Back to Work and Day Care

I officially went back to work at 6 weeks. She started daycare at 7 weeks old. There are so many mixed emotions when it came to dropping her off that first day.

She remembered me when I picked her up :)

I am definitely a career focused person, so the drive to be at work was starting to give me the itch around week 5 and 6. I am a numbers person who needs to have a goal in front of me to achieve, so I knew that I was going to be going to work. What made me so sad, was the fact that my baby will be in someone elses arms for 10 hours a day. What I came to realize was that this was her social life as well. There are several other little munchkins at day care for her to learn from and interact with, that I truly feel that this was the best choice for our family.

We have an amazing day care provider that sends me pictures if I need them, and they really do get me through the day. So we are on our second full week at work and it is going as best as it possibly could. I get so excited to get off work so I can go see her :) It is so fun to see other little kids call her Nayna and mama. :) I think she is going to love going to day care when she is older!

What I Love the Most...

What I love the most:

1. Looking at our daughter and picking out what she has of Mine and Nate's
2. Putting her face close to my ear and listening to the little noises and her breathing. I tell Nate that it is her telling us secrets and stories, just to sit and listen.
3. Laughing at how much she farts. Seriously, it's ridiculous.
4. Making her stop crying. It makes me feel like I am doing something right and I am a good momma.
5. Dressing her every morning, afternoon and night with a different outfit.
6. Her sneezing.
7. Watching Nate hold her and tell her about his day at work.
8. Reading to her like she actually understands the stories that we are telling her.
9. Seeing how much our family loves her.
10. Not caring that I still have baby weight to lose because she was worth every single pound.
11. Wanting to stay home all the time with her because nothing is more fun then watching her.
12. Hearing that she is cute, that never gets old.
13. Getting up with her in the middle of the night, I know it sounds crazy and I am sure that I will get over it and it won't last, but for the time being, I love being the one to make her happy and comfortable.
14. How she will never stop eating unless you physically make her. She eats SO much! Just another thing like her dad :)
15. I like doing laundry and having a little sock stuck to Nate's work pants when you pull them out of the dryer.
16. Seeing how the dog's are a lot more calm since she arrived and they are always so curious what this little person is doing and how she smells 
17. Honestly thinking that my baby is the cutest baby in the world and no one can argue with me
18. How she has baby acne 
19. When Nate and I went out of town for our friends wedding and during slow dances we are talking about what we love the most about Alaina and what we miss about her
20. Having tears come to my eyes every time there is a song about a Mother and her love :)

When The Stork Came

As our due date fast approached, I can honestly say that I felt the exact same day in and day out. The morning on October 8th, however, I woke up very early, just around 4am, and felt very sick. Very nauseous and the heart burn was 100 times worse than the past. I couldn't fall asleep so I woke Nate up and we decided to watch Baby Momma at 4:30am. After the movie was over Nate made me a delicious breakfast and we got ready to go watch our niece Bailey run at North Linn for cross country. I was feeling a little better so I wasn't going to stay home so off we went.

As we were at the meet, I was having a very hard time walking. There was so much pressure with every step, but nothing painful, so I chalk it up to just being so big. After the meet, we were invited over to my sister's house to watch the Hawk game. We went home got the puppies and we went to Delhi.While we were there, I am sort of convinced, that the way that the Hawks played that day, induced the contractions. It was about 4:30pm and I noticed that I was getting contractions pretty consistently, but nothing painful, just tightening. So, for the fun of it, I started documenting in my phone the duration and the time between contractions. 4:44pm, 4:50pm, 5:15pm, 5:25pm, 5:33pm, 5:39pm, 5:44pm, 5:52pm, 6:01pm, 6:05pm(very light), 6:10pm, 6:14pm, 6:18pm, 6:23pm, 6:36pm, and then were were home in Central City. By this time, there was a little pain, but I was still able to talk through them. The Doctor said to not come to the hospital until the 5:1:1 rule and they were so bad that I could not talk through them. 5 minutes apart, lasting for 1 minute, for 1 hour straight. Well, we were not to this point yet, but I started to notice that I was spotting pretty bad. I texted my sister and my mom and asked if this was normal. My mom said she knew that is when she was in labor with me, because that happened to her, and my sister said that she thought I should call the Dr. to let them know. As always, I listened to the advice, and called the Dr. They asked me a series of questions. The last two were, "When are you due", I said, "Tomorrow". She then asked if I was progressing at the last appointment and I said yes, I was almost 4cm and 20%. She said right away, "How about you come in just to be on the safe side, we will have the chart waiting for you when you get here." With that being said I went into the bedroom and told Nate that we better get going.

