The week before Christmas 2019, our world changed. We found out Baby Staley was on the way! It was strange keeping such a huge secret… our lives literally had turned upside-down, but no one knew! We wanted to wait until Christmas to tell our families, so we rush-ordered assorted “Grandma” and “Uncle” gifts for them to open during our Christmas celebrations. Josh’s family didn’t even know until almost mid-January, because we snuck up to Kansas City for a “late Christmas” to share the news in person!

The first trimester wasn’t easy; we had a few medical scares and LOTS of emotions to work through. Thankfully I didn’t feel overly nauseous like so many moms I know, which was a huge ease to the other physical and mental burdens I was carrying. I am so thankful to my close friends and my doctors for being so supportive during these scary few weeks! The world didn’t know about baby yet, and it was hard to act like life was progressing normally when inwardly, I was terrified.

Flash forward to second trimester! Josh and I announced our pregnancy to the internet while on an overseas trip to Malta. We had such a fun time relaxing and exploring, and it turned into the perfect baby-moon… especially considering the rapidly vanishing opportunities to travel these days! We arrived back home expecting to hit the ground running with more trips, church events, nursery planning, plus wedding season moving back into full swing… and then just like that, EVERYTHING ground to a halt.

Like, full stop. I know you know what I’m talking about.

Here we are, six weeks later! I’m 22 weeks now and the baby bump is clearly visible. With so much uncertainty because of Covid-19, I’ve spent the majority of my second trimester in quarantine and it has definitely been difficult at times. Plans to travel home to Virginia for a baby shower have been postponed indefinitely, and I haven’t been able to shop for registry items the way I always imagined. All the spring engagement sessions I had planned have been smushed into a rapidly diminishing window between quarantine lifting and baby’s impending arrival. Thankfully, my body seems to have adjusted to pregnancy at this point and I should be able to keep operating as a normal human until baby is almost here.

If you’re also pregnant (especially DELIVERING!) during this crazy time, I feel for you SO MUCH and would love to support you if you need some encouragement. I’ve cried a lot, questioned a lot, felt uncertain a lot… but I trust God and I know that He is watching over me, my babe, and you and yours too. Cheering for you friend! Check back for more pregnancy updates as time goes by!

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