We knew we wanted kids, and we felt "the time" was coming soon, and last summer I FINALLY graduated college with my Bachelors of Arts and Sciences with my minor in Communication.
(Hallelujah!)
Then a month came and went, without the arrival of my period. We were going to have a baby! A huge rush of mixed emotions followed. Especially since only a few weeks prior, dear loved ones just found out they had lost their baby. I still tear up as I write this.
When the pregnancy test showed positive, I remember Jon jokingly saying, "Take it back! We're not ready!" But ready or not...
It was a Saturday. First thing I did was send my brother an e-mail. He had left a couple months earlier to serve a two-year mission for our church. I was sad he wouldn't be here for the birth, but excited that I could still share news with him, even if he wouldn't get the e-mail for a few days. (Jon also sent his brother an e-mail, who was also serving in the mission field.)
Then I called Mom, Kiana and Dad. The plan was to keep it a "secret" until after the first trimester, since the risk of miscarriage decreases after that. But on Monday, while we were both at work, Jon sent me an e-mail saying he'd spilled the beans to coworkers. He was just so excited and overwhelmed :)
Originally I was due May 8, 2010. The timing was great. I'd have the baby in spring, before the summer so I wouldn't be hugely pregnant, uncomfortable, AND hot...
I prayed for twins. That way I could get two down with one pregnancy, right? :) I figured God didn't get that request very often, so I thought He'd grant it to me... but the doctor never heard more than one heartbeat and eventually said I wasn't measuring big enough to have twins.... I also wanted a boy, but we know how that turned out... :)
I'd say my pregnancy progressed fairly smoothly. During some of the middle months I felt a little "under the weather," but actually puked only a few times. I just kept a snack handy, and munched when I felt I needed to. My muscles were tight, but we didn't have a bathtub in the apartment we were in. I'd get lightheaded while standing for a long time, so I'd just turn on the shower and sit on the floor as the water poured down. My sense of smell was heightened, and I had a VERY easy gag reflex.
I did get "mean." Jon would tell me that I was being "mean" and I never realized it at the time, but looking back, I was pretty grouchy/irritated/argumentative/mean. Sorry!
Then the last few months, my nasal passages were constantly congested and couldn't smell anything. I caught colds very easily, and coughed a lot. I attribute my not "showing" for a while to the coughing, it kept my abdominal muscles tight (that, and I was training hard for my competition, and was the skinniest I've ever been only a couple months before...)
May 2009
Then we moved into our duplex (the renter's side, while Jon and Dad remodeled our side). It was lame, because I couldn't help as much as I normally could...
I remember feeling the baby move, and it felt like gas bubbles moving around inside me. It was around 17-18 weeks. I remember having Jon put his cheek to my belly, not knowing if he'd be able to feel, but she did a huge flip, and he felt it. So weird!
We decided we wanted to find out if it was a boy or girl, and that's usually possible at 20 weeks. Well, that was around Christmas, and my doctor was leaving, and I wanted to have ultrasound photos framed and give them to my family as gifts... so I scheduled our appointment I was going to be just a day or two shy of 20 weeks.
Jon was able to get off work to go with me. The ultrasound tech was very thorough, maneuvering the wand, and taking the standard measurements. Then she asked if I'd had any dreams of the baby. I told her of a dream I had, where I was taking care of a little boy with special needs, and she said frankly: "Well, It's a girl." Jon wanted a girl :) Our Little Girl. Too bad we'd only ever agreed on boy names...
A couple days later, I was able to meet with my doctor, and he said everything in the ultrasounds looked great. The radiologist had looked at the measurements, and everything looked fine, except he said my due date was probably supposed to be May 12. Eh, what's four days, right?
The last part of pregnancy was fine. Just regular discomforts of having a baby inside one's belly... I stood on the stairs, using the higher stair to put on my socks and shoes. My last day of work was April 30th, a week before the due date. A week or so before she arrived, I painted my toenails :)
Brenna & Kiana
April 2010
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