With Child

Melissa is pregnant. We had a suspicion just before leaving for England, but the tests weren't convincingly conclusive. So we did our best not to think about it while in England. When we returned our test result was this. The due date is November 17, and we are very excited.



One of the hardest parts about being pregnant is not telling anyone at first (especially when the mommy-to-be feels like crap and is either napping, nauseated, or snacking). However, when we finally told people it was well worth the wait to see their looks of surprise. When we told Jason's parents, the scene was something like this:


We were on our way to Chicago, but "had" to stop by Jason's parents to drop something off. We dawdled a while and got invited to stay for dinner which we quickly accepted. Over the leisurely meal, Jason poses the question, "So, you guys got anything going on come late November?" After a pause, his parents agree that no, there wasn't much going on. Jason says, "Good, 'cause we'll probably be needing a babysitter about then. . ." **Long pause, small smiles*** Jason's Mom, "What? Are you. . ." We emphatically nod. She half gets up from her chair, but sits back down. Again, she half gets up from her chair with arms extended, then quickly sits back down. This went on about 5 times. Finally, Jason says, "Can I get a hug?" After much hugging and congratulations, Jason's Dad says, "Yeah, I think we'll be able to babysit about then!" :)

So we got to Chicago to see my parents. I just happened to have a belated Mother's Day/early Father's Day gift for my parents. I had purchased some of our favorite children's books and wrapped them to give as a hint before we broke the news. My parents are looking at the present and first pulled out a book that is of postcards from famous places but instead of the famous building, there is a building made of toilet paper rolls and other common household items that look like the building, or instead of a tree there is a broccoli stalk etc etc. They kept looking at the pictures saying, "so, is this supposed to be all places you've been. . . or. . . " And we're just trying to keep our mouths shut thinking, "LOOK AT THE REST OF THE BOOKS!" We're just looking at each other and finally had to say, "hey what else is in the bag?" Eventually they pulled out the rest of the books and slowly the lightbulb went on in their heads as I said, "These are just, you know, for when your grandchild comes to visit - so you'll have some books to read with them." Again, much hugging and congratulations ensued. Well, it didn't go quite as smoothly as pictured in my head, but the news was finally delivered and there was much rejoicing and a few damp eyes!

Another memorable delivery of the news was to Darren, Jason's only brother. He had come up to GR for the weekend, and we had recently gotten back from our trip to England. We pulled up many of our trip pictures on the computer for him to look at. Near the end of the pics we subtly inserted the "positive pregnancy test" picture. So Darren was going along, clicking through the pictures and got to that one. He paused, was quiet, and kept clicking on. Jason and I look at each other and Jason says, "Hey, go back a minute." So Darren clicks back and you could almost see his brain thinking, "ok, a pregnancy test?. . . um, it says 2 lines mean pregnant. . . there's 2 lines . . ., why do they have a positive pregnancy test with their England pictures? oh. . . someone's pregnant. . . OH SOMEONE'S PREGNANT - MELISSA'S PREGNANT!!" Darren turns around (finally) with a large smile on his face and says, "you're pregnant!" We smile, nod, and big hugs are exchanged. Jason said this was only the 2nd time he's seen Darren speechless - the first being when he broke the news to Darren that we were engaged and wanted to know if Darren would be his best man. Well, Darren, we think you'll be a Great Uncle!