Winter Walk in Bowring Park

The weather here has been a little chilly lately (still mild compared to other provinces - but cold for Newfoundland), however, we've had some nice sunny days. This past Saturday was a beautiful sunny day so we decided that we needed to get out and take advantage of it. We hadn't left the house in a week as all 3 of us were smothered with the flu and poor Blake was sick for the second time in a month. Needless to say, we all had cabin fever and are just so used to being on the go that we really needed to go for a walk and enjoy some fresh air.

Bowring Park was packed full of people that afternoon, but that's no surprise because thats where everyone flocks to on any nice, sunny day of the year. I wanted to start making outfit posts again as it's been over a year since I've made one, so I had Andrew take a few snaps. I would have loved to take Blake out and show off our matching toques (I'm actually obsessed with matching our outfits - its one of the many exciting things about having a little girl) but it was a little too cold.

I can't wait for the spring so I can do more posts/photos with Blake. She'll be one on May 1 (which is actually so crazy to think about) which means she will probably be walking and it will be so fun to go on walks in the park with her. But in the mean time, we will enjoy the winter and hopefully do more winter-y activities before the snow is gone. I'd like to try snowshoeing and pull Blake along in the little sled we bought her, and maybe bundle her up in her snowsuit and play in the snow. She's growing up so fast, so I always try to remind myself to enjoy every little moment and make the most of each day (even if its freezing out and we are limited on what we can do).

Also, if anyone is in the market for a good stroller, I highly recommend investing in a Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle. I'm sure I've talked about it in a blog post before, but we've been using it for almost 9 months now and its endured literally every type of terrain (it did very well on a sandy beach in the Bahamas). Most recently, on our walk we went down a super steep, slippery path that was basically ice on top of hard packed snow with lots of ruts and the Mountain Buggy held up perfectly. People probably thought we were insane for bringing a stroller down an icy path but it worked great.

Hat: CC
Coat: Michael Kors
Sweater: Ardene (I absolutely love this sweater and it was super cheap!)
Jeans: Guess (new fave jeans, super stretchy!!)
Sunglasses: Ray-Ban

Stroller: Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle

Welcome Baby Blake: Labour and Delivery Story

My beautiful little girl, Blake Lea Noseworthy, entered this world (pretty quickly) on May 1, 2017 at 5:00pm. She weighed 6lbs 5oz and measured 51cm long. She's much smaller than I imagined she would be, but after going through labour and delivery, I'm glad she wasn't any bigger...lol. Everyone thought she would be at least 8lbs, and maybe she would have been if she was born at 40 weeks, but she came 1 week and 5 days early.

At 37 weeks, I was beginning to get tired of being pregnant and the anticipation of meeting my little baby was killing me. I couldn't wait to hold her in my arms. I was getting so huge and everything was starting to hurt, especially after she dropped in my stomach. I was still working, but by the end of week 37 I had to call it quits. I was in so much pain and could barely walk without limping due to a really sore pelvis. It was getting so uncomfortable to lay down or even sit at this point and I was really wishing I wasn't pregnant anymore. Andrew was still working in Labrador when I experienced my first sign of labour (losing the mucus plug), and a few people advised me that he should probably come home ASAP because I could give birth any day, really. Andrew was supposed to come home on May 9, but came home on April 26 instead and thank god he did!!!

A week and 2 days later (38 weeks + 2 days) I went into labour. We had just gotten home from Andrew's parents house and I had some cramps on the drive home. When I got home I was bouncing around on my exercise ball and talking on the phone with my best friend, Jessica (who now shares a birthday with Blake!) and I experienced what I now know were contractions around 12am. At the time, I had no idea that they were contractions as a lot of people said my entire stomach would clench and contract and I would 100% know that I was in labour when it happened, but mine didn't do that. They just felt like pretty intense period cramps that would come and go every so often. When they started getting more regular and more intense, I asked Andrew to write down the times I was feeling them and how long they would last. After about 3 hours, they were about 5 minutes apart and lasted 1 minute each. This went on for an hour. I called the case room and told them and they said to come in right now. So we threw all of our bags in the car and drove to the hospital.

