Month Two

Oh Month 2, you were such a dream compared to Month 1. I don't really have big dramatic stories to share unlike the last few posts (not that I'm complaining!). I rather enjoyed a few weeks of "boring!" 

So for this update, I thought I would update through pictures. 

Week 4-5 is when he started to become extremely alert and responsive. His facial expressions really turned up a notch. 

This is may favorite expression of Silas'. His poop face! Ha! Can you tell he's really trying his hardest?

Another play date with John! John -10 weeks, Silas - 5 weeks

We spent a lot of time in our pj's this month. A typical day for us was to wake up around 8-9 am (after waking up like 4 times during the night.... We needed the extra sleep!), eat and read books, play with the dogs a bit, nap, repeat. Sometimes I would even try to sneak a nap with him in the afternoon. ;)

Silas got a good ol' case of baby acne. Why does that bother us moms so much?? So silly and vain. But man, it drove me nuts!

Silas really started to thin out up top! Ha! He kept his Mohawk going strong, but really lost a lot of hair on the sides. 

Mimi and papa came for a short visit on their way to a family reunion. Silas was just 6 weeks so we stayed home. But it was good to see them! And fun for them to see how responsive he had become. 

This visit is when we discovered who Silas takes after. I am on the top left. Tyler, top right. When we saw my picture we both just laughed. It was kind of scary! We even showed several of my friends my baby picture without telling them anything -- they thought it was a picture of Silas! And freaked when I told them the truth. 

Silas really began crying much louder in month two. His cry at first was really not terribly upsetting in the beginning. But boy did he learn how to work that pout! 

The dogs became much more comfortable around Silas. Sabby loved to bring his toy and lay right next to Silas on his play mat. Sometimes he will even lay at Silas' feet but quickly learns that's the "danger zone" as Silas loves to kick as hard as he can. 

Silas started outgrowing his newborn outfits. He still wasn't quite into 3 month clothes so we had to squeeze in to some things for a bit. :)

We really got into a good rhythm during the day, although I will say Silas has never been a great napper. Naps usually last 15-30 minutes and are pretty fitful. Around 7 weeks he finally started to nap without being swaddled. I felt this was huge progress since I knew he wouldn't be swaddled while at day care. (Can you tell this was one of those days we napped together?? :))

Silas watched his first ManU game! We got him all dressed up. And I just know he was excited as we were. ;)

Sorry for the boob shot, but I had to include this picture. He really began reaching for things (books, toys, etc). My favorite, though, is when he reaches for me! He would try to grab my face as I talked to him. He would grab my hair (ouch!) while holding him, or just reach out to touch me while nursing or napping in my arms. Best. Feeling. Ever. 

Silas began big boy baths (vs. sponge barhs) and loved it! He absolutely LOVES splashing in the water. 

We made our way to the library for their annual sale. We racked up!  Silas slept in the bjorn while I piled books in my bag. I consider that trip a great succes!

And finally, we were much more social in month two!

  Side note-- I feel like I owe so many people an apology for basically ignoring them for two months. Trust me, none of it was personal! The month before he was born, I didn't want to talk to anyone because I was sulking that I was still pregnant. I was having a major pity party, and everyone asking me about it only made it worse. Then the month after he was born.... Well, we've already established I was a hot mess, so we wot go there again. But basically I was in survival mode and didn't think I could spare a moment of energy on anyone who wasn't needing me to survive -- aka, anyone but Silas. 

Gran and Ms. Glenda came to visit a few times. It was so nice to spend the day with them! (The pups loved the extra attention too. ;))

My HU besties all came for some much needed QT. It was so good to see them and catch up! It had been much too long, ladies! 

Katherine, my dearest of friends, asked me to be in her wedding! I was so excited!!

Jennie, Abby and Megan all came for a short visit while they were all together for Megan's baby shower. It was SO wonderful to catch up!

Sorry for the terrible picture of a screenshot, but this was the best I could do. :) My favorite part of Month Two was going back to NWA for the weekend. Friday night I took Silas out to one of my favorite places on earth.... Green Valley! Even though we were only out there for a short time, getting to see some longtime friends (and their babies) was simply amazing. Like, good for the soul, amazing. 

