You're HOW old??

I have three daughters - Elizabeth is 18, Hannah is 15, and Regan is five weeks.  I have spent the last 15 years telling stories about pregnancy, childbirth, and various baby and toddler antics.  Now I get to do it all over again, and I find myself having a lot of  "oh yeah, I forgot about this part" moments.  Regan was not an "oops" baby.  Joe and I knew it could happen.  When my second daughter was born, I had decided that I did NOT want another baby, but it took meeting Joe for me to realize that I didn't want another baby with my husband at the time.  That is certainly fodder for a future blog.....  When I found out I was pregnant, Joe and I were not yet married.  We weren't even living in the same geographical area.  He was in Shreveport, and I was in Arlington. We were going back and forth every other weekend, and in the past eight months had broken up twice due to the stress of not being able to be together more often - gas prices were high and neither of us were flushed with cash.  The day I discovered I was pregnant I had stayed home from work due to the weather - we had an ice storm and roads were not safe to travel on.  It occured to me around 5pm that day that I was five days late, and I am nothing if not regular.  I braved the roads to drive to the grocery store and buy a pregnancy test.  My toilet was directly across from the bathroom mirror, so as I looked at the test which quickly showed TWO pink lines, I looked up, into the mirror, and to my reflection I said "holy shit!"  Joe was working as a driver for an oilfield services company and was on day two of a shift waiting in line at a disposal site; I wasn't sure I should call at that time, so I texted him.

Me:  When u think u will be home?
Joe:  Maybe 9 or so why?
Me:  Something we need to talk about
Joe:  uh oh. Good or bad?
Me:  Not sure if it's good or bad, maybe a little scary
Joe:  Oh shit

Then I sent him a picture of the positive pregnancy test and he called within about a minute.  I knew it was going to be okay when he said people were looking at him funny because he had this big goofy grin on his face. And I was flip-flopping between thrilled and scared shitless.

I had a job I loved.  I had just bought a house a few months earlier.  But I was willing and ready to give it all up for this man that I loved with all of my heart. It was all sunshine and rainbows until two weeks later when morning sickness hit.  I prayed constantly for it to pass quickly.  And I'm here to tell you that God sat back and said "yeah right".

Our plan was not to tell anyone until I had made it through the first trimester.  We knew the risks of me getting pregnant at my age, and the first trimester is the most critical.  The first day of morning sickness, one of my dear friends and coworkers stopped at my desk ( I had the auspicious honor of being right in the front of the department, nowhere to hide), took one look at me, and said "you're not pregnant are you?"  So there was ONE person who knew. Over the next few weeks I told two more of my girlfriends; it helped to have someone to talk to; I've never been any good at keeping secrets.

On a Friday afternoon in February, I was just getting home from work; the girls and I were going to make the drive to Shreveport for the weekend.  As I stepped out of the car, I felt a gush; when I looked down, my lap and my jeans were covered in blood.

To be continued.....

The Dawdle Sisters

The Dawdle Sisters is the name my dad gave to my two oldest daughters when they were younger.  It fit quite well then and still does.  At 18 and 15, they have perfected the art of dawdling and taken it to a new level. I can already see that my five-week-old daughter has inherited the dawdling gene because she takes about 30 minutes to fully wake from a nap. (Apparently the gene comes my own family; I can't blame it on my first husband which would have been convenient).

I'm a stay at home mom for the first time in 15 years, and I'm looking for things to occupy my time in between caring for my new daughter.  Hopefully sleep deprivation won't muddle my thinking too badly and I'll be able to entertain you people. :)