It's Official!

After Chad and I definitively decided that I was in fact pregnant I knew I needed to get to a doctor immediately. However, we found out Friday evening, which meant that I had to wait until Monday to get to the doctor. How on earth was I supposed to wait that long? It was the first time in my whole life I wanted the weekend to hurry up and pass.

We spent most of the weekend online. Reading articles, looking at baby stuff from Wal-Mart (which has really nice stuff by the way), Babies-R-Us and Target. I read all about fetal development and tried to pin-point a conception date. We went over a million different scenarios. If I got pregnant on this day then I would be this far along and the baby would be due on this day. We were excited and gitty. It was absolutely adorable.

So I get to work Monday morning and I immediately call the doctor's office. I decided to go to a place called "New Horizon's Women's Care". A co-worker of mine went there when she delivered her first baby. I decided I wanted a practice that was 100% devoted to women's care. I got a same day appointment (how cool is that?) at 10:30. Holy cow--it seemed like forever.

When I arrived way too early, of course, I was immediately impressed. It was nice, quiet and new. I knew I had made the right decision. Not only that, but they saw me at my exact appointment time. That never happens. They took my height, weight and asked me a million questions. Then it was time for another test. I took the test and waited in the exam room. During this entire time Chad can not stop texting and calling me. He couldn't stand the anticipation.

The doctor come in and before she even sits down she says, "Well, congratulations. We're you planning this?"

My heart bursts with joy and I say, "Yes, we are very excited."

After the official confirmation it is just more questions. Her for me and me for her.

"I see here that you drink one soda a day," she says.

"I do."

"You've completely cut that out right?"

"Of course," I lie, I had a soda (cherry coke, my addiction the day before). I know caffeine is a no-no, so I do really need to stop. But still, no cherry coke for 9 months. Isn't that asking too much?

The doctor tells me I need to come back in two weeks for a general exam and then two weeks after that for the first ultra-sound! I leave with various brochures and info booklets and a prescription for a pre-natal vitamin. I also leave with a new perspective. I knew in that moment that everything was different and that my only concern now was to take care of this life, this miracle, inside me.

Two Pink Lines?

So…October 17th proved to be a monumental day in the life of Melissa and Chad Reed. The day I was supposed to get my period came and went and then more than a week passed by. Chad encouraged me to take a test, but I was hesitant, afraid to be disappointed and convinced that it was just my body adjusting to being off the pill for the first time in 7 years.

But despite my better judgment on Friday, October 17th I came home from work and took the all too dreaded First Response pregnancy test. I knew the 3 minute waiting would be torture. I changed from work clothes to Friday evening clothes and stared at Chad. Alas, the 3 minutes were up. Moment of truth.

I walk in the bathroom, Chad lingered in the hall.

“Well,” he says. I simply look at the test and back at him. “It’s nothing, it’s negative.”

“No, it’s flipped over, I can’t see the results.”

“Well, flip it over.”

So, I do. A look of shock must have ran across my face. He can’t take it anymore, he steps into the bathroom from the hall and looks down at the test. We both see the same thing…two pink lines, not subtle, not light, not thin…two very distinct pink lines.

“There’s two lines,” Chad says. “What does that mean?”

“I think it means I am pregnant.”

We both laugh in disbelief and pure shock. We stand there for another minute look back at the test and laugh some more.

Chad being Chad says, “You’re pregnant…Ha…Ha!”

Then a field of questions come pouring out of me, “What if I did it wrong?” “Are those really two pink lines?” “Maybe it says positive, but it’s wrong.”

So, there we are like a bunch of buffoons trying to figure out the inner-workings of a pregnancy test. We read and re-read the instructions, completely baffled. Is this really happening? Could we really be that lucky?

It’s time to take a breather. We head out to new restaurant in town—it’s a hesitant celebration. It was the most awkward dinner Chad and I have ever had. We don’t know what to talk about. We avoid eye-contact and when we do make eye-contact we simply crack up all over again. After dinner and some pretty boring bulk shopping at Sam’s Club, we head back home.

I need to take another test. The package came with 3 and I want to take another one, just to be sure. And yup, sure enough two pink lines. But we are still convinced that the two lines aren’t really two lines or that the test is a false positive. So to the internet we head. Google image search “positive pregnancy tests”. Yup sure enough, my lines are exactly the same as all other lines out there. We conclude the test is reading without a doubt positive. Good search “false positive pregnancy tests”. Our research shows that while false negatives are common because women take the test too soon false positives are truly rare and happen next to never. The test reads positive and the test isn’t wrong.

We got to bed that night knowing everything is about to change.

The Waiting Game

So, the decision had been made. We wanted a baby. Now we just needed to wait until I got pregnant. It's amazing, once you have made the decision to have a child everyday without one seems like an eternity. We wanted to be patient and take our time, no rush, no worries. But if you know me patience and lack of worrying are not my specialties. Still, this was such an exciting time for me and Chad--the anticipation was overwhelming and simply put...trying to get pregnant is a ton of fun!

We tried to remain calm, but everyday we found ourselves talking about the big "what if". What if I get pregnant soon? What if I don't? How will our lives change? It brought me and Chad closer than ever before. Chad has always wanted babies and I was always unsure. So, when I finally came around I knew it made him happy beyond belief.

I don't know exactly what is was that made me change my mind, it wasn't one thing, rather a series of moments that made me know that having a child with Chad would be the greatest thing that ever happened to me. One moment in particular, we were at Chad's uncles and he was playing with his little cousin and seeing him play with a child filled me with such happiness, it was a foreign feeling, unexpected. But at that moment I knew I was a goner--I had caught it--Baby Fever!

The next few months passed and I tried to do everything I could to make my body as health as possible and capable of supporting another human being. I started a pre-natal vitamin, pumped up my exercise routine, cut out alcohol, added more veggies and fruits to my diet and of course spent more alone time with Chad. We did our part, the rest was up to nature and God.

Maybe Baby?

So, what seems like a million years ago, but was actually the beginning of June my husband Chad and I made the biggest decision of our entire lives. We decided it was time to add to our circle of love. I woke up one morning and I realized the love we had for each other couldn't be contained by just two people.

It was time. It was time to give ourselves a chance. We have been together for over 5 years, both have degrees, stable jobs and a home. The only thing missing was a little one. Yes, it is true we already do have a "child" our dog named Buster. But now it was time to have a real baby, one that didn't require a doggie door.

We were going to get off the pill and throw caution to the wind. We had a plan. We didn't want to turn this new adventure into work, we wanted to have fun and let nature take it's course.

So the adventure begins...