30-1: Ten Years In One Blink

I think you never realize how quickly ten years fly by until you've had a child.

Just about this time, ten years ago, I found out I was pregnant.

Bryce & I had just celebrated 2 years of marriage. We decided to start trying to get pregnant, so we could start a family. It's funny, thinking back on it now. I was all kinds of crazy compared to the third time around. I was fastidious about caffeine, I didn't drink alcohol (I wasn't a coffee drinker yet), I watched what I ate.

But after a month or so of doing this, I couldn't do it anymore. Bryce & I were about to go his 10 year reunion for high school and I knew I was going to need a margarita or three to get me through the night (his ex-girlfriend was going to be there and I was young enough to be nervous about it).

The day before, I had been cramping like I was going to (sorry, TMI) start my period, which was fine. It's what I was used to for the last 13 years.

Eh, whatevs. We went out and had a great time with our friends, Javier & Monica.

I was still cramping off and on over the next couple of days and man, I was feeling weird. Maybe I was getting sick. It didn't even dawn on me. It dawned on my friend Hannah, who was the receptionist at the time. 

"Maybe you're pregnant."

WHAT? Can it be?

I rushed to Target straight after work and bought a pregnancy test. I got home and decided I would take it when Bryce called me to say he was on his way home (back in SoCal, that would take about an hour or so).

He called. "I'm almost home." Oh crap.

So I rushed into the bathroom, peed all over the place (sorry, but I was so nervous), washed my hands like a million times while I waited and waited and waited......is 10 minutes long enough?

I picked it up, closed my eyes and.....there were two lines. Oh, okay. Wait...did that mean I was pregnant? I had to look at the box. Two lines = baby in the belly.

Oh. My. (insert pretty much any word in here)

I walked around our kitchen, shaking the test like it was an Etch-A-Sketch, thinking the 2nd line would go away if I shook it hard enough. I think I was chanting "I can't believe it. I can't believe it."

Finally, I sat down and really looked at the test. "I'm going to be a mom."

If you know me, you know I don't have a poker face. So, as soon as Bryce came home, I showed him the test and his response? "It's the end of the worrrrld!" He was happy, but I think he was freaking out in his own, calm way. I, on the other hand, couldn't wait to tell the world.

And so we did.

5 weeks. 5 weeks without even knowing I was growing a human inside of me.

Thus began my journey into motherhood. It wasn't easy. I was hit with the worst morning sickness. It lasted pretty much into my fourth month. I know that's easier than some people, but I'm a sissy. And I like food.

So, it means that 8 months down the road, Piper is going to be ten. TEN. The big 1-0. And THAT is how I realized that ten years can go by in the blink of an eye.