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Building our Next Chapter: A Q&A with my husband on partnering and parenting with a widow.
Hello friends. I cannot tell you how excited I am to share this blog. You have spent years following this story from my perspective as a young widow. Now, I’m bringing in a different perspective– one from the person on the other side of the love after loss chapter- my second husband, Paul. As we prepare to welcome our baby girl, Paul and I sat down to reflect on the journey that brought us to this moment—one woven with love, resilience, and a shared commitment to building a life together. So much of my story has been about navigating loss, healing, and finding joy again, but there’s another side to…
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Balancing Joy and Grief in my Second Pregnancy after Widowhood
Navigating Complex Emotions: Joy, Fear, and Grief Hi friends– coming to you live, 19 weeks pregnant, and in this blog post, I’m bringing you all deeper into my psyche and experience, as I balance joy, grief, and a slew of complicated emotions during this second pregnancy after losing Matt and beginning this next chapter with Paul. Before we get into that, I’ve had a lot of questions about how things are going right now. Physically, the second trimester has been much easier. My nausea has subsided, I have more energy (most of the time) and, now, it’s just a matter of watching my belly grow and my body rapidly change.…
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Advanced Maternal Age: Something to Celebrate
Hello all! Coming at you live, at about 16 weeks pregnant with my second baby by the time this publishes, and I am ready to talk about all of the positive things around “advanced maternal age.” For those of you unfamiliar with the term, “advanced maternal age” is the language used by researchers and medical professionals to define pregnancy at or after the age of 35. This term has been around since the 1950s, with some variations including “elderly pregnancy” and “geriatric pregnancy.” If those are the alternatives, I’ll stick with advanced maternal age (or AMA). The threshold is somewhat arbitrary in that, it signifies a gradual decline in fertility…
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Bump Diaries: The Sequel
Baby number two is on the way! I am so excited to document this pregnancy in all of it's uniqueness.
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40 Weeks Pregnant: Pregnancy Update and Birth Plan
Well friends, contrary to my prediction of an early delivery, I am just about 40 weeks pregnant, going on 1,000,000 weeks pregnant. I was SO SURE I’d go early. Unfortunately, my son doesn’t share my same sense of anxiousness and haste. This last month has been mentally, physically, and emotionally draining. However, it’s all worth it because sooner or later (pray for sooner), Pistachio will make his entrance into the world. So, for my final pregnancy blog, at least this time around, I’m giving you a bit of an idea as to what 40 weeks pregnant is like, how we’re doing, and my “birth plan.” So what’s the deal Christina?…
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36 Weeks Pregnant: The Final Month of Pregnancy
Well friends, we are in the ninth inning of this pregnancy, and I’m looking forward to closing it out for the win. Seriously. I just surpassed my 36 weeks pregnant marker, and I’m now officially in my 37th week of pregnancy. I can 100% verify that I am ready for things to get moving. To be fair, I’ve had a relatively easy pregnancy. Yes, there have been aches, pains, fatigue, nose bleeds, and swelling…but it could have been a lot worse. I dodged Gestational Diabetes, I only threw up a few times, and I’ve had a normal, healthy weight gain. Most importantly, Pistachio is looking like a healthy little cherub. It’s…
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Healthy Thanksgiving Tips- Happy, Healthy Holiday Series
Welcome back friends and Happy Thanksgiving (week)! In my last post of the Healthy Holidays series, I discussed staying healthy, both physically and emotionally, during the somewhat taxing sojourn to your holiday headquarters. I’m assuming many of you are gearing up for that travel as I write. To you, friend: Good luck. I promise, at the end of the road, there’s a destination filled with love and gratitude. It may take 8+ hours to arrive, but you will survive. Once there, all of the travel stress will dissipate. Then comes the “how am I supposed to stay on track with my #health goals when I’m surrounded by all this delicious…
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Gestational Diabetes: Our First Scare & The Facts
Hi friends, so this is a bit of an impromptu blog post, and not something I initially planned on chronicling. However, I just had my first “scare” and wanted to share it with my blog community. This also feeds well into a blog I will plan on writing concerning health before pregnancy and what you can do to set yourself up for a healthy pregnancy. So, here we go. Last week, I went in for my gestational diabetes screening… My Gestational Diabetes Testing Experience The first screening, or the Glucose Challenge Test, is a non-fasted blood test. It tests to see if you’re “at risk” of having gestational diabetes. So prior…
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Second Trimester Recap, Must-Haves and Baby Name!
Well, folks, we are officially in the HOME STRETCH. Peace out, second trimester. Hello, third trimester. Instead of doing an update this week, this blog will be more of a reflection on the second trimester. But before we get into that, one big news moment: Matt and I finally agreed on Pistachio’s real name! This is big. Want to know what it is? Sorry…can’t tell you that. But I will be including one baby name hint at the end of each pregnancy blog post (including this post) moving forward. I won’t confirm or deny, of course, until his birth announcement. If you guess the full name (first and middle), you’ll…
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Baby Registry Advice and Bumpdate: 26 Weeks Pregnant
Hello friends and happy fall! Can you believe it’s fall already? I’ve always deemed myself a “summer” girl. I enjoy the hot weather, outdoor dining, and social nature of summer. But man, at 26 weeks pregnant, this lady has never been MORE ready for sweater weather and legging season. For all you mamas out there that endure the 3rd trimester in the heat of the summer, I bow down to you. Speaking of which SIX MONTHS. That means only three months (god-willing) left until we get to meet the Pistachio. I mentioned this in a recent post, but for the past month or so, I feel like the “preggo-planning” has…
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