The Story (Part 1)...

I have written this as a way to remember the details leading up to the birth of our first baby, so I apologize for the length. Tim and I are SO EXCITED about this chapter in our lives!

March of 2009 marked the official beginning of our journey to conceive. Tim and I had been wanting to start our family for quite some time (since around 2007), but due to some things happening in life that were out of our control (finding good jobs, buying our first home, etc.), we hadn’t been able to start. In fact, our most recent plan after buying our home was to start trying in December of 2008, but Tim lost his job in October and that set us back again. I was beginning to wonder why there were so many obstacles in our way. At the end of March, Tim was still without a job, but had a good prospect. I knew it would probably take us a while to get pregnant for reasons I won't go into, so we decided it was time to start.

I didn’t really expect anything to happen the first six months, but after that, I was starting to get a little impatient, especially since it seemed so easy for others. I’ve always had a feeling that this would be something I might struggle with since so many of my friends have dealt with fertility issues. There was one month in the fall when I thought I might be pregnant. I remember talking to my friend, Kristin, on the phone who was about to have her baby. I told her that I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but that there was a chance that I was pregnant. As soon as I got off the phone with her, I realized that I wasn't. I remember crying a bit and being mad at myself for believing that I could be.

In January of 2010, I decided to make an appointment to visit my OB-GYN to talk about fertility issues. Although it hadn’t quite been one year for us trying, I had already had 12 cycles. Throughout the month of January, I decided to be diligent about charting everything (thanks to a book that Katherine sent me!). This way, I would have something to show my doctor. My appointment with my doctor was scheduled for Thursday, February 4th. I couldn’t wait to get that appointment over with because I was ready to get some answers and to get “help” getting pregnant if that’s what was necessary. Our small group and several other friends of ours had been praying for us.

My appointment went very well. I was very encouraged by Dr. Robert’s attitude of “Let’s get you pregnant!” She really seemed to listen and she explained some of the options without getting ahead of ourselves. The first step was to check my progesterone levels, which required me to come in the next day to have my blood drawn. This would help us see if my luteal phase was as it should be or if it was too short. If it was too short, we talked about me starting to take Clomid to help regulate my cycle. In the meantime, Tim was going to have to get checked out too (lucky for him this never happened!).

Tim and I had planned a mini-vacation weekend to Austin for my birthday and Valentine's Day. I was a little bummed because I just knew that that's when I would find out I wasn't pregnant again. At my appointment I asked Dr. Robert how soon I would know if I did happen to be pregnant. She said it would take at least a week and a half after ovulating to know anything. Each day that I didn't get bad news I became more and more confident that we had a chance this month.

On Tuesday, February 9th I was sitting on the couch and I realized enough time had gone by to where there was a chance I could know if I were pregnant or not. I got the urge to take a pregnancy test, just to see. I took one in the bathroom and waited for the results. The results showed lines, but they were very faint. I wasn’t sure what that meant, so I threw it away and began to research online. Everything I read told me that faint lines typically meant that you were pregnant, but that it was just early. Everything said to retest in a few days, especially first thing in the morning. I was getting excited, but didn’t want to get my hopes up. I didn’t say a word to anyone, even Tim.

The next night I went out and bought more pregnancy tests. I wanted to buy the digital ones that said “Pregnant” or “Not Pregnant” but at that point, I would rather see faint lines, which gave me some hope, than “Not Pregnant,” so I bought the cheaper ones. I could not wait until the next morning when I could test again. In fact, I woke up on Thursday at 5:30 due to night sweats and right before 6:00 my friend, Crystal, texted me to let me know that it was snowing outside. I decided to go ahead and get up to take the test. Although this was a different brand of test, the results came back very similar…seemed to be positive, but faint. This time my confidence level was up…I’d had 2 tests read positive. We had a beautiful snow come that day…the most in Dallas history in a very long time and I was super giddy! I couldn’t wait to tell Tim, but I wanted it to be a good surprise. Right after school I went to Hallmark to look for a good way to tell him…I thought it would be perfect as a Valentine’s Day gift! I found a small frame that said, “Look who loves Daddy!” I thought it would be awesome to put a picture of the pregnancy test in the frame and let him open it, along with some chocolate covered cherries. I also stopped at Walgreen’s and decided to splurge on the digital pregnancy test…this time I was ready.

That evening, Tim built a fire, we ordered pizza, and we watched our favorite shows. During one of the commercials, I snuck off to the bathroom, took the test, and took a picture of my “Pregnant” result!! Then I quickly went upstairs to print off the picture and put it in the frame. When I came downstairs, I told Tim that I really couldn’t wait for him to open his gift and that it might be something he wanted for the weekend. He’s used to me not being able to wait for people to open gifts, so he agreed. First, he pulled out the chocolate covered cherries and was very happy (they are his favorite)! I told him that there was more in the bag. I could tell he thought it was odd that I bought him a frame and when he unwrapped it, it took him a few seconds to figure it out. Once he did, he was thrilled beyond belief!!! We hugged, kissed, cried, and laughed for quite a while and then Tim led a very sweet prayer for us. I explained what had been going on and how I couldn’t keep it a secret any longer. We cannot wait for this precious gift from God to come into our lives!

We decided that I needed to get in to confirm the results at the doctor’s office, but when I called the next day, they were closed due to the weather. There was nothing I could do until Monday. Tim and I had an awesome time in Austin that weekend, just soaking up the news. I remember feeling so worried that I was going to walk too hard or have someone bump into me and that it would end the pregnancy. I know it’s silly, but I felt so fragile!