Bundle in the Oven: And the crowd (of two) goes wild!

In an effort to remember how it all happened, I decided to write down my experiences about the night I found out I was going to have a baby. I realized this was something I may want to do more often over the coming months, and that hopefully some of you will want to know more about these details along the way as well. So I made some changes to make what I wrote about that night more friendly for public viewing and born was this blog. I must say that it is definitely going to be more female-oriented, but guys, you are more than welcome if any of you find it interesting! I will apologize in advance for being overly detailed, for offering too much information, for anything that makes you squirm, gasp or cry…but hey, these are my experiences and I am very excited to document the details. So if you want to come along for the ride (thank you!), you have been forewarned, be prepared and please let me leave my filter behind! I’m excited! Yeah I know, I said that already.

Grab a cup of coffee and a newspaper. This could be a while.

For about a week and a half, I had cramps, my lower back was sore and my boobs were hurting (Yes, I said boobs. Please get used to simple, uncomplicated terminology. I am just learning all of the technical stuff on the subject that influenced my writing of this blog, so the simpler the better when it’s possible!) All of these though were not new things to me since I had had all of these symptoms before and still didn’t get the news I was hoping for shortly after. A few days to several days before my period was to come (or what I was hoping would be my period not coming), I would notice that my boobs weren’t sore anymore and I was so disappointed! All I wanted was for them to be in pain (the more intense the better) because if they were, it could be a very real sign of pregnancy. When that soreness would subside, so did my hopes that this was our lucky month. Every time I was correct in the sad assumption, and we would have to keep trying. Well this time, there were a couple things that had gone differently than before.

Although most months during the last nine, there was at least one thing that was different that would get my hopes up and trick me into thinking this was our time. Some of those things were as follows: back aches, cramping (these were fairly new to me since on my pill, I didn’t get those so much during my times of the month), weepiness, dizziness/lightheadedness, frequent trips to the potty, more migraine symptoms (which was weird I thought because those had become so much better since being off of my pill), weight gain (yeah, I guess all the excess food and drinks I was having was actually responsible for that---each month I think I drank a bit more in hopes that it would be my “last month” to do so!), looking at the credits of a movie and the only name I saw was someone with the word infant within his last name, even the smell of baby powder one morning as I woke up in bed (this my mind obviously made up---which was extremely cruel because when it didn’t pan out at the end of the month, I was devastated even more!). Thus, I was trying so hard not to read into anything, but as all those times before, I just could not help myself.

A bit over a week into these latest symptoms (which I now know was the day before my period was supposed to come; Thursday, June 26th), I seriously thought my boobs looked a bit fuller. Hey, it’s fairly easy to tell considering they are not that big to begin with. I pulled my hubby into the bathroom and he agreed. I mean, he truly agreed, and it wasn’t like the agreement of a husband just trying to be supportive! I should say that Jeff had been convinced that this was going to be the month for us. I found his positive thinking reassuring, but at the same time, it was good and bad. Good, if he was correct in his thinking, but really, really bad if my hopes were up too and it didn’t end up working out. The more you hope, the harder you fall when it doesn’t happen. This was something I (we) was (were) sadly very accustomed to.

The next morning, the glutton for punishment I am, I decided to ask again if he really thought “they” looked bigger and he whole-heartedly thought so! Well, that was Friday morning (Friday, June 27th), and some months lately, I have tried to convince myself that I don’t know when my period is to come (even though I pretty much do). This is to help me feel less stress thinking about it since every time I go to the bathroom, if I know it’s coming, I’m kind of in panic mode hoping not to see the dreaded red. So I try and deceive myself a bit, but it doesn’t work for too long. The suspense kills me and I end up counting the days out; this time I did just that and suddenly realized I was a day late. Good, if I was on my last month’s 29 day cycle, but not anything to get excited about if I was on the previous month’s strange cycle of 35 days (again, cruel that it could be so late one month and get my hopes up only to be let down again!). Well, now I knew. I should expect the red at any time. But MAN, my boobs hurt! They still hurt! I am overjoyed at this point! A little background on the boobs: Sometimes mine hurt. Sometimes they hurt at several times throughout the month. Sometimes too much caffeine triggers this, sometimes hormones, sometimes nothing does. Now at least if I was going to have sore boobs, couldn’t He have made them bigger?! Actually, there are times when they do not hurt, for long periods of time, and I really do like the way they look, so I am not complaining. Really. But when so many people have told me that was their biggest pregnancy warning sign, I didn’t flinch because the soreness was a semi-regular occurrence for my perkies.

Well, two days late…pain. Three days late…still pain. Four days and I am loving the feeling of sore boobs! I find times, many times, throughout the day just to cop a quick feel to make sure they’re still sensitive! Is that weird? Some of you may say yes, but those in my situation, who have hoped and prayed for such a long time to be blessed with pregnancy, I think it is completely normal. Several of you can attest I am sure. I could share some other things that some of you would think are really crazy, downright loony, but again, to those in my shoes, completely sane.

