Tightening of Baby Belly

The first time I experienced tightening in my abdominal area I thought the worst and that something might be wrong and I was cramping. I called the doctor and he said that it was normal and this was due to my ligaments stretching as my uterus began to expand. If I remember the doctor referred to it as round ligament pain. Later in my pregnancy I had a lot abdominal pain mainly because of the horrible gas I was having which wasn’t fun at all.

Near the end of my pregnancy I did experience Braxton Hicks contractions which is another major factor to tightening and feeling like your belly is hard.

Really only thing I can say on this is that it’s normal to feel tightening in the abdominal area but if you feel like it might be something more serious consult your doctor

-E
____________________________________

I didn't feel much tightening in my baby belly till around 35-36 weeks pregnant. I too thought there was something extremely wrong. It got to the point where I could hardly move and hardly walk. Dean & I went to the hospital only for them to completely avoid telling me what was wrong and had me hooked up to the monitor for 2.5hrs.

When I went to visit my OGBYN not to long after my visit I explained the pains I was having. He could see the concerned look on my face. I was relieved to find out that the tightening and pain I was experiencing was only my baby girl lowering her head into my pelvis getting ready to be born. He explained that the pain was because you have two bones on each side of your pelvis, once a baby is engaging, those bones get pressure put on them because of the babies head and start to slowly move apart.

I was relieved when he told me and once she was fully engaged, or at least to my knowledge, the pain went away and I had a very low dropped belly

-X
____________________________________

I was told early on that your belly stays small during your first pregnancy and it takes much longer to show you're pregnant. Wrong! My belly began to stretch and grow super fast. Toward the end of my first trimester, I could feel how tight it was getting. The skin would feel tight and itch, the belly itself would be so hard. I honestly felt like I could feel the muscles themselves stretching!

I had a great deal of odd little pains, cramps, and aches. Sometimes I would feel a sharp stabbing pain, then it would shift to a dull ache all over. I spent days on the internet researching and told myself "it's just round ligament pain." I was having such odd sensations that I did bring it up to my OB/GYN and she was not concerned in the slightest and said it's normal!

6 months later and I can still feel so much stretching and adjusting from my lower pelvis right up to my ribs.  I've noticed now that the yoga I've been doing and the extra little stretches when I'm uncomfortable accompanied with lots of water has helped tremendously. My belly still fluctuates between being super round and hard and tight to a little more relaxed and soft to the touch.

-K

Sleepless Nights

Lets me just start off by saying a child will change your life especially your nightly routines. So while your able to sleep at night enjoy it, cause it isn't gonna last lol :)

My sleepless nights began when I was pregnant a few months before my son even arrived. With that bump I had I could never get comfy at nights. I tried numerous ways of laying, but nothing worked. I tried body pillows for hugging or propping up the belly and all that did was make me sweat even more. I did tend to sweat alot at night which didn't help at all cause was always kicking off covers and then would get cold, so covers back on. Its like the pregnancy was regulating my body temperature.

The biggest thing that contributed to sleepless nights is something I think most moms to be can relate to. PEEING 24/7!! I think my son hugged my bladder all night cause about month 7 on I would have to get up at least 3-4 times a night to pee. Talk about not being able to sleep. I would finally get to sleep and in like an hour feel the urge and have to get up to use the bathroom. I mean come on little little you already wear momma out enough at least let mommy sleep lol.

Another major factor that contributed to my sleepless nights was nightmares and wild dreams. I'm not sure if was the hormones or just the fact of being so exhausted, but sometimes I would wake up for no reason. I would be screaming or talking as if something was so real. My boyfriend would have to calm me down and tell me it was just a dream, and that everything was ok.

All I can tell you ladies is prepare yourself for sleepless nights no matter whether your pregnant or a new mom. They are going to happen whether you like it or not

-E
____________________________________

I am only 14 weeks into my pregnancy and I have already grown accustomed to the sleepless nights and I know they aren't going to get easier for the rest of pregnancy or even after I give birth.

I have officially been getting up to pee at least once a night (yipee...!) but as little of excitement that is now, I know I am going to be grateful that I am used to at least getting up in the middle of the night for when the baby comes and we use a lot of our sleep anyway.

-D
____________________________________

Ah sleepless nights. Something I already knew all to well before becoming pregnant. I have a smaller bladder and used to already wake up 2/3 times a night. Once I started to show more and feel her kick, the feeling of peeing even more often during the day and night became all to real.

Being already a few days away from my due date the washroom has now become my second home. The need to pee has already disrupted my last few days of sleep by waking me up ever 1 1/2-2hrs. During the day it settles down to around maybe 2-3hrs in-between one another.

I am the same as E in the factor of also waking up to nightmares and crazy vivid dreams.

No one tells you much, but what I'v realized becoming pregnant, the bladder is almost no longer there and the dreams get quite, intense sometimes. Be prepared for sometimes waking up and not knowing if it's still a dream or if you're back in reality. And sometimes they get extremely sexually intense too.

-X

Belly Piercings

I myself have a few piercings. 8 in my ears, one nose, and one belly button. I can't wait till I can get a few more in my ears and maybe a few in some risky area's. But as for the belly button piercing I am in such a loving relationship with it.

Before becoming pregnant I had a decent body, and loved when summer came to wear bathing suits and change my piercing to cute dangled ones. Gave me a little push on body pride. I never thought much about what I'd do with it once I become pregnant but now, I'm here today, at 36 weeks and still have my piercing in.

I had upgraded to an extended piece of jewelry since I knew my belly was going to grow at about 25-30 weeks pregnant. I have a fear of it closing up and don't really want to go through the whole piercing process again. It wasn't a horrible experience, just would rather not. Now that my belly is much bigger, making the choice to switch it out was a relief.

Before I did the switch, i knew it was time to get a more relaxing jewelry in. The top hole was starting to get a little on the red side. I believe it was from my skin now stretching and my jewelry not being the right size anymore.

Photo from https://www.pinterest.ca/sanchez1_1913/piercings/?lp=true  

I do recommend looking into getting an extended piece if you have become pregnant because it most definitely is more satisfying to have the relaxation on the actual piercing hole than keep a tight smaller one in.

