 Hey Gems, welcome back to my channel. So I am finally filming my pregnancy update video. I've been procrastinating not intentionally but just because it's hard for me to do these sit-down videos because of the constant spitting and hawking and some days I'm just like I don't even want to talk. I bring my own cold conversations like it's just one of those annoying symptoms that come along with my pregnancy. But I hope you guys can hear me because I do have the fan on and I can't turn it off because it's hot. So I'm gonna talk as loud as possible. I'm not trying to make this a long video but it might be. However if you are pregnant, if you're a mother or you're a woman that wish to be a mother one day, watch it because some of the things I might say might resonate with you. So first things first, I am 24 weeks pregnant. Actually 24 weeks and two days to be exact. And let me show you guys the baby bump. Okay so this is my baby bump. 24 weeks, two days. That translates to six months. So I am in my sixth month right now and that is how my belly is looking. So this video I'm just gonna go by real quick how my first trimester was to get up to get you guys up to date to how my second trimester has been going. I have about three more weeks in my second trimester and then I'll be entering my third trimester. So if you watch my video, I think it's titled pregnant again baby number two. You know that this was not a planned pregnancy and you also know that I had a hard time initially just trying to come to terms with everything because I had so much plans for this year and like I found out I was pregnant right before this whole coronavirus hit the US. So it was just a lot all at once happening and it affected me in a negative way. I'm not going to go into details in this video because I don't want this to be extremely long but I am going to record a video, explain to you guys what I was experiencing just to give you an idea. I was diagnosed with perinatal depression and although I still do have my bad days, it is so much better than how it was and that is why I'm even able to sit and talk about it because before, oh my gosh, I'll be in tears. So pregnancy update. My first trimester was hard. I had a lot of symptoms when I found out I was pregnant at six weeks. So if you watched that video of me announcing that I was pregnant, you know that the way I found out, you know how I found out, you know that the symptoms I had, I thought I just had like a stomach virus but that turned out to be false and what turned out to be positive is a pregnancy test. So that's how I found out and if you haven't watched that video yet, go and watch it because I'm not going to reiterate everything I said in that video because I don't want this to be long. So after I found out I was pregnant, it took me a couple of days to just digest everything. However, I was able to just accept it. It's not like I didn't want more children so it was a blessing anyways and I decided at that moment that I would make sure that is different than my first pregnancy. My first pregnancy with my son, I was sick from beginning to end and by sick I mean throwing up food aversions, nausea, spitting like literally from beginning to end. I was in labor with my spit bottle spitting but I wanted this one to be different in that sense so I try to stay optimistic. I was still working out, I was doing my yoga, I was reading, like I literally took the news and tried to turn it into a complete positive and just do all of the things that I wasn't able to do with my first pregnancy. Well that it lasts long, I realized that I was having a hard time like after like I'll say a couple weeks after finding out I was pregnant I just had a hard time thinking positive. I was like waking up feeling extremely depressed. I couldn't wait to go to sleep the next day just so that I mean I couldn't wait to go to sleep at night just to get the day over with. It was really hard and like I said I'm going to more details on that in another video because at the time I didn't know I was experiencing perinatal depression but after finding out I was able to implement things to make it better and to handle it better so I am doing a lot better. I don't want to mislead anybody thinking that I'm still like crying every day and you know moping and stuff. I have my days but it's so much better than how it was so that's that so my first trimester there was a lot of perinatal depression a lot of crying a lot of pregnancy symptoms I lost my appetite I couldn't sleep at night it was really bad. Now leading into my second trimester I found out when I was diagnosed with the perinatal depression and I was able to implement things to help myself feel better I came to the realization that I just needed more help. Being pregnant is hard in itself but what makes this pregnancy even harder as well is the fact that I also have my son to take care of at the same time and he's only one he'll be two next month so I was trying to get a family member or somebody to come over and help me at the time I was still in Florida I knew my mother you know I knew my sisters couldn't come because they are working and you know if they don't work they don't get paid and I couldn't pay them to come to Florida to help me although I know they were willing to come so that's when my mother suggested that maybe my fiancee sister come because she lives in the States and it would be you know a shorter commute and it's not like she you know had a job the point of it was just to have more help with my son in terms of just daily activities so that I didn't feel so overwhelmed for whatever reason she couldn't come so I just broke down one day called my my mother crying like I would bawl in my eyes out I was like please somebody please somebody come and help me like it was that bad I could chuckle about it now but at the time like there was no jokes and there were no jokes involved when I call my mother crying she was like I'm gonna come get you I can't stay up there with you but I'm gonna fly up come and get you and bring you back down so I was like okay literally two days later she brought her bought her plane ticket she came to Florida she stayed there two weeks with me and then we both travel back down together so I've been here for about I got here on the 29th of May and today is the 22nd so I'm here for almost a month now and I am doing so much better okay like it was