Life Lately: We’re Having A Baby!
If you haven't seen our pregnancy announcement on Instagram...we're having a baby girl come March! Words cannot describe how astonished we are. It truly feels surreal, especially since it has been just the two of us for the last 6 years of our marriage. We are so curious and excited for this next stage in our lives together.
When Did We Find Out?
Joe had just left on a business trip, which meant I would be home alone for the next two days. Typically, when I am solo, I indulge in a girl dinner of take-out sushi or tuna salad. However, I was due for my period the day he left and, out of curiosity, took a pregnancy test just to make sure I could still enjoy my girl dinner with peace of mind.
Despite being recently diagnosed with PCOS, my period is very regular. Like clockwork, it arrives on time every month, straight down to the time of day, which is typically during the morning hours. I found it strange that I was logging off work and still didn't get it, but I didn't think much of it. We had only just started trying, and I was fully convinced it would take a long time.
To my surprise, the second line appeared just as soon as I placed the stick on the counter, ready to wait the recommended five minutes that I apparently didn't need. I remember feeling giddy and in complete shock once I saw the test was positive, and then mad that Joe wasn't home to bask in the news with me. I also now had no idea what to have for dinner.
I wanted Joe to be the first person to find out before I told anyone, but didn't want to tell him over the phone, so I knew I would have to keep this a secret until he got back. Which was difficult since the next two days were planned to be spent with my mom, sister, and niece.
Joe ended up being the second person to find out. I was bursting at the seams to tell anyone, so I ended up telling my 1-year-old niece. I figured my secret was safe with her since I was sure she had no idea what I just told her meant.
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Telling Joe
Not wanting to wait any longer than I had to, I stayed up late, planning to greet Joe when he got home with the big news. Unfortunately, he wasn't scheduled to land until midnight, and then he still had to travel back to our house. Luckily, I had enough excitement and adrenaline pumping through my body to keep me awake until he arrived. It also gave me enough time to take a second test, just to confirm the first one was right.
Once I saw his Uber pull up, I propped my phone up to record the reaction. He walked through the front door, and before I could give him a chance to be relieved he was finally back home, I handed him the two pregnancy tests. In his tired state, he was confused at first, and then it clicked what he was looking at. We giggled and hugged, probably making it the best welcome home greeting he could imagine in that moment.
We decided to keep the news to just ourselves for a while, as it was still super early. It felt like the best secret, just the two of us knowing and working together to make sure no one else found out. We would talk every day about it, and were still in complete shock if it was even real, until my morning sickness started to kick in and drive home the reality of it all.
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How Did We Tell Our Families?
We went over a million ways on how and when we should share the news with our family. Being very cautious people, we knew we didn't want to say anything until we went to the doctor first, just to be on the safe side. I know everyone is different on when they think you should share the news with immediate family, but that is where our heads were at. With the appointment on the calendar, we thought we'd wait until then. However, we didn't anticipate my morning sickness and food aversions to come on so quickly and aggressively.
Despite how we originally wanted to share the news with our family, we needed to start coming up with secondary plans. It was getting to a point that it was starting to become too difficult to hide what was going on from my family, who we see almost every week. Needing additional reinforcements, we announced the news to my sister two weeks before our appointment. Then we slowly started to let the rest of the immediate family know once we had confirmation from the OBGYN. Even though each announcement wasn't entirely what we originally planned, we still tried to make each one as special as we could. It was a big relief once our families knew. Being sick and trying to keep a secret was no easy business!
Appointments and Gender Reveal
Our first doctor's appointment was towards the end of July, and it was the first time we got to see our little nugget up close. I was 8 weeks pregnant by that point. We left the office with such a sigh of relief that everything looked good. It was all really happening!
Our second appointment was my 12-week scan (pictured above), which also included the bloodwork to find out the gender, something we knew we wanted to do. After finding out together, we planned how we wanted to tell our families. Not wanting it to be a huge thing but still make it special, we invited everyone over for dinner and dessert, the dessert being a cupcake reveal. Every family member got a cupcake, but only one cupcake had a colored filling to reveal the gender. It was fun to watch everyone work through their cupcakes in anticipation of who would have the cupcake to reveal we are having a GIRL!
We can’t wait for what’s to come and to share this journey with you guys!
Until the next update!
Hugs & Cookies
