Thursday, April 5, 2018

Maternity Magic

9:03 AM 0 Comments
Bless my husband's heart. The man loves a lot of things, hockey, chocolate milkshakes, his truck, but taking pictures is definitely not on that list. He knows how much family photos mean to me, so he has humored me with engagement photos, wedding photos (he didn't really have a choice there), and he reluctantly agreed to take maternity photos with me. 

 Our original plan was to make a trip up to Yosemite where we got married and take them at the site we had our ceremony, but the weekend we had on the books to do this, there was a gnarly snowstorm up there, and Mike thought braving that with a very pregnant wife proooobably wasn't the best idea. And as much as I was bummed, I had to agree with him. So we had to find a local photographer last minute. We connected with a local photographer, and due to rain for 2 weekends in a row, our shoot kept getting pushed back, but on the third Saturday we had our fingers crossed third times would be the charm. Our photographer, Jenny, was so understanding and flexible when we had to reschedule due to weather, which was very much appreciated. 

 We pull in to Napa, and it instantly started to rain. We both got discouraged, but pulled into our meeting space, and it stopped raining thankfully! Jenny was AWESOME and found such great spots for our photos! She got so incredibly creative with locations and was super chill and easy to work with. She made us both feel comfortable, and we really enjoyed our time shooting with her-even Mike! As we were driving home (it had just started raining again, so it was perfect timing!), Mike said, "I wonder if she can do our newborn photos." So maybe he doesn't hate taking photos as much as he lets on... 

 So if anyone in the Bay Area needs a local photographer, PLEASE contact Jenny Daughtry - you will NOT be disappointed! She was incredibly professional, but super easy going to work with. She edited our photos super fast and we had them within 48 hours. It was such a fun experience, and now we have these beautiful photos forever. I mean, let these photos speak for themselves. Thank you so much Jenny for capturing such a special time in our lives!

 PS link to my dress here - Amazon for the win! 
















Continue reading...
# Pregnancy
at No comments: quickedit
Labels:

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Trimester 3

1:54 PM 0 Comments
Holy cow people. Pregnancy is no joke. But guess what?! We are on the homestretch!!! We are finally in our Third Trimester, and we could not be any more excited! This has been such a long road, we can definitely say that we are ready for little man to be here!

To read about our First Trimester click here and our Second Trimester click here :)

But it wouldn't be a Petrellese Pregnancy without a little bumps in the road, right? The third trimester started out with our appointment for our ultrasound to check on my placenta issues. The tech did their thing, then called the doctor back in to finish up. As always, when the doctor is checking things out, everyone is quiet, so we were just waiting for some answers. Good news! My placenta moved away from my cervix, so no placenta previa-yay! And my placenta had not grown into my uterus, so no placenta acreta and no hysterectomy needed-double yay!! Mike and I looked at each other and were beaming, we were so ecstatic to receive good news! Then the doctor said she found something else. She said that our baby has what is called an umbilical cord varix. There are many different variations, but our particular varix is that the connection of the cord into his belly button is enlarged, and they are worried he wasn't getting the nutrients he needed, which increases the risk of still birth. And any mamas out there knows, when you hear the word stillbirth, it causes your heart to stop. I, no surprise, started to cry, and then the doctor assured me that this rare. They wanted me to start weekly Non Stress Tests to monitor the baby, and if at any time his heart rate isn't what they want, they will send me to Labor and Delivery, and then they will take him out immediately if needed. 

Although it was originally scary, the weekly testing has been a blessing in disguise. I get to hang out in a comfy chair and listen to little man's heartbeat for 30 minutes, and those have been some of my most cherished moments of this trimester. Of course it's always in the back of my mind to be mindful of him and his movement, just to make sure he's doing ok in there, but the weekly testing has been nice. 

