May 16,

2007, the day I found out I was going to be a mommy. I know I'm 4 days late on this post but things have been a little crazy since Bailey's surgery. But, I have been thinking about this post for a while. That day, May 16, 2007 was pretty normal. I was just about to finish my first year of teaching. I had been REALLY tired mid-morning each day and I even remember telling my mom about it and chalking it up to the fact that school was almost out and I had worked so hard that year. I remember, too, that for about 3 days before the 16th I had been stopping at a local convenient store for nachos and diet Mountain Dew. I NEVER drink Mountain Dew but I had planned this big summer diet plan so I just let myself have it knowing that in a few weeks I would be on my way to skinny. Again, I didn't think ANYTHING about the fact that I was having this SEVERE craving every day at the same time for nachos and mountain dew. We had tried for 17 months to have a baby. I had basically given up. But that evening, May 16, it was a Wednesday, I was watching a Kleenex commercial and started crying. We were going to head to church when the husband said "Something is up with you! Do you have any more pregnancy tests?" I said yes but I really didn't want to take it and I told him that. I told him I was tired of seeing ONE line. And, they are expensive so I didn't want to waste the one I had left. But he begged. Our best friend had given us a digital test that she had left-over from when she was pregnant. So, I agreed to take the test but I told Zach that I would NOT look at it. I went into the bathroom, shut the door, took the test, then opened the door and handed it to him. After I washed my hands I walked down the hallway to the living room and sat back on the couch. From where I was sitting, I could see all the way down the hallway. When I looked down the hall I saw Zach hovering over the test and he was WHITE! VISIBLY WHITE! He looked at me and said "It doesn't say not!" (you know, the digital tests say "pregnant" or "not pregnant"). I got VERY angry to the point of tears and said "THAT IS NOT FUNNY! DON'T LIE TO ME!" Then he showed me the test that said "Pregnant"! I was completely in shock. It still makes me tear up to think about it. But, in that moment, I had no emotion except a MAJOR knot in my stomach. I looked at him and we kissed each other and I said "Are we supposed to cry or something? I don't know what to say to you, or what to do right now." Then I had a horrible thought. The test, it was old. Our friend's baby was 9 months old which means the test had to be at least 18 months old. We had to get another test! There was NO way I was pregnant. That was the only month I hadn't charted or taken meds. At this point there is NO way we are going to church. We made a decision not to tell anyone right away. We had to go to the store to buy another test. Zach was literally running around like a chicken with his head cut off looking for a shirt to wear. By this point, I was starting to become that giddy nervous laughing crazy person. So, watching Zach look for a shirt was totally cracking me up. We went to the store which was literally right behind our neighborhood and came back home. I took 2 more Fir.st Re.sponse tests and both were positive. Ok, I'm pregnant! OMG! It was sinking in. Remember that decision not to tell anyone? Well, about 2 mintues after the next 2 tests came back positive, we drove STRAIGHT to Zach's moms house (a 30 minute drive). We had purchased LOTS of baby things before we ever got pregnant so we wrapped up the pregnancy test and an "I love grandma" bib and gave it to her. She was SO excited. It was such a special moment. My parents live an hour and a half away so we decided to call them. I had all 3 of them (my sister included) get on the phone and told them I had a funny story to tell them but I didn't want to say it 3 times. When they all got on the phone I said "I took 3 pregnancy tests and they are ALL positive!!!" Again, LOTS of excitement. Then, I called my other sister in Oklahoma City to tell her. Then, when we got home, we waited for church to get out and called our best friends. More excitement and crying. One of the things that was so hilarious is our friend who said "Oh, I'm so happy, you worked so hard for this." HAHAHA! Yea, we had a lot of sex to get to this point, is what I was thinking, lol.
It was BY FAR the best day of my life (until she came, of course).
We didn't want anyone at my work to know I was pregnant because ALL first year teachers are on a temporary contract until you are re-hired in the fall. As a first year teacher, they can get rid of you with NO explanation. So, technically even though they couldn't legally get rid of me for being pregnant they could just call it something else, budget, or whatever. But I was SO excited I just couldn't wait. The FIRST thing I did when I got to work was go STRAIGHT to another teacher's classroom and tell her. It was a few days before I told everyone else. The secretary assured me that she had already put in my re-hire information to the service center and I was safe. So, I told the principal and he was very happy for us as well.
I just KNEW my baby was going to be ok. I had NO fears of losing her to miscarriage or I don't think I would have been able to tell everyone. I just KNEW God had given us this baby to keep. I never want to forget that special day when my husband told me I was pregnant! Hopefully, next time, I will get to tell him :)