The Last Few Months
Hi friends! It's been awhile since I made a blog post, but now I have a lot more to talk about....
We're expecting!!! And we're so excited, nervous, anxious...all of the emotions. I wanted to document this special time in our lives so we can look back on this someday and remember all of it. <3
I took my first pregnancy test on February 11, 2021 after experiencing symptoms for a week or so. It's weird because a lot of pregnancy symptoms can also be period symptoms...so I wasn't sure which one it was! It was positive, and I was freaking out - from happiness and nervousness!
It's funny, because whenever I thought about announcing my pregnancy to my family and friends I wanted to do something big and elaborate for them, but once I got this positive test, I just wanted to tell them right away. In hindsight I probably should have prepared something so when we found out I was ready to go, but now I'll know for next time.
I wanted to wait to tell my parents until Dan got out of work later that day so we could tell them together - but I was so anxious and excited all day, I HAD to tell my best friend Kayleigh. I was talking to her all day and trying so hard not to say anything! So I asked her if I could come to her house at like 2 in the afternoon, which she thought was weird, but didn't really think anything of it.
When I got to her house I handed her the pregnancy test (in a Ziplock baggie, don't worry!) and she was so shocked! She sobbed for probably 5 minutes...it was so sweet. She's going to be the best auntie!
After Dan got out of work, I headed to my parents to tell them. I was so nervous the whole way! We didn't tell them we were coming, we just walked in while they were eating dinner. I wanted to throw them off so I told my mom I thought we were eating together...she was so confused! She thought we had made dinner plans and forgot about them. Of course, being the Italian that she is, she had plenty of dinner to go around.
I didn't really know how to bring it up, so I said "while I'm here I wanted to give you these" and I handed her my tests in the baggie - she freaked out! She had NO clue I was even off birth control or trying to get pregnant. I wanted it to be a complete shock for her so every time she told me she wanted grand babies (which was VERY often), I played it off like kids weren't in the cards for awhile.
After that we proceeded to tell my brother and sister-in-law (who are also expecting - they're about 5 weeks ahead of us!) and Dan's family and some close friends.
My periods were really irregular and to be honest I wasn't really tracking them, so I really wasn't sure how far along I was - I just guessed. I went for my first ultrasound on March 18th, and I was already 9 weeks along!
That was a relief to hear since I know most people's symptoms got better after the first trimester. I was extremely nauseous/sick consistently up until about 11 weeks, and then intermittently until about 13 weeks.
I announced my pregnancy publicly on March 23, at exactly 12 weeks. I was blown away by all of the love and support we got! We have the best friends, family, and Internet friends, too! The community I've built on Instagram has seriously been amazing and was so thankful for the outpouring of love that we received.
Ever since we knew we were pregnant, I wanted to know the gender of the baby. How could I not?! Then we could start thinking of names, the nursery theme, buying the cute little baby clothes...all of the fun stuff. After doing some research (because I have no clue how all of this stuff works), I found out that most doctor's offices don't let you find out the gender until you're 20 weeks along. I found a private ultrasound place near us that does gender ultrasounds after 14 weeks, so I scheduled one for there when I was about 15 weeks.
Because of all of the Covid restrictions, Dan wasn't able to go to any of my previous
ultrasounds with me, but the private ultrasound place, b.b. Ultrasound, allowed up to 6 people! So Dan was able to come to the gender one with me! I also invited my mom, sister, and Kayleigh so they could see their little grandbaby/niece/nephew as well!
I had a great experience at b.b! The ultrasound room was huge, so there was plenty of room for all of us. There was a chair right next to the bed so Dan could sit next to me, and then there were couches for our other guests. The ultrasound was projected on the wall so everyone could see it perfectly!
When the ultrasound tech went to look for the gender, I didn't want anyone to look - I wanted it to be a complete surprise for all of us at our gender reveal party. It was so hard not to! I kept looking at my mom and Kayleigh to make sure they weren't peeking....they were as anxious to know as I was! After the ultrasound, they put the results in an envelope to give to our baker, who would put pink or blue in the cake we would cut into at the gender reveal.
I thought I would be able to wait until Saturday to find out - but Dan and I actually opened the envelope the night we got our ultrasound, so the two of us knew the gender. It was the HARDEST secret to keep, but I didn't think I could wait any longer.
I had my gender ultrasound on a Tuesday, and our gender reveal party was on Saturday. My mom, sister, and Kayleigh planned the whole thing. Everything was so cute! It was just our family and close friends and it was perfect. And everyone got to find out what we already knew....that WE'RE HAVING A GIRL!!!!
The first 4 months of this pregnancy have been a whirlwind, but we're so excited for what's to come!
Thank you all for being here, reading this, supporting us....everything! I couldn't do this without you. <3