Hello lovelies! 

This is my maternity shoot I had when I was 38 weeks pregnant. My lovely sister, Ruth, took these photos for Bryan and I and we couldn't have been more pleased. I really wanted to take photos in a field and we decided to just drive around Folsom/ El Dorado Hills area and we had some trouble finding these spots, but eventually we found them and we had so much fun!

Down below are some questions I had that people frequently asked me when I was pregnant, so I decided to answer them for you! :)

HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE NAME, ZARA ANDREA:
I actually did not come up with the name Zara Andrea. My husband did! I honestly thought we were having a boy, so I was not picking out any girl names and had my boy name already picked out! Once we found out we were having a girl, I couldn't decide on a name. Someone once mentioned the name Zara a long time ago and Bryan mentioned it to me and said that her name is going to be Zara. I loved it, but didn't know if I wanted my girl's name to be after a store lol. I suggested a few different names to Bryan, but he refused and said he absolutely loves the name Zara and I did too!
Her middle name, Andrea, is actually my middle name. Bryan mentioned it to me saying that he thought it would be nice for our girl to have the same middle name as mine.
Zara means "princess", "seed", and "flower" and Andrea means "beautiful" and "womanly".
DO YOU HAVE STRETCH MARKS:
Luckily, no. I seriously believe that stretch marks come from genetics and my mom did not have any stretch marks. Obviously, I didn't want to risk that, so I did use creams and oils occasionally. I usually used oils on my stomach when I felt like it was dry and also when my stomach started to itch towards the last trimester.
I did, though, get a few small spider veins, which my mom also got when she was pregnant, so I strongly believe that stretch marks and spider veins are genetic.
WHAT ARE YOUR PREGNANCY MUST-HAVES:
1. Maternity pants!!! Well, these bad boys were a game changer. I postponed getting maternity pants for as long as possible, until my regular jeans just could not button up and I do not know why I was waiting so long to get maternity pants! They are just so stretchy and comfy, I seriously love and recommend them!
2. Pregnancy pillow - I only used a pregnancy pillow for a little while before it got thrown out and oh my, do I regret getting rid of that pillow. At first, I thought it took too much space in the bed and so I just used a regular pillow in between my legs, but I started breaking the regular pillows I had haha so I definitely recommend a pregnancy pillow.
3. Comfy shoes - Seriously, I tried wearing heels as long as I could, but at one point, you just can't even last in a pair of heels for 5 minutes. I would wear my comfy Nike tennis shoes or a pair of Birkenstock sandals.
4. A husband who will get you all your midnight cravings!
DID YOU GET MORNING SICKNESS
Oh my, yes! My whole first trimester, up until I was around 20 weeks pregnant, I was nauseous and throwing up. That's actually the reason I found out I was pregnant, because 2 weeks into being pregnant, I already started to feel nauseous and I started waking up at 7 am making myself sandwiches because I was always hungry :). I also feel like it shouldn't be called morning sickness because I was sick all day long up until night time. I tried saltine crackers, ginger, preggie pops, and ginger ale. Nothing worked! I even had a medication that was prescribed for me for the nausea, but it didn't do much. Honestly, I was told that the nausea would go away until I felt the baby move and I didn't believe it, but that's certainly what happened! It was crazy. The first time I felt her kick, was the day my nausea went away and I was so happy! For both the kicking and for the nausea that went away.
HAVE YOU READ ANY BOOKS:
No, not really. I started to read What To Expect When You're Expecting, but I kind of got bored. haha. I honestly just googled a lot whenever I had questions and of course, asked advice and tips from fellow mom friends and family.
DID YOU CRAVE ANYTHING SPECIFIC:
Popsicles and sweet candy! I would make Bryan go out in the middle of the night just to get me candy. I am not a big sweets person, so for me that was a big craving I experienced when I was pregnant. What I didn't crave was coffee! Which is absolutely crazy if you know me, because I go to Starbucks every single day, but for some odd reason, I did not crave it. It actually made me feel even more nauseous if I drank it, which was very sad because I love coffee.
WHEN DID YOU START "NESTING":
I actually started nesting pretty late and I do not recommend it. I started arranging all of the furniture when I was 36 weeks pregnant. I was very stressed out, thinking Zara could come any minute and the reason why I did it so late was because I was waiting until after my baby shower, that way I didn't purchase anything I didn't already get as a gift.

Thanks so much for reading and if you have any more questions about my pregnancy, feel free to ask in the comments below or contact me via email. Thank you!

Xo,