August 26th, 2012

Hi guys! I have a few minutes here and thought I give you a quick update: I had my baby on August 24th at around 1:00 am!!!! I am so in love with her words really cannot describe it. Thought I type a quick birth story to share with you. Will try to keep it brief (but I'm a chatter, lol):



I had my weekly prenatal appointment on August 23rd and was having some random contractions and pains but as I was convinced I'd be labouring late, I got dressed, did my hair and makeup and drove myself to my midwife's office. I did not know I was in early labour! This was me at around 2:00 pm on Aug 23rd, leaving the house:



At the midwife's office, she gave me an internal exam and told me I was 2cm dialated already. However, she told me to take it easy I may still have a few days left to labour (my due date was Aug 28th). So I drove back home at 3:30 pm, having irregular contractions but not thinking anything of them. My husband got home at 5:30 pm and by then the contractions were much worse. We had dinner and started timing them for about 45 minutes and it hit us that I may be in labour. We took a nice shower together, and did some more timing: contractions were 3 minutes apart, lasted 50 seconds and had been going on for over an hour. We paged my midwife Natalie, and she said she'd be right over.

Natalie was at our house at 8:30 pm and told me that I was now 5 cm dialated and it was time to go to the hospital. She then said that she had told the other midwifes this afternoon that I'll be labouring tonight! But she didn't want to tell me that so I don't get too excited, hahah! We headed to the hospital and got our delivery room. I walked around a bit trying to deal with the pains, but it was much too much! I was measured again at 7 cm dialated, at that point I got into the room's Jacuzzi (9:30 pm) to try and cope better.

My plan was always to have a natural birth and despite the intense pain, I was still committed to it. The transition part of labour hit me hard though, I wanted to die! So at around 10:30 pm  I started to beg for an epidural. Natalie measured me then at fully dialated so it was too late for an epidural anyway! The rest was a blur as I was in too much pain I barely remember a thing. I remember Natalie phoning my other two midwives and my husband, Marc, caressing my back and telling me it was time to push.

I pushed for only 30 minutes with guidance from my 3 midwives and it was the most intense yet gratifying experience ever! Sofia Calysta was born at 12:45 am on August 24th, she weighed a good 8 lbs 8 oz and her height was 52 cm. She has a full head of hair and really red skin, hahah! They put her on my skin and she started breastfeeding right away.

We only stayed at the hospital for 2 hours after for Sofia and I to go through the routine procedures (my parents had arrived then too). Her entire labour had lasted about 6 hours and I had no tearing thankfully. We slept the night in our own home, with our brand new baby! I was so happy that she was healthy and feeding, that I had managed to tough it out without pain relief and that we were home :) I would not be able to do it without trusting my body, having guidance from my midwives and having my rock, my husband there throughout labour.

Here are some more pictures:


Marc and I, few minutes after birth, all smiles...


The next morning with my lil jelly bean


And again here in her Woombie...peacefully asleep

Hope I didn't ramble on too much! Thank you all for following me through this pregnancy journey and for your sweet comments here, on Twitter and on Instagram. I'll be resting for a couple of weeks but BeautySpot will be back as usual with makeup, hair, fashion AND baby posts.

Have an amazing week!!

August 23, 2012

I officially have only 5 days left to meet my baby girl. Yet again I could meet her before or after. I don't take my due date as set in stone but I'm definitely getting excited. Here's a bump shot from today, 5 days to the estimated due date:



Weight Gained/Body: I'm still sitting at 22lbs gained, no change since last week. My bump is sitting much lower than before though. I don't think I'm gonna make the 25lb-35lb weight gained target for my BMI but then again my midwife is not concerned at all.

Activities: Haven't swam all week! I just go for daily walks now. Either drive to the mall and walk around there or walk myself to Chapters which is 20 mins walk from our house.

Labour Watch: Been definitely getting some signs as of 2-3 days ago. A tone of menstrual like cramps that started as dull pain and are now more intense and mostly on my back. I also have irregular contractions that come and go randomly and not letting me sleep well.  There's more TMI stuff too but I spare your ladies the details (especially those who haven't been through labour, lol!)

