Celebrating a milestone

Three years ago from yesterday, I married my high school sweetheart. I remember thinking at the time how I couldn't have been happier, but I didn't anticipate how cool it would be to watch him prepare to become a dad in these past few months.

We met at our church youth group, and since my parents had this “no dating until you are 16” rule, he asked me out on my 16th birthday. I don't know the exact moment when I knew, but I knew we would end up together, we just had to wait for the right time. After our first year of college, he proposed on the top of our favorite ski hill and a year and a half later, we said our vows after dating for over four years.

The morning that I took a positive pregnancy test (after trying for about a year and a half), he was gone at an event for work. I could hardly contain my excitement, but also knew I wasn't going to break the news on the phone, so I had to wait. Though admittedly, I did tell the dogs, because if I didn't say it out loud, I thought I would burst. I told him that night after dinner. He started laughing he was so excited and we didn't wait much longer to tell our families.

Shortly afterwards however, we had a few harsh realizations that this pregnancy wasn't going to be easy. When my first hormone level test came back too low, he had the rather difficult job of reassuring me that everything would be okay—and he was right, a few tests later the numbers had gone up enough for an ultrasound that showed a healthy, rather kidney-bean-looking speck that was our baby.

Soon after that, the “morning” all-day sickness hit. He took over the cooking, encouraged me to eat even if I didn't feel like it and even changed a few barf bags (not to mention spending an entire evening unclogging the bathroom sink after one particular sick moment). When I reached the point where I couldn't even keep liquids down and became dehydrated, he took me in to the ER and to tell the truth, I think it was easier for me to be there with an IV in my arm then for him to just sit there, not able to do anything but watch (not to mention I had a bed to doze off in at 3 a.m. when he just had a chair).

While I'm not sure what I would have done without him in the tough moments, he's caught me off guard in a lot of the simple moments. Saying something unexpected. The happiness in his voice when he tells other people about the baby. Shopping for camouflage onesies.

We're just halfway through our first pregnancy, but I can't wait to watch him with our son, holding him for the first time; sharing those first milestones; teaching him how to play sports, hunt and fish. I've loved the past three years—ups and downs included—and I can't wait to see what the next three hold.