Well. I've felt better today than I have in three weeks! I have to say that Mason, Hannah Kate and Seth have been so patient with me and this new baby. They've not had a home-cooked meal in a couple of weeks now, and Seth comes home from work to find a kitchen that needs to be cleaned and two little ones who need baths and bedtime stories. But no one has complained, and everyone is excited.
At eight weeks pregnant, this baby already has lots of stories to tell. There were three times during the first year after we moved into our new house that I thought I was pregnant. But I was not. The fourth time came in September. I was 11 days "late." But I was not excited. I was nervous.
First of all, even though I hadn't yet taken a test, I knew I wasn't pregnant. I just knew. And I was concerned because I've never been that "late" before. And second of all, even though I knew we both wanted another baby, we hadn't really talked about it in awhile, and I was (for some strange reason) nervous about telling Seth. Crazy, I know.
It was a Tuesday. Seth was working in Texas that week. So I'd decided I was going to tell him that night. I'd also purchased a pregnancy test that morning but hadn't taken it. I was surprised that evening when he called me earlier than usual. I knew something must be wrong. I could tell when I answered the phone. He'd been in an accident. It really wasn't a big deal at all . . . except he was in his company truck so that made it a big deal. He was yielding at an intersection, and the car behind him rear-ended him. The damage (he thought) was minor, and the lady who ran into him begged him not to call the police. She called her husband, and he talked to Seth, requesting the same thing. But . . . company policy . . . he had no choice. And . . . company policy . . . he'd have to go the next day for a drug test. So he was really bummed about the whole thing.
After we talked through the situation, I shared my secret with him. His reaction wasn't quite what I was expecting. He was so excited and wanted me to take the pregnancy test right then. Even though I explained that I just really didn't think I was pregnant, he was convinced there was no other explanation. So we spent the next hour talking about "the new baby," and I promised him I'd take the test the next morning.
Wednesday morning came, and I was nervous! I managed to get Mason off to school. It was also the first day of my new Bible study so I was trying to get Hannah Kate and myself ready to go. The first time I tried to take the test, of course she walked in on me. So I had to find an excuse to keep her occupied for five minutes. I took the test. It took a couple of minutes before I thought I saw a negative sign in the window. But I wasn't sure. So I waited as long as I could before going to Bible study, and it still looked negative. I was sad and also a little concerned.
When I got to the church, I sat in the parking lot for a few minutes before going inside. I decided to text Seth to let him know the test result. Now, yall know how difficult it is for me to get a text out on my antique phone. But Seth likes text, and it seemed like the easiest thing to do. Besides, I wasn't ready to talk about it yet.
Now. Another thing you need to know about me is that I love grammar. I like punctuation marks. I like capital letters and complete sentences. And commas HAVE to be in the right spot (thank you, Mrs. Mangham!). So when it comes to this texting language . . . well, let's just say I don't always get it. Seth sent me a text on our anniversary, and I had absolutely no idea what in the world it said! I had to ask him about it later. So I was trying to decide what to text him . . . since negative is such a long word, I figured I'd just do short-hand as best I could instead of texting a complete sentence. And do you know how uncomfortable that was?! So my text to him said Test Negative (meaning, of course, that my pregnancy test was negative).
I waited a minute for a response. He always responds quickly. But I got nothing. I couldn't wait any longer so I went to Bible study. Two hours later, I still hadn't gotten a response from him. And then as I was pulling out of the parking lot, it came. And can I just tell you what his response was? He said still waiting.
Still waiting?!? Now what in the world did that have to do with anything?! And then I realized . . . he thought I was sending him a text telling him to "test negative" on his drug test! And he was telling me he hadn't taken it yet. REALLY?!? Had he totally forgetten about our conversation the night before? I wasn't sure yet what I was going to do. But I finally decided to text him back. I said Waiting on what? MY text was negative.
But before he got that text, my phone rang. When I answered, the first thing he told me was that he was still driving around trying to find the place and that they wouldn't tell him anyway that the test was negative. So when he finally finished that dialogue, I calmly told him that MY test was negative. And then there was silence.
When I got home, I checked the test again, and it still looked negative. So I called my friend, a nurse at Woman's Hospital. I'm not sure what I was expecting her to tell me. But she was honest. She said the test was most likely very accurate, especially since I was so late. I wanted another explanation, but, of course, there was none.
