We're expecting! 7 weeks pregnant.

I'm so excited to be able to say we are expecting again! After many months of trying, a chemical pregnancy and a miscarriage, it has been quite a different road than with Annabelle. BUT, we got to see our precious baby's heartbeat on my birthday (the BEST birthday present), and our midwife said that once we saw it, he could pretty much say we are out of the woods. Generally, once a baby has a strong heartbeat, the chance of miscarriage goes down to about 5%. So, here's to being in the other 95%! Our baby's heartbeat was 120, which is great. Even the sono tech was crying when we saw it...such a great moment! Baby's estimated due date is May 22 by the midwives, and May 23 by me :) Although, if s/he is anything like Annabelle, s/he will be born in June!

I have a really neat story about this pregnancy.
A couple of months before we had a miscarriage, when praying for this baby, I really felt like God said "September." In June, when we found out we were expecting, I really had a feeling I was going to have a miscarriage, and actually had a dream about miscarrying the night before it happened. While it was still heart-crushingly painful, I wasn't all that surprised that it happened. We took a month "off," and then decided to try again. In the first week of September, a few days before I was planning on taking a pregnancy test, I was playing with Annabelle. We hadn't talked about babies in awhile b/c I didn't want to confuse her with the whole miscarriage thing. Out of nowhere, she said, "mommy! There's a teeny tiny baby!" I asked her where, and she lifted up her shirt and said, "In your tummy." I asked her who told her that, and she said, "Jesus, in my ear." Of course I started crying but I couldn't DO anything b/c I was only 5dpo, and it was way too early to test. So I waited a few more days, and lo and behold, got a positive test 9dpo. I took 10 pregnancy tests over the next 5 days (no, you did not read that wrong. Thank goodness for internet cheapies!!), and the line got slowly darker. I went in for three different blood tests, and the numbers were awesome. Once I missed the marker of when I miscarried in June, I started to think maybe this one would stick. I got to schedule an ultrasound on my birthday (October 1st) to see our baby's heartbeat. Best birthday present, and best God moment with Annabelle I've had yet!

When I was pregnant with Annabelle I did weekly posts...I highly doubt I can do it again, considering my lame blogging lately. But, I'll do my best :)

The Belly: 
It's there. Seriously, I am SHOCKED at how quickly my pants don't fit this time around. It's mostly bloat, I'm sure, but I did read that a woman's uterus doubles in size by 6 weeks pregnant. I had no idea it grew that fast, despite the fact that the baby is only the size of an apple seed right now. Anyway, I'm already well into my fat pants, which are currently unbuttoned as I sit here typing. I have no shorts that fit, and I have already cracked open my maternity bins to see if there's any pants that would look decent on me despite not having a fully pregnant belly yet. It's crazy.

7 weeks pregnant with Annabelle

7 weeks this time around--holy pooch!

Weight:
Up 3 pounds since before I found out.

Food Aversions:
Pretty much everything. I am nauseous all.the.time. and everything sounds disgusting, smells disgusting, and looks disgusting.

Food Cravings:
None right now. I was craving sushi big time, and got to enjoy some on Sunday night with some gal pals. Right now the only thing that lets up my nausea even a little bit is sparkling water.

Feeling:
Nervous. Way more nervous than I felt with Annabelle. Nervous because now I know how painful labor and delivery is, I know how little sleep I will get, I know how hard post-partum baby blues were, and I don't know how I can possibly spread my love to another child when I love Annabelle so.darn.much. I am so excited to have more kids, but I had such a hard time with Annabelle's sleep and temperament for so long, I'm just nervous about doing it again, with a toddler on hand, too.

Physically, I'm feeling really sick, and really exhausted. And really bloated. joy to the world.

Other:
Annabelle is excited about being a big sister. She loves babies, and we checked out a few books at the library for her about babies. She loves to pray for the baby, which is so sweet.

Trying to figure out the whole weaning thing. I know people nurse two kiddos at the same time and it's not weird or gross or anything like that. It's just not for me--it's a personal choice. Annabelle only nurses at naptime and bedtime, though a few times this week she let me rock her at bedtime with a cup of milk instead of nursing. I know she still uses nursing time as a way to calm down, and I don't want to take away a coping mechanism of hers, but I just for the life of me do not want to nurse two kiddos. I'm struggling with the emotions of weaning her, and of sort of feeling like I'm choosing this new baby over her, which is an odd feeling. Anyway, just trying to sort all of that out.

We're working on finishing Jason's office in the basement so that we can rearrange rooms. We're thinking of putting the kids together (though the baby will be in our room for the first 6 months or so). Anyone have any feedback, positive or negative, about little kids sharing rooms?

We're debating about finding out the gender. We didn't with Annabelle, and were really happy not knowing. Just trying to decide if we should this time around, more for her sake than anything else. I'm wondering if it would make it easier for her to understand. Who knows.

Anyway. Those are my thoughts. Wow. Can't believe we're doing this again!