Wowwwee, where do I begin? With our the big news of our baby bird officially out, I’m so excited to share more about my pregnancy thus far. Truthfully, I’ve been debating as to what and how much to share of our early experiences, as those first 12 weeks felt so emotional, overwhelming, thrilling, scary, beautiful and so many more feelings that so easily can overtake your every thought and move. Truthfully, I figured that I would just start writing and let flow out what would, but in true Chelsea fashion — I mulled over even this idea (I’m a chronic over-thinker!), but what I’ve come to realize is that through these past few months I have been quite an open book — it’s like this sweet baby has already brought out a more sharing, connection seeking side of me that has left me wanting to share my own story and connect with other mommas and mommas-to-be.
Early on, I became obsessed with reading any pregnancy tips, favorites, questions and weekly updates I could get my hands on — especially those from those very early weeks where you’re feeling your body moving and changing, but don’t really know what to think of it yet. One of my long-time favorite vloggers, Fleur De Force, shared many of her thoughts and tips from her early weeks when she was pregnant with her daughter and she totally inspired me share my own experience. I will say that hearing another momma-to-be’s feelings, tips and experiences is by no means anything you should judge your own pregnancy on, but for me hearing these similar words and experiences from someone else going through this same wild journey felt so comforting and truthfully kept me from laying awake each and every night (seriously, I was a ball of nerves early on — even though I didn’t have a reason to worry, I still did)!
Anyways, with all that said I am so happy to finally be writing down my own thoughts and experiences from my first 12 weeks of pregnancy with the hope that it can help someone else who may be in the early days of this whirlwind and incredible experience that we’ve been so blessed with! Now that the tears are flowing on my end (hormones, I tell ya), here’s how we found out, more about what I’ve learned, experienced, found helpful, have been craving and have loved thus far (which may come in Part II of this post if it gets too long, haha).
We found out we were pregnant at four weeks! I had been feeling a little off for a few days and had this strong feeling that I was pregnant — the biggest indicator being that my breasts were sore. I was actually so nervous to take a test, but early one morning I told myself I was going to get up, take one, walk away and wake up Scott so we could look together. Well, it didn’t actually pan out that way because I took the test and then couldn’t take my eyes off of it as I sat it down and watched the plus sign appear within seconds. I yelled for Scott, who was still sleeping, and he ran into the bathroom half asleep but already knowing what I was going to tell him — he said my tone and yell gave it away, haha. We are pregnant! WOW! Now, this didn’t come as a shock to us as we were trying, but finding out was still one if not THE most surreal experiences I’ve had in my whole life. This was really happening — we were going to have a baby, a perfect mix of the two of us! A baby we had talked about for 10+ years and had hoped and prayed for, especially over the past few years as we talked about and debating on when we should start our family. I feel like that could be a whole separate post, but truthfully — we were so ready and so thrilled for it finally be happening!
From here, we took the weekend to experience the early moments of this journey we were embarking on. Keeping this secret was my by far one of the hardest things I’ve done yet, as we just wanted all of our family and friends to know — but waiting and surprising each family member and our sweet friends was so, so worth it!
On that note, I’ve decided to split this post into two parts — as I have one more story to share, along with more about what I’ve learned, experienced, found helpful, have been craving and more! Oh, and fun fact about these photos — these were actually our first set of photos together while pregnant! We didn’t know at this point, but some folks noted that I was awfully glowy in that first picture. I guess that pregnancy glow is a real thing, right? 😉
I would love to hear if any of you mommas or mommas-to-be had a similar experience as I, or if you have any tips and tricks for surviving the first semester of pregnancy!
Chelsea xo
Photos by Kelsey and Michael Photography!