Love Bumps

I was running late again this morning. Our church meetings used to start at 9 AM, and now they start at 11:30 AM and still, I was running late. Between the time we walked out the door of our apartment and got into the car, I was upset and we were sitting in silence.

These aren't the moments that I usually blog about.

These aren't the moments that usually come up in conversation or that you describe to your starry-eyed, soon to be married, friends.

By the time we were singing the 2nd verse of a hymn, I was now a little emotional and a few tears may have found their way down my cheek and splattered on my pink skirt.

And that is the time when I felt my husband's arm go around my shoulders. Then, I whispered, "I'm sorry," and he whispered it back.

I said, "We will make everything right again?"

And he said, "Of course. We always do."

He kissed my forehead and we held hands for the rest of the meeting.

I know we will laugh about what happened on the way to church later, because it really was small and ridiculous.

I used to think of these little incidents as "love bumps." Things that got in our way on the way to "happily ever after." Now I realize that without these little incidents, I wouldn't know how strong my marriage really was.

There is something sweet, and reassuring, and love-affirming about the words "I'm sorry" and "I love you."

We have our imperfections. I am so happy that I married someone who is so steady, patient and supportive. And he married someone who, well, is not patient...but is working on it. But who loves him passionately.

We fit perfectly together. I remembered that today.

Ultrasound

I had an 18 week ultrasound on Tuesday, February 15. We were so excited to find out that...




We had been anxiously anticipating this day! When I first found out I was pregnant, I was really hoping for a girl. I think it was mostly because I was the oldest girl and I knew how much I helped my mom growing up. However, over the last couple of weeks, I had been wondering if it was a boy and I found myself excited by the prospect. After all, I have all younger brothers so I don't really have any experience with girls anyway!

As a matter of fact, most people were guessing boy. Jeff refused to guess, but his basic opinion was that he wasn't lucky enough to get a boy on the first try. Jeff is the only son of an only son, so the Goold name can only live on through us! He was feeling a little bit of pressure.


Jeff picked me up from school and we drove to the clinic together. On the way there I told him, "I'm just kind of expecting it to be a boy." He said, "I'm not!" We had a really nice ultrasound tech. She would point out everything on the screen as it came up. It was a very surreal experience looking at that screen and knowing that I was looking at my sweet little baby. I couldn't believe the detail that already existed in the tiny body that was growing inside of mine. The baby had his knees tucked up under him, so it was difficult to tell gender at first. At that point, Jeff was totally thinking that it was a girl. After some maneuvering, she said, "There it is! It's a boy, guys!" I think Jeff was in shock. He looked over at me with a big grin. He's going to be an adorable daddy.

All of the other measurements looked absolutely perfect. The baby is breech right now, but it's so early that it doesn't matter. We feel so blessed that so far everything looks healthy and wonderful. As we drove away from the clinic, Jeff rolled down the window and yelled out, "I'm AWESOME! One for one!" He is ridiculously proud of himself for having a boy the very first time.

I have loved looking at the pictures again and again. It makes me feel more connected to my baby, especially since there have been times that I thought I've felt him move, but I'm still not sure of what I'm feeling. I love being able to say him and his, especially as we pray for him. I love having two boys in my life to love. Now we just need to start thinking of names!

Spreading the news...

It's been really fun to announce that we are expecting. I thought I'd share with you some of the reactions from different quarters...

Jeff's family: We told them at Thanksgiving. Jeff brought up the topic of what everyone was thankful for, and then said, "This is what we are thankful for this year," and pulled out our ultrasound photos. I'm so glad I have so many sisters-in-law that can give me good advice!

Jeff's parents are on a mission in California, so we'd put together a little announcement on a website and had them access it on their computer. His mom's reaction? "Oh, I can't wait to go shopping!" His dad said, "Let us know when we can share the news because we can't wait to shout it from the rooftops." We are happy they will be home before the baby is born.

My class: I told my class that I had a secret for them, and told them that I was pregnant when we returned from Christmas break. They all started screaming and clapping. Three of my boys got in a huddle in the middle of the room and started yelling, "We're going to be uncles, we're going to be uncles!!!" I don't think it works quite that way. They have been SO excited to find out what we are having and have had some heated class debates out at recess about the gender of my baby. They've also been extremely eager to offer name suggestions.

A couple of other things I just wanted to remember:

• I was having to eat pretty regularly in order to fight nausea, which often meant eating in front of my class. I explained it to them and they were very understanding. One day, I was having to eat right before lunch and one of my boys said, "I wish you didn't have to eat in front of us." About 5 other students immediately jumped to my defense saying, "She has to! She has a baby and the baby has to eat!" The first student responded with, "I know, I know. I'm just hungry, too!"
• They asked me if I was having twins. I assured them that there was only one baby in there, but that Mr. Goold and I would have kind of liked to have twins. One boy, with twin little sisters, said, "Trust me, Mrs. Goold, you want them to come one at a time!"
• One of my boys has a very difficult home life and has had some behavior problems throughout the year. However, we've developed a bond and he does try very hard to please. A few days ago, he came up and gave me the biggest hug and said, "You're the best teacher ever!" Then, he squatted down, put his arms around my middle, laid his head right on my stomach and said, "And your baby will be the best baby ever, too!"

My family: We actually told my family first, but I wanted to save this video for last. My family had NO idea that we were thinking about expanding our family. We were out at dinner when they were here for Thanksgiving and I told them that we should take a family picture. Jeff was taking it and had it set to video instead!

I really love my parents' non-reaction at first, my brothers' dropped jaws, the awkward high-five across the table with my dad, and my giddiness-with-excitment at spilling the news for the first time.

On another note, my brother decided to spread the news on Facebook about 30 seconds after this clip ends...but that is a whole other story. Little brothers are awesome.