Baby Day

When I woke up on Baby Day, I thought it was No-Baby-Day. For the past week I'd been checking my feelings and my symptoms (I had the same indication with both Gracie and Charlie--so I just KNEW before I even took the test with Charlie). I even took a pregnancy test a couple days early, just to see (Charlie's had shown up early) and when it was negative and I still hadn't noticed any change, I concluded that I felt/was decidedly not pregnant. I'd even started prepping Steve for it; I didn't want him to be too let down.

But since Baby Day was day 28, the first day you can legitimately test, I figured I might as well check once more so we could have confirmation and decide what plans to make. So I sat the kids down for breakfast and locked myself in the bathroom to do the glamorous pee collection that would reveal whether or not I would be carrying a human life. Then I set the test down on the sink and counted out the three minutes in my head. Even though I was convinced it was for naught, I was still (reservedly) excited. Just in case.

At minute one, I had resigned myself that we weren't pregnant yet. It was a little sad. And then, just like the pregnancy test I took with Grace, I looked down again at the sad, blank test somewhere around minute two, and thought wait...

Is that...?

Definitely a faint pink line.

I stood over the sink whispering (excitedly) "Oh shoot! Oh shoot!" (very Southern, right?) and trying to figure out how I hadn't noticed that I AM PREGNANT!

!!!!!!!

I'd always meant to tell Steve in a (semi-)creative way that he was going to be a Daddy, but with Grace we were standing over the test together, and with Charlie he was right in the kitchen when I snuck off to take a test and I just couldn't NOT tell him right then. Since he was already at school, I had a little time and (forced) distance to try to think of something. Since I couldn't wait until he got home (no patience) I added "Prepare to be a Daddy again" to his task list. And waited.

Oh med school.

I took Gracie to preschool and ran some errands with Charlie (including picking up as second pregnancy test JUST TO BE SURE), came home and took another test, fed Charlie a snack... Another positive:

And finally, two hours later, Steve called me and said, "Do you have something you need to tell me?!"

We spent the rest of the day trying to quell the excitement/nerves/anticipation. Another baby! A third! We were thrilled and terrified, just like with the first two. All day I ran around in a whirl of busy-ness, trying to feel like I was doing something to prepare. There was nothing I could do, besides take a prenatal vitamin, which I'd been doing for a while anyway because my doctor said to build up some folic acid before I got pregnant again.

The best thing I could come up with was to pull a bunch of clothes out of my closet, stuff a pillow under my shirt, and figure out which skirts, shirts, and dresses would be wearable during the next 9ish months. Charlie wandered in and out of my bedroom being adorable as I did this (ridiculous) experiment (which Steve is just now finding out about as he reads, because I know he will laugh at me) and I was pleased to find out that a good number of my skirts at least will look even better with a baby bump.

*sigh*

I am so weird, huh?

It was the only thing I could think to do, that didn't involve buying things.

That night I sat on the couch and worked on my book while Steve went to Scouts. He called me on the way home to suggest hanging out on with some new episodes of Walking Dead (we are so romantic) and told me to be waiting on the couch (easy, already there) and that he would be home in ten minutes.

When he arrived at the door, he was holding this:

A perfectly topped frozen yogurt (mine is on the right, obvs) and a gorgeous bouquet of roses. And he kissed me and said, "Happy Baby Day." And my heart. just. melted.

Happy Baby Day. ♥

O. M. Goodness.

Yesterday (February 20th), began like any other day. I have been on an anesthesia rotation for the last two weeks, which involves getting up WAY earlier than I've been getting up. (6:15 really isn't that bad, but it's definitely earlier than 8:00).

I tried my best to sneak around the house, so Charlie wouldn't sneak out of his room. He has been getting up and wondering around the house between 5:30 and 6:00, but the threat of being put in his pack-n-play if he gets up earlier than 7:00 is starting to keep him at bay. Regardless, I am stealthy. I sneak out of the house with a yogurt and a banana to eat on my way.

The morning goes smoothly. I help out on a case or two, and go to the student lounge (a.k.a. the 'bat cave'). I am talking with a friend there for a while, and I start going through my iPod to see if I have anything worth looking at. Jamie and I just recently started using Wunderlist to keep track of all the junk we have to do, so I checked it for any update.

Just one: Prepare to be a Daddy again - Due Wed, November 20.

Wait..... ???

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I cut off my conversation with my friend, and run out to the hall and called Jamie.

I am so so so excited about this new little one. Jamie and I are in shock. We weren't really sure we would get pregnant this month, and if not, we were going to wait for a little while. In fact, we both were almost sure that Jamie wasn't pregnant. Jamie had already done a pregnancy test a week ago (Jamie has done 3 in the past week... baby hungry?) which was negative, so we were pretty sure that new baby Walton wasn't meant to show up yet.

So, now... the waiting starts. And the secret-keeping. I wanted to tell my friends that I was working with that day SO BAD, but the time wasn't right just yet.

We have no control over anything right now. The list that controls where we spend the next three years is out of my hands. We don't even know what state we will be in. We don't know how much the move will cost. We don't know if we should buy or rent when we move. We don't know if we will continue here in NC, or move elsewhere and leave some wonderful friends behind. We don't know how we will afford a new little chubster, but we have done so in the past. We have put our faith in God to take care of our little family, and blessings have been given in spades.

So... Little Walton Baby, just know that you have four family members anxiously awaiting your arrival. Two of them don't know it yet (Gracie can keep a secret as well as Michael Scott, and Charlie would definitely not understand), but their love will know no bounds for you. You have a mom whose heart grows bigger with each new sweet life we bring into this world, and has loved you before she knew you were in her tummy. You have a dad who is working hard to make a wonderful, exciting life for you, and gets verklemmt just thinking about holding your teeny newborn in his arms.

You are loved, and we all anxiously await your arrival...