Other than that, this trimester has been exciting! My work threw me an adorable baby shower, my family threw us an awesome baby shower (separate post to come), we took maternity photos (separate post to come), and we are on the home stretch of completing his nursery! I am very big, very round, and very excited!! We just cannot wait to meet this little man, and I know that all the hardships we have been through this pregnancy, will be MORE than worth it!!

March 11, 2018

Mike got to celebrate with my coworkers!

Adorable cake a staff member made for us!

One of the amazing coworkers that threw us a shower!

So blessed for such amazing and supportive coworkers

March 17, 2018
Continue reading...
# Pregnancy
at No comments: quickedit
Labels:

Trimester 2

1:40 PM 0 Comments
Holy cow people. Pregnancy is no joke. With the First Trimester of Morning Sickness behind us, we were ready to start enjoying this pregnancy. We had about a month of smooth sailing, and then we received the call. 

 Mike and I had decided that we wanted to participate in the genetic testing that is offered through Kaiser. Which consisted of a blood test, a Level 2 ultrasound to check out little nugget, and then a final blood test. The first blood test and ultrasound checked out great, our numbers for genetic disorders such as Down Syndrome and Trisomy 18 were really low, and they said that no further testing was necessary. I did need to complete that last blood test, went in, thought nothing of it, and almost forgot about the testing in general. A couple weeks later, I received a voice message from the Genetics Department and they needed me to call back right away. Needless to say, I started freaking out instantly, but I had to wait until the end of the school day to call back. 

 Once I was able to get ahold of them, they told me that my final blood test came back with a Higher AFP Level than is wanted, which is cause for concern for genetic disorders such as Spina Bifida. They said they needed us to come in for another ultrasound to check things out, but they couldn't get us in for another week because of the Christmas holiday. So I will be honest, this mama started worrying and freaking out, I mean, that's human nature, right?! That next week of waiting was not too fun, even though we had Christmas festivities to keep our mind off things, it was still in the back of our minds. 

 When we went to the appointment, we had a consult meeting with the specialist before the ultrasound, just to go over our options should anything not ideal be found. So once we got in there, the ultra sound tech tried to get pictures of everything. They couldn't get the shots they wanted, so they had to try a couple different things, and during this time, I don't think I was breathing much, I was so nervous. They finally then called the doctor in, and she told us that while everything checked out fine and little nugget didn't have Spina Bifida, they did notice that he had a cyst on his brain which is a soft marker for Trisomy 18. As soon as I heard that, I broke down in to tears, because this is a disorder that almost means your baby won't survive more than 6 months. Through my tears, I did hear her say that they didn't see any other markers at this time, but they didn't really get the photos they wanted, so they wanted us to come back in 2 weeks to check things out. 

 Leaving that appointment was really difficult, and to say that I was fine the next day would be a lie. This hit me pretty hard, and it was difficult to pull myself out of it, and I was in a state of constant worry over the next 2 weeks. When we went back in, they tried to get pictures of everything they needed. The cyst was still there, but they weren't expecting it to have gone away that soon. The heart and brain looked good, which was great news, and I was so happy everything was checking out with our nugget. But then they found some issues with mama. My placenta was located really close to my cervix, so they wanted to monitor me for placenta previa down the line, and I also had placenta lakes. Which basically means I had tiny blood clots on different spots of my placenta, and this caused with the location of the placenta could cause it to grow into the uterus, which would mean I would need surgery at the time of birth to remove it, which also means I would need a hysterectomy. Even though everything was looking good with nugget, was great news, but to hear that I may have to have that surgery at the time of birth and take away my opportunity for future children, was a lot to take in after an already emotional day. 

 It felt like we had been dealt a difficult hand emotionally. First starting with the miscarriage back in June, then the constant morning sickness, now with the past couple weeks of waiting for answers, and now more waiting, was just a lot to handle emotionally, and mix that with pregnancy hormones, and this mama was a hot mess! They wanted to see my back in 2 months to check the status of my placenta, so we had more waiting ahead of us.