On the way to St. Luke's my contractions were as follows: 7:21pm, 7:25pm, 7:28pm, 7:31pm, 7:33pm, 7:39pm, and 7:44pm. By 7:44pm we were sitting in the exam room and the contractions were AWFUL! I could not talk at all through these and the only words that I could get out were curse words. The Nurse was monitoring the contractions and said that the baby's heart rate was great and my contractions were pretty strong but I was only at a 4 but I was 50% effaced. At this time, the nurse started asking what my spotting was like, and she was curious as to if my water had broken. She was then explaining a test that they were going to do to check. At this same time I had the worst contraction yet, and all of a sudden there was a POP! I looked at the nurse and I said, "I am pretty sure my water just broke" She lifted up the blanket and said, "Yup, it sure did!! Looks like we are having a baby tonight." At that time, all of the memories of my begging my baby to come, the foot massage that I got from my youngest Niece Emerson earlier that day, and the bumpy golf cart ride my sister took me on that afternoon came rushing back, and I said, "okay I know what I said and did today hoping this would happen but I change my mind I am scared and not ready!" and I started to cry. We knew that we were not leaving without our baby!

We were admitted and sent to our room. The contractions were still awful and close. There were a few hours of contractions and our families were on their way!! I decided that I was going to have en epidural. I had been awake since 4:30am and the nurse said first time mom's can be in labor up to 12 hours on average with 3 hours of pushing. I knew that I was so tired there was no way that I could do that without getting some sleep. The nurse came in and said that if I wanted an epidural the doctor was there to do them, that I had to get one now or wait until he was back. I looked at Nate and he said just to get one, so I did.

I had the epidural and instantly my left side was numb and it slowly went to the right side. At that time my side of the family was there. I was so happy to see the faces of my sister, mom, Abby, Bailey and Emily. I was not in any pain anymore but so tired. I was freezing cold and could not stop shaking. Soon I fell asleep which was much needed and Nate went into the waiting room to be with our families.

45 min later I was awaken by really strong shooting pains in my left side. The nurse approached and said that I had been making a lot of noise in my sleep so she was going to check me. At this time, I was 9cm and 100%. She was very surprised how within 45 min I went from a 5 to a 9 and it was time for a baby! She called the doctor to come and she told me to start pushing during contractions. Right then my husband came in and I told him where I was at and the look was priceless that came across his face. He then came to my bed side and that is where he remained for the rest of the delivery. I had no feeling in my left leg but I could feel all the contractions on my left. Weird enough it all settled in my leg and none where I could feel the pain. It was good though because I knew when I could push and it really helped me.

I pushed through three contractions before Dr. Lyons came into the room. She was not ready to deliver as she had no gown on etc. She then looked at me and said, "Whoa whoa stop pushing!" I looked at her mid push and grunted, "ME? Stop pushing????" She said yes the baby was right there and she wasn't ready. They asked if I wanted to touch, see anything, etc, and I said Hell NO! I just wanted to get her out! The doctor then was ready for me, and I looked at the clock and it was 1:02am. I said to myself I was going to have her out by 1:15am. I pushed through 2 more contractions and she said okay, now push and breath with me. 1 more contraction and our little Alaina Paige Etten was in my arms!

Total Delivery: 5 hours
Total Contractions that I pushed: 6
Total time pushing: 18 minutes



Alaina Paige was 8 pounds 5.5 ounces, 21 inches long, and she was here by 1:08am on her Due Date! 10-9-2011. She looked JUST like her Daddy, which is a pretty good thing if you ask me! She did have brown thin hair like me but everything else was a lot like her Daddy.

Ironman WI, September 11, 2011

Alaina showed her support :)

Something that very few people in the world can say, is that they completed a full Ironman, let alone, one of the hardest courses in the world. However, I am lucky enough to say that I was able to witness my husband complete a full Ironman, and it was one of the proudest moments (yet scariest) of my life.

The first of three events was the swim. 2.4 miles and my husband was out of the water in 01:17:43. This was a great time and I was so excited to see him come out of the water! However, he did  come out of the water WITHOUT his very expensive watch. For those that do triathlons, this is kind of a big deal. He had several more hours ahead of him, and had everything timed out on his watch such as when to eat and his pace, etc. So, he kept plugging along and transitioned into the bike.

