…drum roll please…we’ve got a BIG secret, and today is the perfect day to spill!
I am pregnant! We are due in the end of August!
It has been a bit quiet on Dandelion Pie, and the only excuse I can give you is that my mind is so wrapped up in all things baby that I have had a tough time writing without giving myself away! I have written oh-so-many drafts about this new, crazy journey we have been on these past few months, but of course I could not post them lest I spill the beans too soon!
My life these past few months has been full of baby planning: ever since Christmas I have been busy finding a midwife, researching birth classes, balancing two jobs, saving money, reading pregnancy books, talking to moms, and trying to wrap my mind around this major life change!
I have struggled with baby fever ever since we got married back in July of 2015. Hubs and I both wanted kids right away, but we were finishing up our college degrees, and the time just didn’t feel right. For that entire first year of marriage I grappled with my desire for a baby.
Finally, after a year of marriage, and much prayer and deliberation, we decided to open up to the possibility of a baby.
I, naïvely, expected to see a positive pregnancy test that first month, but it took a bit longer than anticipated! We were so ready to have a baby, that I really struggled with the disappointment every month. God really used this time to teach me to stop trying to control the process, and trust Him. After quite a few months of “no” receiving that “yes” was one of the most joyful days of our lives.
Answers to a few common questions:
Are you showing yet?
Not really. I can tell that there is a difference: I definitely can feel a bit of a bump, but I don’t look pregnant yet. I have a super long torso, so I have a feeling that it will take me a bit longer to start showing than women with shorter waists. There is just a lot of room in there for baby to grow!
How far along are you?
I am twelve weeks today! Wahoo! Almost done with the first trimester. I can just hardly believe it! When we first found out, eight months worth of pregnancy sounded like a lot, but the last two months have just flown by already.
How big is the baby?
Baby is the size of a lime. Can you believe it? A lime! When I first found out, baby was less than the size of a poppy-seed, so it just blows my mind that he/she has grown from a poppy-seed to a lime in a few short months.
Are you going to find out the gender?
We haven’t fully decided yet. If we do find out, we plan on keeping it a secret just between the two of us. We want the rest of you to be surprised. 🙂 Bwahahaha.
What are you hoping for?
A healthy baby. At first, I thought it was a girl since I had a super vivid dream about giving birth to a baby girl, but ever since then I have had all manners of baby related dreams where I gave birth to a boy, a girl, or twins! So perhaps my dreams aren’t the most reliable. Ha ha! I really don’t have an inkling as to what this baby will be, and hubby is excited for either gender.
Any food cravings or aversions?
A lot of them! I ate a small salad yesterday, but that was the first salad I have eaten since finding out about this pregnancy. Salad has grossed me out, and speaking as someone who ate a huge salad every day pre-pregnancy, that has been an adjustment. Chicken, too, has been something I have avoided.
Food cravings include tons of fresh fruit (grapefruit, kiwifruit, peaches, mangoes), pancakes, french fries, and McChicken sandwiches. And, yes, I know that it makes no sense to feel like chicken will make me ill, yet scarf down a McChicken sandwich. McDonald’s has some sort of magic when it comes to foods for pregnant women. My first trimester hasn’t been the healthiest in the nutrition department, but I have been taking quality whole food prenatals every day, and trying to make a smoothie with a few veggies thrown in. Here’s hoping that all these troublesome aversions begin to lift in the second trimester.
Have you had an ultrasound yet?
Nope. We will only have an ultrasound at about 18/20 weeks. We have had one prenatal appointment so far, and we have another one coming up in a week or two. At this next appointment we will hear the heartbeat!
Now that you are all “in the know” I have SO much to tell you! In the upcoming weeks I will be spilling on my reaction to when I took my first positive pregnancy test, videos of me telling my hubby AND telling my parents, hopes I have for the second trimester, and confessions from this first trimester.
This blog won’t entirely evolve into a pregnancy journey: I still plan on posting about our whole foods journey, natural living, budgeting, and homemaking–but I will definitely be documenting my pregnancy over the next six months as well!
A note: In our TTC journey, I found a lot of support, and great resources from women who had been trying for months, and years longer than we had for a baby. I definitely went through a season when I avoided reading pregnant bloggers’ updates, because I wanted that to be me so badly. If you are waiting for that positive pregnancy test, please know that my heart is with you.
