***This is the very long account of how we found out we’re expecting a little peanut. Originally written: Monday, 6/4/2012
Thursday night, 5/31, I got home from work and the gym–hubby was still at class–and I took my third pregnancy test of the month. I was 100% confident it would be negative, again, and that my history of irregular periods was repeating itself. Sully sat on the bathmat next to me as I looked at the pregnancy test and saw a second line. It was very faint, but it was there. Two lines. Pregnant. WHAT?!?!
I stared at the test for a solid two minutes before I burst into tears, my hands trembling, heart racing, and then I started laughing. I called Ali, Jared’s sister, and left her a weird, nonsensical voicemail, saying: “Pregnancy tests can be wrong, right?” and very calmly stated I was ‘freaking out.’ I kept staring at the test, thinking: “This can’t be real. There’s something wrong with this test… I’m going to sue First Response…“
A month earlier, hubby and I had decided to “take a step back” on 2012′s make-a-baby resolution. Still in disbelief, I had no idea what to do, so I hid the positive test in the bathroom cabinet, changed out of my gym clothes, and started making dinner.
Jared got home from class around 9:30, we ate dinner, and watched TV until I silently resolved to take another pregnancy test. Again, there was a second line, faint, but definitely there. My heart pounded in my ears and I knew I had to tell him. I put on my robe, hiding the two tests in my pocket and came out to the living room, where I pretended to watch whatever show was on TV, my mind racing a million miles a minute.
I wanted to wait until after midnight to tell him the news–just like he waited until after midnight to propose four years ago, but I couldn’t hold it in. To match the ridiculousness of the whole night, I knelt in front of him on the couch, at 11:11pm, and asked: “Will you be my baby daddy?” as I held out the two tests in front of him. He went from confused to wide-eyed to instantly ecstatic, jumping up and exclaiming: “Is this for real?!?! We’re pregnant?!?!“ We spent the next couple hours excitedly freaking out, together, and neither of us slept much that night.
Friday morning, I took the third pregnancy test in the pack and again, it was positive. I was still in disbelief. Jared drove me to my doctor’s office, where I had a blood test, but was heartbroken to learn we wouldn’t get the results until Monday morning. So we tucked away the (possibly) exciting, terrifying, life-changing news and went on with our days.
Saturday involved decaf coffee, an early showing of Snow White & the Huntsman with friends (loved it, by the way), the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Expo with more friends, then popcorn, pickles, and frozen yogurt for dinner.
Sunday, I was supposed to run the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Half Marathon with Jared and my friend, Kelly, unfortunately both of them got sick and had to back out (***Several weeks later, I found out Kelly was sick with a cold AND morning sickness! She found out she was expecting just a few weeks earlier and is due exactly four weeks before me!). And so I ran my first half-marathon, alone, thinking about how not-so-alone I was, daydreaming about the little lentil, and silently gloating about every runner I passed, thinking: “You just got whooped by a pregnant chick!“ There was more popcorn and pickles and yogurt. Oh, and two more pregnancy tests. Both were positive, duh.
Monday morning came and went with no call from my doctor’s office. I called a couple times, left a panicky “Pleeease call me” voicemail, and finally on my fifth try, I got through to the receptionist who said matter-of-factly: “The doctor said I could give you the results. It was positive. Do you want to schedule an appointment? We like to schedule the first appointment when you’re 8-11 weeks.“
Five positive pee tests. A positive blood test. It finally started sinking in…
“Sinking In” Thoughts from the Dad-to-be:
Not sure that “Sinking In” does it justice. I still feel like I’m in shock, but I guess 5 positive pregnancy tests sure does mean we’re pregnant! I don’t think I’ll ever forget that out-of-body moment at 11:11pm, when Meg, in her robe, got on her knees, and asked, “Will you be my baby Daddy?” It’s a surreal memory that I will treasure forever. A few weeks ago, our baby was just a dream for the future and now, our baby is in the very beginning stages of his or her life…
I can’t believe our baby is the size of a lentil. LENTIL LURIE… such a cute name. What has started to sink in the most is that I’ve been talking about “becoming a Zen Dad” for quite some time now, but really, now is the time. Honestly, all I want to do right now is shout it from the rooftops, “WE’RE PREGNANT!” It is nice, though, to have this time to reflect for ourselves before anyone else knows (well, except my sister who found out before me). I can’t wait to finally tell our parents, family, and friends. Overall, I simply cannot stop smiling about this new journey we’re on.
