How to Look Amazing After Giving Birth!

Hello Lovelies!!!!

Giving birth is one of the most beautiful and natural things in the world and I truly feel blessed for being able to conceive, carry and deliver my beautiful daughter aû nautural (aside from being induced due to my water breaking early). Aside from all the beauty and glory (and pain and agony) that comes with labour, no one prepares you for how you will look and feel afterwards. 

The day after delivering my daughter I unexpectedly still looked very pregnant. No, I did not expect to have my abs back right away (I'm still trying to find them all), but I also didn't expect to look six months pregnant. At this point I was so happy that my daughter was healthy and that she was finally here and would come home with us soon but, I was also the most self-conscious about my physical appearance than I had ever been in my entire life. 

After your baby is born you get more visitors than an old lady giving away free cupcakes, so you want to look your best. Looking and feeling your best can be hard as a new mommy, so I am going to breakdown step by step how to look and feel amazing after giving birth. Whether you are going to the grocery store or having a family gathering to welcome your new bundle of joy, I've got you covered!

Step 1: Confidence! Confidence can make even the scaredest (wo)man look like the bravest. Even if you have to, fake it 'til you make it. I remember in the beginning it was hard for me to even just talk to people without being nervous (and I come from a job and life where all I do is talk all day), so know that it's normal and you're not alone. Just be you and remember that you are strong and let your confidence shine through naturally. 

Step 2: Concealer. Go for a Concealer two shades lighter than your complexion to brighten up your under eyes. Let everyone think that you have a magic baby who sleeps through night,  they'll never know!!!

Step 3: Mascara to open up your eyes and make you look more awake. 

Step 4: Blush in a soft pink/orange to bring some life back into your face. 

Step 5: Treat yourself to a new pair of jeans. Even if the jeans end up being a few sizes bigger than your pre-preggo size do it!!! You want to be able to wear something other than those boring leggings that you've been wearing for the past 8 months. Go for a straight leg and and boyfriend jeans are still a hot commodity, so when you loose those last 15lbs, put on a belt, roll up the cuffs and BAM boyfriend jeans! Style with a plain tee and blazer and you are good to go!

Step 6: Peplum tops or Empire waist blouses/dresses - magic for hiding the post-pregnancy belly. Remember to balance your outfit; if you are wearing a loose blouse go for a slender bottom and vice versa. 

Step 7: Fresh air. Go for a walk with your baby and partner around the neighbourhood at least twice a week. This is great for some light cardio and also to spend some quality time together as a family. Babies love walks too, even though they are in their stroller they well be easily occupied by their surroundings and they may even fall asleep during your walk! 

Step 8: Do something that you love and that makes you happy. Whether it be cooking (or ordering) your favourite meal and watching a movie on netflix, or having a DIY spa day at home with a girlfriend while your hubby takes care of the afternoon "baby duties". What ever it is, just remember to still be YOU!

Step 9:  Love yourself!!!! And know that your baby loves you for you (as well as your partner, that's why they're with you!!). Babies don't care what your hair looks like,  or if you forgot to take a shower last night. To your baby you are their whole world, they look to you for all of their needs and know nothing of a world without you. Always remember that the little baby smiling at you in her sleep will always love you just the way you are!!

Those are all of my tips and tricks to make you look and feel amazing! I hope that this was helpful for any and all mommies that may need a little pick me up, or a reminder of how amazing they already are!

What tips and/or tricks do you have to look and feel amazing after birth?  

Until next time....

Mel

aka Jennine's mommy

Confessions of a First Time Mom #1

Hello lovelies,

My first confession of being a first time mom is one that I think all moms have thought at some point or another, but especially so with the first baby.

I never thought that I would think a fart or a belch coming from anyone could be the cutest thing I would hear all day (yes, I am still talking about farts). Nothing beats the first time your baby smiles at you. Nothing also beats the first time you hear a nasty, outlandish belch thinking it came from your fiancé, only to look down in aww now knowing that it came from the adorable bundle of joy lying in arms.

I want to make this a series on my blog and will try to have a new confession every week, so stayed tuned!!!!

Until next time....

