Month: August 2014

My first trimester must haves

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I can’t believe it’s been 9 months since I found out I was pregnant. 9 months ago I was still rocking my pre pregnancy jeans, I didn’t waddle and no one knew about the growing baby in my belly unless I told them.

With reflecting over the past 9 months, I just wanted to share some things that I wish I would have known, tips and tricks that helped me and little tidbits of advice.

1. If you are dealing with morning sickness, don’t be afraid to ask for help.

I remember in week 4 the nausea spells started. Granted not everyone’s morning sickness will progressively get worse OR stick around until 30 weeks. I tried every natural remedy in hopes of not having to take medicine and even when those didn’t work, I STILL didn’t want to reach out to my doctor. When I finally DID reach out the first medicine I tried was Zofran. When Zofran brought my digestive system to a halt, it wasn’t until a friend reached out with her experience with Zofran that made me connect the digestive issues with being on Zofran. SO, I decided throwing up was better than being on Zofran. A few weeks later of extreme (all day every day) nausea and vomiting, I finally reached out again and was put on Diclegis. Most likely your morning sickness will leave after the first trimester, but in my case it stuck around until the 3rd trimester! I’m glad I didn’t decide to “tough it out” because that would have been  A LOT of vomiting and nausea!

What I learned: reach out for help if you need it! If it doesn’t work, keep trying!

2. Don’t expand your wardrobe in your first trimester.

Stay in your pre pregnancy clothes as long as possible. I was so excited to be pregnant and see my body change but SO naive with just how much my belly would grow and how my body would change. I remember being 10 weeks pregnant and buying 6 non maternity tank tops from target with the thoughts of being able to wear them throughout the summer. I even bought a few other loose fitting tops and maxi dresses to hide the first trimester bloating with the thoughts that I could wear them later on. After my belly started to pop out, NONE of the clothes I bought lasted long. Now… everyone’s body is different and there are some women who get to rock their pre-preg clothes for 8 months BUT I wasn’t and this was just my experience with buying clothes. My advice would be to hold out as long as possible with what you have and then when your body can no longer be contained in your current wardrobe, then invest in some maternity essentials. Don’t buy stuff that you “think” you’ll be able to wear in the future because you NEVER know how large your belly, boobs and thighs will get!

3. Drink a TON of water.

One of my number one 1st, 2nd and 3rd trimester must haves has been a camel back water bottle. Drinking water pre-pregnancy is important…. but once you’re growing a little one, it’s even MORE important. Drinking water keeps you pooping (hormones slow down that lovely process), it helps with the 1st trimester breakouts and keeps your energy levels up which most likely have plummeted from the “growing a baby” process. I take my camel back EVERYWHERE. It’s either in my purse, in my hand or waiting for me in my car if I’m out and about.

4. What to expect when you’re expecting.

I would read that book religiously when I first got pregnant. Every little pain or symptom, I would either google it or look it up in the book to see how “normal” it was. It’s a great book and I highly recommend it. 🙂

5. Buying stuff for baby

Even though I was tempted, I didn’t buy anything for Bennett before we knew his gender. Before we got pregnant, Patrick and I said that once we got a positive pregnancy test, we would go out and buy a blanket or something for the baby to celebrate. Well, that didn’t happen. Yes, we could have bought something gender neutral BUT we really wanted to buy something specific for him/her. I’m glad we waited. 🙂 We actually didn’t start buying ANYTHING for Bennett until almost 19 weeks when we found out Bennett’s gender.  Just my two cents. 🙂

For me, other than trying to figure out how not to barf and regulating my digestive system from the medicines, my life didn’t change drastically during the first trimester. By the time you find out your pregnant, miss your period, start planning how to announce it, actually announce it, get over the bloating and nausea, you’re already entering into your second trimester. Every first time mom has a different experience with their pregnancy and this is just stuff I learned during mine. I’m thankful that now I know that Diclegis is my saving grace if pregnancy #2 decides to include nausea and vomiting. It’s all a learning process of what works and doesn’t work for you, your body and your life. So find out what works for you and hopefully some of my experiences will help. The next post will be about my 2nd trimester must haves!

