I was not “technically” ready to take a pregnancy test the day that I did, but I could not wait any longer and just had to take one and see. I remember reading the pregnancy test box that said it could detect if you were pregnant or not a week before your missed cycle. Of course, I thought I would just take it to calm my thoughts.  

So I woke up on that morning of May 2^nd, 2012, took a test, and left it on the bathroom counter for the five minutes you are supposed to wait. My husband was in the shower getting ready for work while I did all of this. I went back to bed to wait while he finished up in the bathroom. I just kept hoping I would find out that I would soon be a new mom.

I will never forget him opening the bathroom door and the look on his face. He asked me with a look of excitement in his eye, “What will this thing show if you are pregnant or not?” I said, it will say “Pregnant” or “Not Pregnant.”

I quickly jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom asking, “What does it say? What does it say?” He showed me the pregnancy test, and it showed I was pregnant! I screamed and jumped up and down. We then hugged and I kept saying, “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!” He went to work that day, and I actually had an appointment with my doctor already scheduled. This is when the real shock came.

I told the doctor that my home pregnancy test said I was pregnant. They took blood work, which would confirm if I was or not for sure. The nurse called me that afternoon and said, “You are really, really, really pregnant!” I laughed and said, “What does that mean?” She then told me my HCG levels were so high, the chance of multiples was very likely. I then thought holy cow!  I remember calling my husband at work and told him, and he just said, “Okay, when will we know for sure?”

Soon after, I had an ultrasound and found out we were pregnant with not one new baby, but two -- and it couldn’t have been a better surprise!

Photo by Meryl Spadaro on Unsplash

We had literally just decided to start trying the month before I found out about our new baby. I had no idea it would happen so quickly, but boy, was I wrong!

My husband and I were still enjoying our freedom, but we saw parenthood in our near future. So spontaneously, I hopped on a plane and spent two weeks in Germany with my best friend as a bit of a last hurrah. And for the first time in a long time, I had my health and well-being as a top priority. My friends even joked, "You must be getting ready to get pregnant.”

About a month after I had returned home I was attending a boot camp class with my sister. To say I was dragging would be an understatement. It wasn't that I couldn't keep up; I was just so nauseous. I even physically got sick. I foolishly kept going, telling myself it was jet lag. How could it have happened that fast? I'll never forget leaving that class, and my sister saying, "You're pregnant, go get a test.”

I stumbled into the store in disbelief of what I was about to do. I walked down the aisle and became so overwhelmed with the massive pregnancy test selection; I almost turned around and left. I grabbed a couple boxes -- the more the better I thought -- and quickly threw them into my basket, bought some candy and magazines to cover what was in the basket, checked out, and headed home. My local pharmacy was only a tenth of a mile from the gym, and my house was only a half a mile from there. My GPS calculates it as a 5 minute trip, but to me, that drive felt like forever.

I ran upstairs and began the pregnancy test process. In a matter of minutes, my life changed forever. I was actually going to become a new mom. While overwhelmed, I still remember that day as one of the best days of my life.

Photo by Travis Grossen on Unsplash

I knew how I’d tell my husband that I was pregnant months before we even began trying for a baby. One night, I was browsing the internet and came across an online shop; they sold onesies with hand-stitched college logos on the front. I immediately ordered one from his alma mater, and when it arrived, I tucked it in the back of my top drawer.

The day I found out I was pregnant, my husband left for work before I even woke up. I carefully followed the directions on the home pregnancy test and was disappointed to see one line, not two. The stick went directly in the trash. But then, about half an hour later, I felt compelled to look again – and this time, it was positive! The second line was very faint, but it was there.

The rest of the day went by in blur; I wanted my husband to come home badly, so I could make my well-planned pregnancy announcement!

Right before he arrived, I set up a video camera on a book shelf. When I heard his car pull into the driveway, I pressed record. My husband walked in the front door, and I practically dragged him to the couch – I couldn’t wait one second longer to tell him about our growing family!

“I have a gift for you!” I said with a smile. I handed him the wrapped onesie, and he opened it up. He didn’t get it right away; he looked at me in confusion. I blurted out, “I’m pregnant!” and I watched his face go from shock, to disbelief, to pure joy. He leapt off the couch and hugged me so hard, asking if it was really true.

