It was mid July and beach weather was upon us. I can only be grateful that I wasn’t heavily pregnant during the summer. Rich and I decided to take a trip down to the beach one Sunday and it wasn’t until the following day where I was finally sick. I had to go into the office that week for work (normally, I work from home) and I started to feel dizzy and my vision blurred. I called Rich to tell him what happened and that I ended up throwing up in the bathroom. I just pinned it on George not liking the office. My doctor was out of her office that day, so I left a message with her receptionist. It wasn’t until I followed up the next day that we started to panic. I rushed to Rich’s office and we went to see the doctor after we were told I should’ve gone to the ER. She told us that I should ensure to maintain hydrated and that what I experienced was most likely a heat stroke. She assured us the baby was okay after an ultrasound. We took comfort anytime we were able to sneak in a peak of George.

Aside from all the pregnancy symptoms, we had an amazing 4 weeks in Europe and upon getting back to reality in the US, we proceeded to stay on track with all of our appointments. I was so thrilled to hear our doctor tell us that we were so boring as all of our blood work and ultrasounds came back normal. At week 12, we were so please to find out that we were having a baby boy and that same day threw a little gender reveal party. Naturally, we already had his name prepped, but it remained a secret to everyone! Keeping his name a secret was so challenging as we had to whisper his name at ALL times.

Rich and I went to see the OBGYN two weeks later because of course we were eager to find out more about our little one. I laid on the chair and felt the cold gel on my belly, but Rich and I looked at each other as the sonogramer had a concerning look on her face. Our doctor sat us down and told us that the ultrasound showed a gestational sac; however my uterine lining wasn’t as thick as expected. She proceeded to explain how this could potentially indicate an ectopic pregnancy, but nothing was guaranteed. It was all a waiting game to see if my lining would thicken to maintain the pregnancy.

A family vacation in Italy and the UK was so hard to get excited for until a few days before we left. An appointment with the doctor ensured us that our little one was the size of a blueberry. A trip that was endless between delayed and missed flights to unexpectedly having to spend a night in Stockholm to finally make it to Italy 36 hours later. We couldn’t wait to share the news with Rich’s family on his birthday. Before dinner, Rich and I went to his parents room and gave them a frame with a picture of Rich holding up a picture of our ultrasound.

Nausea was at its best and unfortunately I wasn’t able to enjoy all the delicious foods that I was presented with. Now, if you’re someone that knows me, you’d know that I absolutely LOVE food. I had always wanted to go to Positano, Italy and this finally became a reality. Of course, we didn’t expect to be walking so much. I totally lucked out because Rich didn’t let me do any heavy lifting during the entire trip (He was not happy when his brother in law forgot their luggage with us and had to travel with it all the way back to London on top of our 4 pieces of luggage)! Thankfully, I was never actually sick from the nausea, but even thinking about food made me feel as though I would be. During our trip, we visited the Vatican and attended mass with the entire family. Rich asked the priest to pray and bless our baby, so we all stood in a circle while he prayed for our baby. We also purchased a white rosary that was blessed, which Rich placed in my purse and has remained there. The rosary has made it to every appointment and our entire hospital stay.

A pregnancy test on the night of May 3rd confirmed it and even so, the next day we were completely shocked when the doctor walked in and said, “CONGRATULATIONS!” (AS IF WE DIDN’T KNOW!) So many emotions ran through my head, “How did it happen so fast?”, “Am I going to be a good mother?”, “How am I going to handle being pregnant?”, “Is this real?”. I continuously kept asking myself how I got so, so lucky.

We were so anxious to share the news and that week we went to the mall to find a onsie. We sat down with my sister and handed her a box. She thought it was a gift for her and had no idea there was a picture of the little person growing inside of me along with a onsie. I ordered some cute pregnancy announcements off Etsy to share the news with my parents. They were so shocked and had no words. I blame it on the fact that it was midnight and they were just tired, but my dad blames his watery eyes on “allergies”. If you’re someone that knows me, kids were the last thing anyone would ever expect me to ever want. But with Rich, I couldn’t think of anything I wanted more.

A few weeks after a scare we had, my monthly visitor arrived and I became upset. I subconsciously had baby fever and that’s when Richard and I had THE TALK. I started doing my research about becoming pregnant while I was away for a month on a work assignment. Rich would come visit me and I would text him mid week reminding him I was ovulating.

Fast forward to April, we were vacationing in Arizona and Utah when I was two, three, four, five days late. The day we arrived home, Rich went to work and I sat at home thinking all day. I was terrified thinking, “Could it be?”. Everyone we had spoken to said it took them several months to get pregnant. I had an OBGYN appointment for my routine check up the next day and a part of me wondered if I should just wait, but I couldn’t.  I waited for Rich to come home from work with a pregnancy test and sushi. I went into the bathroom alone and he insisted that I leave the door open. I walked out in complete and utter shock and he thought I was joking. He bolted into the bathroom and couldn’t believe his eyes. The next 9 months felt like an eternity waiting for our little one.

A little side story here: I always told Rich how badly I wanted him to see the stars in low to no light pollution. It was one of the most beautiful things I had seen and I wanted to share that with him and my dad. So I booked this trip with the intention of sharing this moment with my two favorite people. It was absolutely freezing in the middle of the desert (I know, we weren’t expecting it and ended up having to go buy 3 sweatshirts to layer up —totally my fault because I thought it would be 90 degrees). Rich and I set up our tripod to get some pictures and just looked up at the stars and we looked at each other and said, “Did you just see that?!!” It was a shooting star and after finding out we were pregnant, Rich admitted that he wished I was pregnant, which at the time I already was.

 It all started with a love story that I’ll leave for another time. Okay, here’s the quick short version. From Tinder to road tripping to Vermont to becoming official in 2 weeks, from meeting parents after two weeks to spending the holidays in the UK to vacationing in Amsterdam and Coppenhagen— my relationship with Rich was far from the norm.

I vividly remember lying in a hotel bed in sunny Miami last February with Rich having one of our usual pillow talks. I planned this trip as a last minute surprise to get away from the blistering Northeast winter. Little did we know we would be talking about our future life and children— where we would travel and what kind of house we’d live in. Miami holds a special place in our hearts as it was an emotional trip for Rich and myself. Rich opened up about how special his relationship with his grandfather was and how he never spoke about it. He told me he always wanted to name his child after his grandfather. I sat up and instantly agreed! He was quick to ask, “Don’t you want to know what his name was?” and he said, “George…George Harry”.