To be honest, there was nothing super note worthy happening this week. A whole lot of tiredness, napping, and wondering when I could nap again. That's about it. For real.
I did finally tell a couple of my co-workers, though. The second one maybe not as much because I was ready to tell her, but more because as I walked into her classroom for the first time this week, I saw her less than subtle belly check, and I knew she was thinking it. Kinda a reality check for me: what does the rest of the pregnancy look like when people can already see my body changing at 12 weeks? Yikes!
And really, that's all for this week.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Week 11: Spreading the News
This particular post is what prompted me to blog about this pregnancy. There were so many things I wanted to remember from this week that I decided I needed to record it all. And yet, when it actually comes time to write, I am having a hard time being very literary about it all.
This was the week that we finally started sharing our news and making it fully public. (Keep in mind this somehow became a very long process for us that lasted for about the next four weeks, but this was the beginning.)
Here we were, nearing the end of the notorious 1st trimester, and we still hadn't told most of our families our news. In the past, we had always found a way to tell our families in person, but we knew that wasn't going to be possible this time. And, because our two oldest kids are so much older this time around, we thought it would be fun to have THEM share the news.
The Saturday before Easter, we were all busy with Easter egg mess ruling our kitchen. With eggs, utensils, and fingers all plunged deep into the potent dye, my mother in law called. Hubs extracted himself to answer the phone, and we decided this was as good a time as any to tell his mom our news. So, amidst the cups o' color, newspaper, and commotion, he switched to speaker phone and asked S & N if they had anything to tell Grandma. My Sweetheart proudly exclaimed, "My mom's PREGNANT!" (It still feels weird to me to hear my five year old use the word pregnant.) Hubs looked at me in awe; he didn't know she knew that word. However, the person we were really looking for a reaction from- didn't have one! So my little man says, "There's a baby in my mommy's tummy!" Still no reaction from Grandma. He repeated himself two more times! Still nothing. Hubs was laughing- but giving the poor kids and Grandma no help. With a little prodding, he pulled himself together to realize this wasn't going as planned, switched off speaker phone, and translated for his mom, who probably was having the hardest time hearing the kids, much less understanding what they were saying!! And we finally got a reaction from her- lots of excitement and congratulations.
Later that same day, I had scheduled to skype with my family. Although we weren't able to be there in person to tell our families this time, we figured this was the next best thing. Little did I know that my whole family would be present for this skype session. Which obviously worked in our favor. Within minutes of getting everyone together, Sweetheart and Little Man were again able to share the big news. This went much better, as they didn't have to repeat themselves multiple times this time. Once was enough. I am not sure that anyone in my family was surprised- in fact, I think there might have been a comment that my sister in law had predicted that this announcement was coming. But they were excited none-the-less.
In the next couple of days, Hubs managed to get a hold of each of his three sisters and share the news with them as well.
And that was the easy part. After that, it got much more weird, and it wasn't long before I realized that to a certain extent, I needed to mentally prepare myself before I shared our news with people. And to be honest, I was also realizing that in some ways, I was thankful for a thick skin.
Because not everyone was as excited for us as our friends and family had been up to this point. There were only a very small handful of people that actually showed excitement and said congratulations after this. In fact, I got all kinds of crazy responses. I am not sure what it is about pregnancy that makes people feel like they are at liberty to say things that they would never say to a person who wasn't pregnant (case in point, at about 32 weeks along in my first pregnancy, a grocery store clerk who commented that I was probably going to take the dessert that I was purchasing home to eat the entire thing myself!). But man, when you're pregnant, it just seems as if people's tongues are loosed and all kinds of things come out.
Some of my favorites:
"WOW!...Holy cow you guys!"
"Was this planned?"
"Well you'll certainly have your hands full."
"Do you still get excited?"
"You guys need a hobby...a new hobby, anyway."
"Wow, 4 Kids!!!"
"How many are you going to have, anyway?"
And the top prize winner was actually not said to me, but to my mom, for crying out loud:
"Is there any limit?"
Seriously, who says that?
