I was thrilled to get pregnant again. I adored being pregnant with Stephanie, and couldn't wait to experience the process all over again. While pregnant with her, I completely enjoyed watching my belly grow, taking pictures, picking out cute maternity clothes, buying itty bitty baby clothes, and dreaming about our growing family. It was never an option for us to only have one child, so when Stephanie was 10.5 months old, and we started discussing expanding our family, I was more than ready. I never expected it to happen so soon (Stephanie took 7 months to conceive), and I never expected the pregnancy to go so fast. The process was entirely different this time around, some parts better and some parts worse. And even though I didn't get to keep a pregnancy journal this time, I have been using my blog as a way to commemorate and remember this special time. Now, with it being so close to the end, I felt like today was a great day to kind of wrap things up by highlighting the best parts.
-Knowing I was pregnant before taking the test.
Even though I thought it would take a long time for me to get pregnant again, I somehow knew, almost the minute I conceived, that I was in fact pregnant. A peace and happiness settled over me, and deep in my heart I knew that there was a tiny life starting to form, even though my mind was saying "no way, it took 7 months with Stephanie. You could not have gotten pregnant on the first try this time." Yet, when I took the test and saw the bright plus sign, I wasn't in the least bit surprised.
-How we told our family and friends.
I got the positive pregnancy test result on January 31st. Stephanie's birthday party was scheduled for February 12th, and all of our closest friends and family were going to be there. It was the perfect time to announce it to everyone, in person. We wrapped up a big sister shirt for Stephanie, and gave it to her as her final present. It was such an amazing thing to watch everyone's reactions when we held up that shirt, and to see how excited they all were for us.
-Teaching Stephanie that there was a baby in Mommy's Belly
I can't really remember when we first started talking about the baby, and telling Stephanie that he/she was in my tummy. But for as long as I can remember, she's known, and it is adorable to watch her rub my tummy, kiss her brother, and talk about him. (When we ask her who loves her, she says "Mommy, Daddy, Joe-Joe.") Now, whenever the name Joseph comes up in any conversation, she runs over to give my belly a quick rub. I know it will be a big shock for her when he is actually here, and not inside of me, but in the meantime, watching her grow to love my expanding belly has been such a miracle for us.
-Finding out that it was a boy!
I actually thought I was having a girl. (Part of that may have just been me wanting a chance to re-use all of the adorable baby girl clothes that Stephanie outgrew way too fast.) But when the ultrasound technician showed us that he was, without doubt, a little boy, I was overjoyed. I couldn't wait to start buying little boy clothes, and I was thrilled that my husband would have a chance to form a father/son bond with Joseph, much the way I have the mother/daughter bond with Stephanie.
-Being much more active
During my pregnancy with Stephanie, I stopped working at 13 weeks, and developed high blood pressure. That meant I needed to slow down my activity level. I was hardly active at all, and that was one of the reason I gained 45 lbs. I only gained 30 this time, and my energy level has been higher, since i'm much busier. I've been told that should help with the labor and delivery too, which i'm hopeful for. Being so active also made the past 9 months (except for these past few weeks), go by so fast.
-Bonding with my son
I never once doubted that I would love my second baby as much as my first. I have always believed in a mother's ability to love every child that God sends to her, and am so excited to cuddle and love this baby when he comes out. What I wasn't expecting was the enormous bond I would feel for him already. I obviously felt bonded to Stephanie while she was inside of me, and loved her from the minute I found out she was on her way. But I spent a great deal of that pregnancy nervous and anxious about labor, delivery, and being a first-time mom. This time around, i'm confident in my body's ability to birth this baby. I also know that, while I am far, far from perfect, being a mom is the most amazing job in the world, and I know I can do a good job raising my children. Those factors have eased a lot of the anxiety that I felt before, and have allowed me to focus more of my mental energy on the bonding aspect of growing a child.
There are many more things about this pregnancy that I have loved (and plenty of others that have been irksome...a post for another time!) However, I feel like these six do a pretty good job of summing up why I've loved this pregnancy. For anyone that has read along right from the beginning, thank you, and I can't wait to share the news of Joseph's arrival with you. If you're someone who only recently started reading, or who only reads once in a while, thank you for checking the blog out. I hope you'll come back again, and I appreciate everyone who takes the time to check out my ramblings. The next time I post, I will officially be a Mommy of Two under Two!
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