Emma Dufficy from Baby Center UK also recommends switching to a plastic barbell. With "these flexible bars [they] can bend as your belly expands and you can also wear them during ultrasound scans"*

If you do decided to take out your piercing, I also recommend that you push your jewelry threw your piercing everyday so it doesn't close

So if you're considering getting a belly button piercing and may wonder what to do once you become pregnant, you have no need to worry because there is alternatives you can do once the belly grows

* https://www.babycentre.co.uk/x543048/can-you-wear-piercings-during-pregnancy

-X

Maternity Wear

During my pregnancy I was all about comfort and what could fit. Before I was pregnant I was all about the short shorts and cute little tank tops. I mean a girl has got to show off her assets, right!! When I got pregnant for the first few months I tended to stay with the same type of outfits, but as I got further along and began to show my shorts began to not fit anymore which upset me.. I Looked Fat! My mom ended up taking me maternity clothes shopping I think when I was about five months along. I ended up buying a few pairs of stretchy yoga pants which later on became my best friend. I had to buy large undies also since my butt was getting bigger. Also had to buy a whole new set of bras as my boobs began to grow more and more. Wired seemed to hurt and felt weird so it was all about the sports bra most of my pregnancy. Many nights I would end up sleeping in one of my boyfriends shirts cause they were big enough to fit around belly plus I sweated a lot at night so wore something that could easily slip off. As for a bikini I didn’t care at all and would wear one no matter what. As my pregnancy went on I learned to embrace my bump and flaunt it when I had the chance. So if I went to the pool or beach and I had the chance to show off the curves I would

-E
____________________________________

To me, hearing or seeing some women not wear maternity clothes makes me wonder if they're aware that their baby can feel the pressure on the belly.

For myself, sadly, it took too long for me to finally get maternity pants due to some things going on in my life. But the moment I did, I felt amazing! No more pressure on my uterus, I could bend down with almost no signs of struggle, and felt comfortable beyond belief.

A lot of my tops are still the ones I had before which I actually love. I wear the shirts or tank tops that aren't suffocating and hard to breath in, but show off my baby bump. Sometimes a mom-to-be just has to show the world that she's got a bun in the oven

The bras! I hate wearing bra's with wires now, actually tends to leave me with bruises where the wire is located near your armpit, so I switched to bralettes. Most of the time if I can get out of even wearing a bra, I most definitely would rather not be.

All I want to do is to go swimming. Extremely, badly. I myself, don't find it appropriate to go to a public pool in a two piece, but again, this is just my own opinion. If any mom's have, I give huge props to you. I still have yet to find looking in the mirror in a two piece bathing suit, on me, a satisfying sight.  Being 36 weeks pregnant, the belly's getting a little on the big side. Once my daughter is born, and she's old enough to take her first swimming lessons we will be at the pool, hopefully, every second day. I love the look of one pieces now-a-days and of course adore two pieces, so hopefully I can get this mama's body into either of those come summer.

-X
____________________________________

I always heard people make comments about when you have a baby belly, you need to have maternity wear. I never listened thinking that it was a waste of money and you could work around your athletic wear but Lord was I wrong. I ran into a lot of issues with pains the longer I wore pants due to the pressure that my pants were putting on my belly. When I stopped working, I didn't even bother wearing pants to be comfortable.

One day, I needed out of the apartment so we took my gift cards that I had gotten over Christmas to Target to spend it on whatever I seem fit. After almost an hour walking around the store without choosing anything, we came across the maternity section. Since we didn't have any plans, we thought what the hell, let's try something on and see what the big deal was. In the fitting room, I pulled up a pair of jeans and oh my God...... I was in heaven. They lifted my belly, which is pretty low to begin with, and took away a lot of pressure.

As of going off the same list of favorites as the rest of moms have done, I unfortunately can't give a lot of feedback with that just yet but hopefully soon!

-D

Infertility

I hate to kinda put myself in this topic solely for the reason because it didn't take that long for me to get pregnant like I know a lot of mothers out there have the issue with. However, I do have something that I know I could relate myself to somebody out there so I figured I would give my story and help someone if I could. Around last August, I was at work when I began to bleed out of, well I am sure you can figure out where. At first, I thought it was just my period starting and being pretty irregular as it was, it didn't seem too suspicious to me. I got my client in the car to take him grocery shopping (I worked in client's home who need some extra help) and started our trek to the store. I normally have my phone in between my legs when I have someone in the passenger seat due to a lack of center console to stick it in. I hadn't left the parking lot yet so I grabbed it to call my boss after receiving a text asking for a call. I had planned on dialing and speaking over the car speakers as I normally do but didn't even get the chance to call.

My phone was covered in blood, front and back. I didn't quite understand what was going on and started to get scared when I looked down and I had blood soaking my yoga pants from my hooha all the way to my knees. It had been a while since I had a period due to birth control, five years to be exact, but it was pretty obvious that this was not supposed to be normal. I gave a dumb excuse to my client to turn back around and go back to his house which he seemed pretty content with. I asked him to go up to his room for a little bit while I stayed downstairs and called a co-worker to get her opinion. The pain was becoming unbearable and the blood continued to come and started dripping out of my pant leg and into my shoe. I started to get light-headed so I hung up with her and called my boss and explained there was emergency at the house and needed someone to come relieve me right away which he began to work on.

My next call was Justin, who had to drive me because there was no way I was going to make it. With both on their way, I did my best to stay calm but between the pain and the amount of blood, I started to worry the worse, I am miscarrying. When everything was situated at work, Justin and I made our way to the emergency room. They were pretty busy and hearing something that didn't seem life threatening, they weren't too quick to getting me into a room. When they finally called me to go and get my vitals checked, I told them that I standing up making blood gush out quickly but they didn't seem to mind until they saw the amount of blood that actually flowed out onto the pad they laid out on the wheelchair for me. That changed their mood very quick and they took me back right away.

They poked and prodded, put a catheter in, and did a vaginal exam and determined that I wasn't pregnant and miscarrying (Thank God) but had a very large ovarian cyst that had burst. She recommended that I make an appointment with my gynecologist to see if this is going to be more of an issue in the future.

To make a long story a little shorter, my gynecologist told me that with the cysts that developed on my ovaries could lead to infertility in the future and that I may only have a small window to get pregnant. Justin and I tried for a few months, watching my ovulation cycle like a hawk, and no such luck. I know that is way less time then a lot of mothers but I was just trying to accept the fact that I may never become a mom which was my dream for years. We stopped actually trying and got the mentality of if it happens, it happens which was when it turned out that we were gonna have our little boy.

As much as I would love to have at least two kids, I have learned to accept the fact that my son may be my only one and that is okay because that was a miracle within itself.

-D

Rudeness

I've been pretty lucky in the area of dealing with rude people. Only have had a few encounters but they were more creepy than rude.

I've been posting photos on Instagram of my belly because I'm proud of how large I've gotten. Even been lucky
enough to have a few other accounts ask to post my photo or say a shout out. But there's been a time where one account just made me feel uncomfortable.

