Baby K is on the Way - part 1

You all know the drill, I'm writing in real time - but not publishing until we have a little more information and are sure everything is ok with the baby.  I'm apologizing in advance to all of you who have asked and I have boldly lied to your face.  I hope you forgive me!  :)

On August 11, 2013 at 4:14 AM, I received this picture in a text message:

Along with another text that said, "In case you were wondering, you're going to be a mom!"

Let's all just take a moment to have a collective amount of tears of joy, shall we?!

To be honest, in that moment, I'm not sure the weight of that text or that picture really hit me.  Sometimes I'm not sure it still has.  This entire experience has been so surreal - and this phase is certainly no exception.

Before we go any further, I feel like I should explain the Baby K part of the title.  Before Kevin and I were even engaged, we started talking about baby names.  With all 3 of us having names starting with a K (Kevin, Katie, & Kaitlyn) - we quickly decided (by we, I really mean I) that our children would need to hop on the K train.  So, our baby has been known as Baby K - until we know the gender, then we will call it by it's name.  :)

Anyway, back to the real point -

I had asked Julie to only text me, because I wanted to be able to tell Kevin myself - so I *tried* to go back to sleep for a few hours (yep, didn't happen), showered, and scribbled this little note to him:

He works until 2:00 AM on Saturday nights (DJing at a bar), so I knew this 8 AM wake up wouldn't be high on his list of preferences, but I simply couldn't wait any longer.  I handed him a blank envelope and he groggily opened it.  The look on his face as those words in the card registered to him is something I will never forget.  This is an experience I think both of us thought we would never get to experience together - we assumed we would be getting a call from our attorney when our baby was born or we were chosen.  Not exactly storybook, to say the least.  Thank you, Heavenly Father for knowing what we needed, even before we knew it.  After a quick hug and kiss, I was off to work for the day.

How I made it through the morning without telling anyone, I will never know.  But I did.  As we broke for lunch, I quick texted Kevin and told him to meet us at the restaurant.  I wanted my closest family to know ASAP since they already knew the dates of the procedure - they knew we would be finding out soon anyway.  So he showed up at the restaurant and as he kissed my mom, he said, "Hey Barb, I wanted you to see what I got this morning."  Confused, she opened the card, read it, re-read it and then burst into the most joyous sobbing I have ever witnessed.  As the card was passed around the table, I remember thinking to myself take it all it, this is what you've been waiting for - these people have loved you through the valley and here we are on the mountain tops.  With tears in the eyes of every person at that table, I'm not sure I've ever felt my heart more full.

I decided at lunch that I had to go see my dad.  I knew I couldn't do anything else until he knew and I knew I couldn't tell him any other way than face-to-face.  I made up a story about needing to drop something off and we went over to their house.  My dad is a man of few words and he doesn't show emotion very well - but when something really touches him, he gets a little choked up and his nostrils flare just a little.  I saw it.  And that chokes me up.  He's such an amazing Opa and I am so honored that I get to make him an Opa again.  God is so amazing.

As I went to bed that night, I just kept looking at that picture.  Those two pink lines.  Trying to let it all sink in and reminding myself that, indeed, this was really happening.

I will be back tomorrow with another Baby K is on the Way on as the reality begins to sink in.  But, before I go - I just want to say THANK YOU.  Thank you for supporting us.  Thank you for your interest in our story.  Thanks for reading each day.  Most of all, thank you for praying for us.  The power of prayer is a remarkable thing and this baby will always know the story of their "blog family"  :)

Lots of Love -