I've Never Been A Good Test Taker

The first week of August, August 4th to be exact, was the day I took my first pregnancy test. It was still "early" but I had gotten such a good deal on pregnancy tests that I had several to play with. And I had also bought two dollar store tests for fun too. So that Wednesday morning I woke up early and very nervously took my first test. The second line was very faint so I thought for sure that I wasn't pregnant. I didn't realize, or believe, that two lines of any color was a good sign. I went to work nervous and unsure so at lunch I went home and took another test. Still another faint line but this line was a littler darker than the one earlier that morning.

Still, even after another "positive" test I still wasn't convinced. I guess I just didn't dream that we could actually be pregnant. So what does any normal person do?? I woke up the next morning (Thursday) and took another test (ok...so I took two, I tried one of the dollar store tests as well). Again, still another pink line and it is definitely darker than the other two.

Here are all three of them lined up (the lines were easier to see in person). At this point one would conclude that I was, indeed, pregnant. I, however, kept thinking I had done something wrong. I've never been a good test taker so what would lead me to believe that these tests would be any different?! I decided to splurge a little and get a different test that would leave no doubt in my mind. So Thursday after work I took ONE MORE test and this is what I got...



YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got a YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHOA! I wasn't sure what to think or feel. I was just in shock! We didn't want to tell our parent's for a while because it was still so early. I had a nice plan in my head of how I wanted to tell them but it didn't work that way. When I was about 4 weeks pregnant I started having some pain on my left side. It wasn't severe so I wasn't really worried but decided to let the doctor know just in case. The nurse asked me a several questions and based on my answers she decided I needed to come in for an ultrasound...at 4 weeks, 3 days pregnant. I agreed because clearly I wasn't going to tell the nurse no. I went in that afternoon and just as we thought it was too early to see anything. They could tell there was something in my uterus but it was still too early to rule out a tubal pregnancy (which is what they wanted to check for). I went back for another ultrasound 10 days later. I was so nervous going in to it. I hadn't been having any more pain but still I was so nervous. I had prayed that the Lord would let me see a heartbeat too. I knew it was early and sometimes you can see them and sometimes you can't. Once the tech got me all set up she immediately said, "Well, there's a baby with a heartbeat." I was so relieved! She even went on to say the heart had JUST started beating. The Lord knew I needed that and I'm confident He allowed it to beat for me! She checked everything else out and then let me go see my doctor. At that point my doctor wasn't worried and so I was set to come back in 2 weeks.

After I my appointment where I saw the heartbeat I was meeting my mom for lunch. She had no idea where I had been. I was going to try and wait but I was so excited that I had to tell her. I started off by telling her I found someone to teach her smocking lessons. I've been telling her she needed to learn how to do that so I could sew cute things for when I have kids. She was excited that a friend of ours was going to teach her and she wouldn't have to go to a class. I proceeded to tell her that I didn't care when she learned just as long as she learned before April 16th. Then she looked at me and asked if I was pregnant. YES!! I am! So she cried...and I took her picture.

The only problem with telling my mom so soon is that she was going to have to keep it from my dad. Bless his heart, he can't keep a secret to save his life. And since my regular appointment wasn't until I was around 8 weeks I certainly didn't want anyone else knowing. So I allowed her to tell her two best friends but she had to swear them to secrecy. It was hard for us all to keep it from my dad but we made it!

Josh and I went to the doctor on September 8 for my regular scheduled appointment. This was Josh's first time to go with me. Again, for whatever reason, I was soooo nervous! I think I will be nervous before every appointment. We went in, and soon we were in the ultrasound room with the doctor. As soon as she had a picture up I could see the heart beating...at 179 I might add. A very high heart beat. The doctor said everything looked great. She took a few pictures and told us since the baby is still so small and we can't really see much she's going to do another US at 12 weeks. OH HOW MUCH I LOVE HER FOR THAT!!!! I do love my doctor and so does Josh. She is about my parent's age, she's real cute, and I just feel comfortable with her. I trust her and that's a great feeling.

Since our 8 week appointment went well my mother all but begged me to tell my dad. She was so worried she was going to slip and she was just ready to be able to talk to him about it. So, that Friday she arranged for us to all meet for dinner. It was real casual and nonchalant so he didn't suspect a thing. While we were waiting on our food he was messing with his blackberry. I took that opportunity to get the pictures from my purse and toss it over at him. He couldn't believe it. He thought for sure I was joking him and wanted to see my name on the ultrasound picture. Finally, with much convincing he believed us and he was soooo happy.

(Sorry, took this picture on my phone so its not the best quality)

I must say that my dad did really well at keeping our secret for 10 whole days. I'm still amazed. Monday, September 20th Josh called and told his mom the good news. We wanted so bad to do it in person but since they don't live here it just didn't work out. We're celebrating with them soon though. And of course she and his sister are VERY thrilled!

Tuesday, September 21st was our official reveal date and I was so excited. I had cookies made (as you know) and Josh and I took them to work and I took them to my sewing class. Since then I've been overwhelmed with all the sweet words people have shared with us. I know it is still early in this pregnancy (I'll be 11 weeks tomorrow) but I'm trusting that with everyone knowing it means there are more prayers for our little one. So thank you in advance for that! We are very excited about the coming weeks. We pray that God continues to grow this baby and that in mid-April we'll be parents for the first time.