They React

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has shared in our joy the last few days! Nathan and I have been overwhelmed by your love and support. I want to say a particular thank you to those who have remembered Baby Parker #1 and Baby Parker #2 while congratulating us on Baby Parker #3. That means a lot. Even though Nathan and I are the only two visible members of our family at present, we definitely feel we are a family of five.

Our little secret was quite a happy shock to many more people besides us. On a Tuesday morning after I revealed the news to Nathan, we had an ultrasound confirming that the baby was growing healthily. We decided to celebrate by spending some quality time with our VHS collection while waiting for our families to wake up on the other side of the world. After watching Braveheart and eating some popcorn, we called the parental units.

East Coast: 5 hours behind.

My mother-in-law first. Nathan managed to chat with her for ten minutes about such mundane things as taxes before dropping the bomb. She was in the drive-through at the bank. Screams. Tears. "Oh my gosh, I have to pull over. I'm feeling lightheaded."

My father-in-law next. More small talk. The news. Some silent tears and whispered "Praise the Lord"s times about 10.

West Coast: 8 hours behind.

My mother. When I called she said she was leaving a note on someone's car. I took that to mean that she was not driving. I cut to the chase. I was wrong. She took a big breath and screamed it aaaallll out. Three times. And then she started sobbing and had to pull over.

My dad was in the drive-through at Del Taco. He cried too. We were four for four for making parents cry. And us too, all over again. It was awesome.

We divided and conquered the siblings next. Lots of wondrous "wows" and "praise God!"s. 

One bummer about being so far away from family was not being able to see anyone's reaction live. So a few days later, I got a sneaky text from my dad saying that the family was out to dinner with my Aunt Deanie for my sister's 30th birthday and would I please call and tell her about the baby because my mom was dying to talk about it.

I called. My sister started recording Aunt Deanie's reaction. This amazingness happened. My sister wanted me to ask everyone to please ignore her own ridiculous laugh.

In the several weeks that followed, we slowly started telling a few more friends and family. When I was in Atlanta for my dear friend Beverly's wedding, I had the joy of telling a few people in person. One person I didn't know so well totally said, "So you're expecting?" I wasn't sure if the news had leaked or if I was just looking big. I think I was just looking big. 

In fact, I didn't realize I would be showing so much so early (only 11 weeks), but when I got dressed for the rehearsal dinner (no coats, sweaters, and scarves to hide anything), I said, "Uh oh!" Bev said, "Now you're going to have to tell people!" and she took this picture to send to Nathan.

For me, actually looking pregnant and finally telling a few people about it just gave me permission to eat a lot. Which I did. I had Chik-fil-A (okay, twice), Mexican food, my mother-in-law's chili and cornbread, and lots and lots of dill pickles. And then I had a doctor's appointment as soon as I got back and discovered had gained almost two kilos since my last appointment. Gulp. I'm going to have to slow it down a little.

Most people who know Nathan and me know we call each other Chicken (very strange pet name, I know), so we've taken to calling the baby Chicken Nugget. When I was in Atlanta, I sent Nathan an e-mail that said something like, "I went to Chik-fil-A again and Chicken Nugget and I split an 8-piece chicken nugget, fries, and half sweet tea/half diet lemonade. We loved it." It was the first time in a long time that I really enjoyed a meal. For several weeks leading up to it I could even think about going into the kitchen without feeling sick.

It's been a very low-key spring for us, mostly with me just going straight upstairs after work and lying still, and we are eager to start socializing again. In just 9 short weeks we will be back in the US for good, so we have a lot of memories to make here in England before then!

Where are we going? What will we be doing? You'll just have to wait and see...