Item of the Week!

Lotion in a Baby Powder Fresh Scent

This fresh smelling lotion is not only good to use on baby but is great for your skin too! If you are pregnant, this lotion has all the right ingredients to help prevent those pesky stretch marks! This 2.7oz bottle of lotion is soothing on your skin and smells great! You can find it in our shop here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/44657594/baby-lotion-in-a-baby-powder-fresh-scent

Week Two: The Second Trimester

The Fourth Month:

Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body.  


Welcome to your second trimester! Your energy is likely returning, your breasts may be feeling less tender, and your queasiness may have completely abated by now. If not, hang on — chances are good it will soon be behind you (although an unlucky few will still feel nauseated months from now).

The top of your uterus is a bit above your pubic bone, which may be enough to push your tummy out a tad. Starting to show can be quite a thrill, giving you and your partner visible evidence of the baby you've been waiting for. Take some time to plan, daydream, and enjoy this amazing time. It's normal to worry a bit now and then, but try to focus on taking care of yourself and your baby, and having faith that you're well equipped for what's ahead.

                                                            This is an ultrasound image from 14 weeks gestation.




Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. At around 16 weeks, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. 






Soon you'll experience one of the most wonderful moments of pregnancy — feeling your baby move. While some women notice "quickening" as early as 16 weeks, many don't feel their baby move until about 18 weeks or more. (And if this is your first baby, don't be too impatient — you may not be aware of your baby's movements until 20 weeks or so.) The earliest movements may feel like little flutters, gas bubbles, or even like popcorn popping. Over the following weeks they'll grow stronger and you'll be able to feel them much more frequently.

Here are some ultrasounds of Crystal's son taken at 16 weeks!

He's all boy!

Your baby's growing steadily at 24 weeks, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

Fun Facts and Stories from the First Trimester

Here are some facts about the first trimester and some stories from Gayla and Crystal about their pregnancies!

When we found out:

When Gayla found out she was pregnant she was in disbelief, so much so that she took 4 tests!

Crystal got pregnant with her first baby at the age of 16. When she found out, she was sitting in a bathroom with her mother scared to death.
Her second baby was conceived when she was 18. It was much more relaxed this time around, aside from her husband nearly having a heart attack.

Cravings:

When Gayla was pregnant with her son she craved Hard Salami and Green Beans!

Crystal craved McDonald's Chicken Nuggets with her daughter, and she craved Hamburger and Ice Chips when she was pregnant with her son.

Smells:

When Gayla was pregnant, she was repulsed at the smell of hamburger! She was a live in nanny at the time and was constantly cooking hamburger for the family. She would have to stir the meat, and then run to the bathroom, then stir the meat, and run to the bathroom!

Crystal could not even enter a grocery store! The smell of anything fruity would instantly trigger the gag reflexes.


Facts about pregnancy:

Did you know.......

You CAN get pregnant while on birth control. Condoms are never a sure thing, they can break or have holes in them. If you are on the pill, patch or shot, and you take antibiotics, your birth control is less likely to work. Abstinence is the only sure way to avoid pregnancy.

During early pregnancy you may have what is called implantation bleeding. It could just be light spotting to a flow like a normal period. While it is usually light and lasts only a few days, it could last for as many as 7 days and could reoccur every month. That is why it is difficult for some women to recognize they are pregnant.

Item of the Week!

Here is a great item to help with those nauseating first trimester smells! It is a wonderful peppermint scented room refresher spray!

This spray has the perfect amount of scent to rid of those nauseating smells during pregnancy or to rid of dirty diaper scents. It can also be used to refresh any room in the house or all of your linens. It comes in a 2.7 oz bottle. More scents are available, just convo us!

Other Usage Tips:
• Spray on a wash cloth and toss in the dryer.
• Spritz on pet beds to help freshen them up.
• Spritz on your air conditioner filters to scent your home.
• Makes great air fresheners for motor vehicles.
• Great to use as a scent refresher on sachets.

Directions: Spray the air and your fabric surfaces as desired. Not intended for use as a body spray for humans or pets. Also not intended for use on silk or leather. For external use only. Keep away from small children.

You can find it in our shop here:http://www.etsy.com/listing/44537095/peppermint-room-and-linen-freshening-spr

The First Trimester (Finale)

You are starting month 3! This is a big deal! You are closing in on the end of the first trimester. You are almost to the 12 week mark. At 12 weeks, the odds of you having a miscarriage is greatly decreased. 

At this point your baby is about 1 inch long, about the size of a grape! In this month, your babies heart will be divided into the 4 chambers and the teeth will begin to form.Your babies external sex organs are developed, but will not be detectable for a few more months. Your babies eyes are formed. Now is the point in the pregnancy that your baby will begin picking up weight, so your pregnancy may be physically visible soon!

This is the part where your pregnancy gets interesting. Your babies reflexes are developing. You will start feeling baby move soon!

The picture above shows approximately what your baby has developed! The pictures below shows what an ultrasound at 12 weeks looks like, and what a 3-d ultrasound at 12 weeks looks like.

The First Trimester (cont'd)

The second month:
At this point you have likely taken that test and gotten a positive result. If you haven't yet, you will soon! Once you take a home pregnancy test and get a positive result it is very important to contact your local gynecologist/obstetrician immediately. Early and constant prenatal care is very important for not only your health, but the health of your baby.

