My Third Pregnancy Questions and Answers!

If you didn’t catch it on social media, I’m pregnant!

We are so THRILLED to finally be sharing this news with you all! I asked my Instagram followers if they had any questions for me while I’m in the first stages of pregnancy, and they came back with some great ones.

Without further ado, here are the answers to some of the most common pregnancy questions I’ve been asked over the past few days:

How long did it take to get pregnant?

Longer than we thought it would. We have no idea how long it took to get pregnant with Hudson (more on that later), but with Ella, it only took 2 months, so we were expecting a similar timeline with this baby.

I got my IUD out in September and we started trying right away. I REALLY wanted a fall baby this time around; ideally in September.

Month after month went by and I wasn’t pregnant. The negative pregnancy tests were getting so discouraging. We had one more month to get a positive test before I was ready to throw in the towel and just stop trying. And that’s the month we got pregnant!

I have no idea why it took so long this time since our others seemed to come so easily. But this experience gave me the smallest glimpse of what couples who deal with infertility feel. I’m not comparing our experience to theirs in ANY WAY since our conception is still in the “normal” time range, but I’ve definitely learned to have more compassion and understanding for those in that situation.

When did you take the pregnancy test?

I took the test sometime in early March! I can’t remember the exact date, sadly. We were living at my parents’ house at the time (waiting for our new house to be finished) and we had to keep the tests hidden until we moved! And yes, I kept them so I could take a picture of them in our new house…is that gross??

I was exercising one afternoon and felt so tired and out of breath and like I couldn’t push myself like usual. It seemed really weird for me to be feeling that way and my period was 5 days late, so I decided I needed to get to the Dollar Store ASAP to get some pregnancy tests.

I took them as soon as I got home and I didn’t even want to look because I had already seen so many negative tests, but it was positive! I couldn’t believe it! I waited until the next morning (because that’s when the hCG hormone is the most concentrated) and I got another positive test! We were officially pregnant!

When is the baby due?

The baby is officially due November 2! However, I have to get induced with all of my pregnancies because my body doesn’t go into labor on its own. So my doctor told me if everything is looking good with my body, they will allow me to be induced at 39 weeks, which happens to be October 26!

I originally didn’t want to have the baby in November, but as long as it wasn’t on Halloween, I was fine with any date. But when my doctor told me the October 26th date, I knew that’s when I should be induced. My husband’s birthday is October 6 and mine is July 20, so it’s the combination of our two birthdays, #love!

Are you finding out the gender?

Nope! We already have one of each so we decided long before we were pregnant that we wouldn’t be finding out the gender until delivery with this baby.

I am usually SUCH a planner, so not finding out the gender is a something really out of character. But we wanted this pregnancy to feel special, and we figured this was the best way we could!

This is the baby name list we’ll be using to pick our two names!

Was this baby planned?

My OB asked me this as we were doing a 12-week ultrasound, and I had to laugh at the questions. YES! This baby was very much planned. Since Ella will be almost 3.5 when the baby is born, we felt like it was time for another child to join our family.

If you had asked me that with our first, I would have answered very differently. Hudson was not planned; in fact, we would have waited a few more years at least to start having kids if we wouldn’t have had him so early in our marriage.

However, I firmly believe he came to our family when he was supposed to. And because I started having kids so early (I was 22 when I delivered him), I get to be done having kids by the time I’m 30! So it’s had its pros and cons.

And, yes, we want one more after this baby. We’ve always felt that 4 kids would make our family complete!

How have you been feeling?/Any morning sickness?

Surprisingly, I’ve been feeling really good! Of course, I haven’t escaped all of the pregnancy symptoms. I feel exhausted by the end of the day; I had some weird sciatic pain in my first few weeks; I already get out of breath walking up and down the stairs, and then there’s the pregnancy nausea!

I definitely haven’t escaped the nausea! However, I have been using a trick this pregnancy to help with morning sickness! When I called my doctor to schedule my first appointment, the nurse told me that if I was feeling really nauseous to eat more protein. Say what??? This is my third pregnancy, and I’ve NEVER known how to help nausea during pregnancy!

I used that trick several times in my first trimester and it totally worked! I would drink the Premier Protein Shakes or have peanut butter on toast or cheese and it totally helped with any morning sickness. I haven’t thrown up once this pregnancy!

Which is a nice change because I threw up every day for 20 weeks with Hudson and was really nauseous with Ella.

Any cravings or aversions?

I normally have a HUGE sweet tooth, but this pregnancy I’ve really felt sick around too much sugar. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still eat dessert when I can, but I’m not eating multiple desserts or eating really rich, heavy sweets.

Since we just past Easter, the thought of Reese’s eggs made me sick! Peanut butter + chocolate just sounds so gross to me right now!

I’ve really been craving salty things like hamburgers and fries (super healthy, I know) but also fresh foods like salad! I love the Southwest Salad from McDonald’s or the Double Chicken Tostada Salad from El Pollo Loco. Fresh fruits and vegetables also always sound good to me.

But that doesn’t mean I’m having a healthy pregnancy by any means…I’ve been so lazy this pregnancy. I haven’t been working out like I normally do and that’s got me feeling super discouraged. I hope now that I’m done with work and Hudson will be out of school soon that I can spend more time going on walks and being active outside.

I know having an active pregnancy really helps with my recovery after delivery.

Favorite places to get affordable maternity clothes?

That’s a loaded question haha! I’m REALLY bad about getting maternity clothes. I usually just wear my bigger/flowier shirts and skirts.

However, I do have some staple maternity pieces that I’ve worn through multiple pregnancies. Things like maternity jeans and stretchy maternity dresses. These weren’t necessarily super affordable, but I definitely didn’t spend a fortune on them. If you use coupons and shop sales you can get cute maternity clothes for a decent price.

Also, I’ve NEVER been pregnant through the summer before, so I’m looking to invest in a really great pair of maternity shorts and probably a maternity swimsuit or two this year.

I’ll link to some staple maternity pieces from my favorite stores below!

Maternity Shorts

Maternity Jeans

Maternity Dresses

Maternity Swimsuits

Final Thoughts About Baby Ashcroft #3

As with all of my pregnancies, we’re SUPER excited to have another baby join our family. It’s been four years since I was last pregnant and so I’m feeling ready this time. Both of our kids will be older too when baby is born so I’m excited to see them be big brother and sister.

And just a huge THANK YOU to everyone for your well wishes and congratulations on our big news. We feel all of your love and support and it means the world!

If you have any questions I didn’t answer, be sure to ask them in the comments!

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