They had seen a photo and private messaged me asking to do a video and of course have my baby bump in it. I had no problem doing so. Seemed like a pretty legit account. Only thing was that I had told them I was having dinner, they than replied with something along the lines of "Okay, make sure that belly is stuffed full and popping!", followed by a smiling emoji. With that comment I felt uncomfortable.

There was one other time where I posted a photo of my bare belly and received another private message asking me if my belly button was going to pop out. I asked this strange man why only to be disgusted with him saying "I have a belly button fetish and want to no". Of course I replied with telling him to go away, blocked him, and called my boyfriend right away.

As for rude encounters, like I said, I never really had any, just creepy ones

-X
____________________________________

Let me just say this right of the bat, there are some things you shouldn’t say to a pregnant woman unless you wanna get slapped in the face or kicked in the nuts lol. I had plenty of guys ask the size of my breasts and also ask how much weight I gained while I was pregnant. First off, the size of my breasts is none of your business, I mean come on seriously. Also if you had common sense, you know you never ask a girl their weight pregnant or not.

I remember one major instance when I was at the gym one day and on the treadmill and a guy came up from behind and grabbed my butt. He was like “What's up sweet thing? Can I take that body for a ride?” I immediately turned around and punched the dude and was like are you serious! Excuse me! And stormed off into another room of the gym. First off, I guess he didn’t think there were any boundaries and this was not just rude, basically sexual harassment. It just seems like guys have a fearing for pregnant girls and will act jokingly around us, even though it’s rude they don’t think it is.

Basically ladies you don’t deserve to be disrespected or treated like crap. If someone is rude or says something rude call them out on it. Tell them how rude and disrespectful that was. You deserve to be treated well so take control.

-E
____________________________________

Even though I am not as further along as the other mothers, I already have had rude comments directed toward me. Some that actually have hit both Justin and I more than we thought we could get from who we considered our friends and family. Not all were comments, some actions that hurt us more than words could so please be patient because I'll get to my point eventually.

Justin and I are both Christians but not what people would consider the hardcore Christian type. We try to go to church as much as possible, we try to lead friendly and helpful lives and help anyone in need, and we work hard to learn to forgive along with being working on our relationship with God. We don't consider ourselves perfect but we treat everyone as if they are. Justin's best friend, who won't be named, and his brother grew up in a very Christian family who have their beliefs and everyone else who doesn't follow those beliefs aren't good enough to be talked to.

It's no secret that Justin and I don't have the most conventional relationship. We moved in together after two months of dating (for various reasons), we didn't save ourselves until we tied the knot, and we (obviously) are having a baby before marriage. To anyone who knows Christianity, these are big no-nos and a best friend isn't an exception. They always made comments about our relationship, even before we actually got together. We first met five years ago when I was sixteen and he was twenty-four so I don't know if they still see me as the annoying little teen that followed them around because I wanted to be friends or what but when Justin and I reconnected when I was twenty, they were very cold to me and didn't mind telling Justin what they really thought. They even went as far as telling him that I used to stare at one of them. I wholeheartedly feel part of it was that they didn't want me around and did anything they could to make that happen.

Although Justin and I stuck together, it didn't get any easier when we moved in and especially got comments when he got the nerve to tell them that we were expecting. He made it quite clear that he wasn't gong to listen to any negativity from them so we got a cold congratulations. The pain I could see in Justin's eyes from hearing that from someone he considered his brother was actually heartbreaking. How could you turn your back on your best friend like that? I still don't quite understand to be completely honest. They blocked us from seeing their posts on social media, made passive aggressive comments to me (that even Justin doesn't know about), and never sends Justin texts to see how he's doing or ask if he wants to come see his buddies from out of town. All because we decided to take the open window of time for me to get pregnant and it wasn't in the order that THEY desired. Even just typing this now, I find myself in tears for Justin. Even church members, ones who are on the committee are happy for us and express their love but I guess there always has to be those few that try to bring negativity to something as happy and exciting as becoming a parent.

It would be great to say that they're the only ones that we have to worry about trying to bring us down but unfortunately they aren't. In fact, someone who should be close to me makes things really hard in our lives as well. My sister. We always butted heads growing up. For the greater part of our childhood, there was insults and assaults that were directed towards me by her. I am pretty used to it now and most of the time can let it go in one ear and out the other. She's excited about having a nephew but that doesn't stop her from being an arrogant "beotch". Just last Saturday is a very good example of this. My father's girlfriend invited us all over to their house for a family dinner. This included myself, Justin, my father, my father's girlfriend, my youngest other sister, and the focus of this story, my sister. All was well until she arrived. Right off the bat she wanted to see my belly. No "hey, can I see your belly since I haven't seen it yey?", it was "take off your coat so I can see how big you got". Rude but whatever. Choose your own battles, right? Then the next words came out of her mouth that even Justin had to bite his lip for. She said, "Looks like your boobs didn't get the memo. They look small compared to how fat you got. Guess who won't be breastfeeding." That really hit deep down. First, you demand that I show you my belly and then you have to top it off with an insult about the way that I look?

Let's just say that I didn't go over yesterday to meet her new boyfriend....

-D

Breastfeeding or Formula?

This is big decision for all moms to be. I remember when I was making the decision as there were pros for each of them. But in the end I chose to breastfeed my son. I learned that it was better for him as well as mother after birth as it helped your body shrink. 

The main reason I chose was the mother/son bonding that it resulted in. Being able to sit there and hold him, while watching his nurse was so precious. It's a precious time in my life that I will always remember. The first few times it does hurt and feel like someone is chewing and bruising your nippled, but it does get better. It was hard at first as he had trouble latching, but once we got the hang of it, it was smooth sailing. 

I guess the only down side was that sometimes I had to feed my son in public, and even though I was covered just felt awkward. I would have people staring at me and I'm pretty sure that some people even tried to peer down to see if they could catch a glimpse :)

Overall breastfeeding to me is the way to go due to the benefits and the bond it creates between a mother and their child.  What are your thoughts ladies?

-E
____________________________________

I know this is a huge decision that a lot of mothers have to eventually decide on for once they give birth. For me, it gets a little more complicated to make the decision.

When I was born, my mom had chose to breastfeed me. After I arrived at my first home, a nurse had come to the house after a few days and noticed that I had lost a lot of wait and looked very frail. It turns out that my mother wasn't producing (or at least not producing enough) and that if the nurse hadn't stopped by to see how everything was going, I could've died from starvation. This, of course, got me changed to drinking formula.

I hear every time I hear about a mother breastfeeding that it's one of the best ways to bond and has amazing benefits for the baby and I want that so much for me and my son but so afraid that the same thing would happen to me, or even worse, I don't catch it like my parents did and I really hurt him.

