We are so excited to announce that baby Graham will be arriving in May of 2020!

It’s a girl!!

In February 2018, after 7 years of dating, we decided we’d be married in June. That month I went off the pill with the attitude of just seeing what would happen. Other than that we didn’t put too much thought into family planning right away (except for being positive we wanted children eventually). It’s funny that after being on birth control for almost a decade I got used to the notion is that if I wasn’t trying to prevent it would just happen. After about a year and a half we did have a conversation where we decided that if it didn’t happen soon we would start actively “trying“, but I think we were both less excited about that part. We continued to talk about it more and more, but we weren’t going to feel disappointed it it didn’t happen soon. I think despite all the conversations about starting to try we were both hoping it would still just all work out without a lot of planning, timing, and temperature taking. Then in August my sister got engaged, and we decided to table the trying until after her wedding the following October.

We found out I was pregnant the last week of September, and honestly, it was huge surprise. Especially since we’d just decided to wait. I remember telling Derek I had a feeling about it and buying a couple tests once I was officially late. Even though going into the tests I was pretty sure I was pregnant, I remember feeling so shocked. Then we got so excited to start to build and experience this new chapter of our family.

The 1st trimester was rough.

I was working in a long-term substitute position, and dealing with the morning sickness (that lasted pretty much until the end of my day at 3pm) was hard. When you’re teaching you can’t be constantly snacking, drinking water, and running to the bathroom just in case you throw up. We wanted to wait until 12 weeks to tell our family and make an announcement, but I only made it 3 weeks before I had to tell my supervisors at school. So my bosses actually found out first. After almost another 4 weeks it got too hard to hide the different work schedule and we told our parents and siblings. Everyone was really excited and supportive. Derek’s sister was expecting her first baby (a boy!) in late November, so the cousins were on track to be six months apart.

I decided step back from the long-term jobs I’d been assigned and work as a teacher’s assistant for the duration of my first trimester so I didn’t have deal with being the main classroom teacher. Eventually I ended up just being a regular substitute and really appreciated the flexibility of that position and how understanding my supervisors were. The pregnancy seemed pretty textbook since everything I read online and in books was almost exactly what I was experiencing.I kept reading that my symptoms were normal, and signaled ah healthy pregnancy, and that did make it a little easier to deal. I was so grateful for the internet resources that helped me find relief, as well as for my incredible doctor and nurses at my health center that also made amazing suggestions.

Luckily, once I made it through those first three months life kind of returned to normal. Eating and enjoying the day to day became a lot easier and I started to just ride the high of being pregnant. Derek and I had so many great conversations about what we were excited about and started to make plans. There were so many elements of parenting that we hadn’t even thought about and we actually found it so fun to start to think about everything in real life terms. Derek is hilarious and I know he will be a great Dad and that I’m in for a lot of laughs.

Our 20 week ultrasound was trippy because we knew that we’d be able to find out the gender and we both felt that once we knew that it would be easier to nest and start getting the nursery ready. But I also hadn’t started to feel the baby move yet and we hadn’t realized just how much movement was going on in there. The baby was on her stomach, and moved so much that the ultrasound technician spent more than an hour and a half trying to take the measurements necessary and confirm the gender. Neither of which he could do. She thought it was a girl, but couldn’t be sure. We had another ultrasound rescheduled in four weeks to confirm the gender and take the measurements again. So we left with full hearts because obviously our baby was healthy and happy, but there was also a lot of anticipation for our next appointment.

Finally, at 24 weeks, we got official confirmation that it is a girl!

Derek and I would have been happy either way, but we were extra elated because all of our siblings have had boys and we get to have the first girl grandchild. She was still moving around a lot and this ultrasound felt long again, but it was a trip to watch her do high kicks and lick her foot.

That was about a week ago, and I have only four weeks left in my 2nd trimester. This pregnancy has been going so smoothly, and I’m just grateful for our health. I’ve gained about 12 pounds so far, and started slathering the belly butter every chance I get. Baby is weighing in at almost 3 ounces. SO tiny, but still a mover and shaker! Since finding out the gender the nesting has really kicked in, as have the name discussions. We have a short list, but are waiting to share. We have also started making some major decisions, like setting up a tour at the hospital we think we want to deliver at, registering for birthing and infant care classes, and researching and registering for baby gear. There will be more updates int the future, but for now we’re just dreaming of our beautiful baby girl !