Dear world: in case I haven’t told you…

We’re pregnant!!

We’re due March 21, 2016 with a precious baby girl, and we couldn’t be more excited!! We found out mid-July, right in the middle of painting our house and preparing to move in, and just before the three busiest months I’ve ever experienced in my careers as a photographer, so I feel the reality of this pregnancy is just beginning to settle in for me.

I’m 20-weeks along today— HALFWAY!!— which is crazy to me. I can’t believe how fast this pregnancy has gone so far, and honestly just a little freaked out at how quickly we’ll see the end of March. I’m a planner by nature who loves preparation, and I really want to step into this new phase of life well-prepared… but there really isn’t any way to truly prepare for a major life change. I can follow good advice, talk to my doctors, and read books from now until the day I go into labor, but it’s still going to be a stretching, challenging, and unexpected. Thankfully, there is grace enough for the known and the unknown in the future, and I’m clinging God’s promise to be faithful.

We’ve had a lot of questions from family and friends, so to save time in answering any y’all may have for us, here is a list of the most common questions we’re received:

Are you excited? We are sooooooooooo so so excited!! We “planned” to wait two years to give us some time to adjust to married life, but we’ve always wanted kids. I grew up in a large family, and Buck has wanted kids for about twelve years, so children are definitely something we’ve prayed for and looked forward to. We can’t wait to be parents. Nervous, but definitely excited.

So THAT’S what this blog post was all about… Well, yes and no. Expecting our first baby has definitely changed the way Buck and I think about some aspects of my work, but the desire for a deep, loving, intentional life has existed in our hearts long before we even met each other. Being pregnant just facilitates a solid reason (and due date!!) to make important changes that we’ve wanted to make anyway.

Have you been sick? YES. July, August, and September were very challenging for me. I painted and we moved into our house, it was the busiest three months I’ve ever had in business, and I was soooooo nauseous I could barely make it through a workday. I only threw up a handful of times, but the nausea was pretty intense. And that is the biggest reason that the blog has been so quiet— I just didn’t have the mental energy to do more than the bare necessities in delivering images to my clients, so blogging took a back seat. Thankfully, wedding days weren’t a problem for me— the excitement and adrenaline of the day kept me going, and I’m very proud of the work I produced in those months. Can’t wait to show you!!

How do you feel now? Mostly great. I still have some random bouts of nausea (especially first thing in the morning), and my growing belly can get a bit uncomfortable at times, but all things considered, I feel great. I still go to the gym 3-5 mornings a week and lift weights, under my doctor’s supervision, of course, and my energy levels are back up. I don’t have the endurance I used to, but I have to remind myself that my body is working hard to grow another human being, and that’s hard work as it is. Frankly, I’m more stressed than usual about the wedding-editing season that I’m in, but also struggling to work as quickly as I usually do. Can I attribute that to mommy brain?!?

Do you have a name picked out? Buck and I actually came up with a list of baby names on our honeymoon (I told you we’ve wanted kids for awhile!). That list has changed just a little bit, but yes, we do have a name picked out. But we’re keeping it to ourselves until she makes her appearance. 🙂

Have you started working on the nursery yet? Well, wedding season hasn’t quite wrapped up for me yet— the shooting portion is almost over, but the editing and album-ordering portion of wedding season is stillllllll going strong. We haven’t had time to do much in the guestroom/nursery so far, but we can’t wait to start on it soon. In the meantime, we’re having fun on Pinterest!!  I’m decidedly against a pink-and-purple nursery. Our guestroom/nursery is painted a soft, neutral teal right now (Quiet Moments by Benjamin Moore… always a winner), and we’re planning on keeping it relaxed and neutral with gray and oatmeal tones, and a few pops of soft coral for contrast.

When did you decide to tell people? We found out when I was 3.5 weeks along, and we told our families the following weekend. We started telling friends shortly after… but we decided to keep it off of social media until after the bulk of my wedding season wrapped up. Why? Because I have the sweetest, most thoughtful clients in the WORLD, and I didn’t want to distract them on their wedding days! The LAST thing my brides need is to worry about is their wedding photographer’s health— “is she doing okay? does she need to sit down? does she need water?” So we decided to tell as many people as we wanted face-to-face, but to keep it off social media until most of my wedding-shooting-season wrapped up. That just happened to coincide with our gender-reveal sonogram, so… perfect timing!

Are you taking maternity leave? And what will your 2016 wedding season look like? I’m planning to start maternity leave in early March (exact date depending on how I feel and how spring engagement sessions go). I have a May 14th wedding that I am very, VERY excited about, so that will officially end my maternity leave (but again, that depends on when I deliver, how I feel, and how spring engagement season goes). I’m easing back into weddings slowly— I’m only accepting two weddings per month through August, and then up to three weddings per month September through November. We’re capping wedding contracts at 15 next year (as opposed to my normal 25), and after talking with many other friend-photographers who have done this (and recently), I think we have a good plan for the 2016 season, and I’m very excited about every one of the couples I get to work with next year!

Any other questions? Feel free to ask!! We can’t wait to meet Baby Bradshaw!!