Pregnancy Questionnaire
Thank you for all of your kind comments on here and Instagram over the past few days. Henri and I were so excited to finally share our news – it’s been a hard secret to keep!
Today I thought I’d answer some common pregnancy questions I’ve been hearing from family and friends ever since we started announcing that we are expecting. This ended up being very long but I couldn’t find a good way to split it up into two posts so if you get to the end just know that you deserve a pat on the back! 🙂
How did you find out?
Henri originally wanted to be with me when I took a test but I REALLY wanted to surprise him so I told him that the first day I could test was later than it really was. I had been feeling a bit *off* for a few days so I decided I would test the day of the CIF Prelims cross country meet. After we got home from the race Henri headed out to help his dad with a construction project. As soon as I was alone at the apartment I took a test. It was still really early so I wasn’t expecting to see anything but when I looked there were 2 CLEAR lines!
I was so excited and surprised – I couldn’t believe my own eyes. I decided to take a digital test right away (I had dipped in a cup instead of peeing on the stick) and when this came up 3 minutes later I was STUNNED!!!
I immediately texted the pictures to two of my best friends because I just couldn’t hold it in!! 😀
How did you tell Henri?
The day I found out I was going to see a few of my XC athletes in their school musical with my sister-in-law. I left before Henri got home from helping his dad so I had to wait until late that night when I got home to tell him.
When I walked in the door he was watching TV and folding laundry. I told him that I had a special present for him to thank him for supporting me in going back to grad school and starting out my coaching career (since the race that morning was almost our last one). I told him to close his eyes and gave him a box I had wrapped with a book, card, and the pregnancy test inside, there was also a onsie from his favorite soccer team in there as well.
I had set up our camera to record a secret video and his reaction was the cutest thing ever!! He’s asked me to keep the video for just family and close friends but here’s a snapshot of my favorite moment – he’s holding the test and saying “we’re pregnant!” with the biggest smile on his face! 🙂
What were your first pregnancy symptoms?
Bigger boobs and as funny as the second one sounds, it felt really weird to sit on my bike when I was riding with the kids on their runs. haha
What was your first reaction to your pregnancy?
Shock, excitement and then this feeling of “oh boy, what do we do now!?” // Henri’s was similar – he was excited, then insisted I take more tests to confirm, and then went into full on “planning mode” listing all the things we had to do before baby came! 🙂
How far along were you when you found out?
We found out super early so I was just 3 weeks + 1 day. At first Henri and I were nervous that it might be twins since we got such an early positive!
How far along are you now?
11 weeks 3 days
When is your due date?
July 29, 2016!
How did you tell family and friends? How did they react?
Everyone we’ve told has been really excited!
We told both of our immediate families the same way – with these adorable cards from Etsy. Inside I wrote “Baby Floris is due 7.29.2016”.
His parents and sister opened theirs on Christmas Eve before we went to church and we were almost late because they were so excited!!
My parents and sisters opened their cards on Christmas morning when we Facetimed to open our presents together. It worked out perfectly because all my grandparents were there as well so we got to tell them all at the same time. Everyone was really surprised and happy that a little one is on their way!
We told Henri’s extended family at the Christmas Eve get together. Henri always says grace before the meal and finished off the prayer with “thank you for little baby Floris that will arrive this July” -> hugs, tears and lots of belly rubs ensued!
The only other exciting announcement I did was for my cross country kids. On the first day back at practice after winter break we had some new faces in the distance group for the track season so at the beginning of practice I had the kids circle up and go around to share their names and something exciting they did during vacation. I went last and said “I’m Coach Floris and over break Henri and I told our families that we’re having a baby in July!” There were a lot of screams and congratulations from the kids and a few “I thought so”s from the girls! haha
Will you find out the sex?
Yes! I am a planner so I feel like I need to know the sex before baby is born!
Do you have any feelings about whether its a boy or a girl?
I know it’s crazy to have an inclination this early but I really feel like Baby Floris is a boy. Of course I could be wrong, and we’d be happy with either but I think there’s a little boy in there!
Are there any names that you already like?
Definitely! We actually have a boy and girl name picked out already, but we won’t share until we know the gender for sure.
How long were you trying?
We were very lucky and got pregnant our second month trying (one before Henri left for his work trip and one right after). I know this is not the case for a lot of people so we are just so grateful that it was easy for us this time around.
How many ultrasounds have you had?
Just one so far! Since I got such an early positive test we had a dating ultrasound done at 9 weeks 5 days. Our technician was so sweet and explained everything as she did it. Baby Floris was moving around like crazy and had a strong heart beat of 169. He or she measured 10 weeks 4 days so my suspicion may have been correct but we have to wait for my next appointment to see if my midwife changes our due date up.
