This might be my favorite post to ever go live on LaurynLately.com…. WE ARE PREGNANT! We are over the moon excited to welcome baby Maynard into the world and are counting down the months until we get to see his/ her sweet face. We feel so very blessed to be on this journey to parenthood and cannot wait to learn all the things (any and all advice appreciated!!)
How did you know you were ready to be a mom? This is a tough one. I have ALWAYS wanted to be a mom. I think the desire really started when my little brother was born. I was 8 years old when he was born and so I learned at a very young age how to change a diaper, hold a baby, etc. I think I’ve always been a very nurturing person to begin with so motherhood is something I’ve always desired. That being said, deciding WHEN to start our family was tough. It felt like there was never going to be a completely perfect time but we just kind of let go and let God and left it up to Him.
Were you trying to become parents? YES! It happened very quickly for us and we are so thankful. I know this is not always the case for everyone and we feel very lucky. My heart goes out to those longing to be parents but struggling to get there. Praying and rooting for you!
How are you feeling? When we found out (we found out really early- about 4 weeks!) I immediately started feeling awful. I don’t think I got off the couch for 2 straight weeks LOL. I also couldn’t stomach anything but pretzels, pasta, and saltines… not fun! At around 7 weeks I woke up one morning feeling way better. It was actually so nerve-racking that I called my doctor to see if that was normal (it is). After that I had slight all day nausea most days but once week 12/ 13 came I felt A LOT better.
Any cravings/ aversions? YES! Mostly aversions over here… chicken, eggs, salsa, and veggies to name a few. I do get random cravings every now and then but it’s mostly caused by seeing food on commercials LOL. My biggest cravings so far have been fast food (really mostly just the fries), Schlotzsky’s sandwiches (don’t worry, I heat up the deli meat beforehand), stuffed crust pizza, and hot Cheetos (spicy= everything). First trimester hasn’t been the healthiest food-wise to say the least… haha!
How/when did you tell your family and friends? This was TOUGH. I would’ve loved to have told our parents even sooner but we knew we wanted to tell them in-person which isn’t easy when my parents live 2 hrs away and my in-laws live 5 hrs away so we had to wait until around week 9-11. We told both families by using these cute wine labels. They say “pairs well with becoming grandparents” which I thought was SO cute. My parents are huge wine-os so this was very fitting. As for everyone else, we told them either in person or via FaceTime!
What was the highlight of this trimester? Oh my gosh- so many highlights! Definitely finding out and getting to share the sweetest secret with Zach for awhile before telling our family. It was also amazing to get to tell our parents- they are going to make the best grandparents and it makes me so excited for them!
What changes did you have to make in your everyday lives this trimester? I had to obviously give up drinking (this made keeping the secret so tough!) and a few food items like cold cut deli meat, sushi, etc. I also cut out a few skincare products like my lash serum, vitamin A serum, and retinol to be safe. I also pretty much stopped working out the first trimester… we went on a few walks but I wanted to really rest and take it easy this semester (plus I wasn’t really feeling up to a workout to begin with).
Will you find out the gender? Will you announce?! We know the gender and will absolutely be announcing… soon 🙂
Have you started preparing for baby? Honestly no… well unless you count the 10 million google searches I do a day LOL… if only my search history could talk! We haven’t purchased anything for baby yet but I’m sure we will do much more of that in the second trimester. We are also planning on taking a few classes together (breastfeeding, birthing, bathing, etc.) and we need to meet with a financial advisor/ get our health insurance all sorted out and ready to add baby!
Do you have a name picked out? Will you be announcing the name? We have a few names in mind but aren’t sure if/when we will be sharing or if we will be waiting until birth. We are new at this so we are going to play it by ear!
What are you both most excited for?
- Lauryn: I am most excited to watch Zach become a dad. He is going to be the very best dad! I am also SO excited to get to experience life’s exciting moments with a child… it will be so fun to watch them experience all the firsts in life (first Christmas, first time at the zoo, first plane ride, etc.)
- Zach: I am so excited to get to watch him/her play sports as they get older. Weekends will look a little different for us but I’m so excited for it.