Tag: third trimester

Julep’s Pregnancy Story

hollymilkowski May 26, 2016

Photo credit: Tender Nest Portraits

This is the story of my pregnancy with my second child, Julep. I’ll share details of my pregnancy with my oldest son MaiTai in a future post.

After this post, check out Julep’s birth story here.

“We Come From The Water” — My Finished Belly Cast

hollymilkowski April 19, 2016

Last week I sat for my first (and I predict last) pregnancy belly cast. I wrote about it here. After a double layer of gesso on the front and back had finished drying, I conjured up a vision of what I should do about decorating the thing. Here’s how it turned out!

5 Reasons to Keep Your Due Date a Secret

hollymilkowski April 13, 2016

Some mamas want to share their baby’s estimated arrival date the instant they find out for themselves — graciously inviting their tribe and beyond into this part of their pregnancy journey. Hey, that’s cool!

Other mamas answer the “when are you due” question as if an answer is socially expected. They don’t apply much thought to the alternative. Ah, no big deal!

Then there are mamas who feel a bit sketchy on the matter. They’re the mamas like me who may have a birthing day in mind, but it’d take a military inquisition for them to reveal it to ‘just anyone.’

Now, here are a few compelling reasons for keeping your due date secret…

Making a Pregnancy Belly Cast

hollymilkowski April 10, 2016

Ever wondered how to make a belly cast? This is a fun idea for the last few weeks of the the third trimester (or after baby’s Guess Date has come and gone) when your belly is as abundant as it’ll ever be, and you’re waiting on baby to make his or her arrival among us air-breathers.

Maternity in Photos & Words

hollymilkowski February 15, 2016

“The life of a mother is the life of a child: you are two blossoms on a single branch.”

– Karen Maezen Miller

PUPPP in Pregnancy

hollymilkowski December 13, 2015

What do you do when you can’t scratch the itch?

I’d heard of itchy skin during pregnancy before. Caused by the stretching and growth of new skin to accommodate expansion of new life within and coupled with pregnancy hormones that can dry out the tissues, itchiness is as common as stretch marks.

What I hadn’t heard of until a few weeks ago is a condition called Pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy (PUPPP or PUPPS) or polymorphic eruption of pregnancy (PEP) as it’s known in the UK.

I noticed an odd rash appear on my abdomen a few times during the start of my second trimester. Strange, I never had this during my first pregnancy, I thought… But it would disappear within a few hours each time and didn’t feel painful.

Until it really did.

**Advance Notice – This post contains several photos of my PUPPP rash (only abdomen is visible)**