"Guess what?"

Some women come up with elaborate ways of telling their spouse that they're pregnant. But not me; I wasn't that creative, nor did I have the patience to wait for a clever idea to take shape in my head before telling Matt. So instead of a well-planned pregnancy proclamation, I just woke Matt up (it was early in the morning so he was still sleeping) and said "Guess what?" I can only imagine what he thought I was going to say, since it was early and I don't normally wake him up. Maybe he thought I was going to tell him that the basement had flooded or a spaceship had landed next door. Or maybe he was so groggy from being rudely awakened that he wasn't thinking anything at all. But he mumbled "What?" and I simply said, "I'm pregnant."

I was holding the pregnancy test for backup, in case he didn't believe me or thought I must be playing a joke on him. I suppose at the very least I could have waited until he woke up on his own; that would've been the thoughtful thing to do. But I give Matt a lot of credit for sitting up, asking if I was serious, and then saying, "Well good job." There was a hug, a kiss, and then Matt had to get ready for work. That was May 2nd.

I think it took some time for the news to sink in for both of us. It was a strange thing to know that if all went well, our lives would drastically change in nine months; when there's no visual indicator of a growing baby (no baby belly, no sonogram pictures, etc.), it just seemed like it wasn't real yet.

Matt and I had been hoping to start a family for a while. I'd had to come off of a couple of medications that weren't safe to take during pregnancy, and I wanted them to be totally out of my system before I even got pregnant. Basically, there was a bit of prep work involved. So it wasn't shocking to find out I was pregnant, but it was very exciting that it finally happened.

This blog will be a place for me to share updates regarding my pregnancy and my experiences as a first-time mother. Matt and I have many family members and friends who live out-of-state, so this is an opportunity for them to keep up with what's going on if they choose to. Besides, I figure not everyone on Facebook is interested in seeing my sonogram and baby belly photos. They should all be grateful I've created a different location for "baby central!" I hope you'll all check in periodically and share in our experience.