I thought I was 6 weeks pregnant, but… Here’s announcement #2, as promised!
The Un-dusted Books
After we lost our firstborn in February 2015, I placed 2 books at the end of our bookshelf as an act of faith that I will access these books again soon enough, hence, no need to include them in the alphabetization. Finally, I missed my period long enough to take these books out of the shelf:
The Test
Since I gave birth to Berea Dannielle, my cycle was less on-the-dot. So, I’ve had times when I was hoping to be pregnant only to find out I was 6 days late, which has never happened before. This time around, we waited until around the 11th day to do a pregnancy test. I know how PTs returned negative before, and since I never used PTs with my first pregnancy, I thought I could wait out that second line. This time was different. I was amused by how fast two lines came out.
The Twist
In my first pregnancy, we went straight to do an ultrasound, which confirmed that I was 5 weeks pregnant, and then we were asked to come back the following week for a second ultrasound for pregnancy viability (baby’s heartbeat). Wanting to avoid multiple ultrasounds (a.k.a. payments) this time, we scheduled to have an ultrasound on my 6th week. That’s where the surprising twist to this story came about!
I thought I was 6 weeks pregnant, having my last period start on June 17. We knew what a 6-week ultrasound would look like, and we were a bit puzzled at the sight of what was on the screen, disoriented trying to find our tiny bubble:
We were puzzled for a moment until the OB-sonologist said, “You are pregnant, but June 17 was not your last period. You’re 9 weeks and 2 days pregnant.” We’re long past the tiny bubble stage. Then I was more pleasantly shocked than puzzled. I stopped analyzing how it happened as the OB explained what’s on the screen, when she had us listen to her heartbeat (praying for a girl, Pao is praying for a boy, but we won’t know until the 5th month hehe), and when our little one started dancing!
Spared
The most logical explanation for why I thought I had my period in June: I experienced bleeding while I was pregnant. It just so happened it occurred when I was expecting my period, it lasted like a period, and it was like the past few irregular times. Based on the timing of when it happened, it can be related to “implantation bleeding,” which is a normal occurrence when the embryo implants onto the uterine lining, but it was quite long and a lot just for that. The week after, for about 5 days I had some light unusual discharge after working out, but it was gone before I could visit my OB. I recall that around the same time in my first pregnancy, I had to go on a 2-week bed rest because of a hemorrhage.
While I have yet to visit my OB (wanted to do the ultrasound first), whatever the reason behind all this, I know God simply spared us from worry, anxiety, stress, and not to mention, bills for multiple ultrasounds and meds! He just chose to surprise us with the delightful news that He had already given us the answer to our prayers way before we found out (God, I hope time doesn’t go by unknowingly that fast after she comes out!).
I remain confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
Psalm 27:13 NIV
That verse we’ve been holding on to ever since… It’s like I want to tell myself, “I told you so!”
Good News or Bad News
This portion is basically for those who have seen some of my Facebook posts yesterday. We scheduled to have our ultrasound yesterday, and then to have dinner at my parents’ to eventually share the news. We didn’t want to tell anybody about the positive PT until we hear our baby’s heartbeat.
During the course of the discussion, I prayed to God to give us the right opportunity in the conversation to bring it up. Then my mom asked, “Why were you at Fort?” Finally, the segue I was asking for (we had our ultrasound there). I said, “We have news! Do you want the good news first or the bad news?” A little bit reluctant they both told us to go with the bad news first. “Well, the bad news is, we might need to take the trip we’re planning for December earlier. Because the good news is, I’m 9 weeks pregnant!”
We’ve been planning to spend Christmas in a way we haven’t. I’ll be 7 months pregnant by then (and it’s going to be winter there). While airline guidelines would allow me to travel as long as my OB will allow me, it might be wiser to move the trip earlier, not to join the trip, or we’ll book Pao’s and my ticket closer to December and see first how I’m doing by then. It kind of messed up the finalized schedule we all tried hard to figure out. But obviously, it was a well welcomed change of plans.
Thank you!
I have recently posted about a friend’s rainbow baby, and for the lack of any other word to describe how we feel right now, I say we’re overly grateful that God is giving us another bundle of joy. ❤️
That’s my 2nd announcement for you. You can read about my 1st announcement here. It is with such grateful heart that I now change my post-signature “about me” starting with this post!
THANK YOU to all of you who have been praying for us. Do continue to keep us in your prayers.
I am the happy wife of my happy husband, Pao, both of us happily hoping for at least two more children. We are grateful that I am now 9 weeks and 3 days pregnant with our second child. I am the author of the book, When God Could’ve But He Didn’t.
