And then there were three...

It all started with sore boobs.

Sorry for the bluntness, but, really, I would have never suspected a thing if it had not been for sore boobs. I voiced my teeny tiny suspicion to Nate, we quickly dismissed the possibility, and put it out of our minds. However, there was no way to deny the soreness...

The sore boobs led me to take a test the next morning - which led to this...

To say I was shocked, would have been an understatement. Surprised? Yes. Astounded? Yes. Unbelievable? Yes. Happy? Absolutely!

After reading the result - numerous times in both English and Spanish (as if my 6 years of Spanish that I haven't used in over 10 years could help make sense of the result) - Nate and I had the following text exchange. (Now, I fully realize that letting your husband know that you are pregnant via text message is lame on a large scale. However, I was positive that I was NOT pregnant since last Spring I was told we would need "help" with #3, and had to tell someone right away and since he can not be reached over the phone and I could not wait nor did I want Alex and Maddie to hear anything...text it was.)

Me: "Um...ready for #3?!?!!!!!"

Nate (about 30 minutes later): "Did you just tell me something?"

Me: "I'd rather tell you in person, but you are not here and I have to tell someone!"

Nate: "So, are you really pregnant?!?!?!"

Me: "According to one test - I'm going to get another one later today because I'm in a bit of shock!"

Nate: "I am shocked!!! And, very, very, happy!!!!!!!!!"

Me: "Me too!!!!!"

Nate: "My legs are weak..."

Me: "I know, my head is in a fog and I can't concentrate on anything. I am not sure I believe it all and I hate to get my hopes up if it is just a fluke, but I've only ever had two positive tests before and now they are sitting on the couch with no idea that their world will change even more!"

I later learned that Nate had been in the operating room when he received the first message assuming it was some random non important message - imagine his surprise when he was able to read it about 30 minutes later after the case was done! :)

Later in the day I took another test - still not ready to believe the first result. Same thing.

I've heard many stories about people taking more than one pregnancy test because they just could not believe the results. I always kind of laughed at them. Until now - because I took yet another one a few days later.

Again, same result.

I was still hesitant to believe the results as they just seemed too good to be true. If, somehow, they were all false positives I would have been crushed and felt like I was a victim of a cruel joke. As I had only seen Nate for 1 week in July, I had a fairly good idea as to when conception occurred - I calculated my due date and laughed out loud when I saw the date.

April 1st.

No joke.

A few weeks later an ultrasound confirmed that Baby Van Zeeland #3 is due on April Fool's Day.

The girls are thrilled and have already offered their assistance with their new baby brother/sister. We find out gender in November although we are all fairly sure that it is a girl - because, well, history indicates such. We'll see.

So, here is my first belly picture taken at 12 weeks.

I feel great! I'm one of those very lucky woman who have very easy pregnancies - no morning sickness, heartburn, reflux, etc. I was very tired and extremely hungry the first trimester, but now that I've entered the second all of that has leveled off a bit. I get some low back pain when I exercise or carry Maddie too much (or carry groceries or laundry up and down 2 flights of stairs - hint, hint, Nate...), but really, I can't complain. The timing is perfect as we will be back in Wisconsin, settled in our new house, new schools, new job, etc. However, best of all is that grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, sisters, etc. are all within 10 - 50 minutes away!

We are blessed and we thank God for it everyday!

So, any guesses - boy or girl?!?