Finding Love: Jury Duty and Domino's Pizza

This is part three in our Finding Love series. Need to get caught up? Start here and here.


About a minute after we decided to have a baby, I found myself rushing to Albertson's for a giant bag of sour cream and onion potato chips and ravenous for my Aunt Carol's triple chocolate cake. 

Another minute passed, and I was horribly sick to my stomach. 

One week later, the pregnancy test finally stated the obvious and showed up positive.

Have you ever been hungover? Had food poisoning? How about the flu or mono?

Have you ever had them all at the same time? 

Or for seventeen weeks????

I thought I was going to die.

I thought I was going to harm the baby because I couldn't keep any food down.

It was fun to be pregnant for about the first five minutes.
(And I mean that literally. I was sick as a rat before I was even late.)

And then the reality of "morning" sickness set in as I threw up every meal I ate and was faced with an exhaustion that defies the imagination.

You know how much I longed to have a baby, but my body seemed to be rebelling big time.

I wanted to nest, to coo, to glow...

I felt incredibly cheated.

Here I am pretending to be happy.

But I began to find love, even in a difficult, and seemingly endless season.

I found love in the County of Santa Barbara.

You got that right, mister.

Praise Jesus, I was selected to serve on a three week jury and it couldn't have come at a better time.

Sitting still and not speaking for three weeks straight?
I'm all in.
I sucked on Jolly Ranchers and threw up during our breaks.

Jury duty will always have a special place in my heart.

I found love in my parents.

They came to spend a week with us, and ended up taking care of me while Tovi was out of town. My sweet dad drove me everywhere. My mom cooked.
It was like being nine years old all over again.


Once again, the gals in my Bible study came to my rescue. 
Jen showed up with a basket overflowing with morning sickness remedies and headbands.
Melody lent me all of her pregnancy books and made me feel like Not A Crazy Person.


Love from my friends who guessed I was pregnant and still acted surprised when we shared the secret. I could only keep down pizza, and you all ate soooo much pizza with me. 
Thank you for not being snobby about our food selection. 


My boss who put up with me rushing down the hall and laying my head on the desk day after day.


I think that the best way to find out what kind of father a man will be is to watch how he takes care of his pregnant wife.

 Ps: I should totally cut my hair like that again. I look great!

And this guy?
Amazing.


Having gone from such a dark period of my life to such a trying season was wearing on my soul.
But, oh the love that was beginning to blossom around me...