A few months ago Jill Duggar (sorry, I do happen to be a bit of a Duggar follower) caught a bunch of bad press when she announced her pregnancy very early. It really got me thinking, who created the stupid unwritten rule that a pregnancy should be kept private for twelve weeks. I hate to break it to you, but statistics aside, 12 weeks is not some magical moment at which all is safe and certain. I made it well past that "safe to make an announcement stage" before losing Presley. I was almost to the half way point in my pregnancy and despite most clinical odds, we lost her.
So today, on a whim, we announced to the Facebook world that we are expecting a baby. We have not made it to the elusive 12 week mark, we know that 1 in 4 women experience a miscarriage in their first trimester (yes, 1 in 4, it's staggering) we know that making an early announcement isn't for everyone. But as my little baby bump begins to develop, we chose hope. We chose to share this journey with those that we love. I choose not to hide in fear. I choose to embrace the love and support that has been such a vital part of our healing.
What if something goes wrong? What if we face another loss? We will acknowledge and love this child just as we did Presley, no matter the days that it's tiny heart beats. We will not be consumed by fear. It is certainly there, rearing it's ugly head every time I feel a little off, every time I sit staring at an ultrasound monitor, every time I pass the empty nursery that our little girl never came home to. But I will not live in fear, I choose hope.
