How The Valenzuela's Began... Part One

My Husband (Carlos) and I first got together when we were 22 year old college students. We had no debt, no house and no real responsibilities. One month later I was sleeping like a rock, I was crying and peeing all the time and you guessed it my period was LATE! I knew I was pregnant but we went to the pharmacy and bought a test anyway. When we got home I went to the bathroom immediately and right before my eyes almost instantaneously those two little lines appeared. Those two little lines that would change our lives forever.

It's still positive after almost seven years.

And yes I kept it. How could I not?

It seems as though God already had a plan for us because what might have been difficult decisions for some came quite easily for us. As Carlos slept off the news he called his Mom, I called mine. I drove to my Mom's house and sat at her kitchen counter and our conversation went like this:
 

Me: "Mom, I took a pregnancy test"

Mom: "And...?"

Me: "It was positive"

Mom: "Are you sure it was positive?"

Me: " Yes it was an instant positive no waiting for it to change"

Mom: "Seems like its true. What is it that you want to do" (Keep in mind I was an unmarried 22 year old college student"

Me: "I want to keep the baby"

Mom: "Okay, congratulations! Let's eat!"

I wrote this conversation out because it was one of the most frequent questions I received from my peers. It was interesting that so many people assumed my Mom would be angry with me. My Dad on the other hand I avoided like the plague. I was too embarrassed and ashamed to talk to him none the less tell him the truth.

Looking back I had the strongest faith in us, I knew things were going to be hard we were going to have to work and fight every step of the way to make it as a family but I believed in us.  I wasn't naive though and if I had to raise and support our baby on my own I would and I was okay with that too. 

Carlos and I had one fight where I thought I would be doing it on my own. Looking back I can't even remember what it was about. I told him to get out... and he did he left. He walked to his Mom's house (which was not that far maybe a mile and a half) I had only met his Mom once at this point and it was the night before our first ultrasound. My sister picked me up to take me to the ultrasound where we met both my Mom, his Mom, his Aunt and little cousin Tina (who was 5 at the time) I remember being so confused and nervous not knowing what to expect or to feel. I went into the ultrasound room with my Mom, Sister and Carlos' Mom they rubbed gel on my belly and that's when I saw our baby, I was more in love and knew at the moment that this baby was our priority.

 

Carlos came back to our apartment after work and we sat on the front steps, I showed him the pictures and we kissed and made up (the details are pretty fuzzy). Years later my Mother in law sat me down and told me the story of how Carlos came to her house that night she told him "You can stay here tonight but you have a Wife (I was pregnant with his baby and we were living together so wife was used) who is pregnant with your baby, who is upset and scared, I don't care what happened but you belong there with her, you must work it out, you can not come back here when things get hard." I never knew what made Carlos come back with such love, compassion and a will to work it out but I feel forever indebted to my Mother in law for the tough love she gave Carlos that night, I am lucky to have a Mother in law who cared so much about me and her grandchild when we barely even knew eachother. Thank you Estella!

To be continued...