Pregnancy Wednesday: 11 weeks

Holy Moly!  11 weeks!  So crazy!  I can just see that second trimester on the horizon!!!  How is that possible?  June seems sooooo far away, but at the same time this pregnancy is just flying!!!

I am still feeling great!  A little tired still here and there but not all of the time!  The urge to pee every 5 seconds seems to be fading a little.  I am now able to sleep longer than 2 hours at night without getting up to pee!  YAY! And other than those two MINOR complaints, I have no other complaints!

It is kind of strange, I keep forgetting that I am pregnant.  It will just not occur to me for a little bit and then it will all come back.  I think it is because I feel so good!  However, I am now definitely needing pregnancy clothes!  At home, I wear sweats and a t-shirt so I don't notice it as much.  But going out, yeah, the pre-pregnancy pants just don't cut it!!!

No crazy cravings this week.  Just that I cannot get enough fruit.  Yum.  Doesn't matter what fruit, just give me any and all fruit!  And salads.  I am looking forward to making my salad at lunch today!!!  Hey, if the baby is going to crave fruit and salad...bring it!!!  Better than cakes and cookies...which I can also eat anytime!!! :)

The other funny part of all of this is Miss A.  She is still grasping to understand all of this.  Her new favorite toy is my "Pregnancy Week by Week" book.  This was my favorite book during my pregnancy with her and still is my favorite.  I like it better than "What to Expect."  I recommend this book to any and all expectant moms out there!  You can buy it from Barnes and Noble here.  Anyway, Miss A has latched onto this book as HERS.  It is so cute!  She sits on the couch and flips through the book like she is reading it like a big girl.  When she can't find it, she comes to me and says "My book?"  It is HER book.  And I don't mind, because I have it on my Nook too, so if she ruins it, oh well!  She learned very quickly that those pictures are babies.  She will point and say "dady."  She has her b's and d's backwards.  So I have been trying to explain to her that there is a baby in mommy's tummy too.  She just looks at me like I am nuts.  When I get bigger and she can feel the baby kick, I think it will be more real for her.  It is just so fun to watch all of this through her eyes and try to help her understand.

The weeks are just flying by!  Hard to believe that I am almost out of the first trimester and will soon be in the second!

If you are pregnant, trying, or just had a baby...how are you feeling?

Laura

Posting Delay.

Sorry guys.  I have a bunch of reviews to post...and my camera broke.  :(  So until I can get it fixed or replaced, reviews will be on hold.  Who knew that a camera was SO vital!

Please stay tuned.  And sorry for the delay/ quiet blog.

Laura

Pregnancy Wednesday: 10 weeks

10 weeks today...wow!  I am so excited and anxious to get to 20 weeks and see what this little one is and even more excited and anxious to hold this baby...but at the same time, how is it possible that I am almost done with the first trimester?  This pregnancy just seems to be flying!  I am already 1/4 of the way there!

Question: How early did you feel movement?  With Miss A, my placenta was anterior (in the front) and I really didn't feel movement until around 22 weeks.  It was a sad and LONG wait to finally feel those kicks and movements.  I know it is crazy because the baby is so tiny, but I swear that I feel movement at times.  It is probably all in my head though!

I am also excited to share a review with you...I am going to wait until later in the pregnancy and see how well it does at all stages, but I did buy a fetal doppler with my own money and I am excited with the results already!  As a Labor and Delivery nurse, I had the pleasure of being able to check on Miss A whenever I worked.  I was so nice to get to hear that heartbeat a couple times a week since I was working FT.  Now that I am only working casually (4 days a month) I wanted to get a doppler for at home so I could have the same comfort with this pregnancy of being able to check on the little one.  Working in the job I do, I see the good, the bad, and the really really ugly of pregnancy.  So with all of those experiences and memories, I sometimes have a very hard time just putting my faith in the fact that everything SHOULD be going ok with the pregnancy.  I have seen far too much to not have some control and be able to check in on the baby whenever I want.

