Our First Trimester Pregnancy Adventure

Now that we found out we are pregnant, it was time to tell our families. Come join our first trimester pregnancy adventure.

From finding out we finally got that positive pregnancy test to going to our first baby appointment, the shock was still so real and unbelievable in the best way possible. I can’t wait to share more today from our pregnancy journey and hope you will continue to follow along with us. If you missed my earlier posts recently announcing our pregnancy, you can find my Pregnancy Announcement here and learn all about how we found out we are pregnant.

Symptoms: So the first trimester brought along the nausea, fatigue, heartburn (already!), and even those beloved stretch marks. Even though some days may have been rough and tough, I would never trade it for being able to have the privilege to carry my child. I was some what surprised though at how quickly the heartburn started. I wasn’t expecting that so soon. Let’s just hope that the heartburn pays off with Baby having lots of hair. (Have you heard of that old saying?) And as much as we all want to have that perfect skin, I am actually proud of my stretch marks. When I get out of the shower and lotion myself up, those little (or not so little 😉 ) marks are a reminder to me of the blessing I have in my life. I cannot be upset for one second.

At about 12-13 weeks, I could feel that my clothes were starting to get uncomfortable. Instead of trying to pretend that I didn’t need a little extra comfort there, I went ahead and headed to Target to grab me some maternity pants with a nice stretchy band. I had always wanted to have a bump so that people would know I was pregnant. In the picture below, I’m trying them on for the first time and remember thinking to myself that I couldn’t believe my bump was showing already. Now I look back at that little bump and just giggle to myself at how “not” big it was especially compared to now. Oh well, sweet memories! (Those pants from Target also happen to be my most favorite. So comfy and still look nice.)

Doctor Appointments: So when you read my post about how we found out, you recall I had already missed 2 periods and thought nothing of it. So I had been pregnant for about 7 weeks without even knowing it. I called the doctor that Monday as soon as they opened and got an appointment for the very next day. They confirmed the pregnancy with a urine test and scheduled me for the following week for my very first ultrasound. Talk about surreal. The picture below is from our first appointment and you can see me just grinning from ear to ear. It truly depicts my emotions and excitement we felt.

I will never forget the nurse coming in and asking me how excited we were. I didn’t really say anything at first. My eyes must have been huge when she asked because she said, “You are still in shock, aren’t you?”. Then when she handed Mark a bag full of goodies and said, “Here Daddy. You hang on to this,” I thought he was going to fall out of the chair. That was the first time someone besides me had called him Dad.

I was anxious for our first ultrasound appointment because I wanted to know exactly how far along I was. With my history of irregular cycles, they couldn’t really count on my cycle to tell me how far along I was. With my cycle I would have been 2 weeks farther along than I am. Once we had the ultrasound, I was 8 weeks. Seeing that little heartbeat felt like Heaven in that room. To see such a miracle that was so tiny and living inside of me is an experience I will never be able to put into words really.

I looked at our first pictures of our baby that they gave us constantly. I was just awe struck and breathless most of the time feeling like this was all just a dream. I still peeked at the pregnancy test stick as well just to be able to read that one word, “Pregnant.”

Telling Our Families: So now for the fun part of sharing our secret that we had been keeping for weeks. And that’s a big deal for me because keeping secrets is not easy for me at all. Especially when you are so excited and want to tell everyone. We wanted to do something creative and different that would really catch all of them off guard. Mark, who happens to be really good with technology, put together a video that resembled movie trailers at the beginning with the pregnancy announcement popping up at the end. With the intensity of the trailers, no one saw it coming when it popped up our pregnancy stick and picture suddenly. Some thought we were getting ready to watch a movie and that there were just trailers to watch at the beginning.

Needless to say, the surprise went perfectly and they had no clue. They still seemed shock and could not believe it to start with. I sat there for those trailers at the beginning with my heart beating so hard in my chest, I thought I was just going to lose it and have to spill the beans. I look back now and just love those sweet memories and anticipation of telling everyone and being able to see their reactions as well. Those are the moments that are most important in life.

Announcing on Social Media: When we shared with extended family and friends on social media, it was around Fall so I thought it would be fitting to use some kind of small pumpkin in the picture. We went to a pumpkin farm not far from our house (which we go to every year) and picked out a tiny, baby pumpkin to use in the picture. Of course we had to get apple cider and pumpkin cream cheese rolls.

Below is the picture that made it on social media. I just love how it turned out with our hands and knowing our little pumpkin is growing inside of me.

Plus who doesn’t love a little prego humor… (See below.)

Fun Times: Another fun memory I have is being able to park in “Expectant Mother” parking for the first time. Mark and I didn’t care if there were spots closer to the building as you can see in the picture below since the lot was practically empty. We had waited a while to be able to park there and had seen the signs but had never been able to take advantage of them. Now we could, and we loved it.

I can’t wait to share more of this journey with y’all. Please leave your stories of your pregnancy or any struggles with me in the comments. I would love to celebrate with you and also pray with you no matter the need. May God bless all of you!!