So, I’ve Been Keeping a Tiny Secret…

The secret is finally out… I’m PREGNANT! Baby girl is due right before Valentine’s Day - which makes me 21 weeks today. It’s crazy to think that I’m more than halfway there. Some days it feels like this pregnancy is flying by, but other days I think about how slow it’s going. Either way, I can’t complain because I’ve had a relatively easy pregnancy so far. 

You might be wondering why I waiting so long before making an announcement online. I know, I know. Most people announce right after the 1st trimester, usually around 13 weeks, but waiting was the right decision for my family. I’m going to do a whole post about this, but the journey to get pregnant was certainly not the easiest one. Although I knew it was real when I saw the positive pregnancy test at 3 weeks 6 days, when I heard the heartbeat at 6 weeks, and when we received positive screening results at 10 weeks and 15 weeks, I always felt like it was too good to be true. Our close friends and family members would ask us when we were posting about our pregnancy online, and I kept telling them that I wanted to wait until after the 20 week ultrasound. After we saw our baby girl moving around and yawning in 2D and 3D {!!} I felt comfortable sharing our news with the world. 

Bryan and I feel absolutely blessed and it’s difficult to put into words how excited we are to meet our baby in just a few short months. Our family and friends who have known about our pregnancy for a couple of months now have been so supportive. Our little one is already so incredibly loved. Last night, I posted the photo above to my private Facebook account, as well as on Instagram and Twitter, and I was floored with the amount of support that came flooding in. With all the negativity on social media recently, it was nice to share something uplifting and positive. 

Now that I’ve announced I’m pregnant, you might be wondering what’s going to happen with this little ol’ blog. As you can imagine, it’s been really hard to keep this a secret on Simply Nicole/Instastories/Twitter/etc., since these are a huge reflection of my personal life. You may have noticed a dip in posts this summer, and in all honesty… it’s because all I could think about was baby and I couldn’t talk about it yet!

I know many of you don’t have any interest in pregnancy/motherhood content, so my blog won’t turn into a complete mom blog, but of course I’m going to share this journey with you from time to time. Every Monday, I plan on doing a Bump Date, where I share what’s going on in my pregnancy. You’ll get an insight on how I’m feeling, products I’m loving, craving I’m having, and more. Some other posts I have planned include:

• Our fertility story
• Pregnancy/parenting books
• 1st, 2nd, and 3rd trimester recap & essentials
• Registry favorites
• Nursery reveal

Since it’s Monday, let’s get into our first Bump Date, shall we?!

Bump Date: 21 Weeks

Baby is the size of a: Baby bok choy {approximately 10.5 inches long and 12 oz.}

Gender: We’re having a baby girl! We found out the gender when we had NIPT {non-invasive prenatal testing} done at 10 weeks. The test checked for trisomy 21 {Down syndrome}, trisomy 18 {Edwards syndrome} and trisomy 13 {Patau syndrome}, but also pulled the chromosomes to confirm the gender. Waiting for those results was the most nerve-racking five days. Thankfully, we have a healthy baby girl. I would have been happy with a boy or a girl, but I’m so excited to have a daughter. It’s interesting because I swore up and down that we were having a boy. I’ll do a first trimester recap post, but most of the old wives tales were pointing to boy. I was absolutely shocked.

Names: Sorry to be a downer, but we’re keeping it a secret. We’ve had our girl’s name picked out even before we got pregnant. There were a few others that we liked, but I knew deep down what her name was going to be. Choosing a boy’s name would have been much more difficult. Bryan and I actually had a spreadsheet with a bunch of names and overtime many of them got moved to a “veto” column. There was maybe one or two boy names that I would have been okay with, but I honestly didn’t love any of them. Good thing we’re having a little girl. 

What I’m Wearing: Up until this past week, I’ve gotten away with wearing my normal jeans with an Ingrid & Isabel BellaBand over top. However, my zipper started digging into my belly, so I knew it was time for some maternity jeans. I bought these ankle length jeggings in blue from Motherhood Maternity and I’m absolutely obsessed with them. They aren’t nearly as baggy as most maternity pants I’ve found and they keep their shape throughout the day. I’ve also been living in a few pieces I picked up from Target - these extra long tanks and maternity leggings. Both pieces are super soft and really inexpensive. 

Sickness: I feel really good right now. Aside from terrible stomach aches during the first few weeks of pregnancy, I never felt nauseous and never had morning sickness {thank God}. I have a bit more energy than I had during my first trimester, but I’m not dancing around my living room or anything. I think the burst of energy that “they” say you’re supposed to get in your second trimester is a fluke. 

Cravings: Throughout my entire pregnancy so far I’ve craved lemonade. I legit need to have at least two bottles of Tropicana Lemonade on hand at all times. In fact, I just picked up another bottle of it yesterday. Other than that, this past week I’ve been craving all things sweet - cake, cookies, fruit, candy, danish. If it has sugar in it, I want it. 

Aversions: Nothing really. I haven’t been in the mood to eat avocados, but it’s not really an aversion. Early on, I wanted nothing to do with shrimp. I never got sick from it, but it just seemed super unappetizing. Thankfully, I finally was able to start eating it again last week. 

Favorite Products: I’m actually going to do a whole post about this, but for now I’ll share a few. I absolutely love my Snoogle pillow, the Ovia and Baby Center apps, my Contigo water bottle, Ugg slippers, and my pregnancy journal.

Sleeping: Sleeping has been pretty good so far. I can’t complain about that. My Snoogle pillow has been a lifesaver. My dog Pete really likes it too. Haha! I do have to get up multiple times per night to go to the bathroom, but I typically am able to fall back to sleep pretty easily. I’ve heard that sleeping gets difficult in the third trimester, so I’m trying to sleep as much as I can right now.  

Rings: My hands aren’t swollen yet, so rings are still on. 

// I’m so excited to share this journey with you all. Be sure to follow along on Instastories for updates. Talk to you soon! 

Nicole