So I did a ton of research and price comparison and then I stalked ebay for a good price!  I was shocked that I got it for such a great deal!  Yay Ebay!

Now, for those moms out there wondering...your uterus does not come up out of the pelvis until around 10 weeks.  So it is nearly impossible (and most practitioners will not try) to find the heartbeat with a doppler until 10-12 weeks.  With that knowledge in mind, my doppler arrived when I was 9 weeks and 2 days.  I wasn't going to try it out, but something in me just wanted to know!  So I decided to try and find the heartbeat the day that the doppler came.

I must say, it is hard to doppler yourself.  I am always standing over the patient and can visualize the landmarks and get the heartbeat right away.  But trying to do it to yourself it quite a bit more difficult.  So after a LOT of searching and feeling around for landmarks, I found it!  It probably took me 10 minutes, but at 9 weeks and 2 days, I was able to get the baby's heartbeat on my home doppler!  The heart rate was 125-130.  I was so excited to find it!

Now, for those of you wanting to buy a doppler and are hopeful that you can find the heart beat at 9 weeks, I want to warn you.  I am a Labor and Delivery nurse.  I know the landmarks and I know how to find the heartbeat.  At 9 weeks and 5 days, I could not find it.  It was very frustrating for me, but I was not surprised. Please do not expect to find the heartbeat until after 10-12 weeks.  More like 12 weeks for a home doppler. If you buy one and cannot find the heartbeat, do not get scared/worried/etc.  It can be very hard to find the heartbeat, especially before 20 weeks.  And depending on the position of the baby, it can be near impossible even with a good doppler; let alone a cheapie home doppler.

I am extremely excited to keep using it though and let you guys know what I find!  It was extremely affordable, so I am thrilled to share!  But not yet!  I want to thoroughly test it out first!

I am still feeling great!  I get a little tired at times but that is really my biggest complaint.  And I still can't get enough dill pickles.  I need to buy stock in Clausen!  Yum!

How are you guys this week?

Happy Pregnancy Wednesday!

Northern Essence Baby Sudz Soap Review

Last, but certainly not least, of the Northern Essence reviews is their Baby Sudz Soap.  This is an all natural ingredient bar of soap made from Shea Butter, Vitamin E, Olive oil, Coconut oil, Palm oil, and Rice Bran oil.  There is no added fragrance or coloring. This mixture makes this soap safe for even the most sensitive of skin and skin of all ages from birth to adult!

I used this soap on both myself and Miss A.  We both have extremely fair and sensitive skin, so we are always looking for products that won’t irritate our skin!  This soap did wonders!  In addition to not irritating either Miss A or myself, the natural oils and other ingredients replaced moisture and gave added protection to our skin! 

When wet, this soap creates a nice milky lather that is just sinfully nice to rub all over yourself!  Miss A enjoyed being bathed with this soap and I did too, because it just makes your skin feel refreshed and renewed.  It rinses clean and leaves your skin feeling moisturized and clean.

It is sometimes so difficult to find soap that is actually safe for extremely sensitive skin.  As a person with sensitive skin, I have bought all of those “made for sensitive skin” products and many of them are in fact NOT safe for sensitive skin.  I can assure you that the Baby Sudz soap is made from a safe formula, is extremely safe and gentle for sensitive skin, and would be perfect for infants, toddlers, and young children with sensitive skin!

Overall, I really loved this soap.  I have tried countless sensitive formula soaps and many of them still irritated my skin.  Miss A irritates even more easily than I do!  So finding a soap that is safe for both of us is a real treat!  This soap is gentle enough for even the most sensitive of skin, it is all natural, and it has a nice light and fresh soapy smell that is not overly powerful for those sensitive noses!

Total Stars:  5/5

You can purchase this item direct from Nothern Essence here.  A sample size bar is only $0.99 and a full size bar is only $4.50.  Very affordable to try for yourself!!!

