Baby #2

On September 20th, 2013, we got another surprise! We are expecting baby #2 in late May! I had been suspicious, but thought surly not. We were not planning this little one, but just like with Henry, we realize that God's plans not only trump ours, but they are far better than ours as well!! Henry and his sibling will be 27 months apart. We are excited and a little nervous to add to our family...FOUR??...WOW!! :)

September 20th happens to be Steven's birthday. I had suspicions a few days prior and he knew about these, but we put them out of our heads, because we knew they were wrong! I decided if I was still unsure on his bday that I would take the test. When it was positive, I was shocked to be honest! I signed his birthday card from Kelly, Henry, and Baby #2. After reading it, he looked up at me with a big smile on his face and said, "Really? Wow!" He was also surprised!

Here's me with a positive read...I have the same pose from when I found out I was pregnant with Henry.

Here is the 8 week ultrasound on 10/15/13. All was well at this checkup! We waited to tell family in person until we saw them all at Thanksgiving. I was 14 weeks at that point. Everyone was excited! I made phone calls, sent texts/e-mails, and announced to Sunday school after that. I told my principal, co-workers, and students the following week, and they were all thrilled as  well! After lots of thinking and praying, we've decided that I will take next year off of work to stay at home with the 2 kids. It just makes sense logistically, but we also see how quickly Henry's first 2 years have flown by and know that this is just going to continue, so staying at home is something I want to take advantage of while they are little. I'm thankful for the opportunity, but also a little nervous about being at home with 2 kids full time! Everyone has been very supportive of this decision, including my boss and co-workers. I'm so thankful for such a family oriented work environment (and for a supportive husband, too!!).

We sent out a Christmas card with this picture on the front to announce to all of our out of town family and friends that we were expecting. We got SO many compliments on the card that I was so glad I took the time to do it.

This is me at 20 weeks...I must say that I have gotten much bigger much faster with baby #2. I swear I
felt stretching and like I was already growing at 6 weeks. CRAZY. This week (20) was my first week to wear maternity clothes, but I could have been in them much sooner. I am just not a fan, so I put it off as long as possible! Part of the reason I feel bigger is because I AM bigger...Istill had about 15 pounds of "baby weight" from Henry that was not gone, so adding to that has been kind of depressing. I keep reminding myself, though, that my time will come soon enough when I can get back into better shape....summer time will be here before we know it! I've also had lots of encouragement from moms who say they showed much earlier with #2, too. You show earlier, but it doesn't necessarily mean you continue to grow at that rate. Whew. That is a relief! :) I felt this baby much earlier, too, like at around 13 weeks. Steven felt it around the same time as with Henry (18-20 wks), but I think he could have felt much earlier had we just been patient!


Below is me at 24 weeks. I've felt pretty good overall with this pregnancy. My main symptom has been exhaustion! I nap when Henry does, and I'm ready to go to bed early at night! I think this is because I am running after a toddler and also because with Henry my first trimester was in the summer whereas with this baby my first trimester was the first 3 months of school...which is exhausting in and of itself! A lot has been similar to my pregnancy with Henry, except I would say a bit milder (heartburn, cravings, emotions, etc). The one thing that has been better (so far-knock on wood) is my back pain. With Henry I was miserable on and off with an achy back, but so far this has not been the case! I know it could still come, but at least I haven't had this symptom thus far. The worst part was changing Henry's dirty diapers during my first trimester (nauseating!) and the almost 1 month long bout with pneumonia that I've dealt with up until this post. A constant cough/difficulty breathing and constantly not feeling good is no fun when you're pregnant. I am thankful to be feeling better!
 

Here is our 24 week ultrasound on 2/4/14 where we found out we are having a GIRL!! We were surprised and excited! We immediately started talking to Henry about his baby sister, and he's been talking about her ever since. Everyone was super excited to find out the gender. I told my class by giving them a Hershey's bar and circling the "Her" part of it. I was planning on handing it to them, but ended up sick and had to stay at home (I've had pneumonia for almost a month...but that's a different story!). The kids were dying to know, so the sub asked if we could Facetime for me to tell them. I showed them the Hershey's bar and let them figure it out. They were thrilled! When I saw them on Friday I gave them the candy, and that made them happy, too!:)

Above left is baby girl's face close up, and above right is a profile pic (not the best).
The other pics below are showing girl...the ultrasound tech at first said she was 85% sure, the by the end she said she would say she's 99% sure, but she doesn't do that kind of thing:) While we just kind of have to trust her, it did not look like Henry's gender shot, so I tend to think she's right. I still feel skeptical, though, for some reason. I guess we will just have to see her to believe it! We have no names for her...haven't really talked about it yet. The nursery will stay similar, we will just add a little pink! We've already shopped a little for her (gotta take advantage of the late winter sales, ya know??). I'm certainly excited to dress her!

That's all for now on baby #2. Will continue to keep posting on our progress, though!