A Year Ago Today

Exactly one year ago Lee and I found out I was pregnant. It was a Friday evening and we had gone out to eat with Lee's parents at our old standby - El Vaquero. I ordered shrimp quesadillas. They tasted horrible to me so I ended up taking all the shrimp off and just eating the plain cheese quesadillas. Lee tasted them and said they tasted fine. That should have been my first clue. On our way home from dinner, we stopped at CVS so Lee could pick up a few things and on a whim, I decided to pick up a pregnancy test. We got home and out of curiosity, I decided to take the test. Almost instantly 2 little pink lines showed up on the test and I immediately started shaking. I had no idea how to react. Lee was in the bathroom getting ready for bed - I rushed out and said, "babe - there's two lines on here." His reaction (typical guy) - "what does 2 lines mean?" In a very excited and emotional voice I proudly announced, "WE"RE PREGNANT." I think his reaction was somewhere between shock and disbelief. We hadn't been trying for very long (less than a month) so the fact that we were actually going to be having a baby was mind boggling. Since both of us were in shock, I took another test the next morning and the same 2 lines showed back up. The next Wednesday, I decided to take one more test but this time I bought a digital kind that actually says "pregnant" or "not pregnant." When "pregnant" showed up on the stick - it was a very different experience. Seeing the words instead of 2 little lines cemented the fact that we were indeed going to be the proud parents of a little one. The next 30 weeks were nothing short of amazing. We had our ups and downs and I have my fair share of pregnancy stories but the miracle baby we ended up with is our own little piece of heaven! As my belly grew (and our list of concerns grew longer) Lee and I underwent a spiritual transformation. I've written it before, but it is one thing to call yourself a Christian - it is another thing to truly give yourself over to the Lord. When we were given the news that Elle has Congenital Heart Disease, we gave our lives over to the Lord. It is an amazing experience to walk in your faith and to have such a peace about everything that was happening and going to happen. Many people have had pity on us for what we have been through and asked if my pregnancy was horrible. No - it wasn't. I had the most joyous and fun filled pregnancy. I absolutely loved every kick, every pound gained, every embarrassing yet funny pregnancy moment. I even loved the getting sick everyday for 30 weeks part because someone told me it meant Elle would have a lot of hair (old wife's tale - but I think it's true). The blessing we have (who is taking her first scheduled nap right now as I write this) has been a life changing little baby. Not just for us, but for our friends and family as well. She has brought some people closer to God, she has made others realize just how lucky and blessed they are and she has permanently changed the life of every person she has come in contact with. No matter what the past holds or what the future may hold, I take so much solace in knowing just how incredibly blessed we are to have her in our lives. I don't think that a year ago today I would have even begin to fathom just how much love one person can have for their child. 37 weeks of pregnancy gave us a miracle baby (a miracle baby who doesn't like to nap)!

Pictures from 12, 18, 24, 30 and 36 weeks!