A Poppy Story

We went for our second OB appmt last week and it was great! Poppy was moving all over the place and it was beyond amazing to see Poppy wiggling and flipping over. Here is Poppy's latest portrait. You can see the little legs at the far right and the doctor said Poppy had his/her hands near the face so we couldn't really see a head profile. I was a dedicated thumb sucker, so maybe Poppy is already carrying on the family traditions.

I am officially 12 weeks as of yesterday. I would like to report I'm feeling better, but on Monday night I left my dinner on the side of Highway 9. Yes. I am serious. It was my first experience getting sick when I wasn't at home and didn't have my sweet husband by my side. I could lie and say I handled it like a mature woman, but I'll be honest and tell you I shed my hormonal tears like a proud pregnant girl should.

Some friends have asked about how I found out I was pregnant, how I told Josh, etc. We both love kids and have always prayed the Lord would bless us with a family. We were recently approved for our new health insurance under Josh's job and we had "the talk." I've never assumed I could have children, but I've never had any reason to think otherwise. I've had friends tell me it took them months or even years to conceive.

It seems that approximately 3 weeks after the "talk" I was pregnant. Needless to say, we were both a bit shocked but SUPER excited. We were not really monitoring anything or "trying" as some may say.

We had just moved my mom to Hiawassee and I'd been quite cranky and tired during the moving process, but who isn't during a time like that? Anywho, once I was back at work on a Monday, I happened to check my "girl days" and realized...hmm...I'm a few days late. I wonder....no...nah...well...I'll get a Dollar Store test to check. I bought 4 tests since we were in this new phase of beginning a family and thought I should have some for the later months since this test would certainly be negative.

The key to it being a Monday was that I spend the night at Hotel Skogman on Monday nights in order to work later in the day and to save on gas costs. I went back to work and was going to take the test Tuesday morning. But then I was mentally freaking out and couldn't wait. So I took the test at work. At 1pm or so in the afternoon. I saw two lines. But couldn't believe it. So I made my best work bud double check (she is an unmarried Jesus lovin' girl so I'm not sure she was any better at reading these results than I am) and she screamed. I took that to mean it was indeed showing positive.

I called my doctor who agreed to squeeze me in for a urine test. I felt unable to rely solely on my Dollar Store test. I went to the appmt and Poppy's existence was again confirmed. I was sooooo shocked. Happy, but mainly shocked.

So the terrible dilemma was that I wasn't going to see Josh in person for a full 24 hours or more. I couldn't wait. I needed someone to be in shock with me. I had actually thought about how I would tell Josh. I had lots of creative and fun ideas. But that was before I found out I was actually pregnant. All those ideas flew out the window and I called his cell.

Donna: Hey Josh, what are you doing?
Josh: I'm with your mom in the hardware store helping her with some stuff.
Donna: Okay. Well I'm pregnant.
Josh: What? Donna, that's not funny to joke about.
Donna: I know. I'm not joking.
Josh: What do you mean? How do you know? Are you serious?
Judi in the background: What's going on? What's wrong?
Josh to Judi: Donna's pregnant!
Judi: I knew it.

Not as creative and fun as I'd planned, but it was exciting nonetheless. And I'm not certain my mother is psychic, but she still says she knew before we told her. So there's the Poppy story.