A growing Family

One of the most exciting moments of the first few weeks of pregnancy was getting to tell my "Fam" girls that I was pregnant. If you know me at all, you know that I am a lucky member of a group of 7 girls who have been best friends since college. These girls have proved through the years, over and again, to be family to each other. So telling my group I was expecting was truly something special to look forward to. My mom and sister knew how big of a deal this was and kept asking me how I planned to make my announcement. I had no idea how to do it. (Sidenote: I joked to my mom that I wanted to bake my test into some banana bread and serve it to the girls. Funny or just mean?)

I found out I was pregnant on a Wednesday late in September and lucky me! The girls all came to Austin to throw a baby shower for Olivia who was due in November that following Friday. (Baby Davis was born right before Thanksgiving and is one handsome little guy!) Part of me knew if I didn't take the test, I'd miss the opportunity to tell the girls, in-person, my big news. They were there the night Grant proposed (minus Cari who was excused to honeymoon since Grant popped the question after her wedding). They were there the day we said "I do" (minus Emily who was in India but did manage to Skype me right before I walked down the aisle). I HAD to make sure I was able to tell my best friends about their future "niece" or "nephew" while we were all together. I owed it to them, especially after some long nights crying to them about how I didn't know if I was the mom-type. I'd broken through to the other side and knew they'd be thrilled.

Friday night after all the girls got into town, we sat and around talking. Some of the girls had wine, some had coffee. When I refused wine, Sarah was quick to ask "Are you pregnant?". My hasty and not-so-brilliant response was "No, are you?". Sarah gave me a very suspicious look. Either my quick answer was not believable or I was just an idiot for asking a cancer patient going through radiation if she was pregnant. Either way, I could tell Sarah was sniffing me out. (Another side note: When Sarah asked later why I lied to her, I told her it just seemed like the MOST anticlimactic way to give my news. "Are you pregnant?" "Yep." I couldn't do it.)

While laying around the living room, we decided to play a game. Nothing new for this group. We love games where we can scream and laugh and look ridiculous to outsiders. Our current favorite is "The Story Game". Each person gets 7 pieces of paper. They sit in a circle and each writes one sentence on the first piece of paper and then passes it to the person next to them. The person reads the sentence and then has to draw a picture representing the sentence. The next person sees the picture and has to write a sentence from it and so on and so forth. The final product ends up a lot like the game "Telephone". This is where my brilliant idea was born.

I wrote the words, "I am 5 weeks pregnant" on my sheet of paper. Then I tried to hide my smile as I slid my paper to Susan. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Susan read the sentence and then turn slowly to me with VERY wide eyes. As the other girls chit-chatted, she whispered, "Can I hug you???". I shook my head and went back to work on the paper in front of me, trying not to laugh. The entire game, I felt giddy and jittery and was ready for the big unveiling.

When everyone had their own set of papers in front of them again, the rest of the girls started to show off their "stories" and we all laughed at how ridiculous we are...not to mention, horrible artists. I went last and said, "I'm going to show mine backward because I think they're funnier this way." I could see Sarah and Emily, the game police, ready to object and I'm glad they stayed quiet for whatever reason. I slowly laid down my papers one at a time. (I think the final product was a sentence about a bearded pregnant man.) With my first paper, I simply said, "And this is what I started out with." I laid down my original sentence and there was a brief second of silence. And then an expolosion of screaming. The sound was deafening as the girls shreaked and came at me all at once. There was a mass pile of girls hugging me and Maggie barking and snapping, assuming they were hurting me. Then girls started crying and the rest of the night was filled with questions and baby talk.

I'm glad I waited for the perfect opportunity to come along because I don't think I could have planned a better scenario. (Though the banana bread would, obviously, have been memorable.) Even if my kiddo doesn't get the importance of this night, it will be a moment I hold close to my heart until we're all old and wrinkled.


*Me, Cari, and Olivia-the pregnant girls