Anyway, in overanalyzing these varied reactions, I realized that I was so glad that I hadn't thought anything about them before we found ourselves in this situation. Not to say that I think that would have changed anything, but I think it was much easier for me to be polite and gracious in response when I hadn't thought it through too much before hand. We may not be the best parents in the world, and we may not have the most money in the world, and we may not get it right every single time, but who's place is it to judge us for the size of our family?
We are thankful for every life that God has added to our numbers, and again, I will stand my ground in my belief that this is divinely planned.
This was the week that we finally started sharing our news and making it fully public. (Keep in mind this somehow became a very long process for us that lasted for about the next four weeks, but this was the beginning.)
Here we were, nearing the end of the notorious 1st trimester, and we still hadn't told most of our families our news. In the past, we had always found a way to tell our families in person, but we knew that wasn't going to be possible this time. And, because our two oldest kids are so much older this time around, we thought it would be fun to have THEM share the news.
The Saturday before Easter, we were all busy with Easter egg mess ruling our kitchen. With eggs, utensils, and fingers all plunged deep into the potent dye, my mother in law called. Hubs extracted himself to answer the phone, and we decided this was as good a time as any to tell his mom our news. So, amidst the cups o' color, newspaper, and commotion, he switched to speaker phone and asked S & N if they had anything to tell Grandma. My Sweetheart proudly exclaimed, "My mom's PREGNANT!" (It still feels weird to me to hear my five year old use the word pregnant.) Hubs looked at me in awe; he didn't know she knew that word. However, the person we were really looking for a reaction from- didn't have one! So my little man says, "There's a baby in my mommy's tummy!" Still no reaction from Grandma. He repeated himself two more times! Still nothing. Hubs was laughing- but giving the poor kids and Grandma no help. With a little prodding, he pulled himself together to realize this wasn't going as planned, switched off speaker phone, and translated for his mom, who probably was having the hardest time hearing the kids, much less understanding what they were saying!! And we finally got a reaction from her- lots of excitement and congratulations.
Later that same day, I had scheduled to skype with my family. Although we weren't able to be there in person to tell our families this time, we figured this was the next best thing. Little did I know that my whole family would be present for this skype session. Which obviously worked in our favor. Within minutes of getting everyone together, Sweetheart and Little Man were again able to share the big news. This went much better, as they didn't have to repeat themselves multiple times this time. Once was enough. I am not sure that anyone in my family was surprised- in fact, I think there might have been a comment that my sister in law had predicted that this announcement was coming. But they were excited none-the-less.
In the next couple of days, Hubs managed to get a hold of each of his three sisters and share the news with them as well.
And that was the easy part. After that, it got much more weird, and it wasn't long before I realized that to a certain extent, I needed to mentally prepare myself before I shared our news with people. And to be honest, I was also realizing that in some ways, I was thankful for a thick skin.
Because not everyone was as excited for us as our friends and family had been up to this point. There were only a very small handful of people that actually showed excitement and said congratulations after this. In fact, I got all kinds of crazy responses. I am not sure what it is about pregnancy that makes people feel like they are at liberty to say things that they would never say to a person who wasn't pregnant (case in point, at about 32 weeks along in my first pregnancy, a grocery store clerk who commented that I was probably going to take the dessert that I was purchasing home to eat the entire thing myself!). But man, when you're pregnant, it just seems as if people's tongues are loosed and all kinds of things come out.
Some of my favorites:
"WOW!...Holy cow you guys!"
"Was this planned?"
"Well you'll certainly have your hands full."
"Do you still get excited?"
"You guys need a hobby...a new hobby, anyway."
"Wow, 4 Kids!!!"
"How many are you going to have, anyway?"
And the top prize winner was actually not said to me, but to my mom, for crying out loud:
"Is there any limit?"
Seriously, who says that?
