The last time we did this....

Daniel and I are taking the older 2 kids to Disneyland etc for 10 days. We are leaving on Friday and we are all so excited. We took them just over a year ago, in October, for the first time, and since we are going again, I couldn't help but be reminded of something unusual that happened the last time we went, so I figured, "Hey, why not blog about it?"

So October of 2006 rolled around. We decided to take the kids to Disneyland as a surprise for Mason's 8th birthday. We had our airline tickets, the secret was still intact, and I was packing our suitcases to leave.

As a female, I am so lucky as to have to think, when packing, about what time of the month it is, and whether I will need certain female items while on said trip (there is a point to this, I'm not just throwing that wicked mental picture out there for my health). I got to thinking about it, trying to remember when the last one was.....hmmmmm...let's see, it was when my brother Paul and Kristin got married...that was.......calendar.....5 weeks ago. WHAT???? Wait a second. 5 weeks? For me, that's like 6 years. 5 weeks is unheard of. Hmmmm....for most people, that would be a pretty sure sign that something was up, right? But for me, not so much. Most people who know me know that Mason, Savannah, and Jaxon were all fertility babies. So wondering if I am pregnant was not something I had ever had to do. I know when I'm pregnant. It happens after a lot of doctor visits, a lot of pill taking, a lot of shots, a lot of worrying and hoping, a lot of disappointment and expense. What it doesn't do is just happen. Weird. Well, I knew I didnt want to take a trip to the coast, wondering what was going on. So I decided it would be best to buy a test. I didn't tell Dan anything about it. I knew from past experience that it would be a complete miracle if I was. I also knew that with Jaxon being only 9 months old, Daniel would be more than a bit freaked out. So there was no reason to worry him over nothing.

I went to the store and bought 2 tests. I took one the morning before we left. Negative, just like I thought. No reason to even mention that scare to Dan at all. I was strangely disappointed, but I wasn't sure why. I told myself I knew before I ever took the test that it would be negative. I can't tell you how many times in 10 years I had a negative pregnancy test. So I went ahead and packed my female items, and off we went on our trip.

The flight went rather smoothly. Except for one thing. For some reason, my stomach felt very unsettled. Flying doesn't usually affect me that way. But I was nauseated not only on the flight, but right after we landed as well. Reaaaaallly nauseated. Odd.

A couple of days into our vacation, we decided to go swimming. I put on my swimsuit and immediately started complaining to Daniel. "Look at me! I must be retaining 10 pounds of water! I know I haven't gained any weight but look at my stomach! It's huge!" Since I was over a week late, I figured I was just having major PMS. I didnt even want to go out in my swimsuit looking like that, but I bit the bullet and just hoped that extreme bloating would go away soon.

That night, as Daniel and I hopped into bed, I snuggled up close to him and he said, "What is wrong with you? Are you sick? You are burning up!!!" I felt fine, and told him he must just be cold. "No" he said, "You are hot to the touch. You must have a fever." Mason had been sick the day we arrived, and I could have caught that, but I didnt feel hot at all. I felt fine. Weird. Again.

The next night, the same thing happened. There are only 2 times when my body feels hot to the touch- when I have a fever, and the first 10 weeks-ish of a pregnancy. But I knew I wasn't pregnant since I had just taken that test. But here it was another 3 days or so after that and still no period.....And yet I was totally convinced I could chalk it all up to an extreme case of PMS. Dan made a joke with me, saying, "Maybe you're incubating HAHAHA" Big Joke. I decided to reassure him, and told him about the fact that I actually had thought I might be before we left, but he could rest easy, it was negative. His response, "You BETTER NOT BE PREGNANT!" I kept reassuring him that duh, it wasn't possible for me to be pregnant, chill out.

Throughout the rest of the trip, I continued to feel sick to my stomach from rides, food, the car etc. But not badly enough that it ruined any of my fun.

It was a short trip so 4 days or so later, we headed home. Daniel and I got in a silly argument over something ridiculous on the drive home from the airport so we weren't speaking when we arrived home. By this point, I was almost 2 weeks late and I did not feel right, so I decided to take the remaining test the next morning.

I shouldn't have been surprised. I mean, all the signs were there. But after 10 years, and never being able to get pregnant on our own, I was shocked. I kept going back in there and looking at the test again and again. The strangest part was that even though I had just had a baby, and even though this was in no way planned, I couldn't help but see the miracle in front of me and be grateful, and happy, about this incredible surprise.

Now for telling Dan :) We still weren't speaking, and I wasn't about to drop that on him when he was already pouting. So I sat on it for a few days until the right time seemed to present itself. Let's just say he was far more shocked than I was.

It's ony been 14 months but how life has changed since then! Jayden is the best surprise we have ever been given. He is an amazing addition to our family. He is the sweetest, snuggliest little guy. I can't imagine our family without him. I am so grateful for the blessing he is. It is such a neat experience for me to see the dynamic between him and Jaxon, being so close in age. My other children are all close to 4 years apart, and my boys are over 7 years apart. I am so excited to see how their relationship develops as they grow up.

As we head to Disneyland this time, we are leaving 2 babies home with family, instead of 1 like we did last time. And I expect my tummy will feel much better this time around. But I think every time we take a Disney vacation, I will recall the big surprise we got the first time around.