Pregnancy Q & A

I have been asked a lot of questions since we announced the pregnancy so I am going to try to answer all of the ones I can remember here. Also, vote on the sidebar if you think it will be a boy or girl!

1. Did you just find out? Are you joking? No. When I missed my period in July, we took a pregnancy test and it was negative. I waited a few more days (I am never late on my period) and took another pregnancy test even though I knew by then. I just wanted to take a test and then be able to see it.

2. Have you had morning sickness? Nope. There were a few nights in Allentown where I easily could have thrown up but I talked myself out of it. Just like with Alex, I have not thrown up yet. I am not excited for the gestational diabetes testing though which caused me to have this disaster in Sam's car. I was slightly nauseous between weeks 7-10 which was strange for me because I was not sick at all with Alex.

3. Do you know what you're having? No. They did an ultrasound when I was 14 weeks and 5 days pregnant but they couldn't tell yet. I don't think our next ultrasound will be until 23 weeks.

4. Was this an accident? No. It took us two months of trying. But I have felt ready for another one since Alex was six months old. The first month we tried, we found out the day of Sam's Grandpa's funeral (while at the funeral) that I was not pregnant. I was devastated because I was positive that I would be. I was even dreaming about the baby.

5. Did you record when you found out? Yes. I love the video we have from when we found out we were pregnant with Alex and I wanted to do it again. But this time I was positive I was pregnant (see question one) so I was talking to the camera and it wasn't as cute. Also, Sam was at work. I have a second video from when I showed him the pregnancy test and told him which maybe I will post.

6. How far apart will Alex and this baby be? Assuming Baby Bruce comes around the due date, they will be approximately 20 months apart.

7. Did you just call your child Baby Bruce? Yes. Sam is obsessed with the name Bruce but it will be over my dead body that he names our child Bruce. So the "in utero" name for our child is Baby Bruce. We also called Alex "Baby Bruce." If we find out it is a girl, we will either call her Baby Bruce-ina or Baby Brucette.

8. Was breastfeeding hard? It was more difficult than it had been but I wasn't ready to stop either. Alex still loved it and I loved it. I breastfed Alex until he was 14 months old, which means I was about 15 weeks pregnant. The hardest part was being dehydrated. I felt like I did right after Alex's delivery: so thirsty all the time! I hated feeling like Alex wasn't really getting any milk though. I could feel it going away so that is when I decided to stop.

9. Are you nervous? Not yet but I am sure it will come.

10. Are you just going to keep popping out babies until you're 35? I hope not. The plan is to have Alex and another sibling close to each other so they can be friends then have a little bit longer of a break and then another pair. Then undecided after that. We have always wanted to adopt but we will see.

11. Do you want a boy or a girl? I want a boy because we have all boy clothes and we are so poor. I feel like there will be a time for a girl to come to our family, but right now we can't afford a girl. Also, I think Alex will be closer friends with a boy. Of course, I will be happy with a girl. I mean, I thought I wanted a girl first but now I can't imagine not having Alex.

12. Is it twins? No. I asked the ultrasound tech first thing. *forehead swipe, relieved exhale* There is just one hyperactive baby in there.

13. What do you think you're having? I think we are having a girl. Sam thinks we are having a girl as well. And just now when I typed it, I got a little giddy feeling. A girl would be awesome.

14. Why did you wait so long to announce it? Many reasons. One, people incessantly ask questions about how the pregnancy is going and so it made the first time seem to last forever. I decided to cut out a few weeks of this problem. Two, we wanted to make sure everything was okay with the baby. I am super paranoid and still don't feel completely safe. Three, we wanted to wait until 20 weeks with Alex so we could say, "We are having a boy/girl!" But my brother outed us on Facebook so we were forced to announce it early. So we waited a while on this one, too. Just because that's how we do it. Fourth, it is the second time I've been pregnant. No one is as excited so I just wanted to keep it to myself so I could be very excited without everyone's indifference dampening my mood. Fifth, pseudocyesis. I am self-diagnosed with hypochondriasis and I am almost positive I suffer from pseudocyesis. I didn't truly accept I was pregnant until I saw the ultrasound.

15. Do you have names picked out? We have a long list of girl names. We do not have a single boy name. That was because we only had one boy name before and we used it on Alex. I am sure we will come up with more names though.

16. Does Alex know? By the way he is jumping on my stomach, I will say no. Otherwise he is a very violent big brother.

17. What have been some differences between this pregnancy and the last? I did not have a chicken aversion this time. I have had a hard time being motivated to do anything, especially blogging. Last time I was in school until 25 weeks and my capstone project kept me very occupied. I didn't even have time to think about being lazy. I have been bad about taking pictures of my belly every 5 weeks. Last time I was so excited to feel myself growing. This time, I am already sad about it. I know how unattractive I am when I am pregnant and that is not something that makes me want to get any bigger. For the first blood draw during my first pregnancy, it took 18 pokes to get enough blood. This time, it only took one poke! I am exhausted this pregnancy. If I am at home around 6pm every night, I find myself falling asleep on the couch. If I am out doing things then it doesn't bother me though.

 13 weeks

 16 weeks

18. Have you gained weight? Not yet. With Alex, I lost 11 pounds in the first trimester. This time, I have lost 10 pounds. Without throwing up. And I eat nonstop. I was surprised I lost less this time since I was breastfeeding as well. But I think it was because I am at home all day while last time I was at school and couldn't eat anytime I wanted.

19. Where will this baby be born? Ithaca. Thank goodness, we will not have to switch doctors! It was such a disaster trying to switch insurance and doctors last time. This time, the baby will be covered under one insurance the whole time and I will go to the same doctor the whole time. This relieves my stress just thinking about it.

20. Will you have the baby in the hospital this time? If we make it there on time, that is the plan.

21. What have you been craving? Less fruit than I did last time. I still eat baby carrots but not the pound a week I ate last time. Less spaghetti as well. Now that I am thinking about it, I haven't really craved anything. Bummer. I need to get on that so I can send Sam on late night runs all over the city.

We are so grateful that I was able to get pregnant so easily. It broke my heart having to try more than one month because I know so many people who either struggle to get pregnant or are never able to get pregnant. I thought it was the beginning of a long and painful process of trying to get pregnant. People who have struggled probably think this sounds so ridiculous but my heart hurts for those people. The unknown can be so devastating. I know that not everyone gets the chance to feel a baby wiggle in their bellies. I thank God every day for sending us another baby. I hope to be a great mother to this child and to have my ability to love grow even more.