6 1/2 Years in the Making!!

So it was a regular Saturday morning in May and Jay was away on a business trip. Although it wasn't a totally regular morning. I was taking a pregnancy test. Why you may ask? Well let's go back a few weeks...






April was in full swing and the school year was starting to wind down. But for teachers it is one of the busiest times of the year. I actually had interviewed at another school district and contemplated leaving my current job. I ended up staying and I applied, interviewed and got a Peer Mentor position for next year. I was busy starting to pack up my classroom and get things ready for summer and finish up the year with my awesome kiddos!!






On the other side Jay and I had been looking at houses and actually had found one that was perfect for kiddos and taking Jay's sister in with us as we will start that transition within this next year. This was our dream house with a great guest room for my parents and it checked off all of our boxes for what we wanted in a house. We decided to put our current house up for sale and we basically packed up! My parents came up one weekend to help us and we tried our best to make our home look bigger and full of open space...it really just looks empty to me! :( But we put on our brave faces and moved forward with this decision!






I started noticing that I was getting pretty tired easily. I also was having some nausea in the morning during this time but I had been waking up pretty stuffed and thought I was just having some drainage. But that thought, "Maybe I'm pregnant?" started to creep up in my mind. I pushed it out just as quickly because I've done that many times throughout the last 6 1/2 years and I wasn't going to let myself believe such crazy things!






So April finished and May was upon us. We were consumed with keeping the house clean for showings and making sure Brutus was out of sight so that the house was open all day long. I continued to pack up my room and was looking forward to a relaxing summer. I noticed that I was even more tired than usual and almost fell asleep reading a book to the kiddos one day...no joke! I had forgotten my coffee that morning and again being tired at the end of the school year is normal. Once again that little thought, "Maybe I'm pregnant?" popped into my mind and started to be a little bit more persistent. "I just need to take a test and get it over with so I can move on!" I argued with myself. And then a great opportunity came up for me.






Jay was going to El Paso for a work trip the weekend after Mother's Day weekend. I figured it would be the perfect time to take the test, which would be negative anyway, then I could have my little sad day without anyone having to see me and go on with my life. I had done this many times before I didn't want Jay to have to deal with moody and sad Jennifer for a day! So I remained silent and told no one of my plans. Jay took off for his trip and I headed into the weekend...





It was Saturday May 17th (one month ago today!) and I took the test and set it on the counter. The directions say to give it 3 minutes and I always try not to look but I just wanted to see that negative sign so I could go back to bed and sleep! However I noticed that another sign had popped up and quite quickly...that little plus sign!!!!!!!!!!! I was in shock, disbelief, crying, laughing all in one. And the only one with me was our dog Brutus. I looked at him as he was watching me quite closely losing it in front of him and said, "I wish you could help me read this test but you're just a dog!!! I have no idea if I'm reading this thing correctly!?!?!" I continued to look at the directions and really examine the test to make sure I was seeing that plus sign correctly!!




Now I didn't want to go back to sleep and all I wanted was for Jay to be home! It was so hard to not call him and scream the news into the phone. But this was something I wasn't going to share over the phone, this was news to tell him in person so I could cry and laugh all over again! So I went about my regular Saturday visiting with friends and family as I had planned my day and really all I was thinking was about the test and wondering if it was right or wrong. I ended up buying two more tests Saturday evening, digital ones this time. I took one Saturday evening which came up with that word "pregnant" pretty quickly and the last one did the same thing Sunday morning. I was starting to be convinced that this was no mistake and in fact I was pregnant.




Jay came home earlier Sunday morning and was tired from the trip, the time difference and some drinking he had done with co-workers Saturday evening! I gave him a big hug and then told him to close his eyes and put his hands out. He later told me he thought I was putting keys in his hands to tell him we had sold the house while he was gone! But I set the test in his hand and told him to open his eyes. That moment will forever be frozen in time for me. To see him look at the test, register what it was and then look at me with all those same emotions I had felt only 24 hours earlier!! It was everything I always wanted and more to share that news with him!! The rest of the day was wonderful and we both couldn't stop smiling from ear to ear!! However there was still part of both of us that just couldn't fully believe something this wonderful since we've been down this road before...granted I had never had a positive home pregnancy test but we had definitely gotten our hopes up with IVF before. We agreed to keep silent and for me to try and get in to see my OB.


I called first thing Monday morning and they could see me that afternoon. I was feeling all sorts of emotions all day long and just couldn't focus on anything it seemed. The nurse practitioner said the urine test was positive and needed to feel my uterus. She said it seemed like I was about 6 weeks along but asked when I had my last period. Well for me I've never been regular due to my PCOS. I told her I thought I had bleed in February but really hadn't been keeping track and wasn't totally sure because we just had let go of the whole thing. She assured me it was no problem and told me we could do blood work or maybe even work me in for an ultrasound to see how far along I really was with this little miracle. The office had an ultrasound appointment and I headed back out to the waiting room with my head swimming. I called Jay and shared what had been going on and asked if he wanted me to reschedule so he could be with my for the first time. He was great and said that while he was sad to not be there, he wanted to know just as much as me exactly how far along I really was. So I waited and then they called me back.




I've been through this particular ultrasound many times with the IVF that we've been through. I actually can see my uterus and ovaries quite clearly and knew immediately that I wasn't imagining that little bean on the screen as soon as she started. I saw AND heard the heartbeat and was just caught up in awe and wonder at this little miracle that was actually and truly growing inside of me!! It was an unreal experience. I was snapped back to reality when the tech said, "Well you are farther along than 6 weeks my dear." "Huh?? What do you mean?" I asked her. "Well you are not 6 weeks. You are 8 weeks...8 weeks and 4 days to be exact." "Wait...8 weeks? Isn't that like 2 months??" I said maybe a little louder than I meant to. "Yep! You are a little over 2 months pregnant. And with a due date of December 25th!" Just amazing news to me!!!! I couldn't think of a better Christmas present for Jay and I and our family and all of our friends!! This was just incredible to me! The tech saw my face and asked if I was ok. I then told her that we had been trying for 6 1/2 years to get pregnant and had been through 2 rounds of IVF and that I was just absorbing everything that had happened since I had taken that first home test Saturday morning. I thought she would burst into tears!! After she left and I got dressed both the nurse, nurse practitioner and the ultrasound tech were waiting for me in the hallway. They all gave me hugs and had tears in their eyes and led me towards the checkout counter. It was a truly beautiful moment!




So that has been the news that has consumed our lives and our every waking moment for the last month! Telling our parents was an amazing moment in time and I will forever remember that day. Chatting with my brother, John, through Skype in California and sharing the news was equally thrilling! It has been so fun telling our family and close friends during the last few weeks. We are so excited to share the news because we have never felt alone during this 6 1/2 year journey! We have felt so loved and supported from everyone near and far! We have felt every prayer for us and have been touched by the cards, notes and even tears shared throughout everything! We feel so blessed and we thank God every day for this true miracle that he has given us! We are hopeful and faithful that all will continue to be well and that before 2014 ends our family will grow by one!!!


One little note...I have some fun pictures that I have been trying to put with this blog and everything keeps messing up when I try! I will step away and try again another day to share some images that have been created during this last month!! :)