Remember the house we were in the process of buying? Remember how I said that all the frustrating delays were a sign that we should slow down and take a deep breath? Well, I was right. In a way. We did need to take a big breath.
But not in the achieve-zen-and-hunker-down-for-the-long-haul sense. We needed that breath as the last gasp before a surreal and wonderful deep water dive.
Just days after writing that post, and just days before finally successfully closing on our new house, we discovered some huge, huge news: We were pregnant.
But wait, let me back up. Lest you think this was a completely out-of-left-field shocker for us, I should do some 'splainin. Last summer, just before our engagement, I noticed that at the end of each cycle, I was actually disappointed to find that my birth control had worked as intended and that I was not pregnant by some lovely fluke. Patrick, too, had no bones about moving toward another child sooner rather than later. I was convinced that with everything else going so well, conceiving and successfully gestating a human would be the one place where things were bound to go awry. At the very least, it could take some serious time. And perhaps a surgery and some more invasive measures.
So after one final month where I had to will myself to take the pill, we decided to stop stopping a situation we very much wanted and see what happened. We both knew that there was a chance something could happen sooner rather than later, but that was a risk we were willing to take. I must say, though, when just two months (and one engagement and one house) later we found ourselves staring at a positive pregnancy test, I was honestly shocked.
And scared. And elated. And emotional.
It was a Friday, and that very day I called my RE and he fired off a lab slip for HCG and progesterone levels. HCG was nice, but the progesterone was low (just as it had been for Hannah and Caroline, so apparently, that's just how my corpus lutei roll). I began supplements right away, and then attempted a more laid-back approach to packing my whole house and renovating a foreclosure. While I worked full-time. And parented three girls. And suddenly found myself planning a fall wedding.
Patrick has been a saint. He's that guy that everyone dreams exists but never really thinks does. He meets needs I didn't yet realize I had. I really can't even explain it except to say that this journey so far has been entirely other-worldly, and I feel so so so blessed.
There's a lot more to the story, but at this point, I'm now 12 weeks 3 days, and we'll have our first trimester screen today. It has been a scary journey so far, but in keeping with the sacred principle of NBHHY, well, NBHHY. I've survived the worst fatigue I've ever experienced to date, nausea and a weight loss of 11 lbs. so far, and the trials of early pregnancy while moving, working, marrying, and parenting (but wait, there's more!).
And here's what we have to show for it!
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Update:
The ultrasound portion of the first trimester screening went great! The baby was moving, but managed to sit still for the nuchal translucency measurements - which looked perfect. And we saw nice flat feet, waving hands, kicking legs, and just the right amount of meat on those perfect bones. And, while you wouldn't want to go painting a room at 12 weeks 3 days, there seemed to be more of a "something" than a "nothing" in the bits department!! Sweet Jebus, we might actually have a boy!!
