Sean and I are so incredibly excited to announce that we are expecting one of God's greatest gifts, a baby, due on Fathers Day 2017! I’m sure many of you may be curious about the details, so I decided to do a pregnancy Q&A! This has been one of the hardest secrets to keep, and I am so excited to finally share the details with you all! Yayyy!!!

How did you find out you were pregnant and what were your first pregnancy symptoms?

I found out I was pregnant on October 8th, when I was babysitting my nephew Gabriel for the weekend. I brought a pregnancy test with me because I was starting to feel some symptoms that I honestly thought were PMS, but I thought why not bring a test just in case!?! The first test I took was a first response, and when I took the test, the strangest thing happened...nothing showed up on the results window! Not a control line or a result line! Nothing! So, I threw the test away in frustration, and thought, "well that was a waste!" I spent the next few hours going about my daily business.

Eventually I came back to the bathroom, and when I did I noticed the test in the trash can had something on the control window. I picked it up, and there were two lines!!! I literally gasped out loud!!! I was nervous, excited, and in shock all at the same time! I also wondered if I was actually pregnant, or if the test was in error since nothing showed up for a while, but I have heard that it is very rare for a test to have a false positive, so I was pretty darn sure that I was.

Moments later my nephew woke up from his nap, and as I went to grab him out of his crib I told him that he was going to have another little cousin, (so yes, technically, he was the first person I told, although I think it is appropriate to tell an 8 month old before my husband!) ;) Speaking of, my husband was out of town at the time, so I had a few days to test again (all showing positive) and think about how I would tell him in a special way!

How did you tell Sean?

The day before Sean came home I went to a local bakery and got a box of donuts. Sean loves donuts, but honestly doesn't eat them often, so if I buy them it is usually a very special treat. On October 12th, (the morning that he returned home from his trip), I set the closed donut box out on the counter. The box had a donut, the positive test, and a onesie that said, "He Answered", because we have been praying for this little one for quite some time, (more on that later).

When Sean in the kitchen, I told him that I bought him a welcome home treat...Donuts from his favorite bakery! He was so excited and said, "thank you sweetie!" Little did he know there was something much better than donuts in the box! ;)

After he opened the box and realized what was going on, he broke down and started sobbing tears of joy and gratefulness! We hugged and cried together for what seemed like forever. Afterwards we watched a slide show that I made of our journey together, all the way from when we met, to getting engaged, and on to now having a baby! The slideshow was filled with pictures and scriptures of God's promises we have stood on for this baby, so of course we cried some more while watching it!

How did you tell your family and friends?

Sean and I told my family first, because my moms birthday was on October 13th, just one day after I told Sean. I knew it would be the perfect opportunity to share the news because my whole family would be together. I shared the news with a sign that I made saying, "Grammy to baby G & E (Gabriel and Easton), and soon to be grandma to three." When my mom opened the gift she gasped and said, "Noooo way!!! Am I the only one who knows!?!"

So then of course everyone started asking, "What!? Read the paper, what does it say!?" I'm sure everyone was getting the hint pretty quickly at this point, but when my mom read the card out loud it was clear to everyone we were pregnant! My sisters started crying and we all laughed and cried together the rest of the dinner! It was a joyous celebration without a doubt!

Just two days later we were with Sean's entire family for his brothers birthday celebration, (talk about great timing!) So, we decided to share the news with them on that day. Because it was also October, which is breast cancer awareness month, I always celebrate and honor Seans mom (who is a breast cancer survivor) with a gift basket of pink ribbon items.

We gave his mom the gift basket when we first got to the house, and I told her to look at the 'shirt' first! The shirt was actually a rolled up onesie that said, "My grandma is my hero" with a pink ribbon on it. She read the onesie and didn't really respond right away, (I don't think she wanted to assume anything), so moments later I said, "I'm pregnant"...and the entire room was bursting with joy from that moment on! We all hugged and cried together and talked about how excited we were for the first baby to be added to the Farrell clan!

I told a few close friends early on who I knew were standing in agreement and praying with us to get pregnant. I wanted to share the news of God's faithfulness, so I gave them a gift with the same onesie saying, "He answered", and shortly after came tears of joy!

How far along were you when you found out, and how far along are you now?

I believe I was around 3 weeks when I first found out. The problem was I don't have regular periods, so it is tough to say for sure, but it was confirmed after having an ultrasound confirming how many weeks I am. I am currently just a few days shy of 12 weeks.

When is the due date?

My due date is on Fathers Day!!! When the doctor told us I was due on June 18th, Sean instantly replied, "thats Father's Day"! He was so proud and excited! If the baby is born on or before it's due date, what a gift that will be for his first Fathers Day...and even more so, what an AWESOME gift from our Heavenly Father!

How have you been feeling? Do you have any food cravings or aversions?

From weeks 6-12 I had quite a few rough days. Many days I was nauseas morning, noon, and night! I don't know who came up with the term "morning" sickness, but that certainly was not the case with me! I also felt a whole new level of exhaustion that I didn't even know was possible! I am not a napper, but I was finding myself taking naps throughout the day, or at the very least falling asleep at 6 pm!

