After 7 years, the wait is finally over!

Ryan and I are excited to announce that after 7 years of marriage, we are expecting our first child, due September 6th, 2012! The news came as a bit of a surprise, but we are thrilled nonetheless! Here's the story behind how we found out:

First, a little background... So, a couple months back, I had a routine check-up with my OB/GYN. Since Ryan and I had been toying with the idea of possibly starting a family in the next year or two, I brought this up at my appointment, just to get some general information and advice for when the time came. Unfortunately, the information I got was not what I was wanting or expecting to hear. The doctor explained that due to my extended use of birth control pills and possible endometriosis, it would likely take me a year or more to get pregnant. Um... excuse me, what?!?! I was totally freaked out. What if it took me 10 years to get pregnant?! I didn't want to wait that long! So, I went home and told Ryan what I had learned at my appointment. It took some work, but I eventually convinced Ryan that we should not necessarily start actively trying to have a baby, but at least "pull the goalie" and give nature a chance. So, that's what we did.

A couple weeks ago, Ryan and I went home to Colorado to visit our families. The evening our flight arrived in Denver, we met up with my mom, Erin (Ryan's sister) and her family, and my uncle Jay and his family for dinner. During conversation, I mentioned that I had terrible motion sickness (a common problem for me) from the turbulent plane ride and was hoping my nausea would subside enough for me to enjoy my meal. Immediately, my mom and Erin chimed in with, "Maybe you're pregnant!" I told them that it would be a miracle if I was pregnant since Ryan and I had barely even seen each other the past two months with him on nights and me on days at work. Still, they continued to suggest that that was the reason I was feeling sick to my stomach. Then, Erin had the bright idea that we should go back to her house after dinner and I should take a pregnancy test (she happened to have one that needed to be used before it expired). My mom was all about this plan too. I insisted that this was silly and that they were getting all worked up and excited over nothing, but they begged until I finally gave in. When we got to Erin's house, the first thing she did was march right upstairs to grab the test. I went into the bathroom, rolling my eyes, and did my thing. To my complete shock, the digital test immediately flashed "pregnant" on the screen. I stared at it for a long time before popping my head outside the door to ask how long it takes for the test to be complete. I was just sure that if I waited long enough a "not" would show up on the screen before the word "pregnant"! Erin told me the result should come up pretty quickly and came over to see what the problem was, while my mom mumbled about how I must have done the test wrong and messed it up. Erin looked at the test and got a big smile on her face and shouted, "you're pregnant!" Ryan ran over and looked at the test too. I think he needed to see for himself before he could believe it. While my mom and Erin were in a frenzy of excitement, Ryan and I just kinda stood there dumbfounded with goofy smiles on our faces. We were excited, of course, but VERY surprised! We were actually going to have a baby... for real! Crazy! Anyway, after leaving Erin's house, I insisted that my mom take me to the store so I could take another test. Test number two showed the same result, clear as day. I was definitely preggo!

One of the awesome things about the way we found out we were going to be having a baby was that we were able to tell our families in person. Had we not found out until we got back to Portland, we would have had to break the news over the phone - not nearly as fun. To announce my pregnancy to my mom's side of the family and Ryan's family, I wanted to do something fun. I came up with the idea of using fortune cookies to tell them. My mom and I planned a dinner with our family and Ryan's at PF Changs. We bought some fortune cookies, typed up our own messages, and put them inside the cookies. The messages I used were silly quotes related to pregnancy from the movie Juno. At the end of our meal, I had asked that the waiter bring out the special cookies we had stuffed. Everyone opened their cookies and most of the family had confused looks on their faces. I think Laura, Ryan's mom, was the only one who got it right away. The funniest reaction was Kira's. She read the fortune and knew immediately that it was a quote from Juno, but it took some prompting from my mom before she realized what the fortune was hinting at. When she figured it out she screamed, "Are you pregnant?!" She was so loud, I think the whole restaurant heard her. It was so funny!

A day or two later, I met up with my dad's side of the family at Old Chicago to celebrate my grandma Barbara's birthday. Since everyone was together, I thought that would be a good time to tell them. I signed my grandma's birthday card by saying something like "Love, Ryan, Jamie, and baby Benson" and waited for her reaction. She got a big smile on her face and came over and gave me a big hug. Then she passed the card around. At first, everyone was confused as to why we were passing the card around the table. In fact, no one was really reading it - just kinda passing it from person to person - until my aunt Denise read it and shouted, "Wait...Are you pregnant?!" Then everyone understood why the card had been passed and felt silly for not catching the message! Sadly, my Dad, Rhonda, Devon, and Missy had to find out via text message. I sent them a picture of my positive pregnancy tests. Still a fun way to let them know, but I wish they could have been in town. Oh well. I'm glad I got to tell the rest of my family in person!

Now that we are over our initial shock, Ryan and I are having so much fun imagining what our baby will look like and act like and how life will change once he/she arrives. Here's what our little peanut looked like at my first doctor's appointment at around 7 weeks.

We feel so blessed to have the opportunity to be parents! Here goes nothin'...