Here we go again!

Shirt from Zoey's Attic on Etsy

Oh I am SO excited to finally be able to share this! We heard the heartbeat today with the doppler at our midwife appointment, so now I feel "safe" enough to blog, although I know it's still a little early. I figure at this point if anything happens I'd probably blog about it anyway, so whatever! I'm doing the same FAQ type post that I did the first time around with a few additions specific to #2. Any more questions, feel free to ask and you know I'll answer :)

Due date?/How far along?

I am due on February 27th, which means that Annie and #2 will be approximately 2 years and 1 month apart. As of today I am exactly 11 weeks and 1 day pregnant.

When did you find out?

I found out on Father’s Day, aka June 19th aka almost 2 whole MONTHS ago - I wasn’t quite sure when my period was supposed to arrive - it was either that day or the day after, but after I put Annie down for her nap I decided to just take a test because I couldn’t take the anticipation any more. I had bought a digital test in preparation the day before - I took the line test first and it popped up right away but still took the digital test too even though the line test was very definitive. Unlike last time, those were the only 2 tests I took the whole time (I know some who have, shall we say, a little pregnancy test addiction :)

How did you tell Ben?

Well, it was Father’s Day, and I had yet to give him his card - so I just wrote it from “Annie and Baby #2, due February 26th” (I just made up that due date - I knew the general whereabouts that it would be because I had already looked, of course, but didn’t check before filling out the card) - he was outside brewing beer, so I brought it out to him and gave it to him - he said “really? so you took a test? (yes - I had told him previously I'd wait until the following day) Awesome” - no big reactions out of that guy, which I’m sure no one is surprised about :)

Was it planned?

Yes - as I’ve said before, we wanted kids 2-3 years apart. I know a lot of people who got pregnant right away the first time and it took awhile the 2nd time so we stopped protecting the month that would put us at 2 years + 1 month apart (since I didn’t want identical birthdays if avoidable) and again, we got pregnant right away. Obviously I knew this was a possibility, but I was still pretty surprised and very very thankful that we got pregnant so quickly. It’s not something we take for granted.

What’s different this time?

No time to nap! That has been REALLY hard. It’s hard for me to distinguish if I was more sick this time or last - I threw up more this time, and felt more exhausted, but I’m not sure if that’s just because I have a kid to watch this time. I have posts that I drafted from 6 weeks on that I will be sharing with you so you can get a DETAILED look at EXACTLY how I was feeling at every step of the way - don’t get too excited now :) I personally have LOVED reading these early pregnancy posts on other blogs so I'm sure there is someone out there who is pregnant but not telling people yet who will enjoy them :)

One big difference was that I didn’t immediately feel the need to tell everyone right away - I told one friend immediately, but then didn’t tell anyone else for a few weeks. I didn’t WANT to talk about pregnancy or obsess right away, but as soon as I started feeling sick, my need to share hit me! I have felt slightly less obsessive and worried this time. Only slightly. I’m still a worrier but I’ve been able to keep it at bay - possibly because I felt so crappy that was all I could focus on, or maybe because I know that my body has the ability to sustain a healthy pregnancy. I was still very nervous at points but it wasn’t all consuming like it felt last time.

When did you tell your family?
This was a HUGE difference - we didn’t tell ANY family until after the 8 week ultrasound. Last time we had told immediate family by 5 weeks. I really wanted to tell them with Annie wearing her “I’m going to be a big sister” shirt, pictured above, and there was no way I was putting that on her until after our ultrasound at 8 weeks. In fact, I didn’t even look for or purchase the shirt until after the ultrasound. It then took a week to arrive. Originally I was going to wait until after we’d heard the heartbeat with the doppler, but that appointment got moved back a week (from 10 weeks to today) and I decided to just tell them. We told Becca first, then my parents, then Liz and Jono, then the rest of Ben’s family, with the first being told around 9.5 weeks and the last being told just before 11 weeks.

When did you tell friends?
As mentioned, I told one friend immediately. Most other friends found out between 8-10.5 weeks as I saw them, with the last few being told over email after we heard the heartbeat. I needed to tell a few coworkers because I was feeling so crappy, and a few of my friends are also pregnant so I wanted to share with them early. I still haven't told a few coworkers so there is a slight chance they will find out with this post - sorry guys :)

What were some good reactions?
Uh yeah, not many good ones this time - pretty much everyone knew we wanted another kid and that we were trying so it wasn’t a shock! Many had already suspected. It didn’t take most family long to read Annie’s shirt - my parents and Becca had an ESPECIALLY blah reaction but claim to be very excited :) Liz was very excited, as a 2nd child she needs to show that level of excitement :) Most everyone was happy for us, but not surprised. Apparently my sister-in-law Laura even told Becca one day "I think Erin's pregnant because she's not blogging much lately" :) Good guess, Laura!

