18 weeks and 5 Days

Ben and I discovered we were pregnant in Kuta, Indonesia on the island of Bali. We were staying at the Santika Beach Resort waiting for our friends, Amanda and Tyler, to arrive. We purchased an Indonesian over the counter pregnancy test called "Sensitiv". I had never taken a test before and the directions were in Indonesian... so, I followed the pictures and, luckily, the ladies at the store had pointed at one picture of potential results and repeated "yes, yes" so, I was fairly confident which symbol was positive.

Ben tried to help me decide the proper procedure and we decided that standing askew with the test in my urine flow would do the trick. I remember yelling from the bathroom, "I am now standing askew!" I don't think either of us actually thought we were pregnant... we were wrong. We went swimming in the pool with the swim-up bar and I remember swimming having a mixture of thoughts including knowing that my life would never be the same, surprise that I was actually able to do it and damn I can't celebrate with a pina colada! I've spent so long trying NOT to be pregnant and it is quite a drastic and immediate transition to being pregnant.

Anyhooo, the subsequent 3.5 months SUCKED. I threw up daily for a period of time and then sporadically... I am now 15 days without vomiting and 10 pounds heavier. I haven't had any alcohol since the first week of January and Thursday April 12 was the first day that I actually looked at my belly and admired it. The "morning" sickness (there is nothing "morning" about it) was so miserable that I had difficulty admiring the changes my body has been experiencing and I pretty much viewed my belly as the source of all bad feelings. Now, instead of praying this will be over fast I am starting to be entertained by my growing, hairy belly, feeling kicks and enjoying our child's protest when I exercise.