Something Surprising happened...in January

I always seem to apologize every time I start to post to this blog. It has been far too long and for that, I'm sorry.

Things are going good over here. Just when we feel we have figured out and perfected a new stage in Miss A's life, a new stage emerges. This time...the limit-testing, boundary pushing, "No" saying, 2.5 year old stage, and she is really good at being 2.5.

She is extremely verbal, so of course everything I tell her, she likes to say it back to me. At least she hears me, but does she listen...sometimes. Overall, she is a great kid, and excellent in public. She just likes to save the tantrums for us in the privacy of our home. I can handle that if the trade off is a well behaved 2.5 year old at a restaurant.

We have had great progress with the "Time Timer" app on my phone to motivate her to put her toys away. I think the having a visual time countdown helps. She loves it.

She also loves going to park and sliding on the slide and swinging on the swings. She is an outdoor girl, which at this point I need to learn to like since I'm not very outdoorsy. There are many great things about her, and not enough room to write them all here. One such accomplishment of hers that I am very proud of is that she is potty-trained. WOOT!!!

Here she is enjoying some Mac n' Cheese

 

The last time I posted, I talked about how I overheard a woman discuss with her friend how much she resented her sister-in-law only wanting one child. She flippantly talked about how wrong it was for a child to not have a sibling, and that she would never do that to her child. I say 'flippant' because this young naïve girl assumed she would be fertile enough to have multiple children.

I also discussed how much Michael and I were one and done; the contentment we felt having one child was enough; how much a pregnancy was welcomed, but unlikely.

Well...in January I was late. Not so much a surprise, given our history of anovulatory cycles, polycystic ovaries, and one tube. I knew I should test, but I kept putting it off, and putting it off, and putting it off.

I finally took the stupid test and wouldn't you know, it says, "PREGNANT". I started crying and called Michael immediately. We had never had a HPT that was positive. I stupidly asked him what I do now. He told me to call the doctor.

We had an appointment the following week. In the meantime I called and requested for an order to check HCG levels. It was 53244. The first ultrasound dated the baby at 6 weeks 5 days, EDD September 12, 2015.

So far every ultrasound and blood test I have had has come out normal. We are expecting a boy.

Here he is at 19 weeks.

 

I'm still living one day, one week at a time. I know that there are things that I need to plan ahead for, so I have made a wish list of things we need for him. A part of me is still very cautiously optimistic. We have a name picked out, but are NOT telling anyone. For now we just refer to him as Star-lord or The Boy.

 

I have no idea how to prepare a toddler for a new sibling, so any advice is appreciated. I have some books in mind to read to her. She likes to kiss my tummy.

 

The Boy does love to kick, often really late at night and really early in the morning. He will stop kicking the moment Michael puts his hand on my tummy. He already is a tease.

 

To say that this is all so surreal is an understatement. I went from being angry (yes, I was angry), to ambivalent, to finally excited. Even at 26 weeks, I still can't believe this is happening. I feel so grateful for this experience and opportunity to add to our family.

 

We reach the 3rd trimester in 2 weeks. I can't believe this is almost over.