My Top 5 Pregnancy Style Must Haves

I wouldn't consider myself that trendy of a person. I have a couple outfits and accessories here and there but for the most part I'm pretty plain. For some reason, when pregnancy comes around I feel the need to ramp up my wardrobe. Why (during a time that my body is every changing and I wont be able to fit into the clothes once the baby is born) do I pick this time as an opportunity, I'm not sure.

One of the biggest things I look for when shopping while I'm pregnant is versatility, comfort, and the possibility of wearing post pregnancy. Here are my top 5 pregnancy wardrobe must haves for this season of my life!

Belly Band

This has always been a staple for me from my very first pregnancy. This helps extend the ability to wear "normal" pants well into your pregnancy reducing the need to buy those pregnancy jeans that never stay up. They are also a life saver post pregnancy when you haven't quite fit into your pre-baby jeans.

Maternity tanks

Another staple from my first pregnancy. I love tank tops because they don't get too warm and you can buy a couple of neutral tones and pair them with a cute open top. I would recommend having one in both black and white! What's nice about these babies is that I still wear them post pregnancy and I love that they are much longer than the average tank top.

Kimono

I LOVE these, like I'm obsessed with them. They are breezy and adorable and I feel so fashionable wearing them. These can be worn over your maternity tanks. You don't even need to be preggo to wear them, that's the best part! Here is a 

Kimono at Target

 that I picked up and I absolutely love it! This

one

is also super cute!

Maxi dresses

These work well for my pregnancy this time around as I will be having a summer baby. Maxi dresses are so soft and stretchy they are perfect for the pregnant body.

We made it to 28 weeks!

It was about this time during my last pregnancy that my water bag slightly begin to tear, leaking amniotic fluid, aka PROM (Premature Rupture of the Membrane). When it first happened, I had just put my little one down for the evening and I was cleaning up around the house. The hubby was working nights and I was alone. I bent over to pick up some dirty laundry on the floor and when I stood up I felt the slight bit of trickle between my legs.

My initial reaction was that I must have lost control of my bladder, although I didn't feel the need to go. I was so confused. There was no gush, just a trickle. I went to the bathroom and sat upon the toilet and it continued. Was I really going nuts? Was I really peeing my pants and not feeling it? It was a sporadic trickle but just seemed to keep coming. My gut told me this was not good and so I got on the phone and called my husband.

We went into labor and delivery that evening to only be told that it was not amniotic fluid and I must have just lost control of that area. I just couldn't believe it as I got back in the car and sat on the already soaked bath towel. Finally after a week of this awkward problem and wearing poise pads, I had a regular visit with my Doctor, where it was indeed confirmed that my water bag had torn. So at 29 weeks pregnant and a week after leaking I was admitted into the hospital on full bed rest. Three weeks later I delivered our little girl, luckily with minimal complications.

Bed rested in the hospital

When you have one complicated pregnancy it basically dooms the joys and happiness of any pregnancy that might fall after. Given that my first baby was born with multiple heart defects and my second was premature, this third pregnancy has been more about avoidance than joy. You hold strong through the nausea of the progesterone shots.They put you on the high risk list, add extra anxiety inducing tests and tell you this one will be different. It doesn't help when they say “now you are at a greater risk for (this or that)”. Usually it is different but you never entirely escape from that unsettling feeling that something else might go wrong.

Week 28 is an eerie week for this pregnancy. Almost like a Friday the 13

th.

 It doesn't help that this one has been the hardest for me physically and emotionally. One more day and I will be at week 29!

Our Christmas News!

Third time is the charm.

It's what I've been told lately, that the third time is the charm. The third pregnancy is what they are referring to. I'm official outing myself and my pregnancy:)

The reason for the "charm" is that the first two were brought with challenging circumstances and more anxiety than I could imagine. My first child was born with multiple heart defects and had heart surgery when she was only 7 days old. With second baby my water bag tore at 28 weeks and I was on bed rest for 3 weeks until we finally had to deliver her early.

I'm so blessed that they are both with us today and are doing very well! So the third time is hopefully the charm, right?

After the first, I was convinced that number two had to go as planned. How could a momma be thrown into this kind of circumstance twice? I was very wrong. So for this one, I'm very cautious and apprehensive.

My very first prenatal visit was a long one. An hour and a half talking with the doctor, explaining each previous pregnancy in detail so she could understand. Then we had to discuss what came after the pregnancies... the thing that most women don't want to admit or even talk about..... Postpartum Depression. Doctors always monitor this closely and there tends to be an extra eye on your emotional well being throughout and after the process. Normally I would have lied to avoid this stigma but I knew I might need help again after this one. It's easier to be asked "how are feeling" rather than having to choke it out yourself and admit to the doctor that you are not okay.