This made the decision a lot harder for me because bonding is important to me but obviously, I don't wanna hurt my son. I came down to the conclusion that I was going to try to breastfeed but if watch close enough that if I wasn't making enough, I could use formula to make sure that he grows up healthy and strong.

-D
____________________________________

Sometimes we can breastfeed, and sometimes we can't. The baby might not latch on, might not eat long enough to get that good back milk, a mother may not be able to produce enough, or sometimes your baby will refuse to even take to breastfeeding anymore if they already were. All things that are sadly real and that we new mom's need to be aware of and okay with.

The bonding experience between a mother and child, from what I've heard, during breastfeeding can be another magical moment. Some mom's might not feel like that, and may start to not bond with their child in that way anymore. And that's okay mom's! Yes, giving your baby breast milk is one of the best things to give them, but if he/she wont take, or you no longer have a bond, they push away the boob, there is always formula.

I myself do of course want to try what I can to breastfeed my daughter, but am aware that it's okay if I can't or if anything else arises. I was a formula and breast milk baby. I wouldn't eat long enough to get the good boobie juice, as my mother would always say, so they had to put me on formula due to me becoming jaundice*. 

We all want a bond with our child, but no matter if its through breast milk, or formula, you get to hold your baby and watch them drink up all the good nutrients to make them grow big and strong.

*To help understand what jaundice is, here is a link https://www.healthline.com/health/newborn-jaundice

-X

Children & Electronics

In this next blog we are giving our own personal outlooks on this topic. We are not saying that children and electronics are good nor bad. This is a topic that we find interesting and want to share our thoughts about.

Growing up in the 90's was great! Tablets weren't a thing yet, video games were just starting out, cellphones were just booming. We went on long bike rides and did crazy jumps to prove that girls were one of the guys. We played games outside. Some good old kick the can, man hunt, or hide-&-seek. For me, I have an idea of what it's like seeing young children and electronics since I have a 10 year old brother. I myself, I don't like it.

I have no problem with a bit of TV time. Sometimes children wake up before parents, turn the tv on to watch a few episodes of whatever their favorite tv show is at that time, or even some tv as a family time before bed. But once it gets to a point where all they do is sit there and record tv shows, one after the other, not even new ones! That drives me crazy. I also understand that sometimes we as adults sit in front of the tv and binge watch a few episodes here and there, but we earned the right to do it. 

I start to have a problem with tablets when they sit there and download games and play them all day. Glued to the screen. You try talking to them, and we get no reply. Yes, we are the same, but again, we're adults. I dislike when I see parents at restaurants giving their child tablets to shut them up. Yes I do understand that that's there choice to do so, but than why bring your child out? Why do not a lot of children still play with dolls, read a book, play dress up, or even call a friend and ask if they want to go for a bike ride to the park and play lava? Why must they be connected to their friends through Xbox, Instagram, and even Facebook? Last time I checked, you have to be 13 to even get an account. I don't see it being okay to let your child pose for pictures or talk online in a video game to people they don't know. Sadly, now a days, there's far to many creeps.

When my daughter wants to get a phone I stand strongly behind me telling her that if she want's one, she needs to buy it herself and get a pay-as-you-go. Growing up that was our rule and I honestly hated it at the time but understand now why my parents would say that. I will budge a little if she ends up being in a lot of after school activities as for the only reason for her to contact us right away. But if she's at the age of 8-13 asking for one, it wont happen.

As you can probably tell this topic gets under my skin, but I stand strongly behind my own personal outlook on this topic. Again, this is my own opinion and my own choices once my daughter is born. Every parent is different and parents differently 

-X

____________________________________

This topic can really get heated between a conversation between moms. I have actually heard both sides of an argument before and both actually had some pretty good points.l

On one hand, tablets and TV could be beneficial to a child by having a lot of learning shows and games in a way that would keep them engaged for a long period of time. They can be portable (tablet wise) so it can keep your child busy and distracted for potentially high stressed situations for you as the mom.

One the other hand, it's no secret that kids have been quite obsessed with TV and tablets including video games and it can make it so that they only want to focus on that. I have a friend whose son has been playing video games since he was two and to this day only wants to play Playstation whenever he is home. He is now almost ten. When he is out with his mother, she hands him a tablet to play whatever he wants or watches a downloaded movie to basically keep his entertained and out of the way. I feel as though some, not all, parents use these devices to be lazy in their parenting so they don't have to do anything with their children.

It leads to the question of what would I let my child do and honestly that can get really hard. I would like to say that my son wouldn't be anywhere near electronics until he's eighteen years old and will excel by doing puzzles and being outside all the time but if we all really wanna be real with each other, sometimes we gotta do what we have to to give us a break.

In my opinion, I feel like if they are being used for the correct reasons, learning games, thought-provoking shows, etc, I think they should absolutely be used. I also feel like a time limit should be set in place so then they have the opportunity to focus on other activities such as exploring the outdoors, art, and music.

Now, my opinion on cellphones is a little bit more off of experience than anything. My parents were pretty overprotective when my sisters and I were growing up. We didn't run around our little town at the age of ten like a lot of the kids our age did. Back then it was something that really bugged me because I was in bed while I could hear all the neighborhood kids laughing and yelling as they played but now I miss the seven o'clock bedtimes. My father dropped us off and my mother picked us up before and after school and they always picked us up after sports practices so really we never needed our own phone. When I was about thirteen years old, I got a Nokia pre-paid phone for my birthday. This phone only had calling capabilities to my father, my mother, my grandmother, my aunt, and 911. I feel like having this phone for emergencies only made my parents feel safe when I started to get into junior high sports that began to be further away and tournaments started to take up a lot of my time. The older I got, the more freedom I would have with my phones my parents had gotten me but all the way through graduating high school, I never had a smartphone. When I decided to enlist in the military was when I broke down and got a smartphone to stay in touch with my friends and family while I was away.

Since then, I have got caught up in the smartphone hype and have the Galaxy S8 Plus so I know first hand how quick it can absorb a large aspect of your life and I don't want the same for my son.

-D
____________________________________

Basically how I feel with technology is that it brain washes today generation and prevents them from experiencing life and what it can teach them. Yes you can learn from games on a tablet not but not the same thing. All I can say is put those phone, tablets away and turn off those TVs. Go outside and do something

-E

The Big Reveal to Our Family & Friends

When I found out we were expecting it was around mid August 2017. I had a feeling I was and couldn't sleep and decided to take a test at 3AM. I saw the two lines and was joyous but nervous. When it got closer to the time Dean was going to wake up I did another test to be sure. It was again positive. I than walked into our bedroom as he sat on the bed and I said "Well...I'm pregnant". He stared at me and said "Why tell me now? I have to go to work in a few minutes. We will talk about this when I get home" One tip to the ladies, never tell your partner you're pregnant before work. It was a little bit of a blessing because it gave him the day to process it on his own, but I'd still not reccommned it.

