Lindsey's Pregnancy Story - Nurturing Image Birth Stories

In December of 2021, my husband and I casually discussed trying for another baby. It was then that we started “not preventing and not trying“, if you will. I was still breastfeeding our 14 month old and my cycle had only come once so I wasn’t sure getting pregnant at that time was even possible or how I’d know when to take a test.

But as Christmas approached I decided I would take a couple tests here and there, all negative— which was slightly more disappointing than I expected it to be. But nevertheless it was a busy time and I continued on with Christmas and New Years festivities. On New Year’s Day I noticed I was particularly nauseous but I attributed it to the late night of fireworks and celebration.

On January 5th after working an overnight shift at the police department, I had one pregnancy test left in the package and I decided I would take it— I didn’t feel like I was pregnant and I was sure it would be negative.

WRONG! I saw a second line appear immediately and I was so surprised. It was the darkest line I had ever seen, darker than the control line! “Oh my gosh, I’m having twins!!” was a thought that quickly flashed into my mind. My husband is a twin so it wouldn’t be too far fetched if it was!

I decided to tell my husband by having a “big brother” shirt made for our youngest and sending him a picture of Hudson wearing it. But…he did not catch on and I had to tell him to go back and look at what the shirt said. He was shocked as well!

Both of my previous births were hospital inductions, one very unnecessary and one medically necessary. They both went smoothly but since having my boys I had become a doula and learned SO much about how God intended birth to be and how incredible it is when our bodies are allowed to do what they were designed and created to do. So this time I knew I wanted to use a midwife and a birth center. I had already chosen Amber Berry with Journey Birth Center before I even knew I was pregnant!

I reached out to them and scheduled a consultation and they told me where I could go to have an ultrasound done. I had calculated based on the one period I had had, that I was about 6 weeks, but I was not entirely sure that was correct since all the tests I took in December were negative.

I scheduled an ultrasound and a couple weeks later found out that I was not as far along as I thought. At the point of my ultrasound I was 5 weeks and I was told I had a subchorionic hematoma. Which if you haven’t heard of, is a pocket of blood between the wall of the uterus and the sac your baby is in. It can be harmless but it can also increase your risk for miscarriage. My husband and I lost a baby in 2019 so this was terrifying to me. I spotted and worried for 2 weeks until I went back for my next ultrasound. I remember praying and praying that I would see a healthy baby and strong heartbeat at that next appointment— and He answered my prayers! No twins, but one strong and healthy baby.

We sent off a sneak peek gender test and found out this would be baby boy #3! We did an ultrasound to confirm and then we shared our news with everyone and that our baby’s name would be, Holden!