A Mother's Day Full of Anticipation

We're excited soon-to-be parents

This Mother's Day is extra special for me. Part of it is because I get to celebrate all the moms in my life who have made a huge impact in my life in the past, present, and future. The other part is that I get to anticipate being a mother myself in 6 months. It was something that was a question mark because of my health, especially after the last couple of years.

I've always wanted to be a mom and I thought I'd be a mom in my early 20s, but God has used the time where I didn't have to worry about caring for a pregnant body or children by loving on those around me and being able to get in a good position financially. God has provided for us so well in so many ways.

Josh and I wanted to wait about a year after being married before we consider having a baby, especially with my health not being great before and during the first 6 months of marriage.

We figured out part of the reason why my health went south a bit, but it was still a surprise for this little baby to come as soon as we thought. I was told by my doctor not too long ago that I show signs of having PCOS. She said there isn't a cure for it but getting pregnant and having a baby can help correct the problem. We were expecting this baby to show up much later, but God's timing with this is amazing.

Our little Player 3's first outfit

We think a large part of this is due to the stress from my previous job. No matter how much work I completed, it always felt that the work I was doing wasn't enough and I always felt on eggshells. The stress caused my cortisol levels to be too high and it affected my thyroid levels resulting in additional migraines, imbalanced hormone levels, and other not so great symptoms. It wasn't until I got hired with my new company, Hyland, where my stress levels dropped and then found out I was pregnant the day before I started.

I felt like God somehow allowed us to have a child exactly when He knew it will work well for us. I was a little nervous when I found out because I'm just starting to work at this company and I'd have to reveal this information, but I didn't need to worry. He used this new job (that I have waited for and interviewed for almost 3 years) to provide me with the perfect work-life balance I need while we start our family and save for a few years to build our home. Hyland will allow me the flexibility to work and raise our baby at the same time. While my previous company didn't offer paid maternity leave or options that will ease me back into work, my new company offers 10 weeks of maternity leave automatically and it doesn't matter how long I've worked at there and then I have the option to ease into work by working less than 40 hours but still see a full paycheck. They're also family oriented and I have seen multiple coworkers have children jump into their Zoom calls. Josh and I will still be working from home in Florida so we can raise our baby in a way that works for us and not feel guilty about choosing to live this lifestyle. I've already been thinking of ideas on how to work on this.

Josh and I look forward to this new chapter in our lives and how God is continuously teaching us new things every day.

Josh and I at the Grand Canyon at 12 Weeks Pregnant