Saturday morning Tyler, Silas and I all went to visit my grandmother Vi. I had not been able to see her in quite some time because of the pregnancy. It was SO wonderful to be able for Silas to meet his only living great-grandparent. We know Grandma's time is limited so I'm just beyond thankful for this time. 

Even though she didn't really understand what was going on, I know how happy she would have been to meet him. She is truly one special woman. 

This picture means everything to me. 4 generations!

Later that day I visited my friends Whitney and Cortney, and Josh and Natalie, followed by dinner with our parents and Tyler's aunt and uncle. Such a full day with so many people we love! Even though making the drive to NWA has become a BIT more difficult nowadays (hello, 2 dogs, 2 kennels PLUS all that comes with a baby!) I was so glad to make it home before going back to work. 

And to conclude, here is his monthly picture!

Month One

Month one was definitely the craziest month of my life. Crazy delivery, hectic first week, and oh ya, having a new baby. 

Silas hanging out with John for the first time. Silas -one week. John -6 weeks. 

By week two, I was going a little stir crazy still living in my basement. Seriously, someone please get me out of here!!!

Thank goodness my mom put together yet another wonderful beach trip for my family! It wasn't until the Wednesday before we left on Friday that we finally decided we were going. (We always said we would play it by ear. If he was colicky or we weren't up for it, we wanted to be able to bow out). Luckily, Silas was getting over his staph infection and had clearance from the doctor. (She did advise not getting him in the ocean. No, duh, lady. Ha!)

So Tyler, Annie and I braved the 9 hours drive with Silas. And really, all things considered, he did great. It may have taken an extra hour or so but nothing to complain about. 

We got to Fort Morgan and I was in heaven. Not only did I not have to clean, I also had (amazingly delicious) meals prepared for me, a babysitter any time I needed a break, lots of quality family time, and I was at the freaking beach. 

Don't get it twisted, this two-week post partum self was not about to get in the water (or a bathing suit for that matter). But it was just the fact that out the back door was sunshine, sand and waves crashing. Therapy -- it was really great therapy, minus the talking about your feelings crap. 

I basically laid around in pjs all week. I only became presentable one night when  we went to Lulu's. The rest of the time I was my hot mess self. 

PS -- I have decided all those girls that get fancy (ie: showered, makeup and anything nicer than pajamas) days after delivery are just plain freaking crazy. I felt like if I BATHED my day was a success. This went on for like a month. So all you girls that get all dolled up three days after you have a baby? Go away. Just..... Go away. 

Aunt Amanda and baby boy. 

Harry LOVES his boy cousins. It's the cutest!!!

Before the USA World Cup game. 

Like the only time I went out to the beach except for family pics. 

Mallory and GK were the hand-washing police with anyone that held Silas. :)

Levi loved Silas! He got the biggest kick out of the little baby.

Gran snuggles!

Tyler and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary at the beach. We celebrated with key lime cheesecake -- my kind of celebration!

Once we got back home from the beach, we moved back upstairs to our normal living arrangements. It was the first time Silas had been in his nursery! (At 3 1/2 weeks old) Coming home after the beach made me feel like a completely different person. I actually wanted to get out or the house. This was major progress. 

Netflix night and baby cuddles!

Beginning to hold his head up a bit during tummy time. 

Silas and I out on our first walk. This was the first day we had just the two of us. 

During the first month, here are a few special things about Silas I don't want to forget...

-Your sneezes came in sets of three. 

-Your head control was freakishly good. People would comment all the time about how much older they thought you were because you could practically hold your head up at two weeks. 

-You took about a week to get the hang of sleeping more at night. You were sleeping about 4-5 hours at a time during the night. We were thankful!!

-You did well in pretty much any environment we put you in. You'd sleep anywhere and only got overstimulated once or twice (which is pretty impressive since we were in one house with 15 people for a week!)

-You really started interacting at two weeks old when Chad had you in his lap at the beach. He talked to you and sang to you and just listened and coo'd. That was pretty cool to see. 

-You slept so well when swaddled. I am forever thankful to Bo and Bess for lending us one of their swaddle me blankets. I didn't think we would need any so we were just using muslin blankets. But one night in the swaddle me blanket and you slept 5 hours for the first time! We've been hooked ever since. 

