The Small Family     

Well, six if you count the canine members of the household…

Yep, that’s right--the Small family is going to get a little bigger. :-) I’m happy to report that I’m nine weeks pregnant with our second child. For inquiring minds, I’ve put together a little FAQ here:

WHAT?! HOW?! What about fertility problems?

Hmmm, not sure: Divine intervention or just plain good luck. :-)

So the fertility drugs worked?

I have no idea. At the beginning of June we were told that I was no longer ovulating, and that we wouldn’t be able to conceive without help. Which was a hard thing to hear, but we resigned ourselves to a six-month try with fertility drugs, and if that didn’t work, we’d start looking into adoption. (We had agreed not to try anything beyond the simplest fertility drug, for many reasons.) So I picked up my prescription for Clomid and set it on the counter, to be started whenever my next cycle began. Only it never began. I felt uncomfortable physically--as if it was going to start any day, but it never did. Knowing I had felt much the same when I was first pregnant with Theo, I took a pregnancy test--and voila! Positive! I have no idea how. I must’ve still been ovulating sometimes. Or at least that month. And the funny thing is, I would’ve been just barely pregnant at that appointment where they told me I could no longer conceive without help.

You’ve known for weeks and said nothing??

Well, almost nothing. We told the grandparents and a couple of people who have been particularly supportive of us in this fertility endeavor, but we swore them all to secrecy. I was very superstitious for a couple of reasons. First, I had some early spotting, which I never had with Theo, and it made me worry about miscarriage. Second, I’m older now, so my miscarriage risk is greater. And third (and of biggest concern), the same problem that was causing me not to ovulate (supposedly) can lead to greater risk of miscarriage, as it’s an issue of not enough hormones being produced. Our fertility doctor checked my hormone levels at four weeks and said they looked good, but I was still nervous.

How do you feel?

Gross! But I’m happy about it, because it makes me feel like everything must be going okay in there. It’s a different gross than with Theo, though. With him, I felt nauseated pretty much all day, every day for the first 12 weeks or so, but I never got physically sick. With this one, I have days that I feel absolutely great--as if I’m not even pregnant--and then days that I feel far worse than I did with Theo. And yes, I’m getting physically sick this time--though in the opposite direction of most pregnant women. Let’s just say I always know where the nearest bathroom is. ;-)

Chris also describes me as having an “advanced form of narcolepsy.” I fall asleep sitting up in my desk chair every afternoon, my mouth open to catch flies. Chris says the magic is gone after seeing me sleep like that. ;-) I’m up all night peeing, and then I fall asleep every afternoon and on the couch every evening. Zzzzzz…

When is it due?

Around February 22^nd. Which is cool, because it’s my brother-in-law’s (Charles’s) birthday. :-) Fun fact: The date of conception is calculated as the first date of your last cycle before getting pregnant. For us, that happens to be Chris’s birthday. I choose to think that’s very lucky!

Theo came at 38 1/2 weeks, so I suppose this one could arrive closer to the middle of the month. And if we opt for a C-section (a definite possibility), it'd most certainly be a week before the due date.

Any vibes on boy or girl?

We all think girl. I mostly think so because the pregnancy is so far quite different from Theo’s. Which really means nothing, since every pregnancy is different anyway. But I have it in my head that the girl hormones are making me feel differently than the boy hormones did. And I have to say, I knew Theo was a boy right from the beginning, so perhaps I’ll be right again.

Any preference?

Not really. We’d be happy with any healthy baby. But if we had to choose, I think Chris leans toward a girl and I lean toward another boy.  I’ve just so enjoyed mothering Theo that I would love another little boy. (And frankly, I know how to deal with boys. If I get a drama-queen daughter, I’m not sure I’ll know what to do with her, having never really been a drama queen myself!) But in reality, if we have a daughter, I will be delighted and will learn what the heck one does with little girls…. And hey, the little clothes for girls are super-fun!

Plans to find out the gender?

Of course. I’m far too impatient to wait! Should be sometime in early October, I think.

Any names?

Many. But we won’t be naming the baby until after we have it. We liked waiting with Theo, so we’ll be doing the same thing again. But we learned with Theo that people feel compelled to tell you how much they hate every name you’ve selected, so we’re not sharing possibilities with anyone this time. All I’ll say is that it’ll probably be another “classic” name--neither of us is really into super modern names. So for now, you can assume a boy will be Horace Howard Small, and a girl will be Gladys Beulah Small. ;-)

Any in-utero name?

Chickpea. I couldn’t get enough of them when I first got pregnant! Now they make me want to vomit, but that’s par for the course. Speaking of which, Chickpea helped me break my coffee habit. Coffee now makes me want to vomit. I’ve switched to herbal iced tea and water, and our pocketbook is all the happier for it.

Does Theo know?

Yep. I actually hadn’t wanted to tell him early, but he was in a real “carry me everywhere” phase, so I finally told him it was hard for Mommy to carry him much because she’s growing a baby in her tummy, which is a lot of work. And he’s been great about being a big boy and a super helper so that Mommy doesn’t have to haul his 30-pound body around much of anywhere.

Is he excited?

In theory. He doesn’t really “get it,” but he does lift up the edge of my shirt, poke my stomach, and say, “Mama has a baby in her tummy! It’s like a little chickpea! Feo want see it!”

What will you do about work?

Hopefully take some time off this time. I was downright stupid to go back to work three days after Theo was born. I will not be making that mistake again. I’m hoping to take a couple of months off, but we’ll see.

How are you going to fit another person in your house?

Um, good question. We’re still figuring that out. :-)

Are you two excited?

Incredibly. :-) Chris was terrified when I was pregnant with Theo--it all happened so fast, and we were barely even newlyweds. But facing the fact that we might not even be able to have a second child really cemented how much we wanted one, and we’re thrilled.

So that’s the big news! I find it fun to see how the baby is developing week by week, so I’ll probably post updates in our regular weekly blog. Right now, it’s the size of a green olive, and its arms and legs are forming! In fact, if you look closely at the ultrasound pic I've posted, you can see the tiny limbs forming. The baby is now officially a "fetus" as well, instead of an "embryo." And believe it or not, those tiny arms and legs are already making spontaneous movements!