We found out about our expected blessing on Christmas Eve, 2011!
The day before, I had been talking at work with a couple of girls about how I had been having really strong cramps and they had been waking me up in the night. I just thought I was PMSing, as I was due to start my period on Christmas Eve. One coworker told me, "That's what happened to me right before I found out I was pregnant with my son..." I dismissed her comment, convincing myself that it was near impossible that I would be pregnant. After all, we had only "tried" once during the magic week in December and I didn't think it was anywhere near the right time. I certainly hadn't gotten my hopes up.
The morning of Christmas Eve I woke up and was laying in bed thinking about the conversation from the day before. I had lots of pregnancy tests that I had bought online in bulk so I figured what the heck, I'll take one just to put my mind at ease.
I went into the bathroom and took a test while Steve and Jordan slept. I waited the 5 minutes and looked at it and saw... TWO LINES! But the second line was very faint and I just wasn't convinced. So I texted my friend Aslan, who had just announced her pregnancy a couple of weeks earlier and is a nurse. I explained everything I just wrote here and asked her what she thought. She said, "Any line is a line and that means it's positive!"
I started freaking out a little, but in a really good way. :)
Aslan asked to see a picture of the test strip so I went back into the bathroom to take a picture of it. This was about 15 or 20 minutes post-test and there was a HUGE difference in the color of that second line! Definitely a positive test.
I took a shower and prayed and smiled and was basically ecstatic by myself for awhile. :) Then I woke Steve up and told him we should start getting ready to head to my parents for the day. While he showered, I made a t-shirt for Jordan (picture below) to wrap up, along with a onesie I had previously bought to use as an announcement for Steve.
I waited and waited for Steve to get ready for the day, woke Jordan up and got him some breakfast, and waited some more. I told Steve, "You and Jordan have a Christmas Eve present to open as soon as you're ready!" I could hardly stand it.
FINALLY Steve came into the family room where I had set both presents on a stool for them. I handed them out and told them to sit next to each other on the couch so I could take their picture while they opened them.
I made them open at the same time, but Jordan was more interested in what Steve was opening when he saw that his was just a shirt. ;)
Reading the words on the onesie, "Daddy loves me"
"Wait... are you... are you pregnant?"
"Nuh uh! Shut up! Shut up!"
Needless to say, they were both VERY excited, though Steve remained in shock for a few hours. :)
We went over to my parents for Christmas Eve and (conveniently) everyone, including quite a few cousins, were in the living room together when we got there. Jordan flashed his shirt to my mom, who got an extremely surprised, proud look on her face, her eyes filled with tears and she basically climbed over Jordan to hug me. My sister read the words, SCREAMED, dropped her knitting and also came over to hug me. :) My dad was pretty proud and all the cousins were very excited.
I called my grandma (Nana) to tell her and said, "Remember how last Christmas Eve I called to tell you we were engaged? Well this year I'm calling to tell you we're having a baby!" She squealed and squealed and ooohed and squealed some more. :)
The evening of Christmas Eve we showed up at Steve's parents at about 10:30pm. They were all up but were surprised to see us (especially me) so late at night. Steve coralled them all into the family room by telling them that Jordan wanted to open one gift early. When everyone was gathered Jordan said, "Well, it's really a gift for you. And it's not something you can HAVE... well, here it is" and unzipped his sweatshirt to reveal his t-shirt. Penny figured it out right away and said, "Mommy is pregnant!" David got a huge grin on his face and Steve's parents were very excited (and surprised). I called Linnea (Steve's sister) because I had been waiting ALL DAY to tell her and she squealed and got choked up and said how stinking excited she is for us. :) As soon as we announced it on Facebook (two days later) she and my sister both announced it on their own pages as well.
On Christmas morning we had Jordan wear the shirt again and made the announcement to my other grandmas. I had them both stand together while Jordan unzipped his hoodie to reveal the t-shirt. One grandma figured it out first and squealed and hugged me, getting a little misty-eyed. It took my other grandma a minute but then she let out a huge gasp and also hugged me. Telling everyone has been so fun!
A few other fabulous reactions:
Tessa - I called her on the phone and told her I would need her to plan a trip down here at the end of August. She said, "Ok... why?" I said, "Because I want you to be here when our baby is born!" Her reply was, "WHAT?!!!!?!????!?!?! OH MY GOD!!!! OH MY GOD!!" When her family asked her what all the screaming was about she yelled, "MY BEST FRIEND IS WITH CHILD!!!!"
Marcela (who is also pregnant) - I texted to tell her and she wrote back, "SHUT THE FRONT DOOR! OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG, TEARS AND I JUST PEED MY PANTS!"
Robin at work - I said something about "baby Hanold, due August 2012" and she wrote back, "Hanold, what a cute name! I love it!" I told her, "Robin... Hanold is our last name." She wrote again, "I totally knew that. Now I feel like an idiot."
Various people screaming or squealing and lots of hugging. All of Steve's friends are excited for us and sent lots of congratulations.
My boss - I called him on his cell phone so he wouldn't have to find out by e-mail at work. I caught him at the airport, eating a hamburger in the food court. He is a very animated guy by nature and I could just see his antics as he ooohed and squealed (yes, really) and told me over and over how excited he is and that God has really bless our family this year (He sure has!!) and how proud and thrilled he is.
Our official due date is August 29th, 2012!
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