Donovan and I have been married for almost eight rocky but wonderful years. Most people say the first year was the hardest part of being married, I always say it was the first 4 years. I guess we were just a little slower than most. Not the only thing we were slow at either. Three or four years ago, I had friends getting pregnant all around me. Up until this point, I hadn't thought about having a baby yet but starting to really get baby fever. Donovan was unsure on the whole thing but being the wonderful husband that he is, decided to go along with my wishes. We tried and tried and tried. We spent a full year plotting my ovulation schedule, laying on the bed with my legs up in the air, and having sex for the sheer point of baby making and nothing else. It was a hard year and I finally had had enough. Plus, I wasn't sure I was really wanting to give up my adult freedoms for some needy child. We stopped actively trying but didn't go out of our way to not have a baby. If it happened, great. If it didn't, great.
I finally completely gave up on the idea when the education program came to Okinawa. I finally had a chance to pursue the one degree I've always wanted and it would be so much easier without a kid in the picture. We decided that after I got my degree we would look into the hormonal issues I found out I had and start trying again. I threw myself into the stressful but enjoyable education program and stayed right on track. Fall of 2010 I would be taking methods courses and spring of 2011 I would be student teaching. I still had quite a few general education courses I needed and was trying to work out when that would fit in.
Spring of 2010 was a stressful time. On top of my full load at college, I had decided to be completely loco and plan my 10 year high school reunion from Japan. I was already heading back to Atlanta in April for a friend's wedding and felt it was the perfect time to plan this as well. Unfortunately, the trip landed right in the middle of an eight week term of college.
My period was due the day I was flying home by myself and I was really dreading dealing with Aunt Flo while flying for 24 hours. Thankfully, she held off and I made it home. I stayed very busy while home but always in the back of my mind was how Aunt Flo was late. I had been late before and it was always stress pushing it back so I didn't think much of it until about 9 or 10 days late. I had never been that late so I started to wonder. However, my mind would not fully believe it and I kept putting off taking the test because I knew I was not pregnant and it would be another disappointment.
Right before heading home, my mom, sisters and I headed up to Chattanooga for three days on a girls trip. We had an amazing time but by that time I was 10-12 days late and was wondering what was up. The first clue that I might be pregnant was waking up multiple times a night to pee. I might wake up once a night but never multiple times. On top of that, my sense of smell seemed to be heightened. I remember sitting next to my sister drinking her cup of tea and thinking about how bad it smelled. I wanted to get up and move but didn't want to hurt her feelings so I sat there desperately trying to ignore it.
Throughout all of this, I was still cramping with no relief in sight. Which only added to the devil sitting on my shoulder saying it wasn't happening. I was fed up at this point and decided when we got back to Atlanta I was going to buy a pregnancy test. I knew it would be false so I kept it quiet and decided to do it later in the day when I could get away on my own to buy it. My mom and I ran around to a few stores to return a few items since it was the last day I was in town. On the way out of TJMaxx, I looked down and saw a small playing card with the number three on it. Silly as it was, it gave me hope that this was really it and my family would soon grow to three. I stuck it in my wallet and rode out the rest of the day waiting until I could get away.
I was never able to so finally headed to CVS with my mom. Thankfully my father called her and she was distracted as I bought my supplies and we headed home. I went upstairs to take a "nap" and proceed to start the test. I knew it would take 3 minutes so I set it on a counter and sat down to read the pamphlet. As soon as I started reading, I saw that it is possible to show up early so I stood up to check on it.
Sure enough, POSITIVE was written across the screen not a minute into the test and my heart stopped. This wasn't real. I was utterly speechless as I stood staring at the small digital screen. A new chapter of my life was finally starting. I kept thinking that I would soon wake up and it would have all been a pipe dream. As I mentioned earlier, I took this trip alone and Donovan was on the other side of the world asleep for a few more hours. I wanted to tell him first and foremost but couldn't keep it in that long so I shockingly called my mom and held up the stick. We both immediately starting crying and I was glad I happened to be around my mother to enjoy this moment.
I tried to distract myself for the next couple of hours but was having a hard time, obviously. I finally gave in and called him to wake him up. Once I told him the news, we sat in silence for a moment as we both let it sink in. It wasn't just the two of us any longer. We had a third more important human to think about. Put in the past were our selfish ways. A new BOOK was being written in the story of our lives and could we face up to what was in the future? Time would only tell.
Next Up: The First Trimester
