It's a Baby!

The news is out and we're excited to be expecting a baby this October! I've been intending to blog about this for a while, but our ultrasound appointment this past week was finally motivation for me to write out our baby story thus far. There is nothing too graphic in here, but if talk of periods and pregnancy tests weirds you out, feel free to stop reading now.

We found out really early in the pregnancy, which means it's kind of dragged on for a while now. I don't mean that it's not been fun, but I had to wait until 10 weeks to get my first ultra sound, and that was 6 weeks after finding out I was pregnant. That was a long 6 weeks in many ways!

The day we found out was kind of a strange one. It was President's Day and Kory and I both had the day off. He was supposed to be in Guatemala, but their trip got pushed back a week, so we got to spend Valentine's Day and a 3 day weekend together. I had an early morning orthodontist appointment and our plan was to go hiking right after that appointment.

We had been trying to get pregnant for a few months now and I had noticed a pattern with holidays. I got my period on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and MLK Day. I just had it in my head that I would start on Valentine's Day also, but I was secretly hoping I could find out I was pregnant that day instead. Friday morning I got up early before work and took a pregnancy test, which was the last one I had. It quickly came back negative so I threw it away and got ready for work. 

Sunday night, Kory and I were at Wal-mart and I decided to pick up some pregnancy tests for the next month since I'd used my last one. It was weird for me to have not started by now since I run on a pretty regular schedule. Monday morning, I woke up thinking I should take another test just so I could quit thinking about it. I decided to read the instructions while I waited for the results since I hadn't done that in a while. It said to wait 3 minutes, which seemed like forever. I grabbed the test and looked at it, expecting a negative result, but just wanting to know for sure so we could enjoy the rest of our day off together. It was positive. The best way to describe my feelings is to say I was shocked. Not like, OH NO! But more like...Wait. What?! For real?! I actually remember looking in the mirror and my mouth hanging open and just trying to let it sink in. I remember praying and thanking God and then realizing I needed to get Kory awake or we were going to be late to my dentist appointment.

About this time I remembered taking a test on Friday. I thought you were supposed to wait 1 minute for results but I had just read to wait 3 instead. I headed back into the bathroom and pulled the first test out of the trash can. It showed two lines, though the second was very faint. It was positive also! I was just not patient enough. I had a positive test 3 days earlier, but had no idea. I feel certain this sort of thing happens in some movie...but I can't remember what movie it is. Have you seen it? Can you help me out?

We had gone back and forth about this hike. It was raining and pretty cold. Kory left for Guatemala the next day and wasn't totally packed. Our house was going on the market soon and we needed to get a few more things in order. I went to wake Kory up and told him, "I think we should hike today." He said, "Ok." I said, "I think we should hike because it's only going to get harder for me to do that in the next 9 months." He sat up in bed and had the same shocked look on his face. We had a few short moments of hugs, kisses, smiles and then I told him he needed to get up and get ready so we could make it to my appointment. We rushed around packing for the hike and got out the door to the dentist.

After my dentist appointment, we headed out of town to the North Umpqua River and went hiking on a trail we hadn't ever hiked before.

About 45 minutes into our hike, we got a call from a realtor wanting to show our house. I was really confused because it wasn't even on the market yet! There was, however, a sign in our yard and I guess that is all it takes. Our realtor encouraged us to let them show the house, even though it wasn't on the market. The problem was that our house was a mess!

We had left in such a hurry that morning that the house was not show ready AT ALL! I had just taken a load of clothes out of the dryer and thrown them on the un-made bed. Kory had been packing and had things strewn around the whole house. Most of all, there were two pregnancy tests sitting out on the counter! We couldn't let them see our house this way. We rushed off the trail, headed back into town and cleaned the house faster than we ever have before.

After cleaning the house, we went to lunch with one of my best friends, Abby, and drove around looking at some houses that were for sale. We spent the evening at home talking about the baby and getting Kory packed to leave for Guatemala the next day. I was pretty bummed that Kory had to leave right after we found out, but their trip delay was absolutely an answer to my prayers. I had prayed so many times that Kory wouldn't be out of the country when I found out I was pregnant. I knew I wouldn't want to tell him over the phone and it would be SO hard to keep it totally to myself for almost two weeks.

We promised each other that we would wait until Kory got home to tell our parents before we told anyone else. It's really hard to keep such a fun secret to yourself! This is getting pretty lengthy, so my next blog will detail the next six weeks of my pregnancy.

