Back to Blogging

Its been a longgg time since I last posted. I must say I have been telling myself for the longest time to get back to blogging but just couldn't find the motivation to do so.  Buttt I am 'planning' to really get back to posting more regularly and doing more project tutorials too! My baby girls just turned 1 last month and we had a big Minnie Mouse themed party for them.  I started planning the party in January...talk about getting an early start lol... but I knew I wanted to put alot of detail into it. Stay tuned for my next post on pics and details! My plan is to get back to posting at least once a day... but being a working wife and mommy of 2 now we'll see how that goes...lol.

Here is a pic of my 1 year old twin babies :)

My Twin Girls' Nursery - Pink & Grey

After spending months trying to figure out how to decorate the nursery for my twins girls, I finally decided on a pink, grey, and white theme. I LOVE grey in general so it was a perfect choice. When coming up with how I wanted to design their nursery, I knew I wanted it to have a classic look...very girly....no characters but also not too mature.  So this is what I came up with and I love the way it came out! Thank God I finished their room before my last trimester because I would not have had the energy to do it had I waited. This is how the room looked BEFORE we made it the nursery:

AFTER:

 

So here are the details of everything:

Wooden Monogram: Etsy (I painted it white & added white glitter to it)
Rug: Pottery Barn Kids
Mirror: Home Goods
Wall scripture decal: Etsy
Wall stencil: Cutting Edge Stencils
Lamp: Ross (with some DIY tweaking)
Throw pillow: I made it
Window treatment: I made it
Mini mannequin form: Home Goods (I added the tulle skirt & bow)
Book case: Ikea
Ruffle crib skirts: Target (had to tweak it to make it longer in front)
Crib bows: I made them
Furniture: Baby Supermart

 Closet system: Closet Works

Do you need help decorating your nursery? Contact me at nneka@nnekasaran.com for rates

My Pink & Gold Baby Shower!

While searching the internet for inspiration for the look I wanted for our baby shower, pink and gold really stood out to me.  After seeing alot of different ways the theme has been done, I decided to go with it. Plus I really love gold so I was kinda sold on it from the jump. Now I just had to figure out how to get the look without spending too too much money on everything.

My friends all know how crazy I am with decorating and doing creative stuff so they were kind enough to handle the food for the shower and let me handle the decor. I also couldn't find anything I really wanted to wear so I ended up making my dress as well! Talk about alot on my plate lol

You can check out some of the pics from our baby shower below that took place on Feb 22, 2014:

Sorry I wasn't able to get a picture before all the goodies were eaten off the plates :(

  

A few details from my shower: 

Dessert Table - I made linens

Tableware - Home Goods (Spray painted gold) 

Step & Repeat Backdrop - Signs11.com

White Chair Rentals - KiNycole Decor (Philadelphia, PA)
Mini cupcakes & cookies - BabyCakes Couture (Philadelphia, PA)

MY TWIN PREGNANCY - 3rd Trimester

For my third trimester, I was really tired. I finally started getting bigger but people still were very

Me 5 days before I delivered @ 38 weeks

surprised that I was carrying twins.  I guess I never really got as big as most people expect a woman to be when carrying twins. When it was all said and done I believe I gained about 40 lbs.
Since I'm writing this post way after my 3rd trimester, I'm drawing a blank on a lot of things lol. But I do remember that devil known as indigestion hitting me hard as well as heartburn in my last trimester. That made eating anything good really tough. It seemed like everything I ate normally triggered indigestion and heartburn. I also had a few rare occasions of throwing up.  The last month or so I also became super uncomfortable trying to sleep. No position ever was comfortable so that was a bummer.
Since I was carrying twins, I saw my regular OB as well as a Perinatologist which is basically a high risk doctor. Carrying multiples makes you 'high risk'.  So my appointments increased towards the end. I also had to do non-stress testing once a week to make sure the babies were doing okay. With the non-stress test they basically just hook you up to a monitor and you sit for about 30 min or so. Then they let you know how the babies are doing.

I had a lot of pressure in my stomach as well towards the end. Baby A was head down and Baby B was breech. But Baby A was really really low in my pelvis so I wore a support belt alot to help. 
I also remember my feet starting to swell the last few weeks before I delivered. They were huge and it really hurt to walk for long periods of time. Also had a lot of back pain towards the end.  I guess that's why they tell you to rest towards the end while you are pregnant.


