My very first sign that I was pregnant was towards the end of January while we were training for our 1/2 marathon. We were running a longer distance that day and I realized how swollen my hands were getting during the run. They were really uncomfortable and red, but I just attributed it to the cooler weather and thought nothing else of it. Then on the next run a few days later, my hands did the same thing. I thought it was so bizarre bc my hands had never done this before and I have trained for other races in cooler weather. I went home and cooked dinner, but they continued to stay red and swollen for a good hour after the run. I mentioned something to Jacob about how weird it was and he halfway jokingly said, "Maybe you're pregnant."
Molly left to go back to college and continued training on her own with a friend, but Amy Beth and I continued our training here at home together. My hand swelling became a "normal" thing, but then I started realizing my heart was racing and I was getting out of breath within the first couple miles of running. Still didn't think it was pregnancy, but began to get concerned bc this had never happened to me when running before. I remember researching possible health condition and typing my symptoms into Webmd trying to figure out if I should go to the doctor before I continued my training. Amy Beth even made a comment about me breathing heavy on one of our runs and I told her I was kinda dizzy...I remember we didn't finish our long run that day.
That time of the month came and I starting cramping, feeling typical symptoms, saw some spotting and thought, "I'm not pregnant, so something must be wrong!" I really was about to make a doctor's appointment bc I was starting to get concerned. The first day of my cycle (so I thought) came and went and I was a little alarmed bc that wasn't typcial. Then the second day went by and I remember beginning to think "I might be pregnant!" I didn't say anything to Jacob, but actually let him continue to think it was my time of the month bc if I was pregnant I really wanted to surprise him. It doesn't happen often that I can really catch him of guard and surprise him, so I was getting excited about that possibility.
Third day of my pretend cycle and I knew I probably was pregnant, but totally shocked that I was SO quickly. It was Wednesday, February 1st and we had youth that night. I was giddy all day at the possibility of being pregnant, but had to keep my composure bc I had it all planned out. I went to the grocery store after youth was over bc I knew I had a little time before Jacob came home from church. I quickly bought a pregnancy test at the self-check out line bc in this town you ALWAYS run into someone you know and I sure didn't want a rumor to start.
I came home, took the test and patiently just sat there waiting. It was so hard not to just stare at those pink lines the whole time waiting for them to change. I will never forget the deep joy and excitement I felt when it came back positive! I sat there in the bathroom with the biggest smile on my face all by myself just overwhelmed with amazement and deep, heartfelt gratitude that God was allowing this to really happen!! Since there was another test in the package I took that one too, but smiled through the whole thing bc I knew I was really pregnant.
Then I had to go into "normal" mode when Jacob got home bc I didn't want to tell him yet. I wanted to plan out something to surprise him and I needed a day to think about it. I taught the next day, but my mind was in another place the whole day. I was trying to plan everything out and time it just perfectly so he wouldn't be suspicious bc my husband catches on to my behavior changes quickly.
Typically Thursday nights were our date nights, so it was going to work out perfectly without seeming too out-of-the-blue or odd to him. During my lunch break I walked down to his office to ask about date night and what his plans were for the rest of the day after we got off work. I could tell he didn't have a clue bc those are typcial conversations we have with our busy schedules. I wanted to have time to run to the grocery store after teaching and buy boy/girl balloons for my surprise. He was going to be up at the office until later and then was going to swim after he was done at work. We said we'd go to dinner around 6:30-7ish, so I knew I had time to prepare everything.
I ran to the store after work and thought about my "lie" if I were to run into anyone I knew while buying baby balloons. Of course I saw people up there, but I dodged them without them seeing me. I also picked up a different brand of pregnancy test bc I knew my husband would want extra proof.
I got home, took the other pregnany test, put together the balloons and hid everything in the guest closet until later that night. When he came home from working out he jumped in the shower and I started getting ready for our date. He's always finished way faster than me, so I knew he'd go in the other room and watch tv until I was ready. I went and got our dogs into the guest bedroom, closed the door and tied the girl balloons to Bear with one brand of the pregnancy test and the boy balloons to Davinci with the other brand. I opened the door and told them to stay. I knew they would cooperate bc they're so obedient despite the fact they were a little distraught over having balloons bob above their heads.
I went to the back of the house where Jacob was still watching tv and told him I was ready. At that point I told the dogs to come and they came running with loud balloons hitting each other around the corner from the front of the house :) I didn't say anything, but just waited for his response with the camera in my hand. He had no clue what was going on and the dogs were going crazy running around the room with these balloons tied to their collars. It was priceless! He kept saying, "What's this? What's going on? Why do they have balloons?" I finally had to tell him, "Honey, we're pregnant!" He was in shock and seriously didn't believe me at first. He thought that I was announcing my sister and her husband being pregnant bc it was that time of the month for me and it wasn't possible that we were the one's pregnant.
I can't ever really surprise my husband, so I'm pretty proud I pulled that one off so well since it has to be the BEST surprise ever!!
Our first Sono pic was February 9th and seeing him move and hearing his heart racing was the most beautiful thing! We were about 7-8wks along at that point and no one knew, but us (and Jerry & Jr and Heather) :)
We went to Planet Wisdom with the kids February 24-25th and I packed a million snacks to try to keep away morning sickness. I remember staying up until 3AM with my girls in our room and not sleeping AT ALL bc we were crammed 3 in a bed!! It was a long wknd and no one knew my sweet secrect exept my husband. Being pregnant with morning sickness and going non-stop with a bunch of teens is not easy...but it was only the beginning of a long, busy pregnancy with teenagers :)
I finally had to give in and tell Amy Beth because she was starting to wonder why I was flaking out on our training. I was running out of excuses for why I couldn't run and she was so excited to find out before anyone else in the family :)
She said, "I kneeeew it!"
After pondering this sweet blessing and surprise I had growing inside of me, I got a glimpse of the overwhelming awe Mary must have felt at the joy of having Jesus. It is the most beautiful blessing to have God grant you the privilege to carry His child...
Luke 2:19 "But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." NIV
"But Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often." NLT