You took the paci at 4 days old and have loved it ever since. 

-You had a full head of dark brown hair. No clue where that came from!

-You LOVE bathtime!! You instantly calmed down and got bright eyed. 

-A few times early on, I was so tired I would feed you laying down in bed so we  could both get some rest. Tyler did not approve thinking this was too dangerous. So he would stand at the foot of the bed (he'd stand so he wouldn't fall asleep himself) just staring at us to make sure you were safe. 

-The dogs did surprisingly well around you. We were never worried about Sabby, but we were about Giggs. He can be needy and possessive of me and I had my concerns. But overall they just ignore you, which is as good as I could have hoped for. :)

-Your cry was fairly quiet. (That has since changed!)

-Tyler worried your feet were malformed because they curled up so much when you were first born. It took a few weeks to prove that that wasn't the case. 

-You were not a good burper. At all. 

It took a few weeks, but you stopped feeling like a stranger I didn't know, and became this person I had to know everything about. You are an extension of me -- a piece of my heart I wish could be tied to me forever. You are perfect! I love you Silas Lee!

The First Week

Please don't think I'll be posting weekly updates -- that's just plain crazy. BUT Silas' first week was pretty ridiculous so I thought I would document. That way, when he's 16 and moody and being brought home by the police (kidding!), I can look back and know that since I survived his first week on this earth, I can survive anything. 

The Monday we were admitted into the hospital, the heat and air man confirmed our suspicion -- our air unit was dead. We knew when we bought our house we would have to replace the unit soon. We just hoped it wouldn't be the week our first child was born. But I guess that was us just being high maintenance, wasn't it?😜

So a new hvac system was going to  be put in the following week. 

We went in to the hospital on Monday, and didn't come home until Friday. Boy was it good to be home!!! 

And then the power went out 30 minutes later. 

I kid you not. We get home, the wind blows, and the power goes out. (Our old neighborhood means above ground electrical wires, so it's not the most unusual thing. More like ridiculously terrible timing)

Ok, the power goes out. No big deal, right? It can only be out for an hour or so, right? Right????

Wrong. We didn't have power for 2 1/2 days. 

So how did we survive nearly three days without power? 1. Flashlights and headlamps 2. Family  3. Lots and lots of take out

Thankfully we were experiencing cooler than normal temperatures so our basement stayed nice and cool. We lived down there. The worst part of it all was worrying we would lose our entire deep freezer full of food! Just when we were giving up hope, the power came back. I may have shed some tears of joy at that point! 

Once power was restored, Tyler decided to turn on his computer. A few seconds later he asked if I was cooking something.  Ummm, in the basement? No, dear I'm not. That's when he realized his computer WAS ON FIRE! Seriously, I can't make this stuff up! 

His second hard drive (with all our old pictures) had caught on fire. We still don't know the extent of the damage and if any of our pictures can be recovered. Big thumbs down for that!

The next morning, the hvac crew arrived and demolition began. Because the old system was... well, old, the ductwork needed to be replaced as well. This meant ripping out all the old insulation and ductwork in the attic to make room for the new. So all the "nesting" I had done to clean upstairs and get it just perfect for a newborn? Worthless. The upstairs became a danger zone with insulation and construction materials everywhere. Tyler wouldn't even let me go up there for a few days so I again just camped out in the basement (I think he saw my sanity teetering on the edge. This would most certainly send me over the edge). 

Silas' first appointment went great! He had stayed the same weight since leaving the hospital (8 lb, 6 oz) which meant he was well on his way to getting back to his birth weight (8 lb 11 oz). Great!

A few days later we noticed a rash, assuming it was just a small diaper rash. That changed over the next few days (blisters formed) and we went into the doctor's office again. After several trips to the doctor and one week later, we learned Silas had MRSA staph. Ummm, excuse me? Staph?????? Thankfully our doctor had already prescribed us antibiotic ointment that had already started to heal the infection. Still, I was a little on edge. 

The entire first week or so was a total blur. Thankfully, I had an amazing group of people helping me. My mom, mother in law and sister in law Rachel all came to stay. They helped feed me, clean up after the air was fixed, watch Silas in the middle of the night so I could sleep. You name it, they did it. Tyler's job was the hardest-- to keep me sane. And he really did a great job. (Or the best he could under the circumstances ha!)