All of the "Etten" cheering section got onto a bus that took prospects to the half way point so they could see their loved one and cheer them on. I was calm at this point and feeling great, as I hadn't had to walk that much (8.5 months pregnant and feeling awesome!) and my anxiety was less, as he was past the scary part for me (the swim).

At the half way point of the bike

We got to the half way point and waited for him. We were able to track his progress on the internet so we had a good idea of when he was going to be coming. Finally I see my husband coming around the corner. He was going SO fast I was afraid he wouldn't see us! But, he did and stopped. This is when he told us that he lost his watch, this is why he was doing very very well on the bike, he didn't know his pace and he was booking it!! He looked great and I was so confident that he was going to do better than his goal! At this time he could walk the marathon at the end and still finish, that is all I cared about! He gave me a quick kiss and he was not ready to finish the last half of his 112 mile bike ride.

He ended up coming in off the bike which felt like FOREVER!!! We were inside waiting for him to come into the transition to start running, and it felt like an eternity. He ended up coming in, still looking phenomenal, at a time of: 06:37:15.

I was able to talk to him real quickly and give him another kiss. Now, all he had was a marathon and he had obtained his goal of finishing.

The Etten Crew went downtown Madison to eat and take a seat. At this time, the walking was starting to hurt and felt like I was going to walk myself right into labor, but this was nothing compared to what my husband was feeling, mentally and physically, so I kept my feet a moving! :)

Officially an Ironman

We were thinking  based off of how good he looked that he would be able to do a light jog and average a 12 minute mile. Time kept dragging on and on and my husband wasn't coming to the half way point yet. As I checked the internet I saw that his time was getting slower and slower. I was so nervous that he was hurt or mentally breaking down. Finally, I saw Nate coming and he was walking with a limp. I instantly went to talk to him and he explained how his chest was hurting and he had blisters on the bottom of his feet from the socks rubbing. I started to walk with him a little bit, with very little talking. We went a few blocks and I got to the side. Tears were in my eyes, as I saw my husband in so much pain and so close to the end. He looked awful. He had a grey color to his face and he looked SO skinny. All personality and smiles were gone in him at this point. He honestly did not feel or look like the same person and it was a very scary experience for me, and I am sure the rest of the crew.

At this point we knew that he had a long road ahead of him and he was going to be walking, but even at that, he was going to come in at a good time and finish. So it was a bitter sweet moment  for us all.

Nate did end up crossing the finish line at a total time of: 15:04:35. It was such an amazing moment for him. The 9 months of extensive training and time that he had put in, was all worth it!! I now look at my husband a completely different way. I have never seen someone put so much effort into something so hard, and do such an amazing job. Alaina is a lucky little girl to have a dad like this!

Alaina ________ Etten

We have decided that we are going to name our baby girl Alaina ___ Etten. I am not sure when we first thought of it, but it derived from my Grandma Elaine Shaffer. We thought this name has a few options for nick names if she wants, otherwise Alaina is a very pretty and girly name, so we are excited to see what she looks like, acts like and hopefully she is as sweet when she arrives, as she has been so sweet to her momma while she has been in my tummy. I can honestly say that being pregnant has not hindered me or my lifestyle in the slightest, and I could not be more lucky than to have married a man dedicated and leads a healthy lifestyle so that way I never have to feel like I cannot be a part of everything. We are still debating on the middle name, but pretty much have it narrowed down. But, that name is staying a secret until she gets here, no one knows about it but Nate and Myself :)

Half Ironman--CHECK!

As you all know my amazing husband has been training to run a full Ironman in Wisconsin on 9-11-11. This past weekend Nate competed in his first Half Ironman in Palo. I must say that I have never been more proud of him in my life. For those that do not know how far just a HALF Ironman is, it is: Swim 1.2 Miles, Bike 56 Miles, Run 13.1 Miles. I have seen how much time Nate has put into his training so I knew that he could do it :) His goal was less than 7 hours, and he did outstanding at a total time of 5 hours 50 minutes. He even said that during the swim he purposely would put himself in tough situations (example: having someone draft behind him) and then in the run, he walked two of the miles, as he drank too much water and needed to readjust. We were mostly anxious about the swim, and he was out of the water in 37 minutes!! So, after this weekend we are so confident in his ability to do great for the full Ironman, 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and a full marathon to finish at 26.2 miles. This wife is SO ready to have her husband back!! :o)

Baby's Shower

My family threw me a baby shower and I must say that it was so fun! My sister and her girls along with my mom did such an amazing job celebrating this experience! We had Hy-Vee cater to my house and we had around 20 friends and family help make the day so special. The gifts that we received were so great and I could tell that people really put a lot of time, energy and thought into them.