just me and my fiancee up there and like when he's at work it's just me and my son and it was just too much for me and he could only do so much you know so like it was either I'm doing it or he's doing it sometimes he needs a break and I need a break at the same time so it's like he was doing all he could but I needed more help so I couldn't put all that pressure on him so thankfully my mother came for me and now that I'm down here it's been so much better I have a lot more help I have more time to just sit with myself and take care of myself he's literally in his zone he loves the beach he loves being able to go outside and run around in the yard like he's just happy here he was tired of being up there just in the house all day every day which made him more antsy and then on top of that being pregnant he was going through this toddler regression and always wanted me to pick him up and comfort him and baby him so being down here has been very helpful and I'm so thankful for my family because they always come through and it took me it took me so long to ask for their help because I knew they would drop everything and come and help me and I didn't want to be that burden but it came to a point where like I just couldn't take it no more which is why I ended up calling my mother just balling my eyes out on the phone that whole thing about it takes a village to raise a child it is true because I couldn't do it by myself not in this condition not in the state of mind that I was in it was just too much um right now I am feeling a lot better I no longer vomiting yeah I was throwing up literally every day so I stopped throwing up recently let's just put it that way I can't remember the date or the week but I have not threw up in weeks and I feel so much better I've been able to find things to help me open up my appetite and also help me sleep at night so I'm getting a lot more rest of course I still have those pregnancy symptoms in terms of the spitting the spitting is just part of it I can't do nothing about that until it goes away on its own the mucus in my throat I can't do nothing about that until it goes away on its own but I've been doing things that help such as eating a lot of fruits drinking a lot of water staying hydrated stuff like that and just pretty much making sure I maintain a healthy pregnancy I noticed since I've been back in the Virgin Islands that the mucus isn't as bad as it was when I was in Florida and I think one of the things that help is the fact that I'm not constantly in air conditioning I think that was causing the mucus to be just severe and extreme so now that I'm more in a tropical environment where I'm not always in air condition I think it has reduced the amount of mucus in my throat so I'm not literally constantly hawking hawking hawking although I am is not as much as it was before so thankfully that has decreased even the spitting I have been able to manage more well any other time like if I was up there I would not be able to sit here and talk without taking a break to spit literally every 10 seconds like it was that bad and although you're not going to see any spitting or anything like this in this video because I'm going to edit all of it out it's just just know that it has decreased and I'm able to manage it more without feeling so overwhelmed and like frustrated you know so I'm able to think more positive I've been getting more sun I've been able to go to the beach all of these are things that has literally been helping me and I'm just happier and that's good for me and it's good for the baby the only thing I'm missing right now is the hubby and he'll be here soon so once he's here then everything is set in terms of like my plans for labor and delivery I have decided and I just I actually decided this recently because initially when I knew I was coming down here the plan was to only be down here for a couple of months and then go back up to have the baby because I did um find a birthing center and I was seeing a midwife however even all of that was like a journey in itself because when I found the birthing center it's not the same birthing center I use with my son there's a different one and when I went for the my initially appointment for some reason the energy was kind of off and I felt like I was just going through the motions just because I knew I wanted to use a midwife however the connection wasn't there and I just it wasn't resonating with me the way it should have so when I got back down here and I realized that I was feeling so much better I literally after about a week or two of being here I was like I'm not going back I was literally sitting outside in the yard enjoying the cool breeze and I was like I don't want to go back I could have my baby down here and even though I don't want to have the baby in a hospital I could still have a home a natural home bird right here I don't have to be in Florida or in the States for that so as of right now this is where I am and this is where I will be to have my baby uh we have decided not to find out the gender so you won't be seeing a gender reveal or anything like that you can comment below what you think I'm having uh based on the shape of my stomach or based on what you think you know or whatever the case may be but we're gonna keep that a surprise for all of us so I won't know what I'm having until I push that baby out in October also being that I'm not finding out the gender I doubt I'm gonna have a baby shower because one I'm not gonna plan myself a baby shower and two I don't think anybody is gonna want to put me a baby shower just because I'm not finding out my gender I'm just trying to make sure I continue to be healthy this whole pregnancy so far has just been like an eye opener for me and I'm realizing that things that used to be important to me is no longer important to me like I am really trying to simplify my life and detach from a lot of things a lot of materialistic things a lot of ideas and a lot of people all together because I've learned a lot since becoming a mother and I realize that a lot of people in your life they always they're there for the hype and they're not there when you need them if that makes sense I'm not gonna get into details with that but maybe more in my other video talking about my perineal depression but right now I'm all I'm gonna say is that I've been going through a lot of spiritual growth and a lot of healing