That's what my 2nd graders would say to me when I was expecting Porter. I actually loved it when they'd say that to me. I'm getting bigger these days since we're expecting our second baby!
{For now this is what we refer to #2 as "Sibling".}{{P.S. Sibling's hand is up by his/her face - that's not a nose. Aaron enjoys laughing about such things, though.}}
If things go according to schedule the baby will be born on his/her Aunt Karli's birthday, the 27th of April. But we all know things never actually go according to "schedule".
This blog serves as our family journal and because of that I'll be documenting some things in this post. It may not be interesting to you but it's important for us to remember these things down the road.
I've mentioned a few times starting in January of this year that Aaron and I were thinking about having another baby. If you feel so inclined, you can read about it HERE & HERE. After lots of prayer we decided to put our trust in God's hands and timing. If anyone knows when things should happen it's Him! After that move, I quickly realized that the idea of having another child frightened me greatly but peace would always return when I would turn to the Lord, especially after what we believe was an early pregnancy loss brought on by an anxiety attack in July. As a note: It wasn't an anxiety attack about having another kid, just something that got blown up. It was such an early loss we didn't struggle with this much. It was weird to come to the realization that I had been pregnant, but we felt very peaceful. Our feelings were that we had turned the matter of baby #2 over to God and we weren't going to falter now. With that I had resolved myself to theses ideas: maybe I'm not healthy enough to have a baby yet; perhaps this will take some time; maybe we were wrong, maybe we aren't suppose to have a baby right now. I was okay with all of this and actually a little excited for the extra time as 3. Then a few weeks down the road I was feeling very pregnant and asked Aaron if he thought we should test. I had looked at my calendar and thought it was a little early to test, but couldn't shake the sick feeling. We decided to ask Porter what he thought and he was very much in support of the idea! Honestly, he gave us a very cute and reassuring "YES test!". I don't know what it is about my husband always needing to know the results before for me, but he came and took the test from me while I was waiting. Before I could finished protesting for him to return it, a positive result came up and he was jumping up and down with a big smile across his face. I was so excited but was in a bit of shock after convincing myself that we were in for a long wait, it was and still is sooo surreal! We just kept saying to each other, "We're going to have another baby!" After things settled down a bit I decided to look up my due date only to find out I'm a bad counter and was already 5 weeks along... no wonder I felt so sick!
This pregnancy has been very different for me than the first. The first I was anticipating with great expectations, this time I was trusting God and going with the flow. I'm not the best at going with the flow without having some questions. The whole first part of this pregnancy I had overwhelming feelings of inadequacy and fear. However, when I'm at church, studying my scriptures, or at peace the calm confirming feeling returns that this is right, this is exactly what God wants for our family, that He'll help me through it, and that this addition will make all of us very happy. While I'm sure my feelings of turmoil will not entirely disappear until I cradle this little one in my arms, I know this is God's will for us.
If Aaron is nervous he's shown no signs of it to me. This man accepts things quickly taking them on with love and diligence. He's been so good to me, I'm definitely complaining more this pregnancy because I don't feel good. I've tried hard to stop; I don't know how my efforts have been, but he's kind about reminding me that I promised to try hard not to complain because it's a gift. Some of the things Aaron has change to help me out is that he takes care of Porter when he wakes up at 6:30 in the morning when I'm normally in the bathroom indisposed, changes the stinky diapers whenever he's around, then after work he does the dishes for me if I couldn't stomach them that day. Seriously, he's my HERO!!!
Here are the details my mother-in-law would ask about:
- Has my morning sickness been different? (trying to predict boy or girl) Yes, it's been much more persistent. I was sick every morning with Porter but it usually passed by the time my 2nd graders came to class at 9. I'm very sick in the mornings with this pregnancy, feel yucky all day long, and get really sick again in the evenings.
- You're not still nursing Porter are you? Yes- I did/was. I nursed Porter the first 10 weeks of my pregnancy. He wasn't ready to stop and his needs will always be important. We researched it just to be sure, but nursing while preggers isn't dangerous to either baby. However, it can be a little hazardous to Mom. The body is an amazing thing, there is a hierarchy - fetus, baby, then Mom - and the babies will steal whatever they need. Lucky for us Porter started accepting his sippy cup with lots of our support, so he can get the fluids he needs, and he no longer needs to nurse. Nursing caused early contractions and unfortunately they've decreased with the change, but they've haven't gone away completely . Bummer.
- What's the baby's heart rate? 1st time- 168 2nd time- 169
- Do you have any feelings about it being a boy or a girl? I had several dreams about having twin girls that we affectionately refereed to as Baby A & Baby Z because of the girl names we like. However, I think these were a product of my fear of twins and girls. We had our first ultrasound on Monday and we're only having 1 baby! PHEW! I had a dream about a little blonde boy that we couldn't decide on a name for; he was very cute and chubby. Despite the difference in my sickness I generally feel that it's a boy. Aaron thinks it's a girl. Do either of us have great confidence in our guesses...NO!
- Cravings? Sweet and Sour-- Sweetarts are a must these days, pickles, chocolate mouse, Pizza Hut. But most of the time I'm just dealing with food aversion and nothing sounding good. I eat tofu like 3 times a day and with Porter demanding I share, we go through the stuff like crazy.
- Other differences? I'm super fatigued, I'm growing & showing way faster than last time, and I've been feeling this little one wiggle already.
- Cold feet? I don't get this one, but yep my feet are always cold. The rest of me is overheating but my footsies are freezing.
{We celebrated our news over a cup of juice -- we didn't have any sparkling cider.}
{Aaron brought me home some congratulatory flowers}
{They blossomed beautifully and I was able to enjoy them for a good 2 weeks.}We're excited to watch as this pregnancy blossoms and we welcome Sibling into our family in 6 short months!
{He's so cool}
{I loved how he'd slowly take them off}
{"Don't forget ME!"}
{P's last swim before tubes, no more going under. :( }
{This, I just love...hehe! While cleaning out the basement Aaron found a childhood favorite, his authentic Reds coat. "Just like what the players have." He told me. Then an even bigger surprise... he fits into it again. He was 12 when he got this!}
{Get in the water to make a grumpy Porter happy!}
{Sharp Porter}
{Sad Porter}
{Silly Porter}
