Baby Henke

After 6 years of marriage we decided we had waited long enough. It was time to try to have a family. We found out that I was pregnant when we were traveling in Turkey during the Spring Holy Days 2015.

My pregnancy has been quite smooth so far. In my first trimester, I really didn’t feel like eating but would eat because I knew I needed to. I would take 2 hour naps after work and then be in bed no later than 9pm. Darren found this stage of pregnancy very boring.

As I entered my second trimester, I changed my doctor and made an appointment to see her a week before we were to travel to the states to visit family and friends for the summer. Darren had to work, so I asked Chelsea if she would come with me to my appointment. We got to see the baby and Chelsea was very surprised that I couldn’t feel the baby moving around inside of me yet. The little thing was very active. It wasn’t till I was 18 weeks that I started to feel little bumps and flutters. I didn’t really start to show until 20+ weeks. When we were visiting my family, my little sister threw me a baby shower which supplied me with almost everything I will need for the first few months! My mom also took me shopping for maternity clothes, for which I am very thankful.  I’m just glad it all fit into our suitcases.

Darren and I decided to not find out if Baby will be a boy or a girl. It is funny when people ask what I’m having and I tell them I don’t know. The responses range from very supportive to not understanding why, with all this technology to tell you, you would refuse to know. Almost everyone guesses what I will have after I tell them that I don’t know. The score is even, so I will either have a boy or a girl.  

I just started into my third trimester when we left for the Feast. We traveled to South Africa. My doctor wasn’t very thrilled with such a long flight at this stage, but everything looked good to her, so she gave me permission to fly. We had an amazing time! We spent the 3 days before the Feast on a game reserve and saw lots of amazing animals. Then we traveled down to Margate to spend time with brethren during the Feast of Tabernacles. The only difficult part of traveling is that you can never just check off a country. You almost always have a desire to go back. God willing, someday we will go back to South Africa and see some more of the beautiful country and reconnect with the amazing people that we met.

I am currently at 32 weeks. I haven’t gained much weight, and I don’t look pregnant all over, just in the front (some say this means I’m having a boy). Baby is very active. Almost every day Darren gets to feel the baby move. I get up to use the restroom a few times in the night. I love my pregnant pillow that my cousin Emily gave me. Well, it is just a body pillow, but it has really helped me to sleep these last few weeks. Darren likes my pillow too, so I try to share with him. I have to have snacks in my drawer at work to keep me from becoming cranky or sad. Food at this stage is very important to me.

We only have 2 months left before our baby joins us. My due date is December 14th.

At this stage, I feel quite large, but Darren assures me that I look beautiful. I have enjoyed my pregnancy so far, and I’m very glad that I have had a relatively easy one compared to some stories I have heard.