We knew that we wanted to wait to tell family. Of course before anyone knew my best friend was the first to know. I told her at 3AM when I found out. Than it was my mother/his father, followed by my dad and older brother. We were planning on telling everyone else at both our Thanksgiving gatherings. First we told Dean's side. His dad already knew as I said before and was excited and told his brothers before we had a chance to do it ourselves, which led to only his Oma not knowing. This was also going to be the first time I was meeting his family which was already making me feel uneasy. Since everyone knew except his Oma it was a special moment for her. We stood close to her holding her hand saying "Oma, you're going to be a great-grandmother. We're going to have a baby". She was filled with joy!

Next was my family's Thanksgiving. All that was left was my cousins, aunts & uncles, as well as grandparents. Before people left we asked that everyone come sit in the living room because we had something to tell them all. Dean sat there silently because this was also the first time he was meeting all my family. Go big go home. I than began to say along the lines of "By this time next year we'll have another seat at table. We're pregnant!" Some of my family was shocked, but others we're beyond excited. Over time everyone got used to it and began being eager to meet her.

When the gender ultrasound came up I had Dean and my mother in the room and we were all hoping for a girl, and we were so happy that we were right. Dean called his father right away, he was thrilled. We than posted the photo to our social media accounts introducing her to our friends and family with her name. So many people were overjoyed with our news.

* I do not give permission to anyone to use these photos. These photos are my personal ones*

I'd love to hear your comments about how it went when you told your partner the big news

-X
____________________________________

My story on the reveal wasn’t as big as the other moms cause I really wasn’t expecting to get pregnant as I was on birth control plus we were using protection. When I found out I was more in shock then anything and thinking did I just ruin my life. My boyfriend was at work at the time and that night at dinner I pretty much just came out with it that I was pregnant. I could see the shock and worry on his face like did I really do that, I can’t afford a child. It took us both a few days to come to the realization that this was real. When it came time to tell the parents we knew that they weren’t gonna be very happy with our choices as I had grown up in the church and my parents were very religious when it came to sex after marriage. At first they weren’t thrilled and probably for about 10 min just yelled at us for not thinking of the consequences of our decisions.

Slowly but surely the came around and were there to support us the entire pregnancy. We did not find out the gender as we wanted it to be a surprise. I’m so glad to have my little son he is my world and if the greatest gift I could ever ask for.

-E
____________________________________

My reveal was pretty subtle and not planned as most try to make it for the first child, grandchild, nephew, etc. I explained a little bit in my bio about how I told Justin. It was two days after Christmas, and I had only minutes to come up with a way to tell Justin before he got home from work. I could've waited but was afraid that he would find that tests before I had the chance to do originally what I wanted to do. Plus, if I am really going to be honest with myself, there was no way I was going to be able to keep it a secret. I can't even wait to give presents on the right day. Justin and I exchanged Christmas presents at the end of November. I texted him and told him that one of my orders that I thought I cancelled for Christmas came in and so he had another Christmas present. I told him it wasn't much so he figured maybe it was a stocking stuffer or one of those inexpensive presents that was more meant to be a gag gift. Having a ton of festive boxes left over from wrapping the family's gifts, I grabbed one and threw them in there, stuffing tissues paper over them before shutting the box just as he was walking in the door. He gave me his normal hug and a kiss hello and seemed excited to see what the gift could've been. I was hesitant to give it to him because a hundred different reactions cycled through my head. What if he wasn't happy? What if he was too happy he fainted and hurt himself? What if he thought it was a joke and laughed? The most irrational thoughts flooded my head.

As he took it and slowly opened it, it felt like he was taking forever. Finally, he got to the tests. He didn't pull it out. He didn't smile. He didn't cry. Emotionless. I began getting anxious because he was giving me absolutely nothing. He eventually got out the word "I". He then began to tear up and put the box down and grabbed me. He hugged me so tight that I am pretty sure he cracked my back a few times as he said, "I love you. I always said I wanted to be a dad before I turned 30 (he just turned 29 and the due date is exactly a month before his birthday)." When we both got our composure, we sat down and had an actual conversation about our feelings. The happy, the nervous, and the concern and then all was well as we realized that we were growing our little family.

Our families were fun. We went to a mommy-to-be store here in our city and got onsies for my mom, dad, and sisters and Justin's parents. First, I told my sisters because I knew they would keep their mouths shut. Next was my mother, who we had a little concern for spilling the beans. What we chose to do was get onsies that had a theme that portrayed them. My mother's favorite animal is a monkey so we got one that had, you guessed it, monkeys on it. She didn't understand but thought it was cute. She didn't put two and two together that there was a reason that it was a onsie to the point that we had to tell her. When we did, her face lit up and was excited to be a grandma and asked all the questions that any future grandmother would. How far along I was, if we were excited, etc.

My father was next and had a similar reaction. My youngest sister, who is away at college, wanted us to record him opening the surprise which we told him was why we were recording. He thought maybe we were going to tell him something about her and she was too afraid to but he went along with it. He looked at his onsie, which had a little motorcycle on it, and only said, "what?" I responded with a "yeah" to which he then repeated with a "what?" After a little back and forth, Justin interrupted with, "babe, I think he needs you to tell him." After my explanation, I got a "wow" from him and then he stared at it quietly for a long while. We weren't sure what he was thinking so we had to ask. He was very happy and that's how we got parent number two down.

Justin's parents were left. We waited until New Year's Eve when we went to celebrate his mother's birthday which was the next day. We had one gift for her, which isn't important as to what and then we gave her her second gift, her onsie. She loves birds and has had one for thirteen years now so her onsie had birds (duh!). When she pulled it out, her mood went from content to excitement. She started to jump up and down and then asked when the wedding was. Whoops. We explained our decision on waiting on getting married, which is a story for another time, but neither her or Justin's father seemed to care. Justin's father stayed pretty stone faced with a congratulations but we didn't expect anything more. Justin's mom didn't let go of her onsie for the rest of the visit.

