Listen in on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

After months of quietly soaking it all in, Josh and I are finally sharing that we’re expecting our first baby girl.

Since announcing the pregnancy, I’ve received so many questions. Some of which have totally surprised me and some of which I knew to expect. From how far along I am to whether we’re planning a home birth, how we found out the gender, and even how I told Josh I was pregnant. 

In this episode, I’m answering some of the questions I’ve been asked most often and sharing a little glimpse into what this season has been like for us.

 

Growing a Baby, Growing Into Motherhood

But before we jump into the questions, I want to acknowledge something important.

While this pregnancy is new, the journey that brought us here isn’t.

For years, I imagined that if I ever shared this story publicly, I would talk mostly about the physical side of preparing for pregnancy: the supplements, nutrition, lifestyle changes, and all the practical things we did. And while those things absolutely mattered, I’ve come to realize they were only a small part of the story.

The deeper journey was emotional and spiritual.

Looking back, I would say that 95% of the preparation for this season had very little to do with conceiving a baby and almost everything to do with healing, growing, surrendering, and becoming. In many ways, this has been a ten-year journey. A journey of untangling fears, challenging old beliefs, healing wounds I didn’t always realize I was carrying, and learning to trust God in a deeper way.

That’s part of why I’ve decided to share more of this story.

Not because I think my experience is universal, but because I suspect I’m not the only woman who has walked this road. If you’ve ever wrestled with fear, uncertainty, disappointment, timing, identity, or questions about motherhood, my hope is that somewhere in this story you’ll see a piece of your own.

And while I’ll save the full healing journey for another episode, today felt like the perfect opportunity to start the conversation by answering some of the questions you’ve been asking since we shared the news.

So let’s dive in.

Your Most-Asked Pregnancy Questions

How Far Along Are You?

This is probably the question I’ve been asked more than any other.

The short answer is that I’m currently in my third trimester and we’re expecting our baby girl sometime in late July or early August of 2026.

The reason I haven’t shared my exact due date is honestly because I’ve realized due dates are a little arbitrary. Some babies come weeks early. Others come weeks late. There is such a wide range of what is considered normal, and I didn’t want to become overly attached to a specific date or spend a month answering texts asking if the baby has arrived yet.

So while I do technically have a due date, we’re simply saying that we’ll be welcoming our little one sometime this summer.

Did You Find Out the Gender?

Yes, and we’re so excited to be having a baby girl.

For the longest time, we thought it might be a boy. Josh comes from a family with lots of boys, and for some reason we both just assumed that’s what it would be.

Then as we got closer to finding out, something shifted. Several family members started saying they thought it was a girl, Josh started thinking it was a girl, and eventually I did too.

One of my best friends actually checked the results for us and ordered a gender reveal cake. We were snowed in at the farm when we found out, and after letting the cake sit in the refrigerator for a couple days while we processed the fact that we were actually about to become parents, Josh and I finally cut into it together.

It was simple, sweet, and honestly perfect.

We had planned to do a gender reveal with the family but it was a weird winter and we kept getting snowed in. So I stuck the cake in the freezer and then on a clear day, I pulled it out, covered it up where we cut it with some store bought icing (don’t judge me – it worked) and headed to my parents. Then we called tons of family members over FaceTime (literally every phone had someone on the line) who couldn’t be there in person. It ended up being one of those cozy little memories that I’ll probably treasure forever.

Do You Have a Name Picked Out?

We do! It came to Josh one day while in church and when he told me I instantly was like “yep, that’s it”.

At least mostly.

We’ve chosen her first name and shared it with our family, but we’re still deciding on a middle name.

Right now, we’re leaning toward waiting until we meet her. Something tells me that once she’s here, we’ll know exactly which name fits.

 

How Did You Tell Josh You Were Pregnant?

Funny story – I didn’t. Josh told me!

This is probably my favorite story because it sounds completely made up, but it’s true.

Since we’re both studying Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), we spend a lot of time talking about pulse diagnosis. Which if you don’t know has a lot more to do with pulse quality than just beats per minute. Some examples are that it can feel like a guitar string snapping, it can feel like marbles in an oily tube, it can feel overflowing, etc. 

