On the blog this week, I am recounting our love story to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary.

**disclaimer : there is talk in a rather delicate nature, of the woman variety in this part of our story.  If that makes you nervous, feel free to skip this post. 

I moved back to Utah in March, a year from our first date but it felt like a lifetime.  It was a beautiful Spring and so good to be back home with my love.  Brady and I had settled into a little duplex in the heart of St. George — our first home together.

We were having the time of our lives.  Brady was still working hard with his computer business, which had grown out of his parents garage into a busy, hustle and bustle location.  I started applying for jobs where I could and landed two.  Part time at Cafe Rio and full time secretarial work at a mortgage company.

The first few weeks back in Utah just flew by.  There was so much to do and think about that I hadn’t been paying much attention to myself.. namely, my body. One May morning while I was in the shower, I was washing under my arms and flinched at what felt like bruises on the side of my breasts.  Very strange, I thought.  Puzzled, I got out of the shower and started doing the menstrual math.  I remembered vaguely my sisters saying something about tender breasts, but surely it must be my period that was just around the corner.. wait, when was my last period?  I couldn’t remember.  I brushed it off because certainly I wasn’t pregnant.  That would just be crazy.  We hadn’t even dreamed of starting a family yet, not at least for 5 more years.  We had a lot of traveling planned.

That day I didn’t pay much attention it, but did try and think of when I should be expecting my period..  I woke up the next morning and it hit me that my last period was just before Easter. – Oh, see?  No big deal.  It’s May now so Easter was only a few weeks ago, isn’t it always in April? – I checked the calendar casually to be sure.  Easter usually is in April, except for this year when it was the earliest it has ever been, March 23rd.  It was now May 10th.  WHAT??? Still, I thought, it must just be something crazy with mother nature as again, I was positive, I was NOT pregnant.

It was Saturday and Brady wasn’t working.  We went ran some last minute errands, the next day was Mother’s day and we still had to get cards for our moms.  We stopped by to get some lunch at Durangos.  I was suddenly STARVING and too ornery to finish up our errands.  I hastily ordered a chicken burrito and the smell of it was intoxicating.  My stomach started to grumble.  We sat down and I quickly started eating, and eating, and eating.  I finished my entire burrito, something I don’t think I’ve ever done in the history of eating at Durangos.  As I finished my last bite, I quietly told Brady that I thought I might be a smidgen “late” and that we maybe should get a pregnancy test just to prove I was not.

A bit panicked, Brady agreed.  We stopped at Albertson’s on our way home.  Brady pulled into a parking spot and waited for me to exit the car.  ”I can’t go in there!  What if someone sees me?!” I exclaimed.  Anxiety was creeping in.  ”What if someone sees me?” Brady asked, “More people know me on this side of town, just go! I can’t.” and with that, he headed for the door.

Ever the prepared, Brady got a few different tests… just to be sure.  I quickly ran into our spare bathroom to take the test, I wanted to be sure it was negative so we could carry on with our Saturday.  I sat down and as the first drop of urine hit the small stick, a bright purple second line rapidly appeared.

Before my brain could register what that meant, I heard my spirit speak directly to me for the first time in my life, “This is your daughter, her name will be Harlo.  Everything is going to be okay.” and a comforting peace washed over me.

Like a zombie, I walked out of the bathroom to greet my anxiously waiting Brady.  His eyes were the biggest I’d ever seen them.

“It’s positive,” I half-laughed blurting it out. holy shit, it’s positive. I thought.  I couldn’t quite wrap my head around everything that had happened in the last 30 seconds.

“Maybe you should take another one,” Brady suggested.  I did, and sure as sin, It was positive.

We were having a baby.