pregnancy Archives - Moments of Musing

Pregnancy 4 Third Trimester Update

Filed Under: baby #4, pregnancy // February 20, 2023

mom of 3, mom of 4, fourth pregnancy, 4th pregnancy, 4 kids, latina mom, mom life, pregnancy, pregnant, pregnancy update, bumpdate

Physical vs. Emotional Feelings

I have to admit – while this pregnancy has been perhaps my emotionally toughest at times (I have bouts of feeling down though luckily I haven’t had any long stretches of those feelings since the first trimester), I have felt the most emotionally prepared and physically okay (despite already weighing much more than I’d like to and being sick quite a few times). We are so excited and looking forward to our daughter’s arrival but first we have a bit to do: design her nursery nook; prepare work-wise for maternity leave; and pack for the hospital!

Subchorionic Hematoma

Early on in my pregnancy, I was informed I had a Subchorionic Hematoma (a blood clot that forms between the placenta and the wall of the uterus). Apparently, it is very common but, of course, I was a bit concerned. It did help to calm my nerves to learn that mine was small and I never had any bleeding or symptoms. After my 12-week scan, I was told that the hematoma had resolved, which was very happy news!

Glucose Test

I PASSED the one-hour glucose test! I am so happy I did … I was a bit worried because I am quite heavier than I’d like to be at this stage in the pregnancy and because I’ve failed the one-hour for two of my pregnancies (first and third). It is definitely a big relief!

Baby’s Sex

I did not even realize I never posted about how we revealed the baby’s sex to the boys, our families and friends! If you follow me on social media, you likely know what we’re having but just in case not… baby is a GIRL! We received NIPT lab work results at 11 weeks with the news but waited until ultrasound confirmation at 17 weeks to share. I have also asked at each ultrasound and will be asking at birth lol

Birth Plan

This being my fourth pregnancy, “birth plan” has taken on a much different meaning for me because not much in my previous births went as planned. I went into this pregnancy being the most accepting of a repeat c-section and I hope that will calm any anxiety I have leading up to it. I intend to ask for my husband and the baby to stay in the operating room with me the whole time. If the baby has a minor issue, like Emilio did with low glucose (so he and Tim left the OR and E was fed formula soon after birth [with my permission]), I will ask if they can just resolve it in the OR though I’m not sure that’s possible. We will limit visitors at first, and also ask them to wear masks since she is a spring and middle-of-school-year baby, which I am already a bit nervous about but hoping by then we’ll be over sick season (fingers crossed!!!). I will probably just stay home for the first few weeks/months and then be ready for all the summer fun.

Baby Sprinkle

We recently celebrated baby girl with a little sprinkle. At first, I did not really want a celebration. I have been tired and sick, and we have quite a bit going on behind-the-scenes. But I am so glad I listened to my husband and family and celebrated this special time. After all, we have celebrated each pregnancy so it was only right to do so for our first girl.

All in all, I am feeling great and looking forward to enjoying this final trimester and pregnancy as much as possible. To be honest, though, I am ready to meet our baby and say bye bye to pregnancy forever! Most of all, I am just so grateful to my body and hope birth will go safely and that the baby will be healthy. Just a few more weeks now!

Baby #4: Boy or Girl? Old Wives Tales

Filed Under: baby #4, pregnancy // November 18, 2022

We will be sharing Baby #4’s sex next week!

I’ll start off by saying that my pregnancies with my three boys felt pretty different, and this pregnancy feels most similar to my first pregnancy, I think… it’s been seven years since that pregnancy so my memory is foggy haha

I had a strong feeling that my firstborn was a boy (I had a very vivid dream with my baby boy in it at the very beginning of my pregnancy) so I wasn’t really surprised when we found out that he, indeed, was a boy at his reveal. I didn’t have as strong a feeling with my second pregnancy and many people thought it might be a girl.

