I found out I was pregnant with Emerson on February 21, 2025.

My husband and I had been tracking my ovulation because we wanted to try for a second child. He was scheduled to have hip surgery February 10, so I knew if I didn’t ovulate before then, we likely couldn’t try again for another few months due to his recovery period. I prayed and prayed I would ovulate and God provided. The day after my peak, I came down with norovirus, an extremely contagious stomach virus. If you have ever had norovirus, you would agree it is the single worst stomach bug to ever exist on the planet. I was so sick all night, and incredibly dehydrated the next day. Luckily, a few days and ten pounds later, I was good as new.

Two weeks after, I took a pregnancy test that showed two faint lines meaning I was pregnant. It is one of the most exciting things in life to see a positive pregnancy test. We were ecstatic. Due to a miscarriage we had two months before, we wanted to share the news with close friends and family so that they could start praying immediately. I remember calling my mom on Facetime and showing her the test. She was so confused because, on the video call, it looked like the pregnancy test was negative since the lines were so faint! Never the less, the journey of pregnancy number three began.

From the start I was exhausted and nauseous. Not all the time, but I vividly remember sitting on the couch at 6am, attempting to drink my coffee but unable to do so because everything made me gag. Luckily, these bouts of sickness would last an hour or two and go away. The exhaustion, however, hit everyday around 3-4pm and stuck until I put my firstborn down for bed around 7pm.

Let me pause here. It was in these early weeks that I learned real quick how good I had it with my first pregnancy. You see, with my first pregnancy, I didn’t have a ten month old crawling/attempting to walk all over the house, getting in drawers, climbing up stairs, or eating dog hair every other minute. Oh no, the first pregnancy was absolute bliss. I could come home from work, eat whatever McDonald’s crap I wanted, fall asleep at 6pm and have no cares in the world. But this time around, I had to come home from work, cook dinner, eat vegetables to set a good example, play with our girl, give her a bath, and then finally go to bed before accidently falling asleep in her play tent. While I loved every minute of it, I have to confess that it was very exhausting.

Generally, when you get pregnant, the first ultrasound appointment is around 8-10 weeks. Because my pregnancy with our firstborn was routine with no complications, I had my first ultrasound appointment at 8 weeks, which fell on March 28, 2025.

To be continued…