 Even though the Second Trimester was a difficult one emotionally, we found out some GREAT news in this trimester! We found out our little nugget was a Big Bundle of Baby BOY Joy! We were going to plan a gender reveal with our families and friends, but with all the genetic stuff going on, Mike and I decided to find out on our own, and you guys, it was such a special moment to share just the two of us, it was perfect. We had our neighbors put the right color balloon in a box, and Mike and I took the box out to our backyard where Mike proposed to me, and we opened the box together and out floated blue balloons! Mike instantly started running around the yard and was stoked. We were so excited to finally know what we were bringing into the world. 

 Trimester 2 was rough, so we were very much looking forward to Trimester 3-almost to the homestretch!! 
Photos to announce our pregnancy

Ice Skates for Boy or Shotgun for Girl?!

This has Mike written all over it


November 14, 2017

Feeling like myself after the Morning Sickness passed!

The best gift we have ever been given

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!

Best birthday present I could ask for, finding out we are expecting a SON!
Continue reading...
# Pregnancy
at No comments: quickedit
Labels:

Trimester 1

12:47 PM 0 Comments

Holy cow people. Pregnancy is no joke. Mike and I were extremely blessed with this pregnancy, but holy moly was the first trimester a butt kicker! As soon as I hit 6 weeks, the morning sickness started. I'll never forget, it was a Thursday afternoon, the kiddos had left for the day, and I was getting ready to head home too, and then all of a sudden, I had this wave of nausea hit me and I ran to the restroom and just barely made it to the toilet. As soon as I got sick, I instantly felt better, and then I realized that I was indeed experiencing morning sickness! I called my mom on the way home from work and was so excited that I had experienced my first pregnancy symptom-I was stoked! We both laughed and thought it was the coolest thing! 

 By the weekend, my once a day morning sickness took over my life. And when I say it took over my life, that is not an understatement, friends. From Week 6 until about 14 Weeks, I was nauseous All.Day.Long. I literally could not get out of bed in the morning without eating a couple crackers and drinking water, and even then, I would throw that right back up once I got out of bed. My poor kiddos had to endure me running out of the room in the middle of teaching a lesson to run to the bathroom, I thankfully only had to grab a trash can and go outside once, so I will call that a small blessing! As soon as I would get home from work, I couldn't get off the couch, and just had to rest. Mike would always joke that I was getting sick so much that he could tell my different walks to the bathroom (if I walked, I just had to pee, if I walked quickly, it was go time) and the different sounds emanating from the bathroom once I made it there (whether it was just dry heaves and he could leave me be, or actually getting sick and then he would be there with a cold bottle of water for me). 

 To say that he was a Godsend would be an understatement. He went to the store, did all the shopping, did all the cooking, had the house stocked with the few things that sometimes made me feel better, and you guys, he never lost his patience with me ONCE. And no, I'm not lying, he was seriously the most patient man, and his patience and kindness is something that I will remember for the rest of my life. He told me that watching me go through that, the least he could do was do his best to help make me feel better. You guys, I got a good one. 

 Everyone kept telling me that the morning sickness usually subsides once you get to the second trimester, and I remember around Week 8 that I didn't think I could make it another 5 weeks of this! But then I would remind myself that the reason I was feeling so sick was because our little nugget was growing inside me, and I needed to stay tough. And thankfully, around Week 14 I started to feel more like myself, and I couldn't be more thankful.

 So our first trimester was a doozy, but we got through it together, well, mostly Mike got us through it, but we came out on the other side! 1 Trimester down, 2 to go!!

Right when we found out! September 17, 2017
In the heart of Morning Sickness - October 11, 2017

First Picture of our little Nugget - October 18, 2017
Just Chillin - November 10, 2017
Continue reading...
# Pregnancy
at No comments: quickedit
Labels:

Baby P Makes 3!

