Bump & Bloom

12/08/2025

BIRTH STORIES

November 11, 2025 - Veterans Day 🇺🇸

~~this was special because we are a Navy family ⚓️
**My husband is on active duty stationed in VA & was home for the holiday - was due to return to base on 11/11/25 to await labor (water broke at approximately 10p on 11/10/25) — PERFECT timing, Salem!

We welcomed baby boy #2, Salem! 👣

In the middle of a freak snowstorm! It took almost 2 hours to make a normally 45 minute trek to the hospital! ❄️ Contractions were mild when we left for the hospital - I had initially planned to labor at home for a bit before going, but we left shortly after my water broke due to the storm (good thing we did!)

Birth #1 vs Birth #2

💙 First (Shelby- May 8, 2018)
•Water broke naturally at 38 weeks
•Epidural fairly early on
•Labored on my back
•Labor stalled - dilation slowed to a crawl
•Pitocin did not work - dropped baby’s heart rate
•Forceps used — did not want a C-section if avoidable
•Pressure only due to epidural - no sensation to push
•Long/more difficult recovery time — several internal stitches for tears & a large hematoma from the use of forceps
•18 hours from the time my water broke to delivery

💙 Second (Salem- November 11, 2025)
•High risk due to epilepsy (diagnosed after first child)
•Additional high risk factor - gestational diabetes (controlled with diet & metformin - finger sticks several times daily to monitor)
•Due to high risk, induction was scheduled for 39 weeks (11/22/25)
•Water broke naturally at 38 weeks
•Decided NOT to get the epidural as early so that I could progress labor by moving freely
•Labor progressed fairly quickly, dilated faster than the first time - no pain medications/epidural because of the rapid progression
•Contractions came quickly - barely a moment to catch my breath
•Because I had no pain medications/epidural I had the sensation to push - my OB actually had to tell me NOT to push as I wasn’t fully dilated (somewhere around 8-9 cm at this point)
•Shorter/easier recovery time - only one small tear with only a couple stitches- almost 0 pain with these (the worst part was the catheter they used to make sure no stitches were in the urethra)
•6 hours from the time my water broke to delivery

🗒️ I was better prepared this time.
•I had experience from my first delivery - obviously I didn’t know what was going to happen that time
•I had become a doula & had techniques to use to work through labor
•I knew what to expect - I had some experience this time
•I had a birth plan — despite expecting to have an epidural, I was prepared to pivot if the circumstances changed

05/27/2025

Hello Week 14! 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼

05/20/2025

UPDATE: Heard a nice, strong heartbeat my OB appointment this morning! 160bpm 😍

🙌🏼🙌🏼 HELLO SECOND TRIMESTER! 🙌🏼🙌🏼

Baby is the size of a hot jalapeño! 🌶️

10/15/2023

09/27/2023

You made your way back here. You gluttons for punishment. Just kidding. Kind of. Anywho. On to the stuff you came for. I left off last week with a bit of a “cliffhanger”… or a “couch-hanger” maybe? (This joke will make better sense later, but still won’t be funny.) Four whole years have gone by, right. My son has spent the last 5 years (his whole life!) battling cold after cold, virus after virus because of his dang allergies....

You made your way back here. You gluttons for punishment. Just kidding. Kind of. Anywho. On to the stuff you came for. I left off last week with a bit of a “cliffhanger”… or a “couch-hanger” maybe?…

09/23/2023

First Aid for Seizures First aid for seizures involves keeping the person safe until the seizure stops, and/or calling 911. Call 911 for a seizure lasting more than five minutes, if it recurs, or if the seizing patient is pregnant, injured, or diabetic. Keep yourself and others around you calm. Keeping the seizing patient safe involves a few simple procedures such as preventing any further injury by removing anything hard or sharp adjacent to the patient, placing the patient flat the floor on something soft like a jacket a blanket....

First Aid for Seizures First aid for seizures involves keeping the person safe until the seizure stops, and/or calling 911. Call 911 for a seizure lasting more than five minutes, if it recurs, or i…

08/17/2023

Okay. Real talk.

Mostly… woman talk…

So this is your last chance to keep scrolling if you don’t want to be privy 🤷🏻‍♀️😜🤣

~~periods, pregnancy, birth control~~
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I started birth control around 15-16 years old due to awful cramps and heavy bleeding with my periods.

I stayed on birth control (pill ~ got pregnant on this, Depo after Shelby, Nexplanon, back to Depo. I got the Mirena IUD a couple years ago.

I had it removed because 1) it was painful.. it moved several times & the last time it was lodged in my cervix 🤦🏻‍♀️ 2) I’m sick of birth control side effects (if they say there aren’t any, they lied) & 3) I’m trying to convince my husband we need another 👶🏼🤣🤷🏻‍♀️

Sooooo. Having said that. I’ve been on some form of birth control for legit half my life at this point. I don’t even know who I am without it. 🤣😜🙃 Literally 2 months & I feel clearer-headed… if that makes sense?? Less depressed? Probably more angry 🤣😩🤷🏻‍♀️

AND… I haven’t had a period in 5ish? years…

HOWEVER. 🫥

I 👏🏻 FORGOT 👏🏻 HOW 👏🏻 BAD 👏🏻 PERIODS 👏🏻 SUCK 👏🏻.

The cramps are soooo bad. I’ve had a headache for HOUUUURS. The annoying, dull ache kind. Plus… well, you know 🩸. It’s gross. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Oh! And the BLOATING. 🎈

Here’s my point. Deal with awful cramps, heavy bleeding & potential irregularity in cycles with no s**t side effects OOOOORRRRRRRRR go back on the Depo/Mirena?? Like why? Why do our bodies hate us?

So pill - got pregnant on that 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

Depo… I did gain weight. But I was still fairly early into my postpartum period & was nursing on demand. Sooooo maybe that was part of it? No periods though! 💉

Mirena… I liked it. Except when it decided to go adventuring through my uterus & hid behind my cervix 🤷🏻‍♀️ also.. no periods.

Why do our bodies make the normal s**t they’re supposed to do SO DANG HARD?

Like girl… just slough off & leave ME ALONE! 😩

~~thoughts of a bleeding woman 🤷🏻‍♀️

08/16/2023

Reading. Watching garbage TV 🤣. Taking a nap!!

08/16/2023

I, personally, cannot WAIT to hear that sweet voice.

I know God has swaddled the baby I never got to see or hold, in all the love.

“I carried you every second of my life & I will love you for every second of mine.”

Thinking of all the mommas out there today that have suffered loss ~ I, too, am 1 in 4.

08/11/2023

What are your favorite mantras?

Did you repeat something while you labored that kept you centered and in control?

Drop your fave below!

08/10/2023

Changing positions while you’re laboring can not only make your pain more tolerable, but can also help speed your labor by helping baby get into the right position.

Did you try any of these when you labored?!

07/28/2023

My husband’s birthday is August 6th… mine isn’t until the 24th & our anniversary is the 25th…

But he got gifts for me! 🥰🥰🥰

Fully equipped to work on the run! 🤰🏻🏥🏃🏻‍♀️

👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻 this battery pack will charge almost anything! iPads, iPhones, those other tablets & phones that I don’t know why they even exist 🤣 😜 kidding! (Sort of 🤣)

Prepping it for our trip! 🏝️ TOMORROW!!!