12.23.2008

Week 5: Belgium

We spent the week in Brussels during a layover on our way to India. It was the first time either of us had been to Belgium, and we had so much fun exploring the city together. We took a one hour train ride to Bruges, which was the most romantic city I have ever been in with its cobblestone streets, magnificent medieval buildings and quiet canals. And everything seemed all the more romantic, just the two of us, together, knowing we were pregnant.
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I was talking to one of my friends, and telling her how nice it was for Matt and I to take a vacation, just the two of us (he and I haven't travelled much together alone). Then she pointed out... we weren't really alone... there were actually three of us on that trip! Guess it's true, Baby G has now been to Belgium and India. Hopefully that will give him/her the travel bug in the future. As soon as this kid is born, I'm going to start him/her on chores to earn some money so he can pay his own way to India! Anyone need some dishes washed?

12.17.2008

Week 4: Telling the Hersleys


Matt and I contemplated telling my parents our news on Christmas day. But we would then be in the Brussels airport, and we weren't sure that the conditions would be ideal with expensive per minute charges and sound delays. So we decided to let the cat out of the bag a little early.

I thought it would be fun to let Jarrett know first, and he did not disappoint. He was on his way home from work at Ticketmaster when we called. While on speaker phone, I asked him if he would like to be an Uncle, and he confirmed with great excitement. He then told us to hurry up and call mom and dad before he did! He couldn't wait for them to hear the news.

Next we called mom and dad Hersley and ended up telling them separately while on speaker phone. They were both ecstatic (I think they had been waiting for this day for the last year!), and they couldn't wait for us to tell Matt's parents. It must have taken the rest of that evening for the news to set in, because mom called me the next day with a shaky voice and said, "I just wish I could give you a big hug!"

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Purple strip on left hand page reads: All the windows of my heart I open to the day. -John Greenleaf Whittier

The picture was taken over Thanksgiving 2008 (just before I became pregnant). I wanted to show a family picture of us, and how we looked before the baby came. "See 'Baby G', mom and dad and Grandma and Grandpa used to look at lot younger!"

12.16.2008

Week 3, Part 2: Telling Matt


So week 3 is a little long. Discovering your pregnant is a lot of news to digest!
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I just couldn't wait for the doctor's confirmation to tell Matt our news. I decided two positive tests was good enough for government work. So after we ate dinner, I rushed back to my scrapbook room and quickly wrapped the little gift I had planned to use to break the news to him. My heart was fluttering with anticipation, and I thought, this must be what a guy feels like right before he is about to propose. I hurried back to the kitchen, and told Mat that I wanted to give him a little Christmas gift. We had agreed not to exchange gifts since we were splurging on a big India trip, so he reluctantly accepted, feeling a little outdone.

Matt slowly opened the gift and pulled out a bib that said "I love daddy". He smiled, gave a little chuckle and then placed it on the counter. I looked at him not sure he was getting the point (and halfway hoping he wasn't, because this was a little less of a reaction than I was expecting). "Do you know what that means?", I asked. After a second of contemplation, a light suddenly went on. "YOU'RE PREGNANT?!!" I smiled to confirm and his eyes filled with emotion (and a few tears); he grabbed me in a huge embrace.

It was such a wonderful moment to see him so overcome with excitement. I wished I had it on video for others to see, but I will never forget the look on his face.
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One of the pages is actually the envelope which holds the card I gave to Matt when I told him the news.

12.15.2008

Week 3: Discovering the News

The typical pregnancy lasts 40 weeks (I know, I know, the annoying pregnant woman jargon, "I'm 28 weeks along." When all you want to know is if she is due next month, in two months or in twenty months... who talks in weeks?!). We are forced to use this speak because our doctors do it, and every single thing you read about pregnancy refers to the different stages in weeks, so before you know... weeks it is! 

So, I'm starting this journal at Week 3, because technically week one and two are before you are pregnant, and I didn't figure I needed to go into the birds and the bees in this journal. I'll probably go back and add a few pages at the beginning as an intro, but for now, moving forward is what I call making progress.

The journal page reads:
(Front)
Today I took a home pregnancy test, and I think it turned out positive!

I say, "I think", because the line is very faint. But last month when I took the test, absolutely nothing happened; so I think even a faint line must be a good thing. I'm a little hesitant to get excited just yet though (what if I'm hoping really hard that the line is there and am therefore making it faintly appear only to shyly disappear when I try to show it to anyone else?). So just to confirm that I wasn't crazy, I got the pregnancy test out of the trash four different times over the next several hours (digging through the trash = definitely not crazy!) to double, triple, quadruple check. Every time however, as faint as the line was... it was THERE!

(Back)
This morning I woke up and immediately took a second home pregnancy test, and again, it was positive, but still VERY faint. I was a little frustrated that the line wasn't screaming, "YOU'RE PREGNANT!", because I think that is about what it would take for me to truly be convinced. I do have to admit though, a little smile came over my face as I crawled back into bed. Surely two tests couldn't be wrong, even if they were whispering!

After laying in bed and not being able to go back to sleep (how could I?!), I called the doctor and made an appointment. (There was one way to put this faint line business to rest!) I felt a little sneaky going to the doctor without even telling Matt, but I also wanted to surprise him with the news if it was in fact positive.


12.13.2008

My Scrapbook Pregnancy Journal

Here are the first stages of my pregnancy journal. I started out with a "template" which was an album full of odd size pages which I cut out from different kinds and colors of scrapbook paper. I got the idea to do my pregnancy journal this way from an inspirational scrapbooker who's blog I love to read, Ali Edwards. Around November of last year, she started a scrapbook called December Daily. The idea was that she would put together an album with 25 empty pages made of scrap papers, envelopes and embellishments ahead of time, so that in December she could record each day's events leading up to Christmas quickly and easily as they happened. I loved the look of her scrapbook, because all the pages were different sizes, textures and colors. When she was finished (she posted her progress every single day), she had a beautiful keepsake that looked like a treasure chest of goodies to touch and explore. That's when the idea came to me, maybe the concept could be adapted into a pregnancy journal. Of course, I started the framework for mine after I was already several weeks pregnant, but I am quickly catching up, and am so glad I have started this process.

There are so many things that happen in our daily lives that either go unnoticed or are quickly forgotten. This is why I love to scrapbook and take pictures. It is my way of capturing those moments in time and cherishing the little details that make the big difference in life. This pregnancy journal is one way that I will be able to capture all the thoughts and feelings that I have throughout this nine month process, and it will be a keepsake that I can pass on to my children when they have questions about how long my morning sickness lasted or how thin I was before I brought them into the world! 

We're Expecting!


Yep, it's true. We found out in mid December 2008 that I am pregnant. We discovered the news three days before leaving for our (nearly annual) India trip. The timing worked out perfectly actually, because we got to share the news with Matt's parents in person!

Since we started sharing the news with some of our friends, I have had several people say that I need to start a blog so they can keep up with us for the next nine or so months. So I dug up this old blog I started (and never shared with anyone) when we first moved to Seattle! Hopefully this time, I'll be a little better at keeping up with it.

My plan for now is to upload pages that I have been working on in my pregnancy journal. It's a pregnancy scrapbook actually, and I have been writing in it weekly... so you can check back regularly to see what all three of the Georges are up to!

Can't wait to share all our news and feelings... thanks for reading!
Steph and Matt