-D

Body Insecurity

When I first found out I was pregnant, I knew I would struggle with this topic. I had always been your cute skinny girl that always loved being sexy. When I found out I was pregnant, all I could think about was me being fat, huge, and a turn off to guys. I knew from stories that I heard that after you have a baby you will never have the pre-baby body ever again meaning I may never look the way I did before again and always carry baby fat. But as my pregnancy progressed and I realized that there was nothing I could do about it, I learned to embrace the changes. It did help that my boyfriend told me every day how beautiful I was and others would say how cute I was and glowing. By month 7, I was all about the changes and loved showing them off and that my body was doing something amazing

Ladies, your bodies were made to create life and don’t feel insecure about it as it’s a natural thing. This is the most beautiful time in a woman’s life and you need to learn to embrace it and after baby if you work hard, you can get a hot body back in no time!!

-E
____________________________________

According to www.dosomething.org, 91% of women have at least one insecurity about their body and www.huffingtonpost.com, out of that high percentage of women, 52% of pregnant women say they feel even more insecure than they did before and only 14% said they felt more confident while being pregnant.

I am definitely in that 52%. Even before I got preggo, I was very insecure. I have two sisters who, all growing up, could pull off the bikini swimsuit and I wouldn't even try cause I knew I looked nothing like my skinny sisters. One of them even made it her job to tell me daily that I was a "fat, disgusting, and ugly slob that would never be loved by anyone because I was so gross." That begins to take a toll on anyone let alone a thirteen year old girl who never looked in a mirror because she thought she was too fat.

When I got out of high school, I started training for obstacle races like Gladiator Assault and got into working out a lot but even with shedding pounds and feeling amazing after eating a nutritious meal, I could never see anything but my flaws in the mirror. When I started showing, I saw my stomach muscles relaxed made me look bigger rather than pregnant and it drove me insane but once I started rounding out, it helped a bit because it was more apparent I was pregnant and not just looking heavy. Eventually, I took Justin's compliments to heart and not just roll my eyes every time I looked gorgeous or sexy. Each and every one of you is beautiful even if you don't want to see it whether you're pregnant or not.

Obviously, I don't have the experience in after birth appearance than some of the other mothers so unfortunately I can't be of any help there but can update closer to then!

-D
____________________________________

One thing my mother always told me about my body was that "if you have your children young, you have a better chance of bouncing back into that BC (before children) Body....Having your younger brother 2 weeks before turning 40 has its toll on my body...". I myself, had a goal time to have children, between 23-28. I'm a little earlier than 23 but that's okay. A large reason why, was to be able to get that BC Body back as if it was nothing.

I already had a few body insecurities before becoming pregnant. I'm 5'10" (177.8cm) and averaged between 150-165lbs (68kg-75kg). It was a struggle for me to even get to 150. I had the benefit of working at a gym for awhile which helped immensely to achieve that. Now almost 33 weeks pregnant I'm already above 200lbs (90kg). I know mom's that I've talked to always tell me that "it's okay that you've gained that much, it means the baby is healthy". According to most scientific studies, 'A woman who was average weight before getting pregnant should gain 25 to 35 pounds after becoming pregnant' *. Of course we are not all the same, but it's hard to not see that scale and sigh.

Being in my third trimester I've embraced the factor of gaining weight, but know I will sadly struggle if I don't go back to being the weight I was before in a set timeframe. Many women struggle with weight before, during, and after having children, which is so sad to think of. If we stick to a healthy diet, understand our own individual BMI** and our BMR***, and do what's best for ourselves, getting the weight and body we desire either before or after should come to us naturally.

If you're struggling with picking what type of diet would work best for you, and need help understanding your BMI and BMR, send us an email and I'd be glad to help. We can get through this together ladies!

*  https://www.webmd.com/baby/guide/healthy-weight-gain#2
** (body mass index)
*** (basal metabolic rate (how many calories you'd burn doing nothing)) 

-X

Stretch Marks

Stretchmarks are the worst during pregnancy😔. Many women feel very insecure about their bodies during this time and these marks only make it worse. I always tried to view them positively as stripes of love, that my body was growing a human within and that these were the most beautiful marks no matter how bad or gross they looked. Luckily for me, I only gained a couple on my hips and a few on my chest area. To me, they were pretty grotesque as though my veins were popping out. Fortunately, I used coco butter almost every night to try to prevent accumulating more and it seemed to work for me. Although, I still have marks today, I will always view them as stripes of love because from gaining them, I also gained the cutest little two year old. So ladies, if u feel awkward or embarrassed that you have a lot of stretch marks, don’t be. You are going through the most amazing thing a woman’s body can do and these marks are just part of that journey. In the end, when you hold that little child, you won’t even remember that you had those marks.

Here are some tips to help prevent stretch marks
https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-prevent-stretch-marks#hydration

-E
____________________________________

Having the fear of gaining stretchmarks is normal. But being completely honest with yourself and knowing that your body is going through so many changes helps to understand the nature of them. I stand with E on the factor that once that beautiful life comes out of you, and you have those marks, you should look at them with pride.

Nearing the end of my pregnancy I'm getting nervous about stretchmarks. I've been using a moisturizer on my belly and boobs since around 15 weeks pregnant or so. The one thing about doing that, is I include my boyfriend with this.

"Daddy Tummy Time?" He asks me with a grin on his face as we lay in bed. Of course I say "Sure". It's something that he loves doing, and knows that it's his special time with our soon to be daughter. Sometimes he lays there for 10mins just telling her about his day and how excited he is to meet her.

If any mommies to be are wanting to find a way to try and prevent stretch marks I do recommend using some kind of moisturizer and sharing the moment with your partner. It's a good way to make them feel like they're apart of the experience.

-X
____________________________________

Going from a heavier child who would eat three ding dongs in a sitting to a healthy adult who calorie counted and worked out twice a day, six days a week, I am very used to seeing stretchmarks around my arms and hips. Even before pregnancy, they were hard to look at. As soon as I started showing, I noticed a few small marks across the lower abdomen. Honestly, I was absolutely horrified and they got worse and worse. I now have them all the way across and I barely even see them anymore because when I look at my protruding belly, all I can see is my son. It makes it so much easier to accept the fact that I have them. I asked Justin about them one day seeing what he would have to say about my new edition to my body and he said I was more beautiful than he could imagine. I rolled my eyes at first, thinking that he just said what I wanted to hear but then I really thought about it. They showed that I am a strong, brave, and blessed woman who was given the opportunity to bring another life into this world. They will remind me for years to come that I made the most perfect son I could as I watch him on his first day of school, go on his first date, get married, and become a father of his own beautiful kids and to me, those marks are nothing to be looked at negatively because they show the miracle that I have received.

