Yes, friends and neighbors, it's true! Unexpectedly, but not without happiness, we learn that our One-And-Only-Boy shall have a sibling before year's end. I always expected Grant to be my only child, so there is quite a lot of adjustment needed in mind and heart.

I first suspected I was pregnant right away: I awoke one morning, and the first thought in my head was "Oh... I'm pregnant." Weird. I acted out a strange combination of denial and preparation. I began to cut down the caffeine and red wine, simultaneously assuring myself that I am simply too old to have conceived. I watched the calendar like a hawk. The Monthly Visitor never arrived.

On April 4 I had to go into my OB's office for a pregnancy test. They apparently won't make a prenatal appointment without THEIR pregnancy test showing positive. Kind of irritating, really, because it moves the date of my first prenatal exam back so far, to mid-May.

Due to my age and general pessimism about such things, I didn't want to announce my condition until... well... until a while later. I'm still extremely concerned about how the age of my eggs will affect my second born. I know, I know, women do it all the time. But worry seems to be part of my nature.

We went to my Aunt Nancy's house for Easter dinner again this year, so I made a little announcement as we were all gathered around the table. I don't know that the family was all that surprised, as I had broken down and wore a flowy maternity blouse, and maternity pants that I hadn't needed 'til the seventh month last time. Boy oh boy, my belly just popped right out this time!

In the picture at left, however, I AM pushing my tum out as far as it will go. I wanted to be sure that the photo was of me looking three months pregnant, not just me looking fat!

As of this writing, I've just entered my 13th week of gestation; in other words, three months and a week. The beginning of my second trimester. Thus far, I feel mostly well. As with Grant, no morning sickness (thank goodness!). A little stomach unease mid-morning each day, and plenty of fatigue. Whoosh! am I tired! Due to my incredible luck of having the sweetest baby boy in the world, I am able to nap each day when he does, which is a lifesaver.

We've talked in very general terms with Grant about a baby in my tummy, but six months is so long in the life of a toddler, we haven't been doing too much in the way of preparing him yet. I am concerned about him feeling jealous; his whole life he has had my (nearly) undivided attention, and I don't want him to feel "less than" in any way.

Of course people ask whether I'd prefer a girl or a boy, and I can honestly say that I am 100% ambivalent! A girl would be a nice balance, fun to dress up, and all that, but we'd also have to deal with a Teenage Girl one day! A boy would be much easier; and we have all the Boy Stuff he'd ever need! So I really go back and forth on it. Well, I expect to learn soon enough!

The due date is November 10. That means Kevin will have another Scorpio to accompany him. Yikes! Poor Saggitarian Momma: two Scorpios and a Virgo! (Not that I'm big into astrology... just fun to look at.) A winter baby will mean lots of bundling, and probably some high heating bills to keep the house comfortable. So many things to think about... ... Getting a room ready, stockpiling food, unearthing Grant's baby clothes, catching up on projects, etc., etc., etc.

Not to mention getting this #$%*&@!%# web site up to date!!

So that is all I'll share for now... I think I need a nap soon too!

I don't think I was this nervous the last time around... The first OB/GYN appointment was routine, and should have been calming, but wasn't. Dr. Yazdi and his nurse Suzanne were friendly and professional as always, but I just haven't been feeling the serenity lately. The appointment was standard overall: blood draw, pee in a cup, wait for the doctor. A lot of people get angry when made to wait for a while for their doctor, but I generally don't. I tend to choose doctors who spend a lot of time with me; who never make me feel rushed. I assume that these doctors are as thorough with their other patients, which makes appointments take longer. C'est la vie.

Blood pressure, weight, some personal history questions. Dr. Yazdi asked if I feel I am carrying a boy or a girl. I told him I didn't want to say. He pushed a little (figuratively), and I confessed that I felt it was a girl right away, but thought it would probably be a boy. He made a little note on the corner of my chart.

The doc had me lie back so he could press on my belly to see where the uterus was sitting inside. He noted that it was already just an inch or so below my navel. "Hmmm, are you sure you only have one in there?" he asked. Bang! he hit on another of my anxieties: twins. I recently read that the older a woman is, the more likely it is she will carry multiples. Either more eggs are released at once, or the egg is more likely to divide... I got so big so quickly, the idea of twins was scaring me quite a bit. I don't know if we were ready for ONE baby, let alone TWO!

