Getting Pregnant
When I think back to the early days of planning our family, it’s hard not to smile at how excited and blissfully unaware we were. Taylor and I were in our early 30s, just newly married in the fall of 2020, and despite the world being in chaos, we were ready to begin this next chapter of our lives. We spent the first year of marriage enjoying each other’s company, dreaming about what would come next, and hanging out with our two cats.
By spring of 2021, we felt like everything was lining up. We had a stable home, I had just landed a full-time position, and it seemed like the perfect time to start trying for a baby. There was excitement in the air, mixed with nerves, as we officially began our journey into parenthood. What I didn’t expect, though, was how little I truly understood about my own body.
I quickly learned that getting pregnant wasn’t as straightforward as I thought. I had regular cycles, but beyond that, I knew next to nothing. After only a month of trying, I found myself deep in online forums dedicated to fertility, learning acronyms like TTC (trying to conceive) and BFP (big fat positive). It was a whole world of women sharing symptoms, posting faint pregnancy tests for others to scrutinize, and offering advice on everything from diet to how long to lie with your legs up after sex. I got lost in it all—hoping, searching, and overanalyzing every tiny sign.
Each month we didn’t get pregnant, the disappointment grew. It didn’t matter that we’d only been trying for a few months—every time I wasn’t pregnant, it hurt. But by the fourth month, I woke up one morning and saw a faint second line on the pregnancy test. I’ll never forget that feeling—the joy, excitement, and sheer disbelief. I didn’t even tell Taylor right away. I needed another day to take another test, just to be sure.
The next day, when I took that second test and saw the confirmation, we were over the moon. We stood in the bathroom together, looking at those two lines, and immediately started imagining what our future would look like. In that moment, everything felt perfect.
Telling our families was pure joy. We gave them cards with the news, and watching their reactions is a memory I hold so close to my heart. My parents were thrilled, and Taylor’s parents—this was going to be their first grandchild—were over the moon. There were happy tears and laughter, and for those moments, we felt like the luckiest people in the world.
Looking back now, it’s bittersweet to remember how purely happy we were. We had no idea what was coming, no idea that the joy we felt would be shaken. But in those early weeks, it was all hope and love. We were just beginning our journey, and our hearts were full of excitement for the future.
Those memories of joy, of sharing the news with family, of planning for a baby’s arrival—they’re precious to me. They remind me of the love and excitement that started our journey, even though it took a path we never could have expected.