Do you have any tips for us as we embark on this new journey?
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Yay congratulation – i’m so happy for you. *hug*. Eeek how exciting. xx
Thanks, Anna!
Congratulations!
– ee
http://www.entirelyerika.com
Thanks, Erika!!
Oh my gosh CONGRATULATIONS! HOW EXCITING!!!!!!!!!
Coming Up Roses
Thanks Erica! I love, love, love your blog by the way!! I am a big fan. 🙂
How exciting! This is such a huge step for y’all, I’m so happy for you both!
xoxo, SS
Southern And Style
Thank you!
So excited for you two. I cried every time I heard one of my baby’s heartbeats for the first time. Enjoy your personal buddy. I read to my babies.
OH, I love you two so much. What a blessing to have you live so close, too, especially with a grandbaby coming! Also. That’s a gorgeous dress. 🙂
Congratulations to you both Bethany! Such wonderful news, I’m so very very happy for you. This is such a magical time, enjoy every moment. Sending you much love xx
Thank you, Lis!!
Congratulations! I am so happy for you both! Your announcement photos are so beautiful and fun! I look forward to reading more about your pregnancy adventures.
As for tips, mine is just to enjoy it. Enjoy the good parts, enjoy the rough parts (they won’t last forever!).
Thank you, Katie! I am so glad I have friends like you who have just gone through this journey yourself. Your little man is the cutest!
So exciting! Congratulations! Pregnancy can be rough at times, but it is really such a blessing to grow a little life inside of you! 🙂
Thank you, Abbey! I have really enjoyed following your pregnancy journey. 🙂
This is such exciting news! Congratulations!!
Greta | http://www.gretahollar.com
Thanks Greta! Love your name, by the way!
Congratulations! So exciting! I had a lot of food aversions during my pregnancies, but they did seem to get better in the second trimester. I hope you have a wonderful, healthy pregnancy. The pictures are beautiful!
Yay! Thanks for that bit of hope about the second trimester. I am really crossing my fingers that it gets better!
Congratulations, Bethany! I’m so happy for you–that precious little one is already so loved, I can tell!
Thank you, Rachel! We are so excited. 🙂
Congratulations! That’s so exciting! I love your announcement photos. 🙂
Thank you, Crystal! My sister took the photos for us, and I was so happy with them!
CONGRATULATIONS! You will have the cutest, most loved baby! <3
Thank you, Christina!! We are just so excited. 🙂
I adore you and I’m so happy for you!!! (Also, I fully appreciate the note at the end of your post – you have such a beautiful heart, Bethany!)
I cannot WAIT to send a billion internet snuggles to this little bundle of joy!!!!!!!!!!!! ❤
Aw, thanks Grady!! You are the best. Let’s do a Skype date soon, yes?
Yes, please!!! Times a billion! <3
Yay! So happy for you both! I can totally relate to those unhealthy first trimester cravings. I don’t think I could touch salad until month for five with our boys this time. And I typically love it! I’m so excited that you could go to midwife route and will pray all goes smoothly! Having people around you that you trust is so huge when you’re giving birth! I’m really nervous about doing a hospital birth this time around because of some of the protocol for twins. But the midwife we really wanted to use is going to be our Doula and the OB we chose, while a very busy lady that we only see for about two minutes, has been very supportive of our choices and worked hard to advocate for us to have the ability to do things like labor in the low intervention rooms and tubs (typically not allowed for twins and we HAVE to give birth in the operating room just in case–hospital protocol for twins). If you have any questions just shoot me an email! But it sounds like you are well supported and prepared!
Thanks Nathana! I am glad I am not the only one with rather unhealthy cravings.Gulp. Yep, we are excited to be working with our midwife! We aren’t doing a home birth (it is illegal to have a Nebraskan midwife attend a home birth, so we would have to do it on our own, which I am not ready for!), and the only birthing center is almost two hours away. So, we are going to do a hospital water birth with a midwife attending! I am so glad they have that option. I know things have to be more monitored since you are having twins, that is hard when you prefer the natural route! I am so glad that you will have a Doula that you love, and that your midwife can be there in that capacity. That’s such a good idea! I have A LOT of questions, so I will definitely send you a note! Thank you!