An Announcement

Sometime in the middle/end of March, I found out that I was pregnant. I knew it before I even took a test because I could tell my body was changing already. Weeks 6 through maybe 8, I was very fatigued all the time. I also had VERY strong food aversions. I did not want to eat turkey at all (and I love turkey!). We usually use ground turkey instead of beef because it's healthier, but the smell of ground turkey just grossed me out too much to deal with it anymore. However, I have been very lucky with morning sickness. I'd say there has been little to none. MAYBE once a week, I would feel like I needed to throw up, and I would, and that would be that. I was fine the rest of the day. I mostly hated the fact that NOTHING ever sounded good to me. For a little while, all I wanted to eat was fruit and other healthy options (weird... but good!). But I am grateful that I have been part of the 25% (or less?) of women who don't really get morning sickness. Oh, and that 24-hour flu that I had last week was really the flu, but I'm sure it was somewhat worse because of the pregnancy. That was the only day during this first trimester that I was not able to keep a single solid food down.

Now some of the feelings I've had throughout this time: anxiety and stress. Even though I had already known deep down that I was pregnant before I took a test, I still about had an anxiety attack when I saw the two lines. I didn't think it would happen so fast. I made a deal with Jon that we would start "trying" to have kids in February... or, in other words, stop "not trying" and take things as they come. We were in the mindset that "if it happened, then it happened," but we wouldn't stress over it if it didn't happen right away. Jon and I had started running together because he was getting ready for the fire academy, and I wanted to lose some weight before I actually got pregnant. Not long after we started training for a 10K (maybe two weeks in), I realized that I just couldn't run and keep up with him. I knew something was different.

Since Jon and I don't have health insurance, I knew we had to apply to Medicaid right away. Well, you probably aren't surprised that the government is a mess to deal with and made me very stressed out. When I first talked to them for my "interview" (you pretty much tell them everything that you just filled out on your application online again... so dumb), the guy told me that we might not qualify because we had too much in assets. We had a decent amount of money in the bank (not enough to pay for a baby though!) from our tax return. Also, the car my grandma gave us was still fairly new (very low mileage, a few years old, and in very good shape), so it is probably worth a decent amount of money. Jon didn't have a job at the time though, so how could we not qualify? The money in the bank wouldn't last us long. I was getting upset as I was put on hold while he figured everything out. Thankfully, he came back on and said it would all work out. Then I just had to bring in proof of the pregnancy, my birth certificate, and bank statements. Well, about a month later, I was denied. Then the stress came on even worse because if we had to pay for the baby, it would have to be done by credit card (for the most part). And Jon probably wouldn't be able to go to the paramedic program at all because we'd have absolutely no extra money for it. Well, turns out they lost my proof of pregnancy, and Jon was nice enough to call them to work it all out (he was only on hold for 45+ minutes). This time we faxed them our copy of the doctor's note. And about a week later, I was approved and so much more relieved. Either way, I knew all would work out okay because I figured this baby was meant to be because s/he came so fast.

I will be 14 weeks tomorrow. Jon and I just barely told our families and close friends yesterday. We (or I) wanted to wait until we heard the heartbeat, which we got to do this past Tuesday. I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared because I am. However, I know all will be well, and I'm excited to finally have that little baby that I have dreamed about since high school (I have always wanted to be a wife and a mother). We should be able to find out the sex of the baby sometime in July. I can't wait!