The Final Stretch...Literally

Before I get into the details about how Nick and I found about the amazing news of becoming parents, and also the gender reveal party that we threw, I want to discuss our journey leading up to pregnancy.

We both knew that we wanted a family at some point, it was always in our so-called “life plans.” Since getting married in March of 2015, we postponed getting pregnant and instead focused on enjoying life as a married couple. For those that don’t know our story well, the majority of our dating relationship, engagement, and even the first few months of marriage was long distance. I was living in Montana, Nick was living in Arizona, but in reality, we were doing most of our living in airplanes, hotel rooms, and various travel locations to see one another. So, once we were at a place in our careers that allowed us to live under the same roof, we really took advantage of our much needed time together.

We occasionally talked about starting a family by the time I was 30, and being the OCD person that I am, my plan was to really get serious about this pregnancy thing before I said goodbye to my 20s. A month before our Italian vacation last summer, I decided to get off of birth control and really let my body cleanse before we started “trying.” Ideally, I envisioned going on this vacation and making a baby in Positano…a girl can dream, right? Leading up to the trip, I did have some fears of getting pregnant too soon and becoming unable to fully enjoy the vacation…and by that I mean all of the wonderful Prosecco and Pinot Grigio. At this point in my life, I’d been on birth control for over 10 years…ugh, so happy to be off of that stuff. Knowing that I had been pumping my body full of hormones for so many years, I assumed it would at least a year for us to get pregnant. Well, that was definitely not the case…

I would say that I am a person who is very in tune with my body. After a hard workout with my trainer at the end of August, I was nearly in tears, and she asked if I was pregnant. I rolled my eyes and said that I highly doubted that, but I figured taking a pregnancy test wouldn’t hurt. Once I got home from the gym, I took a pregnancy test and just waited for the negative sign. Well, that cheap pregnancy test sure proved me wrong with a little blue plus sign. At that moment, my husband was literally walking out of the door for a business trip, and he suggested that I go get a couple more pregnancy tests just to be sure. We, 4 more tests later and that initial cheap test was confirmed. As ladies, we have all envisioned that moment and thought about how magical or exciting it would be, but my reaction was more like “Holy Sh@&, I’m having a baby!” And, I came to find out that not only was I pregnant, I was 5 weeks pregnant! It turns out that this little baby was conceived on a summer trip to Pebble Beach. That couldn’t be more fitting for us, since we are both golf lovers and initially met at a golf tournament. Imagine my husband’s excitement…we made a baby at one of the most iconic places in golf!

In reality, I should have known much sooner that I was pregnant. I was terribly bloated, tired, constantly hangry, and my skin looked like it did when I was a teenager. Those are all telltale signs that a woman is with child. I was literally planning on starting a juice cleanse the next day to try and get rid of the bloating, that obviously changed with five little plastic sticks that I peed on. So there you have it, it’s not the most glamorous story, but that’s how I found out we were having a baby, and I look forward to telling our little bambino about it one day.

1st Trimester Challenges

Now before you read this, remember that everyone’s pregnancy experience is different. I also don’t want this to come off as me complaining about this miracle growing inside my body. However, I do want to have that real talk that no one had with me before getting pregnant. All I ever heard from people is that pregnancy is amazing, you just glow all the time, and it’s a really special time. Granted, it is very special and it is crazy how much I already love this little human. But, I also want to be real about the 1st trimester of pregnancy. I was lucky enough to have zero morning sickness, so really I should stop right there and be relieved that my 1st trimester was essentially easy. However, I have never felt so tired in my entire life! Afternoons of the first trimester were a constant struggle to get through work and life. I also pride myself in being a chemically balanced person…not a chance with all of those crazy hormones in my body. I seriously was not a happy person the first few months of pregnancy. I did not feel like myself, I was starving all the time, and my motivation to workout was at an all time low. I have found out that during pregnancy (and life), I am a much happier person when I am eating healthy and being active. My lack of motivation and energy to exercise during the first trimester made me feel bigger by the day and self-conscious about how I looked. Was I physically getting any bigger, probably not (other than the bloat), but mentally I was struggling. Looking back, I realize that my mind was playing tricks on me. A healthy lifestyle equals a healthy mind. Once I got over that hurdle, it has been smooth sailing from there.

2nd Trimester Bliss

Now maybe this was what all the other moms were talking about regarding pregnancy, the 2nd trimester is so much better than the first! I called my doctor in a panic at about 18 weeks. I felt too good, and I was worried I wasn’t pregnant anymore. She assured me this was the perk of the 2nd trimester. My energy levels soared once we hit 18 weeks, my workouts were back to somewhat normal, and my appetite became much more regular again. Thank goodness, because I was seriously eating for like 3 people the first 18 weeks. Plus, all of the good stuff happens in the second trimester:

You start to actually look pregnant, versus looking like you drank too much beer. I didn’t start to look actually pregnant until week 24.
Energy levels are up
Sleep is easy
If you choose, you can find out the gender of your baby
At 21 weeks we had our 3-D ultrasounds. I could have watched her all day long. It’s incredible to see her little arms and legs just going crazy in there. Love at first sight!
At about week 24 I started to feel our baby move. Feeling her move for the first time is so INCREDIBLE!!!

We took the Harmony test at 13 weeks, which tested for any disorders and also gave us the gender of our baby. We waited an entire month until our whole family was together for the big reveal. Will post the video soon.

Did I also mention that I am kind of obsessed with this growing bump? I couldn’t be more proud to show her off. I have always been so conscious of living and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, so it is kind of nice to not have to worry about how you look after a large meal. The bump is here to stay (for now)!

Well, cheers (non-alcoholic of course) to the last trimester, this growing baby, and losing my belly button…it’s all part of the process!