Just in case you didn’t see our announcement on social media- Surprise! We’re expecting!
We made the announcement this weekend and I really appreciate all the love and congratulations we’ve received. I thought I’d write a little bit about my experience so far.
About a year after Jack was born, I started feeling like I wanted another baby. Honestly, that happened much quicker than I thought it would. I do not enjoy being pregnant at all and I thought I would want a much bigger age gap between my second and third kid. And then Ella was hospitalized and for a while, I thought maybe I wouldn’t have any more kids. That experience really changed my view on motherhood and I really doubted whether I could handle the risks involved. Risks I hadn’t known existed before. Fortunately, with time, that feeling went away. My view on motherhood is still changed but faith has replaced the doubt I felt. But we still decided to wait longer, at least until Matthew was done with his MBA and we were back in Georgia. We also wanted some time to settle back in to Matthew’s job and our new home so we had our eyes on late 2020 as the perfect time to have another baby. And I’m due in September!
HOW I FOUND OUT
So this was the first time I have ever known for sure that I was pregnant before taking a test. I was getting ready for church back in January, and I felt a little faint putting on my high-waisted skirt. That was actually the last Sunday Best I did.
And the one thing that drives Matthew the most crazy whenever I am pregnant is that I faint, like, a lot. Thanks a lot, iron deficiency! But that whole day I thought I was probably pregnant. And then when I was completely exhausted the next day, I knew for sure. So I took two tests that week and both came back positive. Hooray!
HOW I TOLD MATTHEW
So Matthew pretty much figured I was pregnant at the same I did. But I did try to give him the positive pregnancy test in a cute way- hiding it in plain sight for him to find. But he kept not noticing it and I kept moving it to more obvious places with no luck. So I finally gave up and just handed it to him and we laughed about it. Besides, nothing could ever beat how I told him about Jack— in Cinque Terre, Italy on our fifth wedding anniversary.
HOW WE TOLD ELLA & JACK
I wanted to wait as long as possible before telling the kids about the baby. We knew Ella would be so excited and I would hate to get her hopes up prematurely. My first doctor’s appointment was around Valentine’s Day and after the ultrasound confirmed I was pregnant and the baby looked good, I made a Valentine’s Day card for the kids that Ella could read. It said, “Surprise! Mama has a baby in her tummy!” She didn’t really react at first but after Matthew and I explained it more, she was really happy. Jack didn’t care AT ALL, he walked away before Ella even finished reading the card. But we’ve been talking more about it as the months have gone on and I’m really excited to see him as a big brother.
THE FIRST TRIMESTER
You can probably guess from my long blogging absence that the first trimester was a big struggle for me this time around. No energy, nausea, throwing up multiple times a day, and taking care of two kids made this the hardest first trimester I’ve ever had. Plus Matthew went on a week long work trip to Dubai and then started traveling every week to a new client. Not the best timing! Fortunately, I had told a few close friends and they really came through with meals and play dates. And Ella was such a big girl throughout all of this. She understood that I was sick and she would play with Jack and bring me water and was just such a big help.
I’m almost halfway through now and feeling so much better, thankfully. My family and friends have been really amazing during this time and I can’t wait to bring this new life into the world for all of us to love. We can’t wait to meet the next curated kid.
xo
eb