PREGNANCY MORNING SICKNESS REMEDIES

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Morning sickness. You hear about it before you get pregnant but you don’t really understand it until you are the thick of it…and it SUCKS…oh ya and it is not just in the morning, don’t let the name fool you!

And I don’t even have it that bad. If you suffer from Hyperemesis Gravidarum, I feel for you mama. My sister suffered from it through her first pregnancy and I’ve seen others suffer from it horribly. If that is your case, please contact your doctor and get on the correct medication.

I was very lucky with my first pregnancy, barely any nausea and no puking. With my second, my nausea got worse but honestly I can’t remember much because I was still on maternity leave with my 8 month old son, ha (#twoundertwo).

But this third pregnancy. Oh my gosh. My nausea was the worst it’s been. All day nausea from 4 weeks to 16 weeks and throughout a hot summer…while working and also taking care of my 2 + 3 year olds! NOT FUN.

Since this is my LAST pregnancy, I wanted to compile a list for all you mamas suffering…this is what worked for me but also what worked for a whole bunch of mamas. I asked mamas on instagram and they delivered!

Pregnancy Morning Sickness Remedies:

• Diclectin
  My first encouragement to any mama suffering from morning sickness is to get a prescription for Diclectin (I believe in the states they call it Diclegis!) If you can’t get into your doctor for a few weeks, don’t suffer. Book an online appointment or get to a walk in. Honestly, if you have regular morning sickness, this will help. But also be aware that it makes you REAL tired.

• Snacks Snacks Snacks
  It gets worse on an empty tummy, so make sure you are having little meals and snacks at all times throughout the day! I even kept plain cheerios at my bedside table when I woke up in the night feeling gross. Make sure you eat RIGHT away when you wake up. Don’t let your blood sugar get low or else you feel worse!

• Plain toast/Cereal

• Salted Crackers

• Ginger Chews

• Taking pre-natals at night instead of the morning

• Stop taking Iron
  For me, iron made it worse, so I stopped taking iron until 20 weeks and I also took gummy prenatals which don’t have iron.

• Lemon water/Lemonade
  This one helped me a lot! I remember buying sooo many lemons this pregnancy and drinking lemon water or lemonade throughout the entire day.

• Peppermint oil/candy

• Cheerios

• Preggo Pops/hard candy

• Shot of Apple Cider Vinegar

• Vitamin B6

• Broth

• Graham Crackers

• Lollipops

• Seabands
  I wore them but honestly I don’t know if they were making any difference. Maybe a teensy bit but I wouldn’t count on it!

• Acupuncture

• Ice + ice water

• Crisp COLD Green Grapes
  These helped me a lot!

• Chips- corn chips and plain chips

• Gingerale

• SLEEP!
  Honestly my greatest relief was sleep! I would go to bed as early as possible to sleep off the nausea.

If you’re suffering from pregnancy nausea, I’m so sorry mama. It’s horrible but know, it will pass!!! Soon enough (if you don’t suffer from HG) you’ll hit second trimester and it will just kinda fade away!

If you have another remedy that’s not on this list, let me know!

MATERNITY FAMILY PHOTOS

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Back in December we had our photos taken by Bethany Joy Photography. It was a cold, rainy day but the photos turned out so great! Bethany was such a joy to work with and she was so great with the kiddos! I highly recommend booking her if you are on Vancouver Island!

I was around 25 weeks at the time of these photos. I didn’t want to feel tooo huge so I opted for an earlier shoot, and I’m glad because I’m almost 30 weeks and I am HUGE!

Our last set of family photos before we embark on the adventure as a family of five!! Can’t believe baby boy will be here so soon!

xo, laura

HEALTHY PUMPKIN MUFFINS

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Hello Pumpkin season! If you’ve been around here for a while you will know without a doubt that fall is my JAM. Cozy sweaters, fires, leaves changing, crisp weather, pumpkin spice lattes and allllll the fall baking.

I’ve shared these amazing Pumpkin Cream cheese muffins before. They are to die for but they aren’t your everyday muffin. Now that I have two toddlers who eat everything in sight, I wanted to find a healthier pumpkin muffin…and you guys, I found it!

And it has chocolate chips too! So dang good. Also cornstarch is added to the flour to help the muffin become more tender!! You guys. My family gobbled these up. I wish I made a triple batch.

HEALTHY PUMPKIN MUFFINS

Makes 24 muffins

Ingredients:

• 2.5 cups whole wheat flour

• 1/2 cup cornstarch

• 2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice

• 2 tsp baking soda

• 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp salt

• 2 eggs

• 1 cup honey

• 2/3 cup melted butter

• 2 cups pumpkin puree

• 1 cup chocolate chips
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease muffin tins.

