"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." ~Elizabeth Stone
This is by far the most exciting blog post I have ever written because we are PREGNANT!!! We have known since I was just under 4 weeks along, but of course had been waiting until the "high risk" first trimester period was over before we told the world. Many of you know that we have been wanting this baby for a very long time, so we were absolutely overcome with excitement!!!
We found out Monday, February 27th around dinnertime. Funny story - since we had been trying to get pregnant for a good while, we had been taking pregnancy tests every month right around the appropriate time. Month after month - negative. AND, as some of you know, taking pregnancy tests every month gets expensive! David and I had been discussing getting a dog since it was taking us a while to get pregnant (we had said we wanted a dog once we had kids anyway, so we were starting to think we'd go ahead and take that step). On February 27th, I called David on my way home from work. It was around the right time of the month, so our conversation went something like this:
Me: "Should I stop and get a pregnancy test."
David: "I don't know, do you even FEEL pregnant?"
Me(with some negativity): "No, I never do, probably because I never am."
David: "Well, just don't get one, let's not waste our money. We'll know in a few days anyway."
Me: "Yeah, you're right. But I'm stopping at Harris Teeter to get some stuff to make dinner, so I may pick one up anyway."
So I stopped by Harris Teeter and did my shopping, not thinking there was a chance in the world I'd be pregnant, since I never seemed to be so AND it was the same month that I had my laparoscopic surgery to remove endometriosis (more on that, and our journey to parenthood, in another post). In fact, we were both SO convinced that I wasn't pregnant that I got home, threw the test to the side (instead of immediately taking it like most months), cooked dinner, and had a long discussion with David about what dog we should get. Finally, I said, "I guess I'll go take this test." David followed me, and we were speechless and in shock when this time not one but TWO lines showed up! Of course, it was overwhelming, but we just couldn't quite believe it. So while I finished up dinner, I sent David to CVS to get some more tests, including a digital one which actually pops up with the words "Pregnant" or "Not Pregnant." He was back in what seemed like 30 seconds (think he was excited?) and when I took that one, it said "PREGNANT" almost right away! We were totally overjoyed and couldn't believe it finally happened!
I took a total of 3 tests that night, all of which confirmed our good news!
We told both sets of parents (who were beyond excited) that night, and my Dad took a picture of David and I with our "evidence." :)
We had a follow up appointment that Thursday from my surgery with my OB/GYN. He was even shocked that we got pregnant so quickly after my surgery, and he confirmed the pregnancy with a blood test. He told us to come back a couple of weeks later for an ultrasound when I would be 6 weeks along. We couldn't wait for that day to get here to see our little one and confirm that there was a heartbeat (I was so worried something would happen to it). When that day got here, the started the ultrasound and, although the baby looked like a sunflower seed, we saw the heartbeat right away! Praise God!
About a week and a half later, when I was about 7 1/2 weeks, I was at work when I had some very scary symptoms that made me worry that I was about to miscarry. I ran out of my office in Winston-Salem, jumped in the car, called David then my OB/GYN, and cried all the way to the doctor's office in Greensboro. David met me there, and I proceeded to sob like a crazy woman in the waiting room. I cried so much I was scaring other patients (I was too upset to tell the nurses my name - David had to tell them) and they moved us to a private waiting room). It's all sort of funny looking back, since all ended up being fine. Turned out to be JUST a scare - another ultrasound (this time the baby looked more like a lima bean) and blood work proved that baby (and it's heartbeat) were just fine! So thankful!
I've really felt pretty decent this pregnancy. I never threw up, but from weeks 6-10 I was SO nauseous that I hardly ate, and lost 6 pounds (doctor said that was fine). I was tired all the time, too, and went to bed at 8pm every night! I was also extremely emotional and moody - poor David, he put up (very patiently) with a lot from me for several weeks! But now in my 2nd trimester, I'm feeling overall much better.
Finally, we had our 12 week ultrasound and saw that our beautiful baby now LOOKED like a baby - with arms and legs, and was jumping around like crazy! What an amazing experience! Each time our little one (nicknamed "Stubby Bun") by the way jumped, I think our hearts leapt with joy twice as high! As part of this appointment, they did a first trimester screening to look for possible genetic abnormalities or disorders. We did not have to have it done but chose to, as I've always said if I was going to have a special needs child, I'd want to start preparing for those needs in pregnancy. The GOOD news is our test results for some VERY lethal and dangerous disorders such as Trisomy 13 and 18, came back at 1 in 10,000 chance. Our Down's Syndrome screening, however, came back in the high risk category, giving this baby a 1 in 32 chance of having Down's (or a 3% chance). Normal pregnancies in women my age have a 0.17% chance. So we are clinging to the prayer that our baby is in the 97% chance of being totally healthy. We are probably having an amniocentesis in the next couple of weeks to find out for sure, ONLY so that we could be prepared for our baby's needs if it WAS in the 3% Down's chance. I'm really not worried at all - we have a good chance of everything being fine, and if our baby DID have Down's then it has a lifespan of 55-60 years with proper medical intervention, which is good enough for me! So while it was a bit of a surprised, this 3% risk really doesn't have us very worried - we are thrilled with how the Lord has made our Stubby Bun, whether they face special challenges or not! The high risk reading in this pregnancy also does NOT mean that we would be at high risk in future pregnancies. The cool thing about the amnio is, not only does it rule out genetic disorders, but it is an early way to find out the gender! So instead of waiting until our June 7th ultrasound, in about a week and a half we'll know if we're having a boy or girl! :)
Really, we are just so unbelievably thankful for this sweet little one growing inside me! I'll be sharing much more about the pregnancy through blogging, and will also do a post at some point soon about our 18 month journey to parenthood. Praise the Lord for His timing and this precious gift!!!!