12:31 PM 0 Comments
You guys! Mike and I are going to be parents!! We really can't believe it. This has been a long time in the making, and we are so incredibly excited! I have been trying to write this post for a long time, but to say that it has been a crazy time would be an understatement! But now that we are getting so close, and I have some time to sit down and write (Spring Break what what!), I thought it would be a great time to start to document our journey. 

 Our journey to parenthood has not been an easy one, it has been a very blessed one, but it has been a windy road. Our journey started with a loss, which you can read about here, but we were very blessed to get pregnant again right away. After our miscarriage, it took 2ish months for my cycle to be regular, which made waiting to try again seem like forever. We got lucky, timed it right, and got pregnant again on our first shot. Being able to become pregnant the first two times we have tried is definitely not lost on me. God has definitely blessed us in that regard. 

 Our pregnancy story is actually very similar to our first one. After our miscarriage, and when my cycle came back and we started trying again, that 2 week wait is never fun. I woke up on the Friday morning that we could now accurately test, and couldn't bring myself to get out of bed. Last time, I couldn't sleep and took that test at 5 am because I was so excited. This time around, I feel like I had my hopes up so high, I was nervous to take the test and have it say NO. I was laying in bed, and Mike asked me if I was going to take the test before he left for work. I was pretty apprehensive and really didn't want to, but I dragged myself out of bed and shuffled to the bathroom. As I waited for that timer to tick away, I wasn't bouncing on the toilet seat like last time, instead I had my head in my lap and was just praying God for peace either way. After a few minutes, I looked at the test, and I was whole heartedly expecting it to say NO, but I was blown away to see it say YES. It was unreal. I had to blink a couple times to make sure my eyes weren't deceiving me. Sure enough, it still said YES. So I slowly walked over to Mike in bed, and said, "Well, you have some pretty amazing swimmers. Are you ready to do this again?" His reaction was "No way. Really?!" We didn't giggle like kids like last time, I think it was because we were just in shock. Over the next few days, we started to become more excited, but obviously we were optimistically cautious. With each passing week, it became more and more real, and we became more and more excited. 
Ready for Round 2!!

We couldn't be more excited to be on this journey together, through our ups and downs, it has truly brought us closer together. Mike has been the best partner to me, and the best dad to our little one, and I am so extremely excited to get through this homestretch so we can meet our little man. 

 As we are nearing the end, I thought it would be fun to look back on the milestones from each trimester, to celebrate this crazy journey we are on! 

 You can read about our First Trimester here

 You can read about our Second Trimester here

 And you can read about where we are at in our Third Trimester here

 5 Weeks and Counting!!!
Continue reading...
# Pregnancy
at No comments: quickedit
Labels:

Lost Little One

12:03 PM 0 Comments
It will never happen to me. There are many tragic things that happen in life that make you think, "that will never happen to me." I have now experienced this first hand. It has taken me a long time to become brave enough to post about this, because I've had so many thoughts, feelings, emotions about this, and was debating whether or not to get it all down on paper, but I think I am finally ready to tell my story. Since experiencing a miscarriage, I have learned that this happens more often than we would like to think, and it has brought me closer to a lot of women who have experienced this loss, so if this post can touch at least one person, I think it is worth it. 

 Mike and I had been talking about starting a family for awhile, we were just praying about the timing. We had been married a year and a half, and after lots of prayers, we finally felt that we were ready to start trying. And miraculously, our first shot at trying, in May 2017, Mike and I found out we were expecting a bundle of joy. I will never forget that morning. It was a Friday, I got up to take a pregnancy test, Mike was still laying in bed, and that 3 minute wait while that tiny timer was ticking, felt like the longest 3 minutes of my life. Then all of a sudden, it changed from the timer to YES!! I couldn't believe it! I ran into our bedroom, jumped on Mike's side of the bed, and showed him the test, and he said "No way. No way." And we both started laughing and he pulled me down on to the bed and hugged me as we both looked at the test. We couldn't stop giggling, and were just in a bit of shock. We were going to be parents! We were so grateful to have been blessed with a baby on our first try, we were just so excited. 

