We first knew something was different when we were home visiting family for Christmas break. Abby's body was acting “differently.” If she thought she was pregnant when we were there, she didn’t lead me to believe it. We just assumed she was late… again.
We found out she was pregnant when we returned home the Sunday following Christmas. Abby took the test late Sunday night. She hadn’t told me she was going upstairs to take the test. She came downstairs and handed me the test. What an exciting and shocking moment for us. It was a Christmas miracle! We kind of sat there on the couch in the living room unsure of how to respond. We kept looking at the test to make sure we were reading it correctly and that it hadn't changed. There were about a million thoughts racing through our heads. It was hard not to get a little overwhelmed with it all.
We had hoped to be pregnant by Christmas so that we could make it a present to our families. As it turns out, we were, we just didn’t know it yet. That’s alright, though, because God’s timing is perfect. He has a plan for us and our baby that is greater than any plan of ours.
You can imagine how difficult it was for me not to tell anyone we were pregnant those first few days after finding out. I felt like I was carrying around the world's most exciting secret. I wanted to tell anyone and everyone who came within an ear’s distance. I was like a bubble waiting to burst - I was just so excited. Somehow I managed to keep the secret… barely.
It's true, all of it, about pregnant women… at least for Abby, anyway. She's been nauseous; really nauseous; throwing up just about every evening since the first of January. She's had cravings. She's been tired; really tired; sometimes sleeping all night and a good chunk of the day too. It's been a quite the ride. I've spent a lot time trying to care for her and help her feel better. There’s not much I can do, though. As for the cravings, she's eating things we never buy - like vanilla wafers. Go figure. Something will sound good; she'll eat part of it and then won't touch it again because it has suddenly become disgusting. It's the darndest thing. For example, she ordered pizza with olives, green peppers and tomatoes; she ate one slice and refused to eat any more of it. Seriously, who orders olives, green peppers and tomatoes?! For a while she refused to eat leftovers. They had suddenly become disgusting. We haven't had Port of Subs in years and she came home craving it one day. Guess what she had for dinner - Port of Subs. And, food that she has loved, like meat and pretzels (not together), no longer sound good.
Award for best guessThe first person to guess we were pregnant was Matt Metsker. I'm not entirely sure how he knew; it's not like we told him that we were even trying, or anyone else for that matter. He and I were blackberry messaging the week before Christmas and he made a comment about us being pregnant. I asked him what made him think we were. He said because he's a doctor and he knows these kinds of things. I told him he needed to get more schooling because his “doctor sense” was off. As it turns out, he was right. Congratulations, Matt, you knew before we did.
Award for first family member to know
Abby’s sister came to stay with us in January for 10 days, and she sensed something was up when all Abby was doing was sleeping and feeling sick. We told her the second day she was here. Jenn got to go to our first ultrasound with us and we all got to see baby Terp for the first time together. The three of us saw baby Terp move and its heart beat at 162 beats per minute. It was wild! When the ultrasound was over and the lights had been turned on, both Abby and Jenn were wiping away tears. I was too excited to cry; It. Was. Awesome!
Award for best surpriseI think this is my favorite story about how someone found out we were pregnant. There’s a girl in our bible study group who is also pregnant, and about seven weeks ahead of us. Abby and I were in the waiting room at the doctor’s office for our first visit and ultrasound when in walks Dawn. She got a huge smile on her face and so did we. She checked in and then walked over and said, “Either I’m in the wrong office or… you’re pregnant.” With huge smiles on our faces, we let her in on our little secret. What are the chances of her having an appointment on the same day, at the same time, and at the same office as us? Crazy, huh?!
The weekend following the ultrasound, we made a special trip to Tacoma to surprise our parents with the news. None of them had any clue. They were completely surprised! I’ll post pictures and video of it later.
We had a second ultrasound on Feb. 10, two weeks after our first one. Based on the measurements they took, they moved our due date up four days - from Aug. 28 to Aug. 24.
I’ve been taking a picture of Abby at the end of every week of pregnancy. So far, we have five weeks of pictures. The change is small right now; but I’m excited for when she really starts to show. The idea is to create a flipbook of sorts. Nothing scientific like Brian Bowker might make; just something to give you an idea of how Abby’s body has changed and the baby has grown from week to week. At some point, I will post a progression of the pictures on here so you can see the changes too.
Questions that are probably popping into your head:
1. Were you trying? Yes.
2. How many weeks are you? 13 weeks.
3. What is your due date? Aug. 24
4. Is it a boy or a girl? We don't know yet. We won’t know until about 20 weeks.
5. Will you find out the sex? Yes.
6. Do you have names picked out? Yes. A whole list of boy names and one girl name.
7. Will you tell people the name? Yes, after we find out the sex.
8. Are you having twins? No, but twins run in Abby’s family. Her mom is a twin. Maybe next time.
9. Are you crazy? Extremely. Extremely crazy-excited!!!
The bottom line is this: My boys (and girls) can swim. : )