Mood: I'm now mostly calm and waiting on things to get going. I have a tone of food stocked in the freezer (thanks to my super helpful mom) and spend the days catching up on beauty sleep, watching reality tv shows and going for afternoon strolls with girlfriends and hubs.

Additional Note: My husband is working hard to wrap up the last details of his startup business before things happen baby-wise. And I'm still hoping baby stays put till her due date to give us more time. One of my close friends is in town tomorrow so we were just chatting on the phone. I told her about my signs and she said they sounded exactly liker hers a day before she went into labour :/

Question for all moms who read this, did you go over your due date with your first? What were some of your early labour signs?

August 21, 2012

I did this look over a week ago and just totally forgot to post it. My energy level is at an all time high fluctuation! Some days I want to do everything and anything and days like today I barely feel like typing a few lines :( I guess this is what the end of pregnancy does to people.

Face
Nars TM in Alaska
Ben Nye powder
Nars Irresisteblement Bronzer
Instant Chic blush (LE - light coral)

Eyes
Painterly p/p - base
Humid e/s - lid
Prussian e/s - crease
Aquavert e/s - inner lid
Cobalt e/s - above crease
Your Ladyship p/m - highlight
Lancome Black Art Liner - to line
Gosh Velvet Moss e/l - lower lashline
GA Eyes to Kill mascara

Lips
Nars Montego Bay matte lipstick
Nymphette l/g





P.S. I'm 39 weeks today and pretty much tired of being pregnant! I want my baby already!!!!

August 19, 2012

Hey everyone! Still no baby for me, lol! I mean it's not really my due date yet I still have 9 days left but I've started the count down already. Which is probably not good as I'd be twice as disappointed if I end up going in late.

I wanted to wear dark lips again today inspired by very clear signs of fall and I shopped my stash for MAC Seeds of Desire Mattene (LE). I love the Mattene formula and I believe it's the best MAC has ever come up with. Really not sure why they won't make this formula permanent and get rid of their frosts and creamsheens. But anyway, Seeds of Desire is a dark brown lipstick but the red undertones make it wearable in my opinion.  I know most people are intimidated by brown on the lips but this one can actually work if you are confident enough :)

Face
F&B Foundation - N3
Ben Nye Powder
Sculpt
Nars Madly blush

Eyes
UDPP - base
NYX Milk j/p - base for lid
Nars Pandora e/s duo - white shade on lid
Inglot copper e/s - crease
Your Ladyship p/m (LE) - highlight
Estee Lauder Cocoa Brown - thickly on lower lashline, blended with
Inglot Dark matte brown e/s
Lancome Black Art Liner - to line
Lancome Hypnose Drama mascara

Lips
Seeds of Desire Mattene (LE)





Here's my outfit of the night (we had people over for dinner): Banana republic linen maxi skirt from ast year which is a pregnancy staple of mine now, plus a black tank top from Le Chateau and leopard print belt from Aldo. I think the necklace was from Aldo as well.

I did a simple dutch braid at the back of my hair which you may be able to see in the mirror behind me:



Hope you all start a wonderful week :)

August 17, 2012

Hi guys! It's getting nice and cool here in Ottawa and though I'm not a fan of summer, I thought I would give it a cheerful goodbye with bright orange lips a la MAC Morange.

It did take me a while to warm up to the shade orange but once I did I became obsessed! I think Morange would look great on a variety of skintones but probably best for fair ladies with red hair or very dark skin beauties (the opposite ends of spectrum). That's not the say the rest of us can't wear it. Bold colours are mostly about confidence not your skin or hair colour; that's my belief anyway :)

Hope you guys like this look.

Face
Nars TM in Alaska
Ben Nye powder
Sculpt powder
Cantaloupe blush (pro - matte peach)

Eyes
Painterly p/p - base
UD Virgin e/s - all over lid
UD Naked e/s - crease
UD Buck e/s - lightly in outer v
All That Glitters e/s - outer lid
BB Cobalt Ink g/l - to line
Lancome Hypnose Drama mascara

Lips
Temperature is Rising l/l
Morange l/s
Nars Wonder l/g

What are some of your favourite bold lip colours? Do you believe bold shades can only be worn by a certain skin/hair colour person?