2. Whisk together all dry ingredients.

3. In a stand up mixer, mix eggs, honey, melted butter, + pumpkin puree.

4. Carefully pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Be careful not to over mix.

5. Fold in chocolate chips.

6. Pour the batter into prepared muffin tins (about 2/3 full) and bake for 16-18 minutes.

7. Enjoy!!

Let me know if you make these!

XO,
Laura

FIRST TRIMESTER BUMPDATE with Q + A

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Well hello there! If we’re friends on Instagram or Facebook you may have heard the news that we’re expecting baby #3.

I announced at 10.5 weeks this time around which is the earliest I’ve announced but you guys, my bump is totally noticeable and I hated how I kept complaining that I was sooo tired on IG stories, ha. I even had a friend ask, “Why are you so tired all the time!!”

I know it’s a bit risky announcing before I’ve even heard a heartbeat (my first ultrasound is coming up on Tuesday) but I’m choosing not to fear and trust that baby is a-ok. The first trimester can do a number on your fear/anxiety but I keep telling myself that it is out of my control….which is so hard for me as a control freak but that’s what parenting is all about, letting go of control and trusting God. Yes you do the best you can for your child but we ultimately are not in control. They will grow up and become their own person and make their own decisions (which I reallllly don’t want to think about right now!!)

I thought it would be fun to do a Q+A with this pregnancy so I put it out on my instagram stories and here were some of your questions…

Will you find out the gender?

Yes!! When we talked about #3 I suggested that maybe we don’t find out this time but James veto-d that and we’re going to find out. I’m a planner, so finding out is what I usually do but we already have a boy and a girl so I thought a surprise tie-breaker might be fun. BUT I’m excited to find out around 20 weeks. I want to do a fun reveal again because London’s was so fun!!

Was this little one a planned pregnancy?

Yes it was fully planned! I wanted more than 2 kiddos. 4 would be amazing but honestly I think we’ll be done at 3 as I love working and don’t think I could commit to working and have 4 children. Also this pregnancy has been TOUGH with nausea and fatigue…don’t know how I could do that again with 3 kiddos.

Did you have any c-sections?

Nope! Both Luca and London were vaginally delivered. Here is Luca’s birth story and here is London’s. Both completely different births but beautiful in their own way. Hoping for another vaginal delivery (with an epidural of course!)

Any good prenatal vitamin recommendations?

Ha, I’m probably the worst at this because I have a huge problem swallowing pills so I just get gummy ones from Walmart. When I was pregnant with Luca, it was impossible to find them in Canada and I’d have to go to Target and stock up but thankfully these days I can find them anywhere!

FYI- Gummy ones don’t have iron in them…which usually is good for you if you are super sick as iron makes you more nauseous. I usually have an iron deficiency, so I’ll take a powder/liquid iron come second trimester (mine was making me sick first trimester).

Tips on catching your breath…I’m always out of breath.

Ha, I’m always out of breath so I’m no help! It’s usually the first sign how my friends can tell that I’m pregnant.

How have you been feeling?

August was a hard month. My nausea has gotten worse with each pregnancy so this pregnancy has been the hardest. I don’t puke but I’m constantly nauseous and very, very tired. I feel a bit better now that I’m nearing the second trimester. Hoping the nausea goes away for good soon!

How did you find out?

My cycles can be pretty irregular so we tried over a week window. I had a rough estimation of when I should test but I tested early because I always do ha. The first test was negative and I waited a few days and tested at night and there was a faint positive. The above pic was from the test from the next morning. I was almost 4 weeks when I found out.

Thank you for all your congratulations. We really are so thrilled to be expecting baby #3…and my sister is due 2.5 weeks ahead of me! How exciting!!!

XO,
Laura

WHAT I WANT TO TEACH MY DAUGHTER ABOUT BODY IMAGE

A SWIMSUIT BODY IS A BODY WITH A SWIMSUIT ON IT.

Wear the suit. Rock the bikini. Have fun at the beach this summer.

Because little eyes are watching. Little ears are listening and tuning in to not only what we say to other but what we say to ourselves.

I grew up hating my body. At 11 years old, some kid called me fat and I never looked at my body the same. I hated my body for years- through my teens, early twenties and a few years into my marriage.

Finally one day my husband called me out on it. I was speaking truth and love to many women and girls yet I spoke nothing of the sort over my own body.

After many months of fighting lies and speaking truth over myself, the self loathing went away and I finally started to love and was kind to the body I was in.
In more recent years, my body has stretched, shrunk and stretched again and if I'm not careful, those old lies try to make their way back into my mind. So I have to FIGHT back because I'm determined to teach this little lady to love her body.

And sometimes fighting means taking off the baggy shirt and rocking the swimsuit. So let's be brave together. Because London needs you, I need you and a whole world of little girls watching needs you too.