Nail mail!

It was a great nail mail day. I've ordered a new OPI and some Hit Polish. Unfortunately, hit polish is closing their etsy store indefinitely :-( so if you wanna score some great polish head on over to their etsy store Here I absolutely love her polishes!

 I will show them soon :-)

This beauty is from the OPI Top This Holiday Collection "snowflakes in the air"

No top coat

Matte top coat! Gorgeous :-)

Laters,

Carla

Sinful colors holidays 2013 and crystal crushes collection

Salût!

Last week I've received a wonderful Christmas package from my father in law and his wife. As always she sent me some nail polish; she knows me well :-D

I cannot get Sinful Colors in Germany, well, I could on base but the selection is crap.

The first color I tried is the gorgeous green one from the crystal crushes collection " emerald envy"

This is 2 coats. Have I mentioned how much I love texture polish. It dries super fast, no top coat. Slap it on and done!! :-D this would be a great Christmas color.

Next up we have "decadent" from their holidays 2013 collection over 2 coats of "aubergine"

Perfect shade of red!! Love it. 

I have some more nail polish coming in the mail. I have 4 packages waiting at the post office :-D it feels a lot like Christmas!!! Oh wait.... Haha

My blogging time is limited now with a newborn!

I will leave this here:

So long,

Carla

My happily ever after. Finally a mom after all

Hey everybody!

A new chapter in my life has finally begun:

On a cold Wedsneday night, November 27th at 10:19 pm I gave birth to a healthy and beautiful baby boy. I'm finally a mom, something I have wanted for so long now. All my dreams have come true and I don't need anything anymore to make my life complete :-) Motherhood is more than I have ever expected. When I look at him I am so in love. This made me think of all wonderful women I've met through my infertility struggles. I hope that one day they will be able to feel the same. There eventually is an end to the infertility road, and what we've fought for so hard is so worth it. 

My last bump pic the day I gave birth at 39w2d

Birth Story:

When I found out my due date of December 2nd I said to my husband: " I bet I will give birth to him the day before thanksgiving!!" The reason I said this was because last year my husband came home from Afghanistan the day before thanksgiving. So it's a special day. My son thought so too! 

It all started around 7pm on the 26th, I felt odd and I had lower back pain. This was new pain. I've never had lower back pain in my entire pregnancy! I times my contractions and they were 30 min apart. I tried to get done sleep that night but I was too excited, scared, nervous etc. I finally fell asleep for 30 min when suddenly Diego jumped on the bed in between my pregnancy pillow and me. I thought he wanted to snuggle when I felt something drip on me. He moved away ft me to the end of the bed, I turned on the light thinking he felt sick, but there he was. He had just peed on me and on the bed!!!!!!!! I've had Diego for 6 years and he has never done this in his life. Now I was certain I was giving birth today. My contractions were now 8-10 min apart. I called my husband at 4 am and told him to come. He was 4 hours away. 

I didn't sleep anymore. Around 11 am my friend came to visit and she was certain it was false labor because I was so calm. (She's the same friend who told me I was huge and my face was fat LOL) My mom told her that she's sure it's real labor, some people just deal differently with pain. BAM! At around noon my mom convinced me to go to the hospital since I wanted to have a water birth. I got to the hospital and the same midwife that delivered me was there haha. I was having real contractions 5 min apart, I was 2 cm but his head was still very high and positioned weirdly. My midwife was worried and for his and my safety adviced against a water birth. But to avoid a c-section (which would only be done if absolutely necessary) she told us to go walk for a bit and come back later. We did! My mom, husband and I walked for 5 hours LOL my contractions were getting very strong and about 2 min apart! At 5 pm I went back to my midwife, my contractions were very strong and my back was killing me, I was still only 2 cm!! :-( my midwife suggested I try to rest so I can save up all my energy for when I need to push. She thought I'd probably be in labor for another 12 hours or so. Her shift was over and another midwife took her place. To my delight my friend mom was the midwife. I was relieved because I knew she was great. I was always worried I'd be stuck with some impatient midwife LOL 

We checked into the "labor room" which had a big bed, pillows, bath tub, pregnancy ball etc. They brought me food but I couldn't really eat. I was in pain. My husband was resting haha. From 5-8 my contractions were about 1 minute apart. At around 8:30 I called my midwife to check on me. When she did I was 4 cm and his head had dropped a little. My doctor joined the party and checked as well, he estimated about 6 more hours and we'd have a baby. I told my mom and husband that there is no way I can last another 6 hours. I putt pants back on and voila my water broke. From there it went so fast. I told my mom and husband I have to go to the restroom, I was in so much pain. Mind you I did not get an epidural! This was a "natural" birth LOL My back felt like it was being crushed by a semi truck and each muscle in my back was being ripped out. I couldn't concentrate on anything else. It hurt so bad. I wanted to cry but no tears came out. Thank god for me mom, husband, and midwife who stayed really calm and gave me their entire support. Couldn't have had a better birth team. 