August 17, 2012

Hi guys! Another pregnancy update, hopefully not too many more of these before baby :) I technically have 12 days to my due date but as due dates are estimates, baby can come any time now up to two weeks after her due date:



Weight/Body: Have put on 23 lbs as of now and it hasn't changed for the last 5 days or so. I still look like I swallowed a basketball! All the eight is in my belly and nowhere else. Still no swelling of hands and feet and no stretch marks (which I hear are super common in late pregnancy).

Activities: I still swim once a week in my parents pool and walk 3-4 times a week. I need to go a lot slower now though as baby is nice and low in my pelvis and making brisk walks very difficult.

Appetite: Still quite high but nothing like I heard pregnant women go through. I eat much more than I used to but definitely not eating for two. Still eating healthy but HAVE to have my chocolate ice cream everyday.

Mood: mostly in a good mood these days. I have this underlying anxiety most of the time (anxiety is an issue I struggle with on a permanent basis) but I'm also excited and weirdly calm. Let's just say I go up and down every minute of everyday!

Latest Prenatal Appointment: I met the second midwife who'll be attending the birth of my baby (in Ontario you get two midwives to attend the birth). She was as awesome as my main one and we chatted for about an hour. Baby is now fully engaged and super low in my pelvis. Her heart beat is still a strong 150 db and all measurements are normal. I also got a TENS machine from my midwife to help cope with early contraction pain.

What's left to do: I actually have to think of stuff to do now! I made a huge jar of my fave pasta sauce and put in the freezer yesterday. This weekend I want to make a bunch of meat balls to freeze as well. Also reading a few baby books still. Right now on "The Happiest Baby on the Block".

Random Guess Work: Hubby thinks baby's coming on the 20th (her actual due date is 28th). I think she's coming either the 31st or September 1st. My mom thinks her arrival will be on the 25th, lol1 What do you guys guess?

August 15, 2012

Hi loves! Less than two weeks to baby and I'm definitely spending the time on errands I know will be more difficult to do first few weeks with baby here. I just made a huge amount of my favourite marianara sauce to freeze and use for pasta, lasagna and pizza later :D

Besides running last minute errands, I'm getting some blogging done. Playing with my hair, nails and makeup, of course! I have a simple nail design and a summer hair updo to show you today.

I love having my face out of my face in the summer and always been a big fan of braiding. This is what I did for lunch with the girls yesterday:



All you need to do is Dutch braid the front of the hair from one side (I start on the left to the right) down till you hit your ear and then join the rest of the hair and do a normal braid to have all of the hair combined in one singled braid. Once you're done, pin the braid up and if you like add an accessory. Mine is a peach flower pin from Forever 21 (cost like $1.99CAD):



It's not as neat at the back but it was quick and simple. I do a variation of the same look a few times a week actually. Next time I'll have a once over before I ask hubby to take picture of my hair ;)

Hope you guys enjoyed this post. How do you wear your hair in the summer? What are some of you favourite simple nail designs?

August 13, 2012

Hey guys! I go for a quick walk in the mall near me pretty much every day as it is still too hot for me to walk outside. But I need to get some kind of exercise and walking seems to be it. On my last trip the the mall on Thursday, I stopped by Trade Secret and picked up a couple of nail polishes from the upcoming fall collections. Fall is my favourite season hands down! I love the cool breeze and shorter days, dark nails, vampy makeup, velvet, suede and leather clothing and the earthy fall leaves. I have always been a little vamp in heart, lol!

Here's what I picked up from left to right: Zoya Daul (fall 2012), Essie Sand Tropez (perm), OPI (Every Month is Oktoberfest)



OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest - is an amazingly glowy red purple shade. It's so dark and delicious I cannot get enough.



It was the first polish out of the three that I wore, so here it is on my nails. There's a bit of top wear from having this on for 4 days with no top coat:



Essie Sand Tropez - is a nice beige cream. Most of the nudes in my stash have pink, gray or peach undertone so I thought I try something fully "beige". Nudes are my fave nail polish colours after the vamps so I'm excited about this one too:



Zoya Daul - OMG this is so beautiful in the bottle; can't wait to try it on my nails. It's a violet shade with a tone of gold shimmer. I thought the entire Zoya Diva collection was gorgeous but I picked what I thought was the most unique the most "me":

What are some of your favourite fall nail polishes? Have you purchased any new polishes from the recent collections?