I have to say, I feel like either most people forget how difficult the first few weeks are, or they just have much better experiences than me. I had one dear friend that kept it real, saying how rough the first few weeks were for her. She let me know all about the tough stuff she experienced, which really helped me. When I had moments of feeling all sorts of crazy, I knew I wasn't the only one to feel that way. 

And trust me... I was all sorts of crazy!

And not because of all the crazy stuff going on besides bringing home a new human. Because it would be really easy to blame it on all of that. Really and truly, it was simply having Silas to care for. Even though I never had these actual thoughts, in hindsight I'm pretty sure my mind was thinking along these lines...... Who is this stranger I now have to keep alive? Why won't he stop crying? Will he ever think of me as anything but his meal ticket? Holy mother I hurt. Like wow, I hurt a lot. What is REM sleep, bc I'm pretty sure I haven't had that in weeks.  

Personal recovery was ROUGH. And learning all about this new person attached to me a good part of the day was a huge learning curve. Baby blues is no joke.  But I'm just thankful I wasn't dealing with anything more serious. Plus, I think going to the beach with my family (blog post coming soon about that!) really brought me out of any blues I was still dealing with. 

Without further adieu, here are some pictures from our first week with Silas. 

My favorite way to burp him! 

Harry, GK and aunt Amanda all came to visit!

Mimi and Silas 

These girls brought some much needed comic relief!

His first doctor's appointment. 

Power finally came back on!

Silas' Birth Story

I know I'm a terrible blogger, I'm not even going to pretend otherwise. With that said, I have been wanting to document Silas' birth story and am just now sitting down to do just that. Bear with me on this, because it is quite the doozy!

I should preface this by letting you know what I had hoped for. Hoped being the key word. As we all know, and I was strongly reminded, we can try to map out our lives, but the Good Lord can pretty much throw those plans in the garbage whenever He well pleases. And he well pleased. :)

Tyler and I were hoping to have a natural birth. I had done a ridiculous amount of research and preparation. Attended natural birth classes. We even hired a doula. (A doula, for those of you who don't know, is basically a birth coach. She is not a medical professional. She is strictly there to help me achieve the birth I want.) Macy, our doula, was absolutely fantastic. She knew our hope for a natural birth and really worked with us to prepare. I felt I had a really good understanding of what to expect! Well that all went down the crapper.

The weeks leading up to Silas' birth, I was trying EVERYTHING to induce labor. I took maternity leave at 39 weeks, so my full time job at that point was to go in to labor. You name it, I tried it. Every. Single. Day. I was walking 3-4 miles a day, spent hours on the birthing ball, ate pinneapple/dates/red raspberry leaf tea/etc. I really could go on and on about everything I was doing. But nothing was working. I stayed at 1 cm and 50% effaced from weeks 36-41. It was SUPER frustrating.

By wanting to go natural, I knew that I wanted to avoid pitocin at all costs. If I could just go in to labor naturally, I knew I could handle it. Add in pitocin and all bets are off. I know people have had successful natural births with pitocin, but I also knew that it created much stronger contractions than naturally occur. Something I wasn't excited to experience sans pain medication.

At my 41 week doctor appointment (Monday, June 2), they did several tests, including a non-stress test and ultrasound to measure amniotic fluid levels. The NST came back fine. The ultrasound was not as positive. They want fluid levels to measure at least 8. Mine were showing at almost 5. Going past your due date isn't a bad thing, but low fluid levels can indicate a risk for stillbirth. Mine weren't dangerously low, but low nonetheless. And my doctor really wanted to go ahead and get him out. Even though I had dreamt  of going into labor on my own, that was pretty much out the window. He wanted me to go straight to the hospital to be induced that night. Ummm....... ok? *Cue major freak out*

Still wanting to avoid pitocin, we opted for a foley bulb. It's basically a balloon inserted to dilate you slowly and hope that it onsets labor naturally. So that afternoon, the doctor came and placed the bulb. We had the entire night to get some sleep and pray this worked. Tyler was able to get a little sleep, but I struggled. I may  have slept 3 hours. Maybe. I got up at 3 am and walked the halls for an hour or so, just hoping to encourage labor. The next morning, the bulb was removed. I was 4 cm dilated. GREAT. But was not having contractions. BOO.  Macy, our doula, arrived at 9 am (Tuesday, June 3) and we got straight to work. We tried MANY different methods to encourage contractions. NOTHING was working. Finally, at 12 pm, we decided to start pitocin. At this point I was pretty frustrated. We had spent a full 24 hours at the hospital trying to get my body to do what it was designed to do -- and my body was not agreeing.

