MandiBox Beauty

Earlier this week I heard on the news that women who experience nausea during pregnancy are less likely to have a miscarriage or give birth to a stillborn child. I think I mentioned in one of my posts that I know this "suffering" is a blessing. I know so many women battling to have children, so I am blessed. It doesn't make this discomfort any easier though. Some days have been better than others this week, but the rising hormones are definitely impacting me. I've been taking naps in the early evening and trying to eat small frequent meals. I've switched from Tic Tacs to Altoids since Altoids are sugar free. Oatmeal also seems to soothe my belly for a little while. This week I'll get my first ultrasound on Thursday and I'm super excited! I'm pretty sure it's still too early to determine the baby's sex, but I'm looking forward to hearing its heartbeat. Next week's update will include the ultrasound image!             ...

9 weeks has brought about the discovery of Tic Tacs! The white peppermint candies are the only things that have been able to calm my nausea. A few friends have suggested Preggie Pops, which I'm hoping to get my hands on this weekend. My latest routine has included feeling sick all day, but actually throwing up at night :-/ In 2 weeks, I'll go to my doctor to see my HunnyBee for the very first time on an ultrasound. Although I have faith that everything is just fine, there's always a little worry. Seeing my baby and hearing everything is fine will really put my spirit at ease. The other big symptom I'm struggling with is fatigue. I just have very little energy and hardly feel like myself at all. The hardest part of all this is still being a good Mom to my Little Bear. As a 2 year old boy, he has so much energy and really loves my attention. I'm grateful for all the support around me, but I'm looking forward to getting my energy back up. My businesses have a...

A lot can change in just one week. I went from feeling ok, with small bouts of "morning sickness," to having all day sickness. Though I haven't been throwing up, which is progress from my pregnancy with Little Bear, I'm still feeling pretty nauseous. I'm not sure if it's because of my Diverse Ability, or just me, but any change at all in my body affects me pretty severely. Speaking of my Diverse Ability, let's talk about a few things that are a direct result of it that have come to the surface again. Last week I went to my first OB/GYN appointment for this pregnancy. All went pretty well, though we did discuss my need to limit my weight gain. All women are told to eat healthily and to try not to gain too much weight, but this is even more important for me since I have such limited physical mobility. During my first pregnancy, I gained about 35 pounds. My doctor has asked me to keep a weight gain goal of no more than 25 pounds, though she even acknowledge...

When I first started The #DiversAbleModel Project I knew I wanted it to evolve into something bigger than just fashion. I wanted the blog and the project itself to give people a place to openly share their "normal" lives. I wanted to help everyone understand that everyone is part of the #DiversAble population because we all have Diverse Abilities. I'll be honest, it's been very frustrating lately feeling like I just can't get the content that I once had, content that is genuinely impactful and has power. This may sound strange, but last night I had a dream that I documented my pregnancy journey on my blog. I woke up thinking about all the doctors that have told me how little information on pregnancy and Arthrogryposis (my Diverse Ability) there is. When I was researching the challenges I might face during my first pregnancy, I was so disappointed at the lack of information. For this reason, I'm going to do my best to be part of the solution. I...