Hudson's Pregnancy

October 23, 2019

Was one of the most intense and beautiful days of my life. 

But before I get *right* into Hudson's birth story, I want to write a little bit about my pregnancy with him. Looking back on this blog (I haven't written anything here for 2 years!) I wrote SO much about my pregnancy with Parker. I guess that's what happens when you're the second child, right? You get less journal entries, less bump photos, less baby photos. Haha. Sorry Hudson! But I found out I was pregnant with Hudson just days before Valentines day. Not to be TMI [buckle up y'all, cause this entire post will likely be TMI], but conceiving took longer than we had anticipated - it happened right away with Parker, and so the waiting game sucked. I had been going through so many pregnancy tests- I was a "serial tester" as they like to call it. So one night, I was up super late. They say you should take pregnancy tests first thing in the morning for a more accurate result cause the hormone levels are highest then- so... anyways. I was working (because editing while Parker's asleep is my most productive time soooo hellooooo late night editing parties with me myself and I..) and it was 1 am. I was like. Well. It's morning enough. I mine as well test. So I peed on a stick, fully expecting it to be negative.. but then I saw a faint line. I was like. UH WHUT? This can't be? So I started shining a flashlight on it, wondering if I was seeing things or if this was legit. And then I peed on a more expensive, digital test, which also said pregnant. Then I started flipping out. Took a million photos of the positive test on my phone. I didn't want to wake up Thomas because he had to work the next day and I wanted to let him sleep. So. This is how I told Thomas:

I taped the positive test to the bathroom mirror so it would be one of the first things he saw in the morning when he woke up! I was giddy when he woke up in the morning- excited for him to see the test. He didn't even notice it right away, hahaha. Then I eventually hear him peeling the tape off the mirror, and he runs into our room like: "Are you serious?" It was so fun!!!! So let's back up to the night before. When I was celebrating by myself in the bathroom from 1 am - 2 am. So! After I convinced myself that the tests were positive, I immediately went back to my computer - not to continue working, but to apply for a midwife. My family doctor delivered Parker (and we had an awesome experience!) I just knew with Hudson, I wanted a different experience. We had always talked about having 2 kids - so if this was my last pregnancy I just wanted to have another, different experience than with Parker. I also have had SO many friends who talk SO highly of their experience with a midwife, that I knew I wanted one too. So! They say the moment you find out you're pregnant to apply for one, because the wait lists can be long or can be full. So before my husband even knew I was pregnant, I had applied for a midwife. LOL! Good news, because the next day I got multiple clinics responding back to me saying they'd take me on as a patient! I decided to go with St. Albert Midwives because #1- they are close to my house, and #2- my best friend had gone there with her pregnancy and had nothing but wonderful things to say. So I felt really confident going there. They also have hospital privileges at the Misercordia, which is the same place we delivered Parker so I felt good about that as well [but we had a home birth you say- I'll explain that later]. 

We went to our dating ultrasound, and my expected due date was October 20 (the EXACT SAME date my pregnancy app had predicted! Talk about accurate!) Say hello to 10 week old baby Hudson!!! What a cute lil nugget!!! When Tom saw the ultrasound he said, "well, that looks like a boy to me!"

We immediately wanted to find out the gender- so we booked a 3D ultrasound for 15 weeks. If you wait to go with the regular ultrasound, they tell you the gender at the 20 week anatomy scan. If I could find out an entire MONTH sooner, I was going to! So- that's what we did! 

About to find out the gender of our baby!!!!

I feel kind of bad/guilty saying this- but Tom and I were both really hoping for a girl. We had talked about wanting 2 kids, and we already had a boy, so having a little girl would be so much fun! I'm also a pretty big "girly girl" so I've had lots of dreams of raising a daughter. Soooooo there was a lot of emotion/anticipation going into this ultrasound. But it's kinda funny because a couple days before the appointment, I had been thinking about baby names. Tom and I had a list of baby girl names that we liked, but had ZERO idea about baby boy names. No boy names were really standing out to us. So I thought - "if this is a boy, we need to think of some boy names!" So. I started making a list of baby boy names on my phone that I liked. Once I wrote down "Hudson" It was literally like the name JUMPED out at me. So then I started saying the name out loud. And it was in that moment I looked down at my belly and went, "Crap. You're a boy. You're our Hudson." Tom came home and I told him about my experience being like. It's a boy. I just knew. It was almost like a spiritual confirmation of who was going to be joining our family. SO - when we were at the 3D Ultrasound I was hoping for a girl, but the moment the technician said it was a boy I went, "I KNEW IT!" I'm not going to lie- I was a little sad. I HATE TO SAY THAT because we were SO excited to be having a baby- and obviously it doesn't matter if you get a boy or a girl! I was more grieving my own expectations or "dreams" of raising a daughter. But I was so comforted by the experience I had knowing that it was HUDSON who was coming to our family. I knew he was the one that was supposed to join us and after a couple days I got more used to the idea of being a boy mom. I was super excited for Parker to have a brother. I was also thinking of about how much my bank account would benefit because we didn't have to buy anything! We had everything we needed- and our boys were born in the same season so all the clothes would work. Win-win! 