Something I learned when beginning my pitocin -- they can only give up to 20 units/hour. It usually takes between 8-12 units/hour to put someone in active labor. I began at 1 unit/hour. Every 30 minutes, they would increase the dosage until we got results. I was not getting results! At 5 pm, I was at 13 units/hour and was FINALLY having good contractions. I felt like I things were finally moving along! I was dilated to 5 cm. WoooHoooo for progress!

My doctor came at 5 pm and wanted to break my water. Macy agreed that things were still not moving along and that this would help. So he did. He broke my water and we learned that there was meconium in the fluid. Silas had passed a BM and was at risk for ingesting the meconium in his lungs. So the NICU nurses would have to take him as soon as he was born to assess his breathing. (I had wanted him immediately placed on my chest and delayed cord clamping, so those two things were immediately not an option any more. Another frustration.)

After my doctor broke my water, contractions IMMEDIATELY took a turn. Contractions went from uncomfortable and having to breath through them (but manageable) to HOLY CRAP I CAN'T BREATHE, I'M DYING, DEAR LORD PLEASE MAKE IT STOP. These were so incredibly painful and I wasn't getting a break. They were never coming down. It was like a constant major contraction. *Darn, you pitocin!*

I tried to hold out for 2 hours. But at 7 pm, I was still at 5 cm and knew I couldn't do this for the long haul. So an epidural it was! The anesthesiologist kept wanting to talk to me about epi, and it took every ounce of me not to curse and tell him to jam it in my back already! He finally gave me the epi and it was instant relief.

My blood pressure was a little low, so they gave me medicine to raise my bp. At 8 pm, we thought we were on cruise control. We expected to rest until I fully dilated and knew that could be a few hours. Tyler left the room to tell our parents to go home and rest and we would call them when things got serious. Macy left to grab dinner. I was just about the fall asleep. And that's when things got crazy...

Silas' heart rate plummeted. It was normally around 150, but dropped to about 50 bpm. Within seconds I had 4 nurses in my room. Having just had the epi, I couldn't move. So they flipped me on all fours to try find the heartbeat. They gave me an oxygen mask. Couldn't find the heartbeat. 

So here I am. By myself. Positive that I am about to be wheeled into the operating room for an emergency c-section. After what felt like forever, but was probably only about 30 seconds, they found his heartbeat and it rebounded back up to 150 bpm. Just then, Tyler and Macy returned. I can only imagine was Tyler was thinking when he walked back in to see a room full of nurses and doctors.

The doctor, nurses and anesthesiologist all kept coming in our room to monitor and discuss the situation. I was taken off pitocin in hopes to keep things under control. We thought things had calmed down but then the same thing happened AGAIN at about midnight (Wednesday, June 4). Luckily, this time I was paying close attention to his heart rate and noticed the dip instantly. I was already on all fours with oxygen when all the nurses came in. (Oh ya, did I mention my epi kept "fading"? Basically, it would be fully effective for ab an hour and then fade until it was nonexistant. So at midnight, I was able to move myself into position easily.)

They were able to find his heart beat and it came back up to a normal range. But at this point I knew the doctor would want a c-section. And honestly, I almost wanted one too. Just to get him out and safe. Just to get this all over with. Tyler and I both were ready for surgery -- we just needed the word from our doctor.

The doctor on call (which our nurse later told us was the "midwife of doctors," came in to our room. I asked him point-blank if we needed to have a c-section. All he had to say was yes and Tyler and I would have been fully on board. After all, my #1 priority was a healthy baby. The doctor completely surprised me and said "I haven't given up on you yet." I think had Silas' heartbeat not rebounded both times, we would have had a c-section, no question. But because he was recovering, the doctor felt it was fine to continue. And the good news was that I had dilated to 8cm!

