One year ago today

I left the house just after 8 in the morning.  Our van was full of my photography gear and I had a full day of sessions scheduled.

Six days earlier I’d run my first half marathon.

Five days earlier I’d taken my first pregnancy test in nearly four years.

It was negative.

Four days earlier I’d taken another pregnancy test.

It was negative too.

But I stopped anyways to buy one more test.  If you want a sure thing buy stock in whatever company mass produces those plastic wands; they’re irresistible to women trying to conceive.

The outhouse was dark but there was no mistaking the pink line.  This is what I emailed my husband:

His response: a slightly gleeful “I told you so”.  He claims to have baby-dar.

I have photographed over 200 sessions since that day but it’s not likely that I’ll ever forget those shoots.  Every moment was bathed in a glow of happy ‘we’re having another baby’.

There might have been a few tears shed.  Thank goodness for sunglasses.

There might have been a few excited texts sent to best friends.  Thank goodness for technology.

There might have been a few moments where I rested my hand on my belly.  Thank goodness for new life.

I saw my husband for the first time that day when we met at a friends house for dinner.  We smiled at each other awkwardly across the room.  It was hard to contain the ‘holy crap we’re pregnant’ glee but we did.

My belly grew.  My business grew.

I lost sleep.  I shed a lot of tears.  My family got smaller.  It grew by leaps and bounds.

The last year has been perhaps one of the most stressful that I can remember.  So many sad and horrible things have happened.

But there has been so much joy.

We waited so long for you baby boy and now that you’re finally here we can’t imagine how we ever lived without you.

Tagged as: conception, ottawa baby blog, ottawa mom blog, ottawa parenting blog, pregnancy, pregnancy memories