I am currently 12ish weeks pregnant (April 9th due date) with baby number two. Between bouts of complete exhaustion I am thoroughly ecstatic. Our family, friends, and my students have been so encouraging - for goodness sakes, I got a full round of applause (and a few standing ovations) from each of my classes when I spilled the beans. It hasn't been that long ago since I was pregnant with Oscar and yet I forgot how genuinely nice people are to pregnant ladies. We've had a lot of people asking us questions - some normal like, "when are you due?" and "is Oscar excited to be a big brother?" and then a few odd ones like, "weren't you just pregnant?" and "was this one planned?" I'm sure people are just making conversation but those last few are a little cringe-worthy. So I guess the answer to both questions is YES. Alex and I have always wanted to have our kids be relatively close in age but we weren't sure if that was going to be a possibility given our fertility situation (aka any baby we have must be planned). We were able to conceive relatively quickly the first time with the assistance of fertility drugs, but my doctor was very candid that just because it worked the first time, it didn't mean it would the second time around. Of course my mind went into worse-case-scenario mode: what if it takes years to conceive? what if we can't conceive at all? But just like clockwork, the drugs worked after only two cycles. Coincidentally enough, that was the exact same process with Oscar, a detail my doctor described as "kinda scary;" he apparently rarely sees such consistency. We were sort of aiming to be due in May or June for the sake of my teaching job but I guess I'll just have to take an extended summer vay-cay! Ah, shucks! :-)
Finding out that we were pregnant was uplifting for soooo many reasons. We cannot wait to watch Oscar take on the big brother role; he has already been working on his sharing. We're so thankful for modern medicine and the knowledge that we can, in fact, get pregnant; Oscar was not a fluke but he is still my favorite miracle. There's also something about the idea of two children which makes a family seem more whole. For some reason, it's easier to envision taking family trips, or pulling two kids in the wagon, or going sledding, or simply sitting down for a family dinner. I daydream about all of those often.
So, Baby Carlson #2 (we need to come up with a better name for you), I love you already more than words can express. I know you will rock our world on so many levels but I can't wait. I guess I better get some actual work done but know that however busy I get, you and your sweet big bro are always in the forefront of my mind.
PS- Experienced mommas weren't joking about the second time around; I already feel huge! Many people said I "popped" a week or so ago and belly bands are in full-force now. Also, my palate has been mostly sweets-driven (with Oscar it was savory) so I wonder if that's just different because it's a different pregnancy or if the urban-legend of baby girls is true. I guess only time will tell ;-)
