39 Weeks

Better late then never right?!

Here is what 39 weeks looked like for us, baby in my arms by the end of the day :)

Below Is the photos from my whole pregnancy. Fun to watch my belly grow!

26 Weeks

Iv never felt so impatient in my life and I still have 3 more months to go. Which I think will fly by... and I want to enjoy ever second I have with my husband before our lives change forever. But I can't stop dreaming about holding my perfect little newborn and then waking up and realizing she's still needs to grow for a couple more months! The nursery is finished, I have been sewing to keep my mind off of it, and I have two jobs which keeps me busier then my husband would approve of!

Feeling exhausted and impatient already. This worries me since I feel the hard part is still ahead of me.

But I sure love this baby girl she has me totally smitten and worry 24/7 about her already. Guess I should get used to that!

Lace Baby Dress

I really do love this pattern it is so simple and so cute, you can find it here. Can't go wrong with free especially when things turn out this cute! I just added a bow to the pattern and put it on a pin so I can take it on or off depending on the occasion. This took me about 3-4 hours to make, I would highly recommend it :)

I can't wait to take her to church in her dress made with love!

24 Weeks

I know I don't look that big but it is hard for me to imagine this baby growing even more. It pains me to think about how big I will probably get when my belly is taking a toll on me already! But non the less I am totally in love with this little one and I am very nervous, and excited for her to come flip my whole world upside down. I am getting nesty and questioning my ability of being a good mother but I know I will do my best.

How far along are you? 24 weeks

Maternity Clothes? Can't go without them!

Sleep: Not going to well, napping has also been unsuccessful when I get the chance.

Best moments: Feeling her kick a couple times in a row I love it.

Missing anything? Mostly sleep and Jimmy John's! I could eat one everyday if I was allowed.

Movement? Yes! Mostly when I am laying on my back before bed late at night, or early in the morning.

Food Cravings: Nothing specific.

Queasy or Sick? Only when I get too hungry, or I smell something gross.

Gender: Having a girl!!

Symptoms: Hungry all the time, exhausted in an unexplainable way. My hips and back ache and I have lots of pain in my abdomen from all my insides being squished. It's hard to believe this baby is going to get bigger.

Maybe not a true symptom but: I am also baby obsessed I can't think of anything else and I am always sewing something for her lately. 

Belly Button in or Out? In, but getting shallow!

Happy or Moody? Emotional, I'm a ticking time bomb for crying.

Looking Forward to: Going home to Canada for the first time in a year next month! It will be fun to see my family and friends again.

Busy Bee + Baby Obsessed

I find myself anxious already about this baby coming. So much to do, yet I want her here in my arms right now all at the same time. So what am I doing to keep myself busy and preparing?

I have two part time jobs and a small business of my own. I work 8 hours a week retail for fun and discounts, and I am a personal trainer growing my client base very quickly these days. I work Monday through Saturday, so this keeps me busy!

I am also going through a women's speciality course through the national academy of sports medicine. Soon I'll be a specialized women's trainer with an emphasis in pre and post natal very soon!

Sewing sewing sewing. Baby shoes, baby moccasins, burp rags, baby dresses, little things for the nursery, and of course hair bows. I can't seam to pull myself away from the millions of things I want to sew for this little baby girl of mine.

These are some infant baby moccasins I made, I also made some for her she is older as well. Along with some little flats! Baby shoes are hard to make perfect to match but I did my best and I'll admit I'm proud of them.

Burp Rags! I embellished some cloth diapers as burp rags, and they are in this cute wire basket next to the rocker awaiting for those late night feeds. Along with some others for the diaper bag and stroller.

This is a handy dandy little quick project to help the door shut quietly when sneaking up on the baby which I know I will be doing!

I also enjoy just rocking in my nursery gazing at where my daughter will soon be. It is completely finished which makes me ecstatic but I am keeping it to myself for the time being but don't worry I will post pictures eventually.

22 Weeks

When I was 17-20 weeks I was feeling amazing! These past two weeks have not been so good to me which was a little disappointing. I have had so much stomach pain from indigestion to the point I will get a low grade fever. It hasn't been very comfortable and I think this added to me being emotional. Emotional to a totally irrational level of crying about everything! Hoping this ends soon and that I can finish enjoying my second trimester.

I have loved rocking the growing belly though, and I can feel her a lot more now. Rolling around, bouncing around but my favourite is when she gives me a good kick! Taylor loves getting the chance to feel her kick, rare but sometimes she will kick hard enough that he can feel them. Such a fun moment to share with him, melts my heart.

This was the best shot we got of Baby Phillips from my 20 wk ultra sound

She did a little dance for us, and the ultra sound tech said she was a very active baby! I have an anterior placenta which means its harder for me to feel the baby move but when I do I enjoy ever second of it.

H A L F W A Y!!!

I can hardly believe it is only half way, I feel like that makes the baby sound so far away! But non the less it is an accomplishment we have a long way's till baby will arrive but I am sure most of it will fly by. I am just so happy being pregnant right now, so many fun things to do and I am finally in the "feeling amazing" stage. Trying to enjoy this stage as much as possible before I get huge, hot and exhausted.

