Your Path to Pregnancy is an interview series highlighting conception stories from real couples, brought to you by Beli Men Vitality.
I hear that you’re pregnant with your first baby! Congrats!
Thanks! I’m 11 weeks as of today. We found out we’re having a girl. It’s still early, but we did a sneak peak, where they draw your blood and can determine the sex.
That’s wonderful. Where does this baby fit in with your life as it is right now?
I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do in my life. My husband Jacob and I just bought five acres and a house. We’re doing a giant renovation and landscaping, really making this house into a home. I’m loving taking care of the animals on our farm: two emus, four dogs, and a giant Flemish rabbit the size of a medium dog, named Duffy. And we have about a million chickens because my husband is obsessed with chickens. My idea is to get into the farmer’s market realm and start producing fresh, organic produce. We’re all set up to have a great life with a new little one here.
How did you and Jacob meet?
It’s the funniest story. My grandparents knew Jacob’s grandparents. Unfortunately, Jacob’s grandmother had just passed away. My grandmother met Jacob at a celebration of life party after the funeral. She decided right there to put me on the market and showed Jacob my picture on Facebook! My grandma was pretty insistent that I needed to meet this guy. Jacob asked me out, and we had a great first dinner date. Then he invited me to a party at his house, and I brought a few friends. It was so much fun and we totally connected that night. Jacob is such a gentleman and the biggest sweetheart. It’s hard not to fall in love with a guy that’s so persistent and very genuine. He’s definitely my soulmate.
When did you decide to try and get pregnant?
We’ve always talked about having kids. Jacob has joked when we were together that he was so madly in love with me that he wanted to baby trap me. Throughout our whole relationship we have been on the same page about having children. One day we just sat down and figured out the timing was right for having kids.
Did either of you do anything special to prepare for trying to conceive?
Changing up his diet with less takeout and beer, and taking the BeliMen Vitality men’s prenatal vitamin were really the major steps Jacob took in preparing his fertility. And it worked out great!
What made Jacob seek out a men’s prenatal vitamin?
BeliMen Vitality was referred to by Jacob’s sister, Stephanie. She had heard from a friend of a friend who had used Beli to get pregnant. She recommended it to us because Jacob had some personal concerns about his fertility. He takes a prescription medication, and I had read some studies that showed the medication he takes could reduce your sperm count. It wasn’t really an option for Jacob to get off this medication. Luckily, Stephanie is on the dot all the time. She sent me the Beli website, and we ordered a bottle to see how it would go. Jacob took the pills diligently and within the first month off birth control, we were pregnant!
That’s fast!
We were expecting it to take a bit longer. It was a bit of a shock, becoming parents a lot quicker than I had anticipated. It took me a month of being in denial that I really was pregnant until we had the first ultrasound and got to see our little baby. Now we’re really excited. I’ve just given Beli to two friends who are trying to get pregnant and I hope it’s great for them too.
What’s surprised you so far about the pregnancy experience?
If we’re being transparent, I think I was expecting the easy, glowy, simple pregnancy, but it turns out that my hormones are pretty off-kilter. I’m suffering with pre-depression due to hormonal changes. I’m not typically a depressed person, so these changes have been drastic for me. I talked to my OB about it, and we got the situation under control. I’m feeling a lot better going into my second trimester. It’s not rainbows and butterflies like I thought it was going to be, and it’s a bit more emotionally taxing than I imagined.
It’s great that you have a supportive OB.
When I found out I was pregnant and was going through these hormonal changes, I didn’t love how my original care provider was reacting to helping me. Talking to my mom about it helped a lot. She pointed out that pregnancy wasn’t really a time to accept care I wasn’t comfortable with. I’m happy with the new provider I found who took my concerns seriously.
What’s next on this path to pregnancy and parenthood?
Crying? Stress-eating? Does that count? Haha. Honestly, I’m just kind of rolling with the punches, trying to stay in the moment and not let myself get too far ahead. We’re talking about what values and traditions we want to instill in our kid. And fighting over what color to paint the nursery.