With E’s pregnancy, my third pregnancy, I again did not have a super strong feeling one way or the other. One one hand, I thought it could be a girl because of how much more sick and tired I felt (though working from home while caring two little energetic boys could have something to do with the more tired part lol). On the other hand, my third pregnancy felt similar to R’s and my appetite increased toward the end of the first trimester, which made me think it could be another boy.

With this pregnancy, I felt physically the best in the beginning. I barely had any symptoms, though I did take pregnancy tests the earliest I ever have, and the most I ever have, because I could not wait to find out. I did feel like I was way moodier, almost on an emotional roller coaster. This baby was planned but for whatever reason, possibly the surge in hormones, I felt almost depressed in the beginning. It was a weird feeling and one I am very glad to no longer feel.

Before we spill the beans, here is how this pregnancy has compared to my other pregnancies, old wives tales-wise:

Cravings?

This pregnancy: Mostly fruit and salads, and an occasional cold cut hero (which has been odd given I’m mostly vegan lol)

E’s pregnancy: Sleep lol jk Sweet (fruits + candy) earlier in pregnancy; more salty later

R’s pregnancy: Sweet (fruits please!)

S’s pregnancy: Salty (pickles + pizzeria chicken rolls lol)

Morning sickness

This pregnancy: No throwing up and not much nausea at all, which has been a pleasant surprise

E’s pregnancy: Bad nausea for 10/11 weeks followed by intermittent nausea (occurred into 17-18 weeks)

R’s pregnancy: Nausea for ~16 weeks

S’s pregnancy: Nausea for 14 weeks

Glow?

This pregnancy: Unsure lol I don’t have acne but I don’t necessarily feel like I’m *glowing*

E’s pregnancy: No – bad acne in the earlier weeks & felt uncomfortable in my skin and body for most of the first trimester

R’s pregnancy: Some people say yes and my body confidence was highest of all pregnancies, but I had bad acne in the earlier weeks

S’s pregnancy: Yes!

Moody or Mellow?

This pregnancy: Really moody, almost depressed in the beginning, but my mood has mellowed out a lot

E’s pregnancy: Pretty moody at times.. increasingly so as the pregnancy has progressed

R’s pregnancy: Moody/ Moodier than my first… according to my trusty husband haha!

S’s pregnancy: Mellow-ish

Shape of belly?

This pregnancy: Round?

E’s pregnancy: Wide

R’s pregnancy: Round

S’s pregnancy: Round

Carrying high or low?

This pregnancy: I feel like it’s low but that could be due to my previous c-sections

E’s pregnancy: Low

R’s pregnancy: High
S’s pregnancy: High

Heart rate?

This pregnancy: Above 140

E’s pregnancy: Above 140

R’s pregnancy: Above 140

S’s pregnancy: Above 140 sometimes, below sometimes

Clearly, the Old Wives Tales have been all over the place for all of my pregnancies haha!

Sooooo, what do you think – boy or girl?

Check back for the reveal soon!

Thankful for… Baby #4 Announcement!

Filed Under: baby #4, pregnancy, pregnancy announcment // November 15, 2022

This time of year is always so special. November is when Tim and I got engaged and married, announced all our pregnancies, and closed on our home. Now, we have another reason to be thankful this year… Baby #4 is joining us next spring and we are all so excited.

Read our Baby #4 announcement:

baby #4, pregnancy announcement, new baby, pregnant

This was both the earliest I have ever tested (at 4 weeks) and the longest we have kept from announcing both to loved ones and publicly. Since it is our last baby and pregnancy journey, I had an urge to keep it to ourselves for some time to relish in the news before sharing it.

There is something special about keeping news private in today’s day and age when everything is shared so publicly online… especially with me being a blogger and influencer and sharing so much of our lives over the years.

Overall, I am feeling pretty great. I just need an afternoon nap most days when my husband is working from home. If there is anything I have learned in my pregnancy and motherhood journeys over the years, it’s to rest whenever I can. A well-rested me equals a less stressed me, and in turn a better mama and wife.

Stay tuned for Old Wives Tales answered … because we have secretly known the sex of the baby for some time and have recently shared with family and friends!

