Babies, Babies Everywhere...

I forgot to mention that when you are trying to get pregnant you get babies on the brain and begin to see pregnant women and babies everywhere you go!! You will also find that every friend, family member and acquaintance you have are all of a sudden pregnant and "weren't even trying", or "it happened the very first time" they tried. You will be happy for them and will congratulate them and coo over their little ones, but you will also be extremely jealous and will probably feel bad for feeling that way.

Our First Pregnancy

In late August 2008, Andrew and I were ecstatic to find out that after a year of trying we were finally pregnant. I was in shock when my period didn't arrive, and when that beautiful positive sign appeared on the First Response test I was elated!! It was 7:00 am on a Sunday morning but I had to wake Andrew immediately to tell him he was going to be a father. At first I think he was still so asleep that he didn't hear me properly, but once he understood he woke up right away, and we spent the next 20 minutes trying to take a clear picture of the pregnancy test. We also called everyone we knew to share the happy news!! Our friends and family were very happy for us but were surprised that we would share the news so early. We were just so ecstatic that we didn't stop to think about whether telling everyone was a good idea. It's common practice to wait until the second trimester starts, but we threw caution to the wind. We never thought that we would end up regretting that decision....

My Baby Hopes

I think I have always wanted to be a mother. Even when I was in grade school one of my favourite things to do was to help out in the Kindergarten class during recess. I have always had a very nurturing side and I knew from a young age that I wanted to teach young children when I got older. I accomplished that goal when I graduated from college with a degree in Early Childhood Education 10 years ago. Some people think that we are just glorified babysitters, but there is so much more to the job than that!!! We are teachers, substitute mothers, janitors, nurses and parental counsellors. We provide the framework on which children base all future learning. There is so much research now that proves just how important the first 5 years of a child's life are to brain development, but I digress. The fact is that although (on most days) I love my job, I want nothing more than to finally take care of my own child as well as other people's. I have a feeling I'll be pretty well prepared for the preschool years, but after that it's a crap shoot!
When Andrew and I first married we agreed to wait one year before trying for a baby. I would have been ready right away but I recognized that Andrew needed a little more time, and I thought it would be nice to have that first year to enjoy every moment together just the two of us. At the time I had no idea that we would eventually struggle to get pregnant, and that each passing month would seem like an eternity. The fact is before Andrew and I got married we used to perform a happy dance each month I got my period! Now each time I got my period I became more and more frustrated and sad. Although it is up to all of you out there, if you are in your 30's like us, or have a gut feeling that getting pregnant won't be easy, listen to that feeling! Don't wait like we did, or you will regret that decision over time...You never know how long it will take, it could happen right away or it could take a very long time.
P.S. Don't go pregnancy book crazy like me either, I read every pregnancy book I could find and I think it just stressed me out! Wait until you are pregnant to read those books, some of the statistics are pretty scary!

Our Story

My future husband Andrew and I met for the first time at a mutual friend's Superbowl Party. I was instantly smitten, and really wanted to talk to him but all I could manage was a "hello". And he of course was too busy being a testosterone filled football guy to even notice me (he says he did, but I still don't believe him). After that first meeting I talked to my best friend Tanya (her husband was the mutual friend) about how cute he was and how I hoped I would get to see him again! Luckily Andrew was trying to branch out and find new friends and agreed to go with us to another mutual friend's birthday. That night I decided I was going to talk to him, so when I saw him talking to my friends I walked over and struck up a conversation. My friends soon got the picture and quietly slipped away to let us be alone......two years later on a beautiful Cuban beach Andrew got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. We were married on August 19th, 2006, and have been living happily ever after since.....sappy but true! I'm not saying our marriage is perfect because nobody's is. We have our ups and downs and we bicker like anybody else, but he's the only person I see myself with 50 years from now.