I’ve got big news to share today!!! The Green family is growing!!! Baby Girl Green is expected to arrive in October, 2019!
I’ve been thinking about this blog post for a long time now. 16 weeks, to be exact. What kind of picture would I use, what would my clever title be, how would I announce it? But at the same time, I had a lot of trepidation about writing this post. The idea of a public pregnancy announcement isn’t something I’m super comfortable with, for both personal and cultural reasons.
As many of you know, my family is Jewish and we observe many of the traditional Jewish customs. We keep a kosher home (meaning we observe Jewish dietary laws), we won’t be cutting Avi’s hair until he’s three-years old, and we mark our Shabbat (Sabbath) every week by lighting candles, making challah, and attending synagogue. Judaism has traditions like these around many parts of everyday life in addition to the big moments. Pregnancy is no exception.
While there aren’t any laws around announcing or not announcing a pregnancy, in Judaism, we often err on the side of caution. When someone tells us they’re expecting, the traditional response is ‘b’sha’ah tova’ meaning ‘in good time’ as opposed to saying congratulations. We typically don’t have baby showers, make public announcements, or prepare the nursery until the baby has arrived. In some families, the baby’s name isn’t even shared until a week after the baby is born at the bris (for boys) and baby naming (for girls). I don't claim to be a Jewish scholar so I won't try to go into the reasons for this, but if you google it, the concept of eyin-hara - the evil eye- comes up often. We don’t want to attract it and we don’t want to jinx anything.
So even though I don’t follow every rule and regulation of Jewish law, making a public announcement of my pregnancy is a bit uncomfortable for me. But I’ve decided to go for it because I’m so incredibly, over-the-moon excited about our little girl and it’s been very hard to write about my life on the blog and social media without mentioning it. It’s important to me to be vulnerable and honest with all of you.
I’m 20 weeks this week - halfway through. I’m not sure how I’ll share news and information about the pregnancy going forward, I think we’ll have to wait and see how I’m feeling at any given point. But I’m thrilled to share this happy news with you today.
And here’s some fun Q&A about how things are going so far -
How far along are you?
20 weeks. In other words, halfway done and in the second trimester
Did you feel sick in the beginning?
YES! This was the hardest part about not sharing publicly. I was nauseated and exhausted pretty much all of the time. But I’m feeling a lot better now.
Who did you tell first?
I thought about telling Jared in some kind of cutesy way, but as soon as I saw the positive test, I thundered downstairs like an elephant to show him! I just couldn’t keep it a secret more than 30 seconds. We waited a few weeks before telling my immediate family and started telling extended family and close friends around 12 weeks.
When did you start to show?
EARLY! Oh my gosh, I was shocked at how early my belly popped this time. I was wearing pant extenders by 10 weeks and maternity pants by 12.
Are you feeling kicks?
YES! I started feeling ‘popping bubbles’ around 15 weeks or so, but it was really infrequent. Over the last few days, they’ve been getting stronger and I feel them more often. This is definitely the most fun part of pregnancy for me.
How do you feel about having a girl?
I’m thrilled to be having a healthy baby. I know that’s a cliche, but it’s true. And here’s why - I don’t get to decide my child’s gender anyway. I wanted to find out the sex because it does make the whole experience seem more real to me. And I won’t pretend that I don’t have romantic notions about what life with a daughter will be like. But I’m aware that those feeling are about ME and not her. At the end of the day, this is really just about genitals. One day, she’ll tell me what pronouns she prefers, how she wants to dress, and who she wants to love. That’s not up to me.
Are you going on a babymoon?
YES! Jared and I are planning a weekend in Cape Cod at the end of June! My parents are watching Avi and we’re so excited to get away for a weekend. If anyone has suggestions about what we should do (we’ll be there Friday-Sunday - a short trip) please send them our way!!!!
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