I had hoped 2017 would be the year I got pregnant and I’m so excited to share that Baby Lease will be arriving November of this year!

This may be oversharing, but if you’re thinking about getting pregnant you may be interested in knowing a bit about my pregnancy journey. It goes something like this: After 14 years of being on the pill I went off it in January and got my first non-pill period six weeks later. I then downloaded the Ovia fertility app and based on when I had my period it told me what days of the month would be optimal for baby making. Five weeks later I’m peeing on a stick and it’s POSITIVE! I’m sharing this story because that’s what this blog is all about, but believe me when I say we both realize how ridiculously lucky we are right now and we don’t take anything for granted.

So how do I feel? Today I’m 22 weeks and fortunately I feel mostly good. The last three weeks I’ve been suffering from daily heartburn and the occasional short-lived shooting pain up and down my side that I’ve learned is called round ligament pain. I have to pee virtually every hour, including most nights, which I tell myself is good practice for the sleepless nights ahead (hey, just trying to put a positive spin on things). Thankfully, I’ve been able to stick to my workout routine which consists of dance cardio and barre a couple times a week. This is not only good for the baby, but mama needs it to help quell the occasional holy SH*T we’re having a baby freak-outs (more on this in the next blog post).

I started showing at about 18 weeks and my baby bump is steadily growing. Its definitely been both surreal and amazing watching my body go through so many changes weekly.  I’m not gonna lie and say there aren’t moments when I get a little stressed about the weight I’ve been gaining and whether I’ll be able to shed the post-baby pounds easily. I can already tell I won’t be like some of my friends who only gained weight in their bellies. Buttttttt comparing your body — especially your pregnancy body to that of others is beyond unhealthy and is NOT the kind of attitude I want to have during this pregnancy, and, frankly, not ever. It’s why during those moments I remind myself  everybody is different and the only thing that matters is having a heathy baby. It also doesn’t hurt that my husband’s quite fond of my new curves and reminds me of this regularly. God bless him.

 

And speaking of a healthy baby, we’ll be referring to our unborn child as Baby Lease, or something to that effect up until delivery day. At first we were definitely going to find out the sex, but after discussing the topic in length we started to give some serious thought to the other option: waiting. It really came down to determining whether we wanted to be surprised at five months with a gender reveal cake (I do love cake), or whether we wanted to be surprised the day of. We decided we wanted the surprise with a side of extra adrenaline, anticipation, hormones, and, knowing my tolerance for pain — some drugs (bring on the epidural baby!). Besides, white and grey match our new house beautifully.

I can’t wait to share more about the wild ride that is pregnancy with you, followed by the incredible/insane/ lifelong ride? Rodeo? that is motherhood (holy SH%T)!!!

xoxo

Val