I wanted to write a fun post about where I am so far in my pregnancy and my experience so far. I found this little questionnaire that I thought would be fun to do.

How far along? 21 weeks

How big is the peanut? 1 pound according to 20 week ultrasound. Pregnancy apps say baby is the size of a banana.

Total weight gain/loss? gained 9 pounds

Maternity clothes? Not yet, however on the verge of needing some pants! I did purchase a belly band from Target that helps you stay in your regular pants for a bit longer. I am also using the pony tail holder trick where you loop it through the button hold of your pants and around the button.

Sleep? I have been doing pretty good in this department, although I do wake up 2-3 times a night to use the bathroom haha! I hear this only gets worse. I have noticed that I often wake up around 4:30 and sometimes it’s hard to get back to sleep. And sometimes my hips hurt and I have to switch sides throughout the night.

Best moment this week? Finding out the gender of our baby and celebrating my first Mother’s Day

Symptoms? I feel incredibly blessed as I really haven’t had many symptoms. I never had morning sickness (still don’t). I haven’t been all that emotional. I have some skin break outs every now and again and some days feel more tired than others. At the beginning I had some tummy troubles, but they say that is typical as the pregnancy hormones apparently slow down your intestines. But overall, pregnancy has been a good experience so far.

Food cravings? I haven’t really had any specific cravings – but I do like my sweets. (but I liked sweets before I was pregnant!)

Food aversions? I also haven’t really had any food aversions. There is this one fruity yogurt that Kyle likes to eat that sometimes gets to me, but I don’t think I liked it before I was pregnant either. lol

Gender? Not going to share that yet – that will come in a later post!

Labor signs? Thankfully, no!

Belly button in or out? In

What I miss? Coffee!! I chose to cut out caffeine all together, however, I do take a sip of Kyle’s coffee every now and again or will get decaf.

What I’m looking forward to? Of course meeting our precious little one, but also being able to stay at home with our baby and do some part time work from home on the side. Also, watching Kyle being a dad.

Milestones? Making it to the second trimester/20 weeks. Baby appears to be healthy and growing on track. Learning what the gender is.

Bump? I have a little bump at this point! It’s smaller in the mornings, but certainly grows during the day as I eat. haha!

One of the most exciting parts about being pregnant has been the joy of sharing the news with our family and friends. Kyle and I did the typical wait until after the first trimester before we told our siblings and others. I will say it was nice being the only ones (with the exception of our parents and some close friends) who knew about our sweet little baby. I will be honest that I wasn’t quite ready for all of the world to know. But of course, we weren’t going to keep it a secret forever. We decided to tell our siblings/extended family on Easter Sunday. We thought it would be a perfect time since we would all be together that day.

We had Easter lunch at my parents house and everyone but Joey was there (Ukraine is kind of far away) lol. Even though we are all adults, my parents (mainly my mom) still like to have an Easter egg hunt in the backyard. But let’s face it – the kid inside all of us still loves it. 🙂 I took a photocopy of our 7 week ultrasound and wrote “Baby Mullett hatching September 2016” and put it inside an egg. My mom and dad were in on it and hid the “special” egg along with the rest of the eggs. We were all instructed NOT to open any of the eggs until we were done with the hunt and back inside around the table. Kyle, Jeff, and Chris pretty much found most of the eggs haha! Chris actually found the special egg up in a tree. When he went to grab it, it fell down on the ground and opened up! The ultrasound fell out and my mom freaked out LOL! She quickly grabbed it and stuffed it back in the egg. When we all got back inside, we each took turns opening an egg. When Chris opened up the egg, it took him a second and then all of a sudden my sister (who was sitting next to him) started screaming in excitement. Everyone around the table pretty much cheered rather loudly. It was the typical Kader reaction. Libby popped up from her chair and was bouncing all over the place. She was the most excited of all. 🙂 I forgot to take a picture of the announcement, but you get the idea.

We later went to the Mulletts’ house for dinner. We all had little Easter baskets to open up. So we figured that was the perfect time to share with Kyle’s brothers and our future sister-in-law who was visiting. We decided to buy an Easter card and had them open it up together. It had the ultrasound inside of it.

