{"id":66,"date":"2016-08-01T20:22:33","date_gmt":"2016-08-01T20:22:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/?p=66"},"modified":"2016-08-01T20:34:00","modified_gmt":"2016-08-01T20:34:00","slug":"66","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/2016\/08\/01\/66\/","title":{"rendered":"baby c. is on board!"},"content":{"rendered":"

2016 began with a snow storm in good old South Bend, Indiana.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t officially winter here until you are already weeks into being so sick of the cold and snow you that vow to move away before the next winter hits.\u00a0 In the third week of January, I had some very intense cramping one week before my next cycle was due.\u00a0 This was yet another sign to me that AF (Aunt Flo) was coming and that 2016 was starting off in disappointing way.\u00a0 But I was wrong.\u00a0 These cramps, as I would come to find out were implantation cramps.\u00a0\u00a0 I decided that month that I wasn\u2019t going to take a pregnancy test until I was late, and by late I meant more than 2 days late.\u00a0 I had been late in November and I wasn\u2019t pregnant then.\u00a0\u00a0 On January 28th<\/sup>, 2016 I was officially 3 days late and feeling incredibly hope<\/strong>ful.\u00a0 But after a stressful work shift In the NICU, I found that I had started spotting.\u00a0 Are you kidding me, AF?\u00a0 Is this me starting my cycle 3 days late?\u00a0 I had to know.\u00a0 After I got home from work that night I found Tony prepping dinner in the kitchen.\u00a0 I made an excuse about picking out different pajamas to put on and ran to our upstairs bathroom to take a test.\u00a0 I waited the appropriate amount of time, and knelt down on my knees.\u00a0 I prayed that it would be positive, and that if it wasn\u2019t, that I would have the strength to understand.\u00a0 I took a deep breath and looked at the test.\u00a0 It was one of those fancier digital ones that was supposed to read \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno.\u201d To my surprise and joy<\/strong>, the test said \u201cYES.\u201d\u00a0 I remember smiling from ear to ear, tearing up and covering my mouth as I let out a little squeal.\u00a0 We got our BFP!\u00a0 (That\u2019s Big, Fat, Positive.)\u00a0 It was all I could do to not run downstairs and tell Tony.\u00a0 But I wanted to tell him Pinterest style.\u00a0\u00a0 I wanted him to remember this moment forever.\u00a0 So I literally bit the inside of my lip hard most of that evening to keep myself from smiling all night.\u00a0 WE WERE PREGNANT<\/strong>!\u00a0\u00a0 The next day on my lunch break at work I scoured the internet for \u201ccute ways to tell your husband you are pregnant\u201d and \u201cunique ways of telling your husband you are pregnant.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Did I have the patience to order a custom fortune cookie and take him out for a chinese dinner? No.\u00a0 He would figure it out before then.\u00a0 I could fill the house with pink and blue balloons when he came home?\u00a0 But how safe is it for a pregnant woman to blow up a ton of balloons by herself?\u00a0 Some of our closest friends and we decided that if Notre Dame won the National Championship game versus Alabama, that we would name our kids \u201cChamp,\u201d \u201cIan\u201d and \u201cChip.\u201d\u00a0 Tony and I called dibs on \u201cChip.\u201d\u00a0 Luckily for our children\u2019s sake, Notre Dame did not win that game, but it got me thinking.\u00a0 Later on that day at work I experienced some spotting again.\u00a0 What was this? I spent the better part of the rest of my googling \u201cspotting in early pregnancy.\u201d\u00a0 This was my first exposure to the thousands of message boards out there in cyberspace detailing every weird and unusual pregnancy symptom and outcome.\u00a0 I\u2019m pretty sure if you googled \u201cgreen polka dotted rash during pregnancy\u201d there would be a post about some lady somewhere who had a green polka dotted rash during pregnancy and ended up having a healthy pregnancy.\u00a0 But to balance things out, there is probably another lady with green polka dotted rash who went on to have a miscarriage or a baby born with genetic defects.\u00a0\u00a0 But back to spotting.\u00a0 When you google spotting during early pregnancy you get this, \u201clight bleeding, or spotting during pregnancy is common, especially during the first trimester.\u00a0 Usually this is no cause for alarm.\u201d\u00a0 Okay. So things were probably fine.\u00a0 But the worry wart inside me was not satisfied.\u00a0 I went home that night and took another pregnancy test.\u00a0 This test was a cheaper one which has a control line, and a second line that pops up if you are pregnant.\u00a0 Mine had a second line, but it was faint compared to the control line.\u00a0 The doubts began to set in.\u00a0 Shouldn\u2019t my line be darker at this stage of pregnancy? But I did take it at night after chugging water all day at work, so maybe my sample was more diluted.\u00a0 Okay. It\u2019s probably fine.\u00a0 The cramping continued that day as well.\u00a0 Not ready to tell Tony until I feel more sure that I\u2019m pregnant.