THE Pregnancy Test!

WARNING: Before we begin, there will talk below of periods and bodies and birth control and the like so if those words alone make you uncomfortable now is the time to close this window and go back to checking your phone for candy crush lives.  ALSO, if you are one of those people who gets weirded out by seeing peoples pregnancy tests -  that's here too (YES I did pee on it!)  Plus, like I have mentioned previously, I learned so much from women who were willing to be open about their stories that I want do the same for anyone else out there who may be wondering about . . . stuff. Right.

September 10, 2013 started off as a normal day.  We got up, got ready and headed out for work.  (At this point Ryan and I carpooled because we both worked on the other side of town.)  Nothing really felt different aside from what I thought were a few normal that-time-of-the-month symptoms (ladies you know what I’m talking about).  However, I wasn’t due to start for a several more days. 

ANYWAY while I was at work, a bride who I was helping to coordinate her wedding scheduled a last minute meeting that needed to happen.  I wasn’t prepared yet, so after work I picked Ryan up and then did some work in the car on my laptop while he drove.  I started to feel kind of carsick… which was weird because that usually doesn’t happen to me (I’m usually playing games or reading stuff on my phone during our commutes).

**Side note:  Just so you know how clueless we really were… after the meeting, we were driving home and the subject of kids came up.  I always ask Ryan when he thinks we should start a family… although he pretty much never gives me any sort of answer!  The conversation continued and I told him it would be nice to wait until the Spring so that we have time for a couple of more half marathons (me, not Ryan) and maybe a nice trip together, etc.  That’s pretty much where we ended it.

When we got home, I thought maybe I would just take a test to make sure.  (Ever since I have been married, every LITTLE thing has me convinced I am pregnant.  Stomach ache?  Take a pregnancy test. Headache?  Pregnancy test.  Elbow hurts?  Pregnancy test. )  Needless to say, I already had an extra test in the cabinet at home.  Pretty much IMMEDIATELY after snapping the cap back on the test I noticed the FAINTEST blue line you have ever seen.  I instantly started freaking out on the inside.  Convinced that I was PROBABLY just imagining it and that maybe after 2 minutes it would really just show one line, I left it in the bathroom and went to go change clothes.  Pretending like I was NOT freaking out… talking to the dog and trying to play it cool… I then went back into the bathroom.  SUPER faint line.  I walked into the living room.

Me:  Okay…DON’T freak out… but I need you to look at this and tell me what you think.

Ryan:  (Flips on the light)

Me:  It looks like there is a really faint line, but I can’t tell if it’s just my imagination or not…

Ryan:  Well, has it looked like that before?

Me:  No.

Ryan:  Well…

Me:  You know we’re going to have to go buy more of those tonight, right?

I’m not really sure what exactly was said after that point.  I know it was at that moment that we both realized what was ACTUALLY happening.  After sitting on the couch in shock, some hugs, and some happy tears (Ryan) we hopped in the car and drove our butts to CVS.  6 pregnancy tests later…. It was true.  I seriously could not believe how faint that little blue line truly was, I guess just because it was still pretty freaking early to find out.  (They actually make these digital ones now that will tell you how many weeks it thinks you are.  So crazy! 1-2 weeks, 2-3 weeks or 3+ weeks) It read 1-2, which was helpful in answering a few of MY questions… (Well really just one question - WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?!)

Hey, you want to be extra sure, right?!

Were there any “signs” looking back?

Heads up: Here’s where it gets a little personal…throughout the month of August, work was extremely stressful and I was exhausted constantly.  I was so tired in fact, that I went to my doctor to have some blood work done to see if my Mono had re-activated itself.  (No I was not pregnant at this time – I actually was just stressed and exhausted!)   I had not ovulated in July or August, but I just chalked it up to the stress and lack of sleep.  (Why did I know if/when I was ovulating you ask?  No, we were not “trying”.  By practicing Natural Family Planning (NFP), I use an ovulation monitor for the opposite reason that most people would use it for… you can figure out what that means.)  Looking back now… apparently I must have ovulated in August, despite the fact that my hormone levels never reached a level high enough for this to occur.  So of course I just went on my merry way and that little red flag that usually reminds me every month to… take precautions was never on my radar.  Not sure if my hormones were jacked up (probably), if there was a user error with the monitor (maybe) or the monitor somehow messed up (eh?)… guess we’ll never know!  (Note to self… in the future I need to still pay attention to those few days when I SHOULD be ovulating… even if the monitor doesn't think I am!)

