33 weeks and counting....

Last month, on September 19th to be exact, I had a hunch that I had a bun in the oven. This feeling was more certain than any in the past 9 months. I took my first pregnancy test at work, like all classy people do. I saw a faint second line indicating that I was pregnant. I stared at the stick of fate for a good ten minutes, thinking that I was just imagining things because I had yearned for a child since October of 2010. I waited till the next morning and took a second test; all signs pointed to pregnant again. I took yet another test, the third, that afternoon. I figured three can't be wrong. I had no idea how I wanted to tell Josh. I envisioned something involving giving him a gift, like a Green Bay bottle or onesie. The only way my scared and excited brain could think of was to just simply show him the two positive pregnancy tests I had at the house. As soon as I showed him, his face lit up and I cried in his chest.

At first, I told him I wanted to keep it quiet since I wasn't sure how far along I was and because the positives were faint, but there were so present at the same time. The following day, I took one more test and the line looked even more present. That was the moment I got so excited and decided I had to tell my close friends or I was just going to burst. I drove all the way to Emily's with a big grin on my face, thinking of a clever way to tell her. As soon as I got out of the car, she said what a good day she was having and how she felt good and I responded with, "I know, right!! You feel awesome..
.it's a nice day...I'm pregnant!..." And that was the last word I got in before the screaming and jumping and crying commenced. Emily, Sam, and I cried, hugged and started making a list of things I needed to start doing; prenatals, doctor's appointments, no caffeine, etc. They even helped me plan how I was going to tell my mom.

I knew that I had to make it special when I told her. All she wanted in these last nine months was a grandchild to fill that void in her heart and bring her some happiness. Not that anything could replace losing Megan, but that we could have some joy. Sam filled a beautiful purple pumpkin with some white and light purple flowers and I filled out a card that said, "Happy (early) Halloween, Grandma Gigi. Love, Your Little Pumpkin." I met my mom at the house right after she got off work and loved the flowers as soon as she saw them. She had no idea what they were for and I told her she had to open the card and find out. The first time she read it, she thought that I meant that I was her little pumpkin and I told her that I was having a baby. She was quiet for a small moment and said, "Are you sure?" I told about the copious amount of pregnancy tests I had taken and said there was no doubt in my mind. After that response, we both cried and held each other and she said how excited she was about this grandbaby and the possibility of a little Gracie; I know we both hoped that this baby will have a couple of Megan's features; maybe her nose or her perfect eyebrows or that snarky smile. After the water works finally slowed, we started calling and texting everyone.

My next phone call was Kristin. I so badly wanted to tell her in person, but she had gone to Kansas City that day to see her family. I called on the way home after I left my mom's house and told her the good news. She screamed on the phone and kept saying, "Oh my god! Oh my god!" She kept saying how excited she was and couldn't wait to talk with me more about it in person. I remember saying and agreeing with her those first few days that we couldn't believe that I was pregnant and how we had been so used to talking about me being pregnant in the future tense instead of it being in the present tense and finally happening and becoming true.

The following day, we had an doctor's appointment to get a true confirmation that I was pregnant and, surprise surprise, there was still a bun cooking in the oven. That was the day that we made it Facebook official. And this is what Facebook looks like when it's getting blown up with lots of love for Baby Woodward.



There was so many responses and I wanted to respond to them all, so I just simply liked them, even though at that point, I wished there was a love button. The response that made my heart melt the most was from my mom.



The first order of business was to pick an OB/GYN and schedule an appointment. We decided to go with Dr. Chandler and made an appointment for Monday, October 3rd. Josh went with me, pointing out that I was way too happy to be seeing a doctor. There was lots of paperwork and questions and lots of private laughs between Josh and I. We finally meet Dr. Chandler for a moment to answer some more questions and he leaves the room. My husband, being the guy he is and doing his Josh thing, completely analyzed this doctor in the first two minutes he was in the room and Josh's first reaction, "He's kind of an oddball." I couldn't disagree with him, but I felt comfortable with Dr. Chandler...I can't say the same for Josh when Dr. Chandler came back into the room to give me an "exam." Josh stared at the floor the whole time and when it was all finally said an done, he would hardly talk with me. I kept poking fun at him, asking him if that made him uncomfortable and he didn't want to talk about it. After some blood work, we drove home and I was a little upset with him because I just wasn't understanding why he wouldn't talk with me and I took it that he wasn't "on board" and ready for this baby and so I started crying about that. He consoled me and gave me a kiss and said, "Baby, I'm on board for this baby; it's just going to take some getting used to coming to those kinds of appointments...it's just...weird!"

We got home, made more phone calls and just couldn't stop smiling. His mom cried so much on the phone when he told her, but then asked him not to call his grandma or Aunt Jerri because she wanted to call and tell them the news and brag about it. After what seemed like thousands of phone calls, text messages, wall posts and messages on Facebook, things finally settled down...or so I thought...

Like clockwork, the morning nausea started kicking in. I couldn't believe that at 5 weeks, something the size of a sweet pea could have such an effect on me. After many mornings of dry toast and slowly sipping water, there is no beating the nausea. Thankfully, there has been no brutal, ghastly sickness, but hey, it's only week 6; anything is possible in the next 33 weeks.

The next disaster of many small ones to come: I had to go to the ER because of some blood that shouldn't have been present that completely scared the living daylights out of me. Come to find out, I had my first UTI. So now, within my first few days of being aware of my pregnancy, I was on antibiotics, taking prenatals, and feeling so sick and taking naps like they were going out of style.

I suppose after saying all of the above, I should explain my reasoning for this blog, like most blogger mcbloggers do. I wanted to keep a log of things that were happening in my first pregnancy for a couple of reasons. My mom kept a diary when she was pregnant with me, which she kept and gave me when I was old enough to appreciate it. I want to do the same, but I find that I can gather my sporadic thoughts better when I type instead of writing. Secondly, I want to be able to have something to look back on and read when this baby finally does get here and then I say, "Oh, Josh, I think I'm ready to have another baby," like us crazy women do sometimes and which I probably will do. Also, I want to be able to reflect on this time and laugh at some of the things that happened: the ever constant trips to the bathroom, ice cream cravings, millions of changes occurring in my body, the weekly updates of how big the baby is (as of right now, it's the size of a blueberry). Or even some of our favorite moments during the pregnancy.

I'll end with one of my favorites. Almost every night when Josh and I go to bed together, I'll be laying flat on my back and I'll put my hands on my stomach. Nudging Josh, I'll say, "Hey baby, how big you think this belly is gonna get?" And then I'll put my hands an exaggerated length away from my belly and he'll reply with a funny look with raised eyebrows and say, "I dunno, Ho," making me laugh every single time and freaking him out a little more each time.

I do solemnly swear that every blog will not be this long. This is just a crammed update from the last three weeks in Eggo Mcpreggo Land. And now, I'm off to bed to most likely sleep till 11am like I have been doing the past few weeks. Nothing wrong with a little consistency, right?