Oh, baby!

Our little caboose. That's him.


I don't think I ever mentioned that Joe was a...surprise. According to my plans, he should not be here, but God had other plans. After having the two boys we decided that we were done having children. All full up, as they say. We decided that the best thing to do would be for Kevin to have a vasectomy.

We went to the doctor and scheduled the procedure. Kevin went for the snip, snip and that was that. Surprisingly, there was very little pain involved, and he was up and running in a few days.

He was recuperating, and I was taking care of him. This was not a problem as I enjoyed taking care of him for the sacrifice that he made. The only problem was, when I would get up in the morning, I felt nauseous. It would pass after a few hours, but still, there was that awful queasy feeling to contend with in addition to tending to my little family.

One morning my mother called. She inquired as to Kevin's health and I told her that he was fine, but I was coming down with something. I explained my symptoms to her and she was silent on the other end. Then she told me to take it easy, and try to rest. Well, that was not a problem as I was exhausted by midday, every day. I had to lie down and sleep, I simply could not stay awake.

My sister called me that night, the same morning that I spoke with my mom. "We think that you are pregnant." she said. I told her that that was impossible. She told me to explain my symptoms to her, and I did.

"Hello!" she cried.

Oh, no.

Laurie and her husband were trying to conceive at this time. My sister does not do anything half-arsed, she is always prepared. "Come up here and take a pregnancy test, I have a bazillion of them."

I drove the mile to her house and into the bathroom we went. I told her that I was sure I was not pregnant, more to comfort myself than anything because after taking inventory of my symptoms, I knew that I was either pregnant, or dying of a tumor. I did not think that the test would work because you are supposed to pee on the stick in the morning. Laurie suggested I pee in a cup and then we dip the stick into it and let it sit. That seemed like a good idea.

I peed and then we waited. For all of two seconds. Those two pink lines came screaming through the stick like a bullhorn. YOU ARE PREGNANT, DUMMY!

I felt like I was fifteen years old, and had just found out that I was was pregnant in the school bathroom.

"How did this happen?" I lamented to my sister, who was joyfully hugging me and crying from happiness.

"You don't really want me to answer that, do you?" she queried.

No, I guess not.

We named him Joseph because the name means "God shall add." That seemed a better fit than "Vasectomy baby." He is our surprise. Our blessing. Our joy.

Let this be a lesson to you all. God is in control.