Anyway, in overanalyzing these varied reactions, I realized that I was so glad that I hadn't thought anything about them before we found ourselves in this situation. Not to say that I think that would have changed anything, but I think it was much easier for me to be polite and gracious in response when I hadn't thought it through too much before hand. We may not be the best parents in the world, and we may not have the most money in the world, and we may not get it right every single time, but who's place is it to judge us for the size of our family?
We are thankful for every life that God has added to our numbers, and again, I will stand my ground in my belief that this is divinely planned.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Week 10: Sophia and Noah learn the secret
For fairly obvious reasons, we held off telling Sophia and Noah the big news. We didn't want to them to spill the beans for us, when we weren't quite ready to share the secret yet. I was sure that Sophia would be so excited that she would waste no time telling everyone she knew. And didn't know. To anyone who would listen, really.
After Tim got back from his trip last week, he decided he was finally ready to let the other kids in on the secret. But a couple days went by, and we still hadn't said anything to them. Then on Saturday morning, Tim woke up deciding that today would be the day, I guess. I had been excited to tell the kids for some time, so I think if we would have thought it through together a little better, I would have thought of a creative way to tell the kids and made a whole event out of it. But that's the difference between mom's and dad's. Tim started to tell the kids before I was even totally realizing what was happening, I think. As we're getting breakfast together, all of a sudden, Noah has somehow magically appeared at my side and lifts my shirt up to look at my tummy. I hear Tim saying, "What's in there?"
Noah very sheepishly answered, "A baby!" I am pretty sure Sophia giggled.
We didn't talk about it a whole lot more that day, except that I told them that the baby would come sometime after Halloween, but before Thanksgiving. (So great to have milestones to mark it by to help them gauge time better.) I think it took several days before it began to sink in for them. It must be especially hard when there is nothing for them to see yet.
Once Sophia and Noah knew, we ever so slowly started letting the cat begin to make it's way out of the bag. But we were still fairly selective in who we told, and it was still just a handful of people we came in contact with most frequently.
Our best announcement was to our nearest and dearest friends here in Colorado. We would be seeing them at the end of the week for a monthly dinner date, so that day, I dressed Sweetest P in the same "Big Sister" Tshirt we bought for Sophs when we found out baby #2 was coming. Things were a little chaotic as we got to our friends house, so it took Erika a couple of minutes before she caught the message in the shirt. But it was well worth the wait, and our most fun announcement. It was also the most excitement and enthusiasm shared with us when telling of the arrival of our 4th.
After Tim got back from his trip last week, he decided he was finally ready to let the other kids in on the secret. But a couple days went by, and we still hadn't said anything to them. Then on Saturday morning, Tim woke up deciding that today would be the day, I guess. I had been excited to tell the kids for some time, so I think if we would have thought it through together a little better, I would have thought of a creative way to tell the kids and made a whole event out of it. But that's the difference between mom's and dad's. Tim started to tell the kids before I was even totally realizing what was happening, I think. As we're getting breakfast together, all of a sudden, Noah has somehow magically appeared at my side and lifts my shirt up to look at my tummy. I hear Tim saying, "What's in there?"
Noah very sheepishly answered, "A baby!" I am pretty sure Sophia giggled.
We didn't talk about it a whole lot more that day, except that I told them that the baby would come sometime after Halloween, but before Thanksgiving. (So great to have milestones to mark it by to help them gauge time better.) I think it took several days before it began to sink in for them. It must be especially hard when there is nothing for them to see yet.
Once Sophia and Noah knew, we ever so slowly started letting the cat begin to make it's way out of the bag. But we were still fairly selective in who we told, and it was still just a handful of people we came in contact with most frequently.
Our best announcement was to our nearest and dearest friends here in Colorado. We would be seeing them at the end of the week for a monthly dinner date, so that day, I dressed Sweetest P in the same "Big Sister" Tshirt we bought for Sophs when we found out baby #2 was coming. Things were a little chaotic as we got to our friends house, so it took Erika a couple of minutes before she caught the message in the shirt. But it was well worth the wait, and our most fun announcement. It was also the most excitement and enthusiasm shared with us when telling of the arrival of our 4th.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Week 9: 31 more?!?!
