Welcoming Aaliyah Rose

Hello my loves! In three days time, my beautiful daughter Aaliyah Rose is going to be turning two! Time flies so quickly. It feels like it was just yesterday that I got to see her and hold her for the first time and now I can actually have a conversation with her! She is so full of character and I am incredibly proud of her. Since it's her birthday week, I thought I would share my labour/birth story. 

My bump progression! The bottom right picture was taken the day before I gave birth!

Aaliyah's due date was the 15th May 2013. As soon as I became full term at 37 weeks, I tried EVERYTHING that will make her come on time or even earlier. I was just so excited to meet her! I ate a lot of pineapples, spicy food, I did a lot of squats and lunges and did a lot of walking. One of my favourite Friends episode is when Rachel wanted her baby out so I pretty much did everything she did!

When the 15th of May came, I was eager to have her out. So I asked my partner Mike and my little brother Aldred if they wanted to go for a walk around London. I thought that this would really help induce labour. So we walked for about four hours around Central London. When I got tired we decided to have late lunch at Ed's Diner and I decided to get something spicy of course! After eating we walked some more and I remember going into a Holland and Barrets shop and buying Red Raspberry Leaf Tea because I read somewhere that it can help relax your uterus which can help induce labour. I thought I would give it a try! So we got home around 9pm and I decided to drink some of the Red Raspberry Leaf Tea. I really didn't like the taste of it as I'm not a fan of hot fruit teas but I downed it anyway. 

At around 2AM (16th May2013), me and Mike were still awake as I couldn't sleep as always. I felt cramps around that time and I didn't really think anything of it. But as time went on, they kept getting stronger and more frequent. I thought 'This is it!' and I suddenly got so scared! I told Mike to set the timer up on his phone so I could time the contractions. I knew Mike was really tired though so I told him to try and get some sleep first because I thought it would be awhile since I would be in active labour especially coz my waters haven't broken yet. But when it got to around 4AM I really couldn't take the pain anymore and so I decided to call the hospital. I really just wanted to walk straight to the hospital as we used to live near it but I thought it's best to call them first. The nurse asked how far apart my contractions were and told me to just relax for now and take paracetamol. I wanted to scream at her! If only she felt the pain I was experiencing!

By the time it got to 6AM, I called the hospital again. I told them I really couldn't take the contractions anymore. They asked me if my waters have broken yet and I said no. Again, they told me to just relax, take a bath and even try to have breakfast. I thought, wow do they not want me to go there? When it came to 7AM, I thought nope I've had enough time to go to the hospital! So me and Mike grabbed my hospital bag and walked to the hospital even though I was in so much pain. The two minute walk took me around 20 minutes as I had to stop every time I had a contraction! I still remember this lady who walked past us smiling at me and saying, "Good luck!" 

It was already around 8AM when we finally got a bed. I had my own private room which I really liked because I was screaming so much from the pain! In my birth plan I just wanted to have a natural birth and use gas and air to help ease the pain. When the midwife finally checked me, I was already 9cm dilated! I was so shocked. I think if we didn't walk to the hospital by 7AM I would've given birth at home. The only thing is my waters didn't break til about 8:15AM. After that everything to me was a blur. I just kept pushing, screaming and squeezing Mike's hands really hard and in between taking in my gas and air. The pain was bearable but once the gas and air would run out I would just cry! Anyways at exactly 8:25 AM, my baby finally came! I can't believe it only took me 10 minutes to push her out! I've heard so much horror stories and it really scared me but I am so lucky and blessed to have such a quick and safe delivery.

Aaliyah Rose Domingo Andres - born on the 16th May 2013 / 08:25AM / 8.2 lbs.

Giving birth is no doubt the most painful thing I have ever experienced, but it's also the most beautiful and I would definitely do it again! Not anytime soon though ;) Maybe when Aaliyah is a few more years older. For now I just want to enjoy our time with our baby girl!

 To all the mamas out there, how was your labour and your birthing experience?

- andreadxo

"Fun Ways I Stayed Healthy During Pregnancy"

Recently I got an email from a fellow mummy blogger Katie Moore informing me about her blog, which I checked out straight away. Her blog entries are mostly about motherhood, fitness, health and other pregnancy related topics too which were perfect since I am currently pregnant at the moment and I love all things fitness and health related as I was a bit of a health and fitness freak before I even became pregnant!

She sent me an article that she wrote which is titled "Fun Ways I Stayed Healthy During Pregnancy" and I loved it! As a young, soon to be mum, I am finding pregnancy weird and wonderful at the same time experiencing all these new feelings and sensations I did not even know existed! As a health and fitness freak, I did try to be as active and healthy as I can, but I have let myself go a little bit sometimes and just eat whatever I want! But one of the things I've learnt is that you have to try your best to be healthy while your pregnant because in the long run, it will benefit both you and your baby and will avoid any complications in your pregnancy and labour. Anyways, check out Katie Moore's fun ways of how to stay healthy when you're pregnant!

Fun Ways I Stayed Healthy During My Pregnancy

Expecting a new baby is usually exciting and can be stressful at the same time. As a mother-to-be, I was concerned about doing everything I could to stay healthy.  I spoke to my doctor about every pregnancy topic I could think of, like asprenatal vitamins, cord blood banking, swaddling and more!   As I went through my pregnancy I found ways to stay healthy and still have a little fun with it.  Read on for some of my suggestions of how you can do the same!   