8 Week ultrasound

Will you find out the sex?
Yes, although I can ALMOST think I could not this time and be fine with it... but we still will, because I’d like to settle on a name and I really hate referring to the baby as “it”.

Do you have a preference for boy or girl?
Not in the slightest. Coming from a household of 2 girls, I would love Annie to have a sister, but I hear brothers are also pretty cool :) Really do not care at all.

Do you have names picked out?
Ugh. UGH. The names! The decision haunts me so. Any girl name feels like a runner up from Annie, or has some other issue, real or imagined by me. There are really only about 3 girl names we agree on and none is a true front-runner. We have 2 boy names we both like so that would for sure be easier, which means we’re probably having a girl.

How are you feeling?
As I have mentioned, not great at all. Weeks 7-9 were truly horrible - luckily I at least only ever threw up at home. I tried to avoid medication this time, but ended up caving and taking the B6/unisom combo recommended by the nurse. Luckily that seemed to work amazingly and I didn’t need to actually get a prescription for something stronger. Now I’m feeling almost normal but I still go to bed at 9pm. I might also just be feeling better naturally by this point but I’m still going to take the drugs for a few more weeks - I didn’t really feel better with Annie until 15 or so weeks.

Any weird cravings or aversions?
Nothing weird - I just didn’t really want to eat anything good for awhile, and could only keep down bland food like macaroni and cheese (only kraft) or toast. Fun. I really craved deli meat sandwiches and this time I just gave in and had them (Jimmy Johns) and thankfully, no listeria yet ;) The coffee at work is horrible even under normal circumstances, so I stopped drinking that and switched to regular Coke in the morning for my caffeine fix, which apparently was an immediate tip off to my coworkers that I had a bun in the oven. (I guess they were more observant of my pregnancy habits last time than I thought!)

How are you decorating the nursery/where will it be?
This is the main question people ask us right away, since we only have 2 real bedrooms. We are going to try to fit both kids into Annie’s current room, which is a measly 10x10. We’ll have to do some reconfiguring of the furniture for sure. We could put both kids up in our bedroom but that makes Ben and I extremely sad so we will avoid that. Baby #2 will be up with us for probably longer than Annie was, until we can get her used to a toddler bed (not sure she’ll be ready for that before #2 arrives - we’ll see) and then when #2 is sleeping pretty well we’ll put them in the crib. I can see many benefits of putting both kids upstairs (not having to worry about noise at night or when I’m getting ready for work in the morning, tons of space, etc) but the main drawback is that we then can’t fit all our furniture in the room downstairs AND we won’t have a large closet. So shoving the 2 kids in the tiny room it is! We’ll see how that goes. Plenty have had far more kids in less space, so I’m not too concerned about it.

Are you showing yet?
Well, I am for sure bloated enough to look 6 months pregnant by the end of the day. I can still fit into my normal clothes but they are hurting me by 5pm. I know from my midwife appointment that my uterus is still below my pubic bone, so I guess I can’t blame that :) Below is my starting point, and I will post the belly pics I’ve taken with the weekly posts I wrote. Thankfully I haven’t gained any weight yet, but man oh man, the bloat... it’s huge.

Will you blog the same amount about #2?
Funnily enough, this is a very frequent question, and was even before I got pregnant. I have never ever felt burdened by blogging, and I have every intention of writing a weekly pregnancy post with belly pic, a weekly baby post for 52 weeks and monthly letter until 2 or beyond as I see fit. It is something I LOVE to do and as long as I continue to feel that way, I’ll continue to post! I actually have felt kind of lost without the weekly posts so I’m glad I get to start them back up again :) I like having a definitive topic and deadline, apparently!

Have you told Annie?

Quite a few people have asked this. Maybe there are some 18 month olds out there that would comprehend the topic of having a little sibling in 7 months, but Annie is sure as heck not one of them :) On the day of my ultrasound, we showed her the pic and said there was a baby in mommy's tummy. Blank stare. So yeah, she'll figure it out when the new kid shows up at home. We'll probably get a book or something to try to prepare her, but I'm not too concerned about it. I'm sure there will be an adjustment period whether we "prepare" her or not, and we'll just deal with it at the time.

Oh that was a cathartic post to write :) Here we go again, indeed!

See?? Can't you tell how excited she is to be a big sister?!?!?!