Just so that we’re clear, this was an absolute surprise. Alex and I love children and of course we wanted to have one or two or five eventually. BUT, we’re young. I have a couple semesters left before I graduate and alex has a couple more years before he does. Our goal was to wait until we were finished with school.
BUT LOL AT THAT. So here’s the story of how Jesus wrecked my plans yet again and we found out about the teeny tiny little human that we’ve already grown to love SO much.
So, we’re in Pennsylvania to spend Christmas with the Stewart’s. We went up a little early to spend some extra time with everyone and hang out before we headed to NYC for the actual Holiday.
Prior to leaving Louisville I wasn’t feeling well so I went to the doctor and found out that I most likely had a sinus infection. They wrote me a prescription for an antibiotic. The next day we left to go to PA and about 5 hours into the drive we realized that we forgot to stop at Walgreens to pick up my meds. As the week went on I started feeling worse, I took some cold and flu medicine but it never really went away. My mother-in-law (who works at a surgery center) had one of her doctors write me a prescription for a zpack just to knock out whatever was going on before we went into the city. I didn’t want to be sick while we were there. So Alex and I drove to riteaid one afternoon to pick up my meds.
Now it should be noted that this cold that I had also came with extreme exhaustion and a ridiculous cough. I literally coughed all day and night long and wanted nothing more than to just sleep. Just a couple days before we went to riteaid I joked with Alex that I felt like I had a hernia or something. I swear that I could feel something weird in my stomach every time that I coughed. Not necessarily painful but definitely uncomfortable. He was like “well you can cough yourself into a hernia.” And we laughed and thought nothing else of it.
Fast forward two days and we are at the pharmacy. They inform us that it’s going to be be 10 or 15 minutes before it’s ready so we did a couple laps around the store. We walked passed the “family planning” isle and I looked at alex and said “hey what if I’m pregnant.” I think initially we both kind of dismissed the idea but then it just kinda came over me that holy crap I actually might be pregnant.
I had just peed before we left the house so I bought the pregnancy test and a bottle of water and chugged it while sitting in the chairs by the bathroom in the back of the store. I was beyond nervous/anxious/terrified because I knew it was going to be positive. My hands were shaking so it took me what felt like an eternity to get the test out of the box. I also still didn’t even have to pee so I was convinced that it wasn’t even going to be enough for the test to work.
But it was, and it was instant. There was no waiting 2-3 minutes. Those two pink lines immediately showed up. In shock I threw it into my purse and ran outside to find alex. I sat down and the look on his face said “And…?”
I remember saying something along the lines of “it’s positive, it’s in my purse, I can’t get it out right now.” So naturally he didn’t believe me but I tried reassuring him that I wasn’t lying and that I really just couldn’t get it out because I was processing. I remember initially being so excited but unable to say actual words because of shock. He pulls the test out of my purse and we just sat there in shock. We finally got my zpack from the pharmacy and went to the car and we started panicking.
Was there such thing as a false positive? Do I need to go to a clinic? Should I take another test to be sure? Omg I need to find an OBGYN. How far along am I? How many glasses of wine have I consumed in the last few weeks? Is it even safe for me to take these antibiotics now? Etc. etc. etc.
We drive around for a solid 45 minutes before actually going back home. Sandra called a couple of times asking what was taking so long. I had no idea how I was supposed go home and not immediately blurt out “hey guys, I’m pregnant” as I walked through the door. But I couldn’t because at this point we were 3 days from Christmas and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to tell everyone we were having a baby via unwrapping a Christmas gift. So we had to just pretend like life was normal and it wasn’t about to change forever.
I took a second pregnancy test after dinner just in case. Still positive. The anticipation was killing us both though and it was difficult to not seem like we were hiding something because every conversation and gesture exchanged felt so obvious. Later that night we were upstairs watching a movie with all of the siblings and we told them then just because we were dying a little on the inside. They were just as shocked and excited as we were. When we were going to bed Hillary looked over at me and said “Goodnight momma” and smiled and that’s when it really hit me. I’m gonna be a mom. Oh. My. God.
The next morning we went to target and got a cute little miniature stocking and wrapped it up to give to Alex’s parents for Christmas. We face timed my parents and siblings and let them know that way.
Alex and I agreed to push off all of the planning and freaking out until we got back home. We really wanted to just relax and be thankful for our new babe and time with family. We went to NYC for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and it was so much fun to experience, we absolutely loved it. NYC is where I got my first taste of morning sickness, though. Hot dog stands on every corner were a form of torture. I got really good at holding my breath between blocks and using my scarf as a gas mask.
So jump ahead and we’re back home in Lou. Shock and panic have settled and we are just absolutely thrilled. I took a third pregnancy test when we got home, ya know just in case. Again, still positive. We found an obgyn and FINALLY got in for our first ultrasound. It seemed like we had been waiting for ages, but then again the month of January did last 70 years long. Staring at the screen and watching the teeny tiny little arms and legs wiggling was the most surreal thing I’ve ever experienced.
I am officially in the second trimester now and our next appointment is just a week away. According to my app baby has grown the tip of its nose and that little detail excites me more than I can explain. I can’t wait to see a more human-looking version of my babe. Morning sickness has subsided but the dire need to sleep 15 hours a day has not.
It has been so much fun to see my stomach grow this first trimester. We cannot wait for august and sweet Baby Stewart to get here!
GS