Mel
aka Jennine's mommy

Baby Food Recipe with Chicken (6 months+)

Hello lovelies,

My daughter's doctor gave us the go ahead to start solids at four months and we gradually started introducing her to new flavours and textures. She is now just past six months and at her routine visit we asked if we could start to introduce meats into her diet and her doctor approved!

When it comes to eating my girl is a champ. She has loved food from the very first day she tried it. To clear up why we started solids when we did, my daughter was showing all of the signs that she was ready. She started teething (mind you we are still waiting for her first tooth to cut, it is so close I can see the tooth!), she could hold up her own head, she would drool and stare everytime my fiancé and I were eating, she was munching on her tiny little hands like crazy. She also knew how to chew and turn away when she was finished eating and didn't want anymore.

The first time I introduced chicken to my daughter she was not a fan, so I wanted to find a way to get her to eat it without tasting just the chicken, or tasting the chicken at all. Here is the recipe I came up with.

Having not liked the chicken alone, my daughter thankfully loved this combination. She had already tried carrots and sweet potatoes seperatley and adding them together really helped mask the chicken flavour (yes, of course I tried it ;) ).

- 1 Chicken Breast
- 1 Carrot
- 1 Sweet Potato
- Filtered/ Boiled and cooled Water (measure as needed)

You will also need:
- a Baby Bullet or
- a food processor &
- a blender
- a container to put the pureé in when finished
- a freezer safe container for left over pureé

Cook the chicken breast at 350F for 30min.
While the chicken is cooking peel the carrot and sweet potato and chop both into 1inch cubes.
Boil the chopped sweet potato for 10min.
Boil the chopped carrot for 20min.

Once both vegetables are boiled until soft use your baby bullet with the Blend Blade or your blender to pureé both vegetables. I started by blending the sweet potato first and added approx. 4tbsp of water. Add however much water is needed for your desired consistency.

At this point your chicken should be fully cooked. Check the colour first and and ensure the liquid surrounding the chicken is clear. Using the Milling Blade with your Baby Bullet or your food processor and grind the chicken until it is of your desired texture. I added approx 2tbs of water to the chicken while grinding. 

Once the chicken is of your desired consistency add it to your blender with the sweet potato and carrot pureé and blend. Blend until all three foods are equally combined and you can no longer see the chicken (it should be blended to the same consitency as both vegetables). Once blended you should have an orangey-pink pureé.

When finished depending on the size of the vegetables that you used you should have approx. 40oz of pureé.

The pureé can last for up to three days in the fridge and one month in the freezer. I put 20oz in the fridge and the rest in the freezer.

I typically feed my daughter solids 2-3 times a day and this batch should last us all week.

Just remember that when defrosting your frozen batch, not to use high heat. I usually pop out as many servings as I will need for the day from the silicone tray that came with my bullet and let them defrost in the fridge the night before. If you need to you can place them in warm water to help them defrost a bit faster.

Thanks for reading and I hope that this post was helpful to any mommy's looking for new baby food recipes!!!

Until next time....

Mel aka...

Jennine's mommy

My Labour & Delivery Story

Hello lovelies,

As I am writing this I am currently 7 weeks and 4 days postpartum, my beautiful angel was born May 7th, 2014.
Being a new mom has been nothing but exciting and rewarding in so many ways. Yes, it is tiring, but so worth it!!!

Now on to the details of how my little cupcake came into this world.

As most of you know from week 30 on I had many overnight stays in the hospital and had since been put on an early leave from work and bed rest at home.

It was a regular Monday morning (I was 34 weeks and 2days) when my fiancés alarm sounded off at 5am. I woke up to go the bathroom and surprise, surprise I was bleeding (heavy). I waited an hour, called L&D and they suggested I go in to get checked out.  When we got there (7:30am) they didn't do very much at all in terms of testing or anything really. I guess they were just used to seeing me and didn't think that what was happening now was any different. I got admitted into my room at around 10am and finally my blood was taken by one of the nurses. It wasn't until my OB came to visit me that an ultrasound was scheduled and I was sent down shortly after.

