Yesterday, Robbie and I put our pregnancy news online, and I was so overwhelmed by all the love! It’s one thing when you have a birthday, but seriously, people are crazy for babies! It made it all feel more real and exciting, and honestly, it’s so nice to not have it be a secret anymore!
Throughout the last few months, I’ve gotten some questions pretty regularly from those who knew we were expecting, so I thought I’d write a bit more of the journey and details here. :) Feel free to ask any other questions in the comments below.
Were you trying to have a baby?
It’s funny how quickly after you say “I Do” that people start asking you when you’re going to have kids. I think we made it to the reception? Ha! Pretty early on in our marriage, though, I realised that we had pretty much adopted the “right answer” when people would ask us. What I mean by that is the answer that came recommended to us by most people, and even when I say that, “most people” were recently married or recently to become parents. It wasn’t necessarily the advice of people who had been married for 10+ years. All that to say, I realised we had really just taken the “Oh, probably in 3 years” answer without ever consulting God. How did we do that? So we began praying about it around 6-9 months into marriage. We were praying about some other big things at the time – such as how long we’d be in Newcastle and what our future in missions looks like in the more “immediate future” – so it actually became a bit much…well a bit much for my emotions anyway! So it took awhile to actually feel strongly like we were on the same page and both hearing from God. The last year or so had a lot riding on different things and moments we were waiting for, but with each step and each bit of information, we just took it in stride and back to God to find out what we should do. So after rambling, YES, we were ready, and we did feel like the timing was right in God.
How did you find out you were pregnant?
Wellll we took a pregnancy test, and it was positive! So that’s the boring version of that story. As many people know, we are in the midst of our Permanent Residency journey here in Australia, and back in October, we had to go and do standard medicals that are a part of the process. We went and waited for our appointments, had the blood work and all that jazz done, and then got sent down the street for our chest x-rays. It took 2 minutes, and they called us in, very quickly asking me, “Are you or is there a chance you could be pregnant?” I replied, “Well, I am not that I am aware of, but I could be?” So they said I couldn’t do the chest x-ray until I was 100% certain I was not pregnant, and they sent me home to take a test and come back later that week. That was Monday. They told me to come back Thursday. That still was really early to actually take a test. I had a rule for myself not to take a test until I was at least a week late. This wasn’t late – this was like 5 days early. I told Robbie that even if I was pregnant, it probably wouldn’t show up on a test. Thursday morning rolled around, however, and that little stick totally proved me wrong, producing two very bold lines! It was so surreal because I remember convincing myself that it would be negative because I didn’t want to get my hopes up. I pictured the one line in my head, and I was giving myself a pep talk – it’s ok if it’s negative, you can keep trying. We walked into the bathroom, though, and those two bold lines stared back. It was like skipping the part of the roller coaster where you’re on the incline – clink, clink, clink – you know the drop and rush is coming, and you have a moment to prepare your mind for it. Nope – it’s pretty much 0 to 60 with the blink of an eye in this case. It was so incredible and humbling and exciting and emotional and terrifying and exhilarating and
[insert every emotion you can think of]. I loved that moment, though. So thankful.
So how far along are you, and when are you actually due?
I am 14.5 weeks today…yay 2nd trimester! New weeks happen every Sunday, and I am due July 12.
What season will it be then in Newcastle?
WINTER WINTER WINTER! This baby already loves his/her mumma! I am a winter girl through and through, and July 12 is literally about three days from being the exact middle of winter in Australia. I am so excited for cuddling and big fluffy sweaters and cuddling….
Did you really keep it a secret for 14 weeks?
Heck no! I pretty much wanted to tell the world an hour after finding out. The whole keeping it a secret thing got old with me very quickly, but at the same time, we had this incredible opportunity to tell our families in person shortly after finding out. When you live halfway around the world, when does that happen? We were so excited! So we told close friends and family early on, and then right when we got back from our trip to the States, we told the YWAM base here and some friends at church before posting it online yesterday.
Do you have a preference if it’s a boy or girl? Are you finding out the baby’s gender?
We are both really relaxed about whether it’s a boy or girl. There are several girls being born this year, so in that respect, it could be cool to have another to add to the club. We will be thrilled either way, though. We’re going old school and waiting for the “It’s a boy/girl!” announcement in the delivery room. This totally goes against what everyone knows of me – plan, prepare, organize. I am excited to wait and find out, though. We’ll probably find out with other children down the line, but for this one, we’re keeping it a mystery.
How will you set up a nursery or buy anything for the baby? It’ll all be yellow!
Let’s not pretend that if it was a girl you wouldn’t buy pink and if it was a boy you wouldn’t buy blue. There are a million colours out there. :) We aren’t too stressed. Plus, I happen to love the colour yellow! As far as setting up, I don’t see myself setting up a nursery (or corner of our room) to be particularly gender focused anyway. I probably wouldn’t have done pink or blue even if I did know. As far as buying stuff? I am not too worried about that either because nearly everything you buy apart from clothes will work for either. We already have our pram/stroller coming from home, and it’s red…red for a girl or a boy!
How are you feeling? Did you have bad morning sickness?
Up until a few weeks ago, my body has felt like it wasn’t my body anymore. I don’t know how else to describe that – it just felt like it had been taken over, and it was strange. I didn’t have terrible morning sickness. I never threw up. I did have nausea, particularly in the few weeks before going home in November when it was abnormally hot in Newcastle and I was trying to get things done before holidays. Being home for the bulk of my first trimester was a huge blessing because I didn’t have any huge responsibilities and I was able to relax. I could take a nap if I got tired or nauseas. Plus it was cold, which for nausea is always a good thing. Since about 12 weeks, though, I have mostly felt good (apart from the pesky sinus infection I got right before coming back to Australia). I really can’t complain about my first trimester at all, though.
Well that’s a bit more of the story. Let me know if you have any other questions. I am really looking forward to this trimester and the new things that come with it – I can’t wait to feel this baby kick or move! Plus we’ll get to see the baby again in a few weeks, which I am so looking forward to!
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Yay! I love that you aren’t finding out, and I’m so glad you are feeling more like yourself. Second trimester is so fun!