And please follow Northern Essence on Facebook and thank them for this review!

Northern Essence Better Butt(er) Cream Review

Wouldn't you love to find a diaper rash cream that can also be used for other things as well?  Northern Essence’s Better Butt(er) Cream can do it all!  Not only is it a fantastic diaper rash cream and cloth diaper safe, but it also works great on dry cracked skin such as your hands!  This cream is also perfect for diaper rashes caused by yeast since it will not irritate the yeast and make it worse!

Cost:  ★★★★★  Depending on what size tub you buy, obviously, the price will change.  For a 2 ounce tub, the price is $7.95.  The 5 ounce tub is $14.95.

Ease of Use:  ★★★★☆  This light and fluffy cream comes in a nice little tub with an easy screw on/off lid.  The tub is wide and easy to get the cream out of.  The cream itself is very easy to apply since it is so soft and light.  Obviously, a cream of this type cannot come in stick form, so there is a little bit of mess that you need to wash off of your hands or simply rub into your hands for the moisture!

Smell:  ★★★★☆  This cream is marketed as “fragrance free” and is almost completely odorless, but there is a faint oil smell to it.  It is so faint that you can barely make it out.  The smell is very clean and fresh and almost non-existent, so it is not offensive to those very sensitive smellers out there!  There are no added fragrances though which means no additional ingredients to possibly cause reaction.

Effectiveness:  ★★★★★  As I mentioned above, this cream can be used for any type of diaper rash or skin irritation.  At the first sign of redness, I applied just a tiny bit of this cream and her rash was gone.  This cream is full of Hemp Butter, Shea Butter, Meadowfoam Oil, Grapefruit Seed Extract, and other ingredients.  Many sensitive skinned babies (and even adults) cannot use creams with essential oils due to their sensitivities.  This cream does not contain any essential oils and is perfect for even the most sensitive of skin. 

Overall:  ★★★★★  This cream is fantastic on both my daughter’s easily rashed tush and my extremely sensitive and easily dried hands.  This cream is obviously marketed as a diaper cream, but I found it to also be an exceptional healing hand cream.  (only I would think to put diaper rash cream on my hands! LOL)  Overall, I love this cream!  I did wonders on Miss A’s bum and I found a perfect second use for it too!

Total Stars:  23/25

You can purchase this item direct from Nothern Essence here.

And please follow Northern Essence on Facebook and thank them for this review!

Pregnancy Wednesday: 9 weeks

So, since I am terrible at keeping up with Wordless Wednesdays, I decided to create Pregnancy Wednesdays!  Since Wednesday is the beginning of my pregnancy week and I want to talk pregnancy with you guys...seemed like a neat idea!  So feel free to post your pregnancy comments, questions, etc and/or what week you are, how you are feeling, anything new with your pregnancy, etc!

As for me, I am 9 weeks today!  Seems crazy to me; like a dream!  I never shared with you guys, but conceiving this baby was a tad difficult.  We had been trying for 6 months!  Which I have been told by midwives, doctors, and parents that 6 months is not a long time...but we got pregnant with Miss A the first month that we tried...so 6 months this time seemed like an eternity.  When that stick said "pregnant" I truly felt as though I was dreaming.

I am feeling really good!  No morning sickness (didn't have any with Miss A either) and just generally feeling good.  In fact, I keep forgetting that I am pregnant because I really don't feel anything.  Some days I am a little tired...but others I am not.  So it could just be lack of sleep and not actually pregnancy...who knows!

I remember with Miss A, I needed to go maternity shopping around 8-9 weeks as suddenly my clothes just did not fit.  I was surprised this time as 8 1/2 weeks came and I still had not started feeling tight in my clothes. Well as of yesterday, it seems like BAM my clothes don't fit.  It is so funny...Monday, clothes felt fine.  Woke up Tuesday and suddenly, I feel like I have a belly.  Sadly, I have gained weight since having Miss A, so I need to go maternity pants shopping.  My pants from my first pregnancy fit, but they don't look very nice...LOL!  Guess my hubby is just going to have to buy me pants for Christmas!

