We're Going To Be Parents - How We Found Out

January 6, 2014…a day I will never forget. It was cold as hell that morning…24 degrees to be exact. I can’t even tell you the last time we had temps below 30 in Houston…

Back up a little to mid-October. Beau and I were on vacation in the Bahamas when I brought up “the baby conversation” at dinner at The Ocean Club at Atlantis. Never did I ever think I would be uncomfortable around Beau to do anything. I mean, he is my husband. There's nothing, and I mean nothing I haven't done in front of Beau but for some reason, I got nervous bringing this topic up! Luckily...I was about 3 glasses of wine deep, which gave me just the courage I needed to break the ice.

I knew I had been wanting to strike up the conversation and get his feelings towards us “trying” to have a baby and to be honest, I had no clue how he was going to feel about it.

I explained to him that we weren't getting any younger, reminded him that we both wanted to have a baby before we were 30 and also reminded him how precious the triplets are and how every time we leave them, I just want to steal one and keep her for our own. #truestory

To my surprise, he agreed…or maybe he just wanted to appease me for the night thinking he'd get lucky. But what I do know it that we both agreed is that we would just “try and see what happens”. We wouldn't stress about it. We wouldn't do any type of crazy family planning. We just wanted to give it a shot.

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think it would happen as fast as it did but on January 5, I had made a joke to Beau that maybe I was pregnant because it had felt like I should have had my period before then. I’m awful at remembering when my periods are and I have not the slightest idea as to when I ovulate because honestly, who has time for that?

We both laughed and blew it off thinking…ya right.

Later that evening, I was at the grocery store when all of a sudden I get a text from Beau saying “Do you want to pick up a pregnancy test?” I laughed but said “Ya...That’s probably a good idea…”

Sidenote: Is it just me or did any of y’all feel like finding a needle in a haystack looking for a pregnancy test?! It took me a good ten minutes to find the right aisle and then once I was at the right aisle, it took me another 5 to find the pregnancy test section. Once I arrived there, I was presented with a gazillion and one options. I went with the digital kind because Beau likes techy stuff like that and I knew it’d entertain him, if nothing else.

Ok..where were we? Oh...so I got home, started reading the instructions and it suggested taking the test your first pee of the morning. (Remember that to any of those expecting to pee on a stick sometime soon!) Since it was night time, I tossed it on my bathroom counter and went on with my night.

The next morning, I got up around 5:30am, per usual. Beau heard me get up to go start working in the office and before I left the room he said “Did you pee on that stick?”. I giggled and said “No. I haven’t peed at all”  and just moved on. An hour later, I had to pee. I’ve taken one of these tests before, but only one, and I was pretty confident it was negative then (which it was) and I definitely thought the same this time around. I get out ‘said’ pee stick. Do my business. And tossed it on the counter and started my bath water. Almost forgetting about it, I go back to my bathroom sink where the stick is sitting only to find it state clear as freaking day… PREGNANT.

Beau from our bed “Did you take it?”
Me: “Ummmmmm…”
Beau: “What does it say?”
Me: “It definitely says pregnant.”
Beau: “Really?!”
Me: “Yes. {Insert *f* bomb here}.”

We waited a few more minutes to let to “estimated weeks” appear and sure enough…I was the most “estimated” weeks possible…3+, which really meant in doctor terms, I was at least 5+ weeks pregnant. (Remember how I said I don't keep up with my cycles? Proof. Most normal women know THE day they miss their period and here I am, 3 weeks late and had no idea...)

I feel like posting the official picture of my pee sticks is a right of passage. You're welcome.

The next words to come out of my mouth were absolutely without a doubt "What the hell have we done?!"

After I finally realized what had really just happened, I climbed up onto the bed next to Beau and and said to him “Oh my God. We did it! We made a baby!” followed by another "Oh my gosh what on Earth have we just done?!"