When women say labor feels like really bad diarrhea pains, they're not lying LOL. A contractions hit me while I was standing up and OMG did that one hurt, I told my mom that I think I have to go to the bathroom really bad, maybe I already did in my pants. She told me to stay calm because it means the baby comes! I didn't go in my pants, I made my mom check LOL it had only been 30 minutes since my midwife checked me and at 9 pm when she checked me again I was 8 cm!! I went from 4-8 cm in 30 min! Hallelujah. I was relieved because the pain was so horrible. My midwife was very calm and talking to me, she was coaching my breathing. I squeezed my husbands hand and my mom was touching my head to keep me calm. She called the doctor and when he came at around 9:30 I was already at 10 cm! He laughed and couldn't belive it went so fast. My midwife asked if I felt pressure but honestly my back pain overshadowed every other sensation in my body. She told me I could practice push with the next contraction. I don't remember how long I pushed, but I remember the pain didn't feel as intense as getting to 10 cm. When his head was visible the doctor told us he had to much dark hair. He asked my husband to come look and to my surprise he did! Haha. He was always very scared and originally didn't want to be in the delivery room. I pushed a few more times and the pressure was immense. Turns out my boy had a big head plus I am very small. I begged my doctor not to cut me! He listened lol phew. And then there he was. I can't even describe the feeling, I felt like I was high. I was so tired, but all the pain was gone. My husband cut the cord and they placed my baby on my chest. He immediately opened his eyes and looked at me. I couldn't belive I was finally holding him. My life was complete, I cried. He was perfect and more beautiful than I had ever imagined. Everyone was so happy. My husband was so proud. 

Now my baby is already 1 week old. Everything is going great. He's nursing like a champ. :-) couldn't ask for anything else for Christmas. 

Love,

Carla 

39 weeks pregnant with my baby boy

How far along?  39 weeks!  I secretly hope he stays in until at least Sunday because I really want a December baby 😂 I just had my 39 week check up, he's healthy and very comfy in there. He weighs a little over 7 lbs. To my surprise I'm 1-2 cm dilated. 

Total weight gain? I've gained about 27lbs total. Not bad I guess. 

Maternity clothes: I mostly wear leggings or sweats haha. I have not invested in a maternity winter coat. I kinda regret it now, it's getting really cold when I walk Diego. But not much longer and I can button my coat again. 

Stretch marks: Yeah...those fockers popped up at 38 weeks on the dot 😭 no lie, I've been really upset about them but honestly nobody but me can even tell! They're around my belly button, some on my side but they came in already skin colored and not like I would usually imagine stretch marks. You can't even see them on pictures. I've decided to stop obsessing over them. 

 They kinda look like blood vessels above what used to be my belly button LOL half as bad as I made it out to be...

For the record: I've been using following stuff since I was 6 weeks pregnant: vitamin e oil, palmers stretch mark cream, mama bee belly butter, cocoa butter, coconut butter, massage oil with olive oil, all kind of scrubs! Before people blame the genes: neither my mom nor my sister have stretch marks. So I could have my dad's genes LOL 

I think I've gained a normal amount of weight. But I'm all belly so that's probably why :-) oh well. 

Sleep: hard time falling asleep. 

Best moment this week: Making it to 39 weeks. Somehow everyone thought I'd have him early ha!

Miss anything? My husband during the week when he's gone. He will be here for 5 days straight starting Wednesday. That would be perfect timing for my son to make an appearance. 

Movement: he still moves a lot. Not as much as before but yep he's still stretching. :-)

Food cravings: nope, didn't have any crazy cravings this entire pregnancy. 

Anything making you queasy or sick? Not anymore! I dealt with MS until I was about 32-34 weeks. Glad it's gone lol

Gender:  BOY!

Labour signs: not a single one. I can't even tell of I'm having BH or not. I've never felt them besides my belly getting hard. 

Symptoms:

heart burn is my worst symptom so far. 

Hands and feet are a bit swollen.

Pressure down below especially when laying down and trying to move. 

Other than that: feeling great.  

Belly button in or out? Completely flat. Lol

Wedding rings on or off? They've been off for a while 😭 miss them 

Happy or moody most of the time: Content. 

