Mother's Day weekend

Saturday/Sunday (May 12+13)

Paul and I decided to tell our family on Mother's day weekend, as I was 8 weeks and we knew we would be seeing both families that weekend. We thought about several different ways to tell our families, but decided on a Christmas theme, since our baby is due December 21. We were shopping at Kohl's (at the end of April mind you) and happened to find some Christmas stuff that was on sale! For the Menards, we picked out a small stocking that said Grandma and for the Tischers we picked out a snowman picture frame. We made an insert for the stocking, as you pulled out the insert, the message said, BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT EVER...Baby Menard due December 21, 2011. We placed the same message in the picture frame.

On Saturday we went to the cities for my father-in-law's graduation from Concordia-St. Paul.  After the graduation ceremony, Margie, Pierre, Renee, Isaac, Aidan, Millard, Paul and I went out to eat at Cossetta's. We had a nice meal, then began to celebrate Mother's Day. Margie opened a few gifts and I made sure to keep our present for last. I had Paul sit next to Margie and I sat across the table and was taking some pictures. My hands were shaking in anticipation as I waited for Margie to open the last gift. She opened the stocking, pulled out the insert and immediately was smiling and couldn't believe it. She started crying, and Renee and I were crying. Aidan and Isaac didn't know what was going on, so here a 6 and 9 year old are seeing all of us crying in the middle of the restaurant and Isaac said, "This is so embarrasing." We then of course I told the boys they would be getting another cousin. We surprised them and it was a wonderful reaction! They were all so happy for us!

On Sunday we met Jessica, Eddy, Isaac, Piper and my parents at a park in Hinckley. The sun was shining and we placed ourselves at a picnic table. We visited, played with the kids, then sat down for a nice picnic lunch. After lunch we moved on to celebrating Mother's Day. I was again shaking in anticipation of my mom opening her gift. My sister of course knew of our secret and that we were sharing our news, so she was ready with the camera for pictures and to record their reaction on video. I sat next to my mom as she opened her last gift. My mom pulled out the snowman picture frame with shock and awe on her face and showed my dad. They both were immediately smiling and couldn't believe the news! We totally surprised them too! And they were thrilled with our news! We then told Isaac and Piper they were going to have a cousin and Isaac stands up, looks at my stomach and said, "It doesn't look that big!" :0) The day was awesome and my family was also so happy for us

Our families have been an amazing source of support, love, and encouragement on our journey. We feel very blessed.

8 weeks

Tuesday, May 8. My first OB appt at 8 weeks. This was the first appt at our new doctor's office. I met with a nurse and got the typical height, weight, medication review, and vitals checked. Then we went over health history. Finally, I got a big three ring binder of information and education about pregnancy. I went home and proceeded to look through the binder with excitement!

6 weeks

Monday, April 30. Even after sharing our news with my sister, we still couldn't quite grasp how things happened and if the positive test was true. We were thrilled and just wanted to know everything was ok with the baby. So after several talks with my sister, we listened to her advice and called the doctor. I had my HCG level drawn on Friday, April 27 with a result of 18,437 = great level. Then on Monday, I had an ultrasound. I was 6 weeks and 2 days. I saw our baby on the ultrasound, about the size of a pea with a heart beat of 152. I couldn't believe my eyes. I kept staring at the screen, brushing the tears from my eyes. I wished Paul could have been there but he had a baseball game. I told the ultrasound tech this and she was kind enough to put the image of the baby's heartbeat on a CD to take home. Paul got home from his game and we went to the computer so I could show him the CD. We knew then that our baby was growing and healthy. We stared at the screen and at each other, feeling blessed for this miracle.