I had always teased Hubs that I would try not to wake him up at 3:30 in the morning to check my home test again (like I had done with JJ). Of course, I had been waking up at all hours to go pee through the night, but I had also increased my water because I had made the decision to lose weight (finally!)
I woke up at 4:45am, and I forced myself to stay in the bed as long as I could. I didn't want it to go down forever in history that I wake up early just to take a pregnancy test. :) I managed to wait until around 5:20am before my bladder just could NOT wait any longer. I crept out of bed and into the hallway bathroom. I took my time opening the test because while I was praying and hoping with all of my heart that the results would be different this time, I wasn't ready for another disappointment. I was afraid that this would be the one that made me feel we should just give up (even though we had decided to keep trying for three more years.)
I closed my eyes and peed on the stick (it really doesn't take as much talent as that sounds.) I kept my eyes closed and put the cap back on then set the stick on a dry washcloth beside the sink. When it was out of my line of sight, I finally opened my eyes. While still sitting on the toilet, I bent my head and prayed. I asked for this time to please be different, for us to please have the opportunity for another child. I thanked God for the blessings that we have in our lives, and especially for JJ and Lydia. I told Him that I knew He had a plan for us, but if He could, give us a little clue what that plan was...When I finally finished, I had tears running down my face.
I took a few deep breaths and finally looked over at the test. I did a double-take and picked the test up and held it closer to my face. There it was. A faint plus sign in the results window. The tears started anew. I don't know how long I sat in the bathroom, silently crying. I had so many emotions coursing through my heart. First was relief that we were finally getting the chance to give JJ the sibling he had wanted for SO long. Second was slight panic because Hubs was unemployed, and we had no health or medical insurance. Third was the assurance that God knows what He is doing, and there was a reason that we never conceived again until now.
My tears finally subsided, and I went back into our bedroom and sat at the foot of the bed. I was there only a moment before Hubs asked what was wrong. I asked "Will you go look at the test and tell me what YOU see?" He jumped out of bed and went into the hallway bathroom. He was there a few minutes, possibly letting it sink in that we had finally succeeded in creating another child together. He came back to the room and sat beside me on the foot of the bed and said "I definitely see a plus sign."
It was around 6am at this point, and we were both wide awake. We still had an hour before we needed to wake JJ up to get him ready for school. We went to the living room; he went straight to the computer to look up where the Health Department was, info on Medicaid, and info on what other couples in our same situation have done. I just sat there, and I suddenly felt the flood gates reopen. I just couldn't stop crying. I kept wiping my face and telling Hubs that I was just so happy. I told him that I really felt that in my heart of hearts, I had given up on us having another child biologically, and I didn't realize that I had subconsciously given up until I saw that plus sign. I told him I was sorry for feeling that way, but it had just been so long that we had been trying with no luck. At this point, December 2, 2011, it was four months away from us having been trying for Baby #2 for six years.
Through it all, we have always clung to our faith and to each other. Our parents had us in their prayers. I always felt that all of the heartache that Hubs and I shared in the Baby Department brought us closer together. We depended on each other for strength and support, love and encouragement.
The first reaction for the both of us was to pick up the phone and call our parents and our siblings. We wanted to share the news with EVERYONE! We sat and talked about what to do, and I told him that we should wait to tell people until after we had the pregnancy confirmed. We still both wanted to tell our parents, and we decided to wait until that evening. We already had plans to be in Fayetteville for the weekend, so we decided we would tell my parents after our dinner at Brickoven. We weren't ready to tell JJ yet because we didn't know how far along we were, a due date...anything.
The rest of the day, we were in a daze. We did sit around and watch TLC after Hubs got JJ off to school. We watched A Baby Story, Baby's First Day, Making Room for Multiples...On the multiples show, the lady was having triplets. They already had a single son, about 4, and then the triplets on the way. She said someone asked her how it felt to be pregnant with triplets, and she replied "It feels like I have three babies in my belly!!!" We laughed and laughed. My parents have always joked that I would be the one to give birth to multiples. Later in that same show, the lady looked at her husband and said "The (insert last name here) Baby Factory is officially closed for business!" We had a good laugh about that as well. I told Jon that if we were blessed with triplets, we would have the four kids we had dreamed about, and anymore after that would just be added blessings. I was able to call the Health Department and schedule an appointment for a pregnancy test for the following Tuesday, December 7th.
I had been doing a ton of research on Ancestry.com and realized that twins ran in my family far more frequently than I had thought. My great-grandfather on my dad's side was a twin from a boy/girl set...and they had a set of older twin brothers. I know that my dad had twin cousins (they were the flower girls when he and my mom were married.)
