Little Sister

Guess. What.

Incase you haven't already heard the news.....

Ta-da!!! Steve and I had talked a lot about kidlet #2 and when we wanted him or her to come with our crazy upcoming schedule of moving every three months this next year. We had thought December would be ideal because we're planning a Hawaii trip a year from now after Steve graduates, so I wouldn't be pregnant and it would give me time to get back in shape. Also, we'll be in Utah during the winter so we'll be stuck indoors the whole time anyway. I wanted to go and explore while we're in Maryland/Virginia, so I was not about to be indoors with a newborn the whole time (nixing August-November). December would still allow us to claim a child tax credit for our taxes that year, and the thought of being largely pregnant during the winter as opposed to my last July baby sounded absolutely delightful.

Plus we were just ready for another little spirit to enter our world and give Parker a little buddy.

The time actually drew near and we were looking at our finances...maybe we should put it off and I could work a travel nursing job while we were in Utah instead....the thought simmered for a bit: I was ambivalent and felt like either way would be OK, but Steve felt like we should go for it. He was apprehensive about having a girl, and  I told him that I felt like maybe a little girl was waiting to come join us, so to be prepared!

I found out the morning we were leaving for a 24 hour getaway to Laguna for our anniversary and to celebrate Steve being doe with boards (hallelujah!). I thought it'd be fun to wait to tell him until our breakfast date that morning. I did start to feel like I needed to eat a lot that morning, so later Steve did tell me that he thought it was odd I was eating oatmeal, toast, then later an apple as we were getting ready to leave! For the remaining 24 hours, conversation kept drifting toward the little one that was coming! It made the getaway that much more fun.

I've heard the second (and subsequent) baby gets the shaft when it comes to everything because you've already been there done that. I will say that I haven't been bursting at the seams to tell everyone like I was with Parker. I feel badly even writing that, it sounds like we're not thrilled (we are seriously stoked), but it's just been more of a calm, peaceful step for our family! Some friends found out here and there along the way (some by accident, some because I was about to be sick), and eventually we decided we needed to figure out how to tell our families. 

We decided we'd tell my family when we iChatted with my brother, Michael (on his mission) for Mother's Day so he could be a part of it. I had hinted to my sister that I was pregnant pretty early into it, so she kinda knew. A couple of days before Mother's Day, she calls me and sends me a picture while we're chatting. She tells me to check it, and I immediately knew she was pregnant too. Yes! We began plotting how we were going to tell our families, went back and forth a few times and decided on holding up these signs (hers said "I can't wait for another Anderson cousin, coming December 2013, and Parker's said the same but for a Crossley cousin, January 2014).

So we're chatting with the whole family, and after a while, I steer the conversation away from Michael and towards Mom and Mother's Day. My mom would answer the conversation briefly then excitedly go back to Michael. Janene and I kept doing this, and after a while I finally just said "Hey! Parker wants to show you the card he made me for Mother's Day!", Janene and I both busted out the signs, and everyone was confused at first, then they thought only one of us were pregnant, then they figured out we were both pregnant! Yay!

 A couple weeks later, we told Steve's family and they were just as excited!

So far this pregnancy has been much easier than Parker's. I wake up, feel nauseous, take my zofran (pill for nausea) and eat right away, and feel better. Sometimes at night I'd get nauseous and have to eat a lot before I went to bed, but I've only thrown up once. I feel like being nauseous is worse than throwing up, because you usually feel better after you throw up, but really both are pretty awful. I haven't been that tired, but I have definitely had some food aversions. I haven't eaten Mexican or Greek in 4 months, two of my favorites. Pasta, pizza, english muffins, and fruit have been my go-to.

For my 12-week appointment, I went in excited to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time. The doctor couldn't find it, so she said she'd need to do an ultrasound. I was hesitant because Steve and I had just paid for the first ultrasound they did the last appointment, and I had planned to do a first trimester screening ultrasound the next week so asked her if I could just wait until then. I think I wasn't thinking very clearly, so I'm glad she said no, we really needed to make sure baby was OK now. She left to go see if the room was available, so I sat there by myself for 10-15 minutes trying to hold back tears and tell myself that everything was fine. I kept remembering that you can still have pregnancy symptoms (nausea) and the baby not be OK because hormone levels are still high, but I tried to push that thought out of my head. Finally she comes to get me, sits me down, I grab my phone so I could text Steve the verdict, she starts the ultrasound, and says that she sees baby. I ask if baby is alive, and she points out all four chambers of it's heart beating normally and replies yes. Tears immediately start streaming down my face and I am so relieved! I was kinda surprised how attached I was...

So she's doing the ultrasound and says, "Huh."

Generally not a good thing during an ultrasound, or any medical test/procedure for that matter.

I say, "What."

She asks me if I see that second little sac or membrane, and with the recent news of my sister having twins, my thoughts immediately go toward twins.

She tells me that I must have initially had twins, but one of them must have dissolved very early on because she can't see anything leftover, but the second sac is definitely there.

Um, crazy! Makes me wonder if twins is a possibility in the future....

My mom asked me if I was sad about the 'twin', but I think I was so relieved that I still had one, the thought about being sad about one I didn't even know about never crossed my mind.

 I'm impatient and can't wait until 20 weeks to find out the gender, and we had great success with the early gender detection ultrasound we did with Parker, so we knew that was in the plan for this one as well. I scheduled the appointment for when I was 14.5 weeks (they start at 13). I would honestly have been happy about either gender (a little brother for Parker would be so much fun, and I already know and am comfortable with boys), but I was kinda hoping for a girl. Steve does not like the unknown: he likes what he is comfortable with, doesn't particularly look forward to new experiences, and is very much like his father in that he likes what he knows. So he was hoping for a boy.

 She's a girl! I was so happy, and Steve was in shock :) He just kept saying that he couldn't believe we were having a girl. We left the ultrasound and were driving around to the different parts of our date night and he kept saying that he doesn't know how to do girls, all he knows is motorcycles and trucks and car noises and tires. He doesn't know anything about girl parts or hormones or boy problems....we were quiet for a minute, then later he says, "I swear, if Parker lays one hand on her, if he's ever mean to her, he will get it!" I told him, "See! You already love her!"

We posted the news on facebook and instagram and are feeling the love!

We had a girl name picked out before we found out it was a girl (Steve actually came up with it), but now that it's a girl and it's the real deal, I'm second-guessing it, but I think I love it. I just need to go through all of my options. It's a little Southern, which I kinda love. My sister had the same name picked out as a middle name, and we had never talked about it! She should find out in a couple weeks what her little ones are, can't wait!

First outfit. I left the store a little teary-eyed :)