On February 18th, Kyle and I had our first prenatal appointment with a midwife. It was at this appointment we received a big folder full of literature on pregnancy and everything you need to know about having a baby. It was all a bit overwhelming, exciting, and surreal all at the same time. The midwife was super nice and made both of us feel very comfortable and well informed. I had some routine tests and blood work done, but the most exciting moment of this visit was the chance to hear our baby’s heartbeat. I think I was only 9 weeks along at this point, so we were told there was a chance that we would not be able to pick it up. I remained hopeful though because I really wanted to hear that heartbeat to know that everything with our little one was ok. She put that jelly stuff on my tummy and had this little handheld monitor with a wand that she used to try and locate the heartbeat. It took her probably a good minute and I began to get discouraged until all of a sudden, there it was. A very fast and strong little heartbeat! What an incredible moment. At our last ultrasound we got to see the heartbeat, but couldn’t hear it. This was an all new amazing experiencing! Sure enough, our little baby was in there alive and well! It was such a joyous moment and one I will never forget! We also had another check up appointment about 4 weeks later and got to hear the heartbeat again – they check the heartbeat at every appointment which is super exciting. The first appointment the heartbeat was around 170 and the second appointment it was down to 148. We were told that at 9 weeks the baby’s heart was at the early stages of development so it would beat faster. I thought that was pretty interesting. Myth has it that if the baby’s heart rate is 140 or above you’re having a girl and if it is below 140 it’s a boy…but I’m pretty sure that is still a myth! haha! We will know soon enough.

Kyle was able to record the heartbeat at the first and second appointments and we have uploaded them at the link below if you want to give it a listen.

Baby Mullett Heart Beat

Both of our parents knew that we had been trying to have a baby. Both of our mom’s actually had us on their prayer lists. My mom had a prayer list specifically for women she knew who were pregnant. She felt God tell her to add my name to that list as an act of faith. Kyle’s mom also shared how God had also given her a word that Kyle and I would have a baby in 2016. So, when we shared the news with both sets of parents, you can imagine the extra amount of joy our moms had as their specific prayers were answered!

Kyle and I decided to wait until around Valentine’s Day to tell our parents. I think that we told my parents a little bit before and Kyle’s parents on actual Valentine’s Day. We wanted to find a creative way to tell them since this was such a momentous occasion! We’ve seen several different ways to share the news on facebook and pinterest, etc. so as you can imagine (especially if you know me) I felt a bit overwhelmed in trying to make a decision, but I think what we settled on was simply perfect. Instead of me writing it out, take a look below to see how we shared the news. 🙂

I remember making the exciting call to my OBGYN’s office letting them know that I had a positive pregnancy test result and that we needed to schedule my first appointment. What I didn’t realize is how long the wait was going to be til that first appointment – 3 1/2 weeks! Those days dragged on, and I found myself constantly on the internet researching every little thing about early pregnancy. That was the biggest mistake I could have ever made, but felt like I couldn’t stop. It gave me this false sense of control while at the same time creating intense and unnecessary worry. I read about all these sad things that could happen and I was convinced it would all happen to me. You would think that after experiencing God’s “yes” to a long awaited prayer that my faith would have been unstoppable, but here I was doubting the very miracle God was growing inside of me. I’ve been struggling with fully and confidently trusting in God. It’s embarrassing to admit, but it’s true. I am realizing quickly that pregnancy and becoming a mom is going to force me to trust God like I never have before, because boy are there countless things that are and are going to be out of my control. One baby step at a time I suppose.

Well, the day finally came (February 4th to be exact) where Kyle and I went to the doctor for my “confirmation of pregnancy” visit. We saw my Dr. which was actually very simple and quick. We then got to go to the ultrasound room to get our first ultrasound. I was only about 7 weeks and 3 days at this point. I was really nervous because I didn’t know what to expect and I was convinced that there wasn’t anything inside me because I still didn’t feel very pregnant (no morning sickness, weird cravings, or other typical pregnancy symptoms that apparently everyone has except me. I guess I shouldn’t be complaining…) The ultrasound tech was super laid back and very friendly. She made me and Kyle feel very comfortable with the whole process. It took only a few seconds before she zoomed her screen in to show us this teeny tiny little human bean. She also captured it’s little heartbeat. You could actually watch it beating on the screen (no sound at this point). The moment I saw that, tears began to roll down my face. I really was pregnant. There really is a little baby growing inside of me. Why did I ever doubt it? I am such a Thomas. 😦 Kyle and I were holding hands the whole time and it was such a sweet, magical, amazing moment that I will never forget.