He asked if an amniocentesis would be important to me, and I indicated that it is. Not only for my sake, to allay five months of minute-by-minute worry, but to learn of any severe chromosomal defect that would result in stillbirth or a short and pain-saturated life. I have done some research on chromosomal trisomies, as well as other defects, and some of the resulting effects are nearly unspeakable. The amnio would tell us not only of any defect, but which chromosomes were affected, and in what way.

"So, would you like to do that now?" he asked. Um. My amnio with Grant was a little rough, and I was taken aback by the offer. I dithered a bit, and finally came to the conclusion that I wasn't mentally prepared for the big needle in the belly just this moment.

More prodding, a pelvic exam, and off to another room for the first ultrasound. First the external: goo on the belly, doc sliding the sensor around, and BING there it is! Just one, thank goodness, and moving like the dickens! "No wonder you've been feeling flutters!" he says. Dr. Yazdi gets a good angle, and "snaps" the picture above. The Bun is about 4 inches from top of head to bottom of tailbone. And there's one more test he'd like to do: nuchal translucency. This is a fairly new test that is non-invasive. It uses an internal ultrasound reading that looks at a fold in the back of the neck.  If the reading is higher than 3mm it means that the fetus has greater risk for some chromosomal disorders. Everything looked good, with a 2mm reading.

We wrapped it up, and set the amnio appointment for five days hence. Wish me luck!

Trepidation. I know that my doctor is very skilled at this test, and the one-in-200 risk of miscarriage is considered very low, but... big long needle poked into my pregnant belly... (Deep breath.)

During Grant's amnio, my abdominal muscles cramped around the needle, pushing the fetus right up next to the needle, so all we could do is stay still until the cramp eased (about five minutes). It was... stressful. I was very concerned about something similar happening.

My appointment was squeezed into a nonexistent space in the schedule, so I had to wait for quite a while. Just what my nerves needed! Finally Dr. Yazdi and Suzanne came in to perform the test. I made a point this time (as last) to not ever view the needle. I breathed deeply and looked at the ceiling. They looked for a good pokin' spot with the ultrasound, and found a nice pocket a couple of inches below my navel, and a little to my right. The initial poke wasn't too much, and goes just to the outer wall of the uterus. I found it a challenge to breathe shallowly as instructed (to minimize movement) and keep that calming in-and-out going. Suzanne held my hand and asked how I was doing. Then the second part. POKE. I didn't recall from last time how clearly I could feel a "punch-through-the-wall" sensation. I could feel movement in my belly as the fluid was drawn. Suzanne asked again if I was okay (I think I get a weird look on my face when I focus outward, because nurses and blood techs often ask that in a concerned way). I said I was alright... I just could feel. Breathe breathe, tick tock, and done. Tiny spot of blood on my tum. Plain ol' bandaid. That was it. Big sigh.

There would be some cramping, fatigue, like last time. I was to take it easy for a few days. Like last time, I felt mostly... fragile.

Now just the waiting. Today is Tuesday; I should hear by next Friday. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Our Bun is healthy and whole. Hooray! All chromosomes test as normal. Oh, I am SO relieved.

And the gender? Place your bets now, and point to the graphic at left when you're ready to know...

Remember, I felt a girl, but think probably a boy. Kevin is sure it will be another boy, my Mom is convinced of a girl...

Scroll down at your own risk; gender is discussed below.

So! Interesting. I'm still letting it sink in...

Here is my plea: we have NO appropriate stuff. We have a few gender-neutral newborn outfits, but that's about it! If you have baby/little girl stuff that you are willing to lend, sell, or donate, PLEASE contact me or send it on out. Kevin is of the mind set that a wee girl can wear and play with all of the stuff we have for Grant. Even the stuff in navy and brown with footballs, dump trucks, and fighter jets on it. He feels that she'll be fine playing with Grant's 836 trucks and one doll. Now, I was much more gender-neutral before having Grant. But before he could crawl he LOVED trucks, cars, and anything with wheels that he could get ahold of. When given a choice between jammies with fire trucks or jammies with bears, he'll pick the trucks every time.

While I have no plan to force our daughter into pink, or lace, or frills, I don't want to cause her first words to be "I'm not a boy!" either. So any help you all might be able to muster would be great. <<WebMomma note: due to the extreme generosity of friends and family, Kit has built up quite a nice little collection of clothing. Thanks to all those who scoured your local thrift shops and garage sales to help us out! If you are looking to welcome our Bun with a gift, I'm sure she would love books and toys that haven't been pawed over by her big brother first!>>

It's late, and I'm wiped out. More soon.