From 12 - 3am, Silas' heartbeat stabilized. Tyler and Macy were able to get some sleep. There was simply no chance I was able to sleep. I had been profusely shaking since my water broke at 5 pm, and after the two big scares, I basically laid in bed listening to his heartbeat. I was seriously on edge.

At about 2:45 am, I realized I was going to need to push. I had just received another dose of epidural so I was pretty numb. But I could tell things had changed so we called for the nurse. The nurse came and sure enough I was 10 cm! FINALLY!!

The doctor was in surgery so we knew it would be about 30 minutes for him to show up. The nurse wanted to start pushing while we waited for the doctor. Right when I was about to start pushing my blood pressure dropped considerably. Like 70/40. I thought I was either going to pass out or throw up. It was the strangest feeling I've ever had. And this is the time the nurse wants me to push?? Ya freaking right.

But I pushed for 2 hours and at 4:54 am, Silas Lee Herriman arrived! The NICU nurses checked him over and I had him in my arms in less than 5 minutes. He was healthy! Because I pushed for so long, the epidural had worn off so I was able to feel the last hour of labor. I am actually thankful for this because I had wanted to experience natural labor, but was still able to get some relief and rest the few hours before.

Tyler completely shocked and amazed me during labor. He was by my side the entire time. We had  wanted a doula for several reasons, but one of the biggest reasons was because of Tyler's strong dislike for anything medical. *He may or may not have passed out on occasion over the course of our relationship* So we thought if he were to get light-headed, at least I would have someone else there to stay with me. :)  But he never once left my side. Between pushes he was there with ice, encouraging me all the way. He even cut the cord, which totally shocked me! I am 100% sincere when I say I could not have done it without him.

After delivery, we were able to spend some good quality time as a family of three before our parents came in to meet their grandson.

Needless to say, after 48 hours with only about 3 hours of sleep, I was beyond exhaustsed. We were thankful to get a few hours that day of rest. 

Like many new moms, I originally expected to keep Silas in our room at all times. But lack of sleep can do crazy thigs to you -- to the nursery he went! I'm thankful for that time it gave me to regain my sanity. 

More posts to come about the first two months. I mean, seriously, he's coming up in month 3 so I better do it soon! 😉

And now, some pics... Please no judgement. I was a hot mess. A hot mess that was too physically and emotionally exhausted to wash her hair for like.... 4 days. lol

Ok here we go again

Hello all, tis time to try this again. And this time, I think I have special reason to stick with it! ;)

As most if you know by now, Tyler and I are ecstatic that we are expecting our first little humanbaby!!! I use this term because, quite truthfully, we already have two babies.... Furbabies nonetheless, but that's just getting into the details. 

As of now, our sweet human baby is about 9 week old. We had out first appointment last week and I'll get in to those details later. But for now, I really wanted to make note of everything that's gone on in the first few weeks of pregnancy before I forget!

September 16th -- the BEST/SCARIEST day of my life!!!! That weekend, I had had a work event and had recruited Tyler to help. It was all hands on deck! Anyway, after that event ended Saturday, I got home and was in bed by 7 pm. I. Was. Exhausted. Then, Sunday night I woke up in the middle of the night to go pee (darn that frequent restroom break thing that happens a with pregnancy!) and could NOT go back to sleep. I just started praying. Praying for our unborn child. I probably laid awake praying for over an hour. And it was then that I just knew. Weird, right? I just knew that I was pregnant! I had this ah-ha moment and just knew that I had to take a test the next morning. Thankfully I had to run a bunch of errands on Monday for work and snuck in some time to pick up a test and head home. (No way was I taking this life-changing, biggest-moment-of-my-life test in my work restroom!) I got home, took the test and consequently stared at myself in the mirror for a solid 10 minutes after I saw the result. I was stunned. I couldn't move. I just stared at myself with a dumb, silly grin because my mind couldn't process this new information.  

