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I don’t have a recipe, workout or something nutrition related to share today, because I’ve been busy cooking up something else… a BABY!
I’m so excited to announce that Isaac and I are pregnant. It’s obviously an extra special Mother’s Day over here! We’re thrilled and feeling so so blessed.
I’m exactly 15 weeks as of today, so I’m past the first trimester and feeling pretty good. I will do a first trimester post soon to share all the details about how I’ve been feeling, what foods I’ve been eating, the workouts I’ve been doing and all my first trimester faves, but I wanted to do a separate post to announce the pregnancy first.
A Little Backstory
If you’ve been reading EBF for a while, you’ll know that in the passed I dealt with hypothalamic amenorrhea (HA) where I didn’t have a menstrual cycle for two years after coming off hormonal birth control. This was one of the hardest things I’ve ever been through but luckily when I went off birth control (after having been on it for 13 years) it was because I no longer wanted to be ingesting the hormones. We weren’t ready to start trying for a family until last year, and by that time I had healed my hypothalamic amenorrhea and had been having a normal cycle for well over a year.
We decided to forego all types of birth control and start trying late in the summer last year, but we weren’t being too precise with it. I was tracking my cycle on an app (Ovia) and getting acupuncture treatments for fertility, but it wasn’t until November of 2018 when I actually started using ovulation tests so we could be 100% certain when we should be gettin’ busy.
The ovulation tests were so helpful because I was actually ovulating on day 22 or 23, which explains why my cycle was around 32-34 days long. The norm is a 28-day cycle and ovulation around day 14 or 15, but every woman is different so that’s why the tests come in handy.
Once we started using the ovulation tests and got the timing down, it took about 3 months for us to get pregnant! I realize this is super fast and I feel so incredibly blessed. Given my past with HA, I was worried that it might take us extra time to conceive but this wasn’t the case for us.
The Day We Found Out We Were Pregnant
Isaac and I both have February birthdays so we planned a little mini getaway to The Farmhouse at Veritas. I did a yoga retreat at The Farmhouse a couple years ago and we had dinner there for our anniversary last year, but Isaac had never had the full Farmhouse experience by staying the night, so we were excited.
On Friday, February 22nd we planned to leave for Veritas after work. I really didn’t think I was pregnant, but my period was two days late and we had a night of wine drinking ahead so I figured I might as well do a pregnancy test before we left to be on the safe side.
Isaac wasn’t home from work yet, but I decided to go ahead and take the test before I hopped in the shower… just to be sure. When I got out, I immediately grabbed the test from the bathroom counter to check it and low and behold, there was a faint second line next to the dark control line. I was honestly so shocked and immediately started googling what a faint line meant. How dark did the line need to be?! Was I really pregnant?! Google, along with baby forums with other women’s positive pregnancy tests, many of them looking just like mine with a light pink second line, confirmed that even a faint line means you are indeed pregnant. YAY!
How I Shared the News with Isaac
I honestly didn’t know what to do next. A million things went through my head as I tried to figure out how I was going to tell Isaac. Did I call him and tell him to come home right away? Did I try to stall him so I could run to the store to put something fun together in less than an hour?! I quickly checked Pinterest for ideas and realized I had no time to do anything fancy. Some women plan special photoshoots to reveal the news to their baby-daddy and I remember my mom ordered a “you’re going to be a daddy” cookie cake made for my dad when she found out I was on the way. But there was literally no way I could keep it a secret long enough to plan something like that. Plus we were going to a wine dinner THAT NIGHT.
Ultimately, I decided to rummage through my card collection. I found a cute little card with animals on it that’s technically meant for a child’s birthday, but I felt like it worked for this too. Luckily it was blank inside so I wrote a little note to Isaac and I labeled the four animals on the front: You, Me, Olive, New Baby!
I took the card, along with the pregnancy test, and put it inside Isaac’s medicine cabinet that way when he got home from work and was shaving or packing up his toiletries he’d open the medicine cabinet and see it.
Once he got home I so just wanted to blurt out the news, but I waited (not so patiently, mind you) for him to open his medicine cabinet. I think I asked him at least 3 times if he was going to shave. Finally he opened the cabinet to shave, saw the note and test inside and immediately knew. We hugged, kissed and started going on and on about how crazy it was that this was actually happening. It was a special moment.
Since then, we’ve been having such a fun time telling all our family and friends the news, but it’s been so tough keeping such a big secret off the Internet. 15 weeks was a long time to keep things under wraps so I’m excited to finally share the news with the EBF community as well.
It’s a…. GIRL!
And surprise #2. We already found out that our baby (who I’ve been calling nugget) is a GIRL! Usually you find out at your week 20 ultrasound, but we opted to do the cell-free DNA blood test at week 12 and with the testing they’re able to determine the baby’s gender just by looking for a Y chromosome! If it’s present, it’s a boy and if it’s not, it’s a girl.
I was secretly/not so secretly hoping for a girl, but both of us knew we’d be totally happy either way. We just kept saying that as long as the baby was healthy, we didn’t care about the gender. That said, I’m really excited for a baby girl because not only are the clothes super cute, but I can’t wait to see Isaac as a dad to a little lady. I know that this baby is going to be a total daddy’s girl and it’s just going to melt my heart. Cue the tears…
That’s all the news I have for now! I hope to share more details about the pregnancy soon. But don’t worry, EBF isn’t going to turn into a mommy blog. It will still be focused on healthy recipes and balanced living, but as always, there will be a few lifestyle posts sprinkled in and right now this is a big part of my life.
Photos by the lovely Michelle Chu Photography.
Congratulations!
Where did you go for the acupuncture?
I go to two different acupuncturist and highly recommend them both – Keith Bell (https://www.orientalmedicinespecialists.com/) and Remee Gemo (https://www.empressacupuncture.com/).
Congratulations… just know you are going to be a super mom!!
Congrats! I have been reading your blog for years and I was always wondering when this post would come. I think that you should totally share as much as you want/can about your pregnancy and baby! 🙂
As a super longtime reader who now myself is suffering from HA & remembered your post long ago, I’ve been wondering if/when this post would come & hoping everything would work out for you! I’m so excited for you 🙂
Congratulations to both of you! I have been following your blog for many years and are so happy for you. I also feel you can share pregnancy/mommy posts. What exciting news!
Congratulations to you and Isaac! That is going to be a well-fed baby on all kinds of levels!!
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Congrats. I have one of each gender. My girl is 2 years old. Be ready for all the sass.
Awww! I’m totally ready for all the sass!! <3
Happy Mother’s Day! Congratulations! I have been following your blog for years and it has been so neat to see the changes and watch your life evolve! This was the sweetest blog post!! I loved your Momma Bird shirt as well! I am so excited to see you grow in this next season as you start a new chapter! It will be fun to hear about what you are eating and what kind of pregnancy cravings you have had!
I’ve been following you for several years, and this is just SO exciting! Congratulations!!!