March 14 in 2014

1. Eat {more} vegetables.

I did ok this month, but not great. I did try a new vegetable: parsnips. Our friend gave us some from his mom's garden and we used them in smoothies. I intended to roast them also, but I forgot and they were kind of rotten by the time I remembered.

I did have a significant victory in learning to like broccoli! We had it roasted twice and I had it in my yakisoba noodles several times. I feel like I can say with certainty that this vegetable moved out of the dislike category!

2. Learn to drive a stick shift (again).

Check! This happened in March! I would still like to get a little more practice, but I feel confident that I can do this now. There were a few stalling out moments, but it was when someone got behind me and I got so nervous with them waiting on me. To be fair, I was in parking lots the entire time (it was several that join together and I got up to second gear, so it was still good experience), and next time I hope to get some actual street practice. 

3. Read books.

I'm still working on The Signature of All Things. It's been very slow going for me, but not because it's bad writing. I really enjoy it and just need to take more time to read it, preferably NOT when I'm in bed and about to fall asleep.

4. Print and make albums with the pictures I take in the year.

Nothing happened here in March.

5. (Continue to) memorize the book of James.

I am not feeling good about this goal. I feel like I should have picked this goal or #10, but probably not both. I'm just not able to do them both well.

6. Crochet a blanket for Kory

Kory has now decided he doesn't want this blanket. It is understandable as we have quite a few already, and he feels like it would be too much work for me, considering he might not use it a lot.

So it looks like maybe I can turn my crocheting efforts towards baby items at this point.

7. Can 3 foods.

I have been looking through my canning cookbooks I got for Christmas to get some ideas. My current thoughts on what I might can include green beans, tomatoes, and possibly pickles.

8. Do puzzles.

We are getting SO close to finishing this giant! It's continuing to be pretty difficult at this point with so many of the pieces looking the same, but I have no doubt that April will be the month we finally finish this puzzle.

9. Make my blog prettier. 

Nothing this month, but I did get a comment last month with a great idea so I need to check out that website and see what I can do to spruce things up around here. 

10. Read through the entire Bible.

I'm still going, but it's a struggle. One of the main reasons is that I am so tired these days and reading puts me to sleep very quickly. I've tried reading while blow drying my hair, on my lunch break, right when I get home after work...so far, nothing is working really well. I'm giving myself grace and will continue reading when I can.

11. Eat more whole foods and, therefore, less processed foods. 

Hmm...I didn't do a lot of cooking in March. I have been SO exhausted in the evenings after work and Kory has been great about picking up the slack. I'm looking forward to the 2nd trimester energy boost I keep hearing about!

12. Get my braces off.

My most recent appointment brought good and bad news. It looks like I could get my braces off earlier than expected, but it means I have to wear rubber bands again. My new goal is to have my braces off before the baby arrives, so I'm still feeling positive about that happening.

13. Brush up on my Spanish.

I think I only worked on my Spanish one day this past month. I'm not too upset about that because I feel like it was a productive month anyway. Plus, I was really tired, and have lowered my expectations for myself a bit since discovering how worn out I am most days. 

14. Move out of our house.

Well, this is the 2nd biggest news in our lives these days. It's a long story, but we are keeping the house. We took it off the market in March and will continue living here. We do not plan to fix the foundation, but we do plan to do some repairs on the gutters/drainage situation and hopefully fix some of the seasonal settling we're experiencing.

We have a letter from a certified engineer stating that the home is structurally sound and all the damage was done in the first 10 years the home was built, which means it's not getting worse every year, like we originally thought. Finding out we were pregnant was a big part of making this decision. We started listing the things we wanted in a house...quiet neighborhood, big back yard, etc. It didn't take long to realize we already have that house! It's refreshing to not have to think about packing, selling, moving and buying a new house while I'm pregnant. I'm excited to be staying here as I really do love this house.

To someone on the outside, it might seem like we just went in circles for a year. To us, God did incredible work on our hearts and taught us trust and faith in very real and significant ways. The ways God grew us over the past year mean that this was not wasted time. Thanks again for your prayers and support as we dealt with this house situation. We feel like God led us to this house 2 years ago, and we're grateful He's allowing us to keep it now.

This goal will now transition to one I set last year and never really achieved because we found out about the foundation damage: Make our house feel like a home.