9 Weeks

Our first appointment was on Thursday July 1st. We were both excited and nervous! To be honest, I wanted to see the doctor when I called to make an appointment. To my surprise, I was already 6 weeks by then. I felt nervous to wait until 9 weeks but she insisted that Dr. Tate likes to see her patients at 10 weeks or around there. You should have seen the smile on our face when we walked in. I think everyone in the room knew I was pregnant!!

I was also surprised when I was filling out my paperwork and signed something that had to do with a sonogram. As you can see, here is our baby at 9 weeks. The small circle above the head is the nutrient sac and the baby's body is below it. Hard to imagine that the baby was just the size of a large grape. Small but still an absolute miracle!

I guess I should share more about the first few weeks of pregnancy. It all began at the end of May. Ryan and I were in Estes Park at the YMCA of the Rockies leading the children's program for a conference that our Chinese Church was a part of. My monthly sister was due during that weekend. And it came.....but only for one day! When we got back we took our first pregnancy test. A one dollar test from the Dollar Tree. Honestly, I had my doubts about being pregnant, especially since I was feeling great. It was Ryan who had faith. He took one look at that test (pic in previous post) and said, "I think that is 2 lines!" (2 lines meant pregnant). I immediately said, "I don't know, that 2nd line is really, really light." So we concluded we would take another test to make sure.

I went to Kansas that weekend with my Chinese friend Ruthie. I took her to Steven and Amy Gramza's wedding, her first American wedding. I saw my Mom and my Grandma yet said nothing. It about drove me crazy! I was so excited and yet apprehensive. I asked Ryan that weekend to buy me a pregnancy test that actually said "Pregnant/Not Pregnant." He got me one for $15, sure that it would not be a mistake. When I returned, I took that test and within minutes, it showed "Pregnant."

That almost convinced me. :) I still wasn't feeling any major pregnancy symptoms. I was expecting to have terrible morning sickness and nausea, but I mostly struggled with feeling tired a lot sooner than I usually did. And I guess I did start using the bathroom more. But I thought that was due to water intake to cool my body down in the summer heat. Even in my moments of doubt, Ryan would say to me, "You are pregnant, honey, your monthly sister hasn't visited you in a month." He had a great point but that first sonogram on July 1st, when I actually SAW our baby for the first time and SAW it's fast beating heart, did I finally allow myself to BELIEVE.