On October 20, 2015, our lives were forever changed when we found out we were expecting our precious little miracle! I woke John up that Tuesday morning before work and showed him the test. We just laid there for a few minutes with the biggest smiles on our faces. We were SO happy, yet had no words! It didn't feel real. I took a test every day for a week, and it made me feel so excited seeing the line get darker each time!
It seems like we waited FOREVER to go to the doctor and see our baby for the first time. We were supposed to have our first appointment on November 12th - the same day our little nephew, Rhett Michael, was born! Here are some pictures from that day, meeting the newest little Sciba blessing:
Little did my family know that another little family member was in the room that morning, too! :)
On our way to the appointment that afternoon, the doctor's office called and cancelled the appointment because Dr. Levin had an infection. We were so disappointed after waiting 3 long weeks. I cried in the car (which seems so silly now). Luckily, they were able to see us the next day. Seeing our baby for the first time gave me butterflies and lifted a major weight from our hearts knowing that our baby was in there, safe and sound!
We knew we wanted to tell our families soon after our first appointment! It happened to be John's 30th birthday on November 25th, the day before Thanksgiving. We decided to tell my family when we celebrated John's birthday with them on the 20th. I told my mom that I would bake the cake for the celebration, which did not seem out of the ordinary. I was SO anxious to tell them immediately when we walked in the door that night, but it was a little bit chaotic with the kiddos running around and everyone setting up for dinner, so I decided to wait until cake time. When it was time to bring out the cake, I lit the candles and carried it out to the table where everyone was sitting. My sister was the first to notice what it said, and then my mom...
When I saw their faces, I started to cry! My mom and Brittany had tears in their eyes and gave me the biggest hugs! My dad didn't get it at first, but slowly everyone caught on. It was SO MUCH FUN to tell everyone our big secret and celebrate!
John's family was driving down to New Orleans from Milwaukee for John's birthday / Thanksgiving / LSU vs. A&M football game, so we waited to tell them in person on the 25th. I had an ornament made with the first sonogram on one side and the picture of John and I holding it on the other. We were going to dinner pretty quickly after everyone arrived at the hotel in New Orleans, but I knew we couldn't wait any longer to tell them. We were all sitting in John's parents' hotel room having a drink, and I told John's mom I had a small early Christmas gift to give her. She opened the ornament, and said "Oh, how cute!", and that's it. She didn't get it at first. :) John said "Do you know what it is?". She looked again and was speechless! It was a big day for the Loddes - all in one day, Peter got his first job, John turned 30, and they found out they were going to be grandparents! I think November 25th, 2015 will go down in the history books. I did not get any pictures of the ornament, but here are pictures from the weekend:
In December we slowly started telling some of our close family and friends, but we wanted to wait until after our 12-week appointment to tell the rest of our friends. Here is our baby at 11 weeks and 3 days:
It was a little bit early to hear the heartbeat. When Dr. Levin couldn't find it, she decided to just do an ultrasound and look at the heartbeat instead. I was VERY worried when we couldn't hear it, but I read online that it is very normal at that stage, especially for the first baby. John saw the heartbeat clearly on the ultrasound, and the doctor said everything was normal. I decided to wait until after our next appointment, after we actually HEARD the heartbeat, to announce it to the world. I am learning this is a trend with motherhood - worrying. On January 14th, we heard our baby's heart beating! Best feeling in the entire world! That next Friday, we decided to make the official social media announcement:
Baby, you are SO loved already! We cannot wait to meet you!!!