During my ultrasound everything looked normal for the most part, except my fluid level was slightly lower. The ultrasound tech also saw something that wasn't there the week prior, but she was unsure of what it was. It didn't look like my placenta had separated, so there was still no clear explanation as to why I was bleeding, AGAIN.

I continued to bleed all day, mostly when I was moving or got out of my bed. Sometimes a little and other times it was heavier. At 5pm I was sitting upright eating my dinner when my fiancé said something funny and made me laugh. While laughing I felt a huge gush of blood and then another gush right after. I called my nurse and when she came to check me she said that it looked as if my water broke and I was having my "bloody show". She got the equipment needed to test the fluid and it turned out to indeed be my water. Because of how far along I already was my Dr. decided not to try to intervene in prolonging my pregnancy.

On Tuesday May 6th I wasn't progressing on my own as my cervix was still closed, so they started my induction with oxytocin at 11:45am. The contractions started almost immediately. They were very mild to start and increasingly got stronger throughout the afternoon. They felt like bad menstrual cramps, but not in any one spot, they were all over. The contractions were bearable and nothing that I couldn't handle. At approximately 5:30pm the on-call Dr. came in to check my progression and I was only 1cm dilated and 80% effaced. Six hours of contractions and I thought to myself, that's it!?!? She told me that if I wasn't progressing on my own by 10pm I would be taken in for a c-section. The chance of having a c-section terrified me. When you have had one c-section, most Dr.'s will make you have a c-section for future pregnancies as well and I didn't want that.

At 7:45pm the new on-call Dr. came in to check on me and I was still only 1cm, but now I was fully effaced. She said that considering I started completely closed up, that my progression rate was normal and now that I am fully effaced I should start progressing faster. This meant no c-section, for now. Being only 1cm dilated with 8hours of contractions and 9cm more to go I decided it was time for an epidural. The contractions were still bearable, but they were getting a lot closer and I didn't want to have to feel them for another 8 hours, if it was potentially going to take that long. By this time I also had a new nurse and she ended up being the same nurse that I had the night before, so I was very happy because she was really nice and easy to talk to.

Throughout the night my fiancé was still with me eagerly waiting for our baby girl. My nurse continued to increase my dosage of oxytocin as much as my baby could handle the contractions. At times my contractions were continuous, one right after the other, with no time inbetween. Even though I had the epidural I could still feel the pressure, so I always knew when I was having a contraction. I managed to take a nap and woke up at around 1:30am, because the pressure was increasing and getting much stronger. At this point my nurse had upped my dosage to either level four or five, I can't remember. This made my contractions a lot more intense. At times I was grabbing on to the railing on my bed, because I felt so much pressure.

At 5:30am on Wednesday May 7th my nurse and Dr. checked my cervix again and I was 2cm dilated. My oxytocin dosage was at a level five at this point and my nurse told me that it should be happening very soon. It was time for her to take her hour break at this point, so a different nurse would be popping in every so often to check on me. At this time my fiancé decided to go home and take a shower, as well as try to rest for a few hours.

It was now just before 6am and I had to buzz for a nurse. I could feel every single contraction, it literally felt as though there was a softball sitting right on top of my cervix. I was cringing and crying during every single contraction at this point. When the nurse came in I asked her to get my dr. Approximately 15 had passed and the nurse came back in and I asked where my dr was and if she was coming to check on me. I told her how much pressure I was feeling and that I was in a lot of pain. I wanted them to check how far I was, because it felt like I was further dilated. She decided to check me instead of getting my Dr. When she checked me, she told me that she could no longer feel my cervix. She said that I was fully dilated. She started to prep and get everything ready for delivery. I called my fiancé who had just gotten home 15min prior and told him that he had to come back, it was time. At 6:30am my nurse was back and so was my Dr., it was time to push.

After 30 minutes of pushing my fiancé and I welcomed our beautiful baby girl into the world. As soon as I let out my last push and saw her for the first time, I bawled my eyes out and could not stop crying. I was in complete awe and so in love. I couldn't believe that she was actually here. She scored 7 and 9 on her apgar tests, weighed 5lbs, 5oz and was 17.5inches long. They cut the cord, cleaned her up and did what they needed to, then put her on my chest and I was still crying at this point. My fiancé held her for a few minutes and then they had to take her to the NICU and do more tests on her. Because she was a preemie they told us that she would have to stay in NICU and we would have to go in there to see her.

