If you’re reading this you probably know that we struggled a bit to get pregnant the first time. While it was 100% worth it and I would do all of that and more again in a heartbeat, of course I hoped we wouldn’t have to go through that again. When expressing my worries about this to friends I would usually get the same response about a story of a friend-of-a-friend who had to do IVF and then BAM! got pregnant with their second immediately. Deep down in my heart I hoped and prayed that would be our case, but on the surface I tried to brush it off knowing that definitely might not end up being our situation.
I was ready for a second baby the week we got home with Kennedy, but come to think of it, that may have been the hormones. Either way, I didn’t want to wait long. It took a bit to get my period back, and then I got it… and then another month went by… and then another month, obviously with no babies. I resolved myself to the fact we weren’t going to be “those people.” I went back and forth about how long we would wait before jumping back in to the whole fertility fiasco, but also had really been considering going back to school. So in those months that my period kept coming and no baby was showing up I decided to go for it! I applied and was accepted to the Family Nurse Practitioner Program at Georgetown. My plan was to start right away and go full time, full steam ahead, to get it done and then work on the babies.
Then one day I was helping a friend deliver like 80 Thanksgiving baskets for Veterans through this awesome event. While loading up my car I got extremely faint and a little nauseas. Realizing I hadn’t eaten lunch I thought it must be a blood sugar thing. I asked her for a piece of bread (? seemed like a good idea) and kept going. Then I looked at the calendar and realized I was 5 days late! Mind you, my cycles are always exactly 28 days, no more, no less. Even through the meds and all of that, I am VERY regular. So I thought, Oh my gosh, I am for sure pregnant! After we dropped off the baskets I rushed home and took a test knowing what I would see. Well, it was negative. Nothing new there. The number of negative pregnancy tests I’ve taken..! I tossed it in the trash and felt, well, nothing really. Except maybe silly for thinking we would just get pregnant without any intervention.
As we prepped for Thanksgiving the next few days, I also made the official decision to go to Georgetown and paid my deposit! Then later that day I realized I still hadn’t gotten my period so I figured, why not waste another test just to clear my mind. So I took another one. I did the stick thing and then we immediately left to go for a walk. Bad idea! I was practically pushing Nate to run around the circle so we could get back quicker (I hadn’t told him about the test). Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, we made it home and I ran to the bathroom to check. What do you know…it was positive! I really never thought I would ever get to experience that feeling. The feeling of Surprise! We are pregnant! I went right out to show Nate and he was so excited. I was excited and terrified and nervous and basically every emotion.
Having been through what we’ve been through, I don’t take this “surprise” lightly. I know all too well the feeling of hearing about “surprise pregnancies” when you are pouring all of your time, emotional strength, mental strength, money, everything into trying to get pregnant. It’s a bit of a gut punch. So when I say this was a surprise, I say it with the ultimate thanks for the amazing blessing of a surprise in and of itself. And for any of you struggling, I hope and pray for your own surprise.