It was so surreal to finally see our little one and it really helped it sink in for us that we are going to be parents!! 🙂
If everything is progressing as expected I’ll only have one more ultrasound at 20ish weeks for the anatomy scan and to find out the gender.
Who do you think the baby will look like?
All the babies that I’ve seen recently look a lot like their daddies, so I think at first Baby Floris will look a lot like Henri at first but I hope eventually he or she will be a good mix of both of us. 🙂
Have you felt the baby move?
Not yet, it’s still wayyyy to early for that but I can’t wait!
Do/did you have morning sickness?
Luckily, around 10 weeks my morning sickness subsided but it was pretty rough there for a few weeks. During the whole month of December I felt nauseated 24/7 and could hardly eat anything besides plain bagels, saltines, apple juice, apple sauce and pasta with butter and cheese.
Early on there was a 4 day period where I couldn’t eat or drink anything without throwing up and lost about 5 pounds during that time so I ended up going to my doctor and getting medicine to help ease that and I felt much better after that point. I only stayed on the medicine for 2 weeks and tapered off it and was so happy when I did that the nausea seemed to be gone.
I’ll still get random waves of nausea every once in awhile but things are much better!
Do you have any cravings?
Yes, but nothing that stinks around for long – they come out of the blue and NEED to be satisfied immediately! Recently I’ve had cravings for Thai food, donuts, cheese and crackers, potato chips, popcorn, etc.
Do you have any aversions?
Luckily not many, some foods just don’t “hit the spot” like others but if I eat slowly enough I can eat almost anything! Fruits and vegetables don’t ever sound great but I’m forcing myself to eat them because I know they are good for me. And oddly, sweets and ice cream are never as good as I think they will be – many one of the reasons I think Baby Floris is a boy. haha
How much weight have you gained so far?
I wasn’t really weighing myself before I got pregnant but at my first appointment (4 weeks) I was 127.5 pounds and now am hovering around 130 – so 2.5 pounds so far. 🙂
Have you experienced any crazy pregnancy related emotions or mood swings?
YES! There have been a lot of tears and a few moments of weird rage this first trimester (unfortunately for Henri) but there is one funny story about pregnancy emotions that sticks out the most in my mind.
When I was around 5 or 6 weeks pregnant Henri and I were sitting on the couch together watching Friday Night Lights and the daughter in the family was leaving for college. I let out a little sniffle and Henri looked over at me just to see tears pouring down my face. He asked me what was wrong and I blubbered “one day our baby is going to grow up and leave us to go to college!”. He burst out laughing and I couldn’t help but join in because pregnancy hormones can just make you crazy! haha
How has work/school been?
I am so grateful that my symptoms didn’t hit until the cross country season was over. I had a full month off from coaching until just last week. I told my boss and the kiddos on my first day back so that was a relief for everyone to finally know. Luckily, my commitment for track is a lot lower since I’m just the distance coach not the head coach and the season ends in the middle of May so I’ll still have 2 months to finalize things for baby.
As far as grad school goes the last two weeks of the fall semester were rough – to say the least. I felt sick all the time and spent most of my days napping through the nausea. Somehow though I was able to study for and take my final, write a 12 page paper, and give a group presentation all while feeling like I was going to hurl – and ended up with As on all three! I was grateful for the break and even more grateful that I was feeling almost 100% by the time the spring semester started last week!
Do you plan to continue working out throughout your pregnancy?
Definitely! My midwife encourages her patients to continue to workout throughout their pregnancies as she believes that when you are in better shape going into labor you have a little bit of an easier time. I’m planning to run for as long as Baby Floris will allow! I will talk more about my plans regarding the Boston Marathon in a separate post soon.
Have your workouts changed at all?
A little bit. As soon as I got the positive test I bumped my running days down to 4 instead of 6 and substituted biking (indoors) or long walks on the other 2 days a week. The plan is to still run some races (obviously slower than usual) during my pregnancy so there will still be some speed workouts and long runs as long as I still have the go ahead from my midwife. I’m also continuing to lift weights and do the core work that I’m able to.
How do you think Finn & Laci will react to their little brother or sister?
Who knows! I feel like right now they are both totally oblivious to the whole situation. Some of my friends have told me that their pets “knew” they were pregnant before they did and show me pictures of their dog or cat snuggling with their bumps, but every night when we sit down to watch TV Finn and Laci are always cuddling Henri!
Tomorrow I’m planning to do a quick recap of the first 11 weeks (with “belly pictures” yayyy!) and then it will be back to mostly food and running posts – I promise! If you have any questions in addition to the ones I answered above leave them in the comments below and I’ll make sure to include them in a future post! 😀