Tin Roof Rusted!

Only one line showed up on the test we took on that Thursday.  And to be honest, I was devastated.  But it is going to happen when it is supposed to, right?  But on Monday I thought, well, we have another test here so why not try again.  Maybe I took the last one too soon.  I had already prepared myself for only negative result but decided to open the stick anyways.  I told Chris I was going to do it and headed to the bathroom.  I’ll leave out the details of trying to pee on the stick.  I placed it face down on my desk and waited for Chris to get off a work call.  He looked like he was going to be on there awhile so I headed downstairs.

2 hours pass.

Oh my!  I forgot about the test upstairs!  I walked up into our room and told Chris we need to look at it.  Chris jumped and gave his usual pump up dance.  I was feeling a little down and didn’t want to get my hopes up since it was negative just 4 days prior.  Right before I turned it over Chris jumped (he claims he had a last minute butterfly in his stomach and he just new it would be positive).  And then there it was… TWO LINES!  Oh my gosh… oh my gosh… WE ARE HAVING A BABY!!!!!

I stood there staring and Chris starting screaming and jumping up and down.  He ran down the hall and back screaming (knocking over a framed photo, shattering the glass on the floor.) “Don’t worry about that!  We will clean it up later!!! We are having a baby!!!”

An hour later I was teaching an English lesson to a Japanese woman named Ritsuko.  I just couldn’t stand it and needed to tell someone.  So the first person we told was an older Japanese woman.  She couldn’t believe she was the first person we told. 🙂

That night we celebrated with Apryl and Edgar at an Italian joint much like a Fazoli’s.  Of course Apryl and Edgar wanted to go to a classier place but Italian sounded great.

Excited expectant parents at dinner the day we found out!

How We Told The Parents

Chris wanted to wait until we arrived home but I knew that wasn’t going to happen.  We got up early Japan time (evening in Indiana) and called my mom.  I asked her to grab Dad and hop on Skype we had something cool to show them.  Once they were settled I gchatted my mom Japanese kanji symbols.  We then made something  up about it being funny when you put it into Google translations.  As soon as they copy/pasted the symbols into the translation box and hit “translate” my mom instantly started crying.  It said “We are having a baby!”  Mom continued to cry for 10 minutes and Dad was so excited.

We then did the same thing to Chris’s parents.  Chris said that his mom would sound like a tornado siren when she found out.  And sure enough she screamed! Haha!  Even Kelso who was by the computer was excited! (Kelso is our dog)   Apryl sat in on the call because she wanted to see Tom and Donna’s reactions.  We had so much fun.  But we made sure that our parents knew to not tell anyone.  We wanted to tell them in person!

Telling My Sisters

Christina and David brought the kids over to Mom and Dad’s house.  We hopped on Skype and were waiting for the right moment.  Alexa (my 6 year old niece) did not want to talk to us.  So I said, “Hey Alexa, I have a present for you!”  That instantly got her to the computer screen.  I then told her that it wouldn’t be here until October buuuuut she was getting a baby cousin!  Christina was walking in the background and snapped her head to the computer and said “Oh my gosh!”  So then everyone was screaming and so excited.  Then we looked over at Gabriel (4 year old nephew) and he looks like he is going to cry.  I asked him what was wrong and he said, “But…but… Aunt Alicia what about my present??”  It was the funniest thing…

Brittany is a nursing student so her hours of availability are pretty slim.  Finally around 12am Indiana time I got her on the phone.  I told her to hop on Skype I had something really cool to show her.  She was exhausted and already in bed reading so after some begging she finally said, “This better be worth it!”  We then showd her the pregnancy test and asked her to read it for her class (she is studying maternity and prenatal care this semester).  She then spent the next 2 hours sending me emails on how to take care of myself.  From that moment on she was my personal nurse!  She loves telling me what to do 😉

Pregnant in Japan

At week 7 of my pregnancy my sense of smell went crazy…  I could smell anything and everything. Then followed the nausea and exhaustion.  For the last three weeks in Japan I was pretty miserable.  I was elated obviously and happy to be pregnant and read up on my increasingly growing baby in my belly but I won’t say it wasn’t tough.  Apryl and Edgar had left for Okinawa Island (where they are delivering their twins!) and Chris and I were staying at their house.  The thought of the Japanese food that I loved just the week before sent me into a nauseated mess.  But because Chris is already an all-star husband and proud daddy-to-be he bent over backwards trying to keep me fed.  I craved American food..hot wings… Shake-N-Bake chicken… mashed potatoes… but we just couldn’t get it.  BUT Dominos delivered so everyday the same deliveryman brought me pizza.  I bet he thought we were the crazy Americans who only eat pizza.

Chris is pretty awesome.  But I’ve said that many times before.  He has been reading What To Expect When You Are Expecting and has been right there with me as my body radically changes.  He says I am the most beautiful I have ever been.   We get weekly updates on the baby via email and he came in the room one day saying “We have little baby toes and baby fingers!”  And I cried.

8 weeks pregnant! I'm flashing the "2" for 2 months down, 7 to go!

My friends were constantly messaging me to see what we were up to.  It was sooo hard to not tell them.  I was literally in bed all day and had to pretend like we were still out exploring Japan.  We actually cut our trip short by a week so we could get back for our doctor appointment.   One day Annalise sent me a message that she had a dream that I had a redheaded baby girl named Rachel. It took EVERYTHING I had not to tell her!

Our trip back to Indiana was definitely interesting.  Due to a flight delay our trip ended up being 32 hours long.  The day before we flew out I was very nauseous and stressed about such a long trip home.  The first trimester of pregnancy is no joke and the thought of travelling for such a long time seemed like a nightmare.  But somehow, we got through it J PS Singapore Airlines is the best airline I’ve ever flown on.  They were so amazing.  They even had three different people come and check on me throughout the flight to make sure the baby and me were doing okay.

And guess who all was at the airport?!?!

Tom, Donna, Jaime, Austin, Maggie, Molly and Steve! And they all had signs that told our travel story. So awesome!

With all our friends after we announced Baby C! I told them they forgot somebody on their signs... then pulled out a onesie that said "Made in Japan". Then we all screamed for 10 minutes.

On top of the jet lag I was exhausted just from the pregnancy alone.  So many wanted to meet up for drinks (ha) or come hang out but I just wasn’t feeling up for it.  I felt so bad because they had no idea was pregnant and physically couldn’t do much without falling asleep.  But slowly we started making phone calls and sending texts to our close family and friends to let them know that Baby C will be here on October 1^st!

10 weeks pregnant back in Indiana!

One week from now my best friend Annalise will be getting married and I will be standing up there with her, 3 months pregnant.  How exciting is life right now?  As for our future plans, we are just playing it by ear right now trying to focus on a happy and healthy pregnancy.   Everyone keeps asking what our next adventure is…  we are officially telling everyone… Parenthood!!!

Due Date: October 1^st, 2012

Current Weight: All in my bra and tummy… but I did find some junk in the trunk this week.

Cravings: None… but I eat about four large pickles everyday

Baby’s Gender:  Nothing confirmed but we both just know it is a boy

Why is the blog called Tin Roof Rusted?  It is 80’s slang for pregnant and it is in my favorite song Love Shack… My friend Molly gave me the idea… it was perfect.

Hard to believe there will be a little Courtney in this in just 6 months! A HUGE thank you to Apryl for secretly making this for me 🙂