The ” Weight” of Pregnancy

Pregnancy is one the most exciting times in a women’s life. To experience the joy of bringing a new life into this world. Throughout the stages of pregnancy and three trimesters the body will go through a series of changes one of the most notable things being weight. That may be the one part women dread the most about pregnancy the weight gain that comes with it. Then you start to think will I be able to lose this weight after?

For me weight gain was not a major issue in the beginning of my pregnancy. During my journey I was not able to eat much at all. Once the nausea started it pretty much stayed with me throughout my whole pregnancy and never went away. For most women nausea usually goes away by the second trimester. It was a tough battle to tackle the nausea and dry heaving on top of already having a history of acid reflux. Most days I didn’t even feel hungry I had no appetite because of the nausea but I still made sure to eat anything I could of course not anything but nutritious foods for me and the baby. Then eventually as time went on I had to drink ensures for extra calories.
My weight pretty much stayed stable until about  25 weeks of pregnancy. I started weighing 138 pounds and by the end of my pregnancy I was 160 pounds. Not bad right? A month after giving birth I weighed in at 146 pounds. Now today I am 156 pounds so I am almost back to my end pregnancy weight. Even though I instantly lost weight I seemed to gain it back. Even though the pregnancy is over the real work has just begun and postpartum weight also counts.

How did I get back 156 pounds ? Well the good news is that it wasn’t instantly but gradually. During postpartum you go through a whirlwind of emotions.  Your getting used to having a new baby, juggling bottles, diapers, pumping, or breastfeeding and no sleep is not easy! And in between all of that you have to figure out when will you have time to eat and do you even have time to cook?
For me, I just pretty much ate anything whenever I could. Most days I wouldn’t eat until at 4 PM.  I ate a lot of chips , chocolate and anything that was easy fast food. It seemed as though all my healthy ways of eating had gone through the window.

Now to this present day I am getting back on track with how I used to be I am eating healthier, meal planning, and even exercising something that I never was really used to doing much at all. I am making sure to drink a lot more water and not beat myself about my current weight. 
The point of this post is to tell you mamas out their not to be upset about weight gain and to embrace it.  The post postpartum journey is not easy but once you ease into a routine and also fit in time to take care of YOU, everything will fall into place.

Blogmas Day 17 – Breastfeeding Bags

As a new mom breastfeeding was a high priority for me but I struggled to do it and my son could not latch on correctly. Even though I was sad about it I still wanted my son to get the nutrients from breast milk. So a little after giving birth I got my breast pump and was excited to start. Little did I know pumping is a full time job and can get messy at times. For me I don’t have a large supply of breast milk but even if it was a little bit I wanted my son to have it. 

I didn’t realize how messy it could get to transfer breast milk into breast milk storage bags and back into the bottle. So I finally stumbled upon the Kiinde bottle. My husband had gotten a free bottle in a sample box sent to us but I didn’t notice how good the storage bags are. The kiinde storage bag allows you to pump directly into the bag by using adapters that can connect to any breast pump and the storage bags come with a cap which makes it easier then the traditional storage bags to use.

I absolutely love it and now i’m not spilling  all over the place!

Blogmas day 13 – My Favorite Baby Items 2019 (add to your wishlist)

I am loving being a new mom so far and there are a load of baby items out there. I wanted to share with all of you, especially for all the moms to be my favorite baby items. If your looking to get anything for the holidays take a look at these items:

#1. Boppy

I absolutely love the boppy and it has helped out so much. You can say it is an infant lounger but my son is practically in it all the time. Sometimes he doesn’t always like to lay completely flat and the boppy gives him an extra cushion and comfort.


#2. Munchkin Warm Glow Wipes Warmer 

This is a must have because one thing babies do not like is getting their diapers changed. They do not like the feeling of cold wipes. Before we started using this my son cried for everything diaper change, now for most of his changes he is as calm as can be.

# 3. NoseFrida Suction 

You will love this one even though I am not as great at doing this as my husband it gets the job done. If your little one has buggies in their nose grab your frida and suction away!

# 4. Medifrida

I absolutely love this! If your little one ever needs any medicine this is the perfect. Comes with a medication syringe and pacifier to dispense the medication through the pacifier!

#5 . SwaddleMe Velcro Swaddle 

Sometimes the most simple thing is actually hard to do. It was so hard to swaddle my son when he first arrived home. He was very fussy and would break free from our swaddles. These velcro swaddles helped us to hold him in place better.

# 6 . Avent Anti-Colic Bottles 

These bottles helped us out a great deal because the first month my son was extremely colic. Part of it was due to the discomfort he was experiencing from gas. These bottles will stop your little from swallowing too much air when they drink their bottle. The bottles come with an air vent stopper in order to trap any air in the bottle. This is a must have.

# 7. American Red Cross Deluxe Health and Grooming Kit for Infant

This kit comes handy with everything you will need for your baby such as a thermometer, comb, brush, medication syringe, finger toothbrush, spoon , and many more items. It is also easy to carry around do not skip this one! 

I hope you all enjoyed this list and there will be many more posts like this. Happy Holidays!

Pregnancy and Acid Reflux

Photo of me taken by my husband
7 months pregnant

Hi Everyone I missed you all !  I wrote this article a couple of months ago during the summer time when I was still pregnant. The baby is now here ! But I still wanted to publish this so you guys could see my experience with Acid Reflux and Pregnancy.

Hey guys! So the reason why I have been away from blogging on this site and my social media for quite some time is because my spouse and I found out we were expecting a child! Now with pregnancy comes a whirlwind of emotions. You just go through all these different stages and emotions and sometimes you just can’t control it because of all the hormonal changes taking place in the body during pregnancy.

As I embark on this new journey in my life I am learning a lot and all the symptoms that come with pregnancy. One of the major symptoms of pregnancy that most women experience and other women are very very lucky not to experience is NAUSEA and VOMITING. Even though the cause is unknown as to why women experience these symptoms such and nausea and vomiting especially in the first trimester ( first 12 weeks) the main culprit is believed to “The Pregnancy Hormone Hcg” also known as Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (see reference below). I know that is a very long name to pronounce so we will just say Hcg.  

Hcg levels are especially high in the beginning of pregnancy and this is the hormone that allows us to actually confirm that we are pregnant either by a blood test or urine test. After about 11 or 12 weeks levels of the hormone will start to decline but still remain active until the end of pregnancy.

I thought that pregnancy would be a breeze for me but I had these symptoms instantly and even at almost reaching 20 weeks I am still experiencing symptoms such as gagging when waking up in the morning and throughout the day, nausea before meals and after meals, and extreme fatigue not to mention the backaches, insomnia, and changes in heartheart. I mean it is a lot but as women this is what we were called to do and it is a beautiful thing.

But now as the baby grows, I am starting to experience more reflux and heartburn. There are still some medications such as tums which is safe to take during pregnancy but I have tried them all and nothing has worked. So getting through reflux during pregnancy is a challenge especially if you are having changes in your appetite sometimes you just eat what you can and it is hard to stick to the rules of reflux. Of course you should continue to make sure that you are staying away from your trigger foods , greasy foods, spicy foods and certain spices and condiments. Also drink lots of fluids especially water but drinking fluids during pregnancy be after meals or before meals so that you do not get too full and nauseated. You should also eat small frequent meals and try not to overeat. So these are some of the things I try to do to take control of my reflux if you guys have any tips please comment and share below!

Thank you for reading!

Want to read more about The Pregnancy Hormone Click on this link that will direct you to the American Pregnancy Association Website

Reference: https://americanpregnancy.org/while-pregnant/hcg-levels/