Wash Your Hands Often

Regular hand washing is a proven method for fighting germs and illness. I spiced up this regular chore by choosing fun, scented soaps to de-stress and give my hands a yummy scent. My personal favorite scent is cinnamon, but I also tried jasmine, peppermint, and chamomile.

Replace Coffee with Tea

Most doctors recommended cutting down on my caffeine intake during pregnancy, but I did not have to get rid of it entirely. Teas have much less caffeine than most coffee blends, and come in many delicious flavors. Some teas even have added special antioxidants for an extra boost. 

Stay Hydrated

I used to associate staying hydrated with consuming cup after cup of water until my doctor told me that people do not realize eating foods with high water content can be just as good as drinking water directly. I frequently ate foods such as cabbage, watermelon, and grapefruit to stay hydrated without constantly lugging around a water bottle. 

Eat Healthy

By experimenting with new recipes, I encouraged myself to eat well while preventing meals from becoming boring or flavorless. Trying new recipes was also excellent for rethinking foods that usually did not appeal to me. Prior to becoming pregnant, I hated eating vegetables, but I found a great recipe for a vegetable casserole with cheese that I enjoy often!

Exercise and Stay Moving

Besides being a mood booster, I really enjoyed exercising. I loved my low-intensity dance class, walking though the park with my dog, or jumping in the pool for a swim to get in my daily exercise. 

I rested often- I hated bedtime as a kid, but I indulged during my pregnancy. I often read a book or magazine before bed, treated myself to a cup of herbal tea or warm milk, and lightly sprayed a lavender linen spray on my sheets to promote peaceful sleep. 

Staying healthy during pregnancy can be easy and fun. By looking for ways to switch up routines or to make otherwise boring things more interesting, I changed my whole outlook on taking good care of myself- and my baby!

Katie Moore has written and submitted this article. Katie is an active blogger who discusses the topics of, motherhood, children, fitness, health and all other things Mommy. She enjoys writing, blogging, and meeting new people! To connect with Katie contact her via her blog, Moore From Katie or her twitter, @moorekm26

I can definitely recommend all these great tips when you're pregnant! All these are important and are just some of the things you can do to make pregnancy an easier and a more enjoyable experience. It's important to take care of yourself during this wonderful time. But just remember that before you try anything different especially when it comes to exercising, make sure to consult your doctor or midwife first. We're all different and so will our experiences :) 

This was me after doing prenatal Pilates! I did pilates before I  was pregnant and prenatal pilates is just as amazing! Definitely helps you with backpain and keeps you in shape :) 

Have a good week everyone! Stay safe :) 

-andreadxo

Black Saturday Birthday....

Hello everyone. I know it has been so long since I last blogged and I haven't been able to post anything for the whole month of March! Sorry for abandoning my blog.

Well, my pregnancy is going very well at the moment! I'm currently 33 weeks pregnant... not long to go! I'm very big and swollen and heavy but I am loving this amazing experience. I am even more excited to give birth and meet my little princess!

It was also my birthday on Saturday (30th March) and I had such a great day! I couldn't really do much since I'm heavily pregnant, but I did go out for dinner with my amazing boyfriend and family. I enjoyed it a lot since all I ever do is eat!

This was my OOTD :) I got this maternity dress from New Look and I absolutely love it. It definitely accentuates my growing belly and shows off my curves in the right places fortunately! It does make me look a little bit smaller as it is black, but I'm not complaining. Pregnancy hormones has also made my hair grow thicker and longer which I love. I am planning to get it trimmed before I give birth though as I know it will be harder to manage. But right now I am taking advantage of it :)

This was one of my surprises of the day. Birthday roses from my boyfriend! He did say he got me presents but I was not expecting roses. I will blog about the presents he got me which were NYX make up products! I'm also currently waiting for some Nails Inc polishes. He definitely knows what I like ;) 

That's pretty much it for now. So so so sorry for abandoning my blog again. I should be blogging more often now.. and it will be more on pregnancy and motherhood! With bits of fashion and beauty in between :) <3

-andreadxo

Holiday Season!

Hello everyone! I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas yesterday and are enjoying the holiday season so far :) I've not been up to much really. Just been eating and sleeping a lot. Ooooh, and shopping online! So far so good :) Anyways, I just wanted to quickly share a couple of outfits :)

19 weeks pregnant :) This was taken before church and Christmas dinner with my family and boyfriend. The dress is from H&M. I love the colour and it fits so perfectly even with my growing baby bump! :) 

This was the last day of my internship and the Christmas lunch that we had :) The top is from forever21. I think the studs on the collar looks great! Some people even asked if I DIY'd this myself. I'm also wearing maternity jeans from H&M which are so much more comfortable. Well, I can't even wear some of my clothes anymore they are far too tight for me! I'm not planning on buying a lot of maternity clothes though. Mostly just jeans and leggings since normal tops and dresses still fit me anyways. And I won't be able to wear the maternity clothes anymore after I've given birth. :P 

- andreadxo