Our Big Announcement - Baby #2!

After 18 months of trying to have another child, I'm finally pregnant with baby #2.  It was a long, winding, emotional road, but one that has ended in such joy.  We didn't make a public announcement until after Thanksgiving, because we thought it would be fun to surprise Nathan's grandparents, Aunt, Uncle and cousins with the big news live and in person during our Thanksgiving visit.  I was 14 weeks by then, and having started needing maternity clothes at 7 weeks, you can imagine how obvious our little surprise was by then.  I chose a maternity shirt that was sure to give it away, and we announced to Nate's family just after arriving at the house for Thanksgiving.  Once we told them, we were able to announce it openly to our friends and extended family.

It's funny, because nearly the same thing happened with this baby as did Cooper: we found out we were pregnant just after visiting a fertility specialist.  With Cooper we found out we were pregnant after a year of trying, and after I'd made our first fertility appointment, which we happily never made it to.  With this baby, after trying to conceive unsuccessfully for so long, we finally made an appointment with a fertility clinic, and had our first consultation in late August.  During the consultation, the doctor noticed some signs that could have meant other complications, or that I was pregnant.  He looked at my chart and told me this, and said if I was pregnant it was too early even for them to tell because I would be only about 7-10 days pregnant.  I chalked it up to other complications, not wanting to get my hopes up, and we went on our vacations to the Outer Banks, and to Folly Beach.  During our vacation at Folly Beach, I was such a bear--I mean, just AWFUL.  I knew I was being awful and irrational and emotional about things, but I chalked it up to PMS, and apologized to my husband, sister, and brother-in-law for being so ridiculous and out of control of myself that week.

By the time we got home from our vacation, I was about 4 days late.  After months of tracking, I knew this was uncharacteristic for me.  So on a whim, that Sunday morning I decided to take a pregnancy test, since I had like a billion of them from those that came for free with the ovulation tests we'd been buying for months and months.  I fully expected the test to be negative, so as the 3 minutes passed, and I glanced at the results before getting ready to toss the test in the trash, I nearly fainted at the word "PREGNANT."  From experience I know there is no getting a false positive pregnancy test, and there was no need to take another. The signs were all there, and there was that beautiful little word--PREGNANT.

I grabbed the stick, ran to the bedroom, and jumped on the bed to wake Nathan, waving the stick frantically in front of his face, and shouting, "Babe, wake up!!."  His first reaction was, "Is that what I think it is?  First of all, eeeew.  Second...really?!"  We both shed some tears of joy, and then got ready for church in utter disbelief that it was finally happening.

The very next day Nathan was scheduled to start his fertility tests, and I was never happier to cancel a doctor's appointment as I was when I called them, and said, "Cancel all tests and future appointments, we're pregnant!"  Such a relief and blessing that we didn't have to go through all that rigmarole and costly procedures.

Cooper had been talking about his "angel sister" for about a month, mentioning her in off-handed comments.  Nate wanted to tell Cooper about the baby right away.  I was reluctant because of the risk of miscarriage, but relented.  When we told Cooper, he said very matter-of-factly, "Yep, I know, it's my angel sister."  So now the question is whether it will turn out to be a boy or a girl, and whether he has that clairvoyance that some say small children have. :)

We already have a name for this baby--"Baby Cheese."  This name came about one night as we were giving Cooper a hug, with him between Nathan and I, or what we call a "Cooper sandwich."  Nate said, "Pretty soon we'll have another child to add to our family sandwich.  Since Cooper is the ham, the baby must be the cheese, because no sandwich is complete without cheese."  And that was it, from then on the baby has been called "Baby Cheese."

I have some other experiences about this pregnancy that I'd like to record, but this post is getting long, it's getting late, and Cooper needs dinner, so I'll save those things for another time, along with the first belly picture.  All in all, we couldn't be happier!