It was right around this time that I got a message from a friend telling me she was expecting her 3rd baby near the end of October. (That must mean she's only a week or two ahead of me.) She was lamenting that every pregnancy symptom seems to be so much more exaggerated the third time around. She definitely didn't know our news at this point, and I read her entire message laughing out loud! All I could think was, "If you think that about the 3rd time, imagine what the 4th is like?"
I feel like I am experiencing symptoms that I had only heard about prior to this pregnancy. I have one friend whose first indication of pregnancy has always been round ligament pain. I always thought she was crazy. I had read about it, knew about it, never really experienced it too much, let alone known I was pregnant because I was feeling it. But this time around, I can now say that I not only know about it, but can definitely tell you what it feels like. Except I'll spare you. It's just weird to me that it's taken 4 babies for me to really identify with what it is.
And the bathroom trips. Geez, Louise, can I PLEASE sleep through the night without having to get up to pee? It's never been so bad for me this early on. One middle of the night trip doesn't seem to be enough for me this time around- there's usually at least one more, very early morning. As in, it's too early to really get up yet, but too late to be able to fall back asleep for any decent kind of sleep. Maybe, for me, I would consider this one of the worst symptoms of pregnancy.
Cravings? Like never before. For the most part, I haven't ever had too many pregnancy cravings. In fact, Tim often bemoans the fact that I am no ordinary pregnant woman. He has long awaited his ability to demonstrate his knight in shining armor abilities by making late night runs to the grocery store for pickles dipped in chocolate and ice cream.
Here's where it might be important to note the new page we turned in our family this year. Sometime in January, we decided this would be the year that we would pull together as Team Nielson and give up something for Lent. Somehow, something became some things and we decided to forgo both sugar (for the adults) and all beverages besides water and milk (for the whole family). (On an unrelated note, that's kinda a cool story that doesn't belong here. If you wanna hear about it, ask me and I'd love to tell you about it.) Anyway, at the time we made this decision, I was not pregnant. Had I been, that might have been a (major) factor. So...I pretty much endured the first trimester without any kind of sweets or coffee. WHAT WAS I THINKING? Tim's still waiting to ride the proverbial white horse disguised as a Honda Odyssey for a midnight pickles and ice cream pick-up.
Tiredness? Check. To the extreme. As in, I'm living for my next opportunity to sleep. My poor family. This growing a life inside of me stuff is making me next to worthless for them. It's amazing my 3 little people have survived the first trimester in tact without any major catastrophes for how I've been rendered ineffective on the couch. Ice cream for breakfast, anyone? (Except we're not eating sugar- for breakfast or any other time.)
In fact, Tim took an almost 5 day trip this week. I'm not sure how we survived. I have no idea what the kids ate for the duration of that week. Thankfully it was the perfect time for me to capitalize on some pre-made, healthy meals I had mistakenly purchased on Groupon. My meals were delivered to my door, and simply needed to be warmed up. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And they were all good. And healthier than what I would have prepared at that point in time. Somehow, we all survived. I had this monsterous list of catching up on life tasks that I had wanted to accomplish while Tim was away. Instead, I napped harder than the kids during nap time. I figured there was always after bedtime to be productive. Except that by the time the kids were in bed, I managed to muster up enough energy to crawl in bed and find Grey's Anatomy Season 1 reruns on Hulu. (And sadly enough, that's no exaggeration for literary sake.)
Holy smokes: there's 31 more weeks to go! How am I...and my kids...and my husband going to make it? I think it was at this point that I started thinking maybe four was a good number after all and maybe this would be the last time.
I feel like I am experiencing symptoms that I had only heard about prior to this pregnancy. I have one friend whose first indication of pregnancy has always been round ligament pain. I always thought she was crazy. I had read about it, knew about it, never really experienced it too much, let alone known I was pregnant because I was feeling it. But this time around, I can now say that I not only know about it, but can definitely tell you what it feels like. Except I'll spare you. It's just weird to me that it's taken 4 babies for me to really identify with what it is.