Looking forward to: meeting my baby!!! We've waited for so long 😁

Xoxo, Carla

Essence Happy Holidays LE - Let it snow

Well, 39 weeks pregant over here :-) No signs of giving birth anytime soon. I catch myself looking at nail polish again. I ordered one of the new OPI from the Mariah Carey collection. (I have to order mostly online because nail polish is so expensive over here! And the selection on the army base is limited)

Last week the new Essence holiday collection caught my eye at DM.

I only bought one.  The snowflake topper.

The white glitter really caught me eye. 

Here it is over Sally Hansen pacific blue 

And again over black, with a matte top coat.

It's pretty but the white glitter pieces are a pain in the butt. They are almost impossible to fish out! Excuse my sausage fingers...pregnancy haha. 

Below is the entire collection:

Of course my local DM was almost out of everything already :-/

Makes me miss the states and stores like rite aid and walgreens. I'm dying to buy some of the new sinful colors :-(

Have a nice weekend everyone! 

Carla

Nail spam!

Since I got pregnant I have really neglected my nail polish obsession.
Morning sickness was horrible, then we moved and all of my nail polish had to be packed up and shipped across the ocean. Now that I got my nail polish back I am ready to pop haha.
Therefore, I thought I'd share my favorites here. Enjoy the flood :)

Hit Polish "Irisation" over a grey from essence (can't remember the name)

Lush Lacquer "Bubble yummy" gorg!!!

Sally Hansen "Pacific Blue" topped with an OPI Glitter

OPI "Metallic for life"

Lush Lacquer "Party Rockin" over a navy blue by Julep

Sephora by OPI "Iris I was thinner" topped with hit polish (can't remember the name)

Revlon "Blue Mosaic"

Hit Polish "Irisation" over black

Hit polish "Peacock plumage" over OPI Russian Navy, mattified

Sally Hansen "Coral Reef" topped with Hit Polish "Light Show"

Finger Paint "Watermelon" China Glaze "It's a trapeze"

I have no idea anymore LOL

OPI "Stay the night" 

OPI "The impossible"

OPI "Stay the night"

Hit polish "Turquoise delight"

Hit Polish "Underwater adventure"

Hit Polish "Instant crush"

Sinful Colors (don't remember the name )

Don't remember the blue, but the glitter is Island Girl

Essie "Shine of times" over white

Essie "Shine of times" over black

Essie "Shine of times" over black

Sally Hansen "Grey cement" Essence "Purplicious"

For the indie polishes you can check out their etsy stores: Hit Polish and Lush Lacquer ( who now goes by PolishMeSilly)

Xoxo, 

Carla

Christmas came early.

Today we've decided to decorate. Not my house, but my sisters/parents. Since I'm having the baby in my home town and not where we actually live I saw no point in decorating our house since we won't even be there during the holidays. I've actually stayed at my parents house since about 4 weeks because it's closer to the hospital. 

Anyway, we've decorated today. I gave my sister all my ornaments since I won't be using any. 

She really wanted a white Christmas tree. I'm more a fan of real trees :-) I love the smell. But I think it turned out really well despite the tree being artificial.  The colors go very well with the white tree. So frosty :-)

Diego modeling, he looks so stoked. 

Christmas isn't for a while but since my due date is approaching I might as well get things done now. 

On top of that I've been feeling down and depressed all day today. Could be because something came up that may ruin out Christmas plans, could be because at 39 weeks pregnant I'm getting a tiny bit impatient now, the anticipation is killing me. I wish I knew when labor starts for me. 

I feel hideous and huge :-/ I think my belly doesn't want to stretch anymore. I'm getting stretch marks but you can't actually see them because for some reason they already faded and are pretty much the color of my skin. 

Then again, I've never over analyzed my body as much as I did during pregnancy. Could they've always been there? Maybe?!? I'm so looking forward to finally meet my son, not so looking forward to see my post pregnancy belly :-/ 

So, I'm just not feeling good today. Pregnancy hormones are at a peak and tums are my best friends!!! :-D

Nite, nite from me and D. 

-Carla

It's been a long time...