As far as food goes, things certainly changed pretty early on. At about 5 weeks I started to despise (and I mean despise) coffee, protein shakes, and a lot of different foods that I ordinarily LOVE! This was really hard for me at first because I didn't know what to eat!!! I kept saying, "I give people ideas on what to eat for a living, and I have no clue what to eat myself!" The hardest part was finding the ONE thing that actually sounded good for each meal, and it changed almost every day.

One of the biggest changes in my nutrition is that I have been eating mostly carbohydrates! I don't know if this is because your body actually needs more carbohydrates, or if they are just easier to digest, but I have heard that this is pretty common for your first trimester, (and to be honest, I am hoping this will be improving soon!) Another change has been the fact that we have been eating out more, mostly because there have been so many days that home cooked meals just didn't sound (or smell) good! Going out to eat is not something that we typically do often, but if it means that I can eat a meal without getting sick, it is worth it to me!

I have been doing my best to choose the best and healthiest options available, but can tell you that pregnancy has already taught me more about listening to my body (and having grace with it) than ever before! I thought I did so before I got pregnant, but when you are thinking about another life, this grace is brought to a whole new level!

Will you find out the gender before the baby is born?

Yes we will! In fact, we are doing a gender specific blood test. This is a fairly new test that be done as early as 10 weeks into the pregnancy. It is a simple blood test that is able to determine if there are any Y chromosomes in the mothers blood, which would mean the mother is carrying a boy. We decided to do the test so that we can find out early...Just in time for Christmas Eve! We decided to do this because Sean's brothers live out of town, so we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to find out when everyone is together! We are gathering at my sister Sarah's house for the evening for a Christmas Eve/Gender Reveal Party! We can't wait, and of course we will be sharing the news with all of you on Christmas morning, so stay tuned! :)

Will you be sharing pregnancy news and updates?

Yes! I will certainly be sharing updates and bump pictures with you all! At first I really had to pray about the decision to share updates, because I remember there were times it was hard for me to see my newsfeed filled with peoples pregnancy photos while I was in the season of waiting... But after praying about it, God spoke to me and said, "This pregnancy will bring people hope who have been waiting for a baby of their own", so I decided to share some pictures along the way. I plan to do so with the utmost of sensitivity however, and I do hope that if you are in the season of waiting on your own baby, that any picture I do share will bring you joy and hope knowing that if God did it for me, He can and will do it for you as well!

How will Dashing Dish be impacted by you becoming a new mom?

I am very excited about how becoming a mom will impact Dashing Dish! I have always been a huge advocate of meal planning, and creating family friendly meals...But let's face it...Actually becoming a mom will bring the reality of these things to a whole new level! ;)

Sean and I have already talked about some different features we can add to Dashing Dish in the future, such as "Dashing Baby" where I share tips and tricks on making your own baby food, and feeding picky toddlers! ;) Who knows what God has in store, but one thing is sure, He is always up to something here at Dashing Dish, and I am sure that He will give me creative new ways to help all the rest of you busy momma's out there! :)

How long were you trying to get pregnant?

The journey to getting pregnant was a long one...and quite honestly, I feel like I could write a book on all that we went through to get to this point....So, instead of writing a book, Sean and I felt impressed to share our testimony in a video, in order to bring hope to those going through a season of waiting of their own. TO WATCH A VIDEO OF OUR TESTIMONY CLICK HERE.

I also plan to share some additional blog posts here on Dashing Dish on some of the things that God taught me during my own season of waiting!

What would you say to the women out there who are in the season of waiting for a baby?

To the women in waiting, I would say don't lose hope! There were many days I would cry and cry wondering when the day would be that I would get to have a baby growing in my belly. And there were so many days that I would feel such sorrow, regardless of the fact that so many things were going right in my life...All because I couldn't get my mind off of my hearts deepest desire to become a mom. On those hard days (and there were many), I had one thing that kept me anchored, and it was the Word of God. I spent time with the Lord every day, and as I did, I was refreshed with encouragement and hope as I read of His faithfulness and His great love towards me. His Word gave me comfort, it gave me hope, and it assured me with His promise!

One of the things that God did as I sought Him, was give me so many precious promises to stand on in the waiting. I wrote down each one of those promises, and made scripture based prayers out of them. As I would pray these scriptures out loud, I would be declaring God's Word concerning children, knowing that His Word heals, comforts, brings life, and prospers to do what it is sent to do (Isaiah 55:11). I also put scriptures around my mirror that I would look in everyday, and instead of seeing a barren body, I would look at those scriptures, and declare them over my body, renewing my mind to what God's Word says that I am, which is a joyful mother of children (Psalm 113:9)!

Whether you are believing for a baby, or going through something that seems like the greatest fight of your life… I can tell you from experience that God is faithful and He is always true to His word! I would encourage you to run to God, dig into His word, and cling to His promises!

I would also encourage you to be willing and obedient to follow wherever He may lead you, choosing every decision that leads to peace….Because some of the greatest blessings come from seeking Him first, and following the peace He has put in your heart!

He is such a good Father, and He truly is the giver of every good and perfect gift. He has precious gifts in store for you, simply because he loves you!!!

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.- James 1:17