Highlights of 3rd Trimester

• Indigestion came back along with heartburn
• Uncomfortable sleeping
• Feet swelling around 36 weeks
• Hard to walk 
• Non stress testing 
• Back pain at very end
• Tired
• Pelvis pressure & pain
• Biggest highlight was looking forward to delivery

My Twin Pregnancy - TRIMESTER 2

For my 2nd trimester, I was still dealing with all day sickness but I learned to manage it a little better. Our anniversary is in October and we had a nice trip to DR planned but due to my constant sickness, we had to cancel it....so that was no fun :(

But once 19/20 weeks hit, the sickness started fading away...THANK GOD!! And I was able to finally experience all the great feelings and energy everyone constantly talks about having during 2nd trimester.  Also around the same time, I felt the twins first flutter in my stomach! Amazing feeling! AND we also found out our babies were 2 girls!! We honestly thought it would be a boy and a girl but we were happy either way!

My goal was to finalize nursery design and get that done before my energy ran out as well as figure out my plans for our baby shower. Yes, I took on the responsibility of decorating my own baby shower.  I know I know Im crazy lol

Highlights of Trimester 2:
* Morning sickness/all day sickness finally went away around Week 20
* Felt first flutter 
* Found out we were having twin GIRLS
* Energy
* Cravings: None really... except slushies and cold stuff
* Weight loss
* Started working on nursery
* Started planning baby shower

My Twin Pregnancy Journey - TRIMESTER 1

Hey guys!
So I know its been quite awhile since I last blogged. In my mind, I just knew once I got pregnant I would blog up a storm but things didn't quite go that way.  So I figured since Im about 2 weeks from my due date, I would chronicle a little of my pregnancy now.

TRIMESTER 1:  The first 6 weeks were great. I didn't have much of an appetite though.  After week 6......everything for me went downhill in terms of feeling good.  I was "lucky" enough to go thru all day nausea and sickness.  It was the worst. I figured I would get morning sickness a little ....after all...isn't that what you always hear about being pregnant ...but nothing really prepared me for how bad I felt.  I kept waiting for it to end...and it just kept coming at me.

I tried Zofran (a RX prescribed by my doctor) which helped but gave me bad migraines so I stopped using it. I also tried Diclegis but that didnt really work either so I just stopped altogether.  My all day sickness finally let up around 20 weeks so that was 14 LONGGGGG weeks of feeling awful and not really being able to keep much food down. Some days/nights I threw up 4-5 times.  Honestly, sometimes I would look forward to throwing up because that meant I would at least get a little break from the non stop nauseous feeling.  I ended up losing about 15 lbs during that time too. 

I also had to deal with awful non stop indigestion that kept me up at night. Tums (which normally work for me) didn't do anything to help it. I tried ginger tea and products but nothing really helped... some nights it would literally last for hours until I finally dosed off to sleep.

I felt so bad for my hubby because he wanted to help me so bad but there was nothing he could physically do. However, his emotional support was so great and I am so thankful for him. Every time I would get up in the middle of the night to throw up, he would get right up with me and pat my back. So sweet :)

During the first trimester we also found out we were pregnant with fraternal twins!

Here is a pic of me 12 weeks pregnant at the Black Girls Rock taping .....you can see I had a tiny little pooch which wasn't noticeable by most people but I could tell :)

So the highlights of Trimester 1 were:

* Finding out we were having fraternal twins
* Morning/All Day sickness
* Awful indigestion
* Frequent urination

Asbestos Awareness Week

Last week Heather reached out to me about sharing her story on my blog.  At age 36, she was diagnosed with mesothelioma just 3 ½ months after her first and only child, Lily, was born. She was given just 15 months to live unless she underwent a drastic surgery to remove her left lung. Miraculously, she beat the odds and is still here eight years later.

 

Asbestos is not banned in the US, yet it’s the only known cause of mesothelioma. She was exposed to asbestos through her fathers work jacket when she was just a little girl; her diagnosis came about 30 years later. Once diagnosed, most patients die within 2 years. She is one of few survivors who openly share their story and work to spread awareness regarding the dangers of asbestos.

Please check out her site to learn more about mesothelioma and the dangers of asbestos.

 http://www.mesothelioma.com/heather/awareness/#.U0Wfsle4-Yg