That was what I saw on Friday, March 13th. It’s taken a while to tell everybody, but all of the parents now know what’s up. Telling all of them has been a week-long ordeal. Some reactions were not like I expected. Some were exactly like I expected.
Where to start?
Jolene thought that she might be pregnant, so one night she bought two economical pregnancy tests from Walgreens. She used the first one, and there was an ever-so-faint line indicating that she was pregnant. We wondered if it, perhaps, it was just a mark that came up due to dampness and not a real pregnancy?
How would we figure out of it was truly indicating that she was pregnant? We debated – should I pee on the second one to compare the results of the my test vs Jolene’s test? I decided that no, let’s just try the second one tomorrow. Again, a faint line showed up on the test indicating pregnancy. I later learned that even a faint line means that the chemical that it tests for is present. We didn’t know this then…
Jolene decided to have her blood test taken in Mount Pleasant, where she works. They wouldn’t give her the results on the phone, so she called me from Sams Club and asked me if I wanted to go and get the results with her. “No, that’s ok dear…” I had a lot of work to do that day, and there was nobody around to watch Maddie and Ben.
I reconsidered minutes later, she had been behaving a little differently than normal. This became a staple in our house, being eaten for every meal possible:
I called her back telling her I’d meet her at her work in an hour.
I left notes for the two beasties, giving them instructions to come in and play video games while they wait for me to get home. I figured an electronic babysitter could handle the 30 minutes that they would be without supervision. Madalyn is almost 12 already anyway.
I drove to Mount Pleasant, and went to meet my wife at the store. We went to the hospital, and found our way to the lab records area. We asked for the paperwork that would tell us if Jolene was pregnant or not, and they asked for an ID. We left this item in the car. Jolene had to sit and stare at the paperwork through the security window while she waited for me to fetch the ID.
After following several very old, very slow people through the hallways of the Mount Pleasant hospital, I retrieved the ID and gave it to her. We looked at the results, above.
During the following week after we found out I wrote a little note. I did not intend to show it to anyone, and as such the grammar isn’t exactly as I would have hoped. It was more of a stream of thoughts placed on the paper. However, after Jolene saw it she decided that it was something that she wanted to use to let her mom and sister know that we were pregnant. That said, here it is in it’s entirety, unedited:
3/17/2009
I’ve been waiting for you.
After I got out of high school I had a grand plan, a way that my life was going to go. I would go to college, I would get a job in the computer industry. I would have a child or two by my mid 20’s. I would have a reasonable house, and live in my parents image of success. None of this happened.
I don’t regret anything in my life. I did go to college after high school. I dropped out during a boom in the economy, in the computer industry. I had a good job, one with possible advancements. I married the girl I was with in high school. That job disappeared from underneath me. So did the wife.
It was then that your mother, brother and sister came along and saved me.
When I met your mother I was depressed. I was lost. I did not have any direction in my life, and I lived it day by day, a hermit in my own house. Your mother, brother, and sister pulled me out of my shell. They showed me love, care, and showed me that I would never ever have to be alone again.
I joined them in Bay City in your mothers apartment. She took care of me during an illness when I had nobody else to do so. It was then that I saw the moral character and the caring, loving person she is. I had been already introduced to your brother and sister, and was friendly with them. I grew to love them, as well. While there wasn’t a specific time that I can place that I did, it happened gradually over time. It was a large adjustment for everyone.
I married your mother on May 5th, 2006. Both of us had been married before. It was not our intention to have a large wedding like we both had previously had. We moved back into my house, which was quite large enough for 2 young adults. Having a baby was something that we talked about, occasionally, but we always waited for the right time.
This has been something I’ve done my entire adult life. Every time I would think about having a baby, I would think about things that would make it difficult if not impossible. There never seemed to be a right time. First there was college. Then there was my lack of a house. Then I had the house, but nobody to share in this journey.
When I met your mother, she already had 2 kids. 2 kids alone is a handful, never mind adding more to that. Now I’m back in college, and the thoughts that maybe we should wait till I am out and have a steady job outside the house occurred to us. In the end, your mother and I decided that if we were going to wait any longer, we might regret not making the decision while we still can.
I’ve been waiting for you.We tried having you for many months. It was only after your mother got a thyroid pill adjustment that you were possible.
That waiting was over as of Friday, March 13th 2009. I drove to meet your mother in Mt Pleasant, where she works and took a pregnancy test at the hospital. We were so excited to go in and get the results from the lab that your mother forgot her ID in the car. I had to walk back to get it while she waited, in sight of the paperwork but unable to read it.
Once back with the ID, we got the good news – you were with us already! I was numb feeling, not sure how to react, but happy.
Now I’m waiting again, not for the right time, but instead to see you. Right now, you’re a small clump of cells. In eight months, you’ll be a full person of your own, out in the world. It seems like a long time from now, but I know it’ll go so very fast. I hope it does. I’m tired of waiting. I hope very strongly that everything goes smoothly. I’m afraid, but hopeful.
So far, we’ve told her parents, my parents, some friends, some co-workers and so forth. As we move further along we will tell more people. It’s a good start. I’ll be documenting things here, more for us than really for anybody else. It is, after all, a new experience for me.
My only concern thus far is that it’s possible our baby may end up like this:
It’s either that or they’ll grow up hating peanut butter, we figure.
First doctors appointment for the baby-making is Tuesday. It’s a strange new world.
