Pregnancy

Disclosure :: This post is sponsored by Red Stick Spice Company.  Drink up, Mom! Teas for Pregnancy and Beyond Tea is taking the beverage world by storm. Some of may think of tea as a proper afternoon break served with scones and crumpets. Others look forward to a big glass of iced sweet tea with their lunch. Tea is also seen as part of a wellness routine, a beverage that’s used as a tonic to ward off illness. Which approach to tea is correct? All of them! Tea is a big part of what we do at Red Stick Spice Company, and what we love most is that the learning never ends. Tea dates back thousands of years and is a part...

When my oldest son was born, everything happened so fast. I was only thirty-seven weeks gestation when he was born, and it was quite the experience. Outside of extra monitoring and progesterone shots, I had a pretty normal pregnancy, until my 35 week appointment. My ultrasound revealed a possibility of some type of blockage in baby's kidney, and the next thing I knew I was in labor and delivery.  Everything was fine but in the next two weeks, I was triaged two different times for high blood pressure. At 37 weeks, I was finally induced due to low amniotic fluid. After only an hour after my induction began, the baby's heart rate dropped and the next thing I knew I...

Who doesn't get excited about a baby announcement? Your own, a family member, a friend, or even a stranger's announcement is exciting. It is all hunky-dory until someone brings up the whole gender topic and not in a "I can't wait to meet him or her!' 'Oh how I hope you have a boy!' I never truly understood the whole gender bias thing until I was expecting. When I found out my first was a girl, I will never forget the comment "Good luck with a girl!" (Insert Major, Major Eye Roll!) Really?! I was pretty excited to have a girl. Thoughts of future manicures and girl talks filled my head. The comment was forgotten in a matter of seconds. Then...

Rainbow babies. Thanks to social media and some really beautiful photo shoots, the phrase "rainbow baby" is pretty widely known. But for those who don't know, a rainbow baby is a baby born after a loss. The rainbow after the storm. Both of my babies were born after tremendous losses, and I'm so fortunate we came out the other side.  I got engaged to my college boyfriend my senior year of college. We planned to get married in a year but I started to feel a little funny a week after I walked across the stage. Surprise, surprise! I was pregnant! But the real surprise came after my first ultrasound, and there were two babies! Part of me was excited...

I knew I was pregnant on my twenty-seventh birthday. I had wanted a baby for so long, though, that I didn't want to spoil my birthday if I took a test and it was negative. So the day after my birthday, I took a test and sure enough two pink lines confirmed what I already knew. My friend was one of the first people that I told about the pregnancy. I was in her van, and we pulled over onto the side of the road so she could give me a hug and then we, well, squealed together with excitement. I was a little queasy for a few days, and then it stopped. I thought I had just gotten lucky...