Before I get into the interesting stuff, I first want to point out that Brendan managed to survive his first year of life! He had his first birthday about a week and a half ago. We didn't have a huge shindig; I mean, the kid won't remember his birthday for a few more years now. My husband's parents came up from Wyoming, my dad drove all the way from Nevada, and my best friend flew up from San Diego. So the party was certainly respectable. Brendan got lots of presents, more than he'll surely ever play with. But I guess that's how it is supposed to be. And he got to smash some cake, which is always a good time. It was my first attempt at decorating a birthday cake, you know, REALLY decorating it, and I think it turned out pretty well. It didn't hurt that my friend had taken some cake decorating courses. So fun was had by all, and I officially have a toddler. Heck, he doesn't even toddle; he sprints. At his 1-year checkup, he measured in at 22 lbs 9 oz, and 30.4 inches tall. He's right around the 50th/75th percentiles, so he's where he should be. He still only has seven teeth, but I think he's working on some more. Still doesn't say much in the way of recognizable words. I've gotten Mama out of him a couple of times, and he seemed to be saying "duck" the other day when I prompted him. I really hope he starts speaking a bit more soon. At least he loves books. That's always a good sign. He's a wild and wonderful kid (most of the time), and I'm glad we've all lived this long.
That said...
It appears that I may be pregnant again.
Let me start by saying that I have been taking oral contraceptives since Brendan was about 4 months old or so, and I have not missed any days. I am on a pill called Jollivette (or something like that), and I do know that it is a very low dosage of hormones (due to my blood pressure). But I haven't had any problems with it. My period has been a little irregular, but I've chalked that up to the fact that it is a 28-day cycle of pills rather than a 21-day cycle with 7 days of placebos. I've always taken the 21-day cycle pills, and my period would then fall during the week of placebos. But with the 28-day cycle, my period seems to drift a little bit, either a few days before the last week, or a few days after, or right in the middle of that last week. Still not a big deal.
So, anyway, the last period I had was somewhere in the neighborhood of the third week in September. I have no idea exactly when it was. I'm basing my calculation on that estimate of my period having been in the last week or so of that 28-day cycle. I know I did not have a period during the entirety of October. I went through an entire pack of 28 pills, and had taken 8 pills in the next pack before finally coming to my senses and taking a pregnancy test (or three). Also, I wasn't feeling very good--I've had...let's just call it "digestive trouble" for weeks now, which is very unusual for me. And all of a sudden I had a couple of days where I was overcome with nausea out of the blue, just for a few minutes. When I was pregnant with Brendan I had very little morning sickness, and this definitely reminded me of it.
So, the thought had already sort of wandered through my mind, that there might be a slight possibility that I might, just might, be pregnant. When I mentioned to my husband that I wasn't feeling good, he said, "Well, do you think you might be pregnant?" And I said, "Well, perhaps, yes." So I picked up a box of First Response pregnancy tests. I think these are the kind I used when I found out I was pregnant with Brendan, but I'm not sure. In any case, I peed on the stick, let it sit for three minutes, and checked it. And sure enough, there were two lines in the window. One was a bit fainter than the other, but the test instructions said this was possible, and it was undeniably there. (I got the same results the next evening, after a day of not taking my birth control pill, and the next morning as well.) So, according to First Response, anyway, I'm pregnant.
I am withholding total reaction until I get a blood test to verify it. I'll probably try to go to the walk-in clinic on Friday after school, to see if I can get a blood test without needing an appointment.
But if I truly am pregnant (which I suspect I am; I've started waking up in the middle of the night to pee, which was one of the first signs I had last time), I'm probably about 6 weeks along. That means, according to Baby Center, the little bugger is about the size of a lima bean. Cool.
My husband and I have talked in the past about having a second child. We had figured on shooting for a due date around the time of Brendan's second birthday, so that I could take the time off at the end of the semester. But, while I don't know if I'm really prepared for having a 20-month-old who will undoubtedly still be in diapers AND a newborn at the same time (actually, I can answer that question emphatically: NO, I AM NOT PREPARED IN THE LEAST), from a work perspective this should work out well. My due date, from my calculations, should be around June 25. School will get out June 1. That gives me just over 3 weeks of time in the summer before my due date. And that also gives me 8 weeks of summer after my due date that I won't have to work. I'm hoping I can schedule some maternity leave at the very beginning of the school year, maybe 6 weeks (I have no idea what my options are, since I am not a tenured employee). That would put the baby at 3 months old before I have to go back to work. I wish I didn't have to go back to work at all, but I know that isn't an option, due to our finances. Oh well. But that will have been good for bonding with the little bunion. I hope.
Anyway, there's no sense in getting too worked up about anything. While this is unexpected, it isn't the worst thing that could happen. I mean, I'm excited about it, but terrified as well. I have a hard enough time being patient with Brendan. I just know that it's going to get worse before it gets better. Oh well. The other challenge will be my weight. I haven't lost anything. I weighed in on Monday at 232.8. That's slightly more than ten lbs less than my heaviest pregnancy weight. I can't afford to get any heavier. My back is constantly hurting, and both my feet have plantar fasciitis. I really need to lose some weight. I think that will be something that I will talk to the OB about when I go in for my first appointment.
We haven't said anything to anyone. Of course, we need to wait until we know I'm actually pregnant, and I'd like to wait until I'm about 14 weeks along again, which would be the end of the first trimester, if I recall correctly. That means 8 weeks of waiting. At least we don't see a lot of people regularly. *So if you are reading this and you know me, please don't say anything to anyone!*
But I'm getting ahead of myself. It's possible I'm not even pregnant. Not likely, but possible...
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