After 17hours and 45min of labour I was happier than I have ever been. I never thought that it was possible to love someone as much as I now loved my little girl. I was discharged from the hospital the next day, May 8th (also my birthday) and it was the hardest day of my life, because I had to leave without my baby.  Every day my fiancé and I went to the hospital to spend time with our little girl. She needed to be fed every three hours and we were there. For the first couple of days she was under light treatment,  because she had low levels of jaundice, but other than that she was perfectly healthy!

Finally exactly one week after our baby girl was born, it was time to take her home. Her Dr. in the hospital wouldn't allow us to take her home until she started to gain weight and thankfully she now was. Being new parents,  we were ecstatic to finally have our baby home with us.

She is now almost 8 weeks and she is doing amazing, as am I. Thus far, she has an olive complexion, just like her daddy (who is Filipino), she has grey coloured eyes, and her mommy's chubby cheeks. I will be doing another post in the next few weeks, when she is two months old and I am two months post-partum. Look out for that in the second week of July.

Here are just a few pictures of our beautiful baby girl!!

Thank you for following along this journey with me and for reading this entire post!!

Until next time...
xoxo
annpaige

Put on sick leave, until after baby arrives.

Hello lovelies,

Yesterday morning at 5am I woke up with a full bladder and made my normal trip to the bathroom(in the dark). While there something was off, so I turned on the lights and yelled to my fiancé. I was bleeding tremendously.
I had bleeding weeks 5-15 from SCH, but this wasn't that, not this far into the pregnancy(31 weeks).

We packed up a hospital bag(minus baby stuff, as we were not yet that prepared), got cleaned up and rushed to the ER. Being as far as I am in my pregnancy, they sent us straight up to the maternity ward and started to check me out. They checked my cervix did some tests and a quick ultrasound to check on baby.

My cervix was still closed and they could not find crystals in my blood indicating that my water had broke, but wanted to prepare me for all possibilities. I was given a thorough ultrasound to check her measurments and for placenta preavia and everything looked normal. Baby girl was measuring on track and weighs 3lbs 7oz so far. The nurse also gave me a shot to help mature her lungs incase she comes early and I got my second and last shot for her lungs today.

My doctor had come to the hospital to check on me and informed me I would not be going home for at least a day or two.
The bleeding stopped overnight, just dark brown and very, very minimal. Nurses kept on coming in to check on baby and I through out the night and all was good with both of us.

Now today, my doctor came to see me again today and I told her how I was feeling and asked when I could go back to work ('cause I'm such an eager muffin lol) and she informed me that there is no way I will be going back to work. She said I may get to home tomorrow if i stop bleeding and if I do, it is to do the same thing as I am doing here in the hospital (yay...not).

I love this little girl so much and I want to do everything for her to make sure she is healthy and safe, but damn what am I supposed to do for the next two months, if she stays in there. By all means I do want her to stay in there too and keep on maturing, I just feel useless not being able to do anything and I'm only technically on day two of rest.

I'm thinking that this will at least give me more time to prep for her, like get her laundry done and help my sil with the baby shower prep that is still left and of course blog!! But, oi am I going to be bored and probably annoy the heck out of my fiancé every day....ha ha.

Sorry for the semi-long post.
Is or has anyone else been in a similar boat and able to relate?
What did you do while on sick leave, to help pass the time?

Thanks so much for those of you who made it to the end of this post!!!

31weeks 1day
EDD June 12th

Until next time....

xoxo
annpaige

Pregnancy Weeks 20-25

Hello lovelies,

March was a very hectic month for me as my fiancé and I moved into our new condo and officially got settled. Other days I have just been tired and exhausted.
I have loved every minute of this pregnancy so far and I have no regrets whatsoever. The only things I really miss about not being pregnant is that fact that I could wear whatever I wanted!!! Now I can't even fit my pants over my thighs :(, but it will all be worth it very soon.

Here is a recap of my 20th to my 25th week of pregnancy....

