Baby Girl Snyder: The First 12 Weeks

Well, our happy news is out and I can't even tell you how good it feels. In case somehow you missed it, we're pregnant and I am still completely overwhelmed with joy. Since finding out in mid-November, I've prayed more prayers than I can count for a healthy child and at our 12 week ultrasound this past Wednesday, our prayers were answered abundantly when we saw a healthy, bouncy baby in there and even learned we are having a girl! 

We had actually been pretty open with close family and friends about the pregnancy already, but getting to tell those people it's a girl and then getting to share our news with the rest of our world felt pretty incredible. The outpouring of love and excitement from our family and friends has been the cherry on top of this sweet, sweet time in our life together.

I can sum up the first 12 weeks of pregnancy pretty simply for you by saying I've spent just about every day of the last 3 months trying to figure out the earliest I could get back in bed. I could have never prepared myself for the complete and utter exhaustion that is the first trimester. Whew! It is seriously no joke. 

My first trimester happened to span the busiest time of the year with Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's, which is normally when I'm buzzing around decorating, baking, shopping, wrapping. I definitely wasn't on top of my game which is totally okay because I was busy growing a healthy little babe. I still did everything I wanted to do it just included a lot more whining and procrastinating. I remember being near tears the week before Christmas trying to knock out the rest of our shopping list and just being so incredibly tired by the end of the day and having to talk myself into going to one. more. store. It was pretty pathetic but my coping skills were non-existant at that point. 

This also explains why I went completely missing from this little blog of mine. I had such high hopes everyday of being productive. I would take out chicken or something to make for dinner. I would pack a gym bag and bring it to work with me. I would think of a possible blog post topic and get excited to write that night. By the time I left work at 4:30 each day, though, I couldn't even entertain the idea of doing any of that. 

All of this to say that I cannot complain a bit because I haven't suffered even a little bit from the worst of the pregnancy symptoms. Aside from exhaustion and major discomfort in my expanding chest, I haven't experienced any sickness at all. This is an incredible blessing and I am so thankful because I know others who spent their first trimester sick all day every day. I've been incredibly lucky, that's for sure!

This 12th week of pregnancy has been so special. Here are some of the highlights for me:

- I got the call from our doctor about an hour before Jonathan was to pick me up for the ultrasound. They told me they had the results from our blood test and asked if I wanted to know the gender. I'd originally hoped they would wait until we were both there later that afternoon to tell us, but this actually worked out better because I could be the one to tell my sweet husband the news. She told me it was a girl and I proceeded to cry happy tears and try to control my urge to call Jonathan immediately. I decided it would be perfect to wait until after the ultrasound to tell him the gender once we knew everything was okay with the baby. Holding on to that secret for the 2 hours between the call and our ultrasound nearly killed me. I don't know how people do creative gender reveals for their spouse - there's no way I could've held it in any longer. That 2 hours of torture was totally worth it though, because we were both already so psyched walking out of the ultrasound. I grabbed his hand and told him now I could share a little surprise with him - that it's a girl! Standing outside of the doctor's office with so much happy news to celebrate is something I will never ever forget. 

- The ultrasound technician had a hard time getting a really good shot of our baby girl because she was moving around so much. I couldn't' have cared less about getting a photo - I was completely mesmerized by her bouncing around and waving her hands in the air. My eyes fixated on her most perfect little button nose and picture or no picture - I knew nothing would ever be the same. We did end up getting a few decent ultrasound photos after all which was just a bonus!

- I met up with my parents on Saturday so my mom and I could have some quality time and she came bearing all sorts of little gifts for our girl. Going through these teeny, adorable little items and picturing our own little bundle of love in them just felt completely surreal. 

I know what you're probably thinking and it's whether or not that adorable sweatshirt comes in big girl sizes. I asked my momma the same thing. It's my absolute favorite. 

This sweet baby is the best dream come true for us and we are incredibly grateful for all that is to come. Thank you for sharing in our joy and excitement! 

Second trimester -- more energy and soon enough a sweet baby bump -- here we go!