Baby Bell

Getting pregnant with our son was one of the biggest surprises & greatest blessings of 2019. Bryan & I had just gotten engaged in March and three short months later, our sweet boy was on his way. I remember the day we found out I was pregnant I had an inkling that I was & decided to grab a test to take when I got home. The thing about me is, I cannot just patiently wait until the end of the day to find out about something or do something knowing in the back of my mind I know the answer. So I rushed back to work from my lunch break, took the test in the bathroom & BAM! Two VERY clear lines appeared and I immediately burst into tears. I ran back into the office, told my co-worker I was “sick” & needed to excuse myself for the rest of the day. I just could not contain myself.

I got home before my husband & decided to tell him in a cute way. On our back door a white board said “You + Me + Three”. Let me tell you the few hours I had to wait for him to come home were SO nerve-wracking. I remember hearing the garage door open & thinking to myself, “Okay, this is it!” He walked in, looked at me & said “So we’re pregnant?!” I instantly began crying and through the waterworks I mumbled, “You’re not mad??” He cracked the biggest smile and asked why he would ever be mad. I had no idea what his reaction would be, to be completely honest. We had just gotten engaged, I didn’t know if he wanted to get married first before having a family…but I was just so happy that I was carrying our angel & with the man of my dreams.

Waiting until the beginning of my second trimester to tell people was HARD! I so badly wanted everyone to know about our bundle of joy but, knowing the risks of miscarriage in the first trimester, I couldn’t put myself through announcing it too early God forbid anything were to happen. It felt like the first three months went on forever but once everyone knew we were expecting, the remaining two trimesters flew by.

Fast forward to the end of October – I’m almost 20 weeks pregnant & DYING to know the sex of our baby. From day one Bryan & I prayed for a little boy. We would be happy with either as long as they were healthy but, we really wanted a boy. We decided to have a gender reveal & my sister in law was the only one that knew. On October 26th, we had our family & friends over to the reveal. Bryan is into cars like no other so I thought it would be fun to incorporate his Camaro into the reveal. While we stood by, Bryans dad, Jeff did a burnout which would reveal either pink or blue smoke. The few moments prior were the most nervous and excited I think I had ever felt. Finally, BLUE SMOKE. IT WAS A BOY!

My pregnancy with our son was everything I could have hoped for. I had no morning sickness, no food aversions (Thank God), and was able to stay really active all through out. Every doctors appointment we went to he was perfect & growing more and more. The last few weeks I could really feel my body getting ready to prepare for his arrival but still stayed as positive as I could. His nursery was done, my mother hosted a beautiful baby shower for us & now we we’re just waiting on our sweet boy.

By 36 weeks, your OB will have you come in on a weekly basis to check to see how the baby is measuring and make sure there aren’t any complications. My mid-wife began noticing protein in my urine, and my blood pressure was creeping up. Because I didn’t have any severe swelling along with it, she wasn’t terribly worried. At my 39 week appointment, I vividly remember her coming into the room with a sad face on & I immediately said “You can’t walk in here with a sad face, what is going on?” She told me “It’s time to go to the hospital”. Instantly I began to cry uncontrollably and sweating profusely. This was NOT how I wanted things to happen! I wanted to go into labor on my own, hang out at home for as long as I could and then make our way to the hospital. God however had different plans.

To say I was freaked out is an absolute understatement. I had no idea what to expect and was so terrified of what was to come I couldn’t get myself to calm down. My mid-wife, God bless her, was so supportive of my birth plan and told me she truly thought I would go in to labor on my own. I was admitted to the hospital on March 16th, and after a very restless night, she came to break my water at 8:30 AM, March 17th. I was so scared but so ready to meet our son. She quickly broke my water and I thought, man, that was nothing! It just felt like a water balloon had broken between my legs. The thing about having babies is, everyone is different. Not one of us will have the same experience so I tried to not think about the pain or what would happen, I just wanted to deliver our son safely & he be healthy. Soon after, I went from 3CM to 10 in a matter of two hours. I had ZERO transitional labor like most women have. My contractions were so intense I kept yelling at my L&D nurses that I couldn’t do it. Tammy, one of my nurses, laughed & said “Well, you’re already doing it girl”. She was amazing. She rubbed my back and showed Bryan how to help me through each contraction. I had opted out of pain medication…something about a giant needle getting shoved into my back scared the hell out of me and for years I had always imagined I would deliver my baby naturally. I was so serious about it that I didn’t even sign the epidural waiver. Our bodies were made to do this & I knew I could push through the pain.

At 12 PM, my mid-wife returned to check my progress and before I knew it, it was time to push! Honestly, it was the greatest feeling in the world which might sound crazy but I felt relief breathing him down and out of my body. I used a bar across the bed to keep me upright and that helped immensely. 12:27 PM, March 17th, 2020, our son, Carter Jeffrey Bell was born. 7 pounds, 1 ounce & 19 inches of pure perfection.

