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I’ve been wanting to share my pregnancy story for a while now, just haven’t had the energy or time to write it all up.  So we started trying in December 2016, at that time, a couple of my friends had just announced that they were pregnant and that “they got pregnant on the first go” or “it only took us a couple of months” so I was excited and thought that would be the same for me! I don’t know about anyone else, but I was so excited to start trying, and obviously stocked up pregnancy tests that can give you results like 5 days before your aunt flow is due! Fast forward to about 3 days before; I take a test, and I see a faint faint second line – OMG this is it! I’m pregnant. Googles what to do, they say do a Digital test because it’s more clear than faint line it’s either “pregnant” or “not pregnant” I waited until the next day, bought the Digital test, and did it; and it said ‘PREGNANT” oh my god, that was easy I thought (keep reading…. it wasn’t).  I was so excited though, I went nuts googline what to do next, I made a little sign for Drikus that said “you’re going to be a daddy” and put it on our bed. About 5 or 6 hours later, my back got really really sore, and I started cramping. Again, I googled; and it said cramps are totally normal. Okay, but this is painful. Next minute, I definitely knew I wasn’t pregnant (if you know what I mean). I again, started googling, and it turns out what had happened is what’s called a “chemical pregnancy” or “early miscarriage” most people don’t even know they’ve had this, but because I was monitoring it so closely,  I did. And I was devastated. I got over it, and always knew that this was could be part of the journey, but it was still disappointing.

Next month, I obsessed again, and did the early pregnancy tests, full of excitement, only for it to be a negative. This went on for 7 months (which in hindsight isn’t even all that long). We ended up going to Europe in July, and I decided that I was going to take a break from doing ‘all the right things’ like not drinking, watching my ovulation, eating soft cheese etc etc until we got back. Low and behold, we fell pregnant. How typical.

I actually remember asking a family friend about how long it took her to fall pregnant, and she said that they tried for ages, and the doctor recommended that they go on a holiday; that gave me hope at the time, and it ended up being true for me. I guess because you’re not stressing about it so much it just kind of happens naturally? Who knows.

My 5 key learnings from the whole journey are

[1] Stop Googling everything

Seriously, every god damn thing under the sun is a sign of early pregnancy. And who knows why, but all the symptoms of early pregnancy are the same as PMS signs. You just stress yourself out, you get excited, then you get disappointed. And it’s NOT A FUN ROLLERCOASTER OF EMOTIONS SO PLEASE JUST STOP! Take it from me. Even now being pregnant, I’ve forced myself to stop googling things, I just end up freaking myself out, and it’s so unnecessary.

[2] Continue on with your life

Again, if you Google what to do if you’re trying to conceive, there are all these foods to stop eating, there is all this exercise to do, you make all these sudden changes to to your life and routine, that (in my opinion) throws you out of whack. I could be totally wrong on this, but in my experience, it was only when I went back to being plain ol me, having fun, not overthinking and stressing, that I fell pregnant.

[3] It takes time

They say it can take up to 1 year to fall pregnant, and if you extend that time out to 1.5 years it’s an even higher percentage of people who are pregnant. I found, that I was only paying attention to the stories of people who fell pregnant quickly, because that’s what I wanted to hear. A lot of people don’t talk about how long it can take, and all the emotion involved. I even think now, that 7 months was relatively quick in the grand scheme of things (DEFINITELY NOT AT THE TIME THOUGH). Just be okay with the fact that it’s something that might take a while.

[4] Stop looking at the calendar

I was obsessing over ovulation, and trying to figure out the prime days for conception. Again, it’s good to know these things and have a rough understanding, but I think you can work yourself up into a frenzy if you start obsessing over it (like me). Just have fun with it.

[5] Communicate and be honest

For the first few months I kept a lot of the emotion to myself, because I didn’t want hubs to think I was being stupid or overthinking things. It was really only when I started opening up to him about it all that he gave me some solid advice, love and cuddles – which I needed. It’s a journey for them too, and it’s something that no one really has control over; so if you’re having a crappy day, talk to your partner about it. Go on a date, take your mind off things. Instead of turning to Google for all the answers, turn to your loved ones. It’s such a taboo to talk about trying, but I’ve found since I fell pregnant, so many people have opened up about their own stories and journey’s. About miscarriages, and months of waiting, and tears etc; I wish there was more of this kind of sharing BEFORE you suffer through it alone.

Anyway, I have blabbed on more than enough! (thanks for sticking with me, if your made it this far!)

We are super excited to be having a little boy in March; and the best advice my hubby gave me in the 7 months of trying, was to enjoy that stage that we were in. We get so rushed into “I can’t wait to be pregnant” and then ” I can’t wait to have the baby” and then “I can’t wait for baby’s 1st birthday” that we forget to enjoy the NOW. It’s all part of the journey, and it’s a special time between you and your partner. Every month extra, is an extra month worth of sleep-ins, and late night Netflixing, and spontaneous outings (there are some positives).

I hope this helps anyone that feels like they’ve been trying forever!

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