We’re Having a Baby! Baby Bodiford due December 2021

Ahh we’re having a baby, y’all! As some of you suspected, Baby Bodiford is making their appearance this December! We are feeling so many things right now; excitement, fear, joy, love, anxiety, but most of all total elation.

The first question you always get as expecting parents is Was it planned? In our case, yes, yes this pregnancy was very much planned and prayed for. Brent and I discussed when we thought we would try for kids before we got married. It was one of those questions you ask when you’re planning your life with someone to be sure you’re on the same page and to insure there wouldn’t be any surprises down the road. We both said we wanted to be done with having kids by 35, but that we would just pray and feel out when we thought the right time would be because we really didn’t know. Before you’re married, it’s hard to imagine a detail like that, at least it was for us. How can you choose at what age you think you’ll want children? We were just excited about getting married and living together and all the fun that would be.

After we got married we didn’t talk about it much until we started looking for houses because a baby in our apartment was out of the question. Not because there’s anything wrong with raising kids in an apartment, we had the space and all, it was just our dogs. You can’t walk two labs while holding a newborn baby, and even though Brent of course would have paternity leave and would be able to help, that would only last so long. But, once the house came into the picture, so did the idea of a baby. We just had a feeling that we were ready to add to our little crew.

We bought our house in December of last year, and that’s when we decided I should stop taking birth control. We were really wrapped up in the house for December – January so we weren’t really “trying”, especially since your body usually needs about 3-6 months after birth control to even out, but I still had the thought that it could happen by accident. At the end of January when I got my period, we decided to start tracking my ovulation. Why just shoot in the dark when you can have a plan, right? I bought the “cheap” store-brand ovulation tests and tracked my cycle on the app Flo, but a month went by without them lighting up and I got my period.

Me being the paranoid person that I am scheduled a doctors appointment for the next week to see if there was something going on. I was concerned that I wasn’t ovulating and thought it would be better to find out now if there was something wrong. I know it was WAY too early to worry, but that’s just who I am. I got blood work done, plus a Pap and pelvic exam, and everything turned up normal. However, I got this very helpful piece of advice from my OBGYN; Buy the expensive Ovulation tests. WHAT? Apparently, the cheap ones (which are still $30 mind you) don’t work all the time. Great, haha. So I grabbed the $60 ones (yes, $60) and my cycle lit up just like it was supposed to. We considered this our first real month of trying.

Then, surprise, in March we BOTH tested positive for COVID. I never told y’all on Instagram that I got it. The instant we got the test results we both felt immediate shame and embarrassment. Even though I’d like to consider us very safe when it comes to COVID, we still got it. And while so many people get it, I still felt too embarrassed to share with y’all. I was afraid of the hate I would get. It’s as simple as that. You may have noticed a pretty dark and quiet time on my Instagram, or maybe not, but anyway yeah I had it, and turns out, that was the week I was supposed to ovulate.

We tried when we were supposed to, but we kind of dismissed that month because we figured the shape we were in (high fevers, fatigue, nausea, lack of appetite, cough) wouldn’t be the best for conceiving. SURPRISE that’s the baby that stuck! Turns out, I have a little fighter growing inside me who really wanted to meet us in December.

I was in Austin visiting my friend for her baby shower, then my hometown visiting my sister when I was supposed to get my period. Brent knew when I was supposed to find since he has of course been an active member in this journey. My friend had just given me a huge box of test strips for ovulation and pregnancy, and when I was 2 days before my due period and my nipples started hurting like CRAZY I decided to take a pregnancy test. The line was SO FAINT, and I didn’t realize that a faint line on a pregnancy test means positive. I thought it was like ovulation tests where the line needed to be as dark as the test time, so I ignored it.

Then the next day I took another one and the line was barely darker. Then I googled, and realized I was pregnant. For pregnancy tests, any line is a line, apparently! My sister rushed me to Walgreens to get digital tests and my heart skipped a beat when I saw the word Pregnant light up the screen.

I really didn’t want to tell Brent over the phone a thousand miles away, so I lied and told him I got my period. For our second child I would have just told him, but this is our first and I needed to be there with him. The secret was driving me crazy, but to be honest, without him knowing it really didn’t feel that real. I had to keep reminding myself that I was pregnant!

Two days later I was on my flight, and I set up a little display on our kitchen counter for him to come home to. I bought a gender-neutral onsie, the pregnancy tests, and some baby books, including his favorite childhood book, Brown Bear Brown Bear.

I also set up a secret camera to record his reaction, which I’ll share soon. Needless to say, he was very excited and surprised, especially since he thought it for sure didn’t happen that month. We were both shaking.

Y’all, we can’t keep a secret. We told our friends and family that very day. In our hearts we knew how early it was and that there’s always a danger of something happening, but we decided that telling our closest people would only be for the good either way. We would have their support if something happened instead of feeling alone, which is why we personally chose that route. Not telling my friends on Instagram has been so hard, though!! It was easier early on but the past month I’ve started to really show and I have had a hard time wanting to take normal photos or talk about the usual stuff. Also, from week 6 to just about 2 days ago my “morning” sickness has been horrible!! I’ll write a separate post about that later, but needless to say, my work motivation has been lacking.

But finally, the secret is out! I’m finishing this post after just getting back from my 12 week appointment. I got to hear their heartbeat again and it’s the most magical sound in the world.

Brent and I are so excited to share this exciting time with you. We can’t wait to meet our little addition in December! What an amazing Christmas present God is giving us.