We're Pregnant (again)!

"Honey, we're gonna need a minivan!" is how I broke the news to my husband about a month ago, when two pink lines showed up on a stick. 

I'd suspected a little bit, but I wasn't completely sure until I saw the lines appear.  As soon as I saw them, I burst into uncontrollable laughter.  My 2 year old kept asking "Mommy, are you alright?"  Her younger brother was 10 months old. 

Our due date is August 6, so Isabelle will be 3 1/2 and Andrew will be 18 months when this baby arrives. 

Yes, I know what causes that.

Yes, I know I'll have my hands full. 

But they'll be full of good things, sweet little blessings.

I don't mind sharing publicly that this baby is quite a surprise.  But not a complete surprise, and not one we were unprepared for.  We wanted more children, but we thought we wanted a bigger gap between #2 and #3.  Evidently God had different plans!

And yes, I know we just might be crazy. 

I've gotten a couple of "you're crazy"s already, and those remarks were made by people who love us and are excited for us.  My husband and I just had a good laugh about it.  We know that our lifestyle choices may look crazy sometimes, but we're fine with that, and since we know a family who welcomed baby #11 last year, we know that we're not that crazy for having a third child, even if #3 is a little soon after #2 and his lung surgery ordeal. 

I think what looks crazy is having 3 children, ages 3 and under.  But again, I'm OK with that!

When I think about it sometimes, I just get tired.  So I don't think about it.  At our house, we're taking things one day at a time, making plans for our new little bambino and trying to navigate the woes of pregnancy once again.

So how am I feeling?
That's the perpetual question any time a woman is pregnant.  If you read my blog during my last pregnancy or if you've talked to me in depth at any point when I'm pregnant, then you know that pregnancy and I have a love-hate relationship.

Basically, I love the idea of being pregnant.  I love babies, so when I'm not pregnant, I pretty much always want to be pregnant.  But once I am, I'm completely miserable.  Morning sickness never leaves, and I'm generally still losing my lunch (or breakfast or dinner) the week I deliver my babies.  Weight gain is a struggle, but it has gotten easier with each pregnancy.  I gained 12 pounds with Izzy and 20 with Andrew, and he was also a bigger baby.  But my husband still refers to pregnancy as my diet plan.   

I'm feeling OK today.  Again, we take things one day at a time around here.  Yesterday was awful, and so was Sunday afternoon & evening, but my husband was home to help out pretty much do everything.  I was really concerned about getting dehydrated, but since I kept food down fine last night, I'm doing OK.  I've only gotten sick once today, so that constitutes a good day.  I had a week or two of being exhausted and feeling nauseous all the time, but that has subsided and I only have bad days from time to time.  Still, my doc gave me a prescription for phenergen gel, and I'm hoping that will bring some relief. 

One neat aspect of getting pregnant when you still have an infant is that when I finish getting sick again, I see Andrew's big happy grin and tell him "you were worth every bit of this."  I know the next one will be too. 

If you want to pray for us, pray for "normal" morning sickness...you know, the kind that goes away around week 14.  And pray for a healthy baby, of course, but more than that, pray that our baby and all of our children will know the Lord at an early age, walk with Him, and want to honor Him more than anything else. 

We are completely thrilled about a new baby.  Time to go shopping for that minivan!

Baby #3 at 9 weeks.  We had my first prenatal checkup today, and so far, everything looks great.