Third time's the charm? Not in this case.

Finding out that we were pregnant was quite the shock, so I thought it'd be fun to document the whole story :)

It's a little necessary to start a couple months back. May was an insane month (with selling the house, moving, not to mention I had ~20 events in 5 weeks at work to plan), so I was pretty late when I had usually been pretty regular. I took a test, which came out negative, and she eventually made her grand entrance. So I attributed all of that to the stress from the month.

Fast forward about 5 weeks, the week of July 4, and I found myself past her estimated arrival date. Again. We were going to Southlake for Dean's birthday that weekend and I wanted to wait as long as possible before testing in case she did show (it seems more depressing to get a negative test). Thursday, July 7, I couldn't take it anymore. I had to test. Despite everything I'd read about taking one in the morning to avoid dilution later in the day, I did it after work. But I had to because I knew Nelson would be getting up early for the gym Friday morning, and then we were driving up to Southlake right after work and taking John with us. If it came back positive, I surely didn't want to tell him over Gchat that day, and then I'd have to tell him on the way to pick up John. How long would that car ride be if we were trying to avoid saying anything in front of him??? Well, no worries there because it was negative. Not even a hint of a second line.

So I packed up my "toiletries" to take with me that weekend just in case. When Nelson saw them on the counter, let's just say he had a very up-beat voice. Rude. I also had some cramping that weekend, which felt just like right before she comes. Lindsay gave me Tylenol and I ate my weight in cupcakes and birthday cake.

I actually don't keep Nelson super informed. That may sound sneaky of me, but it's because all he would do is worry and constantly think about it and ask me tons of questions and give himself an ulcer. Not worth it! I'm not sure he ever noticed, he's not super observant about this, but she never did arrive. We were having a little reunion with my friends from crew the weekend of July 15, so I told myself I'd wait until after that to test, again - given she doesn't show.

In the meantime, everyone around me is having a baby. I'm not sure if it was one of those, "You notice it more when you're thinking about it" or everyone really is pregnant right now, but I feel like it's a least a couple people per week announcing their pregnancy - including my boss. It also includes one of the couples during the reunion that weekend.

Speaking of which, I had a lot of fun and ate tons of Oreo's, Chips Ahoy Chewy cookies, and homemade ice cream. I also rode the tube behind the boat and managed to not get thrown off. Sorry for the bumpy ride, Bean!

On the way to HEB on Sunday, I let Nelson know that I was even later than before, which was odd because June was definitely not nearly as stressful as May. I haven't been working out as much since the marathon, so that could also have an affect on these past couple cycles, but I wanted to pick up another test for Monday morning. And, as I predicted, Nelson was not very happy about the 16 hour wait until the morning. Although he did mention that he was happy to know in advance about the test so that he could be there because he never liked the idea of coming home to a gift or a "bun in the oven" or something creative. I told him that, had I found out without him, I would've bought him a sympathy card and written, "Life, as you know it, is over. I'm sorry for your loss." (That's kind of a joke between us.) He thought that was funny, but still preferred this way.

I had a hard time falling asleep. I just kept thinking of different scenarios, what would happen, etc. And I think I slept pretty restlessly, too. I remember waking up around 3:45am and thinking, "Should I just get up and test now?" But I forced myself back asleep. I'm 99% sure I had a dream that the test was positive. I've actually been having really weird, vivid dreams for a while now, so just added it to the books.

Nelson's alarm went off and he laid in bed, per usual, to slowly wake up while playing on his phone. I don't think he knew I was awake the whole time, but I didn't want to get up yet. Not because I was still tired, but I was really nervous about the outcome. My alarm eventually went off and I turned it off, which meant Nelson knew I was now awake. I got up, went into the bathroom, and shut the door.

He came in not too long after and said he wanted see the tests. I had actually just "activated" it, so we watched the little screen together. It bled across, and there was the first line. We watched it keep crawling across, and then there was the second line. There was no denying it was there and it was dark:

I think I started laughing? Nelson looked freaked out, obviously. He kept looking at the box to make sure that two lines meant positive. We had bought another type (more expensive, because we're fancy like that), so he wanted me to take it with that one. I did.... And the result was the same:

I realized I also had a digital one from the weeks before since it was two per pack. I asked Nelson if he wanted me to get a third confirmation, and of course he wanted me to. So I took that one and we waited while the little clock flashed. It took a while and I was beginning to think it was defective, and then we got the confirmation:

We both had to get ready for our respective workouts, Nelson going to his gym and me running with Anne, so I forgot to take a picture of us; only the above tests. I really forgot to do anything else "creative". While getting dressed, Nelson did make the comment, "Holly. We're moving." I determined the due date (full disclosure: I already had) to be early- to mid-March 2017. Our house won't be finished until April. Whoopsy! 

