i wanted to just make sure that i documented my amazing journey through pregnancy on this site. i did keep my own journal as i was going along, making sure to jot down my thoughts as little sammy was growing inside me. it was a miracle, and i am actually quite sad that it's over. if i could guarantee all my pregnancies would be that easy and amazing, i would have 10 kids. :) it was an incredible time for me, and one of the coolest things i've ever done.

when my mom told my dad that she was pregnant with me, she set it all up and made it a memorable event. they were just starting out and had no money, so she splurged and got steak and pepsi for dinner, which meant that it was definitely a special occasion. she told him over that special dinner, and my whole life i've waited to have a chance to get steak and pepsi and tell my husband that we were indeed going to have a baby. that's NOT quite the way it worked out!!

instead, it turned out that one random day, i decided that i felt my schedule was kind of off, so i just innocently took a pregnancy test. i didn't think anything would come of it at all! well, the lines appeared and there i was standing in the bathroom with a towel over my head, FREAKING OUT! ryan was on his way somewhere, and before i knew it, and definitely before i could stop myself to plan a romantic dinner, i was calling to him in a panic from the bathroom - "Come look at this!" he found out right then and there and we were both in a lot of shock! the joy came on us really quickly after that, and once the doctor confirmed it, we didn't even need steak and pepsi, the news was good enough!

i think i'll try that the next time...

i don't mean to gloat, but honestly, i couldn't have asked for a better pregnancy. i have been waiting to be pregnant my whole life (really! since i was about 6!), and i have been prepared for all that comes along with it. well, i was spared. i never got morning sickness, i never got sick ever - didn't throw up once! and that was incredible, since during May I was still teaching and didn't really want the kids to know yet, and then in june and july i had to take 15 students to Germany on an exchange program! it was a tough trip, but not at all because of the pregnancy. sure, i did get pretty green and nautious on our 8 hour flights and long bus rides (no dramamine??? are you kidding me?). and it was really, really hard to tell our hosts that i was not allowed to have any wine with our meals! but ryan was with me, and we actually got to go on our best vacation yet!

for 4 days in the beginning of the trip, we gave the kids time to go on longer excursions with their host families, so ryan and i spent 3 days in VIENNA, AUSTRIA! i lived there when i was in the junior high (my parents were missionaries), so i had a few favorite places, and then we spent the rest of our time rediscovering it together. i never got sick, i just got to enjoy our time.

so, if i get to do it again, i'm still ready for all the hardships that come with that 1st trimester, which i will probably not get to escape the next time. and sure, i did feel pretty strange knowing that little sam was just a peanut growing inside me, but it was a great time of wonder and excitement.

school started in september, but by then i still wasn't showing that much. my students were all very confused, because i didn't look pregnant, and they were hearing rumors about me leaving...it was a funny time. but they were excited, and they were very ready for me to run out of class and throw up (anything to avoid learning!), which i never had to do! they had a lot of questions, and i was just starting to feel like there actually was a baby growing in there. i was just as fascinated as they were!

as it got closer and closer to the due date, it was funny to think that at one point i was sad because i wasn't showing yet. i felt like i had been huge from the start! it got harder and harder to climb the stairs to my apartment - i HATED doing laundry: carrying the basket to the basement almost killed me! and i started doing all my teaching from the little stool in the front of my classroom. my maternity clothes started getting tighter and tighter, all the while the baby got bigger and bigger...

but then he started moving around in there! every night at about 9pm, he would dance around and get the hiccups. i could only imagine what he was doing in there, and all i wanted was for him to come out and play. or go to sleep. :) i got so used to him poking and kicking me, but none of my students did! it was so awesome to let them feel him and for them to see his little legs and bottom scoot around in there!

i got more and more tired, and he got more and more awake, and he still had a few weeks to go...

i was ready for sam to come by about mid-december. in fact, i said good-bye to my students and colleagues, i had all my lessons planned for my maternity leave, and i was all packed and ready to go over my christmas break, thinking it was definitely time. but no, sam LOVED it in there, and he decided to stay until we decided to help him get out!

in that last month, i grew HUMUNGOUS. i never slept, because i was so roly-poly i could never get comfortable, or i snored so loud i woke myself up. ryan couldn't even fit in the bed with me anymore, and i woke him constantly, so he stayed on the couch. that was so lonely!

that last month was possibly the LONGEST month of my life. i could not wait for sam and the anticipation almost killed me. sam was so worth the wait, though. every day as he pushed and squirmed and i could watch him move around in there, i just knew that even though it was a great pregnancy, it would be even better to have him with us. and now...i can't even remember what it was like to not know him!