-D

The Dirty During Pregnancy 😝

This post will contain the conversion about sex and may offend some people. So if that conversion is a touchy subject with you, please be aware. We do have other blog postings if you'd like to read something else. We will not allow anyone judging or calling us out for the acts we choose to do with our partners. Again, we are a safe environment. 

Doing the dirty, getting down to business,  hanky panky, making love, sex. All different terms that mean the same thing. But when you become pregnant, none of us are the same. When it comes to finding out you're pregnant, it changes. Some women find they become turned off when becoming pregnant, other's sex drive goes threw the roof.

For me, it stayed relatively the same. Before becoming pregnant, I loved when me and my boyfriend would have sex. It was such a physical bond we shared and I loved it! Sometimes it felt so good that we became one person. I'm not sure how to explain it, but I knew that it wasn't just sex, it was love. 

When we first found out I was pregnant, my boyfriend wouldn't touch me in a any sexual way for a bit. He was afraid he would hurt the baby. To this day that still makes me laugh. Makes you wonder if men really understand how the women's body works, most of the time they don't (he thought we only use toilet paper when we poop. Thought we just shook our bodies to dry ourselves).

Once a far amount of time passed by we started having sex again. Over time it started to slow down. Either due to me not being in the mood or wanting to throw up while giving him oral. Had nothing to do with him, just didn't eat before. Which may sound weird, but if I don't eat for awhile I become nauseous. Sometimes when we're making out about to get down to business, I jump up and say "I have to eat!"

Being 31 weeks pregnant, my belly is starting to get in the way. Sometimes we can only do a few positions which truthfully, makes me sad. I loved being able to find new ways to enjoy sex. Now its either me on top or laying down on my side. What fun is that! 

We sometimes go a week or so without having sex. And because I still have a normal sex drive, I have to deal with my want to orgasm myself. Sometimes more than once. That was also my sex drive before I got pregnant. But I sometimes I just want a quick release.

I'm glad that me and my boyfriend still have sex, but truthfully, I can't wait till my daughter is born so I can have normal sex again.

Do you find yourself sometimes masturbating more than having intercourse with your partner?

-X
____________________________________

During my pregnancy I had high sexually, but also some lows. The main thing that I didn't like was the emotional hormones I dealt with all the time. I know they say that's just part of pregnancy but come on, you're messing with my head. Most days I had a normal sex drive and would be all for it, but normally wouldn't do anything cause I was either too tired or my boyfriend was working late.

Occasionally, I would have that mood where you are saying "Give It To Me!! Give it to Me NOW!!" I was like a sex freak of sorts, always wanting it and if I didn't get it I felt like it was the end of the world. I know you may be saying "come on, that's super weird", but hormones are no joke and sometimes they turn you into something you would never expect. Then there were other times I felt gross, would say "DON'T TOUCH ME!" Pregnancy hormones will take you for a wild ride, and every day will be different, filled with highs and lows.

When we did do it, occasionally it would hurt, so we would have to change position we did it in. Luckily, my boyfriend was very understanding and would listen to my responses, even ask if what he was doing was okay. He also would start slow rather than just shove it in quickly. I love him so much for respecting my body, but at the same time giving me satisfaction.

Most nights the only thing that would work due to the growing belly in the way was spooning. I mean I loved that cause my partner would be able to feel up the body while also embracing the bump. Some nights if I was feeling alright, I would manage to get on my hands and knees and be able to use a pillow below to support the belly and take it from behind. He loved when I was on top, but I noticed I would get tired quicker, so didn't do it that way often.

Every women is different, so the best advice I can give you ladies is listen to your body and if it doesn't feel comfortable, change it up until you find something that works for you.

What works for you ladies? Do you have a high or low sex drive since you've been pregnant?

-E
____________________________________

Being in my first week of my second trimester, I don't have a lot of back and forth experience being high then low per say but we have run into the issue of not being in the mood. I personally haven't been in the mood since I got pregnant but I do try for my fiance. He has never put the pressure on me to do anything but he is so supportive and I know deep down he wants it but never asks. When we did, it was hard to find a position that was comfortable. The only one that seemed to be okay was missionary with a pillow under my back to get an angle that rub on parts that were seemingly sore. I'm telling ya though. Once we found that right angle, it felt amazing. Some of the best sex I've ever had. We have only done it a handful of times since mainly because I am just exhausted by the time he gets off of work at the end of the day.

The further along I am getting, I feel my sex drive going up slowly but surely so I am hoping that here in the near future, I can get back to where I was before so I will keep everyone updated further along!

-D
____________________________________

Here is another mom to be talking about this topic. Though she isn't one of our blogging moms, we figured this was very good information. Give this video a watch. Her name is Shavannah from a group called Baby on Board

Random Touching of Belly

I think this is one of the weirdest things, but sometimes can be the cutest at the same time. When I was pregnant I remember going out for dinner or anywhere and wondering if people were looking at me. I remember a few times at a mall ladies would ask if they could touch my belly and if the baby was kicking. I thought this was weird sometimes that random strangers were wanting to touch my belly and occasionally parents asked if their kids could touch it. I do remember one specific time that I was in the food court and a group of, I believe they were high school boys behind me in line were whistling and said “Dang momma I wanna feel up that belly!” Gross!!! I mean come on guys get a life. That’s inappropriate and frankly super weird and awkward. I think the only time I actually enjoyed anyone touching my belly was either my boyfriend, or when we were volunteering at a retirement home with church. All the ladies there were talking about how adorable I looked and was glowing. I think I was about 5 months if I remember during this time and they all wanted to feel the baby kick. It was adorable. They all had smiles and giggles that day. If I could put a smile on their face, it was worth the awkwardness.

How many of you ladies have had this happen? Though it may be weird and awkward, sometimes it could make someone’s day and put a smile on their face!!💕 just be careful who you let touch it🤗

-E
____________________________________

Compared to my fellow mommies, I haven't had much problem with people touching my baby bump. No weird encounters with a stranger, thank goodness. The only thing I've had an issue with is my own mother. Once I started to show she was all over my belly when talking to people. Sometimes people I didn't even know. She would say things along the line of "Yep, this is my grand-baby" or "see how big she is?". Sometimes she would even lift up my shirt (thank goodness I had an undershirt on most of the time). I love my mother, and tell her many times that its weird, but I guess she's excited. This will be her first grandchild. I've never had people come up to me and ask "can I touch your belly?", it's always been me asking if they want to feel or want them to poke it because she's pushing her body against my belly.

