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I first got the news that I was pregnant at midnight on Christmas eve from the emergency room.

This was NOT how I was expecting to find out that we were going to be having a baby, I was thinking it would be something sweeter and more romantic like in the movies or what you see on Instagram. Instead, I was alone, terrified, and in so much pain.

Around 11pm on Christmas eve I was having the worst cramping pains I’ve ever had – and I don’t get cramps when I’m on my period. I hadn’t started my monthly yet, so I knew it wasn’t from that. I tried to lay in bed and let the pain pass, but with each minute that went by it got worse and worse. I started shaking, sweating, and felt very nauseous. I could barely get up out of bed to go to the toilet to vomit. Adam gave me some ibuprofen then took me to the emergency room, where he had to sit in the truck with no clue as to what was going on with me.

When I first got there, they asked if I was having a miscarriage, no way I said, I’m not pregnant at all. Well, a few minutes later they used an ultrasound probe to figure out what was causing the pain. Turns out I have two cysts on my right ovary, oh and I was about 5 weeks pregnant.  

WHAT?!

I hadn’t even bought a pregnancy test yet. I stopped taking my birth control right before our honeymoon (5 weeks ago…) and we’ve been trying to get pregnant, but thought it was too soon for anything to happen yet. I even spoke with my doctor to ask her how long it would take to get pregnant, and little did I know I was already knocked up at that time!

We told both sides of our family the next day for Christmas and they were so overjoyed to hear the news, but what made me the happiest and what I’ll never forget is Adam’s reaction when I finally got to tell him the good and bad news in the parking lot at 1am on Christmas day. He immediately started crying, so happy that he was going to finally be having a baby – something he’s been wanting for a very long time, and something I wanted to give to him ever since we first met 4 years ago.

So then I thought, now what? I don’t know the first thing when it comes to being pregnant or having a baby. Where do I even start? We had a trip planned for Colorado to go snowboarding the following weekend, which is one of the many activities I used to do that I no longer can for the next 9 months. I spent the weekend in the truck watching Netflix and catching up on work while the boys had fun on the slopes.

The worst symptoms I had during the first pregnancy was while we were in Colorado, something I attribute to the change in elevation. I had no appetite, but I had to force myself to eat so the morning sickness would go away, and I had a cold that lasted for about two weeks – and I never get sick. After that passed by mid-January I was pretty much back to my normal self, the morning sickness lingered but it wasn’t bad at all as long as I ate breakfast which consisted of a bagel with cream cheese and a protein shake or eggs.

I felt so much changing with my body on the inside, yet I wasn’t showing until I reached the end of the first trimester. I felt like I was gaining so much weight (which I really wasn’t) and I slowly stopped going to the gym to lift weights because I felt like people were judging me (which they weren’t). I had to stop going to hot yoga classes, couldn’t lift as much weight anymore, can’t do abs/core anymore, no more running, and I didn’t feel like myself at all. I kept going to Orange Theory and spin class; the only things that were keeping me sane and still in a routine.

Other than changes in the gym, I kept up with my normal work schedule – actually getting big projects completed and getting systems in place for when I do need to take maternity leave and I can’t be present. My business needs to keep running on all 8 cylinders without me there.

I’ve been reading other blogs, and according to the pregnancy apps and articles I should feel worse and be more tired, but to be honest, I was feeling pretty normal. There were many days where I actually forgot I was pregnant. The morning sickness passed (and I never actually vomited from it), never got strange cravings, I was going to bed early and getting enough sleep, I kept up with workouts and started working with a prenatal nutritionist from Total Nutrition Technology to make sure I am staying on top of my health and don’t let bad temptations get to me.

By the end of week 12 my pants didn’t fit anymore, and I actually left them unbuttoned while at work sometimes. I’ve resorted to leggings every day and bought 2 pairs of jeans that were 2 sizes bigger than normal from Walmart. I plan on getting some maternity clothes soon from Savers or a gently used clothing store to save some money and help recycle clothes.

I’ll write a blog post next all about the natural and plastic-free products I use now – especially knowing that I’m pregnant and how plastic and other chemicals can lead to miscarriages.

I’m so so so grateful for Adam being the most supportive husband in this journey, he plans on coming to our next appointment to see the ultrasound and meet our baby for the first time! We’ve decided to not find out the gender – this is life’s biggest, natural surprise and I’d like to keep it that way. And no, we haven’t thought of any baby names yet.

I’ve been spending more time with him than ever before; the fact that I’m no longer traveling for races (except for the GatorNationals coming up) and that our friends don’t really ask us to hang out as much since both of us don’t drink now. But I’ve really enjoyed this time with him and making progress on finishing remodeling our house.

Now that I’m into my second trimester, I’ve noticed that I have my appetite back and less energy in the morning from lack of sleep at night and waking up after having some very wild dreams. But I’ve always had a great energy storage tank and don’t need to fuel up with caffeine, not that I can have it anyways.