It feels good to have finally shared our Baby #4 announcement with you all!

Childbirth Can Make You Nervous, But There’s Hope…

Filed Under: childbirth, motherhood, pregnancy // May 27, 2021

This blog post is sponsored by Blue Cross BlueShield Association, but all opinions are my own.

As a mom of two boys, most people probably thought what was most on my mind during pregnancy was the sex of the new baby. However, as a two-time c-section (the 1st of which I believe was avoidable) mom, what’s been on my mind most (aside from staying healthy and not getting sick) are my pregnancy and childbirth decisions, and what birth will ultimately be like.

Have I chosen the right practice/doctors? Will a third c-section be especially risky? What can I do to be healthy this pregnancy? Will my birth be safe?

I actually thought about those things even before I got pregnant. To others who’ve never been pregnant, it might seem premature to have been thinking about birth before even conception, but it’s worth thinking about because birth is such a monumental experience for both moms and babies. Birth makes me nervous…It is what’s made me most nervous each pregnancy, and with reason.

According to a recent study by Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), “Racial Disparities in Maternal Health,” pregnant women in the U.S. are more than twice as likely to die from complications related to pregnancy or childbirth than those in most other high-income countries in the world.

There are wide disparities among those who experience childbirth complications: Across all age groups, women in majority Black and Hispanic communities were more likely to have higher severe maternal morbidity (SMM) rates compared to women in majority white communities. Black and Hispanic women have 63% and 32%, respectively, higher rates of SMM than white women.

The BCBSA study found that racial disparities in SMM are especially pronounced for women in majority Black communities. The SMM rate for women younger than 35 in majority Black communities is still higher than the SMM rate for women 35 and older (and, therefore, considered higher risk) women in majority white communities.

Compared with white mothers, mothers of color missed more prenatal appointments, mainly due to transportation costs or scheduling conflicts. Mothers of color were also less likely to feel their doctors spent enough time with them. Black mothers were the least confident, when compared to Hispanic and white mothers, that they received or would receive the prenatal care they deserved, and that they could speak openly about their pregnancy with their provider.

To combat these racial disparities in our country’s maternal health care, BCBSA’s National Health Equity Strategy and local Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies are doing the following:

Collecting data to measure disparities
Scaling effective programs for mothers of color
Working with providers to improve outcomes and address unconscious bias
Leaning into partnerships at the community level
Influencing policy decisions at the state and federal levels
Improving postpartum care, particularly for high-risk moms
Delivering groceries to food-insecure households

And that’s just a few of the efforts taking place. I appreciate these efforts and their goal to reduce racial disparities in maternal health by 50% in the next five years.

Like all other moms, the health and safety of myself and my baby are what matter most. Ultimately, no matter the birth I experience (though I always wished for a vaginal birth I am scheduled for a third c-section), all I want is for me and my baby to be safe.

Maternity Photos – Spring 2021

Filed Under: maternity shoot, motherhood, pregnancy // April 28, 2021

During my first maternity photo shoot, I was self conscious about how big I was since it was toward the end of pregnancy (we had to reschedule our original date due to the weather). When I got the photos back, though, I loved them and was so grateful to have them. We skipped newborn photos that time and took our own.

Next pregnancy we did the opposite: I took my own maternity photos and we got newborn & family photos professionally taken. This pregnancy, we’ve decided to go all in. We did a maternity mini shoot (Now, Tim’s new favorite thing is mini shoots if taking photos in public! haha) and are getting family photos taken after the baby is born, too–both with Cait from Cait & Will Photography.

We recently got our maternity photos back from Cait and I almost cried. I can blame it on the pregnancy hormones or the fact that these capture our little fam in the current stage we’re in perfectly …or both!

All in all, my advice to current and future pregnant mamas would be to embrace your beautiful body that’s doing an amazing and miraculous thing–growing a human. If in doubt, go for the maternity shoot AND the family shoot!

This is a time to celebrate ourselves, our growing bodies and growing families, not put ourselves down.