Surprise news

I'm pregnant! I can't believe it. It's a bit of a shock. On the one hand, I don't really believe it. On the other hand, I'm thinking of all the things I need to do before the first trimester FATIGUE hits! Can you even be fatigued when you already have two kids? How does that work? Do they let you?

I've been wanting to document (at least write down somewhere) the birth stories of my kids before the details get foggy as time passes. It's always been something I thought I'd get around to doing but hadn't yet. Even now, I feel like I might need to rely on my husband's memory for some of the details. So, I thought I would take a few moments now to document the "finding out" stories for each of my kids:

ME (3.75) - It took us a full year to get pregnant with ME (3.75). We bought our house in June 2004. In July, Hubby was doing his ER rotation so he was working different shifts and was able to have a few days off. At the end of those days off, we decided to get a dog. We always knew we wanted one and now that we owned our own home, we could do it! On our anniversary, we went to the animal shelter and looked at the dogs. There was a very cute 12 week old puppy there that we were very interested in. There were already two other people interested in him but we were added to the "waiting list" (both people needed to get approval from their landlord first). So we left and went back home. (I know this story is supposed to be about my son, not my dog, but the two are related - the stories I mean, not the boy and the dog!) Also that day, I took a pregnancy test. I was only one day late but I thought I would take it anyway. I decided to take it right AFTER I had used the bathroom so instead of just waiting until I needed to go again, I drank tons and tons of liquid so that I could go. So I took the test. And although there was a very, very faint line, it was so incredibly faint that I didn't think it was positive. We went out to dinner to celebrate our anniversary and received a message from the SPCA that the dog was available after all and we could come in the next day. Later that night, I was reading the instructions of the pregnancy test (it's always a good idea to read them afterward!) and I realized that I had done it all wrong. Morning is the best time to take it (although it doesn't have to be) and you shouldn't drink an excessive amount beforehand like I did! I also learned that any sign of a second line is a positive test! I didn't want to get my hopes up (I had had other negative tests before this), but I did want to take another test! We went to the grocery store the next day and decided to go home and test again before going to the SPCA - we just couldn't wait. This time the second line was clearly there! I was pregnant! We were going to have a baby! It seemed unreal and I wasn't really sure what to think. The truth was that although I always envisioned myself having children, it was really more theoretical than a deep longing. I wasn't one of those women who desperately wanted to have a baby. I just pictured Hubby and I with a family someday. So it was both exciting and sobering? daunting? grounding? (not sure what the best word is) to finally be pregnant!

MG (8.5 mos) - It took us ten months to get pregnant with MG (8.5). With her, we fluctuated between "not preventing" and actually "trying" and it was emotionally tumultuous. A friend of mine, who started trying after we did, got pregnant before me. That was crushing. I remember trying to note symptoms every month but realizing that the early signs of pregnancy could also be premenstrual symptoms. Because I typically had shorter cycles at that time, I think it was the morning of Day 28 that I tested. I didn't necessarily think that I was pregnant, but since it was Day 28 and I decided to take a pregnancy test. The only kind I had was from the dollar store. It was positive, but I doubted it simply because the test only cost me a dollar! Hubby had already left for work and was in conference but I called his cell anyway. I told him about the test, but I also told him it was a dollar store test. I remember him whispering into the phone "You're pregnant!" Later that day, I went to the grocery store and bought an expensive pregnancy test just to find out that I really was pregnant! I took a picture of the positive test and emailed it to Matt with a subject line that said: Open this in private. (How suggestive is that?)

Baby #3 ( 4 weeks prego) - We were kind of on the fence about whether or not we were going to have a third child. We did say, however, that if we were going to have a third child, we wouldn't even consider getting pregnant until January so that I wasn't close to delivering at the time of our move in June. Since we hadn't made that decision, we were preventing. Mostly. And its that "mostly" that has resulted in Baby #3! "Mostly" was really just once, but obviously I knew there was a chance I could be pregnant. So last night this was my brief conversation with Hubby about it:

Hubby: So I guess you're not pregnant.

Me: How do you know?

Hubby: You said you'd test in two weeks.

Me: Well, I'll test if I'm late. (And I didn't think that was until this coming weekend).

So today I was thinking about it and decided to actually check the calendar and realized that I was already at Day 30. Now, it's not unusual for me to have a 30 day cycle so I didn't necessarily think that I was definitely pregnant but since there was a "mostly," I knew it was a possibility. Hubby was able to come home early today so I went to the grocery store for a number of things, including a pregnancy test. I came home and we had dinner before needing to go out to church tonight. Hubby just kept saying, "You're not pregnant. You're not pregnant." So I said, "Well, do you want to confirm that before we leave or after we get home." I took the test then and right after I laid it down, Hubby picked it up. I started to tell him to put it back down and he said, "Goober!" and showed me the positive test! We were so shocked we were laughing. ME (3.75) wanted to know what we were laughing at, but we couldn't tell him. So, it looks like we're having another baby! I'm due the end of September!

One of the funny things about this is that MG (8.5 mos) has been slowly weaning herself. I wouldn't mind being done with nursing but I didn't want to wean her completely because I wasn't sure if we were going to have any more children. I didn't mind being done if I knew I would one day nurse another baby! Well, looks like I'll be nursing again someday! I still don't think I'll fully wean her yet though just in case something happens.

I also have a funny story that relates to this pregnancy, living in a small town, and my favorite cashier at the grocery store but I'll have to write that one another day. It's getting late.