23 Week Bumpdate + How I Found Out I Was Pregnant

This post is LOOOONG overdue and my most requested one! Life has been crazy, but I finally had to time to sit down and write it allll out for y’all! So definitely get a snack or glass of wine, because this is a long one. ๐Ÿ‘ถ
How I Found Out
Honestly, I get this question multiple times a day everyday and I totally get! I LOVE hearing how other girls found out they were pregnant–I think everyone’s different stories are so interesting and sweet! To be honest, I didn’t know for quite some time. I found out right after Fourth of July weekend and I was well into my first trimester by then. So here is the full story for ya ladies– just a little warning if you’re a male I get into some girly details you may not want to read LOL:
Pretty much all summer I had not been feeling too hot– just not myself. The weather was crazy hot here in Texas and everyone was complaining about headaches/feeling sick, so I just was assuming that was what was going on with me. If I am being 100% honest, I kinda felt like something else was going on with me, whether it be that I was super sick or maybe not drinking enough water, etc. So, I guess it was around middle of June that I started getting VERY nauseous. Like VERY. I actually had to leave a few important events I was attending, because I could not stop running to the bathroom/ sit in my chair without feeling like I was going to pass out. I definitely thought that was weird, but it went away, so I assumed it was just a virus or stomach bug, since my sickness was coming at night and not in the morning. 
**(A lot of y’all at this point are probably thinking ‘NICOLE, HOW DID YOU NOT KNOW? Didn’t you have other signs– skipping cycle, etc’. The non TMI version to explain all of that is that I have never had a regular cycle and I am used to having one round of mother nature a year, due to the BC rod I have had inserted in my arm for the past 3 years. Just wanted to clarify before y’all thought that I had lost my mind LOL)**
Fast forward to the weekend after the Fourth of July. Kenneth and I went on a float trip with a few of his friends in San Antonio and I am telling ya the smell of alcohol made me run. Any time we went to eat, I could not sit by anyone’s drinks without wanting to run to the bathroom. I couldn’t even take a sip of my wine without wanting to spit it back out and if you know me, you know that I love myself a good glass of wine, so that was very odd. I had to come early every night we were out, because I felt like I was going to pass out. So that’s when I finally was like ok I am thinking something else is going on here. 
Obviously, whenever we got back home, I took a test (like a million, because lets be real no one takes just one LOL) and they were all clear as day positive. I went the next morning to confirm with a sonogram and I have never cried so hard. Being a mom has always been my biggest goal and dream in life and seeing a little baby on the screen just made me totally loose it. I can’t even describe the feeling because it is like nothing else, but it is the most INCREDIBLE and amazing feeling when someone confirms your biggest dream is coming true. 
First Trimester
If you read the first part of this post, you know that I was pretty sick the first half of my trimester. After I found out, which was around 8 weeks gestation (6 weeks really), I swear it is like my body was like okay perfect now you are going to get REALLY sick since you know why. 
I would lay on the couch all day long, get sick on and off all day, and the headaches were unreal. I hate to be a complainer, because I am not trying to be at all and this baby girl is such a blessing, but my first trimester was rough. This is also how I had a gut feeling the that she was a girl, since typically you get much sicker with girls. I am pretty sure my food groups included chicken nuggets and toast, because the salt would help settle my stomach. For some reason, those were the only things I could keep down without feeling sick. Weird pregnancy symptoms, am I right? LOL
I would also like to take this time to brag on Kenneth for being the world’s best human ever. I was not a happy camper and he was there for me no matter what I needed or if I just wanted to sleep he would sit there and let me sleep on him. I truly don’t think I could have managed without him. 
During the first trimester, we did the genetic blood test at week 12, because we were just SO anxious and excited that we could not wait until the next sonogram. Funny story about our reactions on this– the doctor accidentally slipped to me the gender at my appointment before our gender reveal. Kenneth and I had both decided we wanted to do a gender reveal and also both not know what the baby was until the reveal, so obviously this altered our plans a bit. I am actually super impressed, because after my appointment I let Kenneth know that the doctor accidentally told me and he STILL did not want to know and wait a few more days. Like I said before, I always had a gut feeling that she was a girl so whenever the doctor confirmed it I was sooooo giddy about it, but tried my best to hide it from Kenneth. Doing this, actually made him think that she was a boy, because of how I was acting, which is why if you watch our gender reveal video, his reaction is priceless because he was totally wrong. ๐Ÿ˜‚
Second Trimester
The second trimester has been a BREEZE compared to the first 12 weeks. I really have not had any major symptoms, except the beautiful hormonal acne that comes with sweet baby girls. This is just something I have accepted at this point–sucking the beauty out of me as the old tale likes to call it LOL. Honestly, I will take a few breakouts though, because that is no big deal. 
Craving wise, I just always want to eat LOL. I haven’t really had any weird cravings yet, but I eat pretty much whatever (I am not very picky, besides seafood) so I eat everything in site. Oh– i take that back– I have had a really weird craving for chocolate chip Poptarts. Like I NEED them always. So random ๐Ÿ˜…
I did get my second sonogram done during week 20 and it was so amazing seeing how big she has gotten. Comparing the first sonogram to this last one is just WILD, because she looked like a little tiny human!! Yes, duh, I know that she is but it was the coolest thing to see. I do have an exterior placenta, so I was not able to feel anything until probably this past weekend too much. What that means is I basically have a pillow between my outer stomach and her, so any time she moves or kicks it is like she is kicking the pillow, not me, meaning it is much harder for me to feel her. However, this past weekend she had a major case of the hiccups and it kept me up for a few hours. She also kicks around a lot whenever I am in the shower and teaching dance, so Kenneth better watch out because I think he has another dancer on his hands. LOL. 
Honestly, I have never been so excited! Kenneth and I have dated on and off forever (a little over 8 years now to be exact) and seriously I could not imagine a better dad to raise kiddos with. We are both giddy little kids about our sweet baby girl and could not be more thankful for this amazing little blessing. 
If y’all have any other questions, leave them in the comments below or DM me on my Instagram!