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| Baby bump at 13 weeks (when I finally got around to taking a 3 month picture). |
Have you heard? We're going to have another baby! We can't stop, we won't stop, and now we'll have an even number of children running around again, which seems to be very important to some people. As we've been sharing our news with close friends, family, and a few observant strangers, we've noticed that people's reactions seem to fall into two categories:
"Yay!! You're having another baby! Congratulations!!" (We love telling these people baby news. And just about everything else.)
"Oh wow. [Another baby- isn't that just what you guys do every two years or so?]"
But happy or horrified, a few questions have been coming up frequently, so I thought I'd just address those right now.
Q. Was it a surprise? I thought you weren't going to have anymore!
A. Yes, we were also surprised. We don't believe that birth control is wrong, because God is powerful enough to determine the size of a family anyway if that's His plan. We've always prayed for God to intervene if our family was meant to be bigger, and he did. That's good enough for us, and we're thrilled.
Q. Where are you going to fit another baby in your house?
A. Lord willing, there should be some tangible progress on our house on Neabeack Hill soon, which will hopefully amount to a new, four bedroom house by early next year- ideally before I go into labor. If not, our babies usually spend a couple of months in a pack-n-play bassinet in our room anyway. They don't take up much space. And if the house is finished by the middle of or late next year, it might actually be easier than trying to pack and move with a very pregnant woman or a very young newborn.
Q. So are you done after this?
A. It's possible we may decide to create superintelligent life forms every two years for the next twenty years as part of our long-term plan for intergalactic domination. (But probably not.)
Q. What are you hoping for?
A. Really hoping for a human baby and not a velociraptor. Fingers crossed- three out of four isn't bad odds!
Q. Are you going to find out whether you're having a girl or a boy?
A. Yes. We've done the surprise thing, but this pregnancy seems very different from the last two, and we'd really like to know what we're expecting. Also, we gave away all our baby girl clothes, so if it's a girl, we have some preparing to do.
Q. You've got like a huge family now/ You're in for it now/ You're going to be so busy/ You're going to have your hands full/ I don't know how you're going to manage/ I could never imagine having so many kids/ How are you going to make time for them all?
A. Your concern for us is deeply touching. With four children and 12 waking hours in a day, we'll just have to allot three hours of parental attention and 1/4 of our love for each of them. It's the only thing that makes mathematical sense.
Q. When are you due?
A. Around St. Patrick's Day (March 18-22 +/- two weeks)
And that should just about cover it all. What? You've noticed that not all of them are actually questions? That's because, as a mother of three, I've noticed that strangers no longer have questions for me: only slightly shocked and pitying comments. If I had a dollar for every time someone told me "You've got your hands full," then all my children would have healthy college funds to look forward to on their 18th birthdays, instead of a hearty slap on the back and a "Best Wishes" card.
So for those of you who still care, here's what this pregnancy has been like: not at all like the others. For one thing, I'm not constantly angry. I've actually been mostly weepy. I have to choke back tears on the daily. Basically it's been twelve weeks of feeling all the feels, trying to avoid Ed Sheeran, wedding/proposal videos, and all movie trailers. Have you seen the trailer for The Good Dinosaur? That stupid thing gets me every time. The little boy just reminds me so much of my wild, brave, protective Liam, and I just want the best for all my kids, and THERE I GO AGAIN.
My last two pregnancies I distinctly craved meat and vegetables/ tangy flavors. Not so, this one. For a few weeks I struggled to find any food that seemed even remotely appetizing. Tomatoes were a no-go. They seemed (and still seem) disgusting to me, which means I picked the wrong year to plant six tomato bushes. When the nausea passed, I wanted comfort foods like broccoli, rice, and cheese casserole, or a really good macaroni and cheese, which is sad because for some reason my struggle this pregnancy is lactose intolerance. Each pregnancy has its own weird challenge, and for this one, it's dairy. I dream of one day eating chocolate, or drinking chocolate milkshakes, or eating anything with butter or cheese again. And not to be overly whiny, but do you realize that there's dairy on like everything? You can't order a salad without some kind of cheese on top of it or hidden in the dressing. Even if something doesn't appear to have any dairy in it, it's usually been cooked in butter. It's a bummer. All I want is Nutella and cheesecake, and I can't have either. FIRST WORLD TANTRUM.
We went to our first midwife appointment already and were able to hear the little whoosh-whoosh of a heart beating at 152 bpm. The kids really liked it. Diana is thrilled to have a new baby to help take care of, and Liam is incredibly excited too. Every day he talks about how he loves the new baby and all the ways he will help take care of it and his hopes for their wonderful relationship. (He and Matthew are going through a bit of a rough patch, so I think all his hopes for a docile and non-abusive sibling are pinned on this new baby.) Diana and I are currently reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books, so she thinks the baby is a girl and wants to name her Carrie. It's not currently on our shortlist, but she's trying to wear us down.
That's it. Keep checking here for baby updates. We'll probably be able to answer the boy/girl question in early November, for those who are interested.
