The Big Reveal

So... in case you haven't heard... We're expecting Baby #2! 

We didn't make the announcement until after we found out what we were having. (One perk of never seeing your family - you can hide it longer!) I actually knew I was pregnant when I went out to Utah in April, but I was only 6 weeks along and we didn't want to say anything for a while. I had started off the pregnancy bleeding, just like the last one where I miscarried. They did an ultrasound before I went to Utah, but it was too early to tell if there was a heartbeat, so things were kind of in the air anyway.

Since we were going camping at the end of July and that's when I would have had my ultrasound, I begged the scheduling ladies to do it the week before so that we could find out what we were having and then send out announcements. 

My ultrasound was scheduled the day after Pierscen fell and split his head open, so that's why he has the huge bandages on his head for these pictures.

I know the picture below is pretty worthless, but I thought it was adorable that Pierscen wanted to do the belly picture with me. ;)

Anyway, I didn't wear that shirt for any particular reason - but it ended up being fortuitous because we are having a GIRL! We are super excited. P came along with us to the ultrasound and thought it was pretty cool. By the end he was shouting out what body parts we were looking at. "There's the leg!" I was rather impressed! Afterward, we dropped P off at Logan's house so that Ryan and I could go grab a bite to eat. After taking Ry back to work, I stopped by a used baby clothes store and picked up a cute dress so we could go home and do this:

Most of these pictures are blurry because he was getting tired and really didn't want to be taking any more photos, but he was a good sport.

After our little photo shoot, I jumped online and created these Save the Date cards. I was originally bummed that P had such a huge bandage on his head, but the more I thought about it, the funnier it became. Classic boy. 

Then I popped them in the mail to the immediate family and waited. It was a really hard wait! You never know how long it's going to take, first of all, and then I realized most of them were going to Utah and it was Pioneer Day. Though mail was delivered, Necia and family went out of town, as did Fred and fam. 

I think it was that Saturday (I mailed them out Tues or Wed) that I got my first response from Sabrina - all in caps saying how excited she was. Then followed a text from my mom calling me a liar. Haha. I called her to explain that no - I was not in fact I liar. She never asked me if I was pregnant. I just told her not to worry about it and that I was sure it would happen eventually. ;) The only one I bold face lied to was Kara - and that's cause she asked me while we were in St George when I was 6 or 7 weeks along. She forgave me pretty quickly. 

As it turned out, my in-laws were out at Grandpa's for the weekend. Jen let me know, so I ended up just sending them a picture of the card so that they wouldn't be left out. Necia was the last to find out as she didn't come back from St George until Sunday. She was mad. Not at being last, but that I waited so long to spill the beans in the first place. Sorry! Kind of... okay not really. Granted it was a long time to wait, but it was fun and it made the pregnancy go WAY faster! I mean look at it this way - now they only have half as long to wait. :)

I thought it was a fun way to announce it and we are very excited!  It's another December baby, set to arrive via c-section Dec 8th. (I don't actually have a choice in the matter unless I go into labor on my own which is highly unlikely. Living here they have a one size fits all rule. If you've had a c-section previously, no matter the reason, it will be a c-section again.) I am not thrilled about the December factor, but hey, at least it's closer to the beginning. Her actual due date is the 14th, but they do all c-sections a week early if they can manage it. Ryan and I even discussed not trying that month to avoid the December birthday, but then I realized that I would far rather have another December baby than no baby. That may just be my window. And I also felt it was a little unfair to be praying that we could conceive... but not this month. You know? Anyway, December will be really hard, but that's okay. 

Here is my official 20 week picture. It's horrible in every way possible - from the unmade bed, the toothpaste on the mirror, which the camera focused on - to my unkempt mane of hair. Oh well. There you have it.

For the most part, this pregnancy has been great. I did not throw up, thought I was nauseous all the time at the beginning. I definitely started showing WAY earlier this time around and I'm exhausted a lot, but I'm doing pretty good. I do feel more awkward this time around. As I type this, I am 27 weeks along and for weeks I have been feeling gross every time I bend over - like sick to my stomach and just awkward. Makes me nervous knowing I still have 3 months to go! 

Many people have asked how Pierscen is doing with it. I would say as much as he can understand, he is very excited! He loves his little sister. He gives my stomach hugs and kisses every morning and tells her good morning. He has come with me to all of my appointments and loves listening to her heartbeat. He loves babies and actually expressed a lot of interest when I hold them. There have been multiple times when we pointed out a baby that he didn't "care" so much until I picked it up. Then, instead of acting jealous, he has wanted to hug and kiss the baby too. I have a few kids that I teach piano to that have baby siblings that come for the lessons as well. Pierscen loves to hold them. Even if there are kids to play with, he will often ignore the child his age and just ask to hold the baby. It's pretty sweet. I know we will have our challenges when attention and time is split, but I think he will be an awesome brother.
 

I am still feeling a bit unprepared about things, but thankfully we have all of the big stuff, except for a mattress for the crib. The mattress we had became Pierscen's toddler bed. I have had a couple people give me some hand-me-downs, so that is a relief to at least have something for her. My mom is hoping to throw me a baby shower when we go home for Thanksgiving, so let's hope that this baby doesn't get any ideas about coming on her own since Thanksgiving will only be a week and a half before my c-section date. Ha!


Things are going good. I went in for a checkup today and everything is good. I do my glucose test sometimes this week. Baby loves to punch and kick - especially as I am getting ready to go to sleep. But that's how it goes, right? ;) Twelve weeks left!