We're Having a Baby!
JT and I are beyond stoked to announce,
BABY CASTNER COMING SUMMER 2022!
It is still crazy for me to say that I'M PREGNANT!! I am so relieved to finally be sharing the news with you. There is so much I want to share that it's kind of overwhelming, but I'll start off answering the questions everyone wants to know: I'm 16 weeks pregnant and due June 30th, 2022!
JT and I had always talked about starting a family around 30 years old, so we decided to start trying back in August (3 months before my 30th birthday) because I was worried it would take us a while to get pregnant. Mostly because it took my mom a while to get pregnant all 3 times and that's why my brothers and I are 5 years apart. We feel incredibly lucky to have conceived after just 3 months of trying. I know it's not that easy for everyone and my heart goes out to those who are struggling to conceive.
These past few months have been some of the hardest, most emotional months of my life. We are over the moon excited to be having a baby, but to be honest it has been a lot to process. After unexpectedly losing our french bulldog Nellie just two weeks after finding out it felt like our whole world was flipped upside down. It was hard to be experiencing so much heartache and sadness during a time where we should feel overwhelming happiness. It was a very unfortunate mix of emotions and I started to worry that my negative feelings were going to affect the baby. Shortly after losing Nellie we decided to get our new french bulldog, Lola and she is the most cuddly puppy in the world which I truly believe was a gift from Nellie. She knew we needed the extra love. Lola has been extremely helpful during this time of grief, but I will say getting a puppy at 6 weeks pregnant is not a walk in the park. My symptoms were just starting to come on and I also caught a gnarly sinus infection that had me down for the count the first week we had her. It was a struggle to say the least.
HOW I'VE BEEN FEELING
This is a tough one to answer because overall I feel like I haven't had it as bad as other women when it comes to first trimester pregnancy symptoms. I have not felt great at all by any means, but I have not thrown up once which is a plus. My most annoying symptoms are headaches, fatigue, waves of nausea and an overall BLAH feeling. My energy and motivation was completely out the window from weeks 6-12. I still can't say I feel great, but I have definitely been feeling better than I did in those 6ish weeks.
I feel like I have been eating so much. The first few weeks I just ate whatever sounded good in the moment and that usually meant fast food and take out. Looking back it makes me cringe. All I wanted was greasy, unhealthy food that would just leave me feeling worse, but nothing feels as bad as being hungry. I feel so nauseous when I'm hungry, so I've been eating a bunch of little meals throughout the day. That being said, eating a lot has for sure made me gain weight quicker than I expected. I didn't think I would have as noticeable of a bump this early on, but I'm learning that every pregnancy is different and some body types show sooner than others. I have to remind myself I'm creating a human being inside of me! It is insane to me that my body just knows what to do all on it's own. How beautiful is that? You gotta give yourself grace.
TELLING OUR FAMILY + FRIENDS
Originally I was going to wait 3 weeks to tell my parents when they were going to be in town for my birthday, but I couldn't wait that long. I had to tell them immediately, so we decided to drive to Marco Island just two days after finding out. A week after that we went up to Melbourne Beach to tell JT's dad and step mom and on our way up we Face Timed his mom and sister. A few days later we told my older brother and my best friends. I decided to wait to tell my younger brother, because I wanted to tell him in person at Thanksgiving. We told everyone pretty early on, I know that anything can happen in the first 12 weeks, so I was a little worried. I couldn't hide it though it was just so exciting!!! We documented our family's reactions, so we will be sharing a video next week! It's so cute.
FINDING OUT THE GENDER
Yes, we already found out the gender and we are so excited to share the news!!! I will be posting a video reveal on my Instagram this week, so make sure you're following along @brunchandthebeach! Once the gender is revealed I will be sharing more ie. our nursery inspiration, things I've already bought, etc.
WHAT'S NEXT...
Today I shared a video on Instagram of me finding out I'm pregnant and tonight I'll be sharing another blog post that is written like a diary entry from the day I found out I'm pregnant. I'm so glad I was able to jot down all of my thoughts shortly after taking the test and telling JT. It's raw and real and something I will always look back on to remember this monumental time in my life! I will also be including a video of when I told JT!!
AHH it is still so surreal to me that WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!
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