I would say that my favorite part (besides having everyone in one place at one time) was making the onsies and bows. Our little girl has some very special handcrafted onsies to wear and I cannot wait to dress her up in them when she gets here! Some examples of the onsies are, "my mom is hot", "pretty like mommy", "baby gaga" and one that is truly fitting, "Jab Cross Kick" :) She also had some that had Tu-Tu's on them :) It was so amazing to feel how much love this baby girl is going to have! Just counting down the days that she gets here!

30 weeks along!

So, after the diabetes scare, I was on cloud nine that I was healthy and this pregnancy was a breeze. Baby E is still moving like crazy and making herself known and I felt great.

Before I got pregnant, I did get migraines. They were never bad enough that I had to go to a doctor, just took a few IBU and I was all better. Well, last Monday I was at work, and I was talking to Brandy, and I realized that my vision started getting blurry, there were blind spots, and I was seeing little streaks of light, like a lightning flash. I knew this was the start of a migraine. I figured it was from lack of caffeine so I took two Tylenol and it never progressed into a headache and eventually my vision came back. Two nights later, I was getting ready for bed and I realized my vision was going and I was seeing those lights again, but it was close to bed time so I didn't take any medicine, and WOW did I pay for that. I was up the whole night with a terrible headache, and at this time, Tylenol wouldn't touch it. I had a headache for over 24 hours and it eventually went away. Throughout the week, I had a total of 4 episodes where my vision was going, and this started to worry me. Of course, I google'd it and it was telling me all of these possible scenario's and of course they were all scary. So, I called the doctor and they wanted me to come in right away to have my blood pressure checked. I went in, and luckily, my blood pressure was fine, so they prescribed me a headache medicine and chalked it up to migraines, nothing related to the pregnancy. I did experience another vision impairment tonight, but Tylenol was able to prevent much pain.

On a positive note, when I went in, they told me her heart rate was 143 and strong. She is constantly moving, reminding me she is there. She always is jabbing me around my belly button area, and I think I am bruising from the inside :) Finally at 30 weeks!! Cannot wait to meet our little girl, but she can stay in there for a while longer, as the book says she is just a little over 3 pounds and 17 inches toe to head.

28 week appointment

An update on Baby E. I went in for my 28 week appointment last Monday where I had my blood drawn and my blood sugar was tested. Please note, that this was the morning after my birthday. When I went in, they said they would call me on Monday if there was anything wrong, but no call was good. I have never had any issues with my blood sugar and so far this pregnancy has been a breeze, so I never thought twice about it. Monday came and went and when Nate and I were on our way to St. Luke's for our tour, I checked my voicemails and saw that I missed a call that day from the doctor's office. I instantly was sad. I called and they said that I tested high for my blood sugar. I needed to be 130 or below, and my results were 134.
The whole night I was pretty sad. Reading about gestational diabetes, it stated it was from bad eating, lack of exercise etc. Everything that I was reading, was everything I was not. I know that there were a lot of things that were out of my control, but I knew that I had stopped doing Farrell's, I don't eat as well as I used to, so I blamed myself alot.

I was scheduled to come in at the end of the week. The whole week I focused on my diet and went back to the Farrell's diet. When I went in on Friday, they took my blood three times. Each time testing my blood sugar level, and if one time it was over the limit, I failed and was put into the diabetes program. Needless to say, my numbers were perfect and they said that I definitely did not have diabetes. I was so happy and thrilled that I was healthy and my baby was healthy. 

Baby E's Name

So, Nate and I have been thinking about what we want to name our babies ever since I can remember. Then when the time comes that we need to decide, we cannot commit. We had a list of names before we knew the sex. Roughly 11 girl names and 1 boy name. When we knew it was a girl, we slowly eliminated them one by one. We are down to, two names, but we still cannot pick which one we want, and we don't even know if one of these are the one. The names that we are contemplating are Alaina *and the spelling of it* and Reese. (still open for suggestions though) I really want to put her name up in her room and start calling her by her name, but this has been the hardest decision of our lives. Such a big deal and we do not want to mess it up. So, if anyone has any other suggestions or a middle name for Reese that is unique please feel free to comment on this :)

Baby Room Progress

I went to Cedar Falls this past weekend and I went shopping down town main street with my friend Liz. We stopped at this really cute shop and I found this metal sign hanging and I instantly knew that was going to be the inspiration for Baby E's room. The very next day I went to Menard's and picked out paint colors that matched the sign. I picked a light purple and a deep pink. I went home that night and started painting right away. I got the paint that is safe for pregnant women to use, and it literally has no odor, so it was great! We decided to make the room mostly purple with one wall pink. Then as we were painting we decided to make a stripe on the pink wall to pull it all together.


