We're Having a Baby!

After months of trying and symptom spotting, we finally got our BFP (Big Fat Positive)! That's right, we're pregnant ladies and gentleman! Woohoo! Of course it happened just like everyone said it would, as soon as we (I) stopped worrying and stressing about it. The reality is, I had gotten so heartbroken so many times and after just hosting our first family party at our new house when everyone thought we were going to announce a pregnancy, I got so angry at my body that I stopped caring about it. Sure we kept trying, but I completely removed the stress and baby talk from the whole equation. 

I had just joined a gym in hopes of getting in better shape and I was doing my smoothie regiment like I planned when I noticed that I was reeeeally hungry and thirsty every few hours. I decided to test, assuming it would be negative because every test I had ever taken was negative, so why should this be any different, but lone behold it immediately blared a pink positive! I was shocked! I burst into tears out of complete and utter shock! Is this really happening? What do I do now? I need to tell Andrew! Wait...I want to tell him in a cute way...but I need to tell someone right this instant! I need to call Ashley (my best friend)! Thank goodness she was on a different time zone and didn't answer or else Andrew wouldn't have been the first person to find out!

Monday 11/17/2014
It was soooo hard keeping this amazing news to myself all day at work and all throughout a basketball game that Andrew coached. Finally when we got home, I let him unwind and I secretly hid my camera set to video mode looking at where he would be sitting. I finally got the courage to walk over and lay down the baby bib I bought months ago that said "I watch Indiana Basketball with my Daddy" with a homemade tag pinned to it that said "Baby Montgomery Due July, 2015". Now if you know me, I'm a planner, and I've wanted to start buying on sale baby clothes for a while now, so when my husband first saw the bib, he responded "Why?", which I later found out meant, "Why did you buy something for a baby we don't have" (This is all caught on camera mind you). Of course I;m less than pleased with his initial reaction so I say something along the lines of "Why? What do you mean Why? You Know Why!" And then you could see he understood, he said, "Are you pregnant?" and I said yes ad he stood up and hugged me and kissed me. While it wasn't as magical as I had hoped, it was still a great memory that we have recorded, and after watching it together after the moment had passed, we both decided to never show it to anyone..because we were both in sweat pants and I had 8 chins and...well...it looked awful! haha!

Tuesday 11/18/2014
I could hardly make it through my workday because I was so excited to tell our parents and it was so difficult to talk to my mom and not tell her! We were going to wait until heading back to Chicago for Thanksgiving next week to tell my family but I couldn't wait that long and felt that it wasn't fair they be the last to find out since they live the farthest away so we chose to Skype them. I played it off that I was sad and missed them a lot so that they wouldn't get suspicious and then with Mom, Dad and my brother on camera, we held up a sign that said "The best parents get promoted to grandparents. eta July, 2015". At first they had no idea what to do or say, and then my mom said "Are you trying to tell us something?" so I replied, "what are we trying to tell you?" and she said "are you expecting?!" and we smiled and said yes! With tears in their eyes and smiles on their faces they rejoiced with us! We briefly chatted and then said goodbye because we were going to go visit Andrew's mom and step-dad to tell them the news! 

We got to Rick & Julie's house and sat down briefly before handing them a card that said the same note we showed my parents, "The best parents get promoted to Papas and Mimis. eta July, 2015". Julie gasped and started tearing up before passing the note to Rick and he smiled really big! They were so excited! We talked about it the rest of our time with them and then proceeded to tell some of Andrew's siblings. We called Megan and told her the news by calling her Aunt Megan and she screamed in excitement! Sydney and Kelsey came home from basketball practice and saw the elephant Rick and Julie had been saving for this moment and started giggling and squealing! We called Ryan at work and he was excited and said he was proud of us! Next we stopped at Andrew's dad and step-mom's house to share the news. We gave them the same card that said "The best parents get promoted to grandparents. eta July, 2015" and they stood up and hugged us! The whole experience was so amazing!

Wednesday 11/19/2014
We worked all day and had dinner and class at church before we were able to tell Andrew's Nana & Papaw. We stopped by their house fairly late and chatted for a bit before Andrew passed them the bib and said "Look what Jenny gave me!" Nana started tearing up and handed it to Papaw and he said how excited he was.

Thursday 11/20/2014
We stopped by Andrew's Grandma & Grandpa's house after he got done coaching practice and we chatted for a bit before Andrew passed them the bib and said "Look what Jenny gave me!" Grandma started tearing up too and handed it to Grandpa to look at. He kept saying how proud and excited he was!

Friday 11/21/2014
Today we've been married 1 year and 2 months, which seems like much less time than it actually feels. We're going to tell Rick's parents tonight and then other family members will tell our extended family over Thanksgiving, since we won't be in town to share the news.

This is such an exciting, new chapter in our lives. I'm trying to remember to soak up every moment of it and enjoy it. I had gotten some ideas from Pinterest, a while back, of things I wanted to do throughout our pregnancy:

1. Put on Cocoa butter everyday!
2. Journal our experiences
3. Start learning about parenting and what having a baby is all about
4. Reviewing our finances so we can save money and cut costs
5. Writing letters to the baby every few weeks
6. Weekly chalkboard sign 

How Far Along: 5 weeks today (Although it may be off, we'll find out at the doctor on December 2nd).

Size of Baby: About the size of an orange seed.

Symptoms: Hungry every 2-3 hours, thirsty, especially at night, cold throughout the day, night sweats, cramping, bloating, extreme excitement!

Maternity Clothes: Browsed online and ended up buying a few tops from Target and Kohls - definitely bought white and black belly bands to help fight the tight pants, they seem to working and they add a bit of extra support which is nice.

Stretch Marks: None yet but I've been trying to remember to use Palmer's Cocoa Butter after my shower in the mornings and before I go to bed at night.

Sleep: I've been sleeping okay. I'm super hot at night and have been experiencing night sweats and slowly getting more and more exhausted and needing naps which affect how I sleep at night. 

Best Moment of the Week: There were so many amazing moments this week: I found out we were pregnant Monday morning, told Andrew Monday night, told parents and siblings Tuesday night, and we told best friends and grandparents Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night! This whole experience has been so magical! 

Movement: None yet.

Food Cravings: Cheese, string cheese, cottage cheese, mmmm.
Foods That are Not My Friend: hot dogs, I usually love them, but I had the worst heartburn after eating one the other night.

Anything Making You Queasy or Sick: Nothing yet, thank goodness!
Gender: We don't know yet, but everyone thinks it will be a boy!

Belly Button In or Out: In

Wedding Ring on or Off: On (I've been so cold all day everyday that I should be able to keep it on for a while, but it was a bit snug to take off even before we got pregnant!

What I Miss: I miss being able to drink wine or a beer with friends and family - I gave it up when we started trying to have a baby and drank maybe two or three times in the 4 months that we were TTC.

What I am Looking Forward to: My growing belly, meeting out little one, watching Andrew become an amazing dad, seeing our families take on their new roles, so much excitement!

Labor Signs: Way too far from these! whew!

Nursery: Paint has been done for about a month now and we've had a bookshelf ready to go in there but the newest addition was an elephant stuffed animal that Rick & Julie bought and had been saving until we got pregnant! They gave it to us the night we told them and it was such a great memory to make!

Emotions: Feeling pretty good, mostly antsy and excited and a little melancholy. 
Famous People Who Are Also Pregnant: Kate Middleton (aka Princess Catherine Duchess of Cambridge), Blake Lively, Carrie Underwood,Jessica Biel & more!

Happy Living & God's Blessings!

J.M.