Our BIG Announcement and How We Spent Father's Day

For those that follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you know by now the big announcement/memory that I mentioned in my last post that I said I couldn't yet share on here.

Well, since we informed all the immediate family today, now I can!

I'm pregnant! =D

(that's what the lighter lines in the window mean!)

I got bit with the baby bug awhile back, as I've always wanted to have kids someday and it seemed like this past year or so there was always someone every other week announcing on Facebook or telling me in person that they were having a baby - needless to say, while I was thrilled, happy and excited for them, I'll admit, I was a little jealous deep down as I wished it was me, lol...

Anyways...

We had a plan that hubby would get promoted to full-time at his third-shift job, then we'd buy a house, and then we'd start a family.

Well, that plan wasn't really going as planned, thanks to the recession.

Hubby's been at the top of the list for that promotion for nearly a year and a half now, however in order for them to promote him to full-time, someone in the district needs to leave for a spot to open up... and well no one wants to give up their job/retire right now obviously, so that unfortunately hasn't happened yet. This meant putting the rest of our plans on hold, however last fall my parents offered to loan us money for a down-payment on a house (with the understanding that we would start paying them back once hubby gets his promotion to full-time, in which case we'd be able to pay them back relatively quickly), so we started trying to get pre-approved. That's been one headache for awhile, but we should be good to go this summer/fall (if not, heads WILL roll, lol...).

Hubby was working the Verizon kiosk at the mall this past spring and I guess all the little kids running around the mall at Easter time did some good, as I kept getting text messages from him talking about one thing or another some cute little kid was doing or wearing out at the mall. He confessed, his biological clock was starting to tick too. I was thrilled, as before this point, while we had discussed having kids "someday" he didn't really make any mention as to how soon that someday would be, so I figured it'd be best not push it until he started showing interest.

In April, after one of his messages where he said he can't wait to have a little kid of his own, I asked him if I should pick up my next set of pills or not, as I was on my last week. We talked about it, discussing that it would take at least a cycle or so minimum for the pills to get out of my system and that even if we did conceive this summer we wouldn't be due til after the new year and that gives us plenty of time to find someplace bigger to live, whether be a house or as a last resort a bigger apartment. And even if something happens, a baby sleeps in a basinett for at least the first 3-6 months, so technically we wouldn't even need a 2nd room til then. We thought about it and decided it wouldn't hurt to start trying.

So we did in April. It took us 2 cycles, as I was charting temps and everything and it appears we conceived at the tail end of May.

I had a feeling I might be, as just days after ovulation I was feeling so tired to the point where I had to take naps in the afternoon, I was constantly hungry and I had some minor abdominal cramping going on too. 11 days after ovulation (on June 11) I finally took a Pee on a Stick test (or in my case, pee in a cup and use a dropper to put some on the strip) that morning when I woke up and I actually took 3 of them just make sure (go go Dollar Store!) and they all came up positive - the 1st 2 were pretty obviously, the 3rd was lighter but still positive. The next 2 days I had very light brown discharge which I believe was the implantation bleeding, which is normal.

Despite the 3 positive tests though, I was still worried my period would show up later that week... but it didn't - I'm officially a week late and hopefully it stays that way for the next 8 months! I haven't really had any morning sickness yet, but I do get a little nauseous at night when I'm trying to go to bed, I get the occasional headaches, my face is breaking out due to the extra hormones, and I have the frequent urination symptom too, in addition to the exhaustion and hungriness.

I am currently 5 weeks along exactly (as they start counting from the first date of your last menstrual cycle, which is usually 2 weeks before ovulation), and my estimated due date is February 20 or 21, pending which calendar you go by. Our baby is about the size of a piece of rice or a baby tadpole. This week it's heart should start beating as its organs are beginning to form. (It looks like a little alien - like we should expect it to pop out of my chest or uterus like the one does in the Spaceballs parody, lol...)

Unfortunately my OBGYN clinic doesn't do first appointments til 10 weeks, so we won't get to see our baby til the ultrasound and first appointment on Monday, July 26 - 5 more weeks... booooo! I can't wait to see it, as that will 1)put me more at ease and 2)make it actually set in that this is happening - it's a little hard to actually believe it when you have no bump yet! hehe...

