As I mentioned last week, I wanted to tell the story of how I shared with my hubby when we became pregnant. This is more relevant to this blog than you might think...
You might recall that while on Slim 4 Life I was not allowed to eat most of my favorite foods, such as pasta, most breads, bananas, sweets, and all cheese. This was such a trying period because of the dairy limitations, so as soon as we started trying to get pregnant, I told my husband the first thing I would do when I found out I was pregnant was go out and buy a big hunk of smoked cheese!
A few short weeks later, I saw the positive readings (I took 2 to be sure!) on a Saturday morning before my husband had to go to work. I was relieved to have the morning to myself to plan how I was going to tell him, so I couldn't wait until he was out of the car after I dropped him off. That was an excruciatingly long and awkward car ride! I finally got to drop him off, and, knowing that I was pregnant, I wanted to celebrate by eating something I hadn't had in a very long time: biscuits and gravy! I hopped across the street to the Big Biscuit and ordered a half size order (knowing that we would be eating well that afternoon). I think I was more nervous and excited than hungry, so I barely tasted the food, but the idea that I could eat what I wanted for a while satisfied me.
I only had a few hours to prepare for the day and the big announcement, so I had no time to waste. I had heard about a consignment sale in our area that week, and not knowing at all what we were expecting, I stopped to look more than anything, but found a cute jumper with a giraffe on it (our nursery theme) and drove home. I had been formulating how I wanted to tell my husband since before we started trying, but didn't know all the details of how to pull it all together. I got on the trusty Pinterest and found an idea I thought would work great.
Since it was the day before St. Patty's, there were all kinds of ideas pertaining to leprechauns and rainbows and pots of gold (much like today!). I ended up stumbling across
this idea for a rainbow scavenger hunt. I had wanted to take him to all of the places where we had meaningful milestones in our relationship, and the colored paint chips would help to tie it all together. I had a short time to shower and dress in one of his favorite dresses, and put a special something under his pillow before I had to go to finish my preparations.
I stopped by the WalMart to pick up the paint chips and a delicious block of smoked gouda (his favorite!), because, where else can you buy cheese and paint at the same time? Then it was time to pick him up from work...
When I picked him up, he was very surprised to see me dressed up and was curious about what the day's plans held. I had told him on the way to work that morning not to plan for anything after work, because I was planning a special surprise. He hadn't gotten to eat lunch yet, so we went to QuikTrip and picked up a hot dog and some gas, and then started on our date.
The first stop on our trip was the Subway across the street from his work. I directed him to drive there and gave him the yellow chip. Then I reminded him (as if he could forget!) why that place was so special to us: it was our first real date. We had gone there the day after his car had been stolen and I treated him to lunch, and we both stated our intentions of courtship to each other. He had no idea what else was in store for the day, but knew we weren't going to reenact our date because we had other places to go.
Next, was the Auditorium where I invited him to hear my choir perform
Messiah the November before we started dating. I handed him the red chip and told him that this was the place that I first realized that I loved him. I could barely choke out the words, thinking about that intermission and how happy I was to see him there. I can't believe how much my life has changed since that night. We also had a wonderful time afterward, going out for shakes, where I inadvertently insulted him and made him fall in love with me at the same moment. He still teases me about that.
Then we moved on to the dam at Longview Lake, one of my favorite places to go. It's secluded and beautiful, and that was the night that I finally let on (after 9 years!) how I felt about this man. I handed him the blue chip and we sat in the car and stalled until it was time for our next stop by answering some questions I had printed off.
We finally got to leave after about an hour, and ended up at Cinzetti's, our favorite New Year's pasttime. I handed him the green chip and told him how much I enjoyed visiting this place with him, even when we were friends. Besides their AMAZING food, this was the place that I felt like more than his friend for the first time. He was so used to being shuttled off to other stops by now, that he started to get back in the car when I asked him, "Don't you want to eat?" We have only ever eaten there on New Year's Eve, so he was completely surprised and stoked that we were going to be going in.
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| Green chip at Cinzetti's |
We had the most delicious meal, and although I was still so nervous, I enjoyed every last bite of pasta and sauces, and their delicate canolis and even a crepe! For the first time in weeks it felt great to eat something until I was full, and not worry about gaining weight!
Finally, we made our way home, after a wonderful and reminiscent date. When we got out of the car, I handed him the cheese and the orange chip, which he thought was nice, since we both love cheese, but he still had no clue. He just though it was another lovely part of our date.
We came inside and I had saved the last chip until we made our way into the bedroom, where we both lay on the covers, full and exhausted. My heart was pounding when I urged him to look at his pillow, where he found this:
I handed him the purple chip and told him he was going to be a daddy, and we both laughed and cried for the rest of the evening.
Thus began my journey into pregnancy. We started with a wonderful meal and have been enjoying the tastes of our favorites ever since. I went in to Slim4Life that Monday and told them I would need to put my account on hold, and the management was very happy to oblige.