and I am just right now letting my spirit guide me instead of thinking too hard and overthinking certain things if I should do this or if I shouldn't I'm done planning my life around other people whether it's friends or family I am just doing what I feel is right for me and my family and I'm letting that lead me that's it so yeah I'll be here to have my baby like I am going to have a home birth not the traditional home birth with a birthing center but it's going to be a home birth and it's going to be much more in tune and peaceful this time around because there was a lot of things that went wrong even though I had a home birth with my son there was a lot of things that went wrong and there was a lot of negative and toxic energy in my home and I don't want that to happen this time which is why I'm allowing my spirit to guide me and if it doesn't feel right I'm not doing it I didn't do that the first time and that's a lesson learned so this time I'm doing it the way I feel and the way I know it should be done yeah I just I'm doing things way more in tune and way more spiritual this time and it feels right so think that's about it for this pregnancy update I'm feeling a lot better I'm so much happier I am looking forward to meeting this baby I am minimalizing everything I don't I'm not buying no bunch of baby stuff and baby products and baby clothes and all of that I am being a minimalist right now and that is because a lot of the things we try and do when we're having a baby and try and get is not even necessary and I don't want to put myself in that position to feel like I need to do more when I know it when I know I don't even want to do that you know I'm not the type that jump on trends I don't do things just because everybody else is doing it and I'm not going to start now so one of the other things I've decided to do is clot diaper I wanted to do it with my son but I got so overwhelmed with all of the options out there and all of the things and the expense and stuff that I just said forget it but this one I am actually sticking to it and I've already started to you know do my research on which clot diapers I want to use the initial cost is high but in the long run it's way more affordable so anybody that asked me what do I want or what do I need clot diapers okay that's what I want and that's what I need clot diapers that's it I'm actually putting putting together a baby registry on babylist.com which allows you to add things from different websites so that it makes it easier instead of just having a registry on amazon alone or one on target alone or one-on-one or alone this this website allows you to add things from any website so if I'm finished putting that together before I edit and upload this video you'll see that link in the description box below and you'll see a bunch of clot diapers on there and a couple other stuff I'm not really asking nobody for no clothes or nothing I'll buy those things myself not saying that I'm rejecting it but I'm not asking for it because what I really want and what I really need people to help me with is getting my collection of clot diapers so that I can have enough to rotate between so I've been doing my research on that and putting that together I've already know how I want to give birth and the method and all of that of course these are just plans and at the end of the day this baby is going to decide when it comes how it comes what time it comes but this is the route that I'm taking because this is what feels right for me anyways like I said I'm going to go into more details about the perinatal depression in another video because I do feel like it's an important topic because that's something I didn't even know exists I didn't know there was a such thing as perinatal depression I've only heard of postpartum depression but apparently perinatal depression is just as common as postpartum depression but less talked about so I do want to film a video on that because even when I was looking it up to get other women experiences I didn't see much videos and the ones that I did see I think I only found one with a woman that looks like me I want to add to that so that I can reach other women that may be experiencing it so they know that they're not alone because trust me I felt very alone but that's about it I hope you guys enjoyed this video I will do another pregnancy update as time goes along if anything changes or whatever the case may be but as of right now this is what's happening I what are the symptoms I'm feeling now right now is just spitting the mucus of course I get tired I feel fatigue my feet aches and then I have my days where I just feel extremely overwhelmed and kind of low and that's just more that's more connected to the perinatal depression than anything else but like I said is not as bad I've been eating healthy so I have not have to like take a bunch of extra supplements I've been getting so much nutrition from my actual food that I've been doing really good I did my last my last checkup was before with my midwife was before I left Florida however being that I'm gonna have my baby down here I'm not even gonna be going back to them so I haven't I haven't decided if I'm gonna try and do do more checkups here but there are plenty women that you know do unassisted pregnancies and birth and I feel very confident in my body right now I feel like my body would tell me if something if I'm lacking something or if something is wrong and right now I feel good I'm just trying to take it easy because I do tend to do too much sometimes and put too much on my body just something simple as lifting my son I'm getting to the point where I can't really lift him anymore and he don't understand that and I feel bad that I can't lift him all the time but it's just part of the process I haven't been getting much food at versions but that's that's more to do with the fact that I've been eating a lot of healthy foods and I haven't been eating out a lot and so forth I think I've ate out like twice since I've been back home and that's it and of course it's vegan meals because I am vegan so I think I've been doing pretty good I feel very good about the rest of my pregnancy and I hope it stays that way but yeah I think that's about it I'm gonna end this video now because I am hungry but I hope you guys enjoyed this video I wish you all love light and prosperity and you guys will see me in my next one peace