Y’all, we’re PREGNANT!

Well, by now you’ve likely seen our above Instagram post announcing the blessing of our first little one. To say that we’re SO excited would be an understatement!

So let’s take you back to the beginning of our story….

How/when did we find out?

It was a cold January day, and I remember feeling kind of “off.” My period was supposed to happen sometime soon, but I was having extra symptoms this time-a-round that definitely felt out of the ordinary.

This was exciting! Daniel and I had been actively “not preventing,” starting at the end of August. I say actively not preventing because I didn’t want to put a ton of pressure on either of us to conceive, since I know it’s pretty common for couple’s to have difficulty and/or for it to take awhile. So I just wanted to give it to God and see how our story unfolded, and start this process with an open mind and knowledge that we would need to be patience.

Even still, January seemed like a pretty quick turn around for this kinda thing. However, I wasn’t totally freaking out just yet – because last September, I had these same symptoms, but my period was just late. 

So I figured, like in September, I was just late again. 

HOWEVER. I couldn’t shake this gut-feeling that it was different this time.

That maybe this time, the pregnancy symptoms actually meant that I was pregnant, and not that my soon-to-be period was being extra weird and just late. 

Things just felt different this time! It’s hard to describe, but I kind of had this peace in my heart that this could be the real deal.

Nevertheless, I kept telling myself, “Rosalynne, don’t get your hopes up. It’s only been a few months, and it often takes couples a long time to conceive.”

But y’all, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I felt pregnant.

I remember on Monday, January 15th, telling my girlfriend Joanna in the gym that I thought I might be pregnant. That it could be a false alarm, but I had this weird feeling that I might actually be true. But I was torn, because again, didn’t want to get my hopes up and be disappointed.

You can tell, I was very back and forth on the whole thing :p 

On Tuesday, Daniel encouraged me to take a pregnancy test, because I was driving myself (and probably him) crazy with, “I think I’m pregnant, but maybe I’m not.” 

However, I politely declined, because I didn’t want to “waste” a pregnancy test on my being late for my period (which isn’t totally uncommon for me).

Then Wednesday morning I woke up, and I KNEW. I was pregnant. I just had this strong gut feeling that it was really happening, and at this point I needed to know.

So I took a pregnancy test.

When we started trying for a family, Daniel asked me if he could be there whenever I took a test/thought I was pregnant, because he wanted to be a part of that moment. So sweet! So I took the test with Daniel, and while we waited for our results, we went to the couch to finish our quiet time and pray together.

Y’all, even though I don’t remember the exact words that were said, but I do remember that Daniel prayed the sweetest prayer.

Both of our hearts were so open to whatever our family story was going to be – good or bad, happy or sad – and I was just SO grateful in that moment to be married to a man who had such a beautiful heart and faith in the Lord.

My prayer from when we started trying was that God would be honored and praised in whatever our family story would be. That we would trust God with this journey. And I’m so grateful that from the very beginning, Daniel and I were both SO aligned on this approach.  

So after we prayed, we excitedly (and nervously) walked to the bathroom to check on the test. 

Y’all – This was the LONGEST. WALK. EVER.

But it was worth it, because y’all,

THE PREGNANCY TEST WAS POSITIVE!

WE ARE PREGNANT!

WE ARE GOING TO BE PARENTS!!!

I had this super surreal peace in my heart about baby. Even as we were walking to check on the test, God totally put a peace in my heart about the test being positive.

Not only that, I had such a strong sense of peace that baby was coming in God’s perfect timing (a fall baby!!!!), and that baby was going to be such a beautiful part of God’s kingdom. 

Even though I obviously didn’t know if baby would continue to thrive or if we would miscarry, I had this peace that we would be able to bring baby earth-side.

And I still have this supernatural peace… That this baby has a story and a God-given purpose in this world. I’m excited to see how God continues to move in this sweet babe’s story.

So back to Wednesday – I was completely floating on a cloud. 

I still feel this way – just so overwhelmed (in a good way) and grateful this this blessing and opportunity God has given us. 

Again, we’re just SO grateful and honored to steward this blessed little babe. 

And just cause I feel like someone will ask, that was the only test I took, because the test only confirmed what God already told me in my heart.

After this moment, we had to head into work at CFA, but I wanted to grab a quick selfie together to celebrate the day we found out that we are going to be parents!!!! 

BTW, hardest thing EVER not telling the entire world that we were pregnant. 

We waited to tell people, even family, because we wanted to make it past the first trimester, and have some time to process and celebrate this news ourselves.

Even though it was really difficult, I’m glad we waited. Again, it was a special time for just us.

But as a terrible liar and person who doesn’t like to lie, I don’t think we’ll keep things secret likely AT ALL if we’re blessed with another pregnancy. It was special this go-round, and I’m glad we waited, but likely not something I could do again :p 

Anyways, now onto more fun things:

How did we tell our families?

This, by far, has been one of my favorite things we’ve done!

Before we told the first family member, I was really nervous. I’m not sure why, but I just wasn’t sure what the reaction would be, I guess (so silly of me). 

However, EVERYONE WAS SO EXCITED!!! (duh).

Daniel and I decided to wait until we were past the first trimester, just to be safe. This sweet little babe is the first grandchild for both our parents, and I didn’t want to announce and then have to share the heartbreak. I knew I would need some time to process things before we shared it out with others. Thankfully, this wasn’t a part of our story!

Anyways, we found some time in April to visit Daniel’s parents in south Louisiana, and planned a trip. We also planned a dinner with my parents and grandma at our house the night before we left for the trip, so that all the parents would know within about 24 hours of each other!

After scavenging the internet for ideas on how to announce, I decided that with our coffee-loving families (on both sides) a mug reveal would be the perfect idea! So we ordered some mugs from a local Etsy Shop (here’s a link to one of the mugs we ordered, for anyone who’s curious) and I wrapped them up. 

We told both our parents that we bought them gifts from the Chick-fil-A conference we went to about a month ago, and that they were really similar, so they had to open them at the same time. 

Y’all, THIS WAS THE BEST THING EVER!

Seeing their slow-motion reactions (so grateful that moment played in slow-mo) to their reading the mugs, processing what it said, reading it again, and then looking up and reacting to confirm what they were thinking…. Just be still my heart!

There were tears of joy shed, lots of hugs and excitement, and then of course questions on all the things!

It was so much fun and so special getting to tell each of our immediate family members individually, and I’ll definitely hold these moments and cherish them in my heart forever.

So that’s the long and the short of it from the beginning! Next week I’m planning to share all about the first trimester, our first ultra sound (babe is so healthy and perfect) and just all the things.

If you have any specific questions that you want to know, feel free to leave them down below.

Otherwise, thanks for celebrating with us in this exciting new season!

Until next time, xo

Rosalynne