Part Three: 2008 July, August, September

He Said:
July – I don’t remember much about this month. I think I was beginning my CPA study again; so much of my time was devoted to that. Amber and I would meet at a bus stop near the Fitness 19 we went to and would drive over there. Due to rising gas prices I got more serious about utilizing public transportation because a daily commute could easily get out of hand with fuel costs. So we would meet at a bus stop near there and exercise together. Little did we know that this was the month Amber got pregnant, so some changes were taking place and we didn’t even know it. However, she had expressed feeling very tired and lacking energy but not knowing why. She also got to meet some of my extended family at the Flake Family Reunion in Snowflake, AZ; so that was nice. Although she was also very exhausted there, too, so when everyone would want to play games at night, she wanted to go to bed. Again, she was pregnant and we didn’t even know it yet.

She Said:
July: Not nearly as eventful as the months preceding. We celebrated being married one month, which seemed like a great feat. We also took a trip to Snowflake Arizona for the Flake family reunion. Brinton showed me around ASU’s campus where he went to school. We also took a few little road trips from Snowflake to visit the small towns of Woodruff, Pinetop and Lake Side where my Grandma and Grandpa Ison grew up, met and fell in love. That was a neat addition to the trip for me. I taught and closed up my summer program for the school district teaching the homebound students, as well as the preschool transition program. It was a great month of settling in and getting to know one another as a married couple.

He Said:
August – I believe this is the month where I took a section of the CPA exam – though I’m not exactly sure. That really is all I remember about this month. Oh yeah, except that we finally found out that Amber was pregnant. I recall the night well. She had gotten back from Girl’s Camp that day. I think we went to a wedding reception for someone who I was in Del Sol with. We might have even done a few other things. Anyway, that night we were getting ready to go to bed and as she was kneeling down by the bedside and I was getting ready to join her, she randomly blurted out, “I’m pregnant!” I remember laughing a little because I thought she was joking around and then she said to me again that she was pregnant and she was serious. But I still didn’t believe her because it just didn’t seem right and we were using preventive measures so we could spend a few months together before starting our family. And she proceeded to tell me over and over again that she is pregnant, she is being serious, and that she even took a home pregnancy test that confirmed her suspicions – after all, she was very emotional at Girl’s Camp for no reason. Eventually I started taking her seriously and just had this blank look of shock on my face – because let’s be honest, I still didn’t believe it. It was just too crazy a concept at the time. We had only been married for about 2 months at this point. There simply is no way she could be pregnant yet. I remember us talking a bit about it and she got emotional. All the while I’ve got this look of “huh?” on my face and just in that mental state of listening but not grasping or truly comprehending. Just didn’t seem real to me!

She Said:
August: A busy month. The first week we had Dean and Candice’s kids while they were away in Oregon. I spent part of the week at their home then later in the week brought them back to our place. Brinton was a good sport to have three kids join us in our newlywed state. The second week I spent away at Young Women’s Girls camp. It turns out all of the Young Women’s leaders in my ward were about to have a baby or just recently had a baby, so none of them were able to go. You can’t have girls camp without leaders, so they asked me to stand in as assistant camp director so the camp director wouldn’t have to run the camp alone. It was fun to have a chance away up in the mountains for a few days before I had to return to work. I suspected I was pregnant, my chest ached like no other, I hadn’t gotten my period, I became exhausted by 8:00 at night and could hardly function after then. After dropping off girls at the end of camp, the first thing I did was run to the store and purchase a pregnancy test. Brinton took part of the afternoon off that day, so he actually got home before me. I snuck into the bathroom and took the test. I sat in shock when the two lines appeared and it stated I was pregnant. I looked at the little stick over and over comparing it to the directions. I couldn’t believe it. Even though I felt it in my heart and even suspected the actual time where I became pregnant, I still couldn’t believe it. It happened so quickly, really the first chance it could have in our married life. We were hoping for a few months together as newlyweds un-pregnant, but the Lord has something else in store for us. That night as we knelt for our evening prayer I told Brinton I was pregnant. He didn’t really believe me and was more in shock than I suspected he might be.

He Said:
September – Yes I was a good sport for having the 3 kids J. This was the month that we had the first doctor’s appt. to confirm whether or not Amber really was pregnant – because I still didn’t believe it. We met at the hospital and went through the “normal” routine. The doctor used the very inaccurate circle of life to estimate the due date – which was off by about 3 weeks. Took the usual samples and stuff and last of all, probably to humor me and show me this is all real, they brought in a simple little ultrasound device and gave us an unofficial ultrasound. And there it was, our little whipper-snapper. The baby was about 6 weeks old at that point; making us fortunate enough to see the heart beat. Well, if you do not believe it at this point then you’re hopeless. My doubts were certainly removed after the ultrasound, but it was hard to believe. Cause really, up to this point I had been a single guy for so many years and this was just such a huge change that it wasn’t setting in. But I did believe at this point – just had to get to the actually comprehending point now. So then it came time for us to start planning and making arrangements little by little for the kid. Unfortunately that did get put on hold for a time due to Amber’s very excessive vomiting and tremendous lack of energy she experienced everyday!

She Said:
September: Summer is over and back to school. The summer seemed to fly by, I was so busy with working and babysitting and girls camp, then it was over. I made an appointment to see an OB for my first baby visit. At our first visit she did an unofficial ultrasound where we were able to see our new little one with a beating heart. Her measurements didn’t match up with my dates. I suspected at that point that I was 8-9 weeks pregnant. After getting an official ultrasound it was determined that I was actually 6-7 weeks pregnant at my initial appointment. I was bummed that my due date was later than I had calculated, but grateful to see this new little one developing with in me. I hadn’t really felt well since I got pregnant. I had digestion issues and had gained ten pounds the first month. Although I didn’t really feel well, I didn’t really get sick until after my first doctor’s appointment. That is when it all began, my lovely journey of months and months of throwing up and being quite ill.