Over two years later, we still love to watch the video of our celebrating our soon-to-be new addition to the family. It’s so wonderful to have a recording of the exact moment our lives changed forever. I can’t wait to show it to my son when he’s older!

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

A baby was the furthest thing from our minds. We had just moved into a new apartment, and I was trying to get a promotion at work. We figured we’d have children one day, but not anytime soon.

We had a vacation planned shortly after the move. One day, when we were away,  I noticed my breasts were, well, huge! But I didn’t think much of it. That should have been my first clue.

A second clue came -- or didn’t come -- a few days later. I was supposed to get my period while we were away, but it never happened. “Don’t worry,” Ryan told me. “You’re just stressed out. It’ll come.”

I spent the next few weeks waiting for my period and searching online for explanations. I wasn’t even thinking about pregnancy. Unfortunately, the other possible causes made me more and more anxious and seemed much scarier than becoming a new mom. I finally scheduled an appointment with my doctor.

Ryan was sick the day of my appointment, so he couldn’t join me. I kept trying to reassure myself the whole time while traveling to the office, waiting in reception, and sitting in the doctor’s office after I peed in a cup. So, I was a little on edge when the nurse knocked on the door -- and even more on edge when dropped the supplies she was holding as she walked in.

As she picked up her instruments, she said, “Honey, you’re pregnant!”

“Excuse me?!”

“You’re very pregnant,” she repeated matter-of-factly.

I shouldn’t have been shocked, but I was. I spent the trip home panicking about how this would change our lives, what it would mean for my promotion -- and what in the world Ryan would say about becoming a new dad.

As soon as I walked in the door, I blurted it out: “Ryan, I’m pregnant.” Now, he was both sick and stunned. He looked at me, said, “OK,” and went right back to bed.

It took him about a week to process the news. I tried to let him adjust to this change on his own time, but of course, I couldn’t help but watch him a little more closely. He spent a lot of time online researching pregnancy and fatherhood. And I could swear he developed a slight sweating issue.

As we both got used to the idea, we became more and more excited. “I always knew we would have children,” Ryan told me. “It’s just a lot earlier than we expected.”

We’ve had to make a lot of changes since our daughter, Ava, was born, including moving from that one-bedroom apartment to a house and giving up the weekends we used to have to ourselves. But Ava is our angel and has brought new meaning to our lives. We wouldn’t have it any other way!

Photo by Meryl Spadaro on Unsplash

My husband knew I was pregnant about ten seconds after I did, when I woke him up holding the positive pregnancy test. But neither of us knew at that point that we would be welcoming not one, but two babies into our growing family.

When I was about six weeks pregnant, I wasn’t feeling very well with cramps and light bleeding, and we were a little worried that something was wrong. Because it was a weekend, the on-call doctor advised me to go to the hospital. We were really nervous but hoping for the best. My husband had to wait in the exam room while they took me down to get an ultrasound.

As the ultrasound tech performed the scan, I couldn’t see the screen. She was asking me a lot of questions, and it seemed to be taking forever. Finally, she flipped the screen around and said, “Here’s the baby’s heartbeat. And here’s the other baby’s heartbeat.” I literally began laughing and crying at the same time. I certainly did not expect to hear that! She then printed a picture for me to take back to my husband.

When I came back into the exam room, my husband knew it must have been good news, because I was smirking. I could tell he had an immediate sense of relief but had no clue about the surprise pregnancy announcement I was about to reveal. I didn’t say a word and just handed him the ultrasound print out. Since it was still very early, you couldn’t see the babies, but you could very easily see two sacs.

He took one look at the picture and then looked up at me for confirmation. I held up two fingers. “And they both have heartbeats,” I told him. I will never forget the look on his face as he took this all in. It was a combination of so many emotions ranging from joy, shock, confusion, bewilderment, happiness, excitement, and perhaps a little bit of panic. He was too stunned to even say anything! Once he regained the ability to speak, we began immediately talking about the craziness of having two babies on the way and planning for their arrival. We celebrated with a milkshake on the ride home and couldn’t wait to spread the news to everyone about our quickly growing family.

Photo by Cassidy Rowell on Unsplash