Hello fellow bloggers ( who ever is still following me ha) ,

It has been FOREVER since my last blog post!! April 2012 to be exact. The past year and a half has been very tumultuous. If you can remember my husband deployed to Afghanistan in March 2012. He made it back home safely in November 2012. But this deployment was very draining. I'm so glad he's home and it's over. He's been home for a year now :-) ( this is us at the army ball in February 13)

                    

 Honestly, the main reason I stopped blogging was because I had started more invasive fertility treatments in April 2012. I had been in the care of a fertility clinic since 2010, but April 2012 was the beginning of our first IVF (yep FIRST because even something as invasive and expensive as IVF does not guarantee success)  This journey was an emotional roller coaster. Not only was I dealing with my husband being deployed but IVF was taking a toll on my mind and body. Surprisingly, I had no problem poking myself with needles and giving myself the daily dose of fertility meds. If you don't know how IVF works. Here is a short summary: after your doctor evaluates your needs, you're put on fertility medication. Hundred kinds of pills, multiple different injections a day ( belly, butt and thighs lol) and some other fun stuff. The first round of meds tells your ovaries to produce multiple follicles instead of just one. I ended up with 20 I think. The doctor monitors you daily via ultrasounds and blood work to determine when these little eggies are mature enough to be retrieved from your body. July 4th was the date of my egg retrieval surgery. I was nervous because I've never had surgery. But it was no big deal. I was in a twilight sleep while my doctor retrieved my follicles. Out of 20, 11 were mature. The doctor was happy. I was back at work the next day. Now the more stressful part comes. Immediately after retrieval the eggs are artificially inseminated in a Petri dish.  Now you have to hope that they make it and grow into embryos. By day 3 we had 5 little healthy embryos. 2 of them were put back into my uterus. Easy peasy, resume life and pretend you don't have 2 potential babies in your belly. My pregnancy test was 10 days later and my nurses advised against testing at home. I listened but I was a mess. A few days before my pregnancy test I somehow knew in my heart I wasn't pregnant. July 14th came (my 27th birthday), the nurse took my blood and I went back to work. I had to wait about 5 hours for their call with my results. I hated getting that call at work, She said she was sorry and I was not pregnant. Our IVF didn't work. I was numb and locked myself in our employee bathroom and cried for a while. Couldn't even call my husband because he was in Afghanistan. I was alone....

I was young, in perfect health, we made great embryos and our success rate was 65%. Yet it didn't work. 

Fast forward to November 2012. When my husband came back we decided to try again with our 3 remaining embryos ( out of 5 we used 2 for Our first IVF and the remaining 3 were frozen). 

This was a far easier and less invasive process. Plus my husband was here to help me with my shots! Turns out he's a pro and my injections didn't hurt at all. Once my body was ready my clinic thawed out those frozen embryos. Only 2 survived the process unfortunately. But they looked strong and healthy, were transferred back into my uterus and I was to come back 10 days later for a pregnancy test. I did not last 10 days this time. I bought pregnancy tests despite my husband being against it! I tested on day 5: negative! But it was still early. Tested on day 6 and there was the faintest second line! OMG something was happening. Day 7 line got a bit darker. Day 8 was the last time I tested because the line was still faint. I was worried. Day 10 came and I went to my clinic with a heavy heart. She took my blood and they called me rather quick this time. I was at work again. The blood test picked up a pregnancy but it looks like it will not make it. So I was a little pregnant?!? Chemical pregnancy is a very early miscarriage. She told me to continue my meds and we will retest in 2 days. 2 days later my blood levels were even lower, my body just didn't want to keep this pregnancy! I was crushed!! My husband and I took 2 vacations. We decided that 2013 was our year, no stress, just us and whatever happens happens!! 

We had a long talk and decided we would try for one more IVF in May 2013. I was still stressed out and started acupuncture in January 2013. I've heard good things about acupuncture and fertility so why not :-D it felt great!! I looked forward to every appointment. I ordered and paid for all my fertility meds and we were waiting to start around April. The end of March came and no sign of my period. So odd, but I assumed it was another trick my body played with me. My period was over a week late. What the heck, On April 1st my husband and I went to the dollar store to buy a cheapie pregnancy test ( no way I'd pay a fortune for a pregnancy test just to be disappointed). My theory was, testing will trigger my period. I tested that afternoon, no expectations AT ALL. I didn't even have time to walk out of the bathroom when 2 clearly visible lines popped out within a few seconds. I've never been this shocked in my life. I didn't even find words to say to my husband. I just cried and said: "holy shit it says I'm pregnant!!" I was shaking and gasping for air. It was so surreal! A day later my clinic confirmed that I was indeed super pregnant. I was 5 weeks along :-) 

Fast forward to today. I'm 38 weeks pregnant with a baby boy. He could be here any day, we couldn't be more excited. My collage below is missing my 9 months photo :-) but you get the idea!

                               

My little nugget at 37 weeks :-) he's a cutie already. I'm so anxious. I feel great and have NO clue when I will go into labor. I wish I knew!!!

I hope my story gives other people hope. When I least expected it it happened for us. After all that heartache we will finally bring home our baby any day now.

Promise I'll continue blogging.

Oh yeah, this guy is still around too:

                                

Xoxo, Carla!