Erin and Travis: Love, Marriage, and...?!: 6 Weeks Pregnant!

Yes...I'm pregnant! I have so much to talk about that I don't even know where to start! We are so excited.

In my last post, I was certain that I was not pregnant. I expected to feel different somehow. I guess I just thought that I would know. A couple of weeks ago on a Saturday night, I noticed I was feeling a little nauseous. Even

though that's not an unusual feeling for me (I just get random mild nausea once in a while), I decided that was reason enough for me to take a pregnancy test the next morning.

Travis had told me weeks in advance that he wanted to be present for the test, so we got up

together on Sunday to watch the line (or lines) appear. I remember setting the test down on the counter and nonchalantly explaining to him that one line is negative and two lines is positive, but that "this is totally going to be negative." As soon as I had said that, I looked back at the test and was in disbelief at what I saw. A very faint line was appearing. Was I seeing things? Travis wasn't sure what to think. He almost didn't believe it since it was so much lighter than the other line. I

had to convince him that a line is a line, and

immediately I did another test to make sure the first one wasn't just defective. Same results. I remember saying things like, "No way! Holy crap! Honey?!" Travis was just smiling. And then we had to be off to church since Travis was teaching a Sunday school lesson on the history of church architecture and symbols. :-) I kept taking tests daily all week to watch the line get darker. And here they are:

I can't make that any bigger...I hope you can see it. The first red line on each test is the test line, the second is the control line, and "DPO" means "Days Post Ovulation."

I took one more on day 23, and the test line was quite a bit darker than the control line.

We have told our families except Travis's grandmother, who lives in North Carolina. We plan to go visit her on Tuesday and tell her. I managed to capture most of our families' reactions on video. I need to get them uploaded and edited and hopefully post them on here... I hope no one will object! Those moments were life changing for us, and I'm excited to share them.

The baby is now considered an embryo...I guess I'm not sure what it was before! :-) It should be between 2 and 4 millimeters long. The "neural groove" should be closing and brain chambers and eyes are forming. The heart has started beating, and little arms and legs are probably starting to sprout. Personally, I think it looks like a baby shark or something. :-) By the end of this week, it should be much bigger and look slightly more human.

I've had almost no symptoms, and I'm crossing my fingers that it stays that way! I went ahead and posted a belly shot, even though I'm no bigger so far -- ok, I might have a bit of a belly, but that's a food baby! Pregnant women digest food more slowly in order to get more nutrients out for the baby.

This week we're hoping to finalize where we will be going for prenatal care. We have some insurance stuff to figure out. We have met with a midwife, but I have not had any real prenatal appointments yet.

I forgot to tell you my due date. The midwife we met with told me that I am due on May 16th, but I know that my weeks change over on a Sunday, and May 16th is a Monday. So, not that it makes much of a difference, but I think I am due on May 15th, since that's when I will be 40 weeks pregnant (full term). Really, though, I could give birth any time in May.

Also, Travis is the sweetest! The day after we found out, he had a day off for Labor Day, and he suggested we go to Babies R Us, which was a lot of fun! He kisses my belly every morning before he goes to work, and he said this in an email recently: "I hope you know I am REALLY excited about all of this! I keep thinking of the two of you and beaming!"

And now, I will conclude this post with some photos of things we gave our family members to announce the pregnancy. Be back next week!

Made this for my mom: