BIG news on the anniversary of LITTOF

Well, hello there!

I did say that although I'm moving on from this blog to what's next that I would post news and updates here, didn't I? Well, today is definitely a big news day announcement.

Today, January 6, happens to be the one-year anniversary of the creation of Love in the Time of Foreclosure. One whole year. It's amazing to me. A year ago we were living in our house in L.A. fighting foreclosure and now we live rent-free in a 1910 farmhouse on San Juan Island - an island I had never actually heard of before. A lot has transpired. To be sure.

I didn't realize that today was the anniversary of my first LITTOF post until very late in the day. We had our mind on other things. Bigger life things. And we felt that having shared the grittiest details of our lives on LITTOF over the last year, it just makes sense to share the latest and biggest news of all.

Our big news:



Yep. We're pregnant!

That is the stick I peed on back in November. On the 26th, to be exact. (Yes, I saved the pregnancy test.) Bob has more intuition than I do, apparently, because he knew I was pregnant. Days before I took the test he was saying, "I think you're pregnant." I thought I was having indigestion.

I peed on the stick and saw the two lines almost immediately. Then questioned.

Wait, is that second line really there or am I seeing things? What? Seriously. It's there, isn't it?! Bob!!! Bob, come in here! You have to see this!

The next day I went to the clinic on the island to be sure. They had me pee in a cup. The news was the same. I'm pregnant. Wow. Whoa. Shit. Wow. Oh my... Okay. Okay.

We've had some time for it to sink in. I'm now eleven and a half weeks along and today for the first time, we heard our baby's heart beat! I cried. Actually, I first laughed. Then cried. "Wow," I said to Bob and our midwife, "There really is something in there!"

My symptoms have included:

Extreme exhaustion
Nausea
Aversion to foods
Extreme exhaustion
Depression
Super power sense of smell
Nausea
Mood swings
Nausea
Inability to focus

I never knew the first trimester was so hard. I'd heard of the morning sickness that lasts all day (which I thankfully don't have) but was not prepared for the biological sluggishness and nausea.

This does explain my difficult December. And according to anyone who has ever been pregnant, I should expect a burst of energy very soon. I'm SO looking forward to that.

The knowledge of our pregnancy definitely played a hand in my choice to "retire" LITTOF. Our life has gone from being all about a house to all about a baby. And that is a wonderful thing.

When we discovered that I was indeed pregnant, Bob kept saying, "The island is special." We figure we were here for only a week or two before it happened. Much faster than we'd ever imagined. The island is special.

It's a strange thing having a baby here on San Juan Island. For one thing, there's no hospital. There's a clinic, but no hospital. There are doctors but no Obstetricians. There is one that makes monthly visits from Anacortes and there is a midwife on Orcas that makes visits to Friday Harbor. I spoke to a few women in the "Run Ladies Run" group who raved about the Midwife. I ultimately chose her. She delivers at Island Hospital in Anacortes so we won't be doing a home birth. They don't do that here because it's too risky being so far away from a hospital.

One of the first things we were told to do was purchase Life Flight Insurance. It cost us $75 for the entire year for the whole family. So we have that in case I need to be flown to the hospital. But July is apparently a good time to have a baby here because there are more ferries running.

The news of our pregnancy also contributed to my feeling unhappy about being here. I was immediately concerned about having a baby so far away from our entire family. On an island! It fueled my anxiety.

But now I'm choosing to look at it as though we were meant to be here. That this is the perfect place to be to have a baby. And how wonderful that we have a house with enough rooms to reserve one for a nursery! And still have room for guests. My mom is planning on staying for a month when the baby arrives. Bob's mom is already planning her visit. So we won't be alone. Far from it.

So, in answer to the question "What's Next?" Well, parenthood is next.

We've said goodbye to foreclosure and hello to parenthood.

And that's our big news!

Now, please excuse me but I must change into a looser pair of pants.