We’re going to be adding an extra place setting to our dinner table because I’m pregnant, and come September, we will be a family of four!! Words cannot express how grateful we are to God for this little blessing and our journey to get to this point. We’d like to thank our families and friends enough for all of their prayers and well wishes during this time.
Everything about this pregnancy has been different than when I was pregnant with our daughter. My pregnancy with her was a breeze, and while this pregnancy has been very tolerable, I’ve definitely felt more nauseous and bloated, and I’ve had major food aversions, making it more difficult than usual to make recipes for the blog. The first few weeks everything other than plain carbs sounded gross, which is why I cut back on posting the past few weeks. Luckily, I’m feeling better now, although I do still crave fries all the time!
Our desire and journey to grow our family was different than the first time, too. It took several months, which was hard for me. Absolutely not as tough as what a lot of women go through (years of trying to get pregnant, miscarriages, etc.), but it still took a toll on me emotionally. I’m not sharing this for sympathy because we didn’t have to wait that long in the grand scheme of things and I know how incredibly blessed we are to be able to grow our family – I’m sharing it in hopes that another mom or woman trying to get pregnant knows she’s not alone in feeling emotionally drained or upset. Trying to get pregnant is stressful and often times exhausting. While it takes time for a majority of women, we force ourselves to believe everyone is super fertile and we’re the not-so-fertile ones.
Even though I had my extremely caring and supportive husband by my side, I still felt alone. I felt like nobody understood what I was going through (even though a lot of people likely did) and I felt strange talking about it with anyone because I didn’t want to make things uncomfortable. I had to smile through every “so, when’s the second one coming?” question and respond, “we’re working on it” even though it brought a slight sting in my heart, reminding me of the several negative pregnancy tests and months that had passed.
Some of you may be thinking I’m crazy for feeling this way because I already have a child. Thing is, our daughter really made us fall in love with parenthood (both the sweet and crazy moments), and we loved the idea of having another child 100 times more because of our experience with her. We wanted her to have a sibling close in age, we wanted to add another little one to our family hugs, and add another two feet to join us on all of our adventures.
Our timing wasn’t God’s timing though, and while it was frustrating, stressful, and sad, I’ve learned He truly makes everything beautiful in time. The time we spent looking at negative test after negative test helped us grow closer, appreciate our daughter more and learn to trust God and His plan. It wasn’t always easy, and I wish I wouldn’t have stressed as much as I did, but with the hurt came beauty.
God has a plan for our lives and our futures, and sometimes it’s not going to sync up with what we want. It’s so hard to accept in the moment, but there’s something truly beautiful in trusting God and enjoying our journey to getting to His plan. I am so sorry if you’re hurting while trying to get pregnant. Please know your desire to be a mom already makes you a mom. It’s the first step all of us take before having children! Don’t get hard on yourself if it’s taking longer than expected. We put so much pressure on ourselves and it’s often that pressure that puts stress on our bodies. Looking back, I really think this is what happened to me.
I hope it’s okay that I was open about our story and thank you so much for reading! I’d love to hear your journey with waiting to get pregnant or grow your family.
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11
Marina Makes 
So happy for your family, and glad you shared your story in the way you did. We tried for about 5 months before getting pregnant and then eventually took fertility medications. I felt the same way! Alone, sad, frustrated, but also guilty for having all those feelings because I know so many women and families go through so much more. However, I think we all need to stop beating ourselves about how we feel! One night, my husband and I decided we needed to change our perspective and put this in God’s hands completely. We did a devotion together about struggling to start a family, and the next morning, I had a positive pregnancy test. God is so funny like that. 😊 Blessings on your pregnancy!
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Thank you so much, that means a lot. I totally agree, we need to stop beating ourselves up about the way we feel. God’s timing is so great – your little boy is extremely adorable! Thanks for sharing your story too.
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I found your blog through Instagram, and I wanted to just say congratulations!! I myself am trying to conceive my first child after a couple of losses last year. It’s heartbreaking each month that goes by, and I’m glad that I’m stumbling onto posts like this at the times they are needed the most. Looking forward to reading more of your posts! 🙂
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Rachel, thank you so much for your comment and sharing your story. I’m so sorry you had to experience loss multiple times – I can’t even imagine what you must be feeling. I hope you have faith that everything will work out in time!
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Congratulations ! We couldn’t be happier for U ! Thank you for your honesty & sharing of what U went thru , actually I’m sure U helped many woman see that they weren’t alone !
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Thank you so much!
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Marina I love your honesty! We too tried for 7 months to get pregnant. Aaron was the best thing that happened to us and seeing him play by himself sometimes made us so sad. We each have siblings and the joy of having someone close that is always there no matter what, always willing to join in an adventure, we wanted him to have. He is so in love with his sister and as chaotic as life is I wouldn’t have it any other way. Congratulations on your new addition. And Thank you.
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Thank you so much, your comment means so much! Your family is adorable and I’m so glad you were able to have another. I can totally relate to wanting your first to have a sibling.
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Congrats! And also great website. keep up the good work!
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Thank you very much!
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I’m so glad you wrote this post. We’re currently trying to get pregnant and have been trying for about 6 months now. It’s so frustrating and I keep wondering if I’m doing something wrong or if there’s a reason God doesn’t want us to get pregnant yet. I know I have to stay positive and reading your post again really does help me to remember that I’m not alone in this struggle.
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I can’t tell you how much your comment means – thanks so much for sharing. I felt the same exact way and it’s so easy to get discouraged and frustrated. I remember my doctor telling me that it takes most women a year or more to get pregnant and that made me feel better knowing that other women have experienced the same thing. I ended up getting pregnant a few weeks later. Trust God’s timing! He hears and knows your desire to be a mama!
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