Guess what?

Turns out, we came home from St. John with more than a tan and a suitcase full of sand.

I'm pregnant!!!

I went to my 12-week appointment this afternoon and was able to hear the baby's heartbeat. I forgot what an amazing sound that is...and reassuring too. My doctor said the baby was moving all over the place and kicking away. "A very active baby" were her exact words. She said that with Ayla and turns out, it's still true. I'm due March 15th...very exciting because I wanted a spring baby. :)

We were really surprised it happened so quickly having JUST gone off the pill before going to St. John. With Ayla, it took us several months. I kind of, sort of suspected that I might be...but I didn't know if I was just looking for symptoms and willing them to be present. The major thing is how incredibly tired I have been. In the afternoons while I'm driving home, I can barely keep my eyes open. And once Ayla and I get home, all I want to do is sleep...too bad that's not an option. Maybe I feel more exhausted because this time around, I'm chasing around a toddler and not just sitting on the couch with my bowl of ice cream and Ellen. Other than that though, I'm feeling great.

To backtrack a bit, here's how and when I found out--my cycles are totally wacky if I'm not on the pill so I figured I'd wait a few extra days to take a pregnancy test. Dean was in Des Moines for work on Tuesday July 13...before I went to bed, I thought, "What the heck...I'm just going to take one and see." I took it and briefly saw it creep over the test window and didn't see anything so I thought it was going to be negative. It's supposed to take 2-3 minutes so I set it on the ground and waited. I glanced down at it and did a double-take. There was a plus sign! I couldn't believe it. It was too late to call Dean and I knew I wanted to tell him in person when he came home the next day. Just to make sure, I took another one the next morning...still positive. In the picture below, the bottom test is more faint, but it's still there.
The next morning, I had to tell someone...so I told Ayla. :) I asked her if she wanted to have a new baby in our family. She said no. I know she doesn't understand it but hopefully in the next several months, we can talk to her about it more. Since then, she will now pat my belly when I ask her where the baby is and she has even kissed "the baby" a couple of times without prompting. Very cute. I couldn't figure out how I wanted to tell Dean. I ended up wrapping the positive pregnancy test in a gift bag. When he got home, he was still on a work-call so I had to wait until he was done. I held out the bag and said Ayla and I had a present for him. He was really confused. He opened it and it took a few seconds for it to register. He said he thought it was going to be something random that Ayla decided to wrap up for fun...like a carrot. Weird.

We went out to dinner and a crazy storm blew through...by the time we got home, it was starting to clear up and when we stepped outside, we saw the biggest, brightest double-rainbow we've ever seen. The picture does not do it justice. I think it's a sign of good luck.
A few days later, I had Ayla show my mom the pregnancy test. It took her several seconds to figure out what it was and then she kept saying "ohmigod" over and over again before she ran upstairs to tell my dad. We told Dean's family the first night we were up at the cabin. I made Ayla a t-shirt that says BIG Sister--we changed her into it before dinner and just sat her down and waited for someone to notice. Marla saw it almost immediately and then everyone else kind of figured it out. :) Apparently I drink too much wine because I passed on it at dinner one night right after we found out and Marla immediately asked if I was pregnant. I felt my entire face turn red while I shook my head "no." It was a relief to tell both of our families...it was hard keeping it in!We are so so so excited. A lot of things are going to change and it'll all happen before we know it. I do know this for sure though--I already can't wait to hold him/her.