We won't know the sex until late September/early October, as you can't really tell until about 20 weeks. If we have a boy, I'm painting his room to look like the first level of Mario Bros, with the blue sky and the reddish/brown bricks with the blocks and castle and various Mario characters, lol (and if we don't have a boy, I'll just do this for our playroom instead, lol...) I also want to try and see if I can get a Mario Kart mobil made, with Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Peach and Bowser in their respective cars hanging off it, so when it spins it looks like they're chasing each other, lol...

We told our families today for Father's Day.

We had breakfast with my in-laws in the morning. We got my father-in-law a fun card that said "Grandpa" on it several times and signed it with our names and "and baby." He read it and then stopped and was like "Grandpa... Grandpa?? Really?!" as my mother-in-law's eyes got all huge, her face was all lit up as she exclaimed "Oh my gosh... OH MY GOSH!" She was thrilled! Granted this isn't her first grandchild - hubby's older brother has one that will be 3 in July and him and his wife are expecting their 2nd in late September/early October. The difference is though, they live several hours away near the Quad Cities, whereas me and hubby are about an hour away from my in-laws and my in-laws are in town at least once a week if not more, so this will be their first "accessible" grandchild that they'll get to see in person on a regular basis.

Since it was Father's Day, the place we ate breakfast at was giving the father's a free trip to the sundae station for dessert. They brought one cup for my father-in-law and jokingly hubby asked if he could have one, as he is technically a father, his kid is just still in its mommy's incubator, lol... the waitress thought it was cute and went ahead and gave him one too!

We went over to my parent's house for dinner to celebrate Father's Day with them.

Like my father-in-law, we gave my dad a "Grandpa" card, and since my mom's birthday was on Friday we gave her a "Grandma" card. We gave the cards to them after my dad opened his other presents first (saved the best for last!) and told my parents they had to open their cards at the same time. My dad finished reading his first and was like "Grandpa?" and my mom noticed hers said "Grandma" and they both were like "really??" with their faces all lit up. We confirmed and they were all excited. It took my sister a moment for it to register and then suddenly she exclaimed "OMG I'M GOING TO BE AN AUNT?! I CALL DIBBS ON BABYSITTING!!" lol... it was pretty funny!

Next, my dad called my grandparents (as we all still needed to wish him a happy Father's Day too) and I told my grandpa that he gets to be a great-grandpa again (one of my cousins has a step-daughter as well as an infant, so ours will be the third great-grandchild on dad's side, and the 2nd on my mom's side). Pap (my name for grandpa on dad's side) was excited and he put my grandma on the phone so I could tell her too - she was thrilled and asked all sorts of questions.

After we talked to them, my mom called her dad to wish him a happy Father's Day and to tell him the news too - he sounded excited. The last person to call was my aunt that I grew up around and her and her family live just down the street from my parents. Mom was like "So I finally got my birthday present" to which my aunt responded "what is it?" and my mom was all "A BABY!!" My aunt freaked out and said she'd be there in a matter of minutes, as she had to come see us, lol... lo and behold, she was there in about 3 minutes tops, with a gift in tow! (I guess she keeps presents on hand "just in case"). She gave us a baby blanket and a bunny head attached to a smaller blanket - they're more girly, but she said if we have a boy it could still work when he's little, as it doesn't hurt to have extra blankets. She was asking questions and started talking about how we can have the baby shower at her house, to which my mom was all "WHOA WHOA WHOA! You had the bridal shower! I want to do a shower!" and my aunt was all "well... traditionally the immediate family doesn't throw it..." and my mom was all "Screw tradition - I want to throw a shower!" lol... it was pretty funny! I told them the 2 of them they could duke it out as I don't really have a preference as to where it's at, lol...

So yeah... that was our excitement for today - we posted it on Facebook later this evening for the rest of our friends and extended family (aka cousins) to see.

It's exciting too, as my closest friend that lives up here just had her 2nd kid 3 months ago, so our kids will be about a year apart and can do preschool and other things together; hubby's older brother and his wife are expecting their 2nd this fall so our kid will have a cousin around the same age AND one of hubby's cousins that lives nearby and his wife are having their first child this fall too, so there will be another little kid in the family about the same age as ours! Plenty of playmates already!

I PROMISE to you, my readers, this won't turn into a mommy blog or a pregnancy blog - I have another one set up for that. I'll probably mention on here some of the more exciting or fun stuff, like I do when I post about Tiger, or the rare times I mention fitness/working out. Eventually I'll tweak my banner after we have the baby, to include it in our animated family portion (which currently is me, hubby and Tiger), so don't fret - this blog won't change too drastically or dramatically over the next 8 months!