August 12, 2012

Yesterday was our 5th wedding anniversary. I cannot believe that time has flown by so quick. We have been together 10 years and married for 5 and yet my husband the only man that keeps on surprising me (in a good way).

We had so much to celebrate this weekend so we went to one of the best steakhouses in the city (Hy's) for dinner. Besides our anniversary, my husband also just incorporated his own consulting firm and launching his site this week. It's such an exciting and scary time for both of us but we are feeling happy and blessed. Not to mention that this was our last wedding anniversary just the two of us; our daughter is due to be born in about 2 weeks!!!

As it was a cooler day, I went for darker lips and more dramatic makeup and I thought it went well with my newly coloured hair. I'm definitely ready for fall. I miss wearing darker lips and getting sick of all the neons, lol!

Face
F&B Foundation - N3
MUFE Full Cover #6
Ben Nye powder
Sculpt Powder
Chanel Plum Attraction - very lightly
Pearl Blossom bp

Eyes
UDPP - base
NYX Milk j/p - base for lid
Silver Fog p/m - lid
Reflects Gold glitter - lid
Smoke Signal p/m (LE) - to cut and blend crease
MUFE #39 - above crease
Blanc Type e/s - highlight
Lancome Black Art Liner - to line
Lancome Hypnose Drama mascara

Lips
MUFE #12C l/l
MUFE #48 l/s
Purple Rain l/g (LE)



And under the flash:



Because I'm obsessed with my new hair, lol:



And for my outfit of the night, I wanted to be comfortable and elegant. Since I'm now about 38 weeks pregnant, I went with a black halter maxi dress with white/silver embroideries on the front. I got this dress at a random shop in Soho (NYC) two years ago and it doesn't have a label. I quite like it though. I wore flat silver gladiators by Guess as well (can't really see in pic):



Hope you all start a great week :)

August 10, 2012

Hi guys! Just a quick post to share my new hair with you. As a lot of you may know I tend to go back to a variation of burgundy shade every fall. My natural hair is dark brown with strong red undertones so anything dark with hints of red is right down my alley.

I had highlighted my hair for the summer which I liked but I still prefer darker shades. This time I told my mom to add more purple to the base, so it's sort of a grape shade:





Sorry for the nakkid face, only wearing lipstick (Lancome Violet Coquette if you wanted to know) and was slightly shiny. Thought this would be the best time for a hair change as fall and baby are coming, lol!

Do you change your hair colour based on season? 

August 9, 2012

Hi guys! A pregnancy update for you for week 37, only about 3 weeks to go!! Didn't have a good belly shot for this week though as I spent most of it napping on the couch. Took this one at my folks place today:



Body/weight: My bump is definitely bigger now and dropped a little bit. As of today, I'm 22 lbs over my pre-pregnancy weight and still below the weight limit for my BMI (which is supposed to be 25 lb to 35 lbs). All my measurements are still normal though and the baby is healthy. I still have no stretch marks (knock on wood) and sleep throughout the night with no help from extra pillows.

Mood: I'm up and down these days. Hubby's still in the process of advancing his new business and that is taking a lot of his time. But I'm grateful for the time we spend together at home as opposed to him being in an office. I'm still excited to meet my baby and the fear of child birth has not yet hit me. I may be naive but to me childbirth is natural, nothing to get freaked out over.

What's Left to Do: really not much. I've even packed the hospital bag. I'm on mat leave now and mostly relaxing; when the mood strokes though, I read baby books and cook some freezer friendly food for after birth.

Some of the Best Moments as of Late:

- My mom (who's a professional hair stylist) dying my hair today (will post about that later), plus a nice blowout and massage and pedicure she treated me to. I love my mom!

