I am 22 years old, newly married and just found out that I am pregnant with my very first child. This was an unexpected pregnancy for my husband and I, but that does not affect our joy of finding out. I love the idea of learning about my pregnancy and how it will affect my life, my body, and my new baby. I am looking for lots of advice and friends to confide in!

This is now nearly my 29th week. I have just signed up with a doula (labor coach) and am about to start taking pregnancy classes. I plan to have a natural birth and to breastfeed. I have a good doctor and a midwife who I have been seeing since the first three months, and have learned that I am very healthy and so is my baby. I am so excited to be a new mom. Since I first found out about my pregnancy (I was eight weeks at the time) I have gone through several mixed feelings; some fear, some shock and some that even made me wonder if this is real, but I have mostly felt joy and surprise. I have a little life growing inside of me! A lot of the fear I have experienced has been for the baby, but now that I know how healthy he is, and how far we have gotten together, that fear has faded into excitement of our meeting face-to-face for the first time! It has not been an easy road. The symptoms, freaky-yet-normal body changes, and crazy mood swings have taken me on a roller coaster ride that has yet to level out. Up until this time, I have struggled to come to grips with the changes, but, now, I embrace them and feel new energy and motivation like I have not had since before I was pregnant (it took me until my third trimester to feel great, I know). I still have many questions, but the support I have been given thus far has been fantastic. I cannot wait to see what the next weeks will hold as I count down to that big day.