That’s how my husband told his family that I’m pregnant by the way. He said that I had a parasite.
Yep, I have a tiny human in my uterus, and yes, it is weird and wonderful at the same time. Once the dust settled post-law school, and I was comfortably in the start of my career, we decided that it was baby time. If you told me this time last year that I would be due to have a baby in January 2020, I would probably laugh at you. Surely Billy and I couldn’t plan for a child by then? Surely being on hormonal birth control for roughly 14 years would make getting pregnant in less than a year impossible? Yet, here we are, and here I am with a whole belly.
The week before our anniversary trip, I wasn’t really expecting a positive test. After several months of negative results, no symptoms, and the fact that I drank wine during ovulation (there is no proof that this has any effect on fertility by the way; I was just being overly cautious), I was sure that I was wasting a perfectly good First Response test. I used the test, left it on the bathroom counter, walked away, and then came back to a faint second line.
I believe that the first, second, and third thing I said upon seeing the test was, “Oh shit.” It doesn’t matter that I had planned for this. Knowing that it was actually happening was still shocking. It was an early Saturday morning, and we were set to head to Paris in four days. My next thoughts were not about how I would have to forego wine and soft cheese. They were how I needed to make a doctor appointment ASAP and how scared I was to leave the country so early in the first trimester. I feared a chemical pregnancy or a miscarriage because I knew how common they are and how you can do everything right and still experience one. I bought two pregnancy tests during our trip just so I could have some peace of mind.
I feel very lucky that despite all of my worrying, I got through the first trimester–and now most of the second–without incident. I’m very fortunate that up until now, my pregnancy has been an easy one with minor bouts of nausea for the first few weeks and some aches and pains. With a medical history like mine of severe asthma, immune issues, and regular ER trips, pregnancy has been a welcomed reprieve. I don’t take this for granted in any way. How many people can say that they found out they were pregnant a few days before their dream anniversary trip and took an announcement photo in front of the Louvre? I’m beyond appreciative of life right now!
Oh, and how is Billy you might ask? He is excited to say the least. I gave him the “Je t’aime” onesie that Saturday as a way of telling him that I was pregnant. It was a random, late-night Amazon buy that turned out to be predictive, so I coincidentally had it on hand (seriously, how fortuitous). He has been making grand plans of all of the books that he will read to our son and all of the things that he will teach him. Our childcare plan is coming along nicely as well (more on that later). I’m happy to be able to go forth into parenting with the best husband and soon-to-be best dad in the world.
