{I’ve been meaning to share this for a while, so with no further adieu, here are some tidbits for my pregnancy with you, Van}

How I Found Out I Was Pregnant: We were just coming back from Hawaii and I was anxiously waiting for the perfect time to test. The test sticks aren’t the cheapest things around, so I held off on testing as long as I could. The first time I peed on the stick I saw only the faintest of lines. Later, the line seemed to disappear all together. I looked up “faint line” on the Internet and was encouraged to test the following day, giving the pregnancy hormones one more day to multiply. I said nothing to your Papa and kept it a secret over night. I love surprises, so I was hoping for a big one the next day.

How I Told Your Papa: Sure enough, I tested the next day and the line appeared cleared as day, signifying a positive result. Your Papa was at work, but we had plans for a date night later that evening. I took the stick and wrapped it up numerous times. I covered it in foil, a t-shirt, wrapping paper, newspaper, bubble wrap, whatever I could find. I weighted the little stick down with different items to throw him off as best I could. I included a toilet paper roll and a banana. It was a funny looking “gift” when all was said and done. But nonetheless, it was a surprise. We both looked at each other with similar feelings written all over our faces: “uhhh… what the hell are we doing?” and “yyyayyyyy!”.

How We Told The Rest Of The Family: It was your brother’s first birthday and we had everyone over to our house to celebrate. I bought a bunch of different disguises to take silly pictures with. I asked everyone to gather together for a group photo and asked Janet (who was in on the news) to take the picture. The countdown went something like, “On the count of three say ‘Ashley’s pregnant'”. It took a few minutes to sink in. I think everyone was shocked. Excitement soon set in.

Worst Parts of Pregnancy: The nausea in the very beginning wasn’t fun, nor was the food aversion. But, they passed quickly and gave way to horrible skin problems. The acne started on my back and eventually settled on my chin. It resolved around the 22 week mark and has yet to return. I took off work in the beginning of April due to horrible back pain. I had the worst kind of knot in my left mid to low back. The pain radiated all the way around to the front of my rib cage at times. The pain brought me to tears. Worst back pain I’ve ever had, hands down. And who can forget the emotional turmoil of going past my due date, again. I’m not even ready to re-visit that agony even as a memory.

Best Parts of Pregnancy: Like your brother, you moved a lot. I never worried about your well-being because you were always active. You also settled into my pelvis early on and thus much of the rib discomfort that bothered me with your brother’s pregnancy didn’t affect me until much later in my pregnancy with you (it was, however, replaced with horrible groin pain and pelvic pressure, but whatever). I also loved being in the care of midwives again and was so appreciative of the fact your Papa chose to support me in my decision even though it wasn’t what he was comfortable with.

Total Weight Gain: 32 pounds

Total Weeks Pregnant: 41 weeks, 1 day according to the latest due date based on ultrasound (due date of July 15th). 41 weeks, 5 days according to dates (due date of July 9th-ish).

Favorite Foods: I went through different phases of eating the same thing. I had a long stretch where I wanted banana pancakes all the time. I never liked bananas before. I also started eating pickles, which kind of grossed me out before. I drank a lot of vanilla flavored milk that was high in protein, partly because it tasted like a milkshake and partly because I knew the protein was good for me. Toward the end of the pregnancy the vanilla milk grossed me out and I could no longer stand drinking it. I have yet to buy another bottle. I also ate a lot of scrambled eggs with cheese, again partly because of the protein content. Otherwise I ate a lot of yogurt covered raisins.