Thank you all so much for all of the sweet comments on our pregnancy announcement. You all are truly awesome!
We are due on July 19, 2015 and Caroline and Baby M2 will be 14 months apart. We are are really excited about it, a little terrified, but mostly excited. We always wanted our kiddies to be close in age (my siblings and I are each a year apart) but we definitely aren't naive to the fact that we have some tough diaper-filled years ahead!
Anyway, some answers to the most common questions I've received since sharing our news...
How far along are you and how are you feeling? I am 15 weeks pregnant and the first trimester was exactly like my last pregnancy - terrible. Fighting through nausea, frequent dizzy spells and extreme exhaustion while chasing around a very mobile baby has been tough! But thankfully I am feeling better these days now that I am in my second trimester.
How did you find out? Even though I stopped breastfeeding a few months after Caroline was born my cycle was all out of whack. I began tracking, charting, testing, temping, etc. for a few months to see if things were getting back to "normal" and they definitely were not. So a few days before my routine mammogram {I get these very often due to my family breast cancer history} I took a pregnancy test - negative. When I arrived to my appointment the technician must have asked me a million times if I was pregnant and I assured her that I had just received a negative pregnancy test but that we were in fact "trying". She made me sign a waver stating I wasn't pregnant, informed me of all of the terrible risks associated with radiation exposure to a fetus and then decided to dress me with a lead apron just in case. I knew I wasn't pregnant but felt very nervous throughout the entire screen and even throughout the next few days. She really scared me. By the weekend I ultimately decided to take another pregnancy test. POSITIVE.We should have been jumping for joy but were immediately crippled with fear thinking about the mammogram I just had 5 days earlier and the warning from the technician. I called my doctor first thing the very next morning and he squeezed me in on his lunch break for an ultrasound. Despite a positive pregnancy test the ultrasound showed NO baby and we were devastated. A few days later we went back in for another ultrasound - still no baby but my uterus appeared to be doing something. We continued to go in for ultrasounds every few days to check on the progress and were getting really discouraged (no fetal pole, growing too slowly, not progressing, etc). The doctor informed us that there was some risk that we could lose the baby in the coming weeks due to the radiation exposure from the mammogram. We spent a lot of time in prayer during the weeks that followed. Finally, after 8 long weeks of doctor's appointments and ultrasounds my doctor informed us that he was confident that the baby was healthy, was safe from any radiation exposure and confirmed me for a July 19, 2015 due date!
Will you find out the gender? Yep! In fact, we already know! At 13 weeks my doctor referred us to a specialized maternal-fetal medicine physician who told us with 80% confidence the gender of baby M2! We will receive confirmation at our 18 week anatomy scan and then I will share the news!
Do you have a name? Yep, that's picked out too and I can't wait to share.
Are you going to post weekly bumpdates? Oh heck no. And you're welcome. I barely have time to keep up with the blog as it is and towards the end of my last pregnancy I was so sick of writing those things (and taking pictures)! I still can't believe I posted 28 updates on my pregnancy with Caroline. Twenty Eight! I
will try to scratch some highlights down on a monthly basis this time
around just so #2 doesn't feel neglected but nothing nearly as detailed
as the first time around. Six updates is much more manageable.
Will you return to work after #2 is born? Sure am! Although the thought of a second daycare payment is nauseating, I really enjoy being a working mom and contributing to our family. Also, we love Caroline's daycare (and so does she) and I love my job so this works out perfect for us. More thoughts on this subject here.
Nursery plans? Haha.
Will you do anything different this time around? Oh yes. Here are the top 5 things that come to mind...
1. I'll throw in the towel on breastfeeding much earlier. I wanted to exclusively breastfeed Caroline so badly. For months I experimented with every single recommendation from friends and bloggers, old wives tales from the internet and guidance from doctors and lactation consultants in an attempt to breastfeed. It was exhausting, disappointing and extremely frustrating. I even committed to pumping at work despite only getting an ounce or two {at most} each time. Finally at 4 months I threw in the towel and I was a better mom for it. I'll give it another shot this time around but I'm not going to kill myself over it again.
2. I'll splurge on the very best SIDS monitor there is. Feel free to send recommendations. I'm leaning towards the
Snuza since it's portable and has rave reviews.
3. I won't feel guilty about co-sleeping. Everyone does it but no one admits it. For us, it was a life changing decision and we bed-shared with Caroline until she was two months old. Our doctor and lactation consultant also recommended co-sleeping.
4. I'm going to try my hardest not to gain a million pounds. I am really hoping not to use the "but I'm pregnant" excuse to fuel bad donut habits again. My baby weight didn't magically melt off like it does for some. It took me 6 long, hungry months to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. That being said, the day I found out I was pregnant I ate a box of pop-tarts...so...
5. I'll give myself grace.
Did I cover everything? Any lingering questions?
