been doing anything except lotion-ing up like I always do. 

Belly Button: It's basically an outtie at this point, which is so strange...

Mood: HAPPY! Nervous. Anxious. I couldn't be more grateful to be carrying this little boy, but so worried about him being healthy. On one end I am so content with whatever the Lord has planned for us with this baby, and am prepared for anything, but not knowing also gives me anxiety. 

What I look forward to: Thanksgiving & Christmas! I think the holidays are going to make this last trimester fly by, and then I'll look forward to meeting our baby boy!

Workout Routine: I have been able to workout my entire pregnancy, which has been such a blessing! I started going to a workout group that Sidney's BYU track coach is doing. It is SUCH a good workout. I am sore every time. It's so nice having a group to workout with and Sid's coach is so awesome. It's at 6:30am Mon/Wed/Fri at BYU and is FREE for any of you locals who want to join!

Baby: So far everything has looked normal on ultrasounds with the baby. We have been seeing a Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor since I was about 15 weeks and we LOVE her. I go to her about once a month (now every 3 weeks) and then follow up with my OBGYN who will be delivering. Because my situation is so rare, and there are actually NO recorded cases of babies being born with what our early cell-free DNA test told us our baby has, it's hard to know what to look for. BUT my MFM doctor always looks closely at all the major organs, brain, and for any physical features that might be a sign of a chromosome abnormality, and so far he looks like a healthy baby. At least that means there hopefully aren't any major problems that will require surgeries or anything like that when he's born, and as of right now my delivery plan hasn't changed. We still haven't decided to do an amniocentesis to know for sure if something's wrong, mostly because of the risks, and we just feel like it won't change anything, so we might as well just wait until he's born. We love him so much already and can't wait to meet him!

Regan's Journey Continued...

Today I finished my first half marathon AND my first half of pregnancy!  Yes friends, I've got a little baby BOY on the way!

My husband, Daniel, and I were overwhelmed with feelings of excitement, joy, shock, and gratitude when we found out I was pregnant this past May. Those of you who have been following Salty Blondes since the beginning of the year know about mine and my husband's struggle with infertility and miscarriage over the last 3 years.  If you're new, you can read our story HERE. 

This is my fourth pregnancy, and I'm currently 20 weeks along (halfway! and almost twice as far as I've ever made it).  As you may have read on my last post, our plan was to try IVF this fall.  After suffering three miscarriages, then finally figuring out what the problem was, we found out doing IVF would be our best change at carrying a healthy baby to term.  

I hadn't ever been able to get pregnant on my own, without taking clomid, so we were completely surprised when it happened the one month we decided to take a break and wait to do IVF in the fall.  I guess all it took was a relaxing, stress-free vacation to Hawaii! ;)

When I found out I was pregnant, I was of course excited, but worried because of my history.  We really tried to keep it between us and our immediate family this time around, because I knew my chances of another miscarriage were high. 

My doctors monitored me closely this time around, and at nine weeks I "graduated" from the infertility center I had been going to and started seeing my regular OBGYN.  I started to relax a little bit more, and it began to seem real and that this might actually be the one! Our miracle baby. 

At 10 weeks I started meeting with a genetic counselor, who advised me to do a cell-free DNA test called MaterniT Genome, where they are able to look at the baby's DNA by taking a sample of my blood.  

At 11 weeks I got the news that the test results came back abnormal.  The results showed a partial duplication of chromosome 15.  This made sense because of my balanced translocation (read about what balanced translocation is here if you're interested - I found out I have it after my last miscarriage).  I was told I would probably miscarry again in the coming weeks. 

We were devastated and honestly couldn't believe it. 

A couple of weeks went by and no miscarriage yet!  We decided we would do a CVS test on the baby, which is a more invasive test, to confirm the results and get more information.  When we went in for the test, the maternal fetal medicine doctor looked at the baby, and pretty much talked us out of doing it.  She said the baby looks great, and that's all we know for sure right now.  She said that the cell-free DNA test I did is such a new test and there isn't very much information on it, and no data validating the laboratory that performed the test.  She basically told us the test could have been wrong and given us a false positive!

We left that appointment confused and I honestly didn't know what to think.  I didn't want to give myself any hope.  I felt like I needed to protect my heart.

Since then we've taken things week by week, and have just tried to trust in the Lord and have peace, knowing this is out of our hands.  We found out we're having a boy, and so far nothing abnormal has shown on an ultrasound. 

We know this baby could be born with abnormalities, and that there's even still a chance I could miscarry, but we also know we'll love him, and no matter what, he's still our little baby sent from heaven. 

I've had a difficult time knowing how to tell people we're pregnant, or if I was going to tell people at all!  It's been hard not knowing what will happen, but as I've gotten further along I've been able to relax a little bit more and just trust God and have faith.  Plus I've got a little bump now that's getting harder and harder to hide :)

THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart to those who have been keeping my husband and I in your thoughts and prayers since my last update.  The love and support we've felt from our family and friends has really helped us stay positive throughout this journey. 

I will keep you all updated in the coming weeks and months!  Oh, and I'll also be sharing my half marathon training guide soon for how I went from hating running to being able to run 13 miles...while pregnant! Stay tuned :)

Tips for Surviving the Third Trimester

Well, Paige here, and I'm officially in my last week of pregnancy! Yay! I feel like I've been pregnant FOREVER and can't wait to finally meet baby boy!

The third trimester can be rough, but I've found a few things along the way to help me enjoy it, and avoid some of those dreaded problems (like stretch marks)! And I wanted to share :) So here are my tips  for surviving, and even sometimes enjoying, the third trimester.