The 3D ultrasound was such a cool experience. They let you watch your little bean dance around, they show you details of their face. And they send you home with a bunch of photos and videos! It's something we will cherish forever. At only 15 weeks its AMAZING how much their little features are developed!!!

My pregnancy with Hudson went pretty seamlessly. I was SO sick with Parker from weeks 5-15, that I was prepared to immediately get sick with this baby too. However week 5 came... didn't feel sick. Week 6 came.. still not puking. What? 7...8...9... I was convinced I was going to miss morning sickness this time around! I was SO EXCITED!!! Like- Boo ya!!! I threw up SO MUCH with Parker that I was so stoked. However. Week 10 came andddddd I was quickly humbled. I was sick from week 10-basically week 30. I wouldn't throw up every day like I did with Parker, but I felt car sick all day, every day- and would throw up about 1-2x/week (typically every saturday before I had to go to work.. how convenient, ha!) 

4 Months Pregnant! 

Our cute boy at 20 weeks! 

Being so type-A, I immediately signed up for a midwife, and shortly after I booked my newborn photographer- Emilie from Blooming Bliss Photography. Emilie has the cleanest, brightest whites in her images and I am just so obsessed with her clean, crisp style so I knew I didn't want to miss out on booking with her. As part of our newborn collection, we received a mini maternity session. I absolutely loved my experience! It was so fun to get to know Emilie prior to the newborn photoshoot- and we went through a questionnaire so she could really learn my style and what I was hoping for from our newborn session. I've never felt so comfortable in front of the camera- she's really gifted at what she does and knows how to make a girl feel confident! Here's a few of my favourites from my maternity session:

Baby Bump @ 32 weeks pregnant
Make up by: Bethany Earl Make Up

I will absolutely cherish these images - I didn't take many bump photos this pregnancy so these are such a keepsake for me. We also had a family maternity session with Justine from Milton Photo. We travelled to Canmore for this- and it had always been my dream to have a session done with Justine! This photoshoot was a long time coming. She did the entire photoshoot on FILM and I'm so in love with what she documented for us- she especially got the cutest expressions of Parker (and I'm beyond AMAZED because he was a BUSY BEE that day!) I was 29 weeks pregnant here!

Being a photographer, I'm kind of biased- but I think documenting your family is SO important. You never know how much these photos will mean to you one day. And they already mean so much to me! My family is growing and changing so much every single day (kids grow so fast) that I love documenting our life, in a beautiful way. So grateful for all these images to take me back to that moment in time I carried Hudson in my tummy. <3 

That's mostly it! I worked a busy summer wedding season while pregnant, and it went so well. Sleeping definitely became a challenge once I entered my last trimester, so I was tired! I also typically edit while Parker naps- but this summer was a bit crazy for us. We bought a house, started renovating our home, I was right in the thick of wedding session, we took Parker out of daycare- and with all of these changes Parker pushed back and stopped napping for a while. And IF he would nap, I was so tired that I would also nap. So I am grateful for AMAZING grandparents who babysat Parker a TON this summer so I could edit all my weddings. THANK YOU! I love you! I photographed my last wedding at 36 weeks pregnant. The guests were sooo funny and sweet. I had a bunch of people come up to me saying they are a nurse and that if I went into labor they could help deliver the baby. Haha. Bless their hearts! 

At the beginning of this blog post I mentioned how conceiving took a little longer than we had anticipated. But looking back at how everything played out - an October due date was truly the best thing for our family. If I got pregnant any sooner, I would've missed out on a lot of work. I was able to work through my busy season (summer), and have the baby during slow season (winter). Hudson will be big enough in the summer that I'll be able to work my 2020 wedding season. It truly worked out so perfectly - and I am so grateful. 

So... back to October 23, 2019. 

Stay tuned for my next blog post! 

Can't wait to share Hudson's 

home birth story. <3