And the bathroom trips. Geez, Louise, can I PLEASE sleep through the night without having to get up to pee? It's never been so bad for me this early on. One middle of the night trip doesn't seem to be enough for me this time around- there's usually at least one more, very early morning. As in, it's too early to really get up yet, but too late to be able to fall back asleep for any decent kind of sleep. Maybe, for me, I would consider this one of the worst symptoms of pregnancy.
Cravings? Like never before. For the most part, I haven't ever had too many pregnancy cravings. In fact, Tim often bemoans the fact that I am no ordinary pregnant woman. He has long awaited his ability to demonstrate his knight in shining armor abilities by making late night runs to the grocery store for pickles dipped in chocolate and ice cream.
Here's where it might be important to note the new page we turned in our family this year. Sometime in January, we decided this would be the year that we would pull together as Team Nielson and give up something for Lent. Somehow, something became some things and we decided to forgo both sugar (for the adults) and all beverages besides water and milk (for the whole family). (On an unrelated note, that's kinda a cool story that doesn't belong here. If you wanna hear about it, ask me and I'd love to tell you about it.) Anyway, at the time we made this decision, I was not pregnant. Had I been, that might have been a (major) factor. So...I pretty much endured the first trimester without any kind of sweets or coffee. WHAT WAS I THINKING? Tim's still waiting to ride the proverbial white horse disguised as a Honda Odyssey for a midnight pickles and ice cream pick-up.
Tiredness? Check. To the extreme. As in, I'm living for my next opportunity to sleep. My poor family. This growing a life inside of me stuff is making me next to worthless for them. It's amazing my 3 little people have survived the first trimester in tact without any major catastrophes for how I've been rendered ineffective on the couch. Ice cream for breakfast, anyone? (Except we're not eating sugar- for breakfast or any other time.)
In fact, Tim took an almost 5 day trip this week. I'm not sure how we survived. I have no idea what the kids ate for the duration of that week. Thankfully it was the perfect time for me to capitalize on some pre-made, healthy meals I had mistakenly purchased on Groupon. My meals were delivered to my door, and simply needed to be warmed up. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And they were all good. And healthier than what I would have prepared at that point in time. Somehow, we all survived. I had this monsterous list of catching up on life tasks that I had wanted to accomplish while Tim was away. Instead, I napped harder than the kids during nap time. I figured there was always after bedtime to be productive. Except that by the time the kids were in bed, I managed to muster up enough energy to crawl in bed and find Grey's Anatomy Season 1 reruns on Hulu. (And sadly enough, that's no exaggeration for literary sake.)
Holy smokes: there's 31 more weeks to go! How am I...and my kids...and my husband going to make it? I think it was at this point that I started thinking maybe four was a good number after all and maybe this would be the last time.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Week 8: Heartbeat (Last week of March)
My first OB appointment was scheduled for Wednesday morning this week. Considering past experience (showing up for an appointment alone, expecting heartbeats and congratulations and instead getting news of a miscarriage), I made sure to give Tim the option of being along for this appointment. After having been through it once, I was confident I would survive if there was bad news, but I thought I'd let Tim make the decision himself. So he arranged for our neighbor to come over and stay with the kids so that he could be with me.
Within seconds of coming through the door, I had totally caught the nurse off guard and unintentionally changed the mood in the exam room. The standard first question for all pre-natal OB visits is: "How are you feeling?" When I answered, "Nervous," Nurse Linda was a little more than confused. Although I always attempt honesty, I didn't mean to throw her off. So then I tried to explain that I was just a little anxious to see a strong, healthy heartbeat. She still seemed to think I was a little odd, I think, but she wasted no time in finding that heartbeat for us! PRAISE THE LORD!!!!
I can't tell you how immensely better and relieved I felt! I tear up every time. Still. The miraculousness of not only a heartbeat, strong and definite inside at 8 weeks after conception is amazing enough. The technology to be able to see the heartbeat within a life the size of a pinto bean is something to behold as well. WOW!
