Neither of us slept last night. We woke up groggy and got ready for the day. We were doing a good job of avoiding the subject of the pregnancy test until about 11:30 when Mr. picked me up from work and drove to the clinic. We talked about his school projects on the way there.
The way my clinic works is that they do 2 Betas, but don't tell you the results of either until after your second one. So, Monday was my first. Today we received the results. When we walked into the clinic, my favorite nurse, Tonya, asked me how I was feeling. I said, "Trying not to be scared out of my mind."
Tonya said, "Oh, I'm just so excited for you two."
That really lifted my spirits. She knew the results from my first beta, and I knew she wouldn't have said that if the first one wasn't good.
We went back to get the blood draw. The nurse tried my left arm...nothing. She tried again...nothing. I made a comment about how I didn't even think about drinking a ton of water this morning. I've never had a nurse try more than once to get a successful blood draw! She asked if I was nervous, because that can cause the veins to constrict. I laughed and told her I'd try to relax. She used a smaller needle on my other arm and finally got the blood she needed.
Mr. and I left the clinic holding hands. His palms were already sweating, and I was all sorts of woozy which I don't attribute entirely to the multiple stabs with the needle. We went to Wendy's for some dollar menu nourishment and he dropped me off at a friend's house to take newborn pictures of their little boy. (I'm in no way a good photographer, but I sure can edit!) I took pictures for about an hour, and the new mom took me back to work.
I went to put my phone on ring so I would hear the clinic when they called and I already had a voicemail from them! My heart started pounding. I dialed the voicemail.
"Hi. This is Tonya at Dr. Foulk's office. I just wanted to call you and let you know that we have some..."
And then the message cut off. I stared at my phone in disbelief. Some what?! Good news? Bad news?
I walked out into the hallway (I share an office) and called them back. Tonya picked right up and I waited while she pulled up my results on the computer. Then, really quietly, she said, "First off, I just want to say Congratulations. You're pregnant."
I went completely numb. I just cried and cried and asked her if she was serious over and over again. Then she gave me the numbers. I am 4 weeks 1 day pregnant. My first beta was 123, my second was 330. It more than doubled! She said we have some really strong numbers going into this, which puts my heart at ease. These little babies mean so much to me already. I wish we knew how many were in there!
I immediately texted my friend who was planning on helping me tell Mr. the news. I tried to focus through the rest of my work day until she got there to pick me up around 5.
Once she got there, she gave me a card. This is a friend who has been trying to have a baby for over 4 years now. I knew she wanted to celebrate with me, but I was worried about her feelings. The card, I thought, was her way of showing me how happy she was for me. She told me she wanted me to read it before we went anywhere. I plowed through it as quickly as I could. At the very end it said, "One more thing sweet baby...You're going to have a friend to play with you as soon as you get here...due just weeks before you." My jaw dropped. There is NOTHING that could have made this day better. My sweet friend and I are expecting. Take that infertility!
We swapped stories all the way to the mall. I still don't know how she conceived. She is almost 7 weeks along. Both her and her husband have infertility issues. Statistics say it was impossible, but clearly our God is a God of miracles.
Once we got to the mall, we both stood outside of Gymboree and just looked inside. It felt so weird to be walking in there. For so long, stores like that have brought us such serious sadness, and now here we were looking through the racks with excitement for BOTH of us! I picked out a little onesie with two beavers on it wearing thick glasses. Underneath it said "smart like dad."
On the way to Mr.'s class, I was nervous. We talked about symptoms, worries, excitement, etc. but once we parked, my heart was in my throat. She mentioned how she was so nervous for me it was giving her cramps. I laughed. What were we nervous for? He was going to be thrilled!
We got to the hallway outside his class and asked a janitor to go inside and tell him there was an important message for him outside. Another random girl filmed the whole thing on my little digital camera. My friend, also a very talented photographer, brought her huge camera to capture the whole thing. Mr. walked through the door and I was standing there with the onesie.
We kissed and laughed and cried and hugged. Most of all, we exhaled for the first time in 2 and a half years. This was real. And it was really happening to us.
Mr. had to go back to class for about 20 more minutes and my friend and I went outside to take the first picture for my pregnancy album. She left. Mr. got out of class, and we went to Tucano's to celebrate. All you can eat, for a girl who's eating for 3 now? Yes, please!
We spent all of dinner talking about how to tell our parents. We told his parents first. He called his home phone and asked to talk to his mom. When she answered he asked if her and his dad could go in another room so they could be alone. He said it in such a depressing tone that surprised even me! Once they shut the door, he said, "well, we just wanted to call and let you know that we're pregnant!" They were so excited! His mom was sure it was a "no" because of Mr.'s tone earlier. It made me laugh.
Next up, we called his sister, who is a really talented photographer. She does all of our family pictures. I called her first and said, "Hey, I have a quick question for you. Would you mind taking some pictures of us for something? We're going to need a newborn session in April..."
You could hear the smile in her voice. "A newborn session? Should I be putting you on speaker phone?!"
I had texted my dad before all this, but I knew they were wakeboarding for at least another hour. I told him we had found a few cars we were interested in buying and wanted his opinion before we did anything. He got online to skype with us and we sent him the first picture from my pregnancy album, but titled it "Car1.jpg" Once it loaded he was so excited! It's so fun to tell these people who have been praying and hoping for us all this time. I asked him if he wouldn't mind getting my mom's opinion on our new "car". As soon as she walked in she screamed at the top of her lungs. She started crying and just said, "That's the best looking car I've ever seen."
Last up was my older sister. We called them and asked them for an opinion on this car, but I was too excited after talking to my mom so that kind of spilled the beans. Then, we had technical difficulties so they saw the picture before we were talking to them. It didn't matter though. Everyone was still just as excited by the time we got all the kinks ironed out!
It's hard not to tell everybody. We have a plan to tell our younger siblings next weekend in person. I have asked Mr. so many times if we can tell this person or that person. Most of my IVF friends know. Our very best friends don't know yet. But with news this exciting it's hard not to shout it to the world!
