If I could pick one word to describe me during the first trimester, it would be USELESS.
That's right. I have never been more lazy in my life. It felt that way, at least. I was lucky enough to not have morning sickness but it seemed like I exerted all of my energy at work during the week which left weekends for sleeping. That means our house was pretty dirty (Jeremy helped with the cleaning as much as he could). A flooding issue with the house next door damaging half of our living room didn't help the cause. Le sigh.
My emotions were pretty in tact for the most part. (2nd trimester is where the boo hoos really started). I can only recall crying twice; once over work drama and second over an episode of MTV's: The Challenge. Sad, I know, but I'm blaming the baby!
My cravings during the first 13 weeks were minimal. My stomach filled up quickly and I often couldn't finish big meals. Meat, in general, was a turn-off but I especially did not prefer chicken. If I had to eat meat, steak was the winner. Soup was a must and was probably my favorite meal during 1st trimester.
Week 7. Blueberry pancake for our blueberry-sized kid.
Soup in bed during one of those awful headache weekends.
Despite two horrible headaches and lazy weekends, there were some milestone moments during the later weeks of the first trimester.
11 weeks. I left my keys in a friends car during lunch at work. By the time I figured it out, she had already left. Lucky for me, my parents live down the road. While my dad came to pick me up, I enjoyed a pickle on the side of the road.
13 weeks. First site of the bump!
13 weeks. Finally getting my energy back. 5K finisher!
13 weeks. Picked up parenting tips from one of the best mama's I know! Elyse, Sawyer and I spent the day shopping at the Southern Women's Show.
It all started with a card that he created 7 years ago. As you have clearly seen, Jeremy is one creative person and he had the bright idea that we would get into the greeting card business (still a dream of ours). I don't know why he chose this card as his first creation, but he sketched out a pregnancy card that made me giggle.
This was before we were engaged, before we were married, before we even thought about kids. The thing is, with Jeremy, even though there was never a timeline with us, I always knew that we would get engaged, get married, and eventually have kids. I kept the card knowing that this was how I wanted to surprise him when the time had come. (I also knew that his creative brain wouldn't even notice the missing card within the coming years).
The start of July came along and I was a little late. But I figured it was the traveling, time change and new routines June had taken on my body. I was tired, cranky and a little bloated but those were all signs of my upcoming cycle...so I thought.
I took a pregnancy test on July 4th but I grabbed the one with the stupid lines. A VERY faint line showed up that you could baaaaaaarely see. No way, I thought. But, maybe?
I had taken the test very late that evening so I waited an ENTIRE day and bought a digital test, taking it right away when I got home from work. I've never seen a test work so quickly. Sure enough, PREGNANT.
Whhaaaaaattttt??????!!!
Shaking, I searched for the card Jeremy made 7 years ago and wrote a little message inside. It was time to go show him the evidence. Here's a little video of what went down.
We kept the pregnancy a secret from our family and loved ones until we had photo evidence of our little one. I went to my OBGYN to confirm the pregnancy and they scheduled me at 8 weeks to come in for an ultrasound. That first ultrasound (as I'm sure all of them are) was magical. Jeremy and I couldn't take our eyes off the screen. And when we heard the heart beat for the first time? Whoa. Just wow. Incredible.
It was then and there that I wanted to tell the whole world but I knew a miscarriage was still a high possibility. We decided on telling close friends and family first.
My sisters birthday weekend was coming up and I had the perfect gift for her; a Proud Auntie tank top. We had gotten in an argument the week before because I wasn't telling her something (hmmm, I wonder what that was) and I ended up telling her ahead of time because I didn't want her mad at me any longer. Even though she knew the surprise, no one else did so they were quite shocked to see/hear the news.
A few days later, we surprised Jeremy's mom and Reuben by setting up a dinner date to celebrate the anniversary of her and Millard; the first anniversary without him. I placed one of the three pregnancy tests that I took in a necklace jewelry box. What she thought was a piece of jewelry was so much more. She squealed and jumped with excitement right away, startling and scaring Reuben who was clueless as to what the gift was. After a few seconds of realizing why she was so happy, a smile spread across his face as he made the connection.
More family, close friends and our work fams got phone calls and texts from us around week 12 of pregnancy once the chance of a miscarriage was much lower and we got to hear that magical heartbeat one more time.
We can't thank everyone enough for their excitement and support along this journey. We can't wait to share our stories along the way.
Asha and Jeremy met in 2004 at Appalachian State University. What started out as friendship soon led to love and they were off to the alter to get hitched in 2011. This is our story.
