Pregnancy Diary: 1st Trimester

Hello hello!

If you haven't heard the news, my husband and I are pregnant with our first child! It's mostly me thats pregnant but it"s easier to say it that way I guess. If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook you already know that we're expecting a baby boy, in April 2018! I am just over the moon excited. I'll be doing a motherhood diary here along with my other foodie/heath nut post's per usual.

How it all started...

Well, I'll spare you the details but, in August before my cycle could show up late I knew something was up. I was feeling extremely bloated. Not a typical period bloat, a super duper bloated feeling. Three days before my cycle was to begin I started complaining to my sister about how I was feeling. She convinced me it was just indigestion, which is very common for me. I grabbed some dandelion root tea, drank 3 cups and didn't feel any lighter. Three days later...no red dot in sight. After work that Sunday my husband and I, decided I would take a pregnancy test. We pretty much knew it would be positive. Before I could even lift the test from between my legs to give it a good look it read pregnant. We cried and hugged, and I cried some more.

The symptoms...

I had pretty severe first trimester symptoms. The common ones you read about. I was extremely nauseous, dizzy, shortness of breath, sleepy and had awful food aversions.  

Around week 7 or 8 I was on my last Invisalign tray. Every time I would go to put in my tray I would gag and throw up. I barely wore it, but thankfully my teeth were straight enough for me to be done with it! Praise God! I also had an extremely heightened sense of smell. This was terrible and only made me more and more nauseous. I had to change our shower soap, clean the fridge out, and make my husband take out the trash more. I know I got on his last nerve! It wasn't me it was the baby right?!

By week 8 I have very extreme food aversions. Every thing disgusted me. I really didn't want to eat. Since I was barely eating I lost 5 lbs. For some one as petite as I am, this was not a good look. I  dropped down to 108 lbs which is the lowest I weighted since college. The only things I would eat was coconut milk yogurt and a fruit smoothie. My husband would go out and get all my favorite stuff and I would take the smallest bite, and just push it away. 

The worst dizzy episode I experienced was around week 10. I got up for work at my normal time. I went to use the bathroom. As I sat on the toilet the whole room started to spin. I heard a loud piercing ringing sound in my ear. I woke up my husband and I said "babe I don't feel so good".  I was drenched in sweat and just collapsed on the bed by him. He offered to call my store and let them know I wouldn't be in but of course I refused to let him do that. I laid there for about 20 more minutes, drank huge gulps of cold water and then the ringing went away and I felt fine again. I was super late for work that day, but thankfully no one seemed to care very much. I was so terrified that morning. I had never experienced anything like that before and I never did again. Dizziness, yes, but not nearly that severe. 

New rituals...

Since that scary episode my husband decided I need a relaxing bubble bath once a week. I did not argue with that! He has done this faithfully me for me since that happened. I really really look forward to it. I'll come home from work and he will already have it ready for me. He's amazing!

I always make sure the water is not too hot so I don't boil our baby. I literally stay in here for like an hour sometimes. 

Since I found out I was pregnant I started rubbing this on my stomach and breast religiously every night after my shower. I want to prevent stretch marks at all cost! I love a good crop top! So its pretty easy to remember to do. 

I had acne scars on my face and back. I noticed towards the end of my first trimester that the acne scars on my back had darkened. Nooooo! I was so pissed about it too. I am careful with what skin care items I am using now so I try to go as natural as possible. I used a combination of these essential oils on my back scars every night too. 

My sister put me on to this concoction a while ago. I used the sweet almond oil as a carrier oil and I mix the essential oils in a the blue glass dropper in back. Its important to use glass and not plastic.

I am on my feet a lot at work. That, plus increased blood volume due to the bun in the oven is a recipe for varicose veins. I had already inherited a few from my mother so to keep them at bay. I dry brush and use a coffee scrub. I do this once or twice a week. It helps increase blood circulation and exfoliate the skin. It's time consuming but it seems to be working... I think... I hope lol.

Midway into the first trimester I had to switch to a new OBGYN. My initial doctor was retiring from delivery in 2018. I was bummed at first but I think it was a blessing in disguise. I absolutely love my new OB. She's amazing! My first visit I felt a sense of comfortability with her and the office staff. I did some blood work and started on a new prenatal vitamin. 

Only con with these vitamins is that they kind of taste like grass and they discolor your feces. But I mean, gluten, lactose and sugar free. I guess you can't have it all. I keep in my night stand and try to take them every night. 

Good reads...

These two books I have really really been enjoying. They help you track your babies developments along with your growth and bodily changes. They are packed with so much information!

The Natural Mama was gifted to me by one of my best friends. This is the better of the two books because it tracks every thing based on week. Mama Glow is a little more trendy and does not have the best flow. The perk with Latham's book is that it provides you with yoga guidance based on week which I really like. 

One thing I love about The Natural Mama is that it gives you positive affirmations each week! They are bomb too! 

Both books provide healthy, delicious recipes too!

How fly is she?!

All in all I am just so relieved and thankful to be done with the first trimester. It was hard! 

My journey continues and I'll be sure to keep you posted! 