At around 4am, I was 3-4cm dilated when I got there and they gave me morphine and gravol to help with the contraction pain. I don't think that helped much, but I was able to use my breathing techniques I learnt in prenatal yoga to help get through each contraction (I would HIGHLY recommend prenatal yoga to anyone who's pregnant because that's what got me through labour, for sure). After about 5-ish hours of contractions, I fell asleep and when I woke up after a 2 hour nap, I was out of labour. My contractions had stopped altogether for several hours and because I was no longer in active labour, they were going to send me home. I was so disappointed because I really thought I was having a baby soon. Andrew and I were going to get ready and pack up, but then the nurse said that they wanted to see if my cervix had changed before they sent me home. Fortunately, I had dilated to 5cm so they decided to keep me for 24hrs to monitor me and see if labour would start up again before sending me home.

The nurse unhooked my IV and told me to get up and get some toast and walk around for a bit. 5 minutes after I had gotten up and put some bread in the toaster, my water broke and contractions started again stronger than ever. I was now dilating quickly...too quickly to get an epidural, much to my dismay. I had asked for an epidural at around 6cm and they said I should have lots of time before they needed to bring in the anesthesiologist. But about an hour later I was 8cm, then 9.5cm and before I knew it they were telling me it was time to push... and that it was obviously too late now for an epidural. I pushed 6 times in 10 minutes and she was out. It was the most painful thing I've ever been through especially since I could feel it all, but because it was such a short amount of time it was bearable.

Andrew, his sister Jennifer, and I all bawled like babies. It was such an emotional moment holding her for the first time, especially after 9 months of carrying her around in my stomach. She was the most precious thing I had ever seen and I couldn't believe she was finally here. We had an hour of skin to skin before they took her and cleaned her up.

Normally, I think babies just like wrinkly old men when they're born, but when it's your own, you can't help but think they're the most precious thing you've ever seen. I can't wait to journey through motherhood and go through all of the new experiences having a baby brings. I know it's not going to be easy as I've already seen in these first 3 weeks of her life, but I know all of the sleepless nights spent changing dirty diapers, soothing and feeding, and countless hours pumping breast milk are all worth it for this beautiful little girl.

I'm going to try and post weekly updates, but it might be hard with a newborn... I'll do my best, lol.

The day she was born <3

Our first picture together (excuse how haggard I look...)

Andrew's first time holding Blake (also his first time ever holding a baby)

Little cutie <3

Proud Daddy with his baby girl

Just before leaving the hospital to go home

Ready to go home!

All snug in her car seat, ready to go home from the hospital

Pregnancy Update: 30 Weeks

Today marks 30 weeks of pregnancy! Which means only 70 more days until my due date!! It feels like time is flying, but at the same time it feels like I've been pregnant forever. Andrew being away for work helps time go by a little faster because I'm always counting down the days until he's home and trying to keep busy while he's gone.

So far, I've had a pretty easy pregnancy (knock on wood it stays that way). I've had a few issues with lower back pain but I've managed to keep it under control by having prenatal massages every two weeks, chiropractor visits every 3 weeks, and going to a weekly prenatal yoga class. I would highly recommend anyone who's pregnant in St. John's to take Bobby Bessey's prenatal yoga class at Shakti Yoga on Torbay Road. She's a doula on top of being a yoga teacher and most of her clients/students are able to give birth without an epidural or any other drugs. I'm totally getting an epidural if I can help it, but it's nice to know that the breathing and birthing techniques she teaches in class will help make things a lot less difficult during delivery.

I haven't really experienced any sickness since the first trimester (hopefully it stays that way till the end) and my bi-weekly visits to the doctor have confirmed that the baby and I are very healthy and everything is going as planned, so far. I have another doctor appointment this Monday, and hopefully she'll be able to tell me how much the baby weighs and maybe give me an approximate birth weight. I'm thinking she's probably around 3lbs as that's the average baby weight at this stage in pregnancy. I'm hoping she's not anymore than 8lbs but apparently Andrew was around 9.5lbs so who knows... I guess as long as she's healthy, that's all that really matters.