The morning we found out we were EXPECTING!!!

I remember going to work that morning and just being on cloud nine. I have wanted to be a Mom since before I can remember, that's all I've ever wanted, and to finally be on that path, it felt surreal. Even though it was so new, Mike and I knew we wouldn't be able to keep this secret from our families, so we decided to tell our immediate family since we wanted them to share in this excitement with us! Needless to say our families were overjoyed and just as shocked as we were that it happened so fast. Over the course of the next week Mike and I kept texting each other about how excited we were and how unreal it was. January was going to be here before we knew it!

 Then on Thursday of the next week, I started to lightly spot. It was just a little at first, so I didn't think anything of it, until the next few times I used the restroom, the spotting got a little more pink in color, and it was more in volume. That is when I decided to call the advice nurse. She said that if it continued and increased to call back. Later that night, I started to experience cramping, more spotting, and needless to say, a lot of worrying. It was about 3 am and Mike told me to call the doctor. They told me to come in the next morning to get a blood test to measure my HCG levels, and then they would be able to tell us more. So the next morning, we went in, got the blood test, and just had to wait. I continued to bleed, and in my heart I think I knew, but I just didn't want to accept it. Sunday morning rolled around, I was laying on the couch with my feet elevated, when I received the email. It was very short, just stating that my levels were so low, and that I had miscarried. I instantly burst into tears, and just didn't know how to feel. Mike was wonderful and incredibly supportive, but I could tell that it was hitting him hard too. 

 The next week just happened to be the last week of school, so thankfully I had a lot of fun activities and a wonderful class to keep my mind off it, it was a nice distraction. But once the school year ended, and I started summer break-while summer break is always a welcome joy, I think it was actually really hard on me because I had so much time on my hands to dwell on the loss. I felt like I was constantly in my head, and couldn't get away from my grief. 

 I felt like I wasn't myself, and I couldn't shake myself out of this hole I was in. And I think the frustrating part was some people said to me, I know trying to make me feel better, "You were only pregnant for a week, it could have been a lot worse." First off, while I was only pregnant a week, that doesn't change the fact that I had a life growing inside me that Mike and I created and I had waited for my entire life. The instant I read YES on that pregnancy test, I felt like I was Mom. And I will be the first to say, that yes, we were incredibly lucky to have experienced our loss the way we did. Yes, it did happen early, my body was able to process the loss on its own, I didn't need any extra procedures, and it happened over the weekend so I wasn't at work. So yes, God blessed us with a pregnancy, and he also blessed us with a smooth miscarriage as well. So that is definitely not lost on me. I can't imagine losing a baby when you are further along, I just don't think it negates the loss that we felt. 

 But through this loss, I was able to connect with quite a few women who have experienced miscarriage, it actually happens more often than you think. It was so nice to be able to speak with these women, hear their experiences, what they went through emotionally, it was really helpful and made me feel that I wasn't alone. I had a friend who miscarried a year before I did, and when it happened, my heart broke for her, but I could never really understand what she was going through until I experienced it on my own. I can now say that I feel it bonded us even further, because it is almost like a club that we are now both part of and can be a support system to each other. So while miscarriage is a terrible tragedy, I do believe that there is good that can come from it. 

 So to any mamas out there who have experienced the loss of a child through miscarriage, please know that you are not alone. You are strong, you will get through it, and all our babies are up in heaven together looking down on us. While this is one of the hardest things you will ever go through in your life, I whole heartedly believe that God has a plan for us and for our future little ones, and we will get through it. 

 Stay strong xoxo
Continue reading...
# Pregnancy
at No comments: quickedit
Labels:

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Backstreet's Back ALRIGHT!

