Four More Things I Learned About Pregnancy

It's been a while since I was pregnant - more than two years, and earlier in the year, at a reader's request, I shared some of the things I learned during pregnancy. I wasn't sure if I would be able to come up with anything, but before long, I had a much longer post than I originally anticipated and chose to split them into two. I was also a little concerned about sharing too many mother-themed posts and decided to space them out. And so, today I'm sharing 4 more things I learned about pregnancy. See the first part here.

What I Learned About Pregnancy

It's been two years since my pregnant days, but when I asked on Instagram what posts people would like to see, someone asked me to share some of the things I learned about pregnancy. I aim to please, and so, here are my top 10 things I found out during pregnancy. There are a lot more things about pregnancy, but I wanted to share based on MY experience.

My Breastfeeding Story

Last week was World Breastfeeding Week, and I thought now would be a nice opportunity to share how breastfeeding went for me after the birth of Cocoa. But before I get into it, can I just say that sometimes I still feel astounded that I have a child. As in, I have a daughter! It's just amazing and I thank God every day for her life! From sharing our struggles to conceive, and then our pregnancy, and labor/delivery - it's just amazing. Cakes and I have really been blessed and shown immense grace by God.

BERRY VLOG - Dear Womb Watchers

Hey y'all,

I just posted this video on Youtube in response to a post I saw on Instagram. @Firsttimemumdotcom posted questions from her readers regarding how to reply people who make invasive comments and ask rude questions about when they're going to have their first, second or hundredth children. I really just don't understand why anyone feels the need to ask those kinda questions directly, or out loud. Yeah, you may be curious, but how about you just keep your curiosity to yourself? I know a lot of people mean well, but more often than not, you're making the woman/couple uncomfortable. You don't know what their situation is so please just stop!

On Losing Pregnancy Weight aka Snapback

Hey y'all,

I announced in January that my sister, cousin and I were starting a new live web-based talk show called Tea With Cubes. We have completed 5 episodes so far!!!! You can catch us on the FIRST and THIRD Sundays of each month at 4pm EST (9pm Nigerian time) on Instagram and Facebook. If you missed any of the episodes, please subscribe to our Youtube channel and catch up with our Hot Topics segments and our various discussions.

Throwback - Maternity Shoot Photos

That's how in my dense fog of the last half of 2017, I managed to NOT post any of my maternity shoot photos! I could have sworn I did, but while looking through my blog a few days ago, I was astonished to see that I never did. I know the song says "it's too late to apologize" but apologize I shall, and you have already forgiven me, so woot woot!

5 Baby Shower Tips| My Baby Shower Photos

Baby showers are one of the events most looked forward to during a woman's pregnancy. From having one or two or more parties thrown for her, to the baby shower gifts she'll receive, the baby shower is an important event. Typically they are planned and hosted by the mummy-to-be's family and/or friends. These days, baby shower themes run from Parisian to Hawaiian Luau to a Tea Party like mine. Check out the photos below and some helpful tips for hosting a baby shower.

Maternity Style - Baby Shower Dress

A baby shower is one of the highlights of being pregnant. Everyone comes together to celebrate your upcoming bundle of joy, and gives you lots of presents and advice on parenthood. Baby showers can be done in a bunch of different ways - just women, or coed along with the men. Some have baby shower themes - all you need to do is check out Bella Naija for some really creative and pretty baby showers they have featured. A big part of this event is figuring out what to wear to your baby shower.

Pregnancy Prayers

Being pregnant was a mixed bag of emotions for me. I was of course thrilled that we were finally pregnant, especially since I had publicly shared our struggle to get pregnant last year. And then once we got pregnant, there were the questions and sometimes fears about the pregnancy, especially since mine was high-risk for various reasons. It took me being pregnant to realize that going from conception to delivery is one of the biggest miracles out there.

BERRY VLOG - Pregnancy Reveal

When I found out I was pregnant, the very first person I told was Cakes. Then we proceeded to tell our mothers, who were both understandably excited. I considered telling my immediate younger sister, but came up with a plan to reveal all as a Christmas present! I wasn't sure if I could really hide my pregnancy and keep it a secret for basically a whole month, but I did and the pregnancy reveal video has been making waves and causing tears all over. If you haven't seen it, make sure to grab a tissue :D

BERRY VLOG: Pregnancy Tag

WELCOME TO JULY!!!!! Hehe, my estimated date of delivery of Baby Cocoa was supposed to be the 23rd of this month.

Around halfway through my pregnancy, I saw a Pregnancy Tag post online and thought it would be fun to answer some of the questions on my Youtube channel (Have you subscribed yet?). Check out my answers to some of the questions like how I found out we were pregnant, what my cravings were and more!

Please don't forget to subscribe to my Youtube channel, and like my videos!

Hey Cocoa!

Hey everyone!

