We are expecting a baby! Getting pregnant, how we found out and more

Well, we are pregnant and this must not be a surprise for most if you are already following us on Instagram. But if you didn’t know, Yeiiiii we are expecting a baby boy this month and we couldn’t be happier. And yes, we know, it only took us about 8 months to finally write about it but as they say: “better later than never”. Now that we are expecting parents and we can’t travel for a while, we decided to start sharing more of our daily lifestyle including posts about the pregnancy (we get asked a lot of questions) and the arrival of our baby. So let’s get to it.

Did we plan to get pregnant?

I will start by telling you that in general, I am a big planner and that’s not always a good thing, I know. I like to make plans, dream for the future and that sometimes interferes with living in the present moment. So the one thing I didn’t want to plan, was getting pregnant. We wanted it to happen naturally and when the time was right. But how do I do that when I always had deadlines for everything in the back of my mind? Well, little by little we started talking about the idea of having kids. We were both over 35 years old, and have traveled to over 50 countries, we loved our freedom and being just the two of us. But we decided that at this stage of our lives we were finally ready to bring another life to this earth.

We were together for over 10 years, we saw all of our friends and relatives having 2-3 kids already but we never felt we were missing out or that we were ready, we enjoyed our life the way it was. Everyone kept asking us when are we going to have kids ( which honestly got a bit annoying ) and we simply said: “whenever we are ready”. Then there was the following answer: “you are never ready”, but we strongly disagree. We were together for long enough to built a strong, healthy and happy relationship, we fell like we did and experienced a lot in life, we’ve traveled the world, etc so the time came that we both agree and we knew that WE ARE READY. But again, we were not in a rush though, as I said we wanted to happen naturally and for it to be a surprise.

Two years back

In mid-2017 we decided to stop using protection and see what would happen without timing or planning. I’m pretty sure I am not the only one, but I never knew when I was ovulating, so it was easy for us to not stress and to not schedule our love life. We just continued our normal life and travels and if it happens, it happens. After a year of nothing happening, of course, I started to worry just a bit, but Mikey, on the other hand, was so positive and assured me that there’s nothing to worry about and he was sure it would happen when it’s meant to be. It was mid-2018, I was 38 and at this point, I really wanted to get pregnant and become a mom. We thought it was time to finally understand when I was ovulating and maybe do something to make things happen. So in August I bought prenatal vitamins and started taking them daily. I’ve heard and read that it can help prepare your body to get pregnant ( I can’t tell you if that helped or it was just the right time but 3 months later the moment finally happened ). Also, I bought a basal thermometer and started taking and recording my body temperature every morning as soon as I woke up. This was the most reliable method for me and I highly recommend it. I’ve tried the phone apps, ovulation strips, etc. but nothing was as accurate as taking my basal temperature daily and entering the data in the Fertility Friend FF App. So hopefully this will help those of you trying to get pregnant.

The trip to Hawaii

Now that I knew when I was really ovulating and understood my body, I still didn’t want to follow a schedule and be like: “Ok, it’s that time let’s do this”. What I did instead was I started to work on reducing the stress and anxiety of wanting to get pregnant and focusing even more on gratitude, positive believes and affirmations. At the end of October, we went on a week-long vacation to one of our favorite places in the world, Hawaii. There we were so high on life that I completely forgot the stress about the whole thing of getting pregnant. Sure enough, that’s when it happened, in the most beautiful place, unscheduled and absolutely naturally in a moment full of love and happiness. How do I know that’s when it happened? I won’t get in details but trust me I KNOW.

How did we find out we are expecting a baby?

Ok, the vacation was over and we came back from Hawaii on Nov 4th. Being back in our daily lives, of course, my first thoughts were “OMG, did it happen there?” I knew I was ovulating on Nov 1st, plus the same night I had a very vivid dream that I had a baby. So I was anxiously counting the days to when I could take a pregnancy test. Mikey and I never talked about if it did happen, etc. I was quiet for a month about the whole wanting to get pregnant and he was enjoying my peaceful mind. But oh my, all the thoughts I had in my head. Somehow deep down I had the feeling that the magic had happened. I didn’t feel anything different except a week after we got back I had my first huge emotional break down in years. I won’t get in details but I explained it to myself afterward that it was the day I was going through a huge hormonal change. Little did I know that’s probably when the egg was implementing in my uterus, somewhere around a week after conception and caused a huge hormonal surge and mood swings.

Two days after my breakdown I couldn’t wait and took a pregnancy test. Well, it was negative. But I knew it was too early because it was only around 10 days after ovulation and I had 4-5 more days until my period. This really shows how impatient I was (and of course I didn’t tell anything to Mikey). I had such a belief that this time it really happened, so being stubborn I couldn’t wait to see if my period would be late and I took another test on the next day – November 13th (our 3rd year wedding anniversary). I thought to myself, how cool would it be if I find out today and tell Mikey tonight. I took the test, I put it to the side and walked away. I am sure every woman who’s been wanting to get pregnant has imagined this very special moment and what would her reaction be, at least I have. After a few minutes, I went back and looked at the test, OMG!!! For the first time, there was a very light second line. Is that it, I wondered, is it real? My legs started shaking and I couldn’t believe it. I’ve been wanting this for so long and is it finally real? I always thought that I was going to cry at this moment but I didn’t. I think I was in shock and disbelief which was really weird. I was scared to get too excited in case it was a false alarm. Now I had to anxiously wait until the night to tell Mikey.

We had a meeting after he finished work at a restaurant to celebrate our wedding anniversary. As I was waiting for him, he called to say that there isn’t any parking and I told him I would jump in the car while he drives around and finds one. We finally parked and I told him that I’ve got him a small present. Here I need to add that in the past 7 years we stopped giving each other material presents, instead we give each other experiences. So his reaction was: ” but we don’t give each other presents, I have nothing for you”. I said it’s ok, I know, it’s a small one and handed him the pregnancy test. He jumped on his seat saying “Whaaaaaaat? A small one? That’s a huge one”, we both started laughing and the tears came. I think he said the word “whaaaaat” numerous times and at the end added “let’s not get too excited and do another test to make sure it’s real” haha. So that was it, it was super real and the tests in the next few days confirmed it.

We were so happy and at the same time, we still couldn’t believe it. We decided to tell no one not even our families until at least 10 weeks passed. After successfully completed the first trimester we officially told everyone else that we were expecting a baby. The joy was indescribable. Our baby is due July 25th and we can’t wait to meet him.

Ok, this is the longest and most personal blog post I’ve ever written, I hope you enjoyed it and it was helpful. Please leave us a comment or a question, we would love to chat with you more. Also, subscribe to our newsletter if you haven’t already because next, I will be writing more about each trimester of my pregnancy.

Sending you all love and light.

Xo Jana.