The foundation of our household

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Brittany Pelegrino Photography

 

When Patrick and I decided to try and start a family, reading from the “Prayer that avail much” scripture book was nothing out of the ordinary. We are firm believers that you have what you say and that there is power in reading and speaking scripture. Call us “name and claim it” folk, but I just call us Christians. I’m not here to argue the politics of Christianity, just wanted to share what is the foundation of the Tobler household. 🙂

Patrick and I from day one have read from this book and I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone and everyone. It takes scriptures and writes it out in a way that makes it easy to read aloud in paragraph form.  It literally has every topic out there and the scriptures that can be read over that specific topic. From money to marriage, to trying to having a baby to praying for our government, it’s all there.

I have the actual book and then I also have the women’s version downloaded to my tablet. I love the women’s version of this book as well because it gives me scriptures to topics specifically regarding a woman’s life. Even if you don’t believe you have what you say, there is absolutely no harm in speaking scripture over your life.  🙂

Speaking the Word of God is one of the things that makes up the foundation of our household and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love speaking scripture over Bennett, Patrick, our marriage, and our businesses (the list could go on and on!). I am excited for to teach this to Bennett as he grows and matures and I pray that he comes to know the love of God that I have come to know.

 

An example from “Godly order in pregnancy and Childbirth” from Prayers that avail much:

Father, in Jesus’ name, I confess your powerful Word this day over my pregnancy and the birth of my child. I put on the whole armor of God so that I may be able to stand against all the tricks and traps of the devil. I stand in faith during this pregnancy and birth, not giving any room to fear. I thank you and praise You for giving me a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind….

 

 

Happy Saturday yall! I hope your day if full of laughter and relaxation. 🙂

 

Cloth Diapering… say what?

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So, let me start off by saying this isn’t meant to put anyone down who does something different for their family. Whatever works for you, GREAT! If cloth diapering didn’t work for you, please – only encouragement is welcomed. If you rock disposables, awesome. If you let your kid run around stark naked – perfectly fine with me. This is just what I have decided to do for my family and I just wanted to share for those of you who might not know anything about cloth diapering.

 

Let me begin by telling you that I was so against cloth diapering, like…. you will never catch me ever cloth diapering my kid. I remember when I first got married, I told Patrick that I would NEVER cloth diaper. Can you say gross? I will GLADLY pay for disposables and that is saying a lot if you know how frugal I am. Fast forward to getting pregnant and starting to research anything and everything that regarded having/raising a kid and trying to save money. All I knew about cloth diapering were pre-folds and covers. It’s where cloth diapering started BUT what I didn’t know is how much it’s changed since then and how many options there are now. I have done hours and hours and hours and hours and youtube videos and store visits worth of research on cloth diapering and I just wanted to show you what I’ve decided to use for Mr. B.

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These are the different styles of cloth diapers I have decided on. First of all, don’t they look pretty much like disposables? Yep. They do.

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First off: My BUMGENIUS Pocket Diaper. This diaper has snaps on the front and sides so that as Bennett grows, the diaper can change sizes as well.

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Seeeeeee, the inside is nice and soft against his bum and his …. I haven’t decided on what I’m calling it so yea.

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It’s called a pocket diaper because you “stuff” it with pads of fabric that absorb the pee.

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See ^ That is an example of me stuffing it. Easy peasy.

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This is my Kawaii pocket diaper. Same concept except it’s made for smaller babies and he will actually outgrow this after 25ish lbs.

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Another example of it being stuffed. It’s cool because you can add extra inserts (the white thing sticking out) in case your baby is a heavy wetter.

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These I actually discovered from a fellow photographer who just had her baby. Meet my Grovia’s All in Two’s.

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So the insert snaps into the cover and once the insert is soiled, you just unsnap it and snap in a new/clean one. You can use the cover 3-4 times unless it becomes wet/soiled. All of the diapers I use are waterproof on the outside so nothing will seep through.