What I read from other women who had given birth was, as soon as that baby is on your chest, all the pain you just went through is gone. They couldn’t have been more right. As soon as he arrived, everything I had just experienced was gone- I was on a high that I couldn’t even explain. Our son was finally here and our parenting journey began.

Our sweet boy is almost 7 months old as I’m writing this & I cry looking back at these photos because it feels like it was just yesterday we found out we we’re pregnant. Now, I’m planning his 1st birthday (insert crying face here). I couldn’t imagine my life without Carter, or my husband and am so grateful that he chose me to be his mama.

Fall Fashion Essentials

It’s Fall y’all! My favorite season is finally upon us & I am officially transitioning my wardrobe! Is it just me or does everyone do a deep clean out of their closet every time a new season rolls in? No? Just me? Purging and re-organizing my clothes, shoes & accessories at least two times a year really helps get rid of pieces I no longer wear. For some reason, I tend to hold on to items that I keep telling myself I’ll wear in the near future, but never do. Why is it so hard to let go sometimes? Might be the Type A personality in me. Although it may take a while to part ways, once my closet is refreshed & clean, it is such a satisfying feeling knowing I’ve crossed off a major project on my to-do list!

Like many, I am always on the hunt for trendy yet affordable pieces to add to my collection because I believe you can look like a million dollars without having to spend it! Don’t get me wrong, I’ll splurge on a new bag or pair of boots every once in a while but, finding boutiques & brands that offer quality pieces at affordable prices is what I am all about!

To make sure I am always saving the most amount of money on my purchases, I use Honey! It is an extension added to Google Chrome that works in the background as you shop to search for any coupon codes that may apply to your purchase! It’s so easy! All you have to do is sign up with your email, add the extension, & that’s it! Honey does the rest for you! All the pesky searches for coupon codes that may not even work are gone. The greatest part about Honey is you can create Wishlist’s of item’s you have your eye on and be notified when those items go on sale! They work with over 28,000 different stores & have saved clients millions of dollars since their launch. How amazing is that?


If you haven’t already caught on, I am a sweater FANATIC. There are so many different ways you can style a sweater with knee high boots, a cute skirt, or even a great hat! A lot of the pieces I’ve picked can be transitional from late Summer into Fall since the fabric is lightweight but extra cozy. Currently, a favorite online boutique of mine is Pink Lily. I was feeding our son one late night & happened to stumble across their page and it was GAME OVER for me. Since then I’ve made so many purchases from them & will always recommend their brand to anyone I know. They are constantly coming out with new collections, have great discounts & even do fun giveaways! Check out a few of my favorite Pink Lily pieces below! Tell me what your favorite go-to Fall outfit is!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

SRB

New Mama, New Blogger, New ME!

Hi, I’m so happy you’re here. My name is Sarah Bell & I am very new to the blog life so thank you for your love & patience as I get my feet wet.

A little about me – I’m 29 (almost), married to my best friend, Bryan & we had our beautiful son, Carter in March of this year! I’m sure most of you, if not all of you can agree that 2020 has been a whirlwind to say the least. I could go on for days about everything that’s happened to us over the last 9 months but I thought instead, I’d share some positive pieces with you. Thanks to COVID-19, I was laid off in August. Up until now, I have always had a full time job & even when I was pregnant with our son, I told myself I always wanted to have a career AND be a mom. My view point on that quickly changed when I was home with CJ & got to see him roll over for the first time! I immediately burst into tears thinking, OMG, what if I was at work when this happened & I only got to watch it through a video? I know most families don’t have this luxury, so I truly feel blessed to be able to experience being a SAHM, even if it’s only for a little while.

In just a few short weeks, we are moving to our new home & I could not be more excited. My focus for this blog is going to be affordable home décor finds, fashion for every season & A LOT of mama/baby moments. Currently our townhome is an absolute wreck, & that does not vibe well with my OCD tendencies so you can imagine how ready I am for this move to be over & we are all settled.

When I first came up with Being the Bells, I was working full time at an investment firm & didn’t have the opportunity to put the time or energy into it the way I wanted to. Soon it was on the back burner just like every other dream I’d had & quickly disappeared into thin air. Once I was laid off I took a good hard look at what I REALLY wanted to do with my life. What was going to make ME happy? It’s never been just about the money for me. I’ve always wanted to find a career path that I would love & could be profitable from. I knew if I was going to do this again, I needed to really dedicate myself to it & did just that.

This quote really says it all… taking my doubt & fear of failure and turning that into my motivation & determination to be successful in this line of work. Don’t get me wrong, I still have a long way to go & a whole lot of work to do but, I have met some of the SWEETEST women re-starting this journey & they have given me all the confidence in the world to push through and succeed.

Being the Bells is me. It’s my husband. It’s my son. It’s my passion. Anyone with a dream…chase after it. Don’t stop until you’re so in love with your life that everything leading up to that moment was worth the struggle. Everyday I’m at this I hope to learn & grow with each and every one of you. We may not be able to change the last 9 months of this year, but we can certainly go out with a BANG to end it. Thank you all so much for checking me out, I really look forward to sharing more with you!

Stay tuned & God Bless