In case you haven’t seen my post on social media yet… WE’RE HAVING A BABY!

Spencer and I are so excited to welcome our sweet Baby G into the world in January 2021.

How I found out: Spencer and I decided last summer that it was finally time to start trying to start a family. We had been trying for a few months and it wasn’t until April that I started feeling a little bit defeated that it hadn’t happened yet. But, all in God’s timing! I think took a pregnancy test in late April and just glanced at it because it appeared to be negative… since all of them had been for months on end… then when I didn’t get my period by the next week (which was normal since it was super inconsistent), I decided to take another test.

I practically keeled over when I saw the two lines.

Immediately, I started crying and the first thought I had was “holy s#!t, I have to push a baby out of me.” Haha. I was not overjoyed off the bat. (Now I am!)

How I told Spencer: Immediately after I took the test, I came stumbling into Spencer’s office (it WAS 7am after all), crying my eyes out. I held out the stick and the box that had instructions on it. He was shocked and absolutely thrilled! I was sobbing, he was giddy as can be. Once I got over the initial shock, I started to get excited, too.

How we told our families: We found out on May 7th and Mother’s Day was that Sunday… so we decided to surprise our families with an extra “gift”. We knew that we wanted to tell our immediate family because we wanted their support through whatever we were going through. Spencer had gone hunting with his dad that morning and Spencer told him then. Then, we FaceTimed my mom. She opened a gift I sent to her and then I told her we had another gift that wasn’t going to ship in time… and showed her the sign! She might have cried a little bit. 🙂 Then I called my dad and my sister. I don’t talk to my sister much so the phone call was a little obvious that SOMETHING was up!

We knew we couldn’t tell Spencer’s mom until AFTER we went to Spencer’s grandparents house for Mother’s Day lunch. It was so funny holding in such a big secret!! In fact, Karen, my mother-in-law, told us she had a surprise for us at her house afterwards. Little did she knew WE had a surprise for HER! (Her surprise was Reese’s which is equally as exciting). We eventually made it over to their house where we gave her her Mother’s Day gift. Spencer told her we had one more surprise. I started filming because I knew it would be gold. Spencer came out and showed her the sign. Karen basically fell backwards in her chair and everyone else was crying, us included. Here’s what the sign said:

How I’m feeling: I am *hopefully* on the mend from the first trimester symptoms. Weeks 6-8 were a little rough. I was really nauseous and the heat of the summer didn’t help! But I was so blessed that I didn’t actually get sick!!! But, shooting weddings while being newly pregnant is TOUGH. But once I started taking a Unisom and B6 vitamins every night, I started feeling much better. I definitely was (and still am?) turned off by meat. I thought beef was mostly off the table but turns out, I CAN eat beef… but I still have been choosing veggie burgers over real burgers when given the choice. Bagels have been my BFFs along with other carbs. As much as I knew I needed to eat greens and fruits… I just couldn’t do it.

Here are some things that helped me during the first trimester. I’ve linked most of them in my Amazon List!

• SeaBands
• Liquid IV Hydration Multiplier
• Morning Sickness Lozenges by Pink Stork (these are amazing)
• Peppermint Essential Oils
• Nexium (I took pre-pregnancy and it’s okay-ed by my doctor!)
• Unisom (took a half each night)
• B6 vitamins
• Bagels, bagels, and more bagels
• Saltines/crackers

Our annual beach vacation went well for the most part. I didn’t sleep very well and had a few bad headaches which really ruins my evening, especially because they often hit around dinner time. I had to wear my SeaBands on the beach a few days, which helped tremendously. I thought I’d be sad that I couldn’t drink with everyone, but I really didn’t mind! I just smelled my husband’s Bud Light Seltzers, instead. I can’t wait to try one once we have Baby G. Haha!

Baby G, we are so excited for you and love you so much already!

Love, Mommy and Daddy