And the cat is out of the bag...

So the parental units show up late Friday evening (Jan. 29th). As we helped them get their bags in, JP passed me each time with a nervous grin. He couldn’t hardly contain himself! I was surprisingly calm. Extremely calm. I had been all week! I even considered peeing on another test just to be absolutely sure before they walked in the door….it just seems so surreal! Meanwhile JP had counted each day. I wasn’t nervous until the time was nearing and I caught a glimpse of the wrapped gift under the cocktail table. With pie eaten and bed time looming…I grabbed the gift and told mom she had one more gift from Christmas that she needed to open. She looked so confused. I told her we found it. So she opened the package with a quizzical look. She peeled back the tissue paper with 4 eyes on her (me and JP) and 4 eyes on the package (Dad and herself). She looks down to see a printed Kid’s First license plate with “NOMA 2” written on it. I saw Dad look away instantly with a slight grin. Mom kept looking with the quizzical face and finally said “You got me a license plate?” Then she got it. She slowly lifted the license plate to see two ultrasound pictures of our little sea creature at 7 weeks. Then the hugging and awwwing and smiles began. The weekend followed with lots of touching of the belly, online crib shopping and lots of talking. They asked the “Will you get married” question, but I think already knew the answer. We explained how we want the wedding to be about us and the love we have for each other, and not about the baby. It will come in due time.

Then came the calls to the sisters, brothers, grandparents and about a week later, to the friends. I think so many people were really thrown off by the lack of squealing-with-excitement. While I was definitely excited, the whole thing just wouldn’t sink in. I saw it on the ultrasound. I knew it was real. But I felt no different. Was there really something in there?

On February 12th, I had my first OB appointment. Full exam, tons of information on things to do and things not to do, and listening to the heartbeat. We weren’t sure going into this appointment if we would be able to hear it, so I went to the appointment alone. Sure enough the nurse said they would try to see if they could hear it. With an urgent “Come now….hurry” text to JP, he showed up just in time. He sat through the question and answer time, and even had many questions of his own. Like when will the gas calm down. And when will she stop waking me up all freaked out from a bad dream. Unfortunately, the answers weren’t what he had hoped, but instead what he had suspected. It’ll be awhile. Then Anna, the Nurse Practioner, laid me back and started hunting for the heartbeat. She explained that it was quite early to be able to hear using the Doppler and if we didn’t hear anything, she would do a quick ultrasound. A few seconds later we heard a boom…..boom…..boom. She quickly noted that was mine. She explained we were trying to hear something much faster. And just as the words were out of her mouth…there it was. A steady and quick little beating. I was staring at the ceiling and burst into tears. I looked quickly at a smiling Anna who said, “Yep, that’s it!” She then said how amazed she was that it was so loud and strong at such an early stage. JP let out a “That’s my boy!” I looked over at him and he had the biggest glowing smile I think I have ever seen. Now I was excited. I heard our tiny little human being. There really is something in there. A strong, living and beating human being. A baby.

It hit me…..I’M PREGNANT!!!!!!