Colors of Colleen

I’m officially into the third trimester and starting to think back to all of the different stages of this first pregnancy with the excitement, nerves, and hormones flowing! it’s truly amazing how much this baby has grown over the past 6 months and will continue to grow in these last 2 months. The female body is incredible in all the ways it changes to become the home to this little peanut. I’m just starting to get a tad uncomfortable and tired again so cannot wait to finally meet him or her in just two short months!

I thought it would be a good time to round up up some of my favorite pregnancy products for the pregnant mamas out there that I’ve used throughout the different stages of my pregnancy and answer some frequent questions I’ve received regarding pre pregnancy self care. All products are safe for mommy and baby to be! I don’t like to recommend products unless I’ve tried them for while, so most I started using within my first trimester and now some into my third.

The hatch belly oil is by far my favorite tried and true body product and it is so worth it! I had tried a comparable belly oil but it had made me itchy and red, so back to the hatch oil I went. Into my second trimester I was using it 2x a day in a circular motion on my belly, hips, and thighs the most. It’s for use throughout the entire pregnancy and into the 4th trimester. I even put a few drops into my bath to soften my skin and it has a very soft calming scent. There’s the cleanest ingredients in it too so it had me sold even though it’s on the pricier side. The roller ball size is perfect for traveling and can go in your carryon. Now into my 3rd trimester I’ve been using it 3x a day and not a single stretch mark, yet!

I also have become hooked on baths so I’m loving the Pink Stork Bath Flakes. They’ve helped a ton with nausea earlier on but mostly soothes and relaxes my sore muscles and feet, while helping with sleep. I’m a bath fanatic so this combined with some of my favorite lush bath bubbles is my favorite!

Last month I had shared our pregnancy reveal post and promised I’d give more details into how we worked toward conception. In all honesty, we don’t don’t think it’s just one lifestyle change or one kind of supplement we tried, but a combination of things we tried and kept patient with. Everyone’s body and situation is different so what works for one person may not work for another. We had already been living fairly healthy lifestyles, walking everywhere and throughout the week we cook in to be mindful of what we are eating.

I firmly believe that if you stay positive without overthinking and treat your body well the benefits will come. If you’d like to read more about our pregnancy story you find that here.

Pre Pregnancy Prep

Throughout this journey I’ve been given so many helpful tips, tricks, and words of advice around a mama’s changing body and more to prepare me for motherhood. It’s become so special to be part of a whole new circle of support from friends, relatives, and family I’ve been put at ease more than I thought! These are just some of the products and tips we tried to add into our lifestyle to boost fertility.

Pre Natal Vitamins

I liked this organic brand I started taking 3-5 months before conception as recommended by my doctor.

Pre Mama Fertility Support for Her & Him

Vegan all natural drink mix that I added to my water once a day. Kevin also did the same, his was actually a little tastier with a strawberry flavor whereas the one for woman is flavorless. There’s also this birth control cleanse as “step 1”. It’s a 28 day cleanse to boost your body’s hormones for pregnancy. I personally never tried this since I had already stopped taking the bill a year prior to conceiving (as Dr. recommended)

Pink Stork Fertility Tea

I love this tea! I started having it once a day in the evening, then had two cups a day on weekends. It has a refreshing peppermint taste I enjoyed. I didn’t even finish the container of tea before we conceived. Be sure to read the directions, as there’s a best time to take this in your cycle. It’s not recommended to continue use after conceiving! There’s other teas from Pink Stork and products that are for before, during, and after pregnancy. You can find all their products here.

Pink Stork Morning Sickness Tea

I would have this in the morning in bed with crackers to subside any nausea in the beginning of pregnancy. Luckily I barely had morning sickness but I did have weeks of nausea. The trick was never letting my tummy get un full and staying away from any greasy/fatty foods.

If you or someone you know could benefit from trying any of these tips please pass this post along. I’m happy to answer any more questions if you leave a comment!

Finally sharing this much over do post of our pregnancy! As I’m writing this at the end of my 2nd trimester I’m in awe of how fast time is flying by and in a few short months we’ll be bringing home our sweet baby! I’m over the moon excited to be experiencing a healthy pregnancy and couldn’t wait to share the news back in the fall with our closest family and friends. It was so hard keeping it a secret, we didn’t share with our families until I was 16 weeks and could make the trip upstate to share in person.

Shortly before our summer vacation to Bermuda we found out we were expecting! It brought a whole new meaning to our trip together. And in all honesty, it was an emotional relief. We had been trying to conceive for about a year and were becoming concerned that something may be off. I may have been naive but I really thought being healthy and living a healthy lifestyle wouldn’t create any issues with conceiving. We didn’t have to start further further fertility testing, but that was our next step after meeting with our doctor to discuss our options. Conceiving definitely took longer than we both first thought. There were a plethora of steps we started to take to prepare both our bodies for pregnancy the moment we knew it was taking longer than expected. I had already been taking pre natal vitamins, exercising, eating healthy all around so we started doing our research into some other life style habits for both of us. There’s more to share in this area (in a future blog post on our journey toward pregnancy)

I know everyone’s situation is different, and everyone’s body is different but I wanted to normalize how common it is to face challenges with fertility and it’s not something everyone talks about enough throughout their experience.

Rewinding back to the earliest moments before actually becoming pregnant Kevin and I knew we always wanted to be parents. We’ve been together for 10 years and close to that time we started getting more serious about our family planning. Our last biggest change was taking the risk of leaving our hometown of Buffalo, NY and chasing our dreams in New York City. The past 8 years in New York have been some of the best experiences for both of us both personally and professionally, where we’ve grown so much as individuals and in a partnership together.

We’ve had phenomenal experiences traveling allover the world together before and during our married time and knew we wanted these experiences before starting a family.

Choosing a career devoting myself to the lives of children I have always been passionate in that area and knew early on and always dreamed of a family of my own. My earliest days in college and beyond I had baby sat and nannied, loving every aspect of working with children. I cannot wait to see Kevin in his new role as a father. Growing up as the oldest brother of 4 boys he’s always demonstrated an incredible amount of patience and support to his entire family.

One of my biggest fears aside from the typical early pregnancy concerns and paranoia (thanks crazy hormones) where I knew my identity would change and I’d miss our old lifestyle and relationship as just the two of us. We knew that becoming a family of three would change most parts of our lives, and we knew we wanted that change for the better. We can’t wait to welcome baby Siskar this April 2020! It will be the greatest surprise yet for us as we’re waiting until delivery to find out the sex.

Thank you to all of our family and friends who have already been so supportive throughout our journey thus far, from both near and far! Can’t wait to keep you all updated on some motherhood posts soon to come.

Huge shout out and thank you to @CailtynReilly for our gorgeous winter bump pics! If you’re in the Buffalo area I highly recommend booking an appointment with her for a special family or couples shoot. She is so talented and so down to earth to work with!