Kyle has been the biggest encouragement and positive spirit for me during this experience so far. He would (and still does) reassure me that everything was going to be ok. He would gently remind me to have a little bit of faith when all I wanted to do was doubt. He is my rock and he already is an amazing father.

The ultrasound tech had one piece of advice to offer (this was to Kyle while I was in the bathroom). She said to STAY OFF THE INTERNET. Kyle then proceeded to ask her if she would write that out on a prescription for me. hahaha! It was a good piece of advice and something my own husband had been telling me for weeks. When will I ever learn.

I remember leaving the Dr.’s office that day full of joy and relief. We got to take home a sonogram of our tiny little nugget who was only a little bit bigger than a centimeter long at that point. I think at this point Kyle and I were still the only people who knew (besides our best friends the Lyells and Dr. Mullett’s dental hygienist who I had to tell secretly because I had a cleaning back in January and she had to ask about any changes in my medical history. It was pretty funny – and she did a great job keeping it a secret!) We went to Wildflower for a celebratory brunch – and then we both headed back to work full to the brim with joy. A day I will never forget. Thanks be to God for this precious gift!

Well, I cannot believe that I get to say this. Kyle and I are expecting our first baby! We are so thankful and grateful that God has blessed us with this gift. We had been trying for over a year and wondered if we were ever going to be able to conceive on our own. I can certainly say that the past year and few months of trying for a baby was very difficult on me emotionally and spiritually, as anyone could imagine. It certainly tested my faith and my patience. Kyle was always so very encouraging throughout the process, although I know it was a bit frustrating for him at times too. But as we know and learned again through this waiting is that God’s timetable is so very different from our own. And he is faithful. So faithful.

There were a few neat “God moments” that happened during the time we were trying, but one in particular was my favorite. Once we approached the year mark, and no sign of a baby was in sight, we started the process to figure out if something was preventing or making it difficult for us to conceive. We were scheduled for an appointment to see a fertility doctor over Christmas break. I will be honest, I was very sad that we were at this point – but also a little relieved that we were moving forward in some way instead of continuing the experience of the high hopes each month only to end in such great, deep disappointment. I had received a call from the doctor saying that my insurance would not cover any of the costs associated with our first visit. I was a bit confused and felt like we needed to reschedule the appointment in the new year as at that time I would have a new health plan starting in January and it would give me time to figure out if anything would be covered. Kyle’s mom had asked me how our appointment went, and I told her we actually didn’t go because of insurance issues and that we had to reschedule. She said, “Well, maybe that is God’s way of telling you that you won’t need to go.” I took what she said very lightly as at this point I had very little faith. 😦 Well, I kid you not, it was the day before our rescheduled appointment that I found out we were pregnant!

I woke up at 4:30 on January 12th because I had to pee. haha! I had bought some publix brand pregnancy tests earlier that week but I didn’t tell Kyle that I had bought them. I had taken one test several months before and got a big fat negative…so I told myself I would never do that again unless I was a few days late or was experiencing several symptoms. Well, on this morning I was at least 3 days late but I didn’t feel pregnant at all. I thought, well I have nothing to lose since we have our appointment tomorrow so I’ll at least know for sure whether or not we need to go. I remember watching that second line appear on the test and I could NOT believe my eyes. I started crying and freaking out, and probably sat in the bathroom for at least 15 minutes while I debated whether or not to wake Kyle up to tell him. I finally decided that I would let him sleep and I went back to our little reading nook, turned the light on and just sat there with the positive test in hand and was thanking and praising God for this precious, wonderful surprise. I will never forget those few quiet moments when it was just God and I who knew. It was so very special.

Seven-o-clock rolled around and I had crawled back in bed and waited for Kyle’s alarm to go off. When he began stirring I told him, “Babe, I don’t think we are going to be able to go to our appointment tomorrow.” He sleepily said, “Why not, what is it this time?” and I showed him the positive pregnancy test. He immediately rolled over to give me a hug and said “We did it!!!”
It was the sweetest moment ever.

I am now 15 weeks and 4 days today. I look forward to sharing more about this journey! We are just so excited and thankful!