Sure-I was excited but I was more nervous than anything. Ok…more like terrified. Not terrified of being a mom at all...but scared to death of being pregnant. I looked at Beau with tears in my eyes and said “I’m happy I just didn’t expect it to say that.I didn't expect it to happen in just two months. I don’t even know what to do.” He was so sweet and said something I'll probably never forget. He told me he was nervous, too, but he was excited to be a dad. And he was excited for me to be a mom. And that's when it got surreal. We were going to be parents.

After the initial shock set in,  I then started to think back how I had taken 2+ hour naps the past 4 days in a row, which is totally uncharacteristic of me. That pregnancy exhaustion they talk about...it's the real deal.

Mind you...this all happened before 7am in the morning. On a Monday morning, to be exact. When I say every emotion ran through my mind that cold, cold morning...I mean every emotion and then some. And then I thought to myself “How the HECK am I supposed to work today?!” It was then that I decided that the day every woman finds out she is pregnant should automatically get a free, stay at home, you need some time to realize you just changed your life for-ev-errrr day. Forealz.

I am so thankful it was a Monday because I work from home on Mondays. If I would have had to go into my office that day, I would've had to lock myself in my office and never come out in fear of telling any/everyone I saw.

Alas…I worked. I cried. I checked work emails. I thought of baby names. I completed a new drip marketing campaign I had been working on. I Googled “Foods you can’t eat when you’re pregnant”. I worked a little more…social media updates, reporting, blogging…you know. Joined thebump.com. Edited an email campaign I had worked on earlier. Went in the mirror and looked at my belly. Went back into the bathroom to see if the pregnancy tests still said “PREGNANT 3+”…sure enough, they did. Talked to Oakley about being a big sister. Cried at the thought of Beau becoming a daddy. Thought of how we were going to tell our parents that night that WE ARE PREGNANT. Wanted to call/text everyone in my phone book and tell them the news but refrained as I knew we wanted our parents to be the absolute firsts to know. Thought about taking a nap 47 times but knew I had to wait until 5 to pass out. See why I could have never made it at my office on that day?

We knew we wanted to tell our parents that night. I had always told our moms that they would know the day I found out I was pregnant and I knew I wanted to stay true to that promise.

We're not ones to keep secrets, especially from our parents, so all day long we were fumbling around trying to figure out what we were going to do, how we were going to do it, and how we were going to ask them if we could come over that night and not let them expect anything?!

Pinterest came to the rescue.

I ran out of the house at lunch and found a “Big sister” t-shirt at The Children’s Place (size 4T for my big girl) and brought it home for Oakley to wear so she could make our big announcement for us. :)

Though it took them all a few minutes to realize what her tshirt said and meant, their expressions were absolutely priceless! Happy tears, hugs, jumping up and down...all of it! Telling your parents that you had sex and made a baby is quite possibly the most awkward thing ever but once you get past that and focus on that fact that YOU MADE A BABY, it's all worth it. I promise! ;)

We surprised Beau's sister and brother-in-law by leaving these on their front doorstep, knocking, and running. You know...because that's what mature soon-to-be parents do.

I'd be lying if I said keeping this secret in for the past 6+ weeks isn't one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. Literally.

I ignored phone calls. Didn't respond to emails. Forwent happy hours. And basically wanted to crawl into a hole until it was okay for me to tell the entire world that we were going to have a baby. Longest. 6. Weeks. Ever.

EVER.

And I'm so glad it doesn't have to be a stupid secret anymore! Now it feels real. Now I'm getting more excited. Lets get this show on the road, Baby H!

P.S.-thank you so so SO much for all your sweet comments on my blog post, Instagram and Twitter yesterday! Beau and I were so overwhelmed with love and happiness...it felt like Christmas all day long! I am so grateful for you internet people who welcome baby H into this world with open arms and loving hearts. I just can't wait to share this journey with you!

Tomorrow I'm hoping to post my first "Bump Day"! I've always looked forward to posting those and now it's my time to shine! You know...if I'm not too exhausted to update my chalkboard and look decent enough to pose for a picture... ;)