Amanda Asad’s family is growing by one more.
The TikToker and social media influencer, 28, is pregnant and expecting her first baby with husband Mohammed, 27, a rep for the couple exclusively confirms to PEOPLE. Asad, who met her husband while the two were in college together, tells PEOPLE that they were “in shock” after learning the exciting news.
“I had taken a test a few days before and it was negative, so I was fully expecting this one to be negative as well,” Asad tells PEOPLE. “I was helping Mohammed pack for a work trip, making dinner and waiting for the test to develop so a lot was happening at once.”
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Amanda Asad and her husband
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“I always thought I’d immediately sob when finding out I was pregnant, especially after two years of negative tests. My husband and I were both SO in shock when we saw the second line that we laughed, cried and almost passed out in about 30 seconds.”
Asad has been open about her struggles with fertility on her social media channels and explains that she started documenting her journey in the hopes that she’d be able to catch the moment she’d learned she actually was pregnant.
“Before trying to get pregnant, I was so naive to the struggle of infertility,” Asad says. “No one around me had a hard time getting pregnant and if they did, it wasn’t something they openly talked about.”
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Amanda Asad and husband
“This eventually led us to lots of negative tests and fertility appointments. The only thing I found comfort in at the time were other women who shared their fertility stories online,” she continues. “We decided to move forward with an IUI (intrauterine insemination) after two years of trying, and right before scheduling it I found out I was pregnant.”
“I will never take this pregnancy for granted after learning how many women go down the path of fertility procedures like the one I was preparing myself for.”
Asad recently found out the sex of her baby, but is waiting to share the news publicly. And although she says she’s not one to keep a list of baby names, she and Mohammed have settled on one girl name and two boy names they love.
As she gets closer to meeting her little one, the mom-to-be has been able to learn on her older sister Leena, who is also a TikToker and influencer.
“My sister Leena has been the best example of a mom for me,” Asad shares. “She’s told me to soak up every moment of the newborn stage and give myself grace during that time. It will eventually get easier!”
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Amanda Asad and husband Mohammed
Until then, Asad is getting ready to start making preparations on her little one’s nursery and begin the “nesting” stage.
“I haven’t done a single thing but we’re about to finally make our space room into the nursery,” she says. “We’ve been in this house almost three years now and knew it’d eventually be the baby’s room, so I can’t believe eventually is right around the corner.”
With things getting more and more real, Asad just can’t wait until she starts this new chapter of her life with her husband.
“I can’t wait to experience all the first with him as we figure out how to raise our baby together,” she tells PEOPLE. “We are both so grateful we’ve been given the opportunity to become parents.”
Read the original article on People
