Just over two months ago, I was joined in sacramental union to my beautiful bride, and before the ink had even dried on our marriage certificate, God saw fit to add to our joy and our number by blessing us with a baby on the way. In the week or so after we received this news, my wife put down some of her thoughts and reflections on this radical change in our lives. As she is far more qualified to comment on the new life growing inside of her and far more eloquent than I, her words are far preferable to mine to describe this happy and holy occasion:
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When my husband and I first found out I was pregnant, we were shocked. We had been married only two and a half weeks at the time (now we’ve been married a whopping 4 weeks!), and we found out while we were on our honeymoon.
Our apartment wasn’t even unpacked, we still had wedding gifts in the trunk of our car. We were finally settling down from the absolute whirlwind that is putting on a wedding, and now this! I couldn’t help but initially feel so totally overwhelmed.
Eventually those feelings subsided, and seven pregnancy tests later (I had to be really sure), I was buying clothes for my little one and singing to her (No, I don’t know if it’s a her, but I’m not going to call my child “it”).
We quickly told both our families and a few close friends. Some of them advised us against publicly announcing the pregnancy too soon, given the higher risk of miscarrying in the first trimester. We waited. We waited two days, and let the world (the Facebook world, that is) know our joyous news.
I understand and respect the desire of many couples to wait before announcing a pregnancy, but on top of just being a generally impatient person, I did have reasons, and good ones, for telling everyone sooner rather than later.
No matter what happens to this little, growing life living inside me, two things are, and always will be, true:
1. She is a unique, individual soul, a thought in God’s great mind from all eternity. God loved her so much that He brought her into existence, and I will celebrate and love her for as long as I live, regardless of how long she lives.
2. This baby made me a mother for the first time. The creation of this baby, my baby, allowed me to participate in God’s plan for creation. I am forever changed because of her. If she never takes a breath outside of my womb, I want people to know of her existence, and I want my family and friends to share in my love for her.
Furthermore, along with a flood of congratulations and well wishes after our announcement, came a downpour of prayers — for us and for our baby. Not only do we have the prayers of our families and friends now, as my little sesame seed-sized baby continues to grow, I know we will have them in the event that I do miscarry. The thought of miscarrying is one of the worst things I can imagine right now, and that’s why I know, if God does ask us to bear that cross, we will not be able to do so without the prayers of our family and friends.
Finally, I’m in love. And when could you ever get a girl in that state of mind to shut up about the object of her affections?
5 thoughts on “Thoughts from a New Momma”
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Wonderful! God bless you and your family! We will be praying for you.
Wow! It’s almost truly miraculous that you’re having a
honeymoon baby (from what I understand they are actually pretty rare). What a
special blessing! To give you and your readers a sense of just how special,
consider this: research has shown that for women 25-30 years of age who are
trying to get pregnant, there is only a 16-18% chance they will conceive during
a given cycle. And that data comes from a 3 month block of actively trying so
the chances of conception from a single night of not necessarily trying, in
your case, are quite a bit lower! We’re talking perhaps less than a 5% chance. God
at work! Congratulations!!!
We got pregnant on our honeymoon as well! It really puts life on fast forward. But, 23 years and 11 children latter…. its the life I am blessed with.
The idea of not announcing too early isn’t just for the expecting couple, its also for the people around them. It is very… awkward… to be told someone is expecting, and to ask them about how they are feeling, etc. whenever you see them… and then find out they have lost the baby. Other people don’t need to share that grief. Thats just my two cents. We did have one miscarriage, our first ever, and we had wanted to share our joy with the world when we discovered we were pregnant, but we wanted to grieve alone, and not have people constantly asking us how the baby was… how I was feeling… what we were doing to get ready for #12.
Only now, with experience, do I see the wisdom of not telling the world too soon.
Wow. So beautiful and utterly profound. Your wife’s observation #2 just floored me.
Thank you.