How We Told the Parents and Other Stories

First of all, THANK YOU for the book recommendations. I need a library run desperately. And please feel free to keep sending me new titles to read. I should probably post some of my recommendations, but we'll save that for later.

Once again--this post is more for me than anyone, so don't feel like you HAVE to read/comment. I'm just trying to get everything written down before I forget details.

The First Indication
As I said before, Jon & I had been trying for a bit before the baby decided to show up. So, for 5 months previous to November, I waited expectantly for signs of pregnancy. Let me just say--it's amazing what your mind can do. I don't know how many times I told Jon I felt nauseous during those months (turns out the real thing is much, much worse than my brain's concoction). By the time November rolled around, we were actually hoping the baby would wait a month or two so I could fully enjoy Disneyland (go figure).

Well, my first symptom certainly wasn't nausea. I was a good girl and actually attended our ward Relief Society dinner night (even without you, Adrian. Sad day). The main course consisted of turkey, gravy, and mashed potatoes, and I was very excited to eat it. Since I was the new girl, people kept stopping me in line and introducing themselves, which was very nice, but meant that I was the LAST person to the food. By the time I got to the table there was some turkey, no gravy, and no potatoes. And my eyes literally filled up with tears. Not because I was hungry, but because I wanted some gravy, dang it! Luckily they brought some out and prevented a total meltdown (though I think I literally snatched the potato spoon out of a Young Woman's hand). I sat down with my gravy-drenched meal and could not figure out what was wrong with me--I never have PMS mood swings like that. It wasn't until the next day that I found out for sure that I was pregnant. Welcome to pregnancy hormones (which also made me tear up every time "Mary, Did You Know?" came on the radio).

Thanksgiving Fun
The day after we found out, we headed to West Virginia for Thanksgiving. All was well--I had no more insanity and no other symptoms. Then, suddenly, I became totally exhausted. Halfway through the day I would go upstairs and sleep for 2-3 hours. I felt bad because I was neglecting Jon's family (they kept asking why I was always asleep), but what can you do? I also developed the need to eat every two hours or I would start shaking. This was extremely difficult as the Blood home has NO snack food. I ate a lot of Ramen and Clementines.

Christmas Fun
Turns out the baby hates car rides. My first experience with nausea came after the 6.5 hour drive home from WV. I haven't been sick like that since I was 14 and it was every bit as horrible as I remembered. Poor Jon--he had no idea what to do! But he looks very cute when he's all concerned about me...

We then had a dilemma. I had determined a long time ago that I didn't want to tell anyone until I was past 14 weeks just in case something went wrong. Unfortunately, the family vacation to Disneyland over Christmas forced my hand. It would be pretty obvious what was up if I faked terror at every ride with a "No Expectant Mothers" sign. Nor did I know how long I could hide my nausea, bloated belly, or hourly eating sprees. After much deliberation, we decided that we would tell the family on Christmas, but no one else.

I was pretty excited about the whole "surprise the family on Christmas" deal. We brazenly plagiarized Val's method and bought bibs that said "I Love Grandma" and "I Love Grandpa." Unfortunately, the selection limited me to pink Grandpa bibs and blue Grandma ones. Since we were spending Christmas in Arizona, we wrapped two bibs and sent them to Jon's parents after we made Mom Blood swear she wouldn't open them (she's a horrible cheater with gifts). I came up with an elaborate scheme involving me sneaking downstairs at 4 am Christmas morning to place the bibs in my parents' stockings. It was the perfect plan.

I successfully managed to deceive my family for the three days we were there before Christmas. On Christmas morning my alarm went off at 4 am and I quietly sneaked down the stairs. I headed to the family room to place the bibs and run away. Then I realized that the light was on. Peering over the top of the couch, I saw my mom asleep on the floor in front of the stockings!! She starting stirring, and I booked it back upstairs and hoped she'd be too sleepy to realize what was going on.

I tried again at 6 am. This time I made it halfway down the stairs before I saw my mom asleep on the living room couch. There was no sneaking past--she had a full on view of the staircase. But I wasn't giving up now--not after getting up TWICE. When she woke up and saw me, I casually asked why she was on the couch (didn't want to wake up Dad, she said) and then informed her that I was merely getting a drink and wouldn't sneak and look at our stockings. I headed into the kitchen and took my precious time filling up a glass. When I knew my mom was asleep again, I rushed over, carefully placed the bibs, and headed back upstairs. Mission Accomplished.

But, of course, my parents had to blow it by NOT EVEN LOOKING AT THEIR STOCKINGS. Jon & I tried to drop some casual hints, but they just deflected them with, "Oh, we already know what's in there." Finally, we dropped some obvious hints and they got the point. Turns out we had been successful after all--neither of them saw it coming (although my dad had noticed my bloated tummy and wondered). Kenna claimed she knew, but that was only because she caught me sneaking Goldfish during sacrament meeting and I gave her some ridiculous story about trying to lose weight. We called Jon's family later and explained to them that yes, we were making an announcement, not just giving them bibs for Jocelyn (our niece) to wear.

My dad was very concerned as to why he was given the pink bib.

By the end of the day both families were well-informed, my sisters were bribed to keep their mouths shut, and I had taken down my Facebook to prevent any secret-leaking. Surprisingly, my tactics worked--no one else had any idea until I was officially past the 14 week mark and had heard the heartbeat again.

And now I have less than two weeks until I find out what we're having! Don't ask me why, but I'm extremely nervous about this. I have the same anxiety I had before finals! What is the deal? All I have to do is show up and lay there. I'm so ridiculous sometimes.

Oh, and Jon is convinced we're having a boy. No reason--just his manly intuition. I still want a girl.