17 Weeks

Week 16 +17 have felt about the same for me. We found out our baby is a girl, which has totally made my heart melt and I am going a little baby crazy right now with all the adorable little girl clothes that seam to be everywhere!

As far as symptoms my belly is starting to get itchy and I can feel it stretching. Hello Oil and Lotion, I might as well try even though they say it doesn't help I sure hope I can avoid stretch marks. I am surprised by how much my belly has grown in the past two weeks. Also I am very hungry, needing to eat a lot more frequent small meals at least every 2-3 hours or I feel I will just wither away. Also I have had a head ache for the past week and need to pee way more! 

The greatest new symptom of all which I am trying to not get too excited about is for the past three days in a row I have felt a little nudge from inside me. Feels like a tiny little "hey you" nudge from under my bellow button area. Not positive it is baby, but doesn't feel like anything else either!

Favourite maternity finds of the week: Ross, I found the shirt below for $9.99 and another shirt for only $2.49 cant really go wrong at those prices. Even though once again they are all blue, all the clearance maternity is all blue weird but oh well!!

I have had so many friends get pregnant these past couple of months and some have had miscarriages. It completely breaks my heart, as many of you know I have gone through this experience and it is completely world shattering. I just want to say how extremely blessed I feel to be carrying this sweet child of god. It truly is a miracle and I cannot even convey in words how happy I am in this time of my life. I love and feel for all of those who are trying to get pregnant or have lost a pregnancy. From personal experience I know how hard it is but how sweet the outcome is and worth the heart ache and waiting. I love all of you even if I don't know you, I hope you can find support and hope in my own experience. (Feel free to read a little bit about our journey in this link)

Sweet Baby Girl

It was so special to get to meet our sweet baby girl on a 3D ultra sound. She was being all cute and framing her face with her hands for us. I wish we had a photo but we did get a photo of her on the 2D ultra sound. I cried when we found out it was a girl, I feel so much more connected to this little life inside me now. Getting impatient to meet her already (uh oh!) I will be busy doing the nursery to distract myself for the time being.

Couldn't help but buy these adorable outfits when Carter's when 40% off.

Guide to Picking a Crib Mattress

I just purchase this same cool grey crib by baby mod. I am completely ecstatic about it, only $200 which for a grey crib is an amazing price and had such great reviews. Easiest nursery choice by far! What I wanted to touch on today was a harder choice, the mattress...

Most mothers know about SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) obviously a very serious subject that all expectant parents should know about. This is one reason why choosing a mattress can be so important, to help decrease this risk. I did some extensive research and thought I would sum up my findings.

Things to keep in mind when looking for a crib mattress:

Is it firm?

If you feels like a good amount of firmness for you then it is too soft, babies need a much firmer mattress then adults. You do not want the mattress to conform to the baby so that they can move if needed, for example if they roll into their face a firm mattress will give them something to push off of.

Types: Foam or Spring

As long as they are firm, both are great. Foam is a little lighter then spring mattress but I think this comes down to personal preference. In the USA spring is much more common.

Price Point

For Foam you want to stick at a higher price point above $90, most of the mattresses that are lower in price will be too soft. They can go up to $400 the reason for increases in price is usually due to organic or natural foam not necessarily because they are better.

For Spring mattress once again anywhere from $90-$200 is going to serve the babies needs. Remember that you do want a quality mattress especially if you are planning on using it for multiple children. I personally would recommend the covering being triple layered vinyl or cotton. Many of the think vinyl will dry, crack and tear.

How Heavy is it? How many layers does it have?

When choosing foam, the denser the better. Which means the heavier the better, this will keep a firmer surface for the baby.

When choosing spring the general rule is: the more layers, the better quality of those layers, the better the mattress. Also the quality will increase as the weight of the mattress increases. Always make sure they have border rods in the mattress so it won't sag.

Coil Count?

Dennis Schuets of Clgate Juvenile Products states, "About 135-150 is a good midrange."

Also consider a steel gauge of 15.5 or below.

Also make sure there is a good quality insular pad between the coil and the top of the mattress to avoid from the coil being felt through the mattress.

Top Cover?

You have two choices between vinyl or fabric. Fabric won't be waterproof which can be solved with a waterproof cover, which I will purchase no mater what. The fabric mattress's will breath better. 

If you choose vinyl like I said earlier make sure it is at least triple laminated layered, less will usually dry up and possible crack and tear. Also with vinyl if you want a mattress that is breathable you can choose one with ventilation holes.

Planning on using the mattress when they become a toddler?

Although this is not necessary because toddlers can sleep on the same firm infant mattress daul sided mattress are available with a softer side for when they are a toddler.

I apologize if that seams like so much information but I personally wanted to make sure I was making a very well educated choice when I go out to pick out our mattress. Hopefully this helped many of you do the same and happy baby shopping :)

Week 15 - Baby Phillips

Week 13: My belly started to really show this week, I think in 2 more weeks I will finally feel less chubby and more pregnant. My emotions went on a total roller coaster ride. I have cried almost every day this week usually about nothing big! This has lead to me being EXTREMELY exhausted, or maybe I am exhausted and thats why I can't control my emotions? One of them came first!

Week 14: Still extremely exhausted and emotional. I can barley eat without being really sick and then throwing up, can't seam to sleep much despite how tired I am. But after a visit with my midwife she recommend some natural things to pick up, within 24hrs I was feeling much better! Still really tired but welcome to pregnancy right? 

Feeling great {finally} and ready to start week 15 off with a bang! In 10 hours I am flying to Texas to go visit our favourite guy. It has been way to long since I saw my husband and cannot wait to spend time with him! Since he has literally been gone for the whole pregnancy we are doing a little baby bonding time and getting an ultra sound together while I am there. What's your guess, boy or girl!?

I don't think my belly has really grown much in the past two weeks but here it is!

Emotional, I'm not emotional...

I'm just really stressed, cry in costco, cry at work, and cry at home. Oh no...

I'm becoming the emotional crazy pregnant lady. 

It just hit me this week! I don't know how to make it stop I feel like I am a ticking time bomb for another emotional break down any moment. I ate a bowl a cookie's yesterday for lunch!!

This week my main goal has been to find a midwife, I haven't had a doctor ever since I "graduated" from my specialist I was seeing at first. It is such a huge commitment to pick the person who is in charge of bringing your child into the world. I am having this huge, reality check that I am really having a baby! Most of all it is so hard to make such a huge decision alone. Taylor isn't here to interview and tour all of these places with me so this decision is all on me right now. 

Feeling so overwhelmed by this huge responsibility this week.

Not to mention a million other things going on in my life right now.

Don't judge, Going to eat another cookie...

(Oats and Peanut Butter thats healthy right?!?)