We are totally in love with this little girl! If only I could pick a name...

How far along are you? 20 weeks

Maternity Clothes? Can't go without them! Although I can still fit lots of my non-maternity tops on they aren't very flatter and full in all the wrong places. 

Sleep: Having a hard time sleeping, between mid night snack, peeing, and the aching pain in my sides I mostly toss and turn all night.

Best moments: Feeling the baby move, and best of all kick! She rarely kicks, but Taylor has been lucky to feel her kick. He felt 3 big kicks this morning! So amazing to share together.

Missing anything? Mostly sleep right now.

Movement? Yes! Mostly when I am laying on my back before bed late at night, or early in the morning.

Food Cravings: I am eating a ton of food right now, I am usually hungry all day every day so I'll take anything! Craving donuts, but haven't had a single one.

Queasy or Sick? Only when I get too hungry, or I smell something gross.

Gender: Having a girl!!

Symptoms: Hungry all the time, and my hips have had better days! One day last week I couldn't even walk normal. My sides get all achy, like someone has punched me while I am sleeping.

Belly Button in or Out? In, but getting shallow!

Happy or Moody? Very Happy!!

Looking Forward to: Seeing the baby during my 20 week ultra sound in two days.

Also putting together the nursery next week with my Mom

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?!?)

1st Trimester

I am so glad the first trimester is over. It means a lot of things for me:

- Taylor is closer to coming home

- My belly will start looking a little cuter instead of blah

- I am officially out of the red zone for miscarriage

- My aversion to food will hopefully end soon

Two Quotes from my sisters I love:

"Get ready for Survival mode"

"The First Trimester should come with a Private Cook"

Photos from the beginning
Just found out, Four Weeks, and Nine Weeks

This is from today! Finally hitting my second trimester and starting to look more pregnant everyday :)

Just looking at the photo above I'm having one of those, this is actually for real... There is a baby is there! I have been so busy trying to survive each day I sometimes forget the reality of the little guy growing inside me.

How far along are you? 13 weeks

Maternity Clothes? Started wearing one pair of pants around 10 weeks for comfort, by 12 weeks I was miserable in regular pants. I LOVE Maternity Pants!

Sleep: Bathroom Break and Water breaks at least 2 times a night

Best moments: Hearing the heart beat at 6 weeks, Taylor seeing my belly for the first time when I visited him. He insist on talking to the baby whenever I'm in pain and sick!

Missing anything? Mountain Dew, feeling not sick!

Movement? No
I swear I have felt a couple of fluttery things but I am almost positive it's not from baby

Food Cravings: Each week is different

During 7/8 Weeks I loved Ramen

During 9 Weeks I loved Avacado

During 10/11 Weeks I loved Sushi (I ordered cooked of course)

Frosted Flakes has been a staple the whole trimester
I'm almost addicted to dairy it helps sooth my stomach when I feel sick

Queasy or Sick? It never ends! 

Gender Prediction: I want a Girl, Taylor wants a Boy!
I am feeling more and more like it is going to be a boy but Taylor always calls the babe a HE so that might be why too!

{ Cliche I know - We will both be thrilled either way }

Symptoms: My stomach is a pool of acid 24/7

Each week was always different, but I have a really hard time eating most veggies, and I can't cook meat for the life of me. Or really cook anything for that matter.

I had extremely bad pains for the first couple of weeks, they continue but not as bad as in the beginning.

And of course the extreme exhaustion
Sleepless tight just started last week, can't seam to get comfortable lately
And Acne!

Belly Button in or Out? In

Happy or Moody? I try to be Happy, but it has been very hard being sick and living alone

Looking Forward to: Finding out the Gender

Visiting my family in August

Pregnancy Brain

Hopefully most you will find this comical at my expense. 

Fact: Pregnancy Brain really does happen

You have all heard of this happening to women, your blood flow to your brain in literally slowed down due to the effort put into growing your new little peanut. I am living proof pregnancy brain is true, I seam to get flustered so easy and forget things at work all the time now but the worst part is my car keys.

Lost Car Keys #1 - Shopping at Walmart and somehow they fell out of the cart while shopping at 10pm at night. Also my car keys have our ONLY condo key on them. Exhausted, now my keys are gone, I'm holding 5 bags of groceries and I go looking through Walmart. After now luck I finally just sat and waited till someone returned them which they did thank goodness even made it home around 11pm.

Lost Car Keys #2 - I landed this huge interview with Gold's Gym in the Corporate Office which I had been waiting for over a month to get. I walk out the door in high heals and a pencil skirt (walking is obviously harder at this point) get to my car and can't find my keys. They are inside my now locked condo! I call everyone I can think of and everyone is at work, I literally need to leave in 4 minutes or I won't make my interview. I call a random personal in my church that I have never met, sobbing and tell me I need a ride to Orem asap. She loads her three kids in the car comes picks me up and gets me to my job interview only 8 minutes late. Then I paid a cab $45 to take me home afterwards! 

While I was gone my landlord came and unlocked the house which he wasn't able to do quickly enough for me to drive myself.

