Once we shared the news with my family, it was painful to have to wait the six days until we celebrated Christmas with the Boboths. We had planned to celebrate Christmas with them on New Year's Eve, and we decided we would tell them then.
We both woke up early that morning, full of excitement. This would be the day that our secret was completely out! Once we told Cole's family, we could go on and tell everyone else. There was a slight tinge of sadness in that this secret would no longer just be ours, but that feeling was quickly overwhelmed by excitement.
We all made breakfast together in the kitchen. Cole kept catching my eye and winking; his eyes danced with excitement. When breakfast was finally cleaned up, we settled in the living room to open gifts. Again, as with the Schlects, round and round and round we went - opening one gift at a time. We loved watching the kids open their gifts and try on their new bike helmets and play with their toys, but inside we were both squirming, willing them to move faster. Finally, the time came - all the gifts had been opened and we, once again, feigned confusion at the fact that there wasn't another gift under the tree. Cole ran back to the room to grab the gift that we most certainly hadn't forgotten.
He handed it to his mom, and she began to open it. It was his dad that realized what the frame, grainy little image was. He immediately stood up with eyes full of tears and - speechless and dazed-looking - came over and hugged us tight. When the realization hit his mom, she was let out a squeal of delight and turned the picture frame around so the rest of the room could see. I have never seen Everett cry so hard. He just clung to Cole as he sobbed - and Carrie screamed and screamed.
I think the kids were pretty alarmed at the spectacle.
We called Cameron to tell him, and then proceeded to FaceTime with GramGram. Our faces hurt from smiling.
We left not long after to get home to prepare for the NYE party we were hosting for our college friends. Instead, we spent the afternoon calling our family. We got to FaceTime with Brian and Stacie and Von, Andy, and Megan - all of whom cried with us. Calls to all of our aunts and uncles were so much fun. Tyler even told us that he was more excited for our news than he was when he found out he was going to be a dad.
That night, Cole used the AppleTV and put up the footage of our first ultrasound to tell our friends the news. More tears and hugs and story retelling.
*****
The next day, we got to tell our church family. What a gift to get to share this with them too. Adam told us on our way out of church that day, "You know what I'm most looking forward to in 2017? Holding your baby."
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
Sharing the News * Schlects
It wasn't a difficult decision, really, to keep the news to ourselves. After all, there were so many points throughout our infertility journey where we felt all too exposed, all too open. For once, it was really nice to have something that was just ours, our secret to harbor, to whisper back and forth to each other under the covers, to share a knowing smile in the midst of oblivious company. It was easy. Funny how you can be simultaneously bursting at the seams with joy, and yet effortlessly keep the news under wraps.
The timing was such that the Christmas holiday coincided with the end of my first trimester, a logical time to share the news. My entire family, grandparents included, would be gathered together on Christmas morning - ideal. After noticing that my parents lacked a baby monitor (and noting their growing need for one), we decided that that would be the perfect Christmas gift for them - and how we would share our news.
Christmas morning came and we were both a bundle of nerves. How we carried on normally all morning is beyond me. Stockings were opened, breakfast was eaten, and round and round the circle we went opening one gift at a time. With a delightful two year old niece and a grandmother with a tendency to gush, the process took a bit longer than normal. My heart beat out of my chest.
Mom and Dad bestowed the final gifts, and I feigned confusion as to why there was not one more gift under the tree. I ran downstairs to retrieve the wrapped baby monitors, and - as luck would have it - it ended up being the final gift of the morning. (Note: we almost lost my brother and niece to a discipline moment, but were somehow able to keep them in the room.)
Mom opened the gift, sitting in a chair on the edge of the dining room. As she pulled off the wrapping, it quickly became evident that she didn't quite make the connection we were hoping to make. She said, "You know, we DO need one of these! Thank you!" Shaking with adrenaline from head to foot, I mentioned, "And you'll need it even more in July."
She froze. *At this point, I have no idea what everyone else was doing. For some reason, I couldn't take my eyes of my mom.*
"What?! Really?!" with her hand over her mouth.
All I could do was smile through my tears and nod.
She fell to her knees, tears filling her eyes, and crawled across the floor to hug me. Behind her, dad wept and came over to hug Cole. I pulled back from her long enough to see my sisters and grandparents in tears too. We cried a lot as we filled them in on the timeline and smiled at their incredulous gasps that we were already 12 weeks along.
All the tears. All the hugs. I don't think I stopped shaking from the adrenaline for hours.
The rest of the day was a blur of tears and awe. (Especially as Pondra arrived and shared the news that Tyson and Laura were expecting - and Dad shared with them the gift we had given them. More tears and hugging and emoting.) We cried through dinner as we marveled at God's generosity to our family.
It was a Christmas we won't soon forget.
The timing was such that the Christmas holiday coincided with the end of my first trimester, a logical time to share the news. My entire family, grandparents included, would be gathered together on Christmas morning - ideal. After noticing that my parents lacked a baby monitor (and noting their growing need for one), we decided that that would be the perfect Christmas gift for them - and how we would share our news.
Christmas morning came and we were both a bundle of nerves. How we carried on normally all morning is beyond me. Stockings were opened, breakfast was eaten, and round and round the circle we went opening one gift at a time. With a delightful two year old niece and a grandmother with a tendency to gush, the process took a bit longer than normal. My heart beat out of my chest.
Mom and Dad bestowed the final gifts, and I feigned confusion as to why there was not one more gift under the tree. I ran downstairs to retrieve the wrapped baby monitors, and - as luck would have it - it ended up being the final gift of the morning. (Note: we almost lost my brother and niece to a discipline moment, but were somehow able to keep them in the room.)
Mom opened the gift, sitting in a chair on the edge of the dining room. As she pulled off the wrapping, it quickly became evident that she didn't quite make the connection we were hoping to make. She said, "You know, we DO need one of these! Thank you!" Shaking with adrenaline from head to foot, I mentioned, "And you'll need it even more in July."
She froze. *At this point, I have no idea what everyone else was doing. For some reason, I couldn't take my eyes of my mom.*
"What?! Really?!" with her hand over her mouth.
All I could do was smile through my tears and nod.
She fell to her knees, tears filling her eyes, and crawled across the floor to hug me. Behind her, dad wept and came over to hug Cole. I pulled back from her long enough to see my sisters and grandparents in tears too. We cried a lot as we filled them in on the timeline and smiled at their incredulous gasps that we were already 12 weeks along.
All the tears. All the hugs. I don't think I stopped shaking from the adrenaline for hours.
The rest of the day was a blur of tears and awe. (Especially as Pondra arrived and shared the news that Tyson and Laura were expecting - and Dad shared with them the gift we had given them. More tears and hugging and emoting.) We cried through dinner as we marveled at God's generosity to our family.
It was a Christmas we won't soon forget.
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