Family Surprise

This Christmas, I had a special surprise for everyone and although Nathan was aware of the plan, even he hadn't gotten the official word from me yet so I wanted to make that moment special too. I had set up a few Christmas presents for us in Austin since I would be working Christmas Eve and he would be going home to Houston before me. We decided we would open a few gifts at “our home” to celebrate together before Nathan left. I decided to wrap up a onesie that said “I’m cute, Mom’s cute, and Daddy’s lucky” with the positive pregnancy test I had taken without telling Nathan. Despite being acutely aware of the possibility, this confirmation made it real and he was super excited. We decided to wait a few days to tell the families when we were both in Houston so it  could be in person. Without telling Nathan, I may have told Aunt Taryn, Aunt Bridget, and Aunt Kristin in advance because I could not hold on to such an exciting piece of news for the few days I had to wait! I finally came home a little late for all of the Christmas celebrations but just in time to deliver the best present to both families. I had probably taken at least ten pregnancy tests by then, but I wanted to be sure despite already being six weeks pregnant and having plenty of positive pregnancy tests to confirm the news. I even took one at Dell Children’s prior to finishing my shift and driving to Houston. I was working an overnight shift in the ER and Nathan was already in Houston. I decided to drive directly to Houston rather than go home and sleep first so after a long 12 hour shift through the night, I caught a second wave of energy with a McDonald’s breakfast taco and hit the road. We went to my house first. I had bought two plaques that said various things about being grandparents and two onesies, similarly suggestive. I had my mom and dad both open the present together. My dad was so not putting two and two together that he just looked at the items and said “very nice”. My mom was immediately confused. Mom was saying “oh funny… thanks”. Then I looked at them again with the “are you really not getting this” face on. And that is when my mom looked at me and said “you’re pregnant?” A similar situation occurred at the Taylor household. Everyone was eager to open the present, but I was getting frustrated when Parker kept pulling at the tissue paper - had he caught an early glimpse the surprise would have been ruined. Nathan’s mom was taking her time and the entire family was getting aggravated with having to wait to open this present - not exactly the best atmosphere to open the present. I think the awkwardness of the situation and the secrecy was not lost on the majority of the family. Everyone seemed to be expecting the news by the time Nathan’s mom finally opened the present. However, just like my parents, Nathan’s mom seemed oblivious to the hints. No, we did not just get them a sign and a onesie for kicks. The real present was the news to which the items alluded. Nathan’s mom read the sign about Grandma’s Kitchen and laughed and then proceeded to take a few minutes before finally catching on. The entire family at this point was staring at her with incredulous faces. Once everyone came to fully understand our gift, Nathan and I realized that we have in the past gotten too much grandparents of puppies gifts for both families as neither realized that we meant a baby and both assumed that the grandparent paraphernalia was a joke related to the dogs. After we all had a good laugh, both families were incredibly happy. I think my parents seemed more shocked while Nathan’s family seemed to not skip a beat – all except for Nathan’s mother who could not stop hugging me and tearing up. At this point for me, it still did not feel real yet. I had not started showing at all, I was not sick yet, and I did not feel any different, but it was nice to start sharing with the family. Your Aunt Taryn and Uncle Chris were so thrilled. I think Taryn cried more than me with the news. This was the beginning. We were so excited.