My Fourth of July Surprise!

Carter's First 4th!

One year ago today, we got a big surprise.  I had been feeling really tired all the time at the end of June and had been taking frequent naps in the afternoon.  I am not a nap person so it was really out of character but I kept writing it off as just being tired from work.  I had been in a stretch role at work since April and had just learned that I was being promoted to a Sales Manager in Training. I was so excited and was staying extra busy while at work! It had been taking a toll on me because I was up on my feet for my full shift and I was exhausted by the time I got home.  The night of July 3rd, I had laid in bed and realized my hips ached really badly.  My first thought was how weird that was because the last time I felt like that I was 6 months pregnant with Liam.  Then it hit me and I thought "I can't be pregnant."  I put it out of my mind and thought maybe I'll test tomorrow morning.

 I woke up at 6am on July 4th and just laid there wrestling over whether or not I should take a pregnancy test. I was convinced I wasn't pregnant but after laying there for a couple minutes, I decided to get up and test.  Shawn was still sleeping so I tried to be sneaky as I grabbed a test out of the cabinet and went into the bathroom.  I took the test and immediately saw two lines. 

I stared at it for a while, blinking, trying to figure out if my eyes were playing tricks on me.  I was in shock! I had taken a Wondfo, which is a cheap test I bought from Amazon, and thought maybe it is a false positive.  Like I said, I was in shock! I decided to not say anything to Shawn yet and that I would go buy a First Response on my way to work. I thought I just have to hold my pee because the more concentrated it is the better the test can pick up the HCG.  I was scheduled to work at 11am that day. I can't remember what excuse I made to Shawn to head to work early but I told him I needed something from Target before I went in.  I was getting ready to leave and in the midst of everything I went to the bathroom.  Right after, I realized I thought "Great, now I could get a false negative because my pee won't be as concentrated when I test."  I figured I would still head to Target and just test later in the day. 

I went to Target and bought a pack of First Response Test, along with a crap ton of other stuff because you can't leave Target with just one thing.  I then decided that since I still had time I would go by Barnes and Nobles to buy Liam a few new books for bed time.  I really wanted a fun way to tell Shawn about our new baby on the way so I was on the hunt for a Big Brother book for Liam.  I stopped at Barnes and Nobles found the cutest book titled "I'm a New Big Brother."  I also bought a few other books for Liam too.

I headed to work and decided to take a First Response test when I got in.  I had peed an hour before so I was pretty positive that it would be negative but decided to try anyways.  However, This is what I got.

I was in shock at how clear both lines were and it finally sunk in that this was actually happening.

I'M KNOCKED UP!!!

I went about my work day consumed in my thoughts and bursting to share the news.  I couldn't wait to get home and tell Shawn.  About halfway through the day, I told a fellow associate that I was feeling kind of off.  Her first question was "Are you pregnant?" I thought for sure she was going to see through the lie I was telling her.  I nervously laughed it off but was convinced that I wasn't quite as believable as I hoped.  She dropped the subject and our conversation moved on.  Finally it was time to go home and I was so nervous excited to get there.

When I got home around 8 PM, Shawn told me my parents was coming over so I knew I couldn't tell him yet.  My family showed up and we lit fireworks for Liam. He loved them!

Liam on his First Fourth of July!

After we finished around 930 PM, my parents left and we started Liam's bath.  He got his bath and as we put him in his pajamas for the night I told Shawn I had picked out some books for Liam and that he should pick which one he wanted to read Liam.  I went to my car and brought him a stack of three books.  Shawn started reading the titles.  "Chicka-chicka boom boom, I want to be a Fireman... I'm a... New... Big Brother?" he read. 

He looked up at me with so much shock in his face and stared saying nothing. (Man, I wish I had gotten a picture of his face!) Finally I broke the silence and awkwardly said "Surprise!"  He asked "Really?" I told him yes and he asked when I had tested.  I told him this morning and he got a big cheesy grin on his face, hugged and kissed me. We put Liam to bed and we went upstairs to talk.  I ended up texting and then talking to Andrea to tell her that night too.  (Shawn was surprised that not only had I held it in from him all day but that I didn't tell Andrea either! I was pretty proud of my self control.)

That following weekend we ended up telling our parents first and then the whole world.

I can't believe that this all happened last year and now I have an almost 4 month old celebrating his first Fourth of July today.  He was definitely a surprise but I wouldn't change it for the world!