Our Little Firecracker

I blogged before about how we had a really low key 4th of July this year. Matt was in China, and Nathan and I spent a relaxing day with my parents. Later that night though, it turned into a 4th of July, I'm sure I will always remember.

Before Matt left for China we discussed that if I were to get pregnant that month, I would find out while Matt was away. We decided that I could wait and take a pregnancy test after Matt got home, but if it was really bugging me, I'd go ahead and take the test while he was in China.

I could have taken a pregnancy test a couple of days before the 4th of July, but I was determined to go ahead and wait until Matt got home. All day on the 4th though, I just felt weird. I ran that morning and it was a lot harder run than I was used to, and then I was exhausted all day. By that afternoon, my stomach felt a little off. I had convinced myself that I wasn't pregnant, but it kept nagging at me, and I really wanted confirmation that I wasn't pregnant so I could stop thinking about it.

After I put Nathan to bed, I had made the decision that there was no way I could wait another four days to find out, and since I wasn't going to wait until Sunday, there was no reason to wait any longer, so I took the test that night. In my head I had told myself that I wasn't pregnant, probably trying to protect myself from disappointment if the test was negative, but then I saw two pink lines! I was so excited and emotional, and honestly that was a tough moment for me. There was no one to run to and hug and scream and get excited with, and I had a pinch of regret wishing I would have had the will power to wait until Matt was home (even though by that point, I would have been pretty sure I was pregnant without a pregnancy test). If Nathan would have had any clue what was going on, I would have woken him up to celebrate. I immediately called Matt, and of course he didn't answer. I tried again a few minutes later, and I scared him with my phone call. It was mid morning in China, so Matt was at work. I try and avoid calling him while he's at work, unless it's something important, so I could understand while he was worried that something was wrong. I needed to tell someone though and he was the only person I could talk to! I felt better after I talked to him, but he was pretty reserved since he was at work. The next morning though we got to Skype and share our excitement together which I needed and a few days later, I was able to get my celebratory hug. I spent the rest of the evening praising God for blessing us with another precious life and trying to calm down enough to get some sleep. Just like the first time around, it amazed me how one tiny little moment in the form of two pink lines could have such a drastic impact on our lives.

I think it's a fun story that I found out on the 4th of July. I thought about referring to the baby as our little firecracker, but I'm not sure that would be wise or I might end up with a baby with a fiery little personality :).