Telling the Parents

Our original plan for telling our parents was to wait until my Mom came out in October and I would show up at the airport with Parker decked out in a "big brother" shirt. Then we would tell Ben's parents after we returned from Great Wolf Lodge or send a picture of Parker in the "shirt". Oh, how plans change...

We went to Babies R Us on Friday night to pick up a few presents and found a "big brother" shirt for Parker that I didn't have to order online. First task completed. Then, I came up with the brilliant plan that we would do a webcam call on Saturday night with my parents and have the kids wear their shirts. Well, okay, it wasn't overly brilliant, because as soon as I called to "schedule" the webcam call, my Mom knew something was up. She even speculated to my Dad that she thought we were pregnant and due in May. She's a smart cookie...

Then we told Madi at dinner about the baby. She was so excited, saying that she "prayed and prayed for a new baby..." Then she told us that we needed to name the baby Roxie - don't know where that came from!

So even with the somewhat advance notice, we still did the webcam visit with Parker and Madi sporting big sibling shirts, and they were surprised and excited about the news. Parker actually wouldn't stop babbling and waving to my parents on the screen - he was being so adorable.

Then we told Madi that we were going to tell Ben's parents the next day, but not until we picked her up. It was going to be her first big secret. We almost changed our minds and called them, but Madi insisted that she wanted to wait to tell them. The funny part was that while she was at their house, they talked about the big room switch (Madi and Parker are going to share a room) and asked Madi who was going to sleep in Parker's room. She said...Roxie! But when we got there, the first thing that Madi said to us was "can we tell the secret?" Obviously, she didn't realize that she had already spilled the beans...so cute. We still switched Parker into his "shirt" and she told them the big news. It was a tad anticlimactic, but still fun.

I want to tell someone...anyone...

Ben and I had decided to keep our pregnancy "under wraps" for a little while, but it has been a week and a half and I am ready to spill it. It's kind of cool to have your own little secret, but not when you are feeling icky and you are trying to pretend that everything is fine. I am pretty sure that my Mom thinks something is up, because she has made several comments about how I didn't sound right or I seemed distracted. Yep...you better believe it!

The other thing is that for me, it always seems more "real" once we start telling other people. Now granted, we have never waited that long to share the news, but those in-between days you can start to question it...if it weren't for the lovely nausea and headaches and nightly bathroom visits.

I did get my first congratulations though - I called my midwives office to schedule my pre-natal interview and first appointment. I think that might tide me over for a couple of days, but then we are going to have to tell someone...anyone...

Not "morning" sickness..."all day" sickness...

I must preface this by saying that I have never actually thrown up for any of my pregnancies. I am so grateful for that, and I know that it could be much worse.

However, it doesn't take away from the general ickiness that comes from feeling nauseous from about 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. or so. I don't remember it lasting all day with my last two pregnancies, but this time around I haven't been feeling "right" until about dinnertime. It is probably good to have two little "distractions", because if I'm running around building tents and making crafts I don't have time to think about my churning stomach.

A couple things that have helped a little bit (other than being distracted) is fresh air and eating. The other day I was feeling particularly yucky and we decided to go for a "nature walk". This just means we wandered around the block picking up sticks, leaves, and pinecones, but the crisp air helped out for some reason.

Eating has helped too, even though many times nothing sounds good, so I have to force something down. Other days, I just eat...and eat...and eat. For example, I sat down one afternoon and proceeded to eat about 20 crackers with cheese spread. Probably not the best idea for every day, but it helped for that day.

At least I know there is an end to it...and as Ben said to me the other day...it will probably be the last time that I'll have to go through it. I told him to be quiet...I'm not ready to think about that yet...let's just deal with today for now...

I think part of my problem is when I'm feeling yucky, nothing sounds good to eat, so I feel like I'm digging through my cupboards on a daily basis to find something...anything...that sounds tasty.

Oh...now I feel pregnant...rats...

A couple of days after we found out I was pregnant, I was sitting on the couch during naptime, and I realized that I had a ton of extra saliva. Yep...now I feel pregnant. It is a little gross, but I have had it every pregnancy now, so I knew what was going on. Just a little confirmation that I am indeed pregnant, and yes, this is really going to happen.

Wow.

I am NOT pregnant...am I??

It was September 11th, and I had just dropped Madi off at preschool. Parker and I decided to run into Meijer to pick up a couple of things, including Thomas the Train toothpaste for the kids. After I picked out the toothpaste, I decided to swing by the pregnancy test section, and thought..."hmm...waste of money...or not?"

The truth is, I was utterly convinced that I was NOT pregnant. We had been trying for a couple of months, not very seriously, and this was the first month that I thought that I had tracked everything right. But the last several days, I had been feeling very "not" pregnant - kind of crampy, not super emotional, and just...normal. I even told Ben that very thing - and that I was kind of depressed about it.

So when I strolled by the pregnancy test shelf, I almost kept walking. But, I had a coupon, so I checked them out, realized that the test that we usually get (the kind that has the words "pregnant" or "not pregnant") would not work with my coupon, and then I ended up throwing it into my cart. I figured that if I was pregnant, then I would have bought the good kind of test and if I wasn't, then I would know for sure.

So, we trotted home and I took the test...and to my surprise...it said pregnant almost immediately. I had to laugh, because it just figured. Parker was standing there looking at me guffaw, and I thought, "You have no idea how this is going to rock your world, buddy." Then I scooped him up, gave him a squeeze, and proceeded to snap some pictures of the test, just in case it faded before I had a chance to show Ben.

Then I waited. School...Dinner...Kids to bed...and then I sat down next to Ben on the couch and told him I had something to show him. Then, I handed him the test. I know - so creative, huh? I thought about sending him a picture over his phone, because he was out of the office all day, but I couldn't get a clear enough picture. Then I thought about telling him it was an early birthday present, but the due date is actually late May instead of June. So no creativity...but I don't think it would have mattered, because regardless of what I would have done, I think he would have had the same reaction.

Shock.

Now this seems like a strange reaction, seeing that we were planning on this baby. But I guess my emphatic statement that I was NOT pregnant? He took that pretty seriously I guess. Who knew I was so persuasive? Anyways, it took him at least a half an hour to recover, and he has now decided that he definitely does not do well with surprises. You think? I mean, this was something we had talked about in detail, and he was still shocked!

Anyways, we are both very excited, especially because it is not March and it will get me through the semester before I am due. And well, a baby is just exciting to think about...and scary...and nerve wracking...and wonderful.

Here we go again!