Anyway, time to move forward. Enough holding my breath and hoping and praying that God would allow this to happen for real. I knew we weren't exactly "out of the clear" yet, but I was enough relieved that I could finally start to show some excitement. And to start thinking about sharing our news.
The next day, I boarded a plane and jetted off to visit my brother in Corpus Christi, TX. He was officially the first family member we told. It didn't take long after my arrival for the news to break. He was showing me around San Antonio, telling me about some of the places he had been to, about what each had to offer, including some unbelievable chocolate martinis at one stop. Had to break it to him that I would not be enjoying any of those martinis on this trip.
His response: "Well, you guys are just a bunch of baby making machines!" Love it. Family always says what other people think, but don't have the guts to say!
Talking to my brother about having a fourth kid was the first time I really verbalized some of the things I was beginning to realize. Although we are both so excited, I was also beginning to feel like we were entering a whole new category of family life. Obviously, but let me explain. 3 kids is a fairly typical American family. 4 moves us into the "larger family" category. We are no longer "normal." (You may refrain from commenting that maybe we never were normal to start with.) We are about to be judged for all kinds of things. I was flashing forward to the end of summer, before school starts, and trips to the grocery store with my 3 favorite little people and a large belly and hearing random strangers say things like: "You know what prevents this, right?"
Tim and I had always wanted a larger family; it was never a discussion or debate for us. But for whatever reason, I had never really thought about any judgement we might receive for that decision. Until now. But what can I say? Too late! I hadn't wasted much time thinking about it in the past, but for this moment, it has given me what I have begun to call a "healthy fear" of the possible insanity that 4 kids 6 and under might bring to our household!
Within seconds of coming through the door, I had totally caught the nurse off guard and unintentionally changed the mood in the exam room. The standard first question for all pre-natal OB visits is: "How are you feeling?" When I answered, "Nervous," Nurse Linda was a little more than confused. Although I always attempt honesty, I didn't mean to throw her off. So then I tried to explain that I was just a little anxious to see a strong, healthy heartbeat. She still seemed to think I was a little odd, I think, but she wasted no time in finding that heartbeat for us! PRAISE THE LORD!!!!
I can't tell you how immensely better and relieved I felt! I tear up every time. Still. The miraculousness of not only a heartbeat, strong and definite inside at 8 weeks after conception is amazing enough. The technology to be able to see the heartbeat within a life the size of a pinto bean is something to behold as well. WOW!
Anyway, time to move forward. Enough holding my breath and hoping and praying that God would allow this to happen for real. I knew we weren't exactly "out of the clear" yet, but I was enough relieved that I could finally start to show some excitement. And to start thinking about sharing our news.
The next day, I boarded a plane and jetted off to visit my brother in Corpus Christi, TX. He was officially the first family member we told. It didn't take long after my arrival for the news to break. He was showing me around San Antonio, telling me about some of the places he had been to, about what each had to offer, including some unbelievable chocolate martinis at one stop. Had to break it to him that I would not be enjoying any of those martinis on this trip.
His response: "Well, you guys are just a bunch of baby making machines!" Love it. Family always says what other people think, but don't have the guts to say!
Talking to my brother about having a fourth kid was the first time I really verbalized some of the things I was beginning to realize. Although we are both so excited, I was also beginning to feel like we were entering a whole new category of family life. Obviously, but let me explain. 3 kids is a fairly typical American family. 4 moves us into the "larger family" category. We are no longer "normal." (You may refrain from commenting that maybe we never were normal to start with.) We are about to be judged for all kinds of things. I was flashing forward to the end of summer, before school starts, and trips to the grocery store with my 3 favorite little people and a large belly and hearing random strangers say things like: "You know what prevents this, right?"
Tim and I had always wanted a larger family; it was never a discussion or debate for us. But for whatever reason, I had never really thought about any judgement we might receive for that decision. Until now. But what can I say? Too late! I hadn't wasted much time thinking about it in the past, but for this moment, it has given me what I have begun to call a "healthy fear" of the possible insanity that 4 kids 6 and under might bring to our household!