The next mission were wall decorations. I was talking around Gordman's and I saw metal butterfly decorations that matched the little butterflies that were on the metal sign that I had purchased. I bought three with anticipations that they were not going to match, but when I hung them up, we really liked it! So I went back the next day and bought two more, and we finished the whole wall. Now my next step is to find bedding that pulls it all together. I really do not want to spend $200 on bedding, so I am thinking that I may try and make the bed shirt and curtain myself. I have not used a needle and thread in years, so this will be interested. How hard can it be? :)


One out of four wall's finished, time for furniture! :)

Doctor Frustrations

Since I last blogged I had a doctor's appointment. This was a real quick appointment that literally took five minutes. I feel like when I talk with the doctor's they really don't ask me a lot of questions other than, "How have you been feeling," and because I have been feeling great, they leave it at that. I feel like they really do not take the time to make the appointment feel different than a regular routine visit (which it is, I just expected a different experience maybe?) I gained 9 pounds at my last appointment, which was a lot, so the doctor instantly started lecturing me on carb intake. He never asked me what I have been doing for exercise, what and how much I was eating, he instantly assumed I have had bad eating habits. It was frustrating to say the least.

This was a video that was sent to me from our future day care provider, Pat Davis. As a future mommy of a baby girl, it brings tears to my eyes. Cannot wait to meet her and to see what she looks like! I think that has been the most fun, imagining what she is going to look like and who she is going to resemble the most. :)

Farrell's and races

So, this weekend was the third annual Run The Flood of Cedar Rapids. I have done it every year, so once again I was signed up this year. I must say this will be the last long distance run I have for a while with no training. Baby E. did not like momma running that far, she was definitely making me earn every one of those 7 miles.

My niece Bailey ran the whole time with me. We finished at around a 12.5 minute mile with a great heart rate. My sister and her whole family ran it this year, so it was a great event all in all.

I have decided to freeze my Farrell's membership. I did it consistently for the first 5 months of my pregnancy, but with being short handed and work and being so busy, I realized I wasn't making it to class as much as I hoped. So, I decided that I am going to start running at night along with my neighbor Ashley. We will stick to 5k's that way I can stay in shape and healthy through the pregnancy, and if I do sign up for a longer race, it won't be so hard. Tomorrow is our first run of the summer, so hopefully I can get a few miles in a night. At this time, I'm not hanging up my running shoes, quite yet!

Blue or Pink?

When thinking about how we wanted to tell our family about, "what kind of baby we were having" (in the words of my youngest niece Emerson), we decided to go with the following idea.

We found out what we were having during the ultra sound, and we called Tip Top Cakes, out of Iowa City, and told them to make a cake with a certain color in the inside. We invited our family to Zeppelin's for dinner, and when we cut into the cake it was either going to be Blue, for Boy, or Pink for Girl.

I purchased blue and pink plates and had everyone pick a color of plate, equivalent to the sex of the baby they thought we were having. Out of 21 people only 5 people picked a pink plate. When we cut into it and it was Pink everyone was very thrilled! This is going to be the first grandchild for Nate's parents and the fourth granddaughter for my side. We could not be more thrilled! People always ask if we wanted one or the other, and honestly, at this point we want at least 5, so we are pretty sure we are going to get both :)

Pigman 2011

Transitioning to the bike

Today Nate did the Pigman triathlon in Palo, Iowa.
Last year he completed it in 1 hour and 34 minutes. This year he was hoping to get it under one and a half hours, and he did! He came in at 1 hour and 28 minutes. He said the swim went really well, the bike was great and the run went well. One of his knees has been hurting him lately, but today he was able to push through it and get a record time for himself!

Ironman Steve

Nate's dad Steve, got a full knee replacement seven weeks ago, and today he finished the triathlon as well! He is still on track to complete Ironman Wisconsin with Nate in September! His dedication to rehab has been phenomenal!

