Here We Go Again!!!!

This was written on our road trip to Lake Tahoe and CA in December 2013 - right in the middle of December (between the 12th and 23rd). Well, G and I knew we wanted our kids to be around 2 ½ years apart, and I kindof wanted them to be 2 years apart in school, which meant we needed to have our second by September 15th of 2013 (to make the cut-off) – yes, this is me, Mrs. Thorough, and I thought it through a lot! I loosened up a little about the school thing when I found out a lot of people will hold their kid back another year if their birthday is close to the cut-off date, so they can gain a little more maturity (and would be the oldest of their class rather than the youngest). I realized that have the second child close to that September date would make it very young for its age, and so decided I wouldn't be so anal about having it before September, and we'll 'cross that bridge when we come to it'. So ANYWAY, we were going to start trying in fall of 2012. As it approached we started talking more seriously and made sure we were on the same page and I did more accurate calculations based on my cycle. I realized that I actually wouldn't need to get pregnant until January, to be due in September, and if we at all wanted to beat that September cut-off (which I wasn't ENTIRELY worried about, but we still wanted them to be around 2 ½ years apart), that we probably should start trying in October, to give us a few months (in case it didn't happen the first time). I decided I'd rather be due SOONER than September than LATER. But as we realized that a baby conceived in October would put us due in July (Janae's birthday month), I decided I wanted it to have its own birthday month! Plus, I had my heart set on more of a 'fall' baby, than summer. I thought it would make sleep training a little easier, and it would be several months after Georgie's birthday so there's enough time for us to 'save up' (and there's no other major holiday around that time that we have to buy gifts for – thinking financially!). So anyway, we decided to officially start trying in November. I actually thought it might take us longer to conceive this time, because we were actually going to use some 'techniques' to try for a girl (among them, timing sex to three days before I ovulate because the female sperm live longer than male sperm). So we did it exactly as planned in November! As the days after that went on, I was waiting for the ONLY symptom I felt with Georgie's pregnancy, which was really tender breasts. I couldn't remember exactly when that kicked in, and they were a LITTLE tender, but I didn't think it was enough (in retrospect, I think that I had sort of 'adjusted' to the tenderness because it seemed like for the last few months I experienced that quite often around my period and ovulation). We went to G's parents for Thanksgiving, and I almost forgot that there was a POSSIBILITY that I was pregnant, and I actually got in their hot tub! As the days went on, I just didn't feel ANYTHING different, and I pretty much concluded that I wasn't pregnant – it didn't work the first time again because we had sex three days before ovulation (not the day OF ovulation like we had with Georgie) – I was already thinking about what we should do different next month, if anything! I took a text that said it COULD occasionally detect pregnancy 6 days before your missed period, because that 6th day was the day we left G's parents (and we thought it would be awesome to tell them in person). But it alas it came back negative, and so I thought - “Tara, just face it – you're not pregnant!” We then headed to my grandpa's to see him for a couple days. I had another test, and I thought about taking it the morning we left (so 4 days out), but I just decided that I probably wasn't pregnant and didn't want to waste the (expensive!) pregnancy test!!! I decided at that point that to find out, I just needed to do it the old-fashioned way – HAVE PATIENCE and wait until my period was supposed to come. Those were some very LONG days! I really didn't think I was pregnant, especially since my breast tenderness was very mild and normal, and I just didn't feel ANY different! I felt mentrually a couple days before I was to start, so I again assumed I was about to (although that happened with Georgie too). I of course wasn't POSITIVE, but I think I just like to prepare myself mentally for the 'worst' (which wasn't even that bad!). So the day that my period was supposed to start and didn't, I just thought “why don't I just take a text to rule it out, so I stop wondering”. I remembered I had a 'cheaper' test (not the high-tech expensive one) that I could use. So I went in the bathroom when G went to get g up (I am always embarrassed to take the test for some reason – like I don't want G to think I got my hopes up!). I peed on the stick and set it on the counter, COMPLETELY expecting it to confirm my belief that I wasn't pregnant, and also thinking it would take a minute. I got up to wash my hands and the pregnant 'line' was already darkly forming!!!! I said out loud in a whisper to myself - “SHUT UP!!! WHAT? Seriously? Three days before and I STILL got pregnant on our first try?!!!!” I was shaking and looking at the directions making sure I wasn't reading the wrong line. I was thinking “how should I tell George?” I had thought of all these different ways I could tell him that were more 'creative' or 'sentimental' than how I told him with the first pregnancy, but all those things required waiting. And there was no way I could go back in our bedroom and NOT share this wonderful news with him RIGHT NOW!!! I couldn't believe it! So I gathered my composure and went in to the bedroom where Georgie was laying next to George, drinking his bottle (as he did every morning), went into the family room for a minute to get my phone's 'voice memo' recording so I could record myself telling G, went back in, laid down, and said something like “well Georgie, you're going to be a big brother!!!!” G said “I knew it!” or something like that. I have it on a voice memo – it's pretty funny! We laid there and talked about how fertile we were, and the future, and kept telling Georgie that mommy has a baby in her belly. We took pictures of each other holding the pregnancy test (well, I MADE George do it!). It was a Friday (November 30th), so I had Ben that day. I asked G if I could tell Rebecca (Anderson) because I just needed to tell someone! So I told her when she got Ben around 1:00 that day. She was really surprised! Since then, I've told quite a few people, though we're waiting to make it 'official' (ie: put it on facebook!) until the end of January, after we return from all our travels (we're currently on a road trip to Lake Tahoe and CA, ending in Disneyland, then go to Phoenix in January). I'll be about finished with my first trimester around then. To tell my family (mom, Ted, J, and K), we went to Bin 707 for George's birthday and had Georgie's 'big brother George' t-shirt (that I ordered online) on underneath his outfit. We gradually 'stripped' him because “he was probably hot”, until he was wearing just the t-shirt, sitting in his high chair at the head of the table. It took them like probably 8 minutes to notices – the LONGEST 8 minutes ever! Janae finally looked over and I watched her eyes inquisitively reading and then the 'light going on' – got her reaction on video – sooo funny! She stood up and was pointing - “I knew it! Mom – READ HIS SHIRT, READ HIS SHIRT!!!” My mom cried again (like the first time). So fun! We used the t-shirt with a couple other friends (Emily Osburn, Bethany Schaeffer), the Robinsons (via Skype), and Pat and Jack and my mom's cousins (in CA). Grandpa had a great reaction, and so did Krystal Von Der Lieth. We've told others on the phone. A lot of “I knew it”s! And “I knew it would be soon”! Guess people know us well! :) On this trip (I've been working on this blog entry throughout – we're on our way home today), it's been a little hard because I've actually been feeling a little more sick with this pregnancy. Not bad at all (especially compared to a lot of women I know), but I've been very mildly nauseous almost every day, up until the late afternoon/early evening. I wonder how much of it is actually the pregnancy, because the long car rides (and we've had many) don't help at all with the nausea. And I've been REALLY tired a lot, but I know some of it is the time change, and just not sleeping well because of the constantly changing beds and environments. Probably not the greatest timing for a road trip. But I DO think a lot of it is the pregnancy because I notice that when the nausea kicks in, usually my breast tenderness kicks in simultaneously. The breast tenderness has been fairly bad this pregnancy. I know I had it with my first, but I don't think it lasted this long, and they've been pretty darn achy. The nausea hasn't been bad enough to make me vomit, though I've felt pretty close a couple times (mostly after a long car ride). That's about where I'm at! I'll keep you updated!