Right now your baby looks more like an alien than a baby, and is very tiny. You are probably experiencing a lot of the aforementioned pregnancy symptoms, but it will be several more weeks before you can see a physical change. It is very important that, even if you just suspect that you may be pregnant, avoid alcohol. It is unknown as to how much or how little it takes to cause harm to a fetus. This is especially important during these early developmental stages.

Your first doctor appointment should be somewhere around the 8 week point. That is generally when you get a positive result on a home test. Your first appointment may be a little scary yet exciting. They will do some tests to confirm your pregnancy. They may do urine tests, blood tests, and even an ultrasound.

The image above shows typically what your baby will look like at your first ultrasound. This ultrasound was taken at 8 weeks gestation.

Your doctor will also prescribe you to take a daily prenatal vitamin. These are very important. You should only take them as directed. These vitamins contain the extra nutrients the pregnant women need. They are very important to the health of your baby. Do not take more than what the doctor prescribes though, because getting too much of these nutrients can be very harmful.

If you are a smoker, now is the time to stop. Smoking increasing your risk of a miscarriage or preterm birth, not to mention the numerous other health issues it can cause you and your baby. Studies have proven that women who smoke while pregnant are more likely to have a stillbirth. They have also found links between smoking and fetal growth and infant death.
If you need help quitting here are some excellent resources for you: http://www.babycenter.com/pregnancy-quitting-smoking

During the second month, your babies ears, nose and mouth start taking shape. The babies arms. legs, hands and feet will develop from tiny nubs and start to form. At this point, your babies heart is beating twice as fast as yours. As your hormone balance keeps getting thrown out of whack you may find that you are on an emotional roller coaster.

Week One: The first Trimester

We have decided that a fun way to use this blog would to be discussing facts, hints, tips and stories about pregnancy and throughout child's lives. You could easily do internet research on any pregnancy or child topic, but we hope to put this in simple terms and offer advice gained through experience. So, here we are with our first topic. The month of April will be all about pregnancy. This weeks topic is conception to 3 months, known as the first trimester. 


The first month:
During this month, you actually became pregnant. Congratulations! It's a long road ahead of you! Right now your baby is just a million tiny cells that are continuously multiplying. You most likely do not even know your baby is there yet! Your hCG levels are rising and your body is getting itself ready for this adventure! HCG is a pregnancy hormone. It is what is detected when you take a pregnancy test. If your hCG levels are over a certain point, the test will be positive!


At this stage in your pregnancy amniotic fluid is starting to fill in around the little ball of cells that will eventually be your baby! Although you do not know you are pregnant yet, by the end of the first month, you may have what you think is a light period or spotting. This is known as "implantation bleeding". Sometime within the next few weeks you will be taking that pregnancy test!


Symptoms of Pregnancy:


Everyones symptoms vary. You may have every symptom listed or none at all! Your symptoms could be so mild that you do not even notice them at first! 

• Tender or swollen breasts: A lot of women have experienced breast tenderness or swelling during pregnancy. This symptom may be misleading, because it is often times a sign of an oncoming period for many women.
• Fatigue: The increase in the hormone progesterone that occurs when you are pregnant, and all of the other "extra" work that your body is doing can make you feel very exhausted!
• Frequent Urination: This seems to be one of the most popular symptoms of a pregnancy. Speaking as a woman with children, its true. I think I peed more in those 9 months that I will for the rest of my lifetime!
• Heightened Sense of smell: The sudden increase of estrogen in your body during pregnancy often makes you have a more keen sense of smell. 
• Nausea: Nausea is the most noticed symptom in women who are pregnant. Also known as "morning sickness" nausea and vomiting can last for a few months of your pregnancy or the whole thing! The worst part is that morning sickness does not just occur in the morning, it can occur any time during the day or even last all day long!

The image above shows what your baby will look like at the end of the first month.During this time your baby's  organs are developing and some are starting to function. During the first month of pregnancy your baby is approximately the size of a poppy seed. Because your baby is developing and is so tiny, lots of things can go wrong. The biggest concern is miscarriage. But, don't worry. When you reach the 12 week mark the odds of a miscarriage greatly deteriorate. 

Let's get started!

Hi! Thanks for visiting our blog! Chances are if you are here you have seen our etsy shop. If not, you can view it here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/CuteBabyEssentials

A little about us.....

CuteBabyEssentials is a store geared towards providing quality baby products at affordable rates for moms and moms to be.

This shop is run by two mothers, Gayla and Crystal. We understand how difficult and expensive raising children can be and we are here to help!

Gayla......

Gayla is a caring mother of a 15 year old son. She enjoys making homemade bath products as well as sewing. She has been a nanny to many children over the years and has lots of experience.

Crystal.....

Crystal is a loving mother of two who spends much of her time crafting clothing, blankets and toys for her children. She has a 5 year old daughter, a 3 year old son, and 2 angels in heaven.

We have decided that a good way to share our knowledge would be through this blog. Every week we are going to pick a topic involving pregnancy and babies. Every day for that week we will add a new story, bit of advice, or tips that we have learned along the way.

Feel free to leave your comments and opinions!