There's no way I've been the only one that's been able to avoid this awkwardness. Let us know if I'm not alone 

-X
____________________________________

At only fourteen weeks pregnant, you would think that I wouldn't have a lot of run-ins with this already but you would be surprised. According to my OB, I look like I am more like 17-20 weeks so I have a nice bump going. That being said, I have had family, friends, and even a couple strangers try to touch me. When I started showing, right away my mom would put her hand on my belly which, for someone who isn't the touchy type, it made me feel really awkward. Personally, it might have something to do with the underlying self-esteem issues I have had since I was a kid but that just makes it more rude to be touching me.
The weirdest encounter I have had so far was in a Walmart produce section. This older lady (possibly a little older than my parents) came up to me and asked how far along I was. My first thought was, how rude, asking a woman how far along she was not knowing if she was even pregnant to begin with. I told her anyway, trying not to come off rude myself, and she smiled and said that her daughter-in-law was a few weeks ahead of me. I told her congratulations and tried to go back to picking out a few tomatoes for that night's dinner and all of a sudden, I feel something slide across my stomach. The lady was touching MY bump! I really hate to be confrontational toward anyone but after catching me off guard, I jumped back and yelled, "Do you mind?" She felt really bad after my reaction and partially so did I but I was really upset. She stammered, "I-I'm sorry... My daughter-in-law doesn't live around here and it's my first grandchild so I am missing out on all of these precious moments" which made me feel even worse about how I reacted. I apologized and pretended to understand. As much as I hated it, I let her touch my bump again and answered her questions about how I felt and if I knew the gender yet. After talking for a few minutes more, we parted our own ways but I knew that I made her day.

I guess sometimes we have to choose our own battles....

-D

Cravings

Cravings.... OMG those cravings that every pregnant woman gets. For me, it's a blessing and a curse and here's why.

Before I got pregnant, I was a pretty healthy twenty one year old who loved to work out and "try" to eat as healthy as I can. I actually prided myself in the way that I looked and was almost to having a six-pack. The first craving I had was something as little as a Snickers bar. Not too bad, right? Wrong! That small Snickers bar craving grew into the almighty monster craving of a plain double cheeseburger from McDonald's. But not just from any McDonald's. The McDonald's that I used to go to from my childhood over an hour away all because of a rather insignificant memory of when I had a cheeseburger from there that had just the right amount of grease on it about a decade ago. I had just started my shift at the daycare I was working at at the time so I went a full eight hours with this craving. When 3:00 pm finally came around, it was the only thing I could think of. So what did I do? I drove a whole hour to get a plain double cheeseburger and still to this day don't regret it one bit. I live five minutes from a McDonald's but my craving didn't care. It wanted what it wanted and wasn't going away until it was satisfied.

As I sat there in the parking lot, devouring this cheeseburger, I thought to myself, is this what my life has come to? Driving an hour to inhale fast food? I threw the evidence away and made the trek back home, a bit ashamed of myself, before my boyfriend got off of work. 

That was the beginning of the end for me. I finally confessed to Justin and all was well. At least until that night when I had a chocolate milk craving. I slowly began to realize that there is no way around my cravings, that's just who I am as a pregnant mom. Fortunately, my cravings have decreased a bit and nothing as major but I still have days where I just have to give in. And you know what? That's okay. I know my son is healthy even though I have cut my gym time in half and don't eat only organic meats and protein shakes. I heard the heartbeat and it is strong just like his momma. You can follow the mommy-to-be apps straight down to the very last detail but our mothers, and their mothers, didn't have an app to tell you what to eat, what to drink, how much exercise you should have, when you have had too much exercise, or whether it should use cloth or disposable diapers when the baby is born. We came out just fine and healthy enough to be where we are now about to have babies of our own.

We now make weekly trips to the grocery store to pick out food that might be a craving and Justin never complains about having to get out of bed to go make me bacon or when he comes back with a quart of ice cream that I don't want anymore.

I still have a lot of pregnancy left to go so wish me... and Justin, good luck!

-D
____________________________________

My cravings during my pregnancy were a lot different than our other moms. It’s like they say, every woman is different. Let’s just say I probably craved some things that if you saw them today would make you throw up lol😆. One major thing I craved and now makes me nauseous just thinking about it was pickles with peanut butter. I know, gross right!?! Not sure what it was but I couldn’t get enough of it and could eat it 24/7. I think the biggest craving I had though was ice cream and strawberries. It seems like ice cream is a big craving during pregnancy for a lot of women. Must be the flavor and sugar in it though I know the favorite flavor can vary. For me, it was all about chocolate chip cookie dough with strawberries on the side and whip cream. Sounds good I know ❤️

-E
____________________________________

We most definitely do have different cravings than other moms to be, and some times are waiting for the worst to come. For me, I was similar to D as in the factor of staying fit and eating right. I only had cravings in my first trimester, and that was cranberry juice. Could not get enough of it! My boyfriend and I would make weekly trips to Costco just to buy there larger jug of juice. We wouldn't buy just one, OH NO SIR'Y! We'd buy at least 7! I would drink through a whole 3L jug of it a day!

I'm not sure where that craving started. I've always been a fan of the classic Ocean Spray Cranberry Cocktail, but never imagined it would grow into a crazy obsession. If we ran out I'd call my boyfriend Dean at work begging him to bring some home with him. He of course had no choice but to get it if he didn't want to deal with me complaining that I was thristy, even though we had a variety of things in our fridge to quench my thirst.

Now being currently on my third trimester, my desire to ALWAYS have cranberry juice has died down. Now its just a want of any kind of food or drink. But of course, if we go out and there's a choice to get cranberry juice I jump to it. Having the satisfaction of the ice cold tart flavored drink touch my tongue is still one of the best things I've encountered.

-X

Welcome

*We own this photo and do not give permission to anyone who doesn't email us to use it*

Hello and welcome everyone. We are four moms just taking everyday as it comes either as soon to be mommies or already a mom. This blog will basically feature stories about our lives or topics that any moms want us to talk about. 

We are a safe place to share our feelings about certain topics. We are not doctors, not certified nannies, nor do we sometimes know what we're even doing. So do not take anything we say as if we are one of those. Sometimes mommies just need to sit down with a glass of wine, and vent out their feelings.

As I said before there are four of us. Each bit of our posts could be someone different throughout the post. We will go as E, D, K and X. Each with different stories of our own.

Hopefully you can relate to some of the topics we will be talking about or maybe just need a good laugh.

We also have a lovely and growing Instagram account so please give us a follow!

https://www.instagram.com/soontobemommies2018/

If you have any ideas as to what you'd like us to talk about feel free to comment below

We will be posting every Thursday. Also on Mondays we will feature a segment called “Mommy Mondays” in which we will feature the birth story of an individual in hopes of inspiring you ladies

Without further more, Welcome to our page