We did a 3D ultrasound at UC Baby a little over a week ago, and it was so cool to see how much she's changed since the last ultrasound back in December. She totally looks like Andrew to me and a lot of people agree she looks like him as well. I have a feeling she's going to come out looking a lot like him lol. I find that girls typically look a lot more like their fathers than their mothers, but that could just be a coincidence.

Since I only have a little over 2 months left until D-Day, I really need to start thinking about my birth plan, and packing my hospital bag. The doctor said she could technically come at anytime (hopefully, she waits until at least 38 weeks!!) so I really need to prepare myself. I'm just hoping Andrew will be home when she comes so that I don't end up having to take a cab to the hospital (jk I'll probably call an ambulance if it comes down to it).

I can't wait for her to come, we are beyond excited to finally become parents and it will be so much fun to have a baby during the summer time :)

Here's my 30 week bump pic--I haven't taken one in weeks since Andrew hasn't been here to take the pictures for me, but shout out to my friend Chantal for taking my 30 week bump pic today :)

I think she looks just like her Daddy when he was a baby, chubby cheeks and all :)

Stay tuned for pictures of her nursery, I want to add a few finishing touches before I post pictures, but so far I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Pregnancy Update: 25 Weeks

Today I had my 25 week check-up and so far everything looks great. The baby's heartbeat is perfect, she moves a lot, and had the hiccups during the ultrasound today (so cute!). I also found out I don't have gestational diabetes (thank god!! chocolate is my weakness), iron levels are perfect and blood pressure, blood counts and whatever else the doctor checks are all on point.

Since this is my first time ever being pregnant, I never know what to expect during the process, and I'm always scared to death that something might go wrong with me or, especially, the baby. Each time I have a check up, she reassures me that everything is going really well which is awesome. Hopefully, this pregnancy continues to go smoothly...and quickly.

I'll be 26 weeks on Saturday, then it's only 2 more weeks and I'll be entering the third and final trimester!! Looking back, time does seem like it's gone by pretty fast, but 14.5 weeks still seems like a long ways away.

Andrew went away to work in Labrador this past Sunday for the next 3 weeks :( which means he wasn't able to attend today's doctor appointment (it's the first one he's ever missed) so my doctor was nice enough to do an ultrasound and let me take a video so I could send it to him. I was so excited to see her on the screen moving around and hiccuping. She's grown so much since the last ultrasound <3

I can't wait to meet her and see what she looks like, because at this point we have no idea what she will look like. I have a feeling she might be Andrew's twin, because so many girls I know are born looking more like their fathers, but we'll see when the time comes. 102 days and counting...

Outfit of the Day: 06.12.2016 Fort Amherst

Today marks 17 weeks of pregnancy! We just had our third pre-natal appointment this week  and were happy to see that the baby is doing well and things are looking normal so far. He or she was moving around a little bit, not as much as last time but the doctor said the baby looked like a little swimmer :) Time feels like it's moving quickly (it's almost Christmas!!), but this pregnancy feels like it's taking forever. I'm sure I'll look back on it later and think that it flew, but it's so hard waiting because we're so excited to have a little baby to play with and watch grow up.

Today we decided to take a little drive to Fort Amherst and take a few pictures because the sun was starting to go down which made for a really cool effect in the pictures.

I've linked everything I'm wearing below:

1. Hat (Urban Planet it's only $7.99!)

2. Coat (Michael Kors)

3. Jeggings (American Eagle, 25% off!!)

4. Turtleneck (Urban Planet)

5. Booties (Urban Planet these are 40% off right now!!)

6. Handbag (Michael Kors)

7. Lip Color (Nyx Lingerie Liquid Lipstick in Honeymoon)

**Urban Planet has buy one, get one 50% off on pretty much everything right now!!