Brian finishing strong

In other great news, our friend Brian Davis competed again this year in the triathlon, and he did outstanding! He beat last years time by 18 minutes and beat his goal this year as well! Brian has done so well with nutrition and training and we were so happy for him and his success!

My Daddy's an Ironman

Nate is has been training to compete in Ironman Wisconsin on September 11th of this year. His training has started to increase and he is doing such an amazing job.

For those who do not know what Nate has signed up for, Ironman is a 2.5 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile run, all back to back. A total of 140.6 miles in one day!

I can honestly say, when I see the dedication, training and time that he has put into this, I have married an amazing man. He is getting stronger every day and I am so proud of his progress! With the Ironman being one month before my due date, I am thinking of renting a scooter to make sure and be there during every transition of that race. What an amazing thing for baby girl to say, "My daddy's and Ironman."

Baby's First 1/2 Marathon

There have been so many people, bless their hearts, that have given me advice on what to do and what not to do when pregnant.

At the end of the day the only advice I have really take to heart, is to do what feels right. So, as the half marathon that I was signed up for, fast approached, I asked myself if it felt right, and it did.

I have stayed active through Farrell's, but had only ran once since I was pregnant. My philosophy with health, is it is 90% mental. So, I thought running 13.1 miles would hold true to that philosophy.

I must say that there is a huge difference running pregnant and not pregnant. Not only was I constantly checking my heart rate, but I felt the sensation to pee the whole time!! I stopped at mile three because I thought I just could not hold it any more. 15 minutes later it was my turn, and I realized that it was more just the sensation from the baby bouncing then a reality.

As I started on my way again, I instantly felt like I had to go. I realized that it wasn't going to go away, just to keep running. As mile 7 came along, I felt that I should slow it down a little bit for the baby's sake. By mile 11 I was hating life and talking to my baby girl asking her to help mommy complete this, as I was doing it for her and to prove to myself that I can.

Just under three hours and a great heart rate, I crossed the finish line with Nate cheering me on, and I can say that I had the first bonding moment with my baby girl. After my 30 seconds of hating life, I went right over to the massage table and laid there thinking, what the heck did I do that for!?

Our baby has a face

Leading up to our first ultra sound, everything was pointing to our baby being a little boy. All the old wives tales, theories, even a psychic told me that our baby was going to be a boy.

I went in for our first ultra sound and found out I was four days ahead of our original estimation, so I was 19 weeks 4 days along. As Laine moved the wand around on my tummy, instantly there our baby was on the screen. We could not take our eyes off of the little heart beat and seeing our baby move. It was so incredible how our baby was moving and I couldn't feel any of it.

After a few pictures, Laine asked if we wanted to know the sex. We were not so sure if we did yet, so we told her to keep looking, and making sure that our baby was healthy. I heard her say, "perfect" and I could not stop the tears from forming. We decided at that time we wanted to know. She said, "It's a girl."

How two people became a family of three

Nate and I knew we wanted to have a family right away. Married in September of 2010, we thought the sooner we could have a baby the better.

It was January 2011 and I was planning on visiting my friend Liz in Cedar Falls for a girl's weekend, and I thought that I should take a pregnancy test, just to ease my mind as I went out that weekend.

30 minutes later with a glass of red wine in my hand, I remembered to check the Clear Blue. As I stared at the word "PREGNANT" I could not hold back my smile.  I looked at my tummy and at that time I said, "Little embryo I am so proud of you for swimming so fast, you are already a good listener and I promise to be a good mommy." At that moment I was already in love.

The past few weeks I was thinking of unique and clever ways to tell Nate that we were pregnant. Needless to say, all those ideas went out the window as I ran into the kitchen where Nate was at the kitchen table, and I just held out this blue stick and smiled. As Nate realized what I was doing, he instantly stood up and gave me a huge hug! Behind all the emotions we were both thinking the same thing, "We need to go to Wal-Mart and get more!"

Three positive pregnancy tests later, we were ALMOST certain we were pregnant.

The next morning I went to Planned Parenthood to have a urine test. It was right next door to my job, and I knew the doctor's office would schedule an appointment a few weeks out, and I had to know! So, I went in, and sat in the waiting room, all smiles and excited. As I looked around, no one else was happy at all. :)

When I went into the doctor's office with the nurse, she was SO excited to hear that this was exactly what I wanted! When I said that we were trying, she looked at me, and said, "Wow I never hear that, I am so excited that I get to help you!" After two more positive pregnancy tests, I was 99% sure that I was pregnant!