A Revealing Method

It's time to start sharing now that we all know I was pregnant for nine months this year.  I'll start from the beginning.  So, how did I reveal to my husband, family and friends that I was pregnant?  Before I get to the answer, let's look back at my post from June 2011 about all the exciting ways that one can reveal that she is pregnant.  Here is a brief summary of that post:

• Online Method - blog about it, tweet it, post it on Facebook, make an online photo album with your sonogram photo, send an email, Evite everyone to a party featuring your baby bump
• Phone Call Method - no explanation needed
• Creative Face-to-Face Method - a dinner party, a colorful (think pink or blue) cake, a t-shirt with a message, etc.
• Revealing Gift Method - a mug for your parents that says "I love Grandma/pa", a t-shirt for your husband that says "#1 Daddy", etc.

Check out the post for a full post (here) with awesome (might I say) suggestions.

So, which of my awesome suggestions did I take?  None.  Well, none when it came to the biggest and most important reveal - my husband.  I just walked out of the bathroom completely stunned and said, "I think I'm pregnant."  To which he said, if I remember correctly, "What does that mean?"

The conversation then proceeded with me explaining that I used the pregnancy test (like I said I would five minutes earlier).  I waited the appropriate amount of minutes for an accurate result.  I looked at the pee covered stick.  There were TWO pink lines.  Then I repeated, "I think I'm pregnant."  This time he said, "You are pregnant."  It wasn't a could be, might be, "think" situation.  I was or I wasn't, and I was.  Pure joy.  Then I took another test, for good measure. 

I will never forget that exchange.  I will never forget that day.  So, the lesson quickly became - it doesn't matter how one reveals her pregnancy.  It's unforgettable no matter the method.

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The Waiting is the Hardest Part

Tom Petty and those Heartbreakers said it best:

Making the decision to try to get pregnant is HUGE.  For some, it's a decision that was made a long time ago, but other factors (and parties) had to get on board.  For others, it's a decision that came after a lot of thinking and waiting and considering and waiting and more thinking.  In either case, once this HUGE decision is made it's then time to go ahead and get pregnant.

Whether trying to get pregnant means casually pulling the goalie or purchasing an ovulation test kit and creating spreadsheets, it's impossible to know when it actually happens.  The word "it" in that prior sentence does not stand for "sex"...you know when sex happens.  Rather, it stands for moment that one actually becomes pregnant (fertilization then implantation... look it up), which is impossible to determine without some sophisticated medical equipment.  And so, whether your approach is laid back or full throttle, there will be a period of waiting to see whether you get your period, or not.

When you've made that decision that it's go time, that you're ready to get pregnant, that you're as ready as you'll ever be to become a parent...waiting can be hard.  It can be excruciating.  Typically it's two weeks between the day that a woman can get pregnant (ovulation) and the day that a woman should get her period (menstruation...I had to write it).  Even if a woman's cycle is a little unpredictable, it's still about two weeks before most pregnancy tests will give an accurate reading.

Thank you Wikipedia for this helpful chart.  

Taking a pregnancy test before the two week mark, while tempting, isn't a great option.  The results are not necessarily accurate, which will lead to waiting another few days to retest while coping with potentially false information in the meantime.  So, if you have to wait, how can you make it a little less hard?  In true Family Feud style, I've polled a bunch of ladies and the number one answer on the board is "Stay Busy".  Fill your social calendar.  Start (and finish?) a new TV series, I recommend Homeland.  Bake yourself, your friends, your co-workers some cookies.  Learn to knit.  Do anything that will take your mind off waiting and do it constantly until the waiting is over.  An idle mind is the devil's workshop (it's a proverb of some sort), so keep your mind full of thoughts other than "how much longer do I have to wait?!".

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