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The All in Two is nice because you only need a few covers a day and just a stash of inserts 🙂

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Introducing my BUMGENIUS all in one. Want to know why it’s called an all in one? Because everything is sewn in. No stuffing, no snapping, no nothing. Just put it on like you would a disposable and go.

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^See, all in one.

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Our Diaper pail. It has a waterproof liner on the inside so I put the soiled diapers/inserts in and then dump the contents of the bag into my washing machine when it’s time to wash.

Reasons why I decided to cloth diaper:

1. It saves money. I have found amazing deals on all of my diapers and we plan on using them for Tobler baby #2 (whenever THAT happens). SO, after the initial investment, it’s nice to know I will only have to buy disposables for “special occasions”.

2. I will be a stay at home mom and if doing an extra load of laundry helps us go on a nice date instead of buying a box of diapers, I am ALL for that. OR better yet, a cruise 🙂

3. I started thinking about how pads and diapers are virtually the same thing and I didn’t want Bennett to wear chemicals against his skin for 2 years straight. That would be like me wearing a pad for 2 years.

4. The thought of having to buy a box of diapers that costs $30-$50 dollars every couple of weeks makes my stomach turn. Let’s get real, I still haven’t bought his box of newborn diapers (he won’t fit into the cloth for the first couple of weeks), for this very reason. Don’t get me wrong, we can afford them… I just rather spend my money elsewhere.

5. The whole poop in the washing machine freaked me out until I realized that if he had a blowout or vomited on himself… I would wash those in my washing machine, wouldn’t I? Plus, breastfed poop dissolves in water so no big deal there and by the time his poop is more solid (sorry, if that grosses you out), there are several options we will be doing (Not just throwing poop filled diapers in our washer!!). Don’t worry, if you go to hug me, you aren’t hugging poop saturated clothing 😛

Will he ever wear a disposable? Yes.

When? If he has a babysitter. I don’t expect anyone else to cloth diaper my kid. If they want to, great. If they don’t. Disposables for a day are a-ok with me. Same with dropping him off in the nursery at church.

If we go on a family vacation and don’t have access to a washing machine. Disposables it is.

Disposables won’t kill him. I’m not going to shun you if I see you using a disposable. I just am glad I have the option to not have him in one all the time. 🙂

The hubby might throw a disposable on him if he takes him out and about.

SO, that is a really quick and brief show and tell of what we will be doing when Bennett comes. The first month he will be in disposables while he cycles through merconium, his cord stump and everything else. Plus it will give me a few weeks to adjust before having to start a washing routine. 🙂 I’m thankful that even Patrick is on board with this family decision. It took a lot of explaining and showing him how it all works but he isn’t totally freaked out anymore.

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^Patrick asked me to show him how to put one on. This is the closet thing we had to Bennett’s size haha!

Any questions or encouraging comments?

31, 32, 33 weeks!

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The day after my trip to REX… Patrick reminded me that I want to capture the good and the bad and to still get in front of the camera.

 

What a whirlwind the past few weeks have been. Just when I was SO excited to get back into blogging, one thing after another after another happened. SO, here is the update on the past few weeks.

Symptoms?

31-32: Back tension, nothing major. Occasional nausea, round ligament pain, heartburn. Really nothing horrible.

33: So, Friday night (Aug 8th) I started to get really uncomfortable. I was cramping so I tried stretching, laying on the floor, Patrick massaged my back, I was drinking a ton of water and finally I decided to go to bed. The next morning, Patrick and I decided to try a new breakfast place in Wake Forest, so I threw on my yoga pants, a hat, brushed my teeth and went out the door to enjoy the morning adventure. Patrick and I are notorious for Saturday morning adventures. We head out really early and end up at a coffee shop, a random yard sale, maybe even in a different city. With both of our busy schedules, it’s always fun to have a morning not to plan anything and just go.do.enjoy.

