St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day is  very special.

No, I'm not Irish.

Not from Ireland.

Not Catholic (because of the Saint thing).

Yes, green is my favorite color, but that's not the reason.

Four years ago today....

March 17th, 2007

I was standing in a Walmart bathroom stall holding a pregnancy test that had two pink lines.

Yes, I was crying,

BUT

I didn't understand how wonderful of a gift it was going to be at the time.

I was scared.

This is how it started....

David and I were married on September 30, 2006.

We began dating on September 29, 2003. 

Yes, we purposely planned our wedding anniversary next to our dating anniversary.

David said he already had too many dates to remember, so this would make it easier on him (since he had already memorized our dating anniversary). 

I accepting a teaching position in Oklahoma in July 2006.

David didn't move to Oklahoma (he still went to school in Missouri) until December 2006.

Yes, we were married and living in two different states.

We bought a VERY small house (2 bedrooms, one bath, 1100 sq ft) in December 2006 when David moved to Oklahoma.  From July-December I had been living with David's parents (even though he lived in Missouri). 

We were finally married and living together in our own house.

David got a job working on an oil rig.

He worked in Texas for a week at a time.

I got to spend every other week with him.

When I began teaching, I, of course, got my own health insurance.  Because we had just bought a house, we were poor and decided that we would wait until January for me to get on birth control (because of the deductible thing).  Well, since I just moved to Oklahoma, and didn't have a primary care physician, it took me a while to get an appointment.  

I know....

Excuses, Excuses

But, it's true. 

Well, spring break was coming up and David just so happened to be working in Texas during my spring break.  Instead of spending it alone, I decided to go visit my family in Missouri.  Where I come from (Rolla, Missouri), St. Patrick's Day is a BIG deal.  Lots of partying.  Lots of drinking.  I planned on doing all of those things. 

Before I headed off to Missouri, I decided to buy the biggest Red Bull you could buy at a gas station.  Why I was buying it, I thought to myself, "Hmmmm, I think I'm a couple days late on my period.  No biggie.  I'm sure I'm fine, but before I start drinking all this caffeine and green beer, I should probably double check." 

After all, even though I wasn't on birth control, we were still taking extra precautions.  We weren't panning on having a baby anytime soon.  Our house was very small.  David didn't have his career yet.  We weren't ready.

I know you roll your eyes whenever you hear someone say, "I didn't think it would happen to me."  Well, we honestly didn't think it would happen to us.

After all, we had only been living together for two months and half of that time David was away working.  The odds had to be small.

Well, I ran into Walmart really quickly.  Grabbed a pregnancy test.  I grabbed the cheapest one possible.  It was in Spanish.  It was buy one get one free.  Checked out in the express lane, and walked straight into the Walmart restroom.  Peed on the stick. 

And two lines showed up.

Immediately I began crying and shaking.  Most people would've called their husbands or started jumping up and down with joy.

I called Cathy, my best friend.

She calmed me down and told me to drive to Missouri anyway (I think she said this because I was on my way to see her). 

Before I left Walmart I bought a water.  I had to double check.  I guess this is why most packages come with two pregnancy tests. 

I began driving to Missouri.  Still hadn't told anyone other than Cathy.  About an hour into the drive, I pulled over and took another test. 

Two lines again.

I decided to call David.  I was too scared.

I tried and tried to call David, but he didn't answer.

This was common because of his job.  He was in the middle of nowhere working on an oil rig.  There was no cell service.  He would usually call me at night when he got back to the hotel.

Well, I didn't know what to do.

I sent him a text message.

It said something like this:

I'm pregnant.

I got to Missouri and told my sister.  She didn't believe it either.  We went to Walmart.  We bought another pregnancy test.  I guess I thought there was a chance I was reading it wrong because it was in Spanish.  I bought one of those digital tests (yes, this package was buy one get one free, too).  We decided that I would take the test and not look at the results until we got in the car.  We got in the car and she pulled out the test.  And a HUGE smiled appeared on her face.  I began crying again.

We drove to my dad's house.  When we got there, we always sit down on the couch and "catch up".  Let me remind you that I still hadn't talked to my husband.  The only people who knew my dirty little secret were my sister and best friend (and maybe David if he checked his phone and was just in so much shock that he couldn't call me).  Aimee (my sister), my dad, my step-mother, and I were all sitting down  talking.  And here is comes.... 

I knew it was going to come up. 

They decided to give me the pregnancy talk.  True story.  They explained to me how it would be irresponsible of me to get pregnant now.  They asked me if I was on birth control.  I lied and said that I was.  They said they recommended me waiting two years to have kids. 

The entire time Aimee is giving me puppy dog eyes.  I was heart broken.  But, I didn't let it show.  They had no idea I was pregnant.  I told them I didn't want a glass of wine because I was saving it for the partying I was going to do later.

Aimee and I left and went to visit our mom. 

While we were visiting my phone rang. 

It was David.

I went out to my car and answered it. 

I began crying automatically.

I said, "Did you get my text."

He said, "Yep. Are you sure?"

I said, "I've taken three tests.  They're all positive."

He said, "Sounds good.  Sounds good.  Well, I have to go.  I'll talk to you later."

And he hangs up.

I cried and cried and cried.

I eventually went back inside my mom's house.

She took one look at me and said,

"Are you pregnant?"

I told her no.

She didn't ask any more questions.

She still swears that she knew that night and didn't believe me when I told her no.

I had a great week with my friends, even though I didn't get to drink Red Bulls and green beer.  My best friend, Cathy, was already pregnant, so we even went shopping for maternity clothing.   I even took that extra digital pregnany test while I was with my girlfriends.  It said PREGNANT loud and clear.  By the time I drove back home, I was excited about having a baby.  David and I still hadn't talked about it too much, but we had nine months to do that. 

Well, I know you're wondering about how I told my parents.  After my second (yes, second) ultrasound, I decided I could tell them.  We told David's family April 1st (decided it would be a good April Fool's joke).  I believe I was around 4 or 5 months when I told my family.  How did I tell them?  I sent them a package in the mail.

Both parents received a grandchild picture frame with the ultrasound picture in it. 

I included a card.

The card read,

"Ready or not, here I come."

On November 12, 2007, Diesel Daniel Baker was born.

He is perfect.

Happy, St. Patrick's Day, Diesel!