A Brief Overview

I am 30 years old, married and 39 weeks pregnant. My husband is enrolled full time at one of the top engineering schools in the country, and I'm working full-time in corporate America. I started this blog because I think there is a very real need to show a different, more honest side of pregnancy and motherhood, and how it plays into everyday life. I also wanted a space to share pictures, stories, and memories without overwhelming social media contacts who love me but aren't necessarily interested in all things related to being knocked up and babies.

Let's recap on how I got here - don't worry, no visuals.

First of all, the warnings you hear are true: the minute you go off birth control you can get pregnant. My husband and I had a conversation in the beginning of November 2014 agreeing that we were ready to try to get pregnant, hoping to be within the next 6-9 months. Well wouldn't you know - guess who missed her period at the end of that same month? This girl. We should have planned an additional 3-6 months out knowing the majority of his genes are Mexican.

How did I know? Aside from being late on my period, I felt like my boobs had been replaced with heavy rice bags of aching pain. Imagine running a marathon with no bra at all, boobs flying all over the place. Now multiply that soreness by 100. I was actually in Des Moines, IA for Thanksgiving with the maternal side of my family and didn't really think much of it, but once I went 5 days without my friend Flo showing up I bucked up and took a pregnancy test.

I remember seeing the "+" sign on the pregnancy test, bold as ever. I got really hot, goosebumpy, and kind of dizzy - I can compare it to when you have to poop really badly but aren't sure you will make it to a toilet. I waited an hour and took the second one, and *ding ding ding* - I was a winner. The first person I told was actually not my husband; it was my sister. At the time, my husband was in finals which is SUPER intense at his school - I'm talking all consuming, 2-3 hours of sleep a night for weeks, I'm-basically-a-widow intense. He worked and studied so hard, I wanted him to focus only on school and then we could tackle the whole congratulations-your-sperm-found-my-egg conversation after his semester was over.

Since I had time, I decided to do something special to tell him the big news. We're both really big sports fans so I wanted to incorporate that into the announcement. At the time I had taken three positive pregnancy tests, so I incorporated various sports scenarios where someone goes 3-for-3 into a little book; field goals, free throws, at bats etc. Then, at the end I showed three positive pregnancy tests and said "I'm also 3 for 3!!" Oh, I wish I could share the freeze frame of his face; he was absolutely speechless and emotionless for hours. That was probably my first clue this experience is different for women and men, and you will see it is a point of frustration for us as the pregnancy dragged on continued. A woman becomes a mom when she sees that plus sign (even if the initial reaction does feel like explosive diarrhea); a man becomes a dad when the baby is born. Plus, I had to give up all the fun stuff like booze, sushi, raw egg yolks, etc so it was real to me very quickly.

I was so lucky in this pregnancy and I am thankful for that on a daily basis. I didn't have severe morning sickness, no intense cravings or repulsion to smells, and because I'm so tall I didn't really "get big" unless about 7 months into it. I was still able to exercise regularly (though not as rigorously); I had to get creative towards the end, subbing bike rides for swimming laps, but still really grateful. And my worst fear was never realized; random homeless people on public transportation touching my belly. It is all about the silver lining.

That said, there were still some annoying, stressful, frustrating and disgusting parts of pregnancy that I never expected, and thus a blog is born. I wanted to share that with people, along with how pregnancy & motherhood changes everyday life, marriage and relationships with people. Plus you'll get to see pictures of my undeniably adorable child. Sorry in advance if this gets too graphic!