A blog for me

So I have often thought about how my blog is my backup journal and I am a little sad that it only started after Maiya was born. I would love to look back at my blogs of Benjamin and Ella as a babies but those memories are not digitized yet - those photos remain in shoeboxes and memories in actual journals. So I have been thinking that toward the end of this pregnancy I would blog about Benjamin, Ella, and Maiya's birth stories so that when I add number four's everyone's story will be there. I don't know if your kids are like mine but they LOVE me telling them about "the day/night they were born" and I remember loving to hear my story when I was younger. This post today is inspired by Ryann who is going through the initial shock and then excitement that follows a big fat positive pregnancy test. I thought I would write about how we found out the same thing four times. From this point on feel free to be bored, move on to a more exciting blog or go surf the web - like I said this is a post for me, and maybe one day the kids would like to read it. Here is how we found out about our babies - Story number one: Halfway through our first year of marriage and still living with my mom - not an ideal time to start a family but the desire was strong nonetheless, I had a feeling we might be pregnant. The idea was a little scary but terribly exciting as well. I heard somewhere you should test first thing in the morning, so without planning well, I woke up, skipped the bathroom, and went straight to the store. The pee-pee dance started as I went into the store and by time I got to checkout it was a painful dance - I knew there was no way I would make it back home so I took the test right there in the Ukrops bathroom. I put it on top of the paper towel dispenser washed my hands and then reached up and picked up two pink lines - I rushed home rereading the directions at every light. I woke up Kyle who had worked the night shift, was exhausted, and told him we were pregnant. To which he replied "wow" and fell right back asleep, dozed for a few seconds then sat up and said, "what did you say?” The following May we had an adorable fat baby boy!

Pregnant with Benjamin - about 35 weeks Lots of love to go round!
Welcome to the world little man!

Story two: When Benjamin was eight months old I got my first real job as an OT, we moved to Va Beach, I started working full time and made plans to go on birth control as soon as my health insurance kicked in. One month later, I wondered when I would be regular again since I was still intermittently breastfeeding. I decided it had been long enough and I took a test - only one line - HUGE sigh of relief! The next morning Kyle had already left for work, and I was taking out the trash and lo and behold in the trash can lay two pink lines - I called Kyle in a panic, "I have to take another test" to which he rationally responded we don't have the money. And we didn't, there was like 30 cents left in our checking account. By noon that day, I couldn't stand it. I left on my lunch. headed to CVS wrote a hot check for two tests and went back to work and straight to the employee bathroom - now this part is familiar, I took the test, set it on the paper towel dispenser, washed my hands, and proceeded to pick up a test with two bright pink lines. Disbelief and fear set in - how could I handle this: brand new job, one baby already and two in day-care? But like life happens I had a calmness wash over me by mid-afternoon and I got home in time to make "I am a big brother" onesies for Benjamin and he met Kyle at the door wearing one. Eighteen months after welcoming Benjamin we welcomed a beautiful baby girl.

A few days before we found out about Ella

Pregnant with Ella - 41 weeks

Meeting the little lady - and finding out Benjamin is a wonderful big Brother!

Two babies!

Makes one tired mom.


Story three: Feeling especially fertile after Ella, we took more drastic measures to slow things down and I got the Mirena IUD - I highly recommend it! It was exactly what we needed until Hurricane Isabel hit and changed my life for the better. The week before the hurricane was becoming very, very stressed at work they wanted us to see as many patients as possible - hopefully even double our normal load so that they would not lose too much money if the hurricane knocked us out of commission for a while. Well the next day, three days before the hurricane I woke up to two kids with pink eye, couldn't take them to Ms. Margaret's and couldn't take them to work. So I called in and got CHEWED out by my boss. She thought I was lying so we could leave town early. Which is what we did actually. On the long drive to Danville, I fumed about my job and made plans to quit no matter the costs. I worked my last day the following month. And despite major financial problems and other fears, we removed the IUD shortly. I was ready for a baby. Despite previous fertility records it took a while for number three and by time I suspected my period was late we were in escrow on our first home - a fixer upper for that matter. This time I had gone through many negative tests - very discouraging. So I was forcing myself to be nonchalant. On a weekend away to housesit for Aunt Beth I did a little math in my head and decided to test - the pink washed over and I only saw one line. I left it on the counter and went back to bed. Meg woke me up a half hour later screaming in the bathroom. Yep two pink lines, and if you are keeping track Kyle has not been present for a single one so far. We moved to the new, messy, in need of major work, house and struggled through a particularly difficult pregnancy and welcomed an adorable tiny baby girl on the summer equinox.

One year before I became a stay at home mom.

Pregnant with Maiya - 37 weeks

And then there were three - Welcome to the world Maiya

Worst pregnancy = calmest baby

Story Four: Maiya was followed by debates about having more, a move to Texas, and several different methods of birth control, which made me grumpy and gain weight. Finally, we decided on the groundbreaking "let nature take its course" plan. By time Maiya had her second birthday I was a little annoyed nature was taking so long. By September I did something I had never done before - took a set of ovulation tests - all were heart wrenching and very negative. I was sure nature had decided for me so I set about the task of being emotionally ok with that. Very busy with planning for the Nativity exhibit I was a little late noticing I was late. I realized and got a dollar store test. Understandably, Kyle insisted on being present for every single test taken. This time as the test sat on the counter I was quite over the rejection - months of negative tests and a week of negative ovulation tests I walked away. I sat on the side of the tub and Kyle continued to stare, after what seemed like a lifetime he says barely above a whisper, "I see two lines" Before he could finish his sentence I had already sent Meg for another test - three tests later, all with double lines, we celebrated. Kyle was very happy to be present for this one.
Now for the weird confession - I have recapped, washed the outside and saved at least one pregnancy test for each - Yes, under my bed in a plastic box are four positive pregnancy tests. I never really intended to keep them, I just saved the first one for quite a while because I just didn't feel pregnant and it was fun to slide out the box and look at it - eventually I couldn't throw it away and by the second one I couldn't keep Benjamin's and not the rest - so there they are and now you know the rest of the story. If you are still reading.