We've agreed on our daughter's first name: Kathryn. We will call her Kit. Kathryn is MY middle name, the name of one of my Aunts, and my Grandmother's middle name.

Glucose tolerance test.

Failed: 174

* The next pictures on this page were all taken on the same day, about 10 days before Kit's due date. I had planned to take a belly photo each month, but it didn't seem to happen...
I had a bit of fun with PhotoShop, as you will see! Hope you enjoy them!

All day test. Four blood sticks.

Nearly fainted in KMart.

Passed 3 out of 4 tests. Doc decides he still wishes to treat me "as if" I were gestationally diabetic.

Gained two pounds this month. Another quick, boring exam. I should be grateful, but it is a lot of driving and waiting for just a quick "you're doing great, see you in two weeks". Kit's head is just under my rib cage. She should start turning upside down soon...

Three pound gain makes up for last month's deficit. A resident is on hand, watching and assisting. I always feel like I'm on ER or Scrubs or something when there's a resident assisting. They determine that Kit has turned sideways. We hope she's making her final turn toward the birth canal!

Momma and Grant stay the night at Grammy's, getting ready for the possibility of Grant staying overnight by himself when Kit comes. Daddy is taking some overdue time for himself with a weekend of poker and hockey in Vegas.

Weight the same (158). Some inconsiderate woman decided she needed a c-section just before my appointment time, so there was time to run quite a few errands before seeing the doctor today... My tum is still growing as it should, I have no swelling, ... ... yawn! I only hope the delivery is as boring as the pregnancy is!

Daddy and Grant were playing at the park, so I joined them there on my way home. We had a great time playing before time to go home for dinner. Unfortunately, Grant got a fever, and seems to be starting off with a nasty cold.

Some lovely women I met on a discussion board decided to throw me a "Virtual Baby Shower". Isn't that the sweetest idea?

One month til our Due Date!

Lost nearly two pounds. Weird. My doctor was out of the office today, so I saw Dr. Reilly: the man who delivered Grant. He took a swab to test for Strep B, and did a manual check: no dilation yet. I mentioned the frightening spurting bloody nose I had yesterday. He made a note in the chart, but doesn't think there's anything to be done before the baby comes.

Our family is still battling this nasty cold. Grant and Kev have had it for a week now, I've had it for three days. Ick!

The c old has moved into Grant's chest; poor guy up coughing at night... It's still hanging out with me too, must be a hearty lil strain!

I started to feel contractions at 1:25 this afternoon, while driving to the doctor's office for my regular check-up. Nothing to get excited about, they could go on for weeks. But interesting. I didn't feel ANY contractions last time 'til my water was broken, I was in the hospital, and they were two minutes apart and 30-45 seconds long!

Weight: 159; more than made up for the lost weight. Kit is still active, with a strong heart rate. My belly is growing right along with the numbers in the chart. I've had a few people tell me that I don't look 9 months pregnant, so I asked the doc if everything is growing ok. Doc says it must be the way I dress; the belly is plenty big. I related this exchange to Kev, and he said "If they don't think you look that pregnant, they ought to see you without those clothes!" HA!

The manual check showed that I am just a teeny tad dilated, but the doc said there is some movement and softening of tissues and all that, so there is progress, it just isn't measurable progress!

I still have TONS to do, so even though things are getting uncomfortable, I hope she takes her time!

The cold is mostly gone, but Grant still coughs when he plays hard or lies down. Bronchitis.

No further contractions. I pre-registered at the Hospital on Wednesday. Kit will be born in the same hospital as Grant. I hope I get the same nurse!

Kit continues to grow, but I've had no weight change, which is SO hard for me to believe. From my perspective, Kit has moved far lower, and is getting much heavier. Moving around is getting extremely difficult. Not just the weight, or the (lack of) balance, but some intermediate pain due to muscles stretched about as far as they can go! Most of the muscles in the abdomen meet and attach at the pubic bone, and that is where the pain comes from. All kinds of movement: getting up and down, walking, getting in and out of a car, just about everything causes a pain: the kind of muscle stiffness/pain one might feel a day or so after working out very hard. Not super painful, but very uncomfortable. Kev is really trying to pitch in, but there is SO much to be done!

The dizziness continues: the added iron helped one aspect, but there is still a weird light-headedness that happens even without exertion, even when I'm sitting down! Doc says that Kit is simply pressing down on a set of blood vessels, and if I sit or stand for a period of time, the blood flow to my upper body (and head) is decreased in a way that causes my heart to race, lungs to gulp, and brain to ... what is the verb form of dizzy? Diz?

