Monday, October 21, 2013

{Finding Out...In Dutch!}

Here's the story of how we found out we were going to be parents... In Dutch ;)

Corey and I had talked about adding to our family for years. We were definitely excited to do so someday, but knew we didn't want to embark on this journey while we were living abroad - both because we didn't want to be so far from family when we did, but also because we wanted to spend our two years in Amsterdam really soaking up this adventure just us two. Needless to say, by the time we touched down in Portland at the end of June, we had one thing on our minds (okay, maybe more than one, but this was the biggest!): Starting a family!

I won't go into the details, but come the end of July we knew that it was a possibility we could be pregnant. We also knew that you really shouldn't take a pregnancy test until you actually have a reason to believe you might have a bebe in the belly (i.e. you missed your period - sorry, TMI!). So even though we were down in LA with my sisters and my mom and we knew we could be pregnant and it would be so awesome to share the news with them in person, I didn't want to jump the gun only to be disappointed. Plus, I didn't feel pregnant, and this was our first real go at this, so I felt like it would be a long shot. So yeah, long story short, we flew home Sunday evening (not so) patiently waiting for aunt flow to arrive on Monday. 

Come Monday morning, still no signs of AF, and still no indication that I was preggers, but being the impatient person I am, and knowing that technically that should be the first day I could take a test, it was the first thing I thought of when I shot out of bed that morning. I felt really silly, and like such an amateur (only first timers would be so eager to break out the pregnancy test at 6AM, right?!), so I didn't want to tell Corey I was going to take a test. I had randomly bought a box of tests in Amsterdam that of course were never opened, just sitting in my suitcase, so I figured I'd just use one of those and nobody would have to know. I waited for Corey to hop in the shower and I quickly opened the box and tried to read the instructions. Gah! They're in Dutch (and French and Italian and every other language but English... oh how I do not miss those days!), of course! So I figure, well this can't be that hard, it's a digital test so there aren't too many options. Here goes nothing... 

Less than five minutes later, Corey still soaping up in the shower, I read the word "zwanger" on the digital screen. My heart started pounding. Now, I don't speak Dutch but I'm pretty sure "zwanger" means pregnant. And I'm pretty sure that if I wasn't pregnant that hugely important Dutch word would be preceded by "niet", as in "not"... "not pregnant". Holy crap! I think I'm pregnant!!!!!

I then did what any logical person would do. I knocked on the shower door. 
My poor confused husband! He had no idea what was coming. He opened the door, totally unaware that I was just about to share the biggest news of our lives with him. I held up a shaky hand (according to him - I hardly remember this!) and he squints and reads the stick. 
"What does that mean?!"
"I don't know! I think it means I'm pregnant!"
"Google translate, google translate!" he shouts, his hair filled with shampoo suds. 

I scurry over to my phone and quickly do an all too familiar google translation for the word "zwanger".

Answer: PREGNANT

Back to the shower... Phone in hand. Showing off the direct translation to Corey...And there it is. Pregnant. We're pregnant! We're having a baby!

An ordinary Monday turned absolutely extraordinary. Let's just say I didn't get much work done that day. While everyone went about their days, some with the Monday blues, I couldn't keep a smirk off my face knowing my life just changed forever.