There also happens to be a “pregnancy” pulse. If you’ve ever watched a Korean or Chinese period piece, you may have seen a royal physician take the pulse of a woman and announce she was pregnant. I always thought it was a bit dramatic and over done…

Well one evening, Josh was feeling my pulse and casually looked at me and said, “You’re pregnant.”

Pretty sure my response was “there’s no way”. Mostly because (TMI but…) I was only 4 days post ovulation so I thought there was no way he could tell yet. But also, I just didn’t think it would be the case. 

At that point, it was far too early for a pregnancy test to show anything, and so I doubted it..

Then a little over a week later, I took a pregnancy test and discovered he was right. He didn’t even bat an eye when the test came out positive. Pretty sure he said “yep” and went on with his day.

I’m still amazed at how it all went down and now I wonder if this is how we’ll always find out.

 

Was This a Planned Pregnancy?

First, this is such a funny question to me because it’s actually pretty invasive but I also get it because I often wonder the same thing. I think what people are really asking is “was it a surprise?”

So I’ll just say that for us the answer is yes… And no. Maybe a little bit of both 😅

We had decided we wanted to start trying for a baby within the next six months or so. But I knew stress often hindered pregnancy so we decided to just not stress anything.

After being married for over a decade and never experiencing an unplanned pregnancy, I think both of us assumed it might take longer than it did.

Granted, we had spent years improving our health and several months intentionally preparing for pregnancy. We were focused on supporting our bodies, reducing stress, and creating an environment where pregnancy could happen when the timing was right.

We had decided not to stress about it… And then it happened much sooner than either of us expected. I think it took me a whole month to process that I was actually pregnant.

Looking back, it feels like one of those moments where we made a plan and God smiled.

 

Did You Do Anything to Prepare for Pregnancy?

Absolutely.

There were practical things we did: changes to our nutrition, lifestyle, supplements, herbs, and daily habits.

But if I’m being honest, the physical preparation was only a small piece of the story.

The deeper preparation was emotional and spiritual.

For years, God was doing work in my heart that I didn’t fully understand at the time. Looking back now, I can see that this journey wasn’t just preparing me to become pregnant. It was preparing me to become a mother.

That’s a much bigger story than I can fit into this episode, but it’s one I hope to share in the future because I know there are other women walking through similar healing journeys.

 

How Have You Been Feeling?

Honestly, I feel really good.

I’ve been incredibly grateful for how smooth this pregnancy has been. I haven’t experienced much swelling, significant pain, or many of the symptoms everyone tells me to expect.

Pretty sure this is largely due to all the prep I did for my body beforehand. Mostly because my mom and sister always had really rough pregnancies. I was determined not to. I’ve continued supporting my body in ways that feel sustainable and realistic.

Of course, pregnancy comes with challenges, but overall I feel healthy, energized, and genuinely thankful for how my body has carried me through this season so far. At some point, I’ll probably share everything I did to prepare as well.

 

What Is Your Birth Plan?

This is another question that surprises people.

Apparently I have a “home birth” vibe to me haha. And honestly, my dream birth probably would be a water birth at home.

But for my first baby, I’ve chosen a hospital with a team of midwives. The hospital we’re using has a wonderful midwifery program. Any yet we have access to conventional medical care if it’s ever needed.

For me, it feels like the best of both worlds.

I also have a doula. We’ve been taking birth classes, reading books, and doing everything we can to prepare for labor and delivery.

The closer we get, the more peace I feel about it all. 

 

Final Thoughts

If there’s one thing this season has taught me, it’s that some of God’s greatest work happens long before the answer to the prayer arrives.

For years, I thought the story would begin with a positive pregnancy test. Looking back, I can see that the story started much earlier. It started in the healing, the surrender, the growth, and all the quiet ways God was preparing us for this season.

One day, I’ll share more of that journey. But for now, I’m simply grateful. Grateful for this little girl, grateful for God’s timing, and grateful for the opportunity to share pieces of the story with you along the way.

Let me know what you thought of this episode or if you have any questions. You can send me a text or voice message DM on Instagram.

All my love,

Allison Sue

P.S. Want to catch up show notes? Check out Voice Messages Are the New Love Letters.