Sympathy Pains

Nausea, backaches, exhaustion, food cravings, frequent urination, headaches...my husband is a mess.

Supposedly, these are all symptoms of the condition many pregnant women come to know and fear called morning sickness. According to "the book" (referring to the text called "What To Expect When You're Expecting", which apparently is considered America's Pregnancy Bible) 75% of pregnant women join this "queasy club" within the first 4-6 weeks of pregnancy and it can last up to your 14th-16th weeks.

I am on the cusp of my 6th week, waiting for my body to unwillingly dive into this unknown world of hovering over toilets, fatigue and flatulence. However, it seems that Paul, not I, is experiencing these crazy side effects of pregnancy. I guess we quite literally have "become one flesh", and I don't mind him taking this burden (considering what I'm going to have to go through in 8.5 months).

On a different note, here is a delicious drink recipe that I tried last night from a book called Preggatinis (courtesy of one of my favorite people in the world, Kate). It's a perfect warm drink for this season sure to make your house smell like Christmas. Don't worry, it's alcohol-free!

Christmas Mulled Wine

1 bottle Fre Merlot alcohol-removed wine

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 cinnamon sticks*

3 whole cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 tablespoon honey

Pour wine into a double boiler over medium heat. Add all other ingredients, and stir until honey has dissolved. Reduce heat, cover, and gently simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve in a bar mug.

*If desired, buy additional cinnamon sticks and garnish each cup with one.

We're Pregnant? What?

That's right... pregnant. The date: Monday, December 14th. I was late by two days. That morning, after a restless night of mulling over the crazy thought that I might be pregnant or that my body was playing a cruel trick on me, I couldn't take it anymore. Paul and I drove to Target, bought the specific pregnancy test that clearly states "pregnant" or "not pregnant" and went home to have a face off with this dinky little plastic digital device that held the answer to the most paramount and life changing question a couple could ever ask themselves, "Are we pregnant?". After following the instructions to a T, we hovered over it like hawks watching the little hourglass blink...and blink...and blink...than as if a Mac truck hit us, only one word appeared, "Pregnant". In that very instant our whole world was turned upside down.

I'm describing this moment with complete honesty. We weren't planning on having a baby... no... we were on the 5 year plan. This little "bundle of joy" was not on our radar. I was even thinking just the week before that I was so happy with the way life was going, and after seeing screaming babies and parents complaining about their parenting woes at church, that kids were the last thing on our agenda. Oh how wrong I was.

Here's one of my favorite quotes, and one that fits this moment perfectly:

"If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans"

Since Christmas is just a week away and we are heading to Paul's side of the family in Virgina, we thought it would be quite the Christmas present to surprise our families with the news in person (my parents via Skype). It has been complete torture not telling them because not only are they going to be unbelievably excited for us (which we need right now!) but they are such strong support in our lives, we need a lifeline and some advice!

I do want to iterate that Paul and I are so blessed to have this little miracle join us. Each day we are getting more and more excited about having a little look-a-like tag-a-long. And thankfully REI settled Paul's fears of our adventures ending with this amazing baby backpack.

More posts to come as we begin to unveil our secret to the world and our first doctors appointment with the little bugger.