My other physical difficulty is the heartburn; which seems so minor, but makes it very difficult to sleep. I am lucky that even now, the bladder is only waking me once or twice a night, but getting back to sleep each time is quite a challenge.

The house is not at all ready for a new baby. I've been so much more tired this time, and have been dizzy so often I really haven't been able to do half the things on my list. Don't know how I'll get everything taken care of.

I think that's it for now, more next week, or if anything of note happens!

The staff at the doctor's office are starting to greet me with a "Back again, are you?" or something similar, instead of just a hello. We are getting close, and I'm getting so unwieldy! One week exactly 'til Kit's "due date". After so many weeks of minor weight gain, I was up 3 pounds this time! The nurse said it was likely just fluids. My blood pressure was a tiny bit high, but nothing to worry about at this point.

Doc said it seems that Kit has moved down quite a bit; there's a little space between belly and breasts now, and when he went to feel her head from the outside, she was so far down and back that he could no longer 'appreciate' her little skull. However, a manual check found that once again there is no dilation. No surprise to me, but a wee bit disappointing. I would suggest to other women to make their 'public' due date two weeks after their 40-week date. I think it would make this last little bit a tad easier. After all, a pregnancy is 'to term' anywhere between 38 and 42 weeks. Grant popped his bubble the day after he was due. Perhaps Kit will show up with similar timing.

Dr. Yazdi and I are on the same page about allowing the Bun to cook in her own time. As long as she is healthy and well, there is no reason to rush her. However, we do need to make plans for whatever eventuality might befall. So, he asked me to pick an induction date. I would have chosen the Friday of my 42nd week....unfortunately, that happens to be Thanksgiving weekend. Now, of course I wouldn't care about that, except my doctor will be out of town, and I am concerned about what hospital staff will be working then. I think perhaps those without seniority, or part-timers or something might be staffing that weekend, so...   Not really up for the trainee blood guy who didn't have the seniority to get the day off!  We ended up setting an induction appointment for the evening of Monday, November 20th. I fully expect Kit to make her appearance before then, but if not, we are set with a back-up.

Next week will be a regular appointment, but the week after that we will begin monitoring closely and will do at least one 'non-stress test'. The tests are non-invasive, and are to assure that she is still healthy. At some point in the end of pregnancy, the placenta begins to deteriorate, affecting the oxygen and nutrition that get to the baby. The tests just assure that she is still okay, even after a long pregnancy. Again, I don't expect any of this to be necessary.

That's it for now... more when there's more!

Different this time: I keep assigning importance to little things, thinking that they are a sign of impending labor. As in: "I'm very sleepy (or achy, or hungry, or not hungry, etc.) today, bet that means I'll be laboring soon."

In general I am fine, and don't like to kvetch, since so many women have MUCH harder pregnancies than I.  But I AM getting pretty uncomfortable.  A lot of it is the mass of muscles connected to my pubic bone.  I believe they are stretched absolutely as far as they will go; so moving about at all is a bit rough.

Our induction date is still nine days from now, but we've had almost zero progress...  Doc keeps saying things like "Would it make you feel better if I said 1cm dilated?"  No.  No, that wouldn't make me feel better!  But he did say that the cervix continues to soften...  Something I didn't know: baby doesn't drop down far into the pelvis with subsequent children until actually in labor.  Apparently the 'grapefruit in the thighs' feeling is just for first timers.  So, I'm having a rough time sleeping, and moving, but am otherwise just trying to be serene and patient and let her take her time...  I SOOOO don't want to go the pitocin route!  But I also don't want to be in the hospital with a bunch of substandard personnel taking care of us...

Went in today for our first non-stress test. It turned out "reactive"; in other words, Kit is still doing fine in there. I talked more in-depth with my Doc about the specifics of induction. He doesn't break the amniotic sack in most circumstances (which I think is good). In general, his answers and responses were medically conservative, and based upon how my body and baby react to the various induction methods. (It is no longer just an IV with pitocin or a breaking of the waters!)

Afterwards, I went for my first pedicure since Grant was born. --Oh, wait, I had one for my birthday last year. Anyway, it was lovely to be rubbed and petted, and to have pretty feet back. Although I can still reach my feet, it is uncomfortable to scrunch up like that for any period of time. So, something we can't really afford, but that I really loved.

17 Nov - my "water broke" at 5:50pm. Go to Kit's Birth Page.