We picked JJ up from school that afternoon and headed straight for Fayetteville. We arrived, picked up my parents and headed to Brickoven. Now, I had been craving some Brickoven souvlaki since the week of Thanksgiving. We had gone to eat at a place in Abbeville, I had ordered souvlaki, and I was greatly disappointed in the flavor. I ordered, and when the food came, I blissfully ate my souvlaki! Hubs grinned at me and asked if that was what I wanted, and I told him YES!! That it was well worth the wait. We enjoyed the meal and the fellowship time with our parents. We held hands under the table and kept sneaking smiles at each other. We felt years younger, and a huge weight had been lifted from the both of us.
After JJ had gone to bed, I was sitting with Momma at the dining room table, and I said "Well, you have nine, how do you feel about the possibility of ten?" She gave me a funny look and asked what I was talking about. I looked pointedly down at my belly and asked again "You have nine, how do you feel about the possibility of ten?" She finally caught on, and we talked a little bit about it. I didn't want her to be upset because of the situation that we were in: no insurance and no job. We stayed up for a bit longer, and then we hugged and went to bed.
When we got to our room, I sat on the bed and told Hubs that Momma was upset. I didn't sleep very well that night because I didn't want her to be upset over our news. While I had told Momma, Hubs had called his parents and told them that I had taken a home tests, and it was positive, and that we had an appointment on Tuesday.
We got through the rest of the weekend, and we were anxiously awaiting the actual factual confirmation of the pregnancy on Tuesday. Because I had battled my blood pressure in my first pregnancy, and it eventually led to pre-eclampsia, I had already given up caffeine (for several weeks). I had been trying to increase my potassium by eating more spinach because I knew it helped lower blood pressure. I couldn't find my blood pressure cuff, so I had no idea what my blood pressure was running. I tried to stay relaxed, do more walking, and we began The Great Purge.
On Monday, I was going crazy to find something to collect a urine sample in. When I had made the appointment, they told me that I needed to bring in a sample of my first morning urine, any time after 2am. I finally grabbed a kid's cup from Olive Garden (because it had a lid) and set it on the counter. I woke up about 5am and peed in the cup. I had to store it in the fridge, and the next morning, it grossed JJ out. Hubs and I laughed about his reaction, and we tried to explain that it was for the dr, and the cup would be thrown away.
After getting JJ to school a bit early, Hubs and I headed to the Health Department. Once we got checked in, we took a seat and waited a few minutes before they called us back to the lab area. He was able to sit with me, and when they called my name, I took in my sample, verified the info on the label, and then put the label on the cup. We sat in the hallway for what felt like forever. Finally someone came out and asked me to follow them, so Hubs and I followed. We were taken to another waiting area, and it was making me feel very anxious. Hubs laughed and said he already knew the answer because we were sitting outside of a pregnancy specialist's door. I have no clue how long we waited. Finally I was called back, and Hubs had to wait in the hallway. The intern congratulated me, and I couldn't contain my excitement. She asked if this was an unplanned pregnancy, and I told her it was a surprise, but not necessarily unplanned. I then told her that we had been trying since before our son's 1st birthday, and he was now 6 1/2. I said "We haven't been doing anything to prevent pregnancy for almost 6 years; we had just thought that we couldn't have anymore children." She tried to give me an estimate on how far along I was and a possible due date. Based on the beginning of my last cycle (which had started September 7, 2011), she told me I was 13 weeks along. I laughed and told her that while I didn't know for sure when I conceived, I KNEW I wasn't 13 weeks along. I then explained that I had taken a test on Halloween and that it was negative, and that I had a bit of spotting on November 7, 2011. I told her that I was aware that I could have been pregnant and just not far enough along for it to register on Halloween, but I definitely was NOT 13 weeks along. She decided to base it upon the November 7th spotting and told me that I was just over 4 weeks along, and my due date was August 13, 2012. They did my height and weight, and I found out I had lost 10 pounds during the month of November. The dietician told me that it was recommended that I gain between 10 and 21 pounds during my pregnancy, and we discussed eating habits and exercise routines.
When we finally finished with the appointment, it was almost 10. Momma had told me to call and leave a voicemail when we finished with the appointment. She surprised me by answering, so I quickly told her what the Health Department had told us. She had Grandmutter with her and asked if I wanted to let her know. Momma put Grandmutter on the phone, and I told her that Hubs and I were going to have a baby. She was so happy that she started crying, and she put Momma back on the phone. Momma said she was grinning from ear to ear and telling all of the ladies that walked in that she was going to be a Grandma again. We hung up, and Hubs and I went to Subway for breakfast to talk about our plans for the next nine months.
