We're Having a Baby: Pregnancy Announcement with Julia Dzafic

I’ve been waiting for months to share our big news, and today is finally the day… We’re having a baby! Anel and I couldn’t be more excited to start this next chapter of our lives, especially given our struggle in getting here. After 18 difficult and frustrating months, our entire lives changed in early November when a test finally (finally!) read as positive.

It was an amazing day, but also a scary one. The other two times I had been pregnant, I miscarried very early in the process. We almost couldn’t consider the possibility that this one would make it, because we didn’t want to get our hopes up only to experience yet another loss. The first few weeks were spent walking on eggshells, and barely mentioning the tiny miracle growing inside me. Every day since then, it’s become more and more real. After we had our first ultrasound, I finally believed that a baby, our baby, was in there. After the second one, I believed that this one would stick.

Over the last few weeks, as my body began to change shape physically, it only made everything feel more real. Even though I’ve moved past the initial shock and fear, I still wake up in the night sometimes, terrified that something is wrong, or convinced that I ate the wrong thing and hurt the baby. It’s irrational but also normal according to my doula. But for the most part, I feel happy, excited, blessed… and quite large!

We’re having a baby and I’m now four months along. I was able to go this long without telling you guys. You have no idea how many times I wanted to! But given our history, we agreed to keep it a secret as long as we possibly could. It’s becoming harder to hide the bump, so the proverbial beans are being spilled.

While I plan to keep pregnancy-related posts to about once a week going forward, this week I have so much news to share with you that I hope you bare with me! Over the next few days, I’ll give you a full overview of my first trimester (Spoiler alert: It was not easy.), and what we did at the end of those 18 months that finally worked.

But for today, I’ll answer some of the most commonly asked questions that I get when I tell people I’m pregnant.

How far along are you? 17 weeks

What is your due date? July 18th (Only 9 days after my own birthday)

Do you know the sex yet? We do! I’ll be revealing the gender next week. Any guesses? The only hint I’ll give you is that it is the opposite of what I thought it was.

Any cravings? All of the cravings! A lot of starchy things like bread, bagels, pizza, etc. My previously gluten-free lifestyle has gone out the window. I also crave a lot of raw fruits and vegetables, specifically blueberries and tomatoes, not food I would normally want to chow down on in the winter, but what baby wants, baby gets.

Any aversions? In my first trimester I could pretty much only eat crackers, seltzer, toast, and soup. Now I’m almost back to normal, but still have an aversion to meat of all kind, most of the time. It’s hard because the baby needs a lot of protein, so I’m trying my best. To supplement, I’m taking beef liver pills daily and adding collagen protein to my smoothies.

Have you thought of names yet? We have a running list. We’re not planning to share the name until the baby is born but who knows, that might change. I tend to overshare!

How do you feel? Now that I’m in my second trimester, I feel a lot more like myself but I get really tired easily. I’m pretty much in bed by 9pm every night of the week. I’ve realized that I can’t do the things I used to do. If I workout one day, that’s my limit. I can’t be running around doing errands or having a busy day. It’s frustrating to not be able to accomplish all I want to do, but I’m slowly getting used to it.

The first trimester, on the other hand, was another story… I’ll share more on that later this week but let’s just say this baby has given me a run for my money and it’s not even born yet! I learned a lot along the way about how to deal with the nausea and exhaustion, and can’t wait to share my tips.

How is Boots reacting? He has completely changed around me! He’s uber protective now, and won’t let anyone he doesn’t know get near me. He’ll completely block me with his body and bark and anyone who comes close. It’s kind of annoying but also really sweet. On my really bad first trimester days, he would come and sit on my lap or right next to me until I felt better. Every single time. He definitely knows something’s up, and might even sense that we’re having a baby, but I think he’s going to have the shock of his life in July when he’s no longer the only baby in the house.

How will this change your blog? I’ve added a “motherhood” section to my nav bar and will start posting weekly about pregnancy and baby related topics. That being said, I’m not going to be a full-fledged mommy blogger. I’m going to continue posting outfits, recipes, healthy lifestyle advice, and decor (hello nursery!). But at the end of the day, this blog is about my life and being pregnant is a huge part of my life at the moment, and I have a feeling this baby will be as well.

I want to thank my amazing photographer Stephanie for taking these adorable shots, we love them so much! Another big thanks to Eva for lending us your beautifully bright studio space. My dress is from Club Monaco (on sale!) and is not a maternity dress.