So that is where I am at!  If you are pregnant, trying to conceive, or just want to talk pregnancy....leave a comment below!!!  I can't wait to hear from other mamas out there on their pregnancy experiences!  Also, if you have questions, go ahead and ask!  I am a Labor and Delivery nurse and can answer them or there are plenty of other mamas reading that would love to chat pregnancy!

Weird Pregnancy Food of the Week:  I can't get enough dill pickles.

Happy Pregnancy Wednesday!

Northern Essence All Natural Diaper Rash Salve Review and Giveaway

For this review, I was sent the original formula in the push up tube.

  

My daughter has extremely; let me stress that again, EXTREMELY sensitive skin.  It does not take much at all to break her out in a rash.  So I am constantly looking for cloth diaper safe creams, ointments, salves, etc that do not make her skin worse and will clear up any rash big or small quickly.  I am happy to say, that I have found some amazing products from Northern Essence.

The Northern Essence All Natural Diaper Rash Salve is just one of their amazing products.  I had the pleasure of reviewing their original salve in the push up tube.  I was a little apprehensive when I learned that I was using the original formula as opposed to the sensitive formula, but I must confess, as well as the original formula did for my daughter’s sensitive skin, I cannot imagine how much more sensitive the sensitive formula can be!

Cost:  ★★★★★  Depending on what size and what formula your are looking for, the price of these products ranges from $4.50 for a 1 oz tube to $7.95 for their 2 oz tubs and twist ups.  For as long as these products last, this is a fabulous price!

Ease of Use:  ★★★★★  This stick is simple to use.  It is a push up tube so you simply push up from the bottom of the tube for more of the stick and you simply rub the stick across baby’s bum to apply.  You do not have to get your hands all messy putting the salve on, nor do you have to touch sensitive skin with potentially dirty hands.

Smell:  ★★★★☆  Like many products containing tee tree oil, you can definitely smell the tee tree oils when you open the stick.  It is a nice clean smell, but if you are very sensitive to smells, I recommend the sensitive formula with the citrus.  I did review the Sensitive Skin Wipes Concentrate which contained citrus instead of tee tree oil.  You may find the sensitive versions of these products are less “smelly.”  I like the smell of tee tree oil, but for those with sensitive noses, you may prefer the citrus!

Effectiveness:  ★★★★★  During our use of this product, my daughter had a horrible illness complete with diarrhea as well as a few instances of ammonia burn with her night time diapers.  In all cases, as soon as I saw any hint of redness (or more than a hint in some cases) I simply put some of this salve on and by next diaper change there was no redness to be seen!

The salve is made of all natural ingredients including beeswax, calendula infused with olive oil, avocado oil, meadowfoam seed oil, cocoa butter, shea butter, tea tree and lavender essential oils.  The sensitive formula does not have the tee tree and lavender essential oils, but rather citrus oils as the tee tree can be more irritating that the citrus.  So this salve is all natural (YAY), cloth diaper safe (YAY), and is extremely beneficial for my little one’s bum (YAY!).

Don’t have rash problems?  Since this salve is full of essential oils, it can protect baby’s bum from potential breakdown and rash.  So even if you don’t have rash problems, if you apply this with every diaper change or even just once a day, you can help prevent any problems in the future while knowing that you are applying something that is all natural and chemical free!

Overall:  ★★★★★  Overall, I really loved this product.  As I stated before, at the first sign of redness, I applied this to my daughter’s bum and by the next diaper change, the redness was gone.  This is also perfect to apply at night time when your child may be in a diaper longer and exposed to wetness longer.  I love that the push up stick is simple to use, no mess and no fuss!  And best of all, this product is all natural and cloth diaper safe!

Total Stars:  24/25

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You may purchase Northern Essence products here.

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