Friday, June 3, 2011
Week 7: Running a 10K
Sometime in February, I started talking with a friend and former running partner of mine about running a 10K race in the middle of March. It was a pretty low profile event, really near my house on a trail I used to run with this same running partner, and it's always fun to do races on your home turf. If that wasn't good enough, it was only a $10 entry fee, which can't be beat, and there was no early registration. (So, considering it was in mid-March, if we woke up that morning and it happened to be snowing and we decided not to run, we wouldn't be out any money.) Perfect; I was definitely looking forward to it. I had run some last summer, but since I was still nursing Sweetest P, I laid pretty low as running too much always affects the ever precious supply. I was more than ready to get back in the game.
When we started talking about it, I knew there was a possibility that I could be pregnant by race day, but I figured it would be early enough that I could still manage the race. What I didn't anticipate was that not only would I be pregnant at that time, but that between Tim's schedule and my schedule, my opportunities to get out and stretch my legs seemed to be all too few and far between. (One of the hardest adjustments to having 3 small people in the house is that they no longer all fit in the stroller to go on runs with me.) So let's just say I was more than a little unprepared for this race. And by the way, I should probably just call it a run, because let's be real; I wasn't really "racing" anyone.
Anyway, I felt like I had committed to my friend, and I didn't want to bail out on a commitment, so I showed up for the race. But I knew I had no choice but to be forthright. So I told my friend that I probably wasn't going to make it the whole way, and that since the trail looped around, I might "cheat" and cut off a portion of the loop and meet up with her again before the finish. But then I felt like I had to explain why I was unprepared. So she ended up being the 3rd person I told about the newest addition to our family.
In the end, I probably ran about 5 miles of the 6.2, and walked maybe another 1/2 mile. And as always, once I crossed the finish line, I felt like I should have run more and pushed myself harder. And the run itself felt good.
But let me tell you that afterwards I paid for it. Maybe I could call this one of my first major pregnancy symptoms. I wasn't even to my car in the parking lot before I realized there was more than a $10 price tag for this run. My back hurt so bad that I could hardly move. By the time I got home, I was afraid to pick up any of the kids and found myself a few times that day asking Tim to lift them for me. Chiropractor bills started floating through my imagination and I later that day, I found myself searching on line for how on earth I could manage chiropractic care throughout the pregnancy with insurance that doesn't cover a lick of it.
Thankfully, after a nice (long) nap on the couch and a hot bath, I began to feel a little bit better. But I definitely began questioning how to continue exercising throughout this pregnancy AND wondering if this was going to be a foreshadowing of the next 8 months! YIKES!
On an unrelated note, I was caught somewhat off-guard by one of my friends questions in response to my big news. After telling her I was pregnant, she said, "Was this the timing you were hoping for?" For some reason, that surprised me. Even though we had only told a few people at this point, it was the first surprised reaction I had gotten, and I guess it surprised me only because it came from someone who knew me. I would expect that from people who don't know us well, but I didn't expect my friends to be all that surprised. Plus, the question makes me laugh, in general anyway. It's really just a more polite, PC way of asking, "Was this planned?"
I am glad to say YES! And I'd even go so far as to say Divinely Planned!
When we started talking about it, I knew there was a possibility that I could be pregnant by race day, but I figured it would be early enough that I could still manage the race. What I didn't anticipate was that not only would I be pregnant at that time, but that between Tim's schedule and my schedule, my opportunities to get out and stretch my legs seemed to be all too few and far between. (One of the hardest adjustments to having 3 small people in the house is that they no longer all fit in the stroller to go on runs with me.) So let's just say I was more than a little unprepared for this race. And by the way, I should probably just call it a run, because let's be real; I wasn't really "racing" anyone.
Anyway, I felt like I had committed to my friend, and I didn't want to bail out on a commitment, so I showed up for the race. But I knew I had no choice but to be forthright. So I told my friend that I probably wasn't going to make it the whole way, and that since the trail looped around, I might "cheat" and cut off a portion of the loop and meet up with her again before the finish. But then I felt like I had to explain why I was unprepared. So she ended up being the 3rd person I told about the newest addition to our family.