We decided that we were going to move JJ to the current guest room because it was bigger, and we would make JJ's current room into the nursery. We talked about the baby stuff that we still had (pack n play, high chair, baby bathtub, exosaucer, glider rocker) and the stuff we would still need (crib, clothes, breast pump, stroller/carseat). We discussed our budget and the stuff that we needed to cut out in order to free up extra money (basically it meant not eating out as often and really keeping an eye on the water and electric bills). At this point, Hubs was still trying to get into the National Guard, so we set a plan for him to talk to the recruiter and find out what needed to be done to speed up the process. He had done all of the paperwork, had called to cancel his VA claim (because he had been informed that if he had a VA claim pending, then it would prolong his being able to join the National Guard because they had to wait to make sure that he was found under 30% disabled), and was only waiting on the phonecall to go to Raleigh to see the docs and do the final stuff. We left Subway feeling confident that we had a plan in place.
We decided to go ahead and tell JJ. We also decided that we would let our siblings know and certain friends and extended family. Everyone else would find out after our first prenatal appointment which had been scheduled for January 10th. We were hoping at that point, we would be able to know for sure how far along I was and have a more definite due date. When JJ got home from school, he was ready to dive right into homework. He was a bit disgruntled when we asked him to wait a bit and sit on the couch with us. He kept asking if he was in trouble, and we laughed and told him no, but we had something to share with him. JJ sat between us, and Hubs asked him "You know how you are always asking for a little brother or sister?" JJ jerked his head up and said "yes?" Hubs and I grinned and told him that we just found out that Mommy was pregnant, and he would have a little brother or sister in the summertime.
I am suprised even now that his face did not split wide open, he was grinning so wide. He couldn't even speak, but he had huge tears rolling down his face. He kept hugging us and looking at my tummy. When he could finally talk, he had so many questions: When will I get to see the baby? When will I feel the baby? Will your tummy get big as the baby grows? We answered all of his questions: We hope to get a picture of the baby at our dr appointment and will show you. You won't be able to see the baby out of my belly until this summer. Once the baby grows a bit more, you will be able to feel the kicking against my belly. Yes, my tummy will grow big as the baby grows. Hubs called his parents and let JJ tell them that he was going to be a big brother. He was.so.pumped! I don't think you have ever met another little boy so excited that he was going to be a big brother. We explained to him that Mommy might get sick, but that I was ok. It was normal to throw up when the baby was first growing. We explained that Mommy might seem like she is going crazy, but not to be alarmed. It was normal for me to cry over silly things, and there might be times when it seemed I was mad at everything, but that I was NOT mad at him. We tried to explain what hormones were and that my hormones would go crazy with the baby growing inside of me. He did ask how the baby got inside my belly, and Hubs and I made a split second decision "Ask us again when you are 10!"
I emailed my brothers and let them know. I also asked them not to tell anyone because we were not sharing on Facebook yet, and we only wanted our immediate family to know. I called my sister on Skype and told her the news and asked her not to tell as well. Hubs called his brothers and let them know. :) His older brother was on vacation and was so funny. Hubs said "I just wanted to let you know that JJ is going to be a big brother." It took a minute for that to sink in, but he was so excited, and then he told his fiancee. Hubs talked with his younger brother later in the day, and he was happy for us as well.
When we picked up JJ from school the next day, his teacher congratulated us and said that JJ had shared as soon as he walked in the classroom "I'M GOING TO BE A BIG BROTHER!"
Momma had made us stockings for Christmas, and we couldn't wait to hang them up. We each had a different color: purple for Hubs, blue for me, pink for Lydia, and red for JJ. Decorating for Christmas was such a happy time. We pulled everything out, and I sat in a chair, handing out the decorations while Hubs and JJ decorated the tree. Later in the week, we received a package from Momma. She had crocheted a baby stocking for us. I called her to thank her, and she said she was just so excited that she had to go ahead and make something, but that when the baby was older, we could pick a color, and she would make a "real" stocking. We hung the stocking slightly above mine, and I put in to where it was sticking out of my stocking (since the baby was in my belly.)
Truly the rest of December passed by so quickly. JJ got out of school around the 17th for break, and we bummed out around the house, enjoying time as a family. I was starting to feel nausea and feel like I wanted to rest more. I spent time in the bed reading, and Hubs took over all of the cooking. I ate a lot of peanut butter sandwiches because almost all cooked veggies made me feel sick. Fishy smells made me feel sick. We had a wonderful Christmas, just the three of us. We met my parents for lunch in Warsaw to eat at Smithfields Chicken N Barbeque. We had a good laugh because I couldn't eat foods hot enough. We laughed about all of the crazy dreams I had been having (will share in a different post). We met up with Lydia to give her the Christmas presents Grammie and Poppy had left for her, but we didn't share about the baby yet. We weren't ready to go public, and we still didn't have very good information to share with everyone.
We spent New Years in Fayetteville with my parents. We had such a fabulous time being bums. We went on a hike with Sam (the dog) and had a fabulous day outside. We went to Mi Casita for dinner, and I had to ask them to make me extra hot sauce. I ate two containers full. We had snacks for New Year's, and we watched movies on Netflix. We brought in 2012 together, and then all headed to bed...
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