After I snapped out of my coma, I immediately began thinking of how to tell Tyler. I asked if he wanted to meet for lunch, and he shot me down. Darn it, plan B. I decided to just be sure I got home before him so I could greet him at the door. I mean, he's going to be ecstatic, right?? Well, it certainly wasn't the reaction I had hoped for. 

Tyler and I aren't really big into the frills and big, fancy-shmancy creative announcements so I decided to keep it simple. I was in the kitchen "doing the dishes" when he walked it. The test was sitting on our countertop by the door. It took him a second to realize what it was, and, here is where he jumps up and down, cries, hugs me and tells me he's never been happier, right? Ummm, not quite. He simple looks at it and laughed. At me! He said I was being ridiculous, because there simple isn't any way we could be pregnant. (Maybe I should back and up say that I've kind of been wanting to getting pregnant for months now. I've been tracking my cycle and he has even caught me taking tests a month or so ago). So to be fair, he really just thought I was freaking out for nothing. 

But then, when I explained that it was in fact positive, he still didn't buy it. He said it was probably a false positive (I had been researching online and knew the unlikelihood of such a thing) and that he needed "more data points" in order to confirm it in his mind. Now, for those that know him, this probably doesn't surprise you. He's an economist. All day, every day, he studies statistics. He looks at data and analyzes. So after my immediate heartbreak (and maybe a yelling tantrum that he didn't believe me) I took a breath and realized that I had had all day to process this info. I even had the internal "motherly intuition" thing to know without a doubt. But he didn't. I had just thrown this at him 2 minutes ago. He needed more data. And that's ok. 

So for 3 days I waited. Tyler said if I took another brand test at a different time of the day 3 days later and it was still positive, he would believe it. Ok, fine whatever. For three days, I was the only person that knew I was pregnant. And I have to say it was fairly isolating. I really felt alone during those few days! Finally I took the test and, of course!, it was positive. Tyler actually had the happy, lovey, dovey response I had hoped for! We hugged, freaked out and had a long, fun convo about how the rest of our lives will change forever. No pressure, right? :)

And that's it for now! I will try my absolute hardest to post regularly during pregnancy. I really want to use this a scrapbook of sorts. A documentation of this wonderful / terrifying experience!

The best way to tell someone you're wife is pregnant

Leave it to Tyler to completely shock me with his creativity in telling his sister we are expecting. 

Let me set the scene. 

Tyler's sister Rachel and her husband Josh were in town for a quick weekend trip for Josh's sister's wedding. They live in Denver so we haven't seen them in quite some time. And we won't see them again until Christmas. So Tyler and I knew we wanted to share this news with them in person. Even if it meant sharing a few weeks before we told everyone else. 

We had Josh and Rachel and Tyler's parents in for the weekend. It was awesome!!! It was so great to all be together, even if just for a short time. My heart was happy, and we all had a great relaxing time together filled with lots of laughs. 

We kept the pregnancy a secret all weekend. Once Tyler's parents left to head back to NWA, the four of us were left to veg out, watch tv, and enjoy the few hours we had left together. We were watching Extreme Weightloss (have you ever watched that show??? I love it. I cry every freaking episode). Anyway, we are watching this entire show and Tyler still hasn't said anything! Come on Tyler! WHAT are you waiting for?!?!? We had decided he should be the one to tell them, so I just left it to him to come up with something. BIG. MISTAKE. 

As the show came to an end, Tyler speaks up and says very casually, "Speaking of extremely fat people..." Uh oh, this is not what I had in mind. Nor can this sentence end well. "...Hannah's going to be getting pretty huge in the next 8 months."

I died. Not because I was offended.  Because let's face it, I'm going to get really fat in the next 8 months. Logic and facts don't tend to offend me. They're facts. 

I died because that even caught me totally off guard, and I KNEW what the news was! I immediately started laughing so hard I began to cry. Josh and Rachel laughed hysterically without a clue. They were just assuming Tyler was saying something offensive, which he may do from time to time. It took a good 5 seconds for Rachel to stop. Think about what was just said. And process what he actually meant. She turned, eyes like a deer in headlights, and immediately started screaming. Actually we all screamed. We hugged, cried, screamed, etc. It was pretty stinking awesome. 

So for all those looking for any announcement ideas, feel free to ask Tyler for advice. I'm sure he'll come up with some great suggestions.