Love At First Sound

Matt and I had found out early August 2010 that we were expecting the newest addition to Team Goldin (side note: we call ourselves this because my clever husband wrote this into his vows the day we were married - May 16, 2009).

Lil G - 8 Weeks

My, clueless to this news, brother-in-law Ryan and his wonderful, pregnant wife Abbey were going to find out August 23rd what the gender of their third baby would be...but fate had an even sweeter idea for us in store. That day came and past for them as the baby was not cooperating and keeping its little legs crossed for no peeking please. They'd have the same results the next try around as well.

My doctor's office sent us to a specialist for the sequential screening we opted for on September 7th. My husband wanted to come along for this appointment since we knew we'd get to see our little sweatpea on the ultrasound. They'd surprised me at my first (8 week) appointment and did an ultrasound to confirm the pregnancy, but this time would turn out to be even more special. We were both anxious in the waiting room. The nurse finally called us back after what seemed like forever, took blood for part of the screening and then walked us to a room where we'd be seeing our Lil G(oldin). Every ultrasound we went through I could hardly blink the entire time as I was in awe and amazement. I was totally shocked on this day when all of a sudden the nurse said 'ok, let's listen to the heartbeat'. It was like I was the Grinch my entire life and in this moment my small heart grew three sizes that day.

It was LOVE at first sound as my heart turned into mush just listening to that tiny heartbeat and watching this line on the screen jump up and down, up and down. This was really the first slap yo momma in the face moment that was like wow this is really happening! Time stopped during that minute or so on that day because I remember it like it was yesterday - it was the most vivid and joyous memory I have of my entire pregnancy. As we walked back to the front of the office to check out the nurses and doctors were congratulating us on becoming parents, which was a strange feeling too since we hadn't openly talked about it with anyone yet.

I was grinning from ear to ear as I drove back to work. I swear I probably looked like the Cheshire Cat the rest of the day! I think we were both about to pee our pants trying to keep this secret much longer. We had to devise a plan to tell our families both fairly. Since my family lived in FL, VA and WV and his was here in Atlanta with us, we decided to send announcements to everyone through the mail. 

"We're Welcoming the Newest Addition to Team Goldin. Expected Meet and Greet is March 24, 2011! Love - Autumn & Matt"

As we rushed to get these cute magnets to our families and a very small number of close friends, a few short days later I discovered my little sister had been in a horrible car accident and was in the intensive care unit. I hated that what seemed like such a happy milestone in our lives would now be a weekend of roller coaster emotions for my family. I prayed my mom wouldn't get the announcement before she left FL to by my sister's side in VA. I didn't want her to feel like she had to be happy for us when my sister needed her undivided attention. However, she did find out at the same time she was rushing to the hospital...talk about draining experiences for her to deal with simultaneously. Hopefully it was a small ray of sunshine in a gloomy thunderstorm for all of us.

We sent her sunflowers to cheer her up since Matt & I couldn't be there.  Thank goodness my strong willed sister eventually pulled through fine.

Everyone was esctatic for us when they heard the new baby news. I remember I was in the car that weekend with my husband when I realized my cell was buzzing and it was one of the friends that we had sent an annoucement. I answered expecting a big shrieking congrats, but heard a sweet and confused voice on the other end. She mentioned that they'd gotten something in the mail and that her fiance thought we were pregnant but she had told him 'no way, it must be for a baby shower for Ryan & Abbey'. She giggled nervously expecting me to back her up and confirm that her man must be coo coo; instead I quietly said SURPRISE as she continued chuckling but abruptly stopped. Of course she was thrilled yet probably not too excited to have to tell the finance that he was right. It definitely was my favorite response and it'll be fun to look back on when we're old and grey.

Now the next unknown leap...is the baby a BOY or a GIRL?

Shhh...Team Goldin Expands

So I've wanted to start a blog since the moment I found out my hubby and I were expecting our first little Goldin, but as you can tell I got a late start (Ashlyn is 3 months on June 30th, 2011).  I wanted to be able to document our experiences, thoughts and create lasting memories since everyone tells me they will fly past and some will be forgotten in the crazy hecticness of mommyhood.  I don't want to miss a beat when I look back, but of course this is inevitable and that's why a blog is important for me - to help relive those moments I want to cherish forever.  As such, the first few blogs will be a look back to the milestones of being pregnant through now.

My journey of mommyhood all began mid-summer of 2010.  My husband, Matt, and I had just returned from my 10 year highschool reunion in Tallahassee, FL the weekend of July 17th.  We'd had a blast carrying on into the wee hours with my old friends and even got to visit/stay with my mom while there...double bonus!  

 A few weeks following I'd started to notice 'man my stomach feels funny and wow my monthly Aunt Flow hadn't visited me yet?'.  I thought it just meant that she'd be here any day.  Boy was I wrong!  Eventually I told Matt and we both decided I should pee on a stick for peace of mind.  Both of us were thinking this was just a fluke since we weren't trying to get pregnant and I was on birth control.  I remember getting a horrible sick to my stomach feeling when I saw a faint pink line, which meant YEP YOUR EGGO IS PREGO.  I had a rush of mixed emotions at first and thought ok its faint so let's just go to the doctor for a blood test and they'll confirm it's not our time yet.  I scheduled my first doctor's appointment for August 12th and BAM our lives changed forever that day.  Later I'd find out that I was 8 weeks along the parenting path and hadn't even known it yet.  Everything was surreal still at this time for us - especially since we didn't plan to tell anyone for a while.  

The very next day after my doctor's appointment I was heading with some girlfriends to Miami for a little girls trip.  Little did I know that I'd be drinking Sprite this whole trip as we'd dance our tushies off each night at the clubs.  Totally changed my perspective in a hurry.      

My brother-in-law, Ryan, had two children and had asked us from the moment we were married when we'd start trying so they could have another and our little Goldin cousins could be close in age.  We insisted that we'd wait until I was 30 (will hit that over-the-hill status this Dec. 2nd) before we got to that point.  On that note, let's skip a little farther back in time.  We'd just found out a few weeks prior that my brother-in-law and his gorgeous, genetically blessed, wife Abbey were expecting their third child and due Valentine's Day 2011.

Once I was over my scared outta my pants feelings of OMG I'm going to be a mommy, we were so thrilled to unexpectantly be fullfilling Ryan's wishes.  We were only 6 weeks behind them in our due dates (EDD for us was March 24, 2011)!!!  Now obviously we wanted to keep it a secret for a tiny bit until we got a little farther along.  Until the next blog...shhh don't tell. ;)