Some news
So... apparently, I have little patience and find myself getting antsier with each passing day about whether I should or shouldn't share my news. After a lot of thought, I've decided that I really need this blog more than ever to record every detail and memory at this time so I can cherish and look back at everything in the years to come--as well as learn from my experiences, whether they be good or bad.
Traditionally, society tells women to not share this type of news until at or after 12 weeks. That's right-- I'm pregnant! I am well under 12 weeks, so because of that I've been very hesitant to get too excited or share with too many people, especially on social media where news travels super fast (and to those I may or may not know that well, too).
How far along am I?
I am around seven weeks according to the date of my last period (when I called the OBGYN's office to make my first prenatal appointment, they asked me this to estimate my due date) and my due date (a LOONG way off!) is July 3rd, 2015.
So why start saying something now?
Well, I had a long conversation with my mom on the phone yesterday and we were talking about all the fun details of this pregnancy so far, and my mom said, "Why don't you write all this down? You don't want to forget these things later on", and I realized that she was right, and that no matter what happened, I'd regret not remembering certain things.
Another reason to share on my blog and not anywhere else (like Facebook) is that I really don't advertise my blog hardly at all. None of my friends in real life know I have this, and even though there may be individuals out there that could stumble upon my blog who know me in real life, it's highly unlikely. I'm kind of blasé' about it at this point: if they find it and read, fine... if they don't, they'll find out eventually!
And while I understand the reasons people give for waiting to share the news until the chances of a miscarriage go down drastically, I also realized that if something like that happens (God forbid!), I would like a few people to know so I could have a support system and not feel like I have to keep it from people while suffering silently.
How did I find out?
The day I took the pregnancy test, we had our friends from Cincinnati visiting. So by default (and because I CANNOT keep something like that to myself, especially with people sitting around just outside the bathroom!) they were the first ones to learn I was pregnant. I had been expecting my period to start that weekend and this was on a Monday. The night before, I remember feeling extremely sore and tenderness in my breasts. I even said something about it to Ryan (and after the fact, he claimed that pregnancy was his first guess although he didn't say so to me). Now usually, I get that feeling a week before my period starts, but this time my period was late. Plus, I had never felt that kind of discomfort before, ever. So when I decided to take a test Monday afternoon after an outing and lunch with our friends, I was fully expecting it to be negative since I had taken a couple other tests a few weeks prior that came back negative. I was surprised because we had only started trying a month and a half prior. From stories I'd heard by friends and family members, I was certain it would take us a year before we'd get pregnant. A lot of people were also commenting on my age (I'm 31; 32 end of December) and how long we've been married (8 years) as a factor that could result in having a hard time getting pregnant. Now I'm learning that you really can NOT listen to people because each woman is different! Different bodies, different experiences.
How did I tell Ryan?
In the end, I just flat out told him in front of our friends over dinner. Since they are very close friends, I thought it would be special--but Ryan disclosed later on that he felt awkward and wished I had just called him at work the moment I found out. I had no idea! Geez, even after being together for a decade, I apparently don't know my spouse as well as I thought! Lesson learned for the next time I have big news :)
Pregnancy symptoms?
Honestly, I keep waiting for the morning sickness and it hasn't come yet. Part of me wants it because then it would mean I'm pregnant "for real" and the other part of me is grateful that I haven't felt terrible so far. There have been some days where I really just don't feel pregnant at all. Nothing, nada. And those are the moments I get scared that something is not right. And then I'll turn to Google, lol. And I'm reminded (yet again) that every woman's pregnancy is unique--some never experience the sickness and have an awesome time their whole pregnancy! If only someone could tell me the future and I could know everything will be alright--then at least I could relax and relish this feeling-okay-type-pregnancy. I'm also praying and trying to trust God more. That's a hard one for me, but when I do that, it's definitely very comforting. Knowing that there is purpose in everything and that God's will comes through no matter how much of a worry wart I am brings my head and heart back to reality.
Who else knows?
Obviously our friends and my husband found out the day of. After some debate (and lack of patience), I told my parents the next morning. They are so supportive and know how long I've been wanting children, so it was a no brainer in the end that they had to know! Over the course of the next few weeks, I began letting it slip to: my best friend (who is EXTREMELY hard to get a hold of, so after I texted her, I haven't been able to speak to her since); my brother (who was surprisingly excited); my next door neighbor (I mean come on, she sees me every day so I had to!) and one or two adult students who I know would be extremely compassionate and understanding if anything were to happen.