\u00a0 Saturday, January 30th<\/sup>, I woke up early to take another test as it is recommended to take it first thing in the morning.\u00a0\u00a0 My result was another faint line next to the control line.\u00a0 Now I was just frustrated.\u00a0 Pregnant or not?\u00a0 So I left my sleeping husband to make a Walgreens run and bought two more digital tests.\u00a0\u00a0 I chugged a glass of water and sat in the living room, waiting for the urge to pee again.\u00a0 I prayed, did my daily devotional and had a moment where I prayed for \u201cGod\u2019s will be done.\u201d\u00a0 I took another test, and sat in the living room while I waited the two minutes.\u00a0 This one read \u201cpregnant.\u201d\u00a0 Okay. \u00a0It’s official- time to tell Tony! I was beyond thrilled.<\/p>\n

I got this energy surge to clean the entire house, and make breakfast for Tony before he woke up.\u00a0 In our three year of marriage, one of the things we have learned about each other is that you don\u2019t have important life conversations on an empty stomach.\u00a0\u00a0 Tony came downstairs and we ate breakfast while we watched an episode of \u201cFriends\u201d on Netflix.\u00a0 When breakfast was done, I told him I needed five minutes of his time before he began working.\u00a0 I got out our cutting board, opened a tiny bag of chips and poured them out onto the board.\u00a0 I had made a sign that said \u201cHey diddle diddle, solve me this riddle,\u201d and placed it in front of him.\u00a0 He looked confused and I told him to play along.\u00a0 It took him barely any time at all to say \u201cchips board\u201d out loud before he said \u201cchips on board\u201d and my face lit up.<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/p>\n

He said it again and again and then I saw his face light up with the realization.\u00a0 I then handed him a box in which I had taped the \u201cYES\u201d and \u201cpregnant\u201d inside.\u00a0 He opened it and started crying.\u00a0 He hugged me close and said that he was so happy. And I was too. In that moment I was fully present, and stopped for a moment to realize how blessed we were.\u00a0 We celebrated that night at dinner and I realized how extensive the list of foods that aren\u2019t safe for pregnancy was.\u00a0 I noticed that I had an aversion to a fishy smell from the next table over and was happy that I had that pregnancy symptom. \u00a0Despite the spotting, I had such hope<\/strong> that everything would be okay. \u00a0How amazing that we tried for only a few months and got our BFP? Blessed didn’t even begin to cover it!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2016 began with a snow storm in good old South Bend, Indiana.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t officially winter here until you are already weeks into being so sick of the cold and snow you that vow to move away before the next winter hits.\u00a0 In the third week of January, I had some very intense cramping one week before my next cycle was due.\u00a0 This was yet another sign to me that AF (Aunt Flo) was coming and that 2016 was starting off in disappointing way.\u00a0 But I was wrong.\u00a0 These cramps, as I would come to find out were implantation cramps.\u00a0\u00a0 I decided that month that I wasn\u2019t going to take a pregnancy test until I was late, and by late I meant more than 2 days late.\u00a0 I had been late in November and I wasn\u2019t pregnant then.\u00a0\u00a0 On January 28th, 2016 I was officially 3 days late and feeling incredibly hopeful.\u00a0 But after a stressful work shift In the NICU, I found that I had started spotting.\u00a0 Are you kidding me, AF?\u00a0 Is this me starting my cycle 3 days late?\u00a0 I had to know.\u00a0 After I got home from work that night I found Tony prepping dinner in the kitchen.\u00a0 I made an excuse about picking out different pajamas to put on and ran to our upstairs bathroom to take a test.\u00a0 I waited the appropriate amount of time, and knelt down on my knees.\u00a0 I prayed that it would be positive, and that if it wasn\u2019t, that I would have the strength to understand.\u00a0 I took a deep breath and looked at the test.\u00a0 It was one of those fancier digital ones that was supposed to read \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno.\u201d To my surprise and joy, the test said \u201cYES.\u201d\u00a0 I remember smiling from ear to ear, tearing up and covering my mouth as I let out a little squeal.\u00a0 We got our BFP!\u00a0 (That\u2019s Big, Fat, Positive.)\u00a0 It was all I could do to not run downstairs and tell Tony.\u00a0 But I wanted to tell him Pinterest style.\u00a0\u00a0 I wanted him to remember this moment forever.\u00a0 So I literally bit the inside of my lip hard most of that evening to keep myself from smiling all night.\u00a0 WE WERE PREGNANT!\u00a0\u00a0 The next day on my lunch break at work I scoured the internet for \u201ccute ways to tell your husband you are pregnant\u201d and \u201cunique ways of telling your husband you are pregnant.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Did I have the patience to order a custom fortune cookie and take him out for a chinese dinner? No.