Big News

*GASP*

And so began our incredible journey into the world of parenthood, which (from what I’ve heard at least) one never departs from. It was 5:00 a.m. on the morning of Thursday, September 11th, 2008. My wonderful wife was having some trouble sleeping, as she had been feeling very sick for almost the past 6 weeks. We had been keeping up with talking to my parents pretty frequently; my dad is a doctor and we were all trying to figure out what was wrong with her. A couple days ago, after she had decided to come down to Orlando from South Carolina to give Jesse some company and a little extra help around the house, my mom asked us over the phone, “she’s not pregnant is she?”

I was surprised that we had not considered this option lately, especially with her feeling so dizzy and light-headed (which was the majority of her problems) and also since she had taken a test over a month ago that turned up negative. Although neither of us were ready to admit it, we were both slightly excited at the possibility of that actually being true. So, after my mom got into town, we began talking about it more. This of course got my super-cute wife’s gears turning, which prevented her from getting any semblance of a restful night of sleep.

So there I found myself, laying in bed at 5:00 in the morning with Jesse asking me if we could go to Walgreens and maybe pick up some donuts for breakfast (because alas, Gaffney, South Carolina is Dunkin’-free). I was surprisingly alert, considering I’m a complete wreck after only four hours of sleep. So we got up, threw on some clothes, grabbed Lilu (our perfect little puppy) and hopped in the car.

Our little excursion was very relaxed; neither of us felt any sort of noticable excitement, and we barely even talked about it. I might even argue that the donuts seemed just as exciting as the trip to Walgreens. We got home, put Lilu to bed again, and made our way to the “Operating Theater”. I plopped comfortably down on the bed, sipping my coffee as my darling wife “went pee-pee on the stick-stick”.

And then I heard the sound.

The slight gasp she let out could have meant anything; a dropped contact, a stubbed toe, anything. But I heard the smile that came along with it. This was a different kind of gasp. I got up off the bed, quite slowly actually, and said, “…what?” After a slight pause (except for the exstatic grin, of course), she held out the stick with a tiny little screen that read “pregnant”, almost like it was nothing more than a little secret.

We FREAKED! I stood there in complete and utter disbelief, a huge smile slowly taking over my entire face. I couldn’t believe this was happening; my brain was trying to shuffle through all the little fact-cards of everything that the next 20-or-so years of my life would entail. That didn’t happen, so I just kept smiling. Before I knew it, Jesse was in the guest room, flipping the light on and yelling, “Mommy you have to wake up!” The next thing I heard was “AHHHHHHH! I’m so happy!” followed by laughing and hugging and more laughing.

The next few hours was a blur and a frenzy of phone calls (at 5:30 a.m., mind you). I remember calling my dad, who sleepily answered “hello?”, and saying, “Good morning… GRANDPA!” I think he may have been more shocked than I was. The rest of the day consisted of nothing but phone calls for Jesse and my mom, and me trying to somehow get through a day of school with my feet on the ground.

Needless to say, we’re still completely exstatic and can’t wait to find out what it is. I’m hoping for a boy, but I think it’ll be a girl, and Jess is hoping for a girl, but thinks it’ll be a boy. So, we’ll see!

~ Soon to be Daddy