I'm sorry I've been so silent on the blog in the past couple of weeks. June was a really tough month for me - I was quite stressed out emotionally and mentally. I also started the month with a tooth infection, which apparently can be common in pregnancy. I had to plan and prepare for my maternity photo shoot with my brother's media company, Primavera Pictures (@primapics on Instagram). I was still on doctor-ordered bed rest, waiting for Cakes and my mum to get back to Atlanta from Nigeria just in time for my baby shower. The plan was to start getting the nursery ready the week after my baby shower... BUT God had other plans! I started having contractions a few hours after getting home from the baby shower, and last week Monday, Baby Cocoa arrived!

Thanks to everyone who already congratulated us on social media! God is too much!!! Y'all praise Him for answered prayers and testimonies!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll share my maternity shoot photos soon, as well as my labor and delivery story. Would you prefer it in written or video format? Let me know!

I'm trying to figure out a schedule that works for me, so that I can get back to blogging properly. I love all of you for sticking by me :) God bless!

Maternity Style - Ankara Off-Shoulder Dress

Yay, I have more Yummy Mummy photos today! Actually, does the yummy mummy tag apply to me since I haven't actually given birth yet? Anyways, I'm quite excited to share these photos for a couple of reasons. First of all, Cakes has been away in Nigeria for a few months - which meant that I had nobody to take my photos for me. So these photos were taken by MYSELF! I don't know how people like Sarah Audu do it! But I think I got some decent shots - what do you think?

The Quickening - Baby's First Kick

If you're wondering what the title of this post means, it's pregnancy terminology that refers to the first time pregnant women feel their babies kick. Some women can feel the first kick from as early as 13 to 16 weeks, although first-time mums (like me) typically don't feel that first kick until later on in the pregnancy. Second, third, and so-on mums tend to feel the kicks earlier - maybe because they know what to look out for.

Maternity Style - Casual Dress and Denim

FYI - I took these photos a while ago, and the day I edited them, I was in total shock!!! I hadn't realized my tummy was actually that big!!! And this is still with a few months to go o. It dawned on me how deceptive and deceitful the Samsung S7 Edge is! This whole time, when I take pictures and selfies, the lens would just make me look like one slim yummy mummy. Well, my camera lens gave a quick slap in the face sha.

Maternity Style - Blues

This year I've been trying to make sure my finances are in order - saving a lot (for emergencies), and spending only where necessary (mostly). One of the pieces of advice I got was not to spend too much on maternity clothes, as I'll wear them for only a short amount of time - a few months. I did get some maternity pants that I started wearing from my first trimester - I think those were a good investment. But for the majority of this pregnancy, I've been wearing my same old clothes. A lot of them are stretchy and have been able to carry me so far.

Weird Pregnancy Advice I've Gotten

I'm finding that pregnancy is much like marriage. Before you get married, you have bunches of people on your case asking "When will you get married?" And when you do get married, you get all kinds of advice like, "Never go to bed angry... make time for dates... never ever go out to eat." I legit heard that last one at a bridal shower, and the girl was dead serious, because in her upbringing, going out to eat meant the husband would start to crave outside food *yes, blank stare, I did.* Anyways, with pregnancy, it's the same thing - been getting all kinds of advice like, "Drink lots of water... don't wear heels... definitely stop having sex until after the baby comes." I literally laughed out loud at the last one, but erm... if a doctor tells you not to after examining you, please o. It's no longer a laughing matter. But today I want to share the top 3 weirdest advice I've gotten since people found out I was pregnant.

Maternity Style - All Black and Leather

WELCOME TO MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!! Birthday loading in 4 weeks!!!

One of my favorite blogs I follow is Moss Onyi's blog. If I don't go there for anything else, I can tell you that her and her husband's photography always captivates me. They frequently share photo posts that are just black and white. And I promised myself I would do a B/W photo post too, so here we are! And a maternity style shoot too. I've been sitting on these photos for months now, but I absolutely love them! Baby Cocoa obviously likes them too cos as I type this (currently April, because I schedule my posts ahead of time these days) I can feel plenty kicks :p

Mummy Bloggers and Pregnancy Reveals

Announcing that Cakes and I were pregnant almost a month ago, was something we discussed for a little while. As Africans, and due to a lot of cultural superstitions, most women typically don't reveal their pregnancies... some even go as far as denying they're pregnant when you can clearly see their 8-months baby bump. Cakes told me one of his closest friends didn't tell him his wife was expecting until he invited him for his baby's dedication! Of course, it's such a personal journey and everyone is entitled to how they choose to handle pregnancy announcements (or not). 

In today's post, I've asked 4 bloggers who are mothers how they approached pregnancy announcements when they were pregnant. They're all African women, whose blogs (and vlogs) I'm subscribed to. I hope you enjoy the interviews below :)

Yellow Iro and Buba

If you missed my announcement on Saturday, kindly STOP, go back to that post, then come back here :)