The Story of Jack Part One-Pregnancy

So, once upon a time, (I should really come up with a more original intro; oh well) Victoria and Robert got married. And when two people do such a thing, the question comes up: when are we gonna start poppin' out kiddos? For me, it was a quote from Spencer W. Kimball I think about not waiting until you finished school or were in a better financial situation before you started having children, that made it pretty clear to me what we should do. Of course, to each his own, and each couple should definitely pray about the decision for sure. So, we weren't actively "trying", but we weren't actively "not trying" either. That might be t.m.i., but again, oh well.
So for the next 8-9 months or so, I rode the emotionally fickle roller coaster of desperately wanting a baby, to thinking maybe it would be better to hold off for while. At the end of those 8-9 months, my poor husband started to notice that I was being unusually crabby. I noticed too, and it would make me even more angry because I didn't know why I was so angry! Robert at this point, probably second guessing his decision of an eternal companion, tentatively suggests that I take a pregnancy test. I probably snapped back that there was no way I was pregnant I just took one last week and it was negative plus I don't even feel pregnant you stupid man. Robert then leaves for work, somewhat abashed. I feel bad again, and so I go to the store, buy a test, come home, take it, hardly even looking at it because I know I'm not ... whoa, are those 2 pink lines?? I snatch the test up and can't even begin to fathom what that one little extra line meant. At that point I think I might have started hyperventilating a bit. Ok, calm down, you're pregnant, not cancerous, this is a happy thing! And so then, on the floor of my bathroom I knelt down and thanked God for such a wonderful blessing. 
So, with my heart now practically gushing with joy, I thought of how to tell Rob. I thought back to how my mom told my dad she was pregnant with me. She got him a father's day card, and when he, really confused asked, "Why? I'm not even a father." She replied, "Well, you will be." Or something to that effect. I always liked that story, and so I went to the store yet again, this time for a card. Unfortunately this was mid August (12th I think), and father's day cards were no where to be found, so I settled for a cute baby related card instead. I wrote something along the lines of "Surprise! I'm pregnant!" in the card and set it on the table for my hubby to find when he came home. When he did, I watched a few steps away as the words sunk in. He looked up at me with a huge smile on his face and said, "RrreeeeaaalllY??" I nodded. "That's exciting!!" Haha yes it is dear, yes it is.
The next nine months were pretty, well, uneventful. Seriously, I had the most boring pregnancy of all pregnancies. Except for the fact that my stomach blew up like a balloon, I really didn't have a lot of symptoms. No morning sickness. No weird cravings. There was maybe like a week where I wanted a tuna sandwich every day, but that was it, if that counts. No sensitivity to smell. In fact my nose actually plugged for about 2 months (month 5-7 I believe). Don't know if that was pregnancy or winter? No real intense back pain. I'm really pretty lucky, and I know a lot of people hate me for having it so easy. Believe me people, I'm grateful! I really am. All I could think about was I hope it's this easy when he actually comes out. *Wishful thinking*
That reminds me, I have to tell about the day we found out we were having a bouncing baby boy. So, we were the pretty typical couple when it came to what we wanted; we said of course we would be happy with whatever the gender was, but reeealllyy Rob wanted a boy, and I wanted a girl. I tried to be neutral about the whole thing, but it didn't help that pretty much EVERYONE thought we were going to have a girl. I had dreams about both, so I had no idea. Mother's intuition is a myth when it comes to gender, or maybe I just don't have it.
Anyway, as soon as the picture came up on the screen, it was obvious. No mistake, we were having a boy. Rob was ecstatic, and I was smiling, but on the inside, I was just a little teensy bit disappointed. I am the oldest girl, and I guess I liked the idea of having a little mini me. Plus, I have 3 sisters, and I just felt more comfortable with little girls. As it started to sink in, I thought to myself, I don't know anything about how to raise a little boy! I have a brother, but I can't really say that I understand him all too well. I'm a girl, I get girls, but boys?? It seemed like so much more pressure; I'm going to have to make sure he goes on a mission, and can support a family, and can hold the preisthood, etc... What if he doesn't even like me?? What if I'm a boring mom?? (I realize now I was being a bit ridiculous, but this is seriously what was going through my head)
As the months went by, I had a few experiences that made me more at ease and even got me excited to have a son. One of which was when I was watching a movie, Saving Private Ryan. (I knoooow it's rated R, my husband made me watch it! It's actually really good, and hey, taught me a life lesson, so it can't be that bad.) In the beginning, it shows a really violent scene of these U.S. soldiers storming a beach and basically getting the crud blown out of them. The thing that struck me though, was that these people, these grown men, were crying out for their mommies. Not dad, not even God, but their moms. We shortly after had the lesson in church about the stripling warriors and how they gained their testimonies from their mothers' examples of stalwart faith. The experience that probably had the most effect on me however, was my experience on the set on the New Testament Project. You may have seen casting posters in your church buildings:

That Israelite maiden is pretty fine, am I right?

 Yeah that's me. Didn't get a huge part or anything, but it was an awesome thing to be a part of. Anyway, so I was there the day they shot the crucifixion scene. You can see the whole thing here: http://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/he-is-risen?lang=eng
As you might've guessed, it's a pretty heavy scene, and even though I knew the guy wasn't reeeeally Jesus, I was getting emotional! (I partially blame preggo hormones) But the thing that really got the waterworks going was when the "Savior" said the lines "Woman, behold thy son." to his mother Mary, at the foot of his cross. Now there's been a lot of misconceptions regarding this simple phrase. Was he being disrespectful? Like, "Woman! Look at me!" I highly doubt it. No, the way the director told our guy to play it, and the way I think the Savior meant it, was a pleading for his mother to be with him in his final moments of life. There are no words to describe the incredible pain and anguish the Savior went through, but it must have almost just has bad if not worse for his mother to watch him suffer. I suspect that she was looking away, refusing to behold what the mob had done to her precious baby boy. But Mary and Jesus had a special bond, mother and son, and especially since his father had to leave him, he wanted needed his mother's support. As the man playing Jesus said the line, I swear on my life he was looking straight. at. me. He couldn't play the line to the actual Mary at his feet, because the camera wouldn't be able to get a good shot at his face, so he had to pick someone in the middle of the crowd, and he picked me. I felt then that I could not wait to have such a special bond with my own son, and I promised him then that I would always be there for him, through the good and bad. I would be a good example to him, and teach him the things the Lord would have me teach him. At that moment I felt, of course, of course I was supposed to have a boy first. He's going to be the best little boy in the whole world, and he's going to love me as much as I love him. It just felt... right. 

And I couldn't wait to meet him...