To some of you our news was a surprise, and to others it was expected. You may be wondering, "Why a blog?" Well, I'll tell you :)
When Steven starting talking babies a year ago, I was against it. The thought terrified me! Not only did I not feel ready, but I couldn't imagine being away from everyone that I cared about during such an important time in my life. I struggled with wanting to make Steven happy and figuring out what I wanted. Then Steven deployed.
Something about an eight month separation, missing him, and taking care of myself in a foreign country changed my perspective on things. I gained a new sense of confidence in myself knowing that I could go to school and make straight A's, manage a household, travel, and keep my sanity while he was away. I had never really seen MY value in our relationship. Steven is such a strong person and gives so much love and security to our life that I feel small in comparison. But through family support and Steven's encouragement, I found that I had a lot more responsibility and impact on our life than I knew. Meanwhile, Steven learned a lot more about himself than any of us will probably ever fully understand. He came to a lot of the same realizations about himself that I did, and he gained a maturity that some men never achieve.
In a nutshell, Steven and I grew up a lot during his deployment.
So, Steven came back, FINALLY! We talked about babies some more, but both decided to wait a little while for him to readjust to being home and for us to enjoy being together again. I was becoming more comfortable with the idea. He was even more sure than before he left. Meanwhile, you all know that we traveled, took classes, started riding bikes, and have thoroughly enjoyed being in Italy.
March 2012, we decided that I would stop taking my birth control. I went to the doctor and began taking prenatal vitamins. He suggested that I gain about 10 pounds, and so I did. For five months we let things happen, or not. During this time my friend Nicole stopped taking her pill, too. Her husband was gone one month and then she got pregnant that following month. I had a hard time understanding why it wasn't coming so easily to us. I stopped drinking caffeine, had not one sip of wine, and still nothing. I was frustrated, but I knew that things would happen in God's time. I reminded myself that every day and Steven reminded me, too.
Last month, I had a hair appointment with a really sweet woman named Lauren. I did what all women do when they get their hair done... I spilled my guts! I told her everything about us trying to get pregnant and how I was discouraged. She repeated the phrase that I had been telling myself for months, "It will happen when it's supposed to!" She followed up with, "You know what you need to do? Get a fertility monitor!" In fact, she had one that she let me take home with me that day! What a blessing she is!
Around that same time, we got the news that Steven would be moving to a new job for one year. He was not very excited, but we learned he could not deploy during this time. I couldn't help myself! I felt like this was a sign. God was telling me, "See Amanda? I have perfect timing!" I started using the monitor, not missing a day. I even downloaded an APP on my iPod so that I could track everything.
Wouldn't you know that it only took that one month for us to conceive? I guess you could say that our timing was just off, and that it's no big miracle that we got pregnant the first month we used the monitor. But I think there is a reason that Lauren gave me the monitor when she did, and there is a reason why things didn't work out until month six.
Steven and I are SO happy. We have had months of hoping and praying for this to happen and the only down side is that we are so far from all of you. I'm writing this blog to try and narrow that distance. I want this to be a place where I can keep you close to this pregnancy. Where we can comment to each other, keep updated, and share the joy of this little miracle coming into our lives :)
I'm so excited to be keeping a "live journal" of the months to come, and I hope you enjoy reading it!
We love you all so very much!
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