12 Weeks Down / 28 Weeks To Go

Yay for me!

Chris and I are delighted to announce that we're expecting our second baby! Due date is May 23. I'm through my first trimester now, so here's the info to catch you up on our thoughts until now...

Mid-August
Should we try? Well, we'd like the kids to be 2 or 3 years apart... Okay, yes, let's try. Maybe it'll take a while...

Mid-September (~4 weeks)
Pregnant! So that did not take "a while." Baby number 2 could possibly be born on Harrison's second birthday! What have we done? We've stolen Harrison's babyhood and his birthday from him! He only gets 8 more months of being the only one and then he has to share us (and we have to share him). Up until Harrison was born, I was worried about having to share Chris with him and having to share him with Chris, and I'm having the same worries for this baby already! Chris at least got a say in adding to our family -- Harrison got no input.

Mid-September (~4 weeks and 1 day)

Maybe I'm being stressed about making Harrison grow up and be a big brother because my hormones are teaming up against me? Yes. I feel good about this now. We wanted the kids to be close in age because they are gifts to each other in addition to being gifts to me and Chris -- we want them to overlap in friends and activities when they're young and when they're old. Besides, if you're going to have 5 or 6 kids, there's just no time to space them out more than 2 years apart. ;)

Late September (~6 weeks)

Superhero sense of smell has kicked in. When I was pregnant with Harrison, I could smell things from days prior (seriously -- I would know when someone had walked through a stairwell at work with a box of popcorn -- they did not need to actually be in the stairwell right then for me to smell the popcorn). I also remember commenting on someone's coconut cake and then realizing how freaky that was for them since the cake was in a closed styrofoam container. That was before I had a toddler at home -- now I swear I can smell a dirty diaper from across the playground. Oh, and I can smell the chewing gum in my purse everytime I open the drawer I lock it in during the day, which is not good because sweet things made me nauseous with Harrison and are starting to do it again this time.

Next day update : The chewing gum scent has now permeated the little paper calendar I keep in my purse -- I got a whiff of Positively Pomegranite Orbit when I was checking dates to get together with a friend. Ew. Who thought "Positively Pomegranite" would be a good flavor of gum?

Next week update : The chewing gum is no longer in my purse.

Mid-October (~8 weeks)
Had my first "being pregnant makes me stupid" experience this morning when I got lost in my parking deck at work. The same parking deck I have parked in for about 5 1/2 years now. The same parking deck I parked in yesterday and every day before that. Now that Harrison is in school, my arrival time at work has gotten pretty precise, so I'm usually even parked in almost the same spot each day. Oh, well -- all that didn't keep me from forgetting to go up the ramp and then having a minute of panic as I wondered where in the world I was. At least I haven't been as nauseous as usual today -- that has got to go! I will take stupidity over queasiness anyday -- even if it means that everyone else has to suffer now instead of just me. :)

Mid-October (~9 weeks)

First trip to the baby doctor! The whole crew went -- Mama, Dada, and Harrison (who was a hit, of course, with all the pregnant ladies in the waiting room). They did a sonogram to count the babies (only one!), see where it is stationed, and look at some other stuff that I didn't understand. Then we talked to a doctor who gave us her best guess at the due date (which is the same date I had calculated, so maybe I could have a second career as a due date estimator if this gig at Coke doesn't work out). Yes, the due date is one week after Harrison's second birthday. No, we did not intend for them to be quite that close. Chris thinks the baby will come on May 18, though, so our May schedule could be... May 16th -- Harrison's birthday. May 17th -- Our wedding anniversary. May 18th -- Baby #2's birthday.

Late October (~10 weeks)
I figure that everyone who has seen me in the past few weeks has to know that I've got another baby in there -- there is no stopping the belly this time. Some non-maternity pants are already too little, and I've even worn maternity pants a few times. With Harrison, I felt like I showed sooner than I really did (I thought it was obvious by about 4 months but really people didn't see it till more like 5 or 6 months). With this one, my tummy has conceeded defeat and has already started bulging -- this baby doesn't have any "super-strong" abs to fight against like Harrison did -- it's already stretchy! So the swelling belly plus the fact that my changing shape is concentrated just at my belly right now (has not yet reached either set of cheeks, which a co-worker so frequently commented on the first time) is broadcasting my news. Oh -- and the lady who runs the sandwich shop in my building has to know because she rings me up anytime I get breakfast or lunch from there. She's thinking, "This girl is totally knocked up -- she went from a bagel once a week to a breakfast burrito and cheese grits every morning." With this menu, all four of my cheeks will be plumped up soon!

Early November (~11 weeks)
First day of wearing maternity pants to work. I've been dabbling in my stash of maternity clothes in the evenings and on the weekends for a week or two now, but I haven't worn them "out" until today. Ahh...

Someone I worked with when I was pregnant with Harrison told me that she started wearing her maternity clothes as soon as she felt like it with her second baby -- no need to stuff yourself into uncomfortable pants that leave marks all over your belly, especially when you already have comfortable clothes just sitting in your closet. My ever-expanding belly thanks me!

And this morning Chris came over to rub the belly and say, "Good morning, Baby." :)

November 8 (12 weeks)
And now the whole world knows!

Mama, your belly will be bigger than mine soon!