Spilling the Beans...

One of the many things infertility takes away from you is the element of surprise. Us getting pregnant, while a miracle, was no surprise. Meaning, we've been working towards this for years. Everything has been charted, cycles are exact, and we knew the moment we would get a yes or a no. All of my plans years ago to tell David over a dinner of baby spinach salad, baby back ribs and baby carrots went out the window. (Yeah, I know...that's really cheesy. But it's also pretty cute! So someone please use it and tell me how it works out for ya!)

As I mentioned in my previous post about the babies, our families and friends had been involved in our previous treatments so they knew when to expect the results just like we did. They were waiting for the call. There was no waiting it out and telling in our own way when we were ready.  Each time, the negative results proved hard on everyone. For our last round of treatment we decided to fly under the radar and not tell anyone. The result was not only the overarching blessing of the babies, but the shred of normalcy in a process that has been anything but by allowing us to tell our families in fun ways. While this was absolutely my deal and not as important to David, he humored me and allowed me the joy of thinking of fun ways to tell our families. 

Here is what we came up with!

*Disclosure: In the videos I have NO idea why I am talking so high pitched and giggling so much. I guess it was nervousness and elation :) But I'm warning you, I'm annoying.

Background: Our parents live about an hour and 10 minutes away from each other. Dave had just passed a round of his CPA exam so our parents had been talking about meeting in the middle and taking him out to a celebratory dinner. It worked out so perfectly that we had our 7 week ultrasound on a Friday, so we planned it for that evening. We went that day, heard a heartbeat...then heard a second heartbeat!! And we walked away with photos to share. I had found 2 frames (I speculated twins based on the numbers in my blood work and the unbelievable morning 24 hour sickness I was experiencing) that perfectly described these babies and used 2 of our ultrasound photos. The video below is so dark, and I can't figure out how to get it to rotate correctly, but it accurately captures my mom sobbing and the fun of sharing it with our parents. 

Claudia and my mom posing with their grand babies :) *Side note: I told my mom she could tell NO ONE for a couple more weeks, so she proceeded to tell the waiter. She just couldn't help herself. Ha!

David and me with our families after they learned the good news. 

Next, I got to tell my Nana. This was bitter sweet as we did our last round of treatment right before my Papa passed away. I found out on April 9th that we were not pregnant and he passed away on April 17th. It would have been such a joy to get to tell him this news...although I know he knows now. 

For my entire life we have eaten special meals on my Nana and Papa's wedding china. Desert Rose :) Thanksgiving, Christmas, family gatherings...for 31 years of my life these dishes have been a constant. I thought it would be fun to give her two new plates since she will need them to serve her great grand children. I didn't get her on video but there were a lot of happy tears!

For my sister and Brad I decided to play up Kristen's years in NYC. She fell in love with the city as a teenager and plotted her move right after graduating college. She had several wonderful years there and we have made MANY fabulous memories there! I found this cute board book showing sites of NYC and wrote a few notes in there. Kristen lived on the Upper West Side near Central Park and close to Columbus Circle. So next to Columbus circle I wrote, "Aunt Kristen's apartment was close!" She got it pretty quickly. :) The card I wrote her explained that her nieces and/or nephews would enjoy hearing about all of her adventures in the big city.

Telling Taylor and Rebecca- My brother plays minor league baseball for the San Francisco Giants. I decided to ask him to sign 2 of his baseball cards. I handed him a piece of paper telling him what I wanted him to write: 

"I'll teach you everything I know. Love, Uncle Taylor" 

My best friends' kids all call me Aunt T-Rog. So at first he just thought he was signing them for Charlie and Blythe or Avery. Of course never assuming he might really be an uncle! These videos had to be cut short but we got some big tears out of the big guy. 

Dave's sister, Kate lives in NYCcurrently. So I went the

 New York route with her as well getting her an adorable pop-up book. Y'all, it is the cutest! It shows all of the major sites from the Empire State Building to the Statue of Liberty to Yankee Stadium. I wrote her a card also telling her what fun her niece and nephews will have getting a tour of the city from a "local" and getting to visit all of the places their Aunt Kate has been. 

We made her Face Time with us while she opened her gift, and my mother-in-law happened to be there that same weekend so it worked out perfectly!!

If you actually made it to the end....wow! You are terribly kind!! I can't imagine I will ever forget these details, the joy of sharing this with our family, but just in case I wanted it all documented. ~ XOXO