Week...10? Or the end of week 9. Somewhere in there.

I forgot how much I love being pregnant.  Since I'm still so early, not too many people know, but I had to tell a bunch of near-strangers over the last week because I am taking an acupuncture course, and am not supposed to be needled, apparently.  It's fun telling people!  Especially when they find out it's my third.  But even when people know, I still feel like I have a special secret - I touch my stomach and know that there is a perfect little blueberry (grape, now, actually) in there, and that he or she and I are as close as two humans can ever ever be.  I love that feeling.

It's so fun telling our family and friends, too.  When we told the grandparents-to-be, we did it over video chat.  We told them we needed their opinions, because we were trying to decide what color to paint the guest bedroom.  Then we showed them two color swatches: one blue, and one pink, and asked them which they liked.  Mom said, "I like the salmon color," to which I had to reply, "It's definitely not salmon, it's pink."  To which she said, "Well, I don't think you should paint it pink, but the salmon is nice."  When I finally told her that we didn't really have to decide until January, Dad got it immediately and they were both completely shocked.  Diane and Jon were equally clueless and shocked.  Meg knew from the beginning, and Mike figured it out immediately.  Guess the younger generation is more in baby-mode than the grandparents.  I told my friend Chellie when I saw her this weekend, and she immediately ran to put my feet up on a chair, and got me 2 pillows to put behind my back.  She kept offering me water, saying, "The baby needs water!"  So, so fun.

What I don't love, and what I didn't expect, is that I am showing already!  I've always heard that women show earlier with subsequent pregnancies, but I certainly didn't notice it with Abi, and so I didn't expect it now either.  I am less than 10 weeks, and the other day, my belly just popped right out.  I call it my "food baby," because it is definitely more prominent after eating, but it's there pretty much all the time now.  Plus, when I weighed myself tonight, I was 116 lbs - a 5 lb weight gain from my baseline, and my belly button is all stretched out.  And that's with running 6 miles this weekend!

Can't argue with that little pooch.  That's the biggest blueberry I ever saw...!  Guess it's time to start the cocoa butter. =)

Anyway, thankfully my amazing sister Meg already looked up some adorable, hip maternity fashion options for me, and I just bought a couple of pairs of maternity leggings so I can achieve that super-cute look.  I'm hoping I have a few more months before those become really necessary, but at least I have them just in case.

Heading to RI next week, at which time the secret will be out.  I have my first MFM ultrasound scheduled for July 19th, so I'll be able to solidify my dates a little better.  Will keep checking in whenever I can!

Prep Time

So I'm about 8 weeks into my third (!) pregnancy and wanted to do a better job this time of chronicle-ing (and really, the fact that I've even started this puts me miles ahead of what I did with Sam and Abi, so I'm already feeling pretty proud of myself!).

Today I am 112.6 lbs and still feeling good.  Obviously not showing yet.

I found out about our newest little one on Saturday, May 26th, in the morning.  My friends Liz, Grant, and their son Leo were in town, and I was a couple of days late so decided I would pee on a stick, just to make sure I wasn't, you know, "with child."
 

The second line popped up instantly, and so I figured that must be the sign for a negative test.  Obviously, the test showed the answer key, but misprints happen all the time, so I went straight to the "Instructions for Interpretation" on the box.  I looked at the box, and lo and behold, two lines meant positive.  "Ok," I thought, "I must have only seen one line then."  Looked back at the test - no doubt about it, 2 vertical lines.  "Yep, two must mean negative," and then back at the box again, and so on and so on 3 or 4 more times until I finally said Wow, OK, and went back to bed.  I told Scott, who said, "Really?"  So I thought I should check one more time and got out of bed.  Same scenario played out - two lines really does mean positive.  I was floored.  This was definitely a surprise.

In the few minutes that followed the realization that the test meant what it said it did, I had a thousand different emotions.  I was excited, because, well, I've always wanted a third.  I was aggravated, because this was definitely going to cut into my marathon-training plans.  I felt helpless - although that's not the right word - because I felt like I would have chosen a different time.  Then I felt a pleasant sense of surrender, like, this must be God's plan for me and my family, because He clearly wanted me to be pregnant NOW.  I naturally got worried, because I had had a few drinks with friends the weekend before, and had no idea how far along I was.  I was annoyed that we had literally, just a few months ago, given away a ton of baby stuff, and that I had just bought some really cute new clothes that weren't going to fit much longer.  I started thinking how Sam and Abi are going to be so, so excited and then I felt nostalgic because I only have a few (9 is a few, right?) months left where it's just the 4 of us.  Then, of course, because I am a typical girl, I felt guilty, for feeling anything other than excited and ecstatic about this amazing news.

Since then, the dominant emotion has become giddy excitement, although I won't pretend that the other feelings don't come into play fairly regularly.  We've told our parents, Liz, and my sister, and their reactions have been priceless.  I'll be sure to write about those another time.  So far, I've felt good.  Little bits of nausea which I'm sure are 100% psychological.  Cravings which are also 100% psychological (hot wings, Milano cookies, and popsicles, to name a few - things that I would like anyway but since I'm pregnant they must represent something abnormal).  Last weekend I ran a 5K in under 28 minutes, so I'm not completely deconditioned yet - although I will say it's been extremely difficult to regulate my body temperature - it is so HOT!

I've had 2 unofficial OB appointments - mainly to try to get dates nailed down.  The ultrasound on Friday (June 8th) put me at somewhere between 7-8 weeks, although the baby is so stinking small right now it's not really possible to date accurately.  We did, however, see a couple of VERY reassuring things: 1) a healthy heartbeat! 2) a normal-looking yolk sac, and 3) the presence of only ONE little peanut in there (I have to admit, I was terrified there might be a team growing!).  The OB also said to tell Scott he saw a giant dong, but alas, that part is not really true - much to Scott's disappointment.

We haven't told Sam and Abi yet, but need to soon, so they can start getting excited (and so they don't hear it from someone else).  I know we have a lot of time still, but something tells me the next 32 weeks (give or take) are going to fly by.