We found out that I was pregnant the first week of November. In fact, the day before we found out, we finally got our German bank account set up and we were so excited to officially be DONE with everything on our list we needed to do in order to “get settled” in Germany. Little did we know that we were about to get the surprise of our lives.
I took the test early one morning and once I saw the results, panicked thinking I was reading the results wrong since the instructions were in German. I convinced myself that maybe a big pink plus sign meant something different to Germans…ridiculous, I know. After sitting on the bathroom floor, sweating and searching online for 30 minutes trying to find the instructions in English, I realized I was reading the results correctly and I was, in fact, pregnant. I sat on the floor another 30 minutes, with my head spinning, trying to think of a fun way to tell Jackson. I ended up not being able to hold it in, ran to our bedroom, jumped on the bed, woke him up and told him just like that. It was a sweet moment. Well, it was sweet after he stopped groggily shouting that the lights were too bright and that I was “being too crazy this early in the morning”.
He was in shock, of course, and it took me a solid 5 minutes to convince him that I wasn’t joking or lying and this was actually happening. We spent the rest of the day trying to wrap our heads around this very unexpected but very sweet gift we had just been given.
Also, to make the day we found out even crazier, we found out on the day of the election. I stayed up all night in Germany (we’re 7 hours ahead) watching the election coverage and googling everything there is to google about being pregnant. At least we weren’t alone in dealing with a major surprise that day.
That first day was so crazy. We looked at each other every 5 minutes and laughed because how on earth were we going to be parents so soon? I had no idea where to start. What am I not supposed to eat? What even are prenatal vitamins and how do I find them in Germany? How are we going to tell our families? What exactly is folic acid and how do I get enough of it? Then came the horror stories you start reading. I got into a black hole of EVERTYHING that could possible go wrong in pregnancy, and Jackson sweetly but sternly pulled me out and made me stop.
Since we found out, life has been crazy. We’re officially moving back to the States for a number of reasons. While we are so so so excited for this baby, there has definitely been some grieving over our having to leave. We felt like we were finally settled and able to fully devote all of our time to the organization we were a part of starting and to the ministry. We loved our apartment and our team and we loved spending our days caring for refugees and telling them about Jesus. We will miss it so much, but we are so excited for what this next season will look like for us.
I’m currently 14 weeks pregnant and am bloated enough to look 6 months pregnant in the evenings. This bloat is NO JOKE, people. I’m mostly past nausea, other than the occasional bought here and there. My heartburn is out of control and my burps would win a middle school boy burping contest. They are next level. I’m patiently (not so patiently) waiting for the energy boost everyone says comes in the second trimester. I LOVE maternity pants and don’t know how I will ever go back to non-elastic waste bands. They are a gift from the good Lord.
So, if you were surprised to hear that I’m pregnant, that makes 2 of us (3 if you count Jackson). But, I’ve always loved surprises and Jackson and I haven’t done much that’s been planned or expected, so it seems fitting that this is how we’d have our first kid. This is the best surprise ever and we are so excited/anxious/stoked to have this baby.
The Struggles and Laughs of a Momma and Wife 