I don’t know the best way to open this one up, but it’s obvious I haven’t been actively posting here lately. I promise I have a really good excuse and reason why.
I found out on September 13th that I am pregnant! We started “low key” trying in July and got more serious about it in August and then it happened just like that. We are so thankful and appreciative that we were blessed with a quick journey in conceiving. I want to give a big shout out and hug to all the women struggling with infertility and those trying every possible option to have a baby. I see you and praying for you.
We are so very excited and over the moon about our baby GIRL! I want to share more details with you all on my health journey this year and how I believe it helped prime my body to get ready for conceiving.
For now, I’ll tell you the story about finding out how I was pregnant and how the past few months have been!
How we found out
Drew and I decided to take a quick trip back to Houston on September 12th for two weeks. We needed to grab more clothes for the cooler weather ahead on the east coast. When we came to NC in May, we brought enough clothes for two weeks which consisted of tank tops, shorts, and TONS of bathing suits!
My sister, Kristin, thought I was acting a bit more sassy than usual the days before we left. I’ll admit, I can be super-duper moody, especially when it’s time for my cycle. My mood and attitude COMPLETELY changed when I got off the birth control pill (I’ll do another post about that later). Unfortunately, I will say things changed kind of for the worse, thank you Mother Nature! Kristin was calling me out and I did somewhat agree with her. However, I figured my change in mood and increase in fatigue was because of my cycle coming up in a week.
The day Drew and I flew back to Houston, I felt really dizzy and lightheaded. I chalked it up to feeling a slew of nerves around flying during a pandemic. The next morning, that feeling didn’t go away and it was the day my period was supposed to arrive. Drew and I decided to grab breakfast at one of our favorite spots in Houston and then get groceries for our two weeks stay at our house. As we were checking out, I thought maybe I should grab a pack of pregnancy tests just to be safe.
As soon as we got home, I ran to the bathroom, peed on the stick and it was taking FOREVER. I thought to myself “this isn’t a good sign; this is going to be positive.” Candidly, I’ve taken pregnancy tests before and the negatives always showed up insanely quick (to my relief!). This time, it was positive, and I initially did not know how to feel!
I always dreamed of sharing the good news with Drew in some glamorous type of way. Maybe having him come home for work and I leave the test sitting out and wait for him to notice, ya know, something cute-sy like that?! Honestly what I’m about to tell you is none of the above! I started calling for Drew, as I am still sitting on the toilet in our half bath, and have him come look at the test. As soon as he grabs it, my stomach gets the nervous feeling with the nervous poops coming! I was like “Drew, Drew get out of here!” Embarrassing, but this is what happened and sharing good news like this may not always be the fairytale story you expect! I die laughing thinking about that moment now and will be a funny story to share when baby girl gets older.
After I calmed down, we immediately FaceTimed Kristin, and she was saying over and over again she knew I was pregnant!! I was still in shock and I thought maybe I was getting a positive test because I just finished a latte. Kristin assured me, “Amanda, if I was to drink a latte and take a pregnancy test, I do not think it would be positive.” Big sisters are always right.
To be absolutely positive, I drove to Walgreens to pick up the fancy pregnancy tests. I was so disappointed because 2 out of the 3 tests were “errors” and only one of them came back positive. Both of my generic brand tests were positive. Lesson learned is that expensive does not always mean better!!
This all went down on a Sunday and luckily, I had already made an appointment with my OB in Houston for Tuesday. I wanted to talk with her about my thyroid and the possibility of infertility due to my thyroid. I am so thankful that I was able to walk into the doctor’s office and confirm my pregnancy versus having a conversation with her about my health issues.
The next several weeks…
We made a follow up appointment for 6 weeks which was right before our flight back to North Carolina. We got to meet with my OB again and she was so kind to let us hear the heartbeat in our ultrasound viewing. It was the craziest sight to see the teeny tiny baby and yolk sac on the screen, paired with the sweetest sound we had ever heard! I was so nervous that we would not hear the heartbeat, but we were able to leave the appointment feeling more content and excited about things.
From weeks 5-12ish, I felt absolutely terrible. The best way to describe my state was like being hungover all day long or feeling like you are swaying on a boat. My appetite completely changed. I went from loving Michelin star fine dining to craving Pop Tarts, peanut butter, and bowls of cereal. I absolutely could not grocery shop in person or cook any type of meal. The smells and sights of food made me nauseated. I also developed an aversion to meat and basically would eat chicken tenders as my meat protein.
I also had the worst migraine headaches that I have ever had in my life. They were constant and I did not feel like anything out there would help them! I drank tons of water so I knew it wasn’t for dehydration. I researched the surge in hormones are most likely the culprit for the raging headaches and thankfully those have subsided over the coming weeks. At one point, Tylenol and Benadryl became a part of my bedtime snack routine.
One weird, yet miracle, thing that happened to me was my body started craving cheese. I was so hungry yet so nauseated one night, Kristin was offering to make me something for dinner and I couldn’t think of anything. My body was telling me a grilled cheese would be amazing. Since then, I’ve been incorporating more cheese and yogurt back into my diet and it’s been so unexpectedly miraculous!! I think it is helping me with my calcium and protein intake. I hope my ability to tolerate dairy stays after she is born.
With all of the nausea in the last few weeks, I haven’t had the energy to keep up my blog. I constantly think about how I am neglecting my blog but any down time I have has been devoted to resting and taking care of myself. I am now 17 weeks today and feeling like a new person. The second trimester really is magical! We have officially announced our pregnancy with our family, work, and friends. I wanted to share this with you all too! I am beginning to enter baby mode and obviously a lot of baby on my mind. I want to share things that have helped me and what I am learning along the way. I would love to hear some of your first trimester experiences or questions!