Favorite Affirmation: My body is a vessel for the divine. My body is a miracle. 

With Love,

April W.

Leave a Comment blackgirlsblog, blacklifestyleblog, blacklove, blackvegetarian, confidence, firsttrimester, foodblog, glowmama, lifestyleblog, mcapril, mcaprillately, pregnancydiary

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Insecurity, Confidence and Invisalign

Happy Sunday!

Today we are talking teeth! Teeth are so important! Teeth and eyebrows can make or break a persons appearance in my opinion! Throughout my 30 years I have struggled with both lol. Middle school and high school were kind of rough for me. I wasn't the cutest let's just put it at that. It's all about growth though right?

A little back story. In elementary school, middle and high school my teeth were pretty much jacked. My adult teeth grew in extremely large. Like huge, especially the front two teeth. I had a gap between those two teeth and I had gaps between all 4 of my front upper teeth. It was tragic!

I always wanted to do my own hair! These bangs were NOT the look! This was  5th grade. 

Please don't laugh! The glow up is real! My teeth were just bad! Point blank period! No cavities just really crocked and gapped. 

At the end of 5th grade I got braces. This was a long journey! I had traditional braces for about five to six long years. It was pure trama! It was painful and it seemed like it would never end. You know how teenagers are. I was a stereotypical teen, super duper dramatic!

Despite have jacked up teeth as a kid I was pretty confident. I had lots of friends and  it honestly bothered me more than it did my peers. 

 Towards the beginning of my senior year the time finally came for me to have my braces removed. But there was a catch! The braces had caused my gums to swell so badly that I had to go to a periodontist and have a my gums shaved down, with a lazer! It was horrible! Super painful and I had to have stitches in my gums for days after that! Terrible! After this was all said and done my teeth looked really amazing! They were perfect! You couldn't tell me nothing. Lol.

Brows were NOT on fleek! You can see here on the upper right hand side I still have some severe gum swelling.

 I got two permeant retainers after my adolescent braces. One behind my front two teeth and one behind my bottom 4 teeth. I also had a traditional wire retainer that I was to wear every night. Welp, needless to say I lost that wire retainer after about 5 months out and didn't think twice about it!

Fast forward about about 10 years and a much needed slight glow up. After under grad and grad school and all my glory years my teeth, you guested it, began to shift. This was very gradual but I noticed it immediately.  My front two teeth began to slowly protrude outward and the gaps between my canine teeth at the top and bottom begin to appear. The first realization was how easily food would get stuck in those spots. Gross I know! But as the years passed it became more and more visible in pictures and most importantly to me.

This gap that started to appear grew larger and larger and it  bothered me the most. 

After much thought and a consultation I decided that Invisalign was pretty much my only option. Because I didn't think I needed much fixing I felt it to be a good decision. Just a small word of advice when making decisions about altering your outward appearance, whether it be a new hair cut or hair style, getting cosmetic surgery or fixing something about yourself you don't like...

1. Make sure your doing it for yourself only.

2. Don't tell a lot of family or friends about your decision. Too many opinions can easily sway your initial thoughts.

3. Maybe get the opinion of one or two people your trust..

4....then pray on it and go with you gut.

That's exactly what I did! I have had the same dentist since I was 10 years old. It was his professional opinion that I see a orthodontist as the shifting of my teeth would only worsen with time. I headed back to the same orthodontist that did my braces when I was 12. This worked out well because they are able to give me a discount because I was a returning patient.

On October 16, 2016 I got my first attachments placed. Attachments are small squares that are clued on the teeth strategically that match the same attachments placements in the tray. This allows the tray to fit snuggly around the teeth and pull the teeth in their proper position. This is extremely painful.

Initially I was instructed to change my tray every 2 weeks. After my second visit I was told to change my tray every week. I was excited about this at first until I realized that this meant pain  every single week. I was told to wear my trays for 20 hours a day. Totally not realistic! I snack a lot! I work I eat like every 2 hours. As you can imagine this was a huge inconvenience. Honestly speaking I only wore my trays about 12 hours a day. It worked too! My teeth immediately started shifting.

This was about 3 months before being done! You can clearly see my attachments here. 

On August 30th I was able to officially be finished! I was so happy! I got two permanent retainers on my top six teeth and and bottom 8 teeth.  I also got a clear upper retainer to sleep in.

Before Invisalign 

After Invisalign

If something bothers you about yourself its your responsibility to yourself to fix it. If you don't want to second guest how you look you have to put effort into your appearance. If you don't want to second guest how your speak, you have to effort into correcting that. Correcting the alignment of my teeth has taken hella work and money. You only get one physical body and one set of teeth. I cherish both. You have to take care of yourself. Period. 

Confidence comes from putting in the work. 

Confidence is practice and preparation. 

The glow up is real and I'm forever humbled by it all lol! 

"Confidence is a balance between acknowledging my weakness and affirming that at my core I am made of greatness."

Love,

April M.

Leave a Comment blackgirlsblog, blackvegans, braces, confidence, crooked smile, insecurities, invisalign, orthodontist

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