Week Twenty:
- lots of congestion still
- upset stomach and gasy if I eat anything too greasy or with too much oil. This baby is already a health freak.
- weird muscle spasms that cause me to involuntarily kick or squirm from baby kicks and punches.
- Dr.'s appt and another ultrasound this week
Weighing in at 131lbs,  gained a total 14 lbs so far.

Week Twenty-one:
- dry cough duting the night
- sore joints, especially my knees
- extremely exhausted
- really bad back pain some days
Waistline 30 3/8" that is a total of 5" bigger then pre-pregnancy on the smallest part of my waist
Belly 36 2/8"

Week Twenty-two
- starving omg!!
- nausea in the am on some days
- back pain
- dry itchy skin, especially itchy on my belly

Week Twenty-three
- saw baby's kicks when I was laying down :)
- chest pains
- bleeding gums still
- very itchy belly
- feel my stomach is so big that I am literally going to POP!
- more energy on some days
- exhausted on other days
- back pain
- extremely dry and itchy skin all over
Belly now @ 36 6/8" and waist @ 32 1/8"

Week Twenty-four
- light head aches
- dry cracked lips
- exhausted
- felt baby hiccups for the first time
- nerve pain in my lower back limiting and almost disabling certain movements. Happened four times for short periods.
- sore joints, knees and my wrists
- very active movements from baby
- glucose and blood test this week.
- Dr.'s appt. Now at 140lbs, 23lbs in total.
Heard baby's heart beat and it is fast as always. Everything looks and sounds good from the doctors point of view yay!!

Week Twenty-five
Moving week for us, so I really didn't keep track or record anything for this week.
- itchy belly
- exhausted
- sore joints
- starving all of the time!

My most memorable moments of these past five weeks, were seeing my baby's movements for the first time and getting to hear the heart beat.

What were some of your most memorable moments of the second trimester of your pregnancy?

Thanks so much for reading everyone and continuing to follow me on this amazing journey!

Until next time....

xoxo
annpaige

Stretch Marks - To be, or not to be?

Hello lovelies,

I don't know about you, but stretch marks are a part of my everyday life. From a big growth spurt as an adolescent I developed stretch marks quite young, which has delivered the anticipated fear of more during pregnancy(yikes!). They currently exist on my hips and butt, but are very light in colour.

Now, on to pregnancy stretch marks...

Now being 24 weeks and 4 days pregnant and feeling everyday like my stomach is so big that it is going to pop, I have yet to develop any new stretch marks (thank God). They say stretch marks are hereditary and that if your mother had them then you will too. I'm not sure if I was the result of any of my moms stretch marks, but I hope that my little cupcake wont be the result of any more for me.

There are two products that I use regularly to "lube" up my skin and so far *fingers crossed* they have been working great for me.

Product #1
Bio-oil
I bought this product when I first "popped" a bit around my 12 week mark. I was using this product everyday at night. Being on the more expensive and greasy side I didn't want to use too much at a time. I also started getting really itchy and didn't want to get oil on my clothes, so I also started to use.....

Product #2
Vaseline
Cocoa Radiance moisturizer.
This is a product that my fiancé and I always have in the house, but for some reason I never thought to use it on my belly.

As I started to get really itchy on my belly I started to use both items together. In the morning I use the Vaseline moisturizer and any time my tummy gets itchy during the day. I will usually use the Bio-oil at night, before bed and after a shower and then apply the Vaseline on top. The Bio-oil I will apply just to my hips, thighs, belly and upper half. I apply the Vaseline pretty much everywhere as it is a regular moisturizer.

Now, do either of these products really work for the prevention of stretch marks you ask?
That is an answer that I cannot give, because every woman and every pregnancy is different however, they have been working amazing for me thus far.

Will I continue to use/repurchase either or both of these products?
Definitely! I will do everything it takes to prevent stretch marks no matter what any one says.

Would I recommend either of these products to a friend?
Heck yes! Who is to say whether or not they will really prevent stretch marks or scarring, but who doesn't at least want to try.

What is your holy grail product for preventing/reducing stretch marks during pregnancy?

Thanks for reading everyone!!

Until next time...

xoxo
annpaige