How Braden Came to Be....Part IV

Clomid. Ultrasound. No progress. Sadness. That sums up the July and August months for us. OK--not totally. We made certain to have a few date nights and to have some fun. :) I like fun. And I also really like my husband.

Like I said before, Jed gets to go on amazing trips with his work, and he went to China for two weeks with his dad at the beginning of September. Want me to prove it? FINE! Here is his picture of the Great Wall. See why I'm always jealous of him?
While he was gone, my good friend, Andreana, and my sister, Ashley, and I went to Nashville for a weekend. We had a really relaxing time and while we there I started, ahem....(again, don't keep reading this paragraph if you don't like women stuff) one's best friend--I found that phrase on thesaurus.com, isn't it excellent and so very untrue? The three of us threw a "best friend" party and ordered take out bc my body does not usually do the best friend thing on its own. Yay for friends who celebrate the weird things with you!

Two days later I stopped. I was indeed confused and I called the doctor because they'd asked me to call with any cyclical updates. The nurse said, "Have you taken a pregnancy test?" I told her, "No way, Hosea (Her name was indeed not Hosea). I've taken a hundred in the last year and my ultrasound a couple of weeks ago proved I would not have the opportunity this month to even get pregnant." She told me to take one just in case and call the following day. I took one that night. There was no little line. So I did what anyone would do. I put it on the counter, walked out of the bathroom, immediately walked back in the bathroom, and looked again. Faaaaaint line. As in a little bitty, teeny tiny, itsy bitsy line. My head was screaming, "You are not pregnant. This is crazy. It makes no sense." But of course my heart was hoping desperately, and I was quickly in tears.

The next morning, I woke up and took another test. It had a real line this time. A REAL pregnancy line. As in, I was pregnant. I do not lie when I tell you, I dropped to my knees and literally cried out to God, "Thank you, thank you, thank you." I skipped around the house by myself (not figurative, people) crying, and I danced like David did. Well, I did not wear a priestly garment, I wore my sweatpants, but I was uninhibited. Completely and totally uninhibited. And then I composed myself and called the doctor.

Here's what Jed did:
He climbed the Great Wall! No way did I tell him! Not on the phone and certainly not in an e-mail. I did not tell a single soul besides the doctor's office.

That day, I had blood work done at the office. I really like the lady who took my blood. We were buddies by that point, so I told her no one knew and that Jed was in China. She hugged me and told all the other nurses and we did a happy dance in the blood room. Partay in the blood room!

And here is what Jed did:
I continued to go back for blood tests the next few days to make certain that my levels were right. And they were. I was pregnant. Really pregnant. It was one of the most difficult weeks of my life to walk through alone. Horrid! But it was beautiful. God and I just celebrated all week...with no alcohol of course. :) When I was not celebrating I was, of course, worrying. I worried that I would miscarry. I worried that the baby was not healthy. I worried that it was a dream. I like to worry--it's my hobby! I'm starting a support group for habitual worriers. But God really did come in and calm me. He surrounded me with His presence and love and peace. Every time I worried, I remembered that this was His creation, and He loved me and this baby and He was dancing more than I was! He's a better dancer.

And finally Jed came home a week later. I went in to the airport to pick him up, and when he came down the escalator, he said he knew by my face. I was literally jumping up and down and grinning from ear to ear. He walked straight to me, embraced me, and I said, "I'm pregnant." He. was. shocked. That was the last thing he expected when he arrived. We could hardly sleep that night we were so excited. We thanked God for answering our prayers, and we thanked God that we'd gone on those dates after the ultrasound technician told us there was no getting pregnant that month. Wink. (That wink wasn't bc I said something mean. It was a real one with the real meaning of wink.)

The next day we showed each of our families a slide show of his trip to China. This was the next to last picture. Jed's dad ziplining off the Great Wall.
The final picture was of a positive pregnancy test. His family cried and hugged and rejoiced. My family screamed and laughed and cried. We have more girls. Girls scream. :)

This is what my belly looked line then.
And this was it 9 months later.....
And these are my sisters. They are my world.

And this is me with my mom and Jed's mom. I adore them.
And this is Jed. Hot Jed. Hot hot hot hot Jed.
And then there was Braden.

Technically this is just the beginning of His story. I can't wait until he can tell his own....

For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition that I made to him.
I Samuel 1:27