\u00a0 He would figure it out before then.\u00a0 I could fill the house with pink and blue balloons when he came home?\u00a0 But how safe is it for a pregnant woman to blow up a ton of balloons by herself?\u00a0 Some of our closest friends and we decided that if Notre Dame won the National Championship game versus Alabama, that we would name our kids \u201cChamp,\u201d \u201cIan\u201d and \u201cChip.\u201d\u00a0 Tony and I called dibs on \u201cChip.\u201d\u00a0 Luckily for our children\u2019s sake, Notre Dame did not win that game, but it got me thinking.\u00a0 Later on that day at work I experienced some spotting again.\u00a0 What was this? I spent the better part of the rest of my googling \u201cspotting in early pregnancy.\u201d\u00a0 This was my first exposure to the thousands of message boards out there in cyberspace detailing every weird and unusual pregnancy symptom and outcome.\u00a0 I\u2019m pretty sure if you googled \u201cgreen polka dotted rash during pregnancy\u201d there would be a post about some lady somewhere who had a green polka dotted rash during pregnancy and ended up having a healthy pregnancy.\u00a0 But to balance things out, there is probably another lady with green polka dotted rash who went on to have a miscarriage or a baby born with genetic defects.\u00a0\u00a0 But back to spotting.\u00a0 When you google spotting during early pregnancy you get this, \u201clight bleeding, or spotting during pregnancy is common, especially during the first trimester.\u00a0 Usually this is no cause for alarm.\u201d\u00a0 Okay. So things were probably fine.\u00a0 But the worry wart inside me was not satisfied.\u00a0 I went home that night and took another pregnancy test.\u00a0 This test was a cheaper one which has a control line, and a second line that pops up if you are pregnant.\u00a0 Mine had a second line, but it was faint compared to the control line.\u00a0 The doubts began to set in.\u00a0 Shouldn\u2019t my line be darker at this stage of pregnancy? But I did take it at night after chugging water all day at work, so maybe my sample was more diluted.\u00a0 Okay. It\u2019s probably fine.\u00a0 The cramping continued that day as well.\u00a0 Not ready to tell Tony until I feel more sure that I\u2019m pregnant.\u00a0 Saturday, January 30th, I woke up early to take another test as it is recommended to take it first thing in the morning.\u00a0\u00a0 My result was another faint line next to the control line.\u00a0 Now I was just frustrated.\u00a0 Pregnant or not?\u00a0 So I left my sleeping husband to make a Walgreens run and bought two more digital tests.\u00a0\u00a0 I chugged a glass of water and sat in the living room, waiting for the urge to pee again.\u00a0 I prayed, did my daily devotional and had a moment where I prayed for \u201cGod\u2019s will be done.\u201d\u00a0 I took another test, and sat in the living room while I waited the two minutes.\u00a0 This one read \u201cpregnant.\u201d\u00a0 Okay. \u00a0It’s official- time to tell Tony! I was beyond thrilled. I got this energy surge to clean the entire house, and make breakfast for Tony before he woke up.\u00a0 In our three year of marriage, one of the things we have learned about each other is that you don\u2019t have important life conversations on an empty stomach.\u00a0\u00a0 Tony came downstairs and we ate breakfast while we watched an episode of \u201cFriends\u201d on Netflix.\u00a0 When breakfast was done, I told him I needed five minutes of his time before he began working.\u00a0 I got out our cutting board, opened a tiny bag of chips and poured them out onto the board.\u00a0 I had made a sign that said \u201cHey diddle diddle, solve me this riddle,\u201d and placed it in front of him.\u00a0 He looked confused and I told him to play along.\u00a0 It took him barely any time at all to say \u201cchips board\u201d out loud before he said \u201cchips on board\u201d and my face lit up. He said it again and again and then I saw his face light up with the realization.\u00a0 I then handed him a box in which I had taped the \u201cYES\u201d and \u201cpregnant\u201d inside.\u00a0 He opened it and started crying.\u00a0 He hugged me close and said that he was so happy. And I was too. In that moment I was fully present, and stopped for a moment to realize how blessed we were.\u00a0 We celebrated that night at dinner and I realized how extensive the list of foods that aren\u2019t safe for pregnancy was.\u00a0 I noticed that I had an aversion to a fishy smell from the next table over and was happy that I had that pregnancy symptom. \u00a0Despite the spotting, I had such hope that everything would be okay. \u00a0How amazing that we tried for only a few months and got our BFP? Blessed didn’t even begin to cover it!  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-journey-to-parenthood"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/image-5.jpeg?fit=4032%2C3024&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s8oEBX-66","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77,"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66\/revisions\/77"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}