Needless to say - I am making multiple copies of some keys this week!

Clothes, Clothes, Clothes

I am getting to the awkward clothing phase. It's not a cute bump that I can be proud of, not even hardly, but it also isn't my normal flat stomach. Just this little pouch of giggly weirdness. Probably from all the carbs and noodles since anything other then carbs make me run for the hills.

Maternity Clothes - not so much

My normal clothes - not so much

Just this weird limbo of, "Hmmm Martha has put on a nice amount of weight in a quick two weeks." Everything seams to cling to this new little weird gut of mine...

Grow Bump. Just Grow, into round cuteness. Just not this!! Please not this!!

Beating Heart

Turn up you volume! I didn't do a good job with the video but right at the end you can hear and see the baby's heart beating on the monitor. It was amazing!! It also means I "graduated" from my specialist and am ready to go see a normal doctor again.

First Ultrasound

My First Ultrasound soothed my soul. As you can imagine I have been pretty paranoid about this baby after our last pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. But this time I have felt so looked after by my reproductive specialist. By Week 5.5 I had already been to the doctors four times to keep tabs on the baby and make sure everything was running smoothly. At 5 weeks and 5 days I had my first Ultrasound and sure enough there is a little tad pole in there growing crazy fast. The Doctors have been checking everything possible and say everything looks absolutely perfect so far, music to my hears!

Have I mentioned yet that I feel so extremely blessed. I know most people keep their pregnancy's a secret for much longer then I did but I can't help but share my all of my journeys with everyone. Life is about living and learning, and without others sharing their own stories I feel we would all learn a lot less. So join me in praying that this baby keeps growing happy and healthy! For now I am soaking up all this love I have for this tiny little white dot growing rapidly inside of me.

Many of you will probably wonder why I have announced our exciting news "early". I simply think it is just too exciting to wait. The reason people think it is "early" is because I run the risk of miscarrying. Which is very true, I think about it everyday since that is how my last pregnancy ended. 

But this amazing miracle happened and I want to enjoy every moment of it no matter how long or short it lasts. I want to share my life and experience with whoever wants to read or listen. I hope that in someway I will help someone else feel a little less alone, help someone feel supported, and just be straight up excited about all the up's and done's in my life.

A Sweet Surprise

I am so excited and pleased to announce we are...

 PREGNANT

It has been over a year since we started trying, we have had so many trials since then but have been strengthened and blessed along the way. We are so excited to welcome this little one into our family next January.

Four Week Photo - Felt so funny doing this but wanted to document before the belly!

The Morning after we found out I had to take a test of my own because I just did not believe it!

Were soooo stinking happy about this Miracle in our lives and feel so blessed to bring one of God's children into the world.

How we found out:

I was laying in the hospital bed, ivy drop was in, I was all ready to get put under and rolled into surgery when the nurse came in and said.

"You won't be needing surgery today... because your PREGNANT!"

Taylor and I burst out into tears. I thought it was some kind of mean joke! But they showed me my test results and sure enough it was positive. They took some other tests to check on the status of the baby. This made the doctors a little worried, they kept me in the hospital a little longer and decided to finally discharge me but bring me back the next Monday to check on the baby again. So that weekend we had the chance to be all excited and tell all our family, but with hesitation since we weren't sure if the baby was okay yet. 

They still think I have endometriosis but while I am pregnant they can't remove it. So this first trimester will be a little more challenging then usual since I'll be sick with that and having pregnancy symptoms. Once the second trimester kicks in rumour is the endometriosis will settle down until the baby comes which is good news!

Symptoms and the Truth

I still have really bad heartburn, and stabbing pains in my uterus. {These were my first symptoms of pregnancy} That just doesn't seam fair to me! I have many days were I still "feel pregnant" now many of you may think stabbing isn't how pregnancy feels. But in my experience that is what my pregnancy felt like, which probably was a sign from the start something was wrong.

I just can't help but let my mind go to this place that thinks, "Okay so you feel pregnant, Doctors are wrong sometimes. Maybe you still are. Maybe you are again!" Then I have the flash back to the day when my doctor called me with definitive results and his first words were, "I'm very sorry..." and then went into technical terms and hormone count levels which I didn't comprehend because I was too busy trying to breath while my heart was breaking inside my chest.

If anything I just want my body to be back to normal. Because I don't need any help being reminded that...

I am no longer pregnant

Uh seeing those words on the page is hard, they make my heart ache but I have to write them because I need to face the truth. But today is hard, this is hard. It is so impossible for me to comprehend that we planned the next year of our life around the single fact that there was a growing child with a heart beat inside of me, and that I was a mother. And within hours that whole future with that child vanished...

These thoughts and feelings seam to burn inside me and the only way I can let them out - let some of the pain go is to write them down. No judgments, no questions, no agenda. Just the truth about how I feel.

We took these cute photos along the way and I was sad I never got to post them so why shouldn't I!?
I bought chocolate covered cookies along with pregnancy tests because I knew if they were negative I would want some comfort food, if they were positive then we could have celebratory cookies!