1. Avoiding Stretch Marks:

Forget all those special, expensive shea butter anti stretch mark creams. From what I've heard, none of them work. Throughout my pregnancy I just used Cetaphil on my stomach and the rest of my body daily. If you go to a dermatologist for dry skin that is what they'll tell you to use, so I figured it would work just as well as anything else! I lathered my stomach with it every day, and haven't gotten one stretch mark! Below is a linked picture of the kind I use and just order straight from amazon.

2. Incline walking: 

I stopped feeling comfortable running about half way through my third trimester. My husband suggested slow walking at an incline instead and it's been awesome! I put the treadmill up to a 10 incline and walk at 2.5 for the first 5 minutes, then switch off between 2.5 and 3.5mph every other minute for the last 5 minutes. This sounds super easy, and it is haha. But it's a great way to get moving and get your blood flowing, and get a light workout in :)

3. Lavender essential oil epson salt baths:

Ok, if you live in Utah County you can buy this salt bath mix at Mend Juicery in Riverwoods, and they're amazing! I always lose about a pound after each bath because it helps so much with swelling and getting rid of excess water retention. Just make sure you don't submerge your baby bump all the way in too hot of water! If you're not local, you can easily make  the bath salt mixture yourself if you just google it, or you can also buy them on amazon here.

4. Foot Relax Center:

 Ok, my friend Shontel recently visited from California and introduced me to this place, and I'm just sad I didn't know about it sooner! If you live in Utah and are pregnant (or aren't) this place is a must! For $20 for a half hour or $40 for an hour you get your feet soaked while getting your head, neck and shoulders massaged, then your feet and calves massaged while sitting in a huge comfy chair. It's AMAZING! Especially if you have swollen pregnant feet. I wish I could go very day :) There's one in South Jordan and one in Sandy. Their phone number is 801-234-0566. You're welcome. If you're not local just do a search for foot massage and see what you can find. My friend said she's been to similar places in California!

5. Treat Yo Self:

Buy a few maternity dresses from ASOS and Pink Blush Maternity. It's so hard to feel cute and not like a fat giant bowling ball by the third trimester. None of your clothes fit, and if you're like me, you're legs no longer look cute in pregnant skinny jeans with big flowy tops. ASOS and Pink Blush Maternity are awesome because they have the cutest dresses at great prices! Below are some pictures from my baby shower where I'm wearing one of my favorite dresses from Pink Blush. Find it here. I've also linked some of my favorite ASOS maternity dresses at the bottom of this post!

Hope this is helpful for those of you currently in the same boat as me! 

Mid Pregnancy Update

Paige here - I'm officially half way done with my pregnancy, and wanted to post an update about how things are going so far, what baby gear I have/want, and one of my favorite mid pregnancy outfits!

What I'm loving:

Although pregnancy comes with a whole slew of complaints, let's start with the good :) My favorite thing about being pregnant has been picking out baby gear, and starting to design our nursery! I have a long "wish list" of things I like/want, but there are a few things I'm absolutely in love with and couldn't resist buying pretty early on. So far I have my crib, diaper bag, and the cutest nursing pillow I can't wait to use! :) 

The crib - OK, for the nursery colors I'm going with greys, blues, and white. I absolutely LOVE the cribs at Restoration Hardware, and honestly for a while I wish I had never even seen them because they are so freaking expensive and cuter than anything else out there! If money isn't an issue for you, click on the link above and go get yourself one of those beauties. Just know I will hate you. Anyways, now that I've let those cribs go and remembered I'm not millionaire, Target here I come! I did end up finding a really cute crib I love there, and it looks so cute in my nursery! Not to mention it was a quarter of the price of the RH cribs. Click on the linked pic below to check it out :)

Diaper Bag - When choosing a diaper bag, there were a few things I knew I wanted. It had to be at least somewhat gender neutral in case my husband ever needs to use it. I also wanted a convertible bag that can be both a cross body and a backpack for the same reason (cross body for me, backpack for him). Lastly, of course I wanted it to be cute! This is what I ended up going with, and I couldn't be more happy :) I'm going to be the weird lady carrying around a diaper bag with no kids because I can't wait to use it!

Nursing Pillow - No story with this, just thought it was adorable and matched my nursery colors :)

What I'm hating:

Now for the bad stuff. I had such high hopes for myself when I got pregnant. I saw so many cute bloggers with tiny little legs and cute pregnant bellies and thick luscious hair from pregnancy hormones, and was so excited to look cute like that too :) Well, that was a nice thought for the first couple weeks. First off, idk what the deal is, but my hair is falling OUT in chunks! Everyday. It sucks. I asked the doctor about it, and he said that although most women's hair gets thicker during pregnancy, everyone reacts different to the hormones and some women's hair gets thinner. Well mine is getting way thinner. Hopefully I have some left by the time I give birth! And thank Heaven for extensions :)

 I also have gained a lot of weight. About 20 pounds and I'm only half way done! Most of it has gone to my butt and legs, so my dreams of tiny little skinny jeans with cute flowing maternity tops are over. I would actually rather hide my legs than my belly! My body is weird. Anyways, if any of you pregnant mommas out there are like me, and gaining weight all over instead of just the belly, I'll be sharing some of my favorite flattering outfits throughout this process. For now, here's one of my go-tos. All items are linked at the bottom of this post :)

Top | Pants | Bag (similar) | Shoes | Necklace

Tags baby, comfy, maternity, pregnancy, pregnant

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