Also this month, I honestly noticed I was becoming forgetful, spacey and just not quite all with it. I had known this was a symptom of some pregnancies, and I really was not trying to blame my possibly usual characteristics on something, but it was not normal. I would have conversations with my boss and I would leave his office feeling like a complete idiot (even stating that I was sorry I was an idiot!), just on silly things luckily (at this point), but it was goofy. My husband was supposed to have put the new Coldplay album on my iTunes and when he was out of town this last weekend, I was so disappointed that it wasn’t on there. I even thought to myself how it has got to be there, and this cannot be another “blonde” moment, but nope, it simply was not there. Of course, when he got home, he found it, right with the other Coldplay albums. OK, Houdini. I didn’t know when you said you were going out of town on a golf trip that you really meant magic camp. There were so many things like that; too many to name and probably too insignificant to sound like anything. However, if you added them all up, I’m a little nuts I think. Was this insanity supposed to start so early? Who knew?

On Monday (Monday, June 30th) I could not take it anymore. I knew I was four days late, and even though I had been like six days late before, I had to test. It was killing me. I would not let myself think it was going to be positive, but I needed to know if I was to put down the vino.

That night started off fairly suburban routine; all the while anticipation of what was to come was in the midst. My husband went out to mow the lawn and has always been very clear on letting me know not to even consider taking a test without him there. The wait was just short of excruciating. He took a break from lawn mowing and we had a nice dinner together on the deck. He went back to lawn mowing and the agonizing wait that had subsided slightly during dinner had resumed and was in full effect. I did some cleaning and after holding off on going to the bathroom for quite some time in preparation for the test, my bladder was going to burst. He was done with the yard almost at that moment and this was it. Test time.

I was so incredibly nervous, only for the fact that if it was negative, again, I was going to be crushed. This was a sentiment Jeff echoed. My very loving husband would have been more crushed by my disappointment than his own, which is a testament to the extraordinary man I married. We said a prayer and Jeff’s prayer was that if we are meant to have a baby at this time, please let the test be positive. I guess I was hoping for a “no ifs ands or buts let this darn test be positive”, but I quickly grew to appreciate his prayer because I do feel that what is meant to be will be. Even if sometimes we are so disappointed by what comes, I believe in the meant to be.

I took the test and we waited our two minutes, actually four minutes because I was freaking out a bit. Hand in hand we approached the bathroom. I was dying. Sweating. Squeezing him so tightly. I wanted Jeff to look first, but he insisted we look at the same time. Before though, we checked the directions again to make sure we knew what it should look like (as if we couldn’t figure it out, especially since we had some experience, but oh well). We got closer. Closer. Negative…on the right…POSITIVE on the left!!! That meant yes! The tightest of hugs, kisses, loud cheers, jumps for joy and the biggest of smiles soon followed. I could not believe what I saw. It was the best feeling, even better than I expected I think---I guess because I had tried to prepare myself for the letdown. To utter (scream) the words, “I’m pregnant!” felt like nothing I have ever known, although the emotions paralleled those I had when my husband proposed to me. Pure joy, surprise, amazement, and a little uncertainty, but only uncertainty of what was to come---in a good way. Enjoying that moment together was bliss. All I wanted to do was talk! Weird, I know. We reveled in the moment, took photos and figured out our tentative due date, which is in early March. I really cannot explain the happiness I am feeling. I am so happy and I feel like we are due for having some really, really great news. We both had terrible times sleeping, waking up in deep thought, but with the morning brought the delightful reality back that this was our time.

That same morning (Tuesday, July 1st) I ran into our yard waste bin while backing out of the driveway. The bin's contents spilled everywhere. When I called inside the house, Jeff had seen it all go down and as I drove off on my merry way, he proceeded to let me know how thrilled he was to be in his suit and get to pick it all up. But we are just SO happy! Nothing could have ruined our day, right? Right. Let the morning sickness, heartburn, constipation, heck, even the migraines begin! I’m ready, and oh so willing (feel free to remind me of this post later on).

My doctor is out of town, but on my way to work yesterday I realized I didn’t know what to do next! So I called the clinic and they guided me through. The first appointment should be at the six to eight week mark and I will see a nurse first. That appointment is Friday, July 11th. It still does not make a whole lot of sense to me how I can be almost five weeks along due to the fact that they count your last period as being the first week. I hadn’t even ovulated until two weeks later so how could I be almost five weeks if I wasn’t really pregnant for two of them? Beats me, but it’s the way it works these days and I am OK with that. They say it is because it's easier to track when your last period was than to predict exactly when you conceived. Makes sense, but it still seems like a couple weeks should be shaved off, although because of this, pregnancy is now condisered 40 weeks.

I have been taking a multivitamin along with an extra folic acid supplement [Repeated studies have shown that women who get 400 micrograms (0.4 milligrams) of folic acid daily prior to conception and during early pregnancy reduce the risk that their baby will be born with a serious neural tube defect (a birth defect involving incomplete development of the brain and spinal cord) by up to 70%. ~cited from kidshealth.org] since long before we even started trying, so I am good to go there until I see what else the doctor may recommend. I also picked up a DHA/Omega-3 supplement based on a friend's recommendation and I will start taking that today.

We do know it is extremely early, so prayers are very much appreciated as we know there are concerns at this stage with this pregnancy going as planned. However, there is real hope and joy in knowing that whatever the plan is, we are able to conceive and that we are beyond grateful for. It is in that spirit that we allow ourselves to enjoy the happiness we are feeling right now. We hope you enjoy it with us. Thank you for sharing this journey with me. I have anxiously been awaiting the opportunity to share it with you.

Pre-test chaos