The First Week

7/8/12


Monday, July 2, 2012

Clif and I made plans to visit his parents while they were in DC for dinner.  As has become our unofficial tradition we drove to their place then all four of us walked to one of our favorite restaurants a couple of blocks away.  After we placed our food orders Clif stated he had a very big announcement to make.  I didn't know what his announcement was but I knew it wasn't that we were expecting, though I wanted to be able to make that announcement so badly.  Clif told us about his plans to write a new book and we carried on with our evening as usual.

We were almost home when Clif didn't notice a giant opossum crossing the street.  Sure he had seen it and would stop I waited until the last second to speak up, resulting in an unfortunate bumpy ride for us and the opossum (luckily we're pretty sure all 3 of us survived the incident).  I can't help myself, I was upset and felt sorry for the silly creature.  When we got home, in a random effort to distract myself from the near-road kill, I stumbled across a pregnancy test in my junk drawer, a hand off from my sister who didn't need it anymore.  About a minute later I met Clif in the hallway with the test in one hand and the result key pulled up on my iPhone in the other (the instructions hadn't made it on the journey with the test).

We were shocked and giddy and I think in a state of disbelief.  Clif noticed the test I'd taken had expired in January and I convinced him to run to the 24-hour grocery store.  The second positive result felt just a little more real.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012 

I try to focus on work.  My face hurts from grinning.  At least 3 co-workers look at me like I'm up to something, confirmed by the fact that they tell me they think I'm up to something.

Meanwhile, Clif is scheming.  While out to dinner with his parents we'd made plans to have lunch with them on the Fourth.  They would be flying to Germany so we offered to drive them to the airport after a bite to eat at one of our favorite restaurants.  Clif called my parents and invited them to join us under the pretense of surprising his folks since the four of them don't see each other very often.  It would be lunch full of surprises.

Wednesday, July 4th, 2012

Clif and I woke up early and got to work.  We dressed up, prepared a prop and pulled together the things we needed to make our announcement surprise for the parents.  An hour and half later I took an hour nap while Clif wrapped our framed picture of us holding a chalk board saying "Coming March 6, 2013" (our estimated due date).  Then we hit the road.

We bumped into two of my friends at the restaurant, which was a surprise for us.  Luckily we were able to pull of the excuse of not getting all together very often as we really wanted our family to be the first to hear the news.  His parents were adequately surprised to see mine and we sat for a lovely meal.  My stomach quickly started to turn with nerves and I knew I'd never be able to eat if we didn't get the announcement over with.

I kept kneeing Clif to start the announcement and he kept deferring to our parents chatting and catching up with each other.  Finally I couldn't stand it anymore and jumped into the conversation.  I pulled our framed pictures out of my purse and we handed them to the dads who passed them off to the moms.  My mom got her gift open quickly and understood what it was immediately, handing it off to my dad who was ready with a hearty congratulations.  We stopped him mid-sentence, though, Clif's mom hadn't finished opening her package yet.  Clif was trying to get her to open faster and his dad was trying to help her.  They got it opened and his mom immediately commented on the dress I was wearing (I'd worn it Monday night and they had loved it).  We kept telling her there was more to see but she hadn't gotten to the sign yet.  Clif's dad understood what the picture said first, his mom only half a step behind.  I was a surprise-filled, exciting lunch.

Thursday, July 5th - Sunday, July 8th, 2012

The remainder of the week was more of similar: lots of grins, growing excitement and anticipation.  I'd been saying for years I wanted to drink more water and eat healthier, now I had to do those things.  The house is stocked with lots of proteins, fruits and veggies and water and oyster crackers are becoming my new constant companions. 

Our first doctor appointment is at the end of the month and we'll have "official" confirmation.  By our estimation we are 4-5 weeks in and have a loooong way to go.  We understand the risks of the first trimester but we are excited and eager for every new step we'll face along the way.