The family knows, friends know, even Instagram knows, and yet I realize I’ve had yet to share some big, life-transforming news here on Maidstone Buttermilk. I’m pregnant. Inside my person is growing a new person—a baby boy—and I’m due May 17th.

I’m racked with feelings from elation to inquietude but thanks to calm-producing endorphins with my changing hormones, most of my feelings are good ones. The process of building an actual human being inside of our bodies can be overwhelming, even intimidating. Besides a growing belly and whatever host of bodily symptoms you experience, the idea that there is a baby on the other side of this nine-month journey is essentially abstract. There are the unknowns we can’t control during this process, during birth, the enormous unknown of what it will actually take to be a parent and help this figurative bump not only survive but to thrive in the outside world.

At Week 13.

Initially drafting this at about 20 weeks in, I can tell you that 20 weeks ago I had no idea of what it meant to be 20 weeks pregnant. Today at 25 weeks, I can firmly tell you I am carrying a cauliflower and working towards a bunch of kale — at least according to The Bump app. Wait, is a bunch of kale bigger than a head of cauliflower? I guess so.

As someone who is not a parenting expert, a medical professional, a nutritionist, nor a psychiatrist… in fact, as someone somewhat devoid of experience with babies and children, I knew that this process would require some education.

It’s been a fun and enlightening eye-opener, delving into books and podcasts to unearth this concept soon to metamorphose into an independent human. And I’m quite sure these learnings are only the beginning. Then, there has been the unsparing education on the U.S. of A.’s healthcare system (read: health insurance system). 

Nine months seems an appropriate time to wrap your head around the whole thing and then pass Go. If I’m being honest, it hasn’t come without trepidation about my changing body but its growth is also this tangible reminder that someone is growing in there, doing exactly what he is supposed to do and that fills me with satisfaction and delight.

At Week 25.

In our own unique way, my husband and I will get to show the world anew to someone and perhaps discover it again in ways we haven’t seen it before. That is really cool. As I delve into books and podcasts, I’m trying not to take anyone’s word as an end-all, but merely to embed myself in proficient knowledge. I write this blog post as someone who has actively been avoiding the Internet for its vastness of unchecked gospel for facts. I’ve aimed to absorb insights from people that have way more degrees and experience than me and I’ve found that these resources allow me to trust more in myself and what I might be capable of.

I dare not tell any of you fellow parents-to-be, some-day parents or new parents, how to prepare for caring for your baby because—full disclosure—I have no idea. But, if sharing resources for your prepping-for-child journey, whatever that journey looks like, is something that would be helpful to you and something that you want to see on the blog, let me know.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming.