Houston, We Have a Problem!

I haven’t written since the end of September. I am one who knows when to step back and breathe for a second. I needed to regroup. I’ve wanted to write since December but there was only one thing that had my full undivided attention and that was the baby growing inside of me.

Sooooo of course I couldn’t write about baby Robinson until we could announce. I have to tell you guys how we found out and the emotional roller coaster that surrounded the whole ordeal. Let’s go back to December 28^th. Christmas with family was a blast; we had gotten back home to Florida to change out our traveling bags.

We would bring in the New Year in Houston. You know me; I had the itinerary set for weeks. Beyonce’s House, Rockets/ Lakers Game, Joel Osteen’s Church, the Galleria, Corpus Christi to see the Selena Museum…we were ready!

We left Thursday night and drove straight to Corpus Christi because the museum is not open on the weekends so we had to catch it on that Friday. Let me tell y’all, Brandon L. Robinson is the real MVP. He drove 15 hours so I could have the Selena experience. Thanks babe! The experience was great. My post even went viral with over 37,000 shares.

We drive the 3 hours back to Houston after leaving Corpus Christi and relax a bit after all our travel. The next day we start our Houston adventure. We see Beyonce’s house, take our “Robinson” pic (if you don’t follow me on social media: when we visit a new state we find a street that has the name Robinson in it and take a pic), site see, etc. We are foodies so I find the restaurant that was listed as having Houston’s best burger. It was a little place in the middle of no where called the Hubcap. My burger had Philly cheese steak meat on top. Soooooo greasy and unhealthy but sooooo good lol. Side note: As I typed it I started to seriously gag lol. My food aversions these days are sometimes unbearable.

Robinson Road, Missouri City, TX

Anywho, I go to the restroom to wash my hands and I start to gag. I throw it off as “this bathroom has a funny smell” and kept it moving. Here is one thing you have to know about me, even before pregnancy my nose was superrrrrr sensitive to smells. I once threw up because someone had bad breath…actually that happened three times. Embarrassing!!

So that little episode in the bathroom didn’t really alarm me. I did tell Brandon I was feeling funny afterwards and thought maybe I just ate too fast. We went back to the hotel to chill a bit. It was Saturday night and we needed to go to Wal-Mart to get our snacks and drinks for New Year’s Eve the next day.

As I’m in the restroom getting prepared to leave I hear a voice clear as day say, “take a pregnancy test”. I promise I’m not making this up even though this is really funny as I’m typing it. I tell Brandon we need to get a test and he just says ok lol. We get to Wal-Mart I get a small bottle of wine so we can toast at midnight and some pregnancy tests. I know I look crazy because that combination is not ideal. In my mind, my test would be negative so it didn’t matter if I had a glass of wine or not.

We check out and head back to the hotel. I’m preparing to take the test and asked Brandon if he was coming in with me. When we thought we were pregnant back in September homeboy was in there for every test, he even held the stick lol. I know that whole situation was draining for him so when he said he didn’t want to come in; I didn’t even give him a hard time. I did jokingly say, “It would be a shame if I was pregnant this time and you weren’t a part of the process”.

I take the test, wait the 3 minutes so I could read the “Not Pregnant” but there was only one thing…it said PREGNANT. I started to scream, and cry, and laugh, and say “Oh My God! Oh My God” repeatedly. Sooooo I’ve been told a time or 2 that I can be dramatic. I’m not sure where they get that from *shrugs* but obviously Brandon thought I was pulling a prank or something. Fed up with my shenanigans he gets up, goes to the bathroom, and reads the test for himself.

I wish I had my camera ready to capture that moment. He just sat on the bed in what I perceived to be shock, excitement, and pure fear lol. I jumped around and screamed for a few more minutes until he motioned for me to sit beside him. “I’m going to be a daddy.” “Yes, you are!” “And you’re going to be a mommy.”  I shake my head in a yes motion. That moment will forever me sketched in my heart.

“We need more tests. What if it was something wrong with that one?” The test came in a 2 pack and I tried to take the second one immediately but I gave all my pee to the first one so it came out invalid lol. Brandon takes me to get three more and they are all positive lol.