Needless to say… after 2 months of “not” ovulating I assumed I was due to start my period soon (that part WAS still happening regularly).  (I will note that my boobs hurt SO bad… a PMS symptom that I had not experienced since I got on the pill for a few months around our wedding.  That used to be normal for me though so I didn’t think anything of it.)  The morning of September 10, I woke up to my (Ryan’s) alarm.  I had just been dreaming that we had a little baby girl and she was giving me kisses.  I just thought it was a cute dream.   Then (now this was a few days before I was supposed to start my period) the monitor randomly jumped from “low fertility” to “ovulating”.   Well that’s never happened.  “Man my hormones are really messed up right now!  This is so annoying!” I said to Ryan…  I began to notice around that time that I suddenly had to pee WAY more than normal.  I’m usually like a once-every-8-hours (or longer) kind of girl (unhealthy I KNOW.  I have been lectured on this before.)  I just don’t have to go that much and I can hold it for a really long time if I have to!  However, this started to change.  I couldn’t really figure out why.  I didn’t feel like I was drinking that much more…  All of these things individually didn’t seem (to me – or probably any first-time-pregnant-peeps) like reason enough to assume that I was pregnant.  But after I started to feel carsick in the car… it was enough LITTLE things to make me think…. “Well… I guess I should at least check.  I doubt I am but… I should make sure”.  I am SO glad that I did.  :)

Last bottle from our milestone wine basket that Ryan's sisters gave to us for our wedding!  (Although, we had to save the 1 year anniversary bottle for next year because this news came first. Oops!)

We're Pregnant!

It’s true!  We are expecting.  And we couldn't be more excited.  While it seems that everyone else “had a feeling” or “knew this would happen soon”…Ryan and I were more surprised than anyone!  (I’m pretty sure my sister knew I was pregnant before I did!) 

With this news comes a lot of questions and curiosity.  I know that whenever I find out someone that I know is pregnant I go into major FBI detective mode to try and learn all the details!  Since I just LOVE hearing about (and learning from) other women’s pregnancy experiences, I thought this would be a great way for me to share our journey through this with you!  Disclaimer: Anyone who knows me knows – I’m not shy!  I have always been an open person, and will answer pretty much any question (and honestly!)  While this is a fabulous way for us to share with you, we also want to document these happenings for ourselves so that we can always look back and remember what life was like now!  Although, I will try and refrain from sharing TOO much, there might be a few TMI moments.  I will try to give you a heads up when those moments are approaching, so (Grandma, sisters, mom, dudes or whoever) if you are uncomfortable with knowing a little too much you can skip ahead. :)

Now to answer some of the basic burning questions!

Due Date: May 23^rd

How many weeks along am I now: 14 weeks (For those who like to count in months, I am a little over 3 months, and just into my second trimester)

How big is Baby Kresta: The size of a lemon, about 3 ½ inches from head to booty!

Boy or Girl: I am hoping for a girl (the day before we found out, I had a dream that we had a baby girl…) but I am kind of feeling like it’s a boy right now.  That changes frequently though.  Ryan doesn’t seem to feel pulled one way or another.  We are hoping to find out very soon!

Morning sickness: Minute 1 of week 6 I felt a wave come over my whole body and for about 30 seconds I was sure I was about to throw up.  Then, just like that it was gone again. For the next couple of weeks, I was nauseous constantly (morning, noon and night).  Around week 8 or 9, it let up a little bit and began to come and go randomly.  Thankfully, I never actually threw up… but it was VERY difficult to find food that actually sounds appealing. (Even if I was not nauseous, pretty much everything sounded gross to me.)  I have been feeling GREAT the last several weeks!

Exhaustion: Up until week 9 or 10, I was sleeping ALL the time.  No really.  ALL morning, ALL day and ALL night (except to get up to pee several times per night – that started right away!)  However, sleeping through the night has been difficult.  I started waking up at 3:45 wide awake, unable to go back to sleep for hours.  So, around week 10 I started forcing myself out of bed and limiting myself to 1 nap during the day.  It helps about 50% of the time.

Belly: Barely showing.  I always thought pregnant bellies were hard right from the beginning, so even though I am definitely a lot thicker around the middle, it doesn't feel like I am TRULY showing yet because my (bigger) belly is still so squishy! After I eat though, it’s HUGE (and by huge I mean, twice as large as my normal post-meal food baby).  This probably not how it actually works, but I feel like my growing uterus is squishing all of my other organs upwards making my stomach EXTRA giant after I eat. 

How did we find out: There were a few things that seemed “off” but I was feeling what I *thought* (and what could have actually been) car sickness.  I didn't really think much of it, but decided to take a pregnancy test just to be sure…totally NOT expecting to see what I saw!  I will go more into detail about all of this later.

Why did we wait to share the news: A lot of pressure rides on the first trimester. It is the most delicate time in a pregnancy and the time during which most miscarriages occur.  (Obviously, we would be extremely sad should something like that happen, but I also trust my body to recognize when something is not right with the growing baby.  We both feel that if a miscarriage occurs it’s because it needs to.)  This is why we decided to tell family and a few close friends pretty early on (and by early on I mean the absolute first chance that we got!)  It was SOO insanely hard to not tell everyone we knew the second we found out!  It’s fun to spread out the excitement though.  It truly felt like an eternity from the time we found out to the time when we could share the news with the world.

Planned: Yes and No. This wasn't the timing we had expected, but by practicing Natural Family Planning (NFP), we are always saying YES to God and His plan for our family.

Ultrasound at 8 weeks!  The doctor had zoomed in SUPER close!  The circle thing on the right is the yolk sac, and the head is right next to that.  Then the rear end/foot paddles are on the far left!