In the end, Nelson gave me a kiss, said he loved me, and then told me he was scared. When he asked if I was, I said that "scared" wasn't the right word. I think it's a mixture of a lot of things: excitement, nervousness, anticipation, and a little scared. But I wouldn't do this adventure with anyone else besides him. And I'm so excited for the journey ahead of us!

One last picture of the three amigos :)

"It" is now a....

At my 12 week appointment, I did a blood test that looks for chomosomal abnormalities (down syndrome, spina bifida, etc.). Since they see the blood of Bean, they know the gender. My friend, who is 6 weeks ahead of me, took the test and got her results back through the patient portal within a week. She said it was a standard lab result and said "male fetus" at the bottom of her's - very official. So obviously I've been stalking the portal for mine to come in. Today is exactly one week and still nothing, so I decided to call the nurse and see when they typically saw the results. Nobody picked up the nurse's line, so I left a message.

The nurse called me back and I missed it, so she left a message that the results were in, everything was low risk, it all looked good, and they knew the gender. If I wanted to know, just call her back. Nelson and I were hoping to find out together, so I called him to see what I should do (have her leave it in my voicemail and we'll listen together that night?). He suggested we try a three-way call, so I went into the lobby of my office and called her, again.

She picked up - yay! I let her know that my husband was on the phone and we were calling to hear the gender. She started to tell us how the results were normal, I was low risk, etc., and something inside me just said, "You're about to find out if you're having a son or a daughter," and I started to cry a little. And that was when I heard her say, "And you guys are have a baby girl!" I lost it. I started sobbing! I told her, between sobs, that I was happy and didn't know why I was crying and she goes, "It's ok; it's to be expected." In other words, I'm sure she gets lots of pregnant, blubbering women. Nelson admitted later that night that hearing me crying made him tear up. He was quick to say that it didn't fall, it stayed in his eye, but he was just a little emotional :)

And don't get me wrong, I would've cried for a boy, too. We really didn't have much of a preference. A boy would've been fun for Jackson and Dean, and a girl would've been something different. But needless to say, my family is very excited for the first girl to spoil!

12 Weeks Down, 28 To Go!

There's so much to look forward to at week 12. You do an official sonogram (no more "intravaginal" ones - woohoo!), can also take the Harmony test to determine gender, and take another belly picture with a new sticker. Plus you're at the tail end of the first trimester and everything that comes with it :)

When the baby first came up on the screen, s/he was kicking and moving and bouncing all over. We all noticed how active s/he was and then boom. Asleep. And would. not. wake. up. The sonographer was trying to take measurements of the nick, spine, etc., and she was having a hard time getting good angles. And no matter how much or hard she poked me in the stomach with the wand thing, Bean just wanted to nap. Hopefully that's the case when s/he comes out!

She also did a 3D one, which creeped Nelson out just a tad. But it's neat to see the exact position Bean's laying in <3

As for me, well I haven't changed much, but it's definitely getting harder to suck that little tummy in....

Mom's Take at Week 12: I've still felt great! Hallelujah! Work has been super crazy with the conference happening next week, so I've been working really long hours. And sleeping hasn't been easy because I'm stressed about all that needs to be done. Add that to first trimester tiredness and I've been absolutely exhausted. I had to tell my running friend to just count me out until this is done, so I've basically been at the office working, home working, or home sleeping. I'm starting to feel more bloated and it's hard to suck in. It doesn't hurt, but it's just uncomfortable. I can still wear my normal clothes, and I think I have a long body and the ability to wear my shorts and jeans low to thank for that. Although Nelson's mom wants to take me shopping, so we may do that when we're in Houston in a couple weeks. I'm sooooooo excited to find out the gender because then we can do all the planning (things I loooove!). I've already started researching and Nelson was so sweet to walk around Buy Buy Baby with me (we were there to get a gift for a friend originally, but did some exploring for ourselves afterwards). But I can officially start picking things out once we know if Bean is a little she or a he!

Dad's Take at Week 12: (Nelson has officially said he doesn't know what to do here. He's still nervous and stressed, though, so I don't think much has changed. He is enjoying seeing how my tummy is starting to change and marvels at that, so I guess that's fun haha.)

And just to keep as a memory, my co-workers, Amber and Thomas, also had Tiff's Treats delivered to the office a couple weeks ago with an adorable poem they wrote <3 Of course I started crying.