Here We Go Again!

Life has been so crazy and hectic with the move and the holidays that I'm only now getting around to blogging about this pregnancy, and I'm more than halfway through!  Better late than never, right? :)

This picture was taken at 20 weeks, and as of this morning I am about 21 weeks and 5 days.  A lot has happened so far, obviously, so I'll briefly recap the highlights and start with the weekly posts in a couple of days.

I'll start at the very beginning, because according to some song, it's a "very good place to start". :)  I took this fateful pregnancy test on September 28th.  Danny and I had decided that we'd be open to having another baby when Johnny turned one, which was almost exactly one month previous to my positive pregnancy test.  That's right, folks!  I got pregnant about a week after we decided to let nature take it's course.  For a few weeks prior to taking the test, I hadn't been feeling like myself.  But I figured it was just hormones ramping up for another lovely monthly cycle.  Even when I was 4 days late, I didn't think I was pregnant.  I had been keeping very good track of things, and I was positive that nothing that brings babies had happened anywhere close to the time when I would be capable of making a baby!  But Danny knew better, and convinced me to just take a test.  I woke up that Wednesday morning not feeling so well, took the test, and walked into the kitchen to tell Danny to come look at the stupid thing so I could go back to bed.  I let him look first, because I was positive I wasn't pregnant.  Danny took a look and said, "Well, it's what we wanted!".  I realized in that instant I wasn't exactly sure what we wanted!  I took a look, saw that it was positive, and knew exactly what I wanted.  And it wasn't those two little pink lines!

Now, to be fair, it wasn't that I didn't want this baby.  I love my babies, and I had actually been feeling pretty anxious to get the next one here.  All the way up to when I was committed.  Committed to the nausea, vomiting, ridiculous weight gain, healing...you know.  If I could just have a baby without the pregnancy, I'd be on board every time!  I just realized I wasn't ready to be pregnant again.  I spent the hour after Danny left for work having a panic attack until I called my sister Jami and talked to her for a bit.  That helped...but only a little.

We waited a few days to tell our parents, and then told the kids after Sophie was done opening her birthday presents on the 30th.  When we told the girls, they were so excited!  Claire said that the best present of all was the new baby in Mommy's tummy. :)  I started feeling pretty sick around Week 6, which is par for the course for me.  Only this time, I didn't have nearly as much vomiting.  Thank heavens!

As time went on, Danny and I realized that we really couldn't postpone finding a doctor for much longer.  After our horrible experience with OBs in Lancaster when I was pregnant with Johnny, we weren't very optimistic.  We finally saw a doctor when I was just past my 9th week.  It was a discouraging visit.  The doctor really pushed me to consider either tying my tubes...or Danny's...after we delivered this baby, and made a big point of the danger the baby and I were in after 3 previous sections.  He didn't do any exams, and didn't even check for a heartbeat.  I cried the whole way home. I just wished, and started praying rather fervently, that we could just find a job in Utah and go back to where I could find some decent medical care for our family.

Well, the Lord is merciful and loves his daughters!  Just a couple of weeks later, Danny was offered a job here in Utah and exactly three weeks after that I found myself nauseatingly making the 12 hour drive home to Grandma and Papa's house.  We waited to make an appointment here until we arrived home from our Thanksgiving trip to Denver.  I was stoked to find out that the Circle of Life Women's Clinic was a preferred provider with our new insurance.  I had researched them quite a bit when I was considering coming to Utah to do a VBAC with Johnny, and was very impressed with their culture and philosophy.  And they didn't disappoint.

Danny and I met with Dr. Wes Davis on December 14th, just shy of 17 weeks.  We were blown away by how awesome the facility and nurses were, and we were beyond impressed with Dr. Davis.  He was totally supportive of my desire to wait on the planned c-section until I went into labor on my own.  His only stipulations were that things look good up to that point, and that I promised to go to the hospital with the first contraction.  I could live with that!  He spent quite a bit of time with us, and talked over all my concerns.  Then, we had an ultrasound, which I'll be lucky to get with every visit.  I love seeing my babies!  We learned that we only had one baby growing in there, and that we we could expect another amazing baby boy!  He put my due date at May 24th.  Which means that we'll be meeting this little guy right around, if not on, Claire's 5th birthday.  That's 4 babies in 5 years, from birth to birth.  We're nuts.

With that, we find ourselves on the cusp of Week 22!  As you can see from the picture, I look much the same as I did with Johnny...7 months pregnant when I'm not quite 5 months!  Even though I haven't had near the vomiting this time around, and am about completely past the nausea at this point, this pregnancy has been more difficult for me than the last was.  I've gained about three times more weight than I did with Johnny at this point, and I've been so incredibly exhausted all the time.  That may have something to do with our crazy life, and I'm sure some has to do with a low-functioning thyroid.  I've been on a prescription for the hypothyroidism for about a month, and I've seen a definite difference in my energy level.  Which is nice.  There's not much I can do about the weight already gained, but I'm working to slow the pace down quite a bit.  We'll see how things look at my next appointment.

In the last week or so, I've felt my son kick and swim almost constantly.  I've found myself day dreaming about what he'll look like when I first see him, and how much I love my newborn babes.  And even with all the angst I felt with that positive pregnancy test, and how much more difficult our life has been the last few months because I've been pregnant while every other aspect of our life has been changing, I know I wouldn't change it for the world.  I love this little boy already, and can't wait to meet him!