7. Did you read any books or do anything in particular that you think helped you conceive?

I’m not claiming to know a whole lot about this and for us, conceiving happened really quickly from when we first started trying to actually getting pregnant and I know that is not everyone’s story. 

Here are some things I did do that could have been helpful:

I read a lot of Taking Charge of Your Fertility. I never finished it but will revisit it at some point. I think it is a great book for all women. 

I was taking the Pink Stork Fertility Supplement, somewhat haphazardly.

I was taking Maca which is great for reproductive health and energy. 

I was already taking a prenatal from the time I went off the pill until I got pregnant.

I also was using ovulation test strips to track when I was ovulating just to understand my cycle better.

 

8. How has working while pregnant been?

So grateful to work from home! I think that has helped for sure. I can rest more easily and dress comfortably. 

I have a lot on my plate with work right now, and I have felt stressed at times, but managing that well I think about just working ahead and planning well! 

The first-trimester tiredness felt insane with work and was really hard! I did my beta launch for the Booked Out Designer course then and all the prep leading up to it, it was a lot! 

But overall, it is fine! A lot of time when I’m working, I forget that I’m pregnant because I’m just focused on what is in front of me. 

9. How are you preparing for natural childbirth?

I am planning to give birth at a birth center and want to have a natural, unmedicated birth. I feel excited about it, and have done a ton of research and decided that’s how I desire for it to go down if at all possible.

I know emergencies happen, and I’m trying to mentally prepare for that reality as well. My birth story will still be an awesome experience even if it goes differently than I’m planning.

One way that I already mentioned is researching and learning about birth. I still don’t feel like I know that much and I still have questions about pregnancy, labor, and birth. But I want to know what to expect and feel in control of the situation as much as possible, versus being passed through the situation. 

I am taking 2 courses on birth: a hypnobirthing course and the mama natural birth course. You can see more about those here in my First Trimester blog post.

Another thing I have been intentionally visualizing the birth experience and how I will tell about it later often. I know this might sound a little crazy but I came up with doing this because it’s what I do for all big things in my business. I go on walks and visualize it happening, but it’s easier for me to visualize how stuff happens if I think from the perspective of me telling the story later on. I talk all about visualization in episode #73! 

10. The hardest part of pregnancy? 

The worrying. There is so much out of your control, and that waiting period between finding out your pregnant and the first doctor’s appointment felt so worrisome. 

Especially since we found out really early and I didn’t have many pregnancy symptoms, I had fears that it might not be a viable pregnancy, and I struggled at times to let myself get excited because it could end. 

I eventually realized that I just had to trust God, not that everything would go perfectly, but that whatever happened was part of his plan and I could handle it with the Lord as my strength. And that it would all be ok. And I don’t have to know how it ends. So I did come to that conclusion at some point before the appointment at 9 weeks, and was able to start enjoying myself and getting excited!

11. How many children do y’all want?

I think 2-3 kids. I also have felt called for a while now to foster care and adoption. So that could be a piece of our story too at some point.