Big News!! We're Expecting!!!

We're super happy and excited to announce that our family is growing by two little feet in December!

April 22 - the day our lives changed forever! I got home from work, took a pregnancy test with full intentions that it was going to be negative since they had been negative in the preceding couple of months. Boy was I wrong - if I would have known I would have waited for Ryan to be home! I called Ryan, who had just finished teaching his night class, and asked when he'd be home. It took everything in me to not spill the beans right then and there on the phone but I wanted to tell him in person.  When he got home, I remember standing in the kitchen and asking him 'guess what?!?!' with a huge smile on my face. I can't even remember what he guessed but after two tries I got to tell him "I'm pregnant!!" The look on his face was priceless :) He stood there speechless with a huge grin on his face :) I showed him the pregnancy test but then we thought 'what happens if this is a false-positive.' So we drove to the grocery store where we bought a digital pregnancy test, folic acid, and a can of corn (to go with dinner)- how random is that! I often times wonder what cashiers think of peoples purchasing combinations - lol.

May 9 - Our little peanut's first pictures! Just 6 mm long in the top picture from my first ob appointment! Only 6 mm long but with a little beating heart!! I was so nervous going into that first appointment but so revealed when I saw that little heart beat. Being the worry wart that I am, and unfortunately knowing too much for my own personal benefit about OB, when we got home from the appointment, I started worrying about our little peanut. "Omg, there wasn't a yolk sac!" "How could there not have been a yolk sac?!?" "We didn't count the heart beats per minute." "I think the heart beat was too slow given the gestational age." Ryan kept trying to reassure me, but I honestly barely slept that night :/

May 10 - The second set of pictures of our little peanut came into existence (the bottom two in the above picture). During the month of May, I was on my REI rotation and scanning for little fetuses is a big part of what we do there. I was talking with my attending and she sensed my anxiety so we took a second look. What was I worried about?!? There it was, a nice looking yolk sac and a nice strong heart beat that we measured (in the picture below). I got a little spoiled and we took a 3D image too - pretty good looking yolk sac and tubular state to our little fetus if you ask me!

May 17 (upper left) and May 24 (upper right) It's crazy how much these little fetuses change in a weeks' time. May 24 was our 5 year wedding anniversary :) Both Ryan and I had a three-day weekend so we decided to hit the road back to Minnesota to tell our families!

May 24 - Called Hillary on our drive back up to Minnesota because her and Ryan weren't able to make it down. I asked Hillary "Guess what?!" "What?" "You're going to be an auntie!!" There was a short pause.... "Are you expecting!?!!" :) I wish I would have been able to see their reactions in person :) We got up to my parent's house pretty late that night. My parents, Ryan and I were all sitting around the table chatting when I told me parents "Well Ryan and I already know what we are getting you for Christmas this year. We brought I little clue. You have ten guesses." {My dad always tried to get us to guess our Christmas presents every year and will give us clues along the way.} I handed my dad the present with a red bow on it to open, and he handed it to my mom. My mom guessed "a picture frame" and then they guessed "are we going on vacation somewhere..." and I have to admit, my mom guessed it prior to opening the present "are you announcing something that's coming in nine months?!" I had to hold my smile back and say no :) My mom opened it, looked at the picture, looked up at me and said "It's a baby" {it was a framed ultrasound picture of the little kiddo saying Hi Grandma and Grandpa} Then gave us a round of hugs. My dad took a look at it, I could tell he was a little shocked and speechless and said "I'm going to be a grandpa, I don't think I'm ready to be a grandpa." :) We told him he was ready and that he had the grey hair to prove it :) ha - lol.

May 25 - My parents, Ryan and I all went into the nursing home to tell my grandparents that they were going to be great-grandparents again. I will never forget telling them, especially my grandma. She was so awake and alert that morning. After I told them, she got the biggest smile on her face :) She was grinning from ear to ear. It's a moment that I'll cherish forever!  Kristin and Dave came over to Mom and Dad's later that afternoon/evening for dinner. Kristin is always quick to notice any changes at their house, so we left the the picture frame on the counter to see how long it would take her to notice. When Kristin and Dave came upstairs, they were playing with Sophie and then Kristin when over to check out some new scrapbook pages my mom had put out. Kristin then started playing with Sophie again and when she stopped and stood up, she saw the picture frame, picked it up, looked at it, turned towards me and said "you?!" Yeppers!!! She then gave me a big hug. Dave was sitting in the front room and asked "Wait, what did I just miss out on!" since Kristin and I were making a little commotion :) It was so hard to not tell my family over the phone the day we found out we were expecting. But I'm glad that we waited and told them in person :)

May 26 - Ryan and I drove to his parent's house to fill them in on our little secret. I can't remember exactly how the subject of buying presents from Fleet Farm came up but then we told me "well, we have a present for your guys." They were confused, like I think anyone would be. Ryan grabbed the present and handed it to his dad who then passed it off to Renee. Renee opened it, put on her glasses, stared on it, and then looked up and asked "Is this a baby?!?" lol, yep! She passed the picture off to Steve so she could give us hugs. Steve sat there pretty speechless - must be a grandpa thing :)

That weekend was so much driving but so much fun! We haven't started planning much for the new arrival but should probably start soon. December will be here before we know it!!

~Ashley