The Big News and Telling Our Parents!

         David and I had decided that God knew best when we would be ready for a baby so we left it up to Him. So when it came close to what should have been "that time of the month" we knew I should take a pregnancy test. We already had one so I decided to take one on a Friday morning. It ended up being negative. But I wasn't convinced. So I went to the store and bought a three pack but waited to take another test until that following Monday (this was March 4th). Well it was one of those tests with the lines and the second line was juuuust barely there. I came out of the bathroom, turned to David, and with a puzzled look said "I think we're pregnant?" (Yes, I said it like a question haha). I took a picture and google searched to see if that vague pink line meant anything or if it was just a fluke. I was trying not to get my hopes up but I had never seen any semblance of a second line before so it was quite hard to not be excited. (Yeah, you can barely see the line, can you?)

        So the next morning I decided to take another test. This time, the second line was still there but even lighter. I was getting impatient. But I called a made an appointment at Piedmont Women's Center since I don't have health insurance yet. It is a great Christian organization that provides free limited healthcare to women who may be or are pregnant. My appointment was scheduled for that coming Saturday. However, I still couldn't wait that long and I still had one pregnancy test left in the pack so I decided to take it Thursday morning (March 7th). This time we had two very clear lines! We finally let ourselves accept the great news!

        Can you tell we were excited? Now the hard part was not telling anyone. So we had to keep our lips sealed until after the appointment on Saturday when we would be 100% sure. Well the appointment came and (big surprise) I was definitely pregnant! After the appointment we racked our brains trying to figure out when we would be able to see our parents to tell them. We didn't want to tell them over the phone but we also wanted them all the find out at the same time. I had talked to my mom earlier in the week and it seemed we wouldn't be able to see our families until the end of March/beginning of April. We couldn't wait that long. So we decided that we would make two trips-- to NC and GA after church on Sunday. Right after the appointment, we made a trip to Build-A-Bear in the mall. We made two bears, one for each set of grandparents-to-be and picked out two plain t-shirts. David had to go to work that afternoon so I went out and bought thread to embroider "Grandparents" on each of the shirts. Fortunately I remembered how to do it with just a quick refresher from online (I mean, I did learn to sew my name in cursive in the second grade so I knew it had to be easy). I talked with my mom Saturday night and without giving anything away, found out that they would be home after their fellowship luncheon at church. I also texted Kenzie telling her we were just going to come to surprise the family and spend the afternoon there since we had free time so she could make sure everyone was home. So after church and lunch with friends on Sunday (March 10th), we headed to Gastonia to tell my family. They were surprised when we showed up, of course, but they still didn't suspect a thing. We kept the bear outside the door near the porch. After sitting a talking for a short bit, I said that we had a present for them (them being my parents) and had them sit next to each other on the couch. I warned them it was kind of a weird present and then handed them the box. My mom asked if it was alive. Yes, mom, we're going to buy you an animal without asking you first because we know how much you love the dog. Haha. Well when my mom took it out of the box, her first response was "Aww, how cute". She's already a grandparent thanks to my adorable little nephew, GavGav, so it didn't hit her at first. She got it after a minute though! They (Mom, Dad, Kenzie, Bryson) were all really excited and happy for us. In fact, we have a video but I don't have it on my computer yet sooo I will upload that later. We had to leave shortly after so we could make it to GA. Ryan had already gone to work though so we went to see  him and give him the news in person before heading out. He was really excited for us too!

        Then we set out for a 3+ hour drive to Lawrenceville, GA. David had already told his dad we were coming since we were planning on staying the night. Mike always likes to surprise Kathryn (which is what we said we were doing) so he was more than happy to be in on it. Well when we got there that night Kathryn came out thinking we were the pizza man and was quite surprised to see us. She was so excited just to see us, I couldn't wait to tell her the news! But we went inside and talked and sat down for a few minutes and told her we were staying the night. Fortunately, she had the next day off of school (which we didn't know until my mom mentioned it while we were driving there. They talk to each other more than we talk to them. It's awesome). Well David wanted to give the gift this time so he went out to the car to get it. He had them close their eyes and hold out their hands. When they opened their eyes, Kathryn asked if it was alive too! I don't understand these moms! Haha. But she opened it after we assured her it wasn't alive and as soon as she read the shirt, she brought it to her chest and said "Really?" Mike was still confused because he hadn't gotten to read it yet haha. She showed him and then the hugging and congratulations ensued. It was a wonderful day! We decided to keep it pretty secret until I was further along though. So throughout the next few weeks, we only told a few people (close friends, family members, and church family) so that they could be praying for us and the baby. I wanted it to stay a secret until after our first ultrasound which wasn't until March 30th. So that's the beginning of our journey!