Two months later . . . the test was POSITIVE! This time I didn't bother with a text. I put the test beside Seth's sink so he could see it when he brushed his teeth!
At eight weeks pregnant, this baby already has lots of stories to tell. There were three times during the first year after we moved into our new house that I thought I was pregnant. But I was not. The fourth time came in September. I was 11 days "late." But I was not excited. I was nervous.
First of all, even though I hadn't yet taken a test, I knew I wasn't pregnant. I just knew. And I was concerned because I've never been that "late" before. And second of all, even though I knew we both wanted another baby, we hadn't really talked about it in awhile, and I was (for some strange reason) nervous about telling Seth. Crazy, I know.
It was a Tuesday. Seth was working in Texas that week. So I'd decided I was going to tell him that night. I'd also purchased a pregnancy test that morning but hadn't taken it. I was surprised that evening when he called me earlier than usual. I knew something must be wrong. I could tell when I answered the phone. He'd been in an accident. It really wasn't a big deal at all . . . except he was in his company truck so that made it a big deal. He was yielding at an intersection, and the car behind him rear-ended him. The damage (he thought) was minor, and the lady who ran into him begged him not to call the police. She called her husband, and he talked to Seth, requesting the same thing. But . . . company policy . . . he had no choice. And . . . company policy . . . he'd have to go the next day for a drug test. So he was really bummed about the whole thing.
After we talked through the situation, I shared my secret with him. His reaction wasn't quite what I was expecting. He was so excited and wanted me to take the pregnancy test right then. Even though I explained that I just really didn't think I was pregnant, he was convinced there was no other explanation. So we spent the next hour talking about "the new baby," and I promised him I'd take the test the next morning.
Wednesday morning came, and I was nervous! I managed to get Mason off to school. It was also the first day of my new Bible study so I was trying to get Hannah Kate and myself ready to go. The first time I tried to take the test, of course she walked in on me. So I had to find an excuse to keep her occupied for five minutes. I took the test. It took a couple of minutes before I thought I saw a negative sign in the window. But I wasn't sure. So I waited as long as I could before going to Bible study, and it still looked negative. I was sad and also a little concerned.
When I got to the church, I sat in the parking lot for a few minutes before going inside. I decided to text Seth to let him know the test result. Now, yall know how difficult it is for me to get a text out on my antique phone. But Seth likes text, and it seemed like the easiest thing to do. Besides, I wasn't ready to talk about it yet.
Now. Another thing you need to know about me is that I love grammar. I like punctuation marks. I like capital letters and complete sentences. And commas HAVE to be in the right spot (thank you, Mrs. Mangham!). So when it comes to this texting language . . . well, let's just say I don't always get it. Seth sent me a text on our anniversary, and I had absolutely no idea what in the world it said! I had to ask him about it later. So I was trying to decide what to text him . . . since negative is such a long word, I figured I'd just do short-hand as best I could instead of texting a complete sentence. And do you know how uncomfortable that was?! So my text to him said Test Negative (meaning, of course, that my pregnancy test was negative).
I waited a minute for a response. He always responds quickly. But I got nothing. I couldn't wait any longer so I went to Bible study. Two hours later, I still hadn't gotten a response from him. And then as I was pulling out of the parking lot, it came. And can I just tell you what his response was? He said still waiting.
Still waiting?!? Now what in the world did that have to do with anything?! And then I realized . . . he thought I was sending him a text telling him to "test negative" on his drug test! And he was telling me he hadn't taken it yet. REALLY?!? Had he totally forgetten about our conversation the night before? I wasn't sure yet what I was going to do. But I finally decided to text him back. I said Waiting on what? MY text was negative.
But before he got that text, my phone rang. When I answered, the first thing he told me was that he was still driving around trying to find the place and that they wouldn't tell him anyway that the test was negative. So when he finally finished that dialogue, I calmly told him that MY test was negative. And then there was silence.
When I got home, I checked the test again, and it still looked negative. So I called my friend, a nurse at Woman's Hospital. I'm not sure what I was expecting her to tell me. But she was honest. She said the test was most likely very accurate, especially since I was so late. I wanted another explanation, but, of course, there was none.
Two months later . . . the test was POSITIVE! This time I didn't bother with a text. I put the test beside Seth's sink so he could see it when he brushed his teeth!