Bowles Family: the plan

So a lot of people have asked how I could keep the pregnancy a secret for so long and why. Hopefully this explains it.

When I got pregnant with Evan, I was so tired of people telling me it seemed like I had been pregnant forever. Of course it had! I had just had three kids in less than three years. I had and still have been pregnant for forever. At least, that's how I feel! I decided I wouldn't tell people when I was pregnant with Evan. I figured that eventually it would be obvious and my protrusion would tell for me. It became kind of a game to see how long I could wait, because I start showing on the day I conceive. I am cursed so that when it's my time of month, I swell up and can't fit my regular clothes. Once a non-pregnant month, I look about 3 months pregnant (for a normal girl who gets a bump) and then a week later it's gone. So when I get pregnant, I automatically look about three months pregnant and then I don't grow again until the 2nd trimester. I've heard a uterus described as a balloon. The more times it's been blown up, the easier it is to blow up the next time. Well, that's me! Another weird thing about my body is that I lose all the baby weight within a week or two of having the baby and then about 2 months later, while nursing, I start to gain weight. I don't know what happens after that because before I stop nursing, I am always pregnant. I'd like to hope that I will loose that weight again. Maybe we'll see this time? Anyhow, I got pregnant with Evan and I was still a little chubby from nursing Ellie, so I tried to pull off just being overweight. It wasn't easy because I get a well defined bump. I started wearing baggy clothes and using my Bella Band to suck things in. Also, I was super sick and that is hard to hide. My mom figured it out. I was pretty sure Sarah knew. She never said anything, but she'd make comments about my clothes or lift up the hem of my shirt to see the non-existent waist band. She'd raise her eyebrows and say nothing. I set a goal to make it to the day of Bowles Family pictures for Ben's side to figure it out. That was right at the beginning of the second trimester. When it came time to pick an outfit nothing fit. I didn't want to squeeze into anything and just look fat, so I opted to wear a maternity dress. When we walked up, everyone was looking at me and then looking at each other like, 'Uh, did I not get the memo? Did you know?'. Before anyone could ask the photographer who is Ben's 2nd cousin, Leah Davis, said, "Wow! You have three kids now! Oh and one on the way!" We nodded yes and she congratulated us. You should have seen the looks on faces! Ben spoke up and said, "Just so you know, we are expecting another baby." Poor Leah felt terrible, like she gave it away, but I thought it was perfect! I thought everyone would laugh, but they were too shocked. Instead, they kept asking each other if the other person had known. Yes, I was huge already! Look how little they were!

I never told my sister, Becki, who lives in Belize. When I talked to her on the web-cam I would sit so she couldn't tell. I waited until she came to visit and surprised her (around 5 months along). It was great fun! I thought I had waited such a long time to tell people and was pretty pleased with myself for keeping it a secret for so long. Then on Christmas morning I got an email from my friend, Lexie, who lives in NJ. It said to check her blog. When I did there was a picture of her 6 and a half months pregnant, just announcing! She had posted pictures of herself all along, hiding behind pumpkins, kids, balls, etc. I was in awe!! She way out did me and even got mad at me for not telling her earlier than I did, when she was pregnant and didn't tell me! Stinker!! Anyhow, I did the math and figured out that if we got pregnant around our normal time, that it would be right before or right as we were moving to Texas and that I was going to do the same thing. Of course, I got baby hungry much earlier and was ready to give up the whole plan just to have a baby. The Lord had other plans for us and kept telling me no, it's not time. So, I waited. It just so happened that when we finally decided to get pregnant, got pregnant, and took the test, I had just moved to TX two weeks earlier. I swore Ben to secrecy. He wanted me to make it clear that it was all on me, in case people were mad. At the time, before we had all of our employment troubles, we figured we would go visit family after Christmas. My plan was to walk in 6 or 7 months pregnant and say, 'Surprise!'. I got giddy just thinking about everyone's shock and laughter and wanted to video tape the whole thing. Ben didn't think anyone would laugh, but I was sure that our families all have a great sense of humor and would get a kick out of it. But alas, my plan was not to be...