We called my mom, his mom, and my sister-in-law. I know people say you shouldn’t do that but I didn’t care. I needed my support system. They were so excited. We just sat in bed and took in the moment. Brandon started kissing my stomach and we just loved on each other for a minute. And then everything shifted…

TMI Alert: The month before I experienced severe bleeding. So much so, miscarriage came to my mind. The only reason why we didn’t go to the ER then was because it wasn’t the severe cramping that I hear about. I was cramping but not like what some of my loved ones had described. But I couldn’t help but to wonder what that was about.

Did I miscarry? Was I too nonchalant? Who do I need to call?

I made the mistake of getting on the internet. There I read that it was possible to get a positive pregnancy test even after a miscarriage because your hCG levels are not back to normal yet. For those that don’t know hCG is the hormone in your urine that makes a pregnancy test positive. A level as small as 5 can be detected on the pregnancy test.

I tell Brandon I have to get my hCG levels tested (this is something that has to be done in a lab). At this point I’m crying, scared, frustrated, mad…we go to the ER in Houston. It felt like the longest wait of my life. We go to the back, they take my blood, take a urine sample, and then we have to wait again.

The doctor comes in and I’m more confused than when we entered. “I can’t confirm if you are pregnant or had a miscarriage. Your pregnancy test is positive but your hCG levels are so low we don’t know if you’re newly pregnant or if your levels are normalizing after a miscarriage. I’m sorry”.

He went on to say that they couldn’t do an ultrasound because if I was pregnant the baby was so small they wouldn’t be able to see anything. The only solution was to have my levels checked again in 48 hours. If the numbers had tripled then that was an indication that I was pregnant. My levels were 127 while we were in Houston.

The next morning we got up to go to church. I needed prayer…BAD. My mind was all over the place. John Gray preached that morning and it was just what I needed to hear. He was basically talking about how God directs our paths and how everything happens for a reason.

We go to the mall, go to the Rockets game (I was a little disappointed that Lonzo Ball was out due to a shoulder injury) and came back to the hotel. I didn’t have much of an appetite; there was only one thing on my mind.

We celebrated bringing in the New Year twice, once for the east coast and once for central time. The next day we eat breakfast so we can get on the road. We get a few minutes down the road and I have to vomit. We drive some more and I motion to Brandon to stop the car again. This time the highway patrol comes up behind us as my head is sticking out the door. “Have a little bit too much fun last night?” Brandon laughs and tells him we’re pregnant.

I finally doze off to sleep and I wake up a few hours later. I find some relief with ice chips but it’s time for dinner. We go to chick-fil-A, our favorite! I get my usual number 1 with no pickles. As we’re chatting over dinner my stomach starts to churn…yep it happened again.

I ask Brandon if we could just go straight to the ER when we got to Jacksonville and we did. Again, urine test, blood test, IV...this time ultrasound and pelvic exam.

The doctor comes in the room and there is only one thing I want to hear. “What are my hCG levels?” Remember I told you we’re looking for them to triple to confirm pregnancy. “Your levels are 603. Congratulations!” He said something about following up with my OB/GYN blah blah blah. Chile, I didn’t care I was pregnant.

Looking dusty after finding out about the baby

I’m not going to lie and act like every day is unicorns and rainbows because they are not. I have severe morning sickness, I haven’t had coffee since December, I have only had 200 ml of caffeine since finding out (I got convicted that’s why I haven’t had more), I crave fish but I’m nervous about mercury, I feel super lazy and unmotivated, every twinge and pull in my belly makes me nervous and I’m already thinking about college tuition lol.

On the other hand I am so in love. We already have the names picked out, I’m registering in a breast feeding class, and I talk to my baby everyday even though he/she can’t hear me yet lol. I’m so excited about this journey. I’m reading all this literature, and scrolling through mommy’s groups, and reading blogs.

The first time we saw our baby and heard the heart beat <3

Bean (this is our name for the baby) is so loved already. September 8^th can’t get here fast enough. I look forward to sharing more of my journey. I appreciate those who have been supportive. Special shout out to my hubby who has not left my side for a second. Bean and I love you so much.

Coach Jaleesa