12:48 PM 0 Comments

Alright friends. I am about to relive my childhood with you. And let me tell you, it. was. AWESOME! A couple months ago, my mom and I had lunch together and we realized that we have never taken a Mother-Daughter trip together. When I told her that Backstreet Boys were performing in Vegas, we quickly decided we should needed to take a Vegas Girls Trip! Now, let me give you a little background. I was in about 4th grade when I quickly became an N*Sync and BSB addict. And when I mean an addict, I can still, 20 years later, tell you the track listing on all of their CD's because I listened to them so often. Please don't judge, we all have our quirks, ok? I was blessed when I was younger that I was able to go to a Spice Girl concert, Britney Spears, OTown, and TWO N*Sync concerts, but friends, I had never been to a Backstreet Boys concert as a little girl, so we definitely needed to make up lost time. So off to Vegas we went!

And let me tell you, it was fantastic! I had only been to Vegas once before, and I was only there for a little over 24 hours, so I don't really count that trip. But my mom and I decided to do this trip right! We booked a room at the Paris, and asked for an upgrade, and ya'll, look at this view!

22nd Floor Baby!
Nothin Like Vegas at Night!
My cousin and her family live in Vegas, so she picked us up from the airport, and we had lunch with her and her kiddos at their house, and it was so fun to spend some time with them. After we unpacked, we spent our first night in our casino, and played the slots, had some sushi, and hit the hay pretty early so we could be totally refreshed for our full day in Vegas. We woke up the next morning and went straight down to the pool, trying to get some lounge time before it got toooo hot. And it was great. We got in the water every 15 minutes, got some sun, ordered lunch from the pool bar-we felt pretty blessed. 

View from my lounge chair at the pool
After our time at the pool, went we began our primping for the concert. And friends, I had my first Dry Bar experience, and I am officially a fan! We decided that what better way to do a Girls Trip right was to get pampered! For those of you who aren't familiar with Dry Bar, you basically go in there, tell your stylist what kind of style you want, and they wash, dry and style your hair! Best thing ever. So after we were primped and ready, we headed across the street to the Cosmo for dinner, and we said to ourselves, "we fancy!" We enjoyed a great dinner and then finally headed over to Planet Hollywood to the concert!

My beautiful Mama!
She insisted on taking a photo of me...
Love her so much

So once we got into the venue, we met up with my cousin and her friend who were able to get tickets to the concert, and were anxiously awaiting the start of the concert!
Quick Pic at the Cosmo

Loved meeting up with my beautiful cousin Sandy!
Now it was time for the main event! And friends, IT WAS WORTH WAITING 20 YEARS FOR!!! The vocals were amazing, the lights were so cool, and the energy was just out of this world! They sang all their hits, my mom and I sang along like we were back in the year 2000. Sharing this experience with my mom was more than I ever could have asked for, it was one of the greatest times we've spent together.

We are already talking about planning our next Girls Trip, and I can't wait. It's times like these that remind me how truly blessed I am.
One last picture from our seats!
Continue reading...
at No comments: quickedit

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

I'm Baaaaack!

7:17 PM 0 Comments
Holy Cow Friends! It has been almost 2 years since I've blogged. Yikes. 2 years?! Man does time fly! To say I've been busy would be an understatement. Life just crept up on me at 1,000 mph and I just felt like I had to prioritize my time and unfortunately, blogging just fell a little too far down on the list. But I have so much happening in my life right now that I felt like it was the right time to jump back in and start documenting all of the things that are happening for me right now! 

One of the main reasons why I now have time to get back in the blogging saddle is because I am on my First. Official. Summer. Break!!! Wooo!!! And wow what a whirlwind it has been. I am definitely going to dedicate an entire blog post to my wonderful munchkins, because they gave me the greatest gift I could have asked for. So stay tuned for that...

So happy to be back! Tell me, what have you all been up to?
Continue reading...
at No comments: quickedit

Follow Us @soratemplates