15 November 2017 was a very special day. We finally got to meet our little man. Yes, we had a boy. His name is Matthias...Little Matthias JvR. He is absolutely perfect in every way. So here is some basic information about him.

Matthias was born just after 5pm. He weighed a whole 3.9Kg and was 51cm long. His head circumference was at 36cm and he opened his eyes almost immediately after he was born. I have absolutely no problem breastfeeding him. I will be posting my labour and delivery story in the next couple of weeks (depending on when I have some time).

For now I will leave you with some pictures of the little man.

 Hydration during labor is apparently key. After reading many articles covering the subject and it's importance, I decided not to be caught off guard concerning my hydration levels. They say that labor is pretty much like running a marathon in many ways. First you have to be physically prepared, you have to train your mind and also make sure you have sufficient energy and hydration.Because of this I thought of getting a few electrolyte drinks ready. Electrolytes are great because you don't have to drink as much as you would normally for the same amount of hydration. Most blog posts I found on women keeping hydrated during labor was all about powerade and energade.

Personally, I'm not the biggest fan of high corn syrup and artificial flavor and colors in my drinks so I try to avoid those type of drinks in general. That is why I opted for a more natural approach. I decided to get natures very best source of electrolytes; Coconut water.

So far during the end of my pregnancy I struggled a bit with juices and coconut water as it gave me slight heartburn but I finally found a solution to this tiny problem. Just freeze it!

So I set about making my very own electrolyte cubes for labor and delivery with my favorite brand of coconut water at the moment and some cut up berries. The berries just give a tiny bit of flavor and a slight energy punch ( which I'm guessing would be helpful during the birthing process).  In some of them I also added a drop of lemon juice, but that, as well as the fruit, is totally optional.

What are your go-to hydration drinks and methods? Have you tried coconut water during labor? I will let you know how it went after the labor. Although, I can officially say that the cubes taste great, especially since it's summer and the weather has been a bit warm for my liking.

30 weeks pregnant | Vicky Kriel

I seriously can't believe that it's been 30 weeks already!

Since my last update, nothing much has changed except that my belly is starting to feel stretched. As baby has been growing I feel like all the loose skin that I had (having been a slightly chubby teen) was just filling out and there hasn't actually been any skin stretching.  I do also, however, have my very first pregnancy stretch mark. It's only about 1/2 cm in total and super thin but the weird thing is that it is a vertical one just right to my belly button. I had always been under the impression that they radiate around your belly with the belly being all round and stuff.

On another note, I feel that I should let everyone know that I'm currently trying to decide between pocket diapers and cover with separate inners. Jacques and myself decided even before getting pregnant that we want to use cloth diapers for many reasons like the environment, baby skin health and the economic strain disposables cause. Since the two options both have a great deal of pros to each side I'm finding myself completely indecisive.

 Does anyone have any advice? 

28 Weeks