In the end, I probably ran about 5 miles of the 6.2, and walked maybe another 1/2 mile. And as always, once I crossed the finish line, I felt like I should have run more and pushed myself harder. And the run itself felt good.
But let me tell you that afterwards I paid for it. Maybe I could call this one of my first major pregnancy symptoms. I wasn't even to my car in the parking lot before I realized there was more than a $10 price tag for this run. My back hurt so bad that I could hardly move. By the time I got home, I was afraid to pick up any of the kids and found myself a few times that day asking Tim to lift them for me. Chiropractor bills started floating through my imagination and I later that day, I found myself searching on line for how on earth I could manage chiropractic care throughout the pregnancy with insurance that doesn't cover a lick of it.
Thankfully, after a nice (long) nap on the couch and a hot bath, I began to feel a little bit better. But I definitely began questioning how to continue exercising throughout this pregnancy AND wondering if this was going to be a foreshadowing of the next 8 months! YIKES!
On an unrelated note, I was caught somewhat off-guard by one of my friends questions in response to my big news. After telling her I was pregnant, she said, "Was this the timing you were hoping for?" For some reason, that surprised me. Even though we had only told a few people at this point, it was the first surprised reaction I had gotten, and I guess it surprised me only because it came from someone who knew me. I would expect that from people who don't know us well, but I didn't expect my friends to be all that surprised. Plus, the question makes me laugh, in general anyway. It's really just a more polite, PC way of asking, "Was this planned?"
I am glad to say YES! And I'd even go so far as to say Divinely Planned!
Week 6: SURE!!?!
It's slowly beginning to sink in that there really is no such thing as a false positive pregnancy test. It's really true. Ever so slowly, my mind is beginning to imagine what it might be like to have a baby at the beginning of November.
A miscarriage between Noah and Phoebe has made me ever so much more hesitant to get my hopes up, though. With both pregnancies afterwards, I have braced myself for the reality that it could happen again.
So I began this week by scheduling my first OB appointment, ever so eager to see a heartbeat that would begin to put my mind at rest. Got it on the calendar for March 30th, and even the simple act of scheduling it has made me so much more relieved.
With our miscarriage, I didn't know anything was wrong until I went in for my first regular appointment at 10 weeks, and expected everything to be normal. In fact, I was so unprepared for unexpected news that Tim wasn't even with me for that appointment. So, I have it on the calendar between 7-8 weeks, and that's a relief to me. This time, I am prepared that the appointment might not go as planned, and if that's the case, I'll know way ahead of the 10 week mark, which also, somehow makes me feel better. In any case, even though it sounds silly even to me, I am feeling more reassured just to know that in a short matter of time, I'll either see a heartbeat or not.
Until then, I'm beginning to dream of a baby in November, but holding very loosely to the idea. I've learned the hard way that you never know what can happen.
A miscarriage between Noah and Phoebe has made me ever so much more hesitant to get my hopes up, though. With both pregnancies afterwards, I have braced myself for the reality that it could happen again.
So I began this week by scheduling my first OB appointment, ever so eager to see a heartbeat that would begin to put my mind at rest. Got it on the calendar for March 30th, and even the simple act of scheduling it has made me so much more relieved.
With our miscarriage, I didn't know anything was wrong until I went in for my first regular appointment at 10 weeks, and expected everything to be normal. In fact, I was so unprepared for unexpected news that Tim wasn't even with me for that appointment. So, I have it on the calendar between 7-8 weeks, and that's a relief to me. This time, I am prepared that the appointment might not go as planned, and if that's the case, I'll know way ahead of the 10 week mark, which also, somehow makes me feel better. In any case, even though it sounds silly even to me, I am feeling more reassured just to know that in a short matter of time, I'll either see a heartbeat or not.
Until then, I'm beginning to dream of a baby in November, but holding very loosely to the idea. I've learned the hard way that you never know what can happen.
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