Well, throughout breakfast, I started having braxton hicks. Then I started realizing that they were happening pretty close together and THEN I realized, maybe I should call my OB. Now, I REALLY didn’t like the idea of calling the on-call OB at the hospital. I have only even called the office a few times with questions and normally try and hold out until my appointments. Patrick and I agreed though that I should call just to be safe. We paid the tab, got in the car and I called the on call service and waited for the OB to give me a call back.

We headed home (it was a nasty, wet, rainy day) and set up to enjoy the rest of the morning relaxing around the house. My phone rang about 20 minutes after the initial phone call; I explained my symptoms and to Patrick and I’s complete shock, they wanted us to come in to be monitored before the decision would be made to admit us or let us return home. Slight panic arose in the Tobler household. We hadn’t showered, bags weren’t packed, what if we had to stay? What if this was the start of Bennett’s arrival? Patrick jumped in the shower, I packed a very basic hospital bag and we ventured back out into the rain for the 35 minute drive to Rex. It was a weird drive. Pouring rain, we hit every green light and we nervously joked about what if this was “it”. Patrick likes to keep a “everything is going to be alright” attitude in stressful situations so that I remain calm and then once we ACTUALLY know everything will be alright, then he admits to being nervous. He’s my calm when the waves get choppy. We prayed over Bennett and me and finally arrived at the hospital.

Check in was a breeze. I was admitted into the “triage” which is where they monitor you to either send you through to a delivery room or send you back home. It was so official. I had to change into the hospital attire, get hooked up to all the machines and monitors and sign a ton of paperwork. I wasn’t feeling well and was slightly overwhelmed watching the contractions on the monitor. We were monitored for 5 hours and the only good part about that, was listening to sweet Mr. B’s strong and loud heartbeat for so long.

They tested me for pre-term labor which came back NEGATIVE! 🙂 The test is 99% accurate that I will NOT go into labor for 14 days after the test is initially taken. My doctor was very happy with those results but then said that once we hit 35 weeks, they will not stop him if he decides to come. We found out that the contractions were caused by a UTI which surprised the nurses AND me. I have had no symptoms, no cloudy urine at the hospital etc. They prescribed my some antibiotics and sent us home to enjoy at least another 2 weeks without Mr. B. My contractions finally stopped on Tuesday once the antibiotics had started to cycle through my system.

Now my sciatic nerve has been acting up. I’ve never experienced such hip/joint pain in my life. Walking has become hard and general movement has become a challenge. I’m working with a chiropractor, doing yoga, stretches, heating pads and sitting on my yoga ball in hopes that I can get it all realigned and sorted out. Can you tell that I’m nearing the end?

Philippians 4:13

13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Next time you see a pregnant woman, offer her encouragement instead of commenting on how large she is. Encouragement goes a long way when the end seems unreachable.

 

 

 

Cravings? Aversions?

I had a strong craving for rice krispy treats a few weeks ago… so I bought my first ever box. It took Patrick and I 20 minutes of searching Wal-mart to finally find them though! Who knew they would be on the cereal aisle???

Cherries!!!! I can EAT some cherries. 🙂 No longer craving green grapes or lucky charms but I gotta have my daily cherry fix 🙂

I also am beginning to crave more and more chocolate. I hope this craving doesn’t stick around long!

Sleep?

What is sleep? Between my sciatic nerve, not being able to sleep on my back, peeing every 2 hours….. I stare at Patrick’s peaceful slumber with jealousy. Guess it’s just my body’s way of preparing me for what’s to come!

Belly button? In or out?

It’s still in but definitely become more flat!

Weight gain?

Ohhhhh the weight gain and swelling. By the end of the day my feet are so swollen it’s hard to curl my toes. My fingers also get pretty swollen.

Movement?

Always moving around. He also gets hiccups about 10 times a day!

What’s going on with Mr. B?

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds and has passed the 17-inch mark (about the size of a pineapple). He’s rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren’t fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don’t entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

 

My next post will be about poop, pee and diapers…. you won’t want to miss it. 😛