We've Got to Go Shopping!

I usually follow some semblance of decorum.  I like to know how things are "supposed" to be done so that I can either a) do what I want with reckless abandon and giggle at all the right places or b) not make a stupid ass out of myself.  


But there's something about getting a positive pregnancy test that just makes your mouth run faster than....um, something fast.  So I didn't listen to all the advice that said that I should wait until after the first trimester.  I'm still not sure whether I'm giggling with reckless abandon or just making an ass out of myself.  At least people know why I'm dragging myself around like a chick with a hangover (and, yes, equally nauseous). 


Of course, the first person that I told was Stephanie, but my mom probably would have knocked me into next week if she didn't hear directly after Steph.  Their reaction?  "You're kidding, right?  You're joking." Truly, they didn't believe me at first! 


But once I sent them a picture of me with the test, they got it in a big way.  My mom cried and screamed and was more excited than on my wedding day (I think, it was hard to tell--she had drank a lot of wine that day).  My dad cracked a beer in celebration of his grandbaby to be.  After a lot of "I'm going to be a grandma!" and "Oh, my god, you're not messing with me, right?" my mom sealed the deal with:  "We've got to go shopping!"   
 

My brother and his wife were harder to track down.  See, they never answer their phone, and hardly ever answer their email (bad role models to be, you two)!  So, knowing that, and knowing that Meredith would explode with glee and estrogen, Mom and I invited them up to the family homestead to "hang out."  

But things don't always go as planned, especially when Andy and Meredith and other assorted Gordons are involved.  Andy first says that he's got plans, and then maybe he can fit us in in the morning.  I could tell that he didn't understand what the "BIG BIG NEWS" was.  So, finally, I just told him in an email.  "You're going to be an Uncle!  We're pregnant!  Will you come up to Mom and Dad's NOW?"  

I was right, by the way.  Meredith left us the funniest message on our answering machine, asking me if I was showing yet (ha!  no.  at that point, I was 5 weeks) and if Tom was excited, and squealing and laughing and in general just gushing with baby excitement.  I could understand perhaps every third word.  

Tom was able to tell his sister and his mother with one phone call.  He said, "okay, extend your arms out in front of you.  Now raise your thumbs.  Now point your thumbs at yourself.....Guess who's going to be a grandma/aunt?"  I could hear the squeal where "this guy!" should have been from across the room.  Aunt Morgan is, at last report, still getting used to her new title (not surprising, given that she's only 16)!  Tom's brother, Jackson, broke out into a huge smile when we told him (too big, given that he lives with us temporarily and will have to deal with how bitchy and hungry and bitchy and tired and bitchy I am and will be).   

And, yes, I told my boss, too.  I work in a wicked cool non-profit where waiting to tell good news is actively discouraged.  So, I told my boss....and he's been telling everyone else!  He was just as excited as anyone in my family.   

So, now that the secret's out, I am free to use the pregnancy to my advantage:  to totally ignore the housework and to laze about on the couch, going to bed early,  making obscene demands upon the other poor people in the household, eating wantonly and, yes, smiling a lot--because now that I'm pregnant, I've got 9 months' worth of reasons.  :)  I'm gonna be a mama--I couldn't be happier!!!  

Oh, baby, what a family you're being born into!  I hope you've got your daddy's thick skin and sense of humor....you're going to need it! 



Next up:  It's not easy being green.....hooray for morning sickness!