Discovering Number Three

I won't post this for several weeks, because we need a chance to tell our families. I'm writing this on July 10, 2010, just to give you an initial idea of how things went down.

Cody and I knew we wanted more kids the moment Annalisa was born. After some thought and consideration, I put my foot down and swore off all future summer pregnancies (well, pregnancies that would end in summer...I've done two of them, and they are HOT). I really, really wanted to have a baby in the spring. So we decided to start trying as soon as a projected due-date would put us in the spring/late winter of 2011. Remember this post, when I officially weaned Annalisa from breastfeeding? And I also mentioned I was growing out my hair again... both of those things were actually for the start of our official trying-to-get-pregnant period. *Kind of a random thing, but with each of my kids, I decided to grow out my hair and donate it in the end of pregnancy.

As soon as the risk of a December baby had passed, we started trying. The first month I was still "drying up," so I wasn't surprised to not be pregnant. The next month I was sick and on all kinds of meds, so again, not much surprise, but definitely disappointment. And then this month. I promised myself I would NOT take a test to the H Reunion, and if I was still in the clear when the reunion ended, I could test when we got back. (the timing was right for that setup.)

A few days before the end of the reunion I started having some PMS symptoms... not really definitive, but still enough to give me pause. Of course, the slightest symptom would make me doubt my chances of being pregnant, which would make it worse because then I was depressed about it as well. And as hard as I tried to ignore the whole deal, when you're trying to get pregnant, you just can't.

Despite the PMS (which symptoms I found out could also be attributed to too many rich foods and high altitude, or even early pregnancy...), my period didn't start. I'm like clockwork. Being one day late for me is a big deal. The day we went home, I knew I was officially late. But that could have also been because of stress, or who knows what? I told Cody I would wait until Saturday morning to test (which is today, as I'm writing this.) But as I was driving home by myself, since we took two cars, I wondered the entire way home. I passed Cody and got a few minutes ahead of him. I decided to sneak in the house as quickly as I could and test before he had a chance to come tell me no. I tried my best to completely ignore the possibility of a negative test. We parked in the driveway, I dragged the kids inside, and ran to the bathroom, not even bothering to close the van doors.

I tested. Oh, the agony of waiting for those little pink lines to appear! The first line appeared quickly--the one indicating the test is working, and if that's the only line, it means negative. I watched the empty spot beside it as I washed my hands. Nothing showed up. My stomach sunk. Three minutes, I reminded myself...I must wait three minutes before I call it. A solid minute went by. I reminded myself that the best results are found at the beginning of the day, not at eleven in the morning. Maybe it's just too diluted? Maybe I'm not pregnant?

Cody came home. I locked the bathroom door and went back to the test when I saw it--the tiniest, faintest line showing up. It's hardly there, but there it is! I frantically whip out the instructions to see the meaning of this. My heart skipped a beat when I saw the line "One line may be fainter than the other" on the pregnant result instructions. I checked the test again, just to make sure. It is still a faint pink line, but there are two! Two distinct lines! I'm pregnant!

In shock, I walked out of the bathroom to our bedroom just to compose myself. I could hardly breathe. Cody came in and saw me with my hands clasped on my mouth. He asked me what was going on. I couldn't say it out loud yet, but he figured it out. "Did you test?" I nodded. "What was the result? Negative?" I shook my head. "What?" he gave me this huge hug. "Really?" Then I showed him the test, faint pink line and all, and I explained to him how the instructions clearly say that any 'pregnant' line, no matter how faint, is a positive result. We gave each other huge hugs and just held each other for a while, both in shock and joy. Once we regained composure, we called Lee and Annalisa to us and explained that mommy was indeed pregnant, and we would have a new baby come join us in March of next year. Lee got pretty excited. Annalisa wandered off to play with toys, but she did keep saying "beebee? beebee?" for a while.

Throughout this pregnancy, I will journal my thoughts, feelings, and milestones. I really love going through my posts about Annalisa's pregnancy and birth, and I definitely will do the same thing. Right now, we are so excited! Hang on for the ride!