- My sister is in the middle of her exams so her Pomeranian toy puppy is staying with my folks temporary. I get to see him every week now, just look at this face:



- Watching Mad Men Season 5 marathon while hubby massages my feet *heaven*

What I don't like so much:
- People saying "oh, you haven't had your baby yet?" yes smart ass, that's why I still look about 9 month pregnant!!! arghhhhh

- having random anxiety periods about things that could be wrong with the baby and husband's business not picking up :(

- Waiting and waiting...no way to predict labour and I like to be in control of things.

So here you had it. If you already had babies, how were you feeling in the last few weeks? How did you deal with the waiting game?

August 8, 2012

Hello beauties! I felt like spending a little more time on my nails last night and this is the result. As someone who's bored with my nail colour after only one day wear, I don't usually spend a lot of time on funky designs. I just polish my nails a different colour every night :D

But being on mat leave is giving me more time and patience. Why not treat my nails to some gold foil and glitter?



I used these three polishes: Essie Jamaica Me Crazy, Orly Lux and OPI Bring on the Bling (LE glitter shade from holiday 2010)



The method was quite simple:
- First I polished my nails with two coats of the base colour (Essie JMC). Let it air dry.
- I ripped a small makeup sponge in half, applied the Orly at the edge of it a little bit at the time and pressed on the top third of the nails.
- Repeated the step above with the third polish, the OPI, except I focused it on the tip of the nails only.

Voila:

 

Hope you guys liked this post. What are some of your favourite simple nail designs?

August 7, 2012

Hey beauties! I'm loving my mat leave so far, I get to take as many naps as I want and never before have I needed them so much! Gotta do an updated pregnancy post this week too as I am now full term!!!

I used one of my neglected pigments, MAC Copper Sparkle, for this look. I say neglected as I haven't used it for probably a year, mostly because it's very frosty and requires patience to use. Once I do use it though, more often than not I'm pleased with the results.

Face
F&B Foundation - N3
Ben Nye powder
Cantaloupe blush (Pro)

Eyes
Painterly p/p - base
UD Naked e/s - above crease
Inglot darm matte brown - crease and outer v, lower lashline
UD Buck e/s - crease
Vanilla e/s - highlight
Lancome Black Art Liner - to line
Lancome Hypnose Drama mascara

Lips
Thrills l/s (LE)

August 6, 2012

Hello my lovelies! Hubby and I received our maternity photos we did about a month back this past weekend. We are very pleased with them and glad that we splurged and decided to get them done professionally.

We used the same photographer we had hired for our engagement, wedding and third wedding anniversary photo shoots. He has a great photography vision and over the years we've actually become friends with him and his wife so we know each other very well and he understands our expectations.

Here are some of the photos I wanted to share with you guys here. Btw, these were done when I was about 32 weeks (8 months pregnant):

Hope you guys enjoyed these images :)

August 5, 2012

Hi beauties! I bought myself something after quite sometime. I'm on a strict spending budget still as I prepare for the birth of our daughter and with my husband now just starting his own consulting business. It will take some time before I can really treat myself but this purchase made me quite happy.  I had quite a few Bay points accumulated so only spent $10 on this :D

Meet the newest addition to my Chanel makeup stash, Mirifique Illusion d'Ombre. I have already reviewed the formula before. But I love this eyeshadow formula as it's sparkly yet very sophisticated. They apply almost like gel but dry to a crease-resistent proof finish. Look how sparkly!!! I iz in LOVE!



Mirifique is a deep black shade with multicolour (but mostly silver) sparkles. It would be ah-mazing as a liner but also gorgeous as a fun smokey eye:



Here's my first go with Mirifique. I did a subtle gray smokey eye with dramatic sparkly liner on the bottom lashline. Hope you like it.

Face
Nars TM in Alaska
Ben Nye powder
Stark Naked bpb (LE)

Eyes
Painterly p/p - base
Inglot simmery light gray shade - lid
Blanc Type e/s - highlight
Print e/s - to liner and blend
Copperplate e/s - crease
Lancome Black Art Liner - as a VERY thing liner
Chanel Mirifique ED - as a thick liner on bottom lashline
Lancome Hypnose Drama Mascara

Lips
Chanel Empire RA Laque (DC)







Off to taking another nap. Late pregnancy makes me very tired so I need a few naps each day. Hope you enjoyed the swatch and review and get inspired by the look :)