Hi friends! This may be the first time I directly address this on the blog, but I am currently 22 weeks pregnant with a baby boy coming this MARCH!!!!!!!

Because life with 2 kids is already so crazy busy, adding pregnancy has just made this whole season a bit of a whirlwind BUT I definitely want to take time to share the ups and downs and just all about this pregnancy so far. I’ll break down the post into categories so I can get into the background leading up to pregnancy, how I found out, and my experiences during the first two trimesters so far.

how it happened

One of the most common questions anybody gets who is pregnant is, “were you trying?” It can be an annoying question but I understand why people are curious. Apparently my generation of milennial females is struggling with unprecedented levels of infertility and I personally know many women who struggle to conceive. The short answer to the trying question is that we were not trying but we were also not preventing.

I actually have stage 4 endometriosis and received that official diagnosis the summer of 2023 right before our wedding. I was diagnosed following a pelvic MRI that showed a few “chocolate” cysts that indicate significantly developed endometriosis. This was not at all surprising to me because I had ALL of the symptoms and was really struggling with pain, bloating, etc. Upon receiving this news, though, I was told that many women with endometriosis struggle to conceive and those that do often have higher risk pregnancies or need to get surgery to remove the endometriosis prior to any successful conception.

When I heard this, I immediately prepared my expectations as far as childbearing. Truthfully years of Lyme disease had already caused me to surrender any dreams of children long ago, so this was not a total shock to my system. In fact, when Curtis and I got serious and I knew we were going to have a future together, I saw his two girls as God’s potential answer to my prayers for kids. And that was more than okay with me!

However, because my health has been on the gradual but sustainable incline, I had allowed myself to dream about the possibility of having kids if that was in God’s plan. I was preparing to get the endometriosis surgery within a year and a half of our marriage (I had to wait a given amount of time because of insurance issues) and told myself we would revisit the possibility of more kids after that procedure. In the interim, Curtis and I were not too cautious because we just did not think the possibility of conception was likely…..and were both completely open to a pregnancy should it happen.

Just a few weeks shy of our one-year anniversary, I was a few days late and feeling uncommonly upbeat and energized when I usually feel the pms dip of death (haha), so I decided to take a pregnancy test without much expectation. We were actually on a family trip to Missouri to visit family on Curtis’ side staying at my mother-in-law’s lakeside condo when we found out the news. We were both SHOCKED when the test showed two unmistakable lines. Needless to say, it took us both some time to process and digest the news but our reactions were overwhelmingly positive.

Like any pregnant woman understands, those first few weeks following your positive test are filled with lots of anxiety, fear and uncertainty at least until you get to the doctor and hear that little heartbeat. I was especially nervous about pregnancy loss or complications because of my health history and endometriosis. Dr. Google was NOT my friend during that time and the best thing I did was pray with Curtis every night over the baby’s health and for peace of mind. I also told one of my closest friends the same day I found out so I knew there was someone else who could be praying for baby and could help me process the news and share the emotional journey no matter the outcome at that point.

the first trimester

Oh, that first trimester. I will be honest here—my first trimester of pregnancy was pretty brutal. The first two weeks following the positive test I actually felt pretty great. I remember thinking, this isn’t bad at all! However, starting week eight the morning sickness hit me like a freight train. I went weeks throwing up several times a day, several times a week and suffering debilitating nausea in between. After trying all the OTC supplements and teas I could get my hands on with no help, my OB wrote me up a prescription for metoclopramide which REALLY helped with the nausea and vomiting. Once I got on that, my main symptoms were fatigue and sometimes breakthrough sickness in the mornings upon waking that lessened more and more as the weeks went on.

I would say I started to show a little bump around week 11 or so, which is apparently early for a first pregnancy. I went shopping for maternity jeans and leggings around week 12 just to make sure I was comfortable as pants were starting to feel snug. I was very ready for the first trimester to end!

We announced the pregnancy to the girls around week 12 and shared the news with family shortly after and then maybe a few weeks later we shared the news publicly. The girls were definitely suspicious leading up to the announcement, but they were SO happy and are so excited. My parents and Curtis’ parents were pretty shocked but are so happy too.

the second trimester

“I call the second trimester the glory trimester,” a friend from church told me a little while back. Well, not so much for me. I definitely have felt much less nausea than the first trimester, but still need to take the medicine to keep it at bay completely. I still feel pretty tired and exhausted most of the time, but that could also just be because of my chronic illness history. So, I think the experience has been better overall than the first trimester but still not without its own challenges. I would say my belly has grown pretty fast and that’s been fun in its own way but also makes me feel more itchy and cumbersome. Sleeping has been fine enough, but I use this Momcozy pregnancy pillow to get more comfortable.

The best part about the second trimester so far (and I am 22 weeks along) has been seeing the baby via the anatomy scan ultrasound pictures. I cannot express enough how surreal it is to see your baby moving around in your tummy real time! I wish I could get ultrasounds every day just to experience that as much as possible because it is truly so magical. Baby boy was being so cute and covering his face with his hands when the technician was trying to get a good scan of his face and it just made me smile to already see snippets of his personality!

All in all, it is crazy to think that I am OVER HALFWAY through this pregnancy. I still have SO MUCH TO DO to prepare for baby’s birth and arrival but I am taking steps to start building the registry which has been fun. I am fortunate to know people with great advice and great hand-me-downs! In the meantime, I am continuing to enjoy the little flutters of movement baby gives me when I lay down at night and looking forward to feeling more and more of his presence.

I am excited to update you all on my pregnancy and birth journey in the coming months and would LOVE any advice, feedback or just suggestions you can give me for preparing for a baby boy—anything from product recommendations to mental health advice I will take! Thanks for reading!