I was then educated on all the extra procedures, shots, and screenings I would need to do with my high risk pregnancy. The doubt started to set in. I could feel the anxiety building in the pit of my stomach. Fetal echo cardiogram. Progesterone shots. Special monitoring....

I was feeling excited until this visit. Now I'm just slightly nervous. I am excited, however, to announce to all of you about the pregnancy as I have been almost bursting trying to keep it a secret from everyone this long. I'm not very good with secrets and when I have news this exciting it is sooo hard to keep it to myself.

I wish you all a very merry Christmas!

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The things kids say

Elephant surviving a coma, leafy sea reporters and dragon survivor.....

These are all names of trees according to my 5 year old scientist.

You see, she loves science, loves learning and love making up her own things.. like tree names.

We were on a walk to the park the other day, mini legal pad and pencil in hand, she started drawing out the shapes of the trees and spouting out their imaginary names.

"I'm a Scientist, Daddy!" She corrected him so sternly when he called her something else. 

For now, she wants to be a scientist. I can tell that she is drawn to how things work and are made. She is enthralled with nature and love spending time in our vegetable garden. 

I'm not sure what a leafy sea reporter is but I imaging it looks something like this?

Perhaps she got that one mixed up with the Leafy Sea Dragon?

Picture found here

It's better than TV or my favorite show. To sit and experience her creative little mind just go off and be. She is hysterical to me and it's amazing to see these little people start to grow up.

Favorite Things Friday: Floral and Coffee

Hey Friends!! Today I wanted to share with a little bit of my personal style and some of the things I'm loving this week! I caught a theme here... Floral and Coffee.

 Hawaiian Coffee

This Thermos from Target! I want to be Glamping right now!

My floral camera charm necklace also from Target.

My floral Tinkerbell Coffee mug.

Jamberry Nails Orchid Garden - I can't wait to put mine on!

My favorite scented candle from Bath and Body Works.

What are some of your favorite things? Post in the comments and share with me!

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Girfriends and What I don't Miss About My Early 20's

Being an only girl in the family of boy siblings, it feels like girl time was few and far between. Which is why I'm always eager to attend our regular girls night each month. 

I am so blessed, at the age of 30, to have a group of women I've known since high school, who still make an effort to get together regularly. This past Saturday we went out to celebrate two of my girlfriend's 30th birthdays. It's the year of 30 for all of the gals in the group.

We went to a very nice place, which had excellent food and a jazzy sax player in the bar. It seems like some of us, I included, were eager to let loose and reenact some of our early 20's. We found ourselves in an Irish pub bar located in the town we grew up in After sitting down and ordering drinks, it was clear to us that this was a college bar and were no longer in college. It even included those shot girls, who circled the bar with a tray full of neon test tubes, traveling to every table.

The whole experience just made us feel aged and we realized we were no longer the young early 20 something’s we used to be and that's okay. And while our lives are more comparable to the late Sex and the City story line, we realize that we still have some good times ahead.

"Girlfriends are not about being inseparable, it's about being separated for however long and nothing changes!" - 3 Wittle Birds

What do 30 something married women do for entertainment? My girlfriends and I manage to have at least one dinner night a month. It seems few and far between but it's more realistic this day and age. On occasion, we enlist the hubbies in on the fun game night. You would be amazed how competitive this evening ends up! On the recent evening of our latest girls night,

We did manage, after all these years of trying to plan a vacation, to scheduled a weekend getaway to Lake Geneva. It's sort of like the Midwest version of the Hampton Islands.

What I don't miss about my early 20's

1. Lacking self confidence in my body image
2. Roommate drama - I've had some amazing roommates who were from Australia and we all seemed to get along. I've also had some very stressful situations of bad judgment that have led to calling the cops at 2 am.... Let's just say, been there and I'm done with that.
3. Having a hangover every weekend - It's seems that when you are in your early 20's, a relaxed Friday or Saturday night doesn't exist when you are single and the fear of not have anything to do is frustrating.
4. The bar and club scene - Those drunken girls in the bathrooms (who didn't quite make it to the toilet), and the creepy drunk guys at the bar that mistaken a kind "no" for bitchiness.
5. Dating - Don't get me wrong, the beginning stages of dating are both exhilarating and nerve wracking but I don't miss that roller coaster.
6. Frienemies and acquaintances - It feels like you have a  ton of friends at this age but that are all too quick to back stab or throw you under the bus. Over the years, through marriages and the big leap to children, acquaintances fall off and you find out who your true friends are. The ones that you may not talk to all the time, but you have no problem picking up where you left off.
7. Thinking I knew it all - I felt like I had it all figured out and I knew who I was. Turns out, not true.... shocking! But really, I have come to the closure that I don't think I will every have it all figured out and I don't want to ever shut myself out of continuous improvement.

For a final note: Here is a funny picture I found while perusing on

Pinterest

. Enjoy!