FINDING OUT WE ARE PREGNANT + FIRST TRIMESTER

Finding Out

Finding out I was pregnant was a pleasant surprise! We were trying, meaning, we were pretty cognizant of our health and well-being and not taking certain precautions— yet we weren’t putting pressure on ourselves to rush the process either. I talked about that a little more HERE.

Back in May and June of this year, we were simply just starting our summer—completing home projects and enjoying the warmer weather. I personally wanted to soak in the last month or two of being 100 percent remote before starting a hybrid work schedule. I was in the thick of making travel arrangements for business and leisure, mapping out classes for professional development with work, and planning out the rest of my year (sans anything baby related)…and then suddenly…I missed my period ✨🤍 My first biggest sign that something was happening because my cycles are always pretty regular. I didn’t want to get too excited though, but after a week with no period in sight, hubby and I couldn’t wait any longer and he picked up a few pregnancy tests.

After taking my at home test and seeing those positive lines, I felt so much joy! I was excited and also a little anxious! Life is so unpredictable sometimes. Right when I didn’t have any baby plans on my mind, was enjoying my cocktails, and charcuterie boards —things just happened, lol. Life is also so precious and as most of you reading this know, pregnancy can come with complications so that’s where the little anxiety kicked in. Although I have always been fully aware of risks that are associated with this sensitive time—- God gave me hope and ultimately his peace overshadowed any anxiousness that I felt in the moment. I told my hubby right away and we agreed to keep our little secret safe with us until after my first trimester was over.

THE FIRST TRIMESTER

Those first few weeks leading up to me finding out were pretty enjoyable! I really didn't have a care in the world and was just finishing up decorating our outdoor deck. I am so glad I was able to enjoy eating all that I loved before finding out. My loved ones know that I love to make my charcuterie boards with all kinds of cutlery. So I indulged in that and all sorts of cheeses as well. I didn't have any real signs or symptoms other than my missed period. But when I tell you it seemed like as SOON as I got those positive results that baby was on the way— it’s almost as if I felt ALL of the symptoms immediately !

This pregnancy began when we had so many events scheduled during the months of June & July. I sincerely wanted to cancel every single one of them. All I wanted to do was stay in bed. I started feeling morning sickness from the time I woke up, and it lasted throughout the day until I went to bed. It was tough! Although I never threw up, the nausea was absolutely no joke and my breasts were always so sore and heavy. My eating habits were off and would go from one extreme to the other. It felt crazy because I had no real desire to eat savory or complete meals as normal. I was either eating a salad one minute or asking my husband to pick up Airheads, Hot Cheetos, or Popsicles. I remember we were driving home once and I suddenly had the desire to eat… MCDONALD’S 🤮. I haven’t ordered a meal from McDonald’s in probably over 10 years! That was mind boggling, lol. I always enjoy cooking at home and eating pretty balanced meals. However, the thought of getting in the kitchen made me want to puke and what’s worse is I couldn't even stand the smell of food cooking in the house. Even water made me nauseous. From that point on, I had to have every drink iced. Nothing just cold or room temperature.

I tried so hard to keep up with my normal routine, but I couldn’t even do my own laundry half the time. My motivation was gone, and again, all I wanted was my bed. I’m not sure how I was able to log-in for work. That’s the only thing I had the capacity to really do because I had to. I felt like I was in survival mode, lol. Not to mention I was waking up every morning starting at 1am to constantly pee. Even if I drank a sip of water before bed, I had to go as if I had drank a gallon! I had insomnia, my sense of smell was intensified and overall I just withdrew from the outside world when I could! I was always too exhausted to keep up with my family group chats and didn't want to leave the house. I know my close family knew something was up, lol. When we did have family or friends over I did my best to act as if I had all the energy and hoped that when I passed on cocktails, no one noticed, lol.

We had our first confirming appointment with our doctor at 6 weeks where we were able to see baby and hear the heartbeat for the first time! It was all so surreal to see this tiny blueberry with a heart beat. Everything progressed quickly after that. I had already started taking my prenatal and at this point and I was doing my due diligence to double up on water.

Remember I mentioned I had to now go back into work downtown + I had a week long work trip scheduled to California that was too late to back out of! Oh AND my cousins and auntie decided to re-route their trip while they were in Mexico to fly out to Anaheim (Work trip location) so that we all could go to Disneyland, lol. Oh joy! How was I going to get through all that when I was struggling just to get out of bed? All while not telling a single soul?! It all worked out though. With all of my nausea I got on a plane, attended my conference, and went to Disneyland with my family! I was exhausted —but I ate the best that I could and enjoyed a few mocktails, which threw a lot of folks off my radar 😉.

Traveling to California for Business

Refreshing Mocktails

GOING TO DISNEYLAND

It wasn’t until mid-august that my nausea started to subside and I began to feel more like myself. Overall the first trimester came with it’s challenges, but I couldn’t feel more honored to take it on for the experience of caring my sweet baby.