I wanted to tell my in-laws but my husband prefers to wait until Christmas (I'll be out of my first trimester by then) so he won't "have to make so many phone calls". I honestly don't know how I'll be able to keep it a secret until then.
So other than a few close friends, my family and two students, no one else knows (besides you, now!) and I decided that if I make it past the first trimester okay, I'll do the obligatory "Facebook announcement" and some more phone calls.
One last thing I want to remember:
So back before I realized that one couldn't get a positive pregnancy test even if one was pregnant, due to low Hcg levels, there was a day or two back in September soon after we had started trying where one of my dogs--Phoebe, the yorkie poo--was acting strangely. She is normally a very needy dog to begin with and always tries to stay within eyesight of me or sit as close to me if I let her. But she was acting out of the ordinary--more needy than usual. If I sat down, she'd try to get as close as possible, preferably on my belly, and if she couldn't, she started shaking and crying, like she was in distress. I thought at first that she was maybe sick and trying to let me know. But when I took her outside, she'd just do nothing. We would come back in the house and she'd act strange all over again. After I realized she wasn't sick, my mind immediately turned to "Oh s**t! Does my dog know something I don't?!". I went out and bought a pregnancy test and I was disappointed when it came out negative. However, now that I know how far along I am, I realize that that was exactly around the time I got pregnant. I am a total believer in dogs being able to detect things that humans cannot. I can't 100% prove that that was why Phoebe acted so weird that particular day.... but I'd like to believe that's why!
So today, I'm trying to get over a cold I got out of the blue (those darn students who keep coming in sick!! Argh!) and will probably have to take a second day off to recover. I am a little worried about being sick while pregnant, but I will be having my first prenatal visit in a few days. The best thing I can do right now is just relax and take better care of myself. I haven't been sleeping very well and exercise is a distant thought. Since I did the half marathon, I haven't done anything physical (as I found out I was pregnant soon after) out of worry that my sporadic workouts could be bad for the first trimester. I'll have to see what my doctor says about that. I would definitely like to stay relatively in shape during this pregnancy and not let it be an excuse to let myself "go".
So thanks for reading and sharing my good news! I used to gloss over pregnant bloggers' detailed posts and now... I'm one of them :(. Hope it wasn't too annoying.
More to come :)
Traditionally, society tells women to not share this type of news until at or after 12 weeks. That's right-- I'm pregnant! I am well under 12 weeks, so because of that I've been very hesitant to get too excited or share with too many people, especially on social media where news travels super fast (and to those I may or may not know that well, too).
How far along am I?
I am around seven weeks according to the date of my last period (when I called the OBGYN's office to make my first prenatal appointment, they asked me this to estimate my due date) and my due date (a LOONG way off!) is July 3rd, 2015.
So why start saying something now?
Well, I had a long conversation with my mom on the phone yesterday and we were talking about all the fun details of this pregnancy so far, and my mom said, "Why don't you write all this down? You don't want to forget these things later on", and I realized that she was right, and that no matter what happened, I'd regret not remembering certain things.
Another reason to share on my blog and not anywhere else (like Facebook) is that I really don't advertise my blog hardly at all. None of my friends in real life know I have this, and even though there may be individuals out there that could stumble upon my blog who know me in real life, it's highly unlikely. I'm kind of blasé' about it at this point: if they find it and read, fine... if they don't, they'll find out eventually!
And while I understand the reasons people give for waiting to share the news until the chances of a miscarriage go down drastically, I also realized that if something like that happens (God forbid!), I would like a few people to know so I could have a support system and not feel like I have to keep it from people while suffering silently.
How did I find out?
The day I took the pregnancy test, we had our friends from Cincinnati visiting. So by default (and because I CANNOT keep something like that to myself, especially with people sitting around just outside the bathroom!) they were the first ones to learn I was pregnant. I had been expecting my period to start that weekend and this was on a Monday. The night before, I remember feeling extremely sore and tenderness in my breasts. I even said something about it to Ryan (and after the fact, he claimed that pregnancy was his first guess although he didn't say so to me). Now usually, I get that feeling a week before my period starts, but this time my period was late. Plus, I had never felt that kind of discomfort before, ever. So when I decided to take a test Monday afternoon after an outing and lunch with our friends, I was fully expecting it to be negative since I had taken a couple other tests a few weeks prior that came back negative. I was surprised because we had only started trying a month and a half prior. From stories I'd heard by friends and family members, I was certain it would take us a year before we'd get pregnant. A lot of people were also commenting on my age (I'm 31; 32 end of December) and how long we've been married (8 years) as a factor that could result in having a hard time getting pregnant. Now I'm learning that you really can NOT listen to people because each woman is different! Different bodies, different experiences.
