Baby News!!!

Hi!

I'm so happy to finally be sharing our baby news with you!  Yes, I'm pregnant!  

I'm sorry that I've been rather absent the last few months.  It's been hard to post about my life when a huge part of it I wasn't ready to share.  I've been holding onto this beautiful secret.  But today I’m sharing and I’m so excited to tell you!  Here I go...

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I wrote this post just 5 days after finding out I was pregnant because I wanted to hold onto the experience and (eventually) share it...

It was just days after Thanksgiving and I was home chilling with the dogs.  I had a thought that maybe I should take a pregnancy test.  I didn't actually think I was pregnant, but it had been about a month since I had my period so I figured I’d just take a test so I would know for sure.  I had gone off the pill just a month earlier.   

Side note:  My primary doctor during a visit had mentioned that it would most likely take me about a year to get pregnant.  I’d gone off the pill in the past and hadn't gotten my period for months, so truly I believed my doctor and in all honesty I was worried it would take a while to get pregnant.  I had started taking prenatal vitamins because I had read that you could start those a year before you were even pregnant.  

That morning I went to the grocery store and bought some food along with a pregnancy test.  Upon coming home, I put away the groceries – taking my time – and then decided to take the test.  Now the directions said it takes 3 minutes so after a few minutes I looked at it and saw one pink line.  One pink line means that you are not pregnant.  I felt an odd feeling of sadness that it was negative, but after all, that’s what I expected.  I continued doing whatever I was doing and glanced back at the test a few minutes later and saw that a very faint second pink line had appeared.  I put my eyes really close because it was that faint.  OK, now I had to take a second test!  I immediately took another test and that same faint second pink line appeared a few minutes after letting the test sit.  

Two lines means you’re pregnant.

And then I just stood in my kitchen registering the double lines.  Pure happiness consumed me, but mixed with absolute shock.  I had thought a million times about being a mom, but could it really be just 9 months (less really) from that moment.  I was overjoyed!  I immediately called my husband who joyfully said he knew why I was calling.  I had told him earlier that day that I was buying a pregnancy test that morning.  He was so happy and so was I, but still it didn't feel real.

I then called my primary doctor who by some chance fit me in that day to do a blood test.  I needed further confirmation.  I had to wait a few days on the results though.  On my way home from the doctor, I stopped at the Dollar Store and bought two more pregnancy tests.  I had bought the fancy ones the first time, so I figured the Dollar Store would do just fine for the next two tests.  I then went home and took two more pregnancy tests.  Yup, that second faint pink line appeared on them too.  Just maybe four pregnancy tests don’t lie?

I still was not 100% convinced I was pregnant.  Three days went by and my anticipation continued to build.  I felt a happiness in my soul.  I literally could not wipe the smile off my face.

After those Dollar Store tests, I made myself breakfast.  I had only had juice so far that morning and my immediate thought was I need to eat!  I had two pieces of Ezekiel toast topped with Tofutti and jelly.  I then proceeded to watch half of Season 8 of the TV show Friends because (1) Rachel finds out she’s pregnant in that season and (2) its my forever favorite show.  Later in the afternoon, I still couldn't believe it as I told my husband the story again.  

We’re going to have a baby!

The following Monday morning while at work I received a phone call about the lab work.  You are pregnant!  In that moment my heart jumped with glee.  I can’t explain the feeling I had of it not feeling real, but I had truly thought that it was going to be difficult for me to get pregnant.  And recently, to that point, a woman had told me how it’s hard for vegan women to get pregnant because her family members had struggled.  Now I didn't really agree with her, but the comment still stuck in my head.

I learned that most doctors don’t want to see you until you are around 8 weeks along, and my guess was that I was only about 2 weeks along at that point (turns out I was 3.5 weeks along when I took those tests).  Sure enough, I had to wait a month to get into an appointment.

Yes, I got pregnant the week after going off the pill.  I’m still stunned as I write this, but I feel so lucky, so grateful, so blessed.  In that moment that I found out that I was pregnant something in me shifted.  I felt like I had been given a gift.  I knew from that moment forward I would never be the same.  It was hard to believe that I was pregnant, but I felt different, so maybe I really was.   Instantly, I wanted to do everything in my power to take care of the little person inside of me.  I think I eat quite healthy and take care of myself, but it became even more important.

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And then…

I wrote this the afternoon after of my first ultrasound – found out I was 7 weeks 3 days at my first doctor's appointment, which was December 27th, 2013.

Picture from the lobby waiting for our first appointment!

 In the 2 weeks prior (which were weeks 5 and 6), nausea had kicked in with a vengeance.  There were mornings driving to work when I really thought I was going to get sick while driving.  I hadn't yet, but the nausea was literally round the clock those weeks.  My appetite went completely out the window and things I typically love to eat, I couldn't stand.  I’m a huge Chipotle fan, but the thought of black beans…yuck.  Therefore, I tried the pinto.  Much better.  Guacamole is all good, but sliced avocado, no thank you.  I also cannot stand the thought of soy milk – sticking to almond.  Bagels have become my new go-to food.  Along with cereal, rice noodles, udon noodles, and Italian food (had a veggie meatballs on a bun last night).  Basically carbs are what I’m craving and what I can stomach.  And I have to eat at least every 2-3 hours or I start to feel sick.

This morning my husband and I went for my first ultrasound.  We were both nervous and excited for the appointment.  It was such a special morning going to that first appointment though and hearing the baby’s heartbeat, and seeing the baby!  I looked at the screen and then at my husband and thought oh my goodness there’s a little someone inside me!  When my husband and I saw the baby (the size of a blueberry at 7 weeks) on the screen, it became real.  And sooo exciting!  I just want to take such good care of this little baby growing inside me.  I want to give him or her all the love in the world.   

The doctor handed my husband and I three pictures from the ultrasound.  I carry them around in my purse because they are just the happiest thing.

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I haven’t been able to share all this with you guys because basically I wanted to hold off telling until I was a little farther along.  I will be 15 weeks tomorrow and I promise to keep you up-to-date for now on though!

  Our baby is due August 2014.  August is a great month because I met my husband in August and then we got married in August two years later, and now two years later our baby is due.

My next few upcoming posts will be posts that I have written throughout my pregnancy so far.  I want to document this wonderful journey.

Tell me anything!