When 2 became 3...the arrival of Caelynn Rose

Last post I discussed how Rich and I met and married. Tonight I will fast forward to when Caelynn came into our lives. :-)

We officially married in January, had our ceremony in April, and in May we moved into a bigger apartment. The one we had been in was literally just one room with two walls semi-enclosing a sink, toilet, and shower (with no door). We were paying $1,000 per month in rent! Welcome to Hawaii! We moved to a larger apartment for $1400 a month that was on a jungle-type road and overlooked a barn of horses. :-) Things were great. That August, the school year began, and I had the heaviest teaching load I'd ever had. I was teaching every single period out of every single day - which for an elementary teacher sounds like a normal day. But for a jr/sr high teacher - that is a lot due to the amount of prep work and higher level of grading involved. In September I began to feel sick to my stomach and just off. Took a pregnancy test - and it was positive. Being a "mommy newbie", I told a bunch of people. About two days later, I started to bleed and miscarried at about 5 1/2 weeks along. I know that some women always share IMMEDIATELY as soon as the stick turns "positive". I learned a valuable lesson - I wait. I'm not a very public person when it comes to personal pain, and while some women (and I'm not judging at all - just stating that I"m different) need or want that extra attention, I hate it. It was a blow to Rich and I, and we were pretty devastated. I'll never forget when it happened - during the school day and trying to phone my ob/gyn and answers questions on my breaks while trying to keep teaching the rest of the day knowing that I was losing my baby. It was difficult but I'm thankful to have gone through it. God knows best, He is good ALL THE TIME, and His plan is always perfect. 

Less than a month later, all of the same symptoms came back, only more intensified. Took another test, not believing it could be true...and it was positive. That's right - less than 4 weeks after losing our baby, another was on the way. Just one month's difference - and yet that pushed my due date to the very beginning of July, which meant that I could teach my entire year, still participate (albeit waddling by then) in graduation and awards banquets for the kids, and have enough time to close out the year, finalize the grades, pack up my classroom, and get in a few days of rest before Caelynn came. 

This time we were VERY careful. We waited to tell anyone and my first ultrasound was at 8 weeks. It was just a few days after my birthday and a few days before we were flying home to Pennsylvania to spend Christmas with my family. I was already starting to show a bit. I'm not a tiny girl by any stretch of the imagination but at 5 foot 4 inches and a short torso, we had no place to go but out! I remember meeting my dear friend, Colleen, for lunch after my first ultrasound (Rich couldn't make it b/c he had just started a new job after getting out of the military but he came to almost every appointment after that). I was SO EXCITED!!!

We flew home and shared the news, although it was VERY obvious, and I was already in maternity clothes and had a noticeable bump. While I was at home, the morning sickness started. So - about 10 weeks along. And whoever came up with the term "morning sickness" was an idiot. I got sick throughout the whole day. One day I could keep food down, the next day just the smell of that food made me hurl. I won't go into detail but the 3 flights we had to take back home to Hawaii were HORRIBLE, and I actually vomited as we landed in Hawaii. We then started telling people, since I was about 12 weeks along, that a baby was on the way. 

We found out we were due July 4th. I impatiently waited to find out boy or girl, but I was convinced it was a boy b/c of the way I was carrying (all out in front). WRONG! I was SHOCKED when our ob/gyn told me we were having a girl! Being my OCD self, I already had a full name picked out for either gender. We were still thrilled, nonetheless. 

Time marched on. I continued to be sick morning and evening until 5 months, but I went the entire 41 weeks throwing up faithfully EVERY SINGLE MORNING. Must be in the genes - my mom went through the same thing with my brother and I. Thanks, Mom!

9 months pregnant with Caelynn and ready to bust!

...to be continued...