How did I tell Ryan?
In the end, I just flat out told him in front of our friends over dinner. Since they are very close friends, I thought it would be special--but Ryan disclosed later on that he felt awkward and wished I had just called him at work the moment I found out. I had no idea! Geez, even after being together for a decade, I apparently don't know my spouse as well as I thought! Lesson learned for the next time I have big news :)
Pregnancy symptoms?
Honestly, I keep waiting for the morning sickness and it hasn't come yet. Part of me wants it because then it would mean I'm pregnant "for real" and the other part of me is grateful that I haven't felt terrible so far. There have been some days where I really just don't feel pregnant at all. Nothing, nada. And those are the moments I get scared that something is not right. And then I'll turn to Google, lol. And I'm reminded (yet again) that every woman's pregnancy is unique--some never experience the sickness and have an awesome time their whole pregnancy! If only someone could tell me the future and I could know everything will be alright--then at least I could relax and relish this feeling-okay-type-pregnancy. I'm also praying and trying to trust God more. That's a hard one for me, but when I do that, it's definitely very comforting. Knowing that there is purpose in everything and that God's will comes through no matter how much of a worry wart I am brings my head and heart back to reality.
Who else knows?
Obviously our friends and my husband found out the day of. After some debate (and lack of patience), I told my parents the next morning. They are so supportive and know how long I've been wanting children, so it was a no brainer in the end that they had to know! Over the course of the next few weeks, I began letting it slip to: my best friend (who is EXTREMELY hard to get a hold of, so after I texted her, I haven't been able to speak to her since); my brother (who was surprisingly excited); my next door neighbor (I mean come on, she sees me every day so I had to!) and one or two adult students who I know would be extremely compassionate and understanding if anything were to happen.
I wanted to tell my in-laws but my husband prefers to wait until Christmas (I'll be out of my first trimester by then) so he won't "have to make so many phone calls". I honestly don't know how I'll be able to keep it a secret until then.
So other than a few close friends, my family and two students, no one else knows (besides you, now!) and I decided that if I make it past the first trimester okay, I'll do the obligatory "Facebook announcement" and some more phone calls.
One last thing I want to remember:
So back before I realized that one couldn't get a positive pregnancy test even if one was pregnant, due to low Hcg levels, there was a day or two back in September soon after we had started trying where one of my dogs--Phoebe, the yorkie poo--was acting strangely. She is normally a very needy dog to begin with and always tries to stay within eyesight of me or sit as close to me if I let her. But she was acting out of the ordinary--more needy than usual. If I sat down, she'd try to get as close as possible, preferably on my belly, and if she couldn't, she started shaking and crying, like she was in distress. I thought at first that she was maybe sick and trying to let me know. But when I took her outside, she'd just do nothing. We would come back in the house and she'd act strange all over again. After I realized she wasn't sick, my mind immediately turned to "Oh s**t! Does my dog know something I don't?!". I went out and bought a pregnancy test and I was disappointed when it came out negative. However, now that I know how far along I am, I realize that that was exactly around the time I got pregnant. I am a total believer in dogs being able to detect things that humans cannot. I can't 100% prove that that was why Phoebe acted so weird that particular day.... but I'd like to believe that's why!
So today, I'm trying to get over a cold I got out of the blue (those darn students who keep coming in sick!! Argh!) and will probably have to take a second day off to recover. I am a little worried about being sick while pregnant, but I will be having my first prenatal visit in a few days. The best thing I can do right now is just relax and take better care of myself. I haven't been sleeping very well and exercise is a distant thought. Since I did the half marathon, I haven't done anything physical (as I found out I was pregnant soon after) out of worry that my sporadic workouts could be bad for the first trimester. I'll have to see what my doctor says about that. I would definitely like to stay relatively in shape during this pregnancy and not let it be an excuse to let myself "go".
So thanks for reading and sharing my good news! I used to gloss over pregnant bloggers' detailed posts and now... I'm one of them :(. Hope it wasn't too annoying.
More to come :)
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