Update: Baby Brother

So I'm pregnant.

For a third time.

(It's not as fun as it sounds.)

(But we are really super excited about it nonetheless, I promise!!)

This has been a very weird year and an even odder summer, at least for me. I spent most of the winter and early spring absolutely miserable from the combination of facing first-trimester woes and maintaining some semblence of control over my household and my children. Thankfully, as has happened the past two times, once that trimester came to a close, I found that I could last a little longer each day before collapsing and that I could gripe a little (wee tiny bit) less about my lot in life. In fact, before I knew it, I was Miss Productive, running around getting things done, organizing random closets and drawers, planning crazy birthday parties, enjoying the forty-two out-of-town weekends we had planned for April and May. 

And then the third trimester hit. Earlier than it actually did. And so here I am again, walking slowly and taking naps whenever possible. And greatly looking forward to September!!

The pregnancy so far has been completely normal, for which we are thankful, and I am fortunate to be under the care of the same midwife who helped bring Sarah into the world. We are planning a home birth this time because my greatest (and most realistic) fear is that I'll have the baby on the highway. Lord, please let this baby be healthy and COME AT THE RIGHT TIME! We will see how that goes... 

Luke and Sarah are both very excited about the baby. We waited to say anything to them until we felt like we were ready to tell everyone (assuming they'd take care of that duty for us), and it was an interesting conversation, to say the least. I was anxious to start letting people know because I felt like I started showing on, say, week five of this pregnancy, and it was a little embarrassing. We tried to tell our parents ahead of time, and we felt blessed to be able to do that in person with all of them this time, thanks to the visits they each made in early spring. I also told my friend friend Tricia one day after we'd dropped off our boys at Museum School; after I said it, I explained that the kids didn't know yet - and pointed to Sarah, who was in my arms for the whole conversation. Tricia and I both laughed at my goof, and then Tricia theatrically announced, "OH! You're going to have a new BABY DOLL??", hoping to smooth things over. Sarah immediately perked up at that and repeated the question with glee, thus proving that she had heard not a single word of the prior conversation - or at least hadn't cared nearly as much about babies as she did about baby DOLLS.

So sometime near the end of that first trimester, we sat with the kids after dinner and let them in on our awesome news. Once we'd clarified that we were indeed talking about a new baby brother or sister, both of the kids cheered and laughed - and then Luke went into immediate interrogation mode. Where is the baby now? How did it get there? How will it come out? Suddenly we were faced with an impromptu birds-and-the-bees talk as Luke continued to question us over the next 24 hours. He would accept nothing less than complete understanding, apparently.

It was not a reaction I was expecting, and so I stalled as best I could without telling outright lies (although I have a lot more sympathy for the stork story now). And then I went to the library and checked out every book on babies and sexuality for kids. (Not kidding. Every. One.) I am now an expert on the literature, thankyouverymuch, and I found a few picture books that seemed just right for the situation, as well as few that weren't. (Thankfully, it turns out that there is a way of explaining the "how" of pregnancy in a vague but true manner that doesn't involve, shall we say, the nitty-gritty...) Although I was planning to share the books with Luke only, Sarah insisted on being a part of the reading, and so we thoroughly examined and discussed each one as a trio. It was really quite a nice (and decent) experience, and based on the fact that we haven't had any more questions in the meantime, I guess it must've satisfied all of Luke's curiosity - and it helped me to learn ways of talking about the whole process so that they could understand and not fear it all - and so that they could couch all of these truths in a knowledge and awe of God as the creator of us and of our reproductive nature.

Not surprisingly, the pregnancy has had very little effect on the kids - other than the moments when I have to beg the kids to let me sleep on the couch undisturbed while they play - or when Sarah wishes I could pick her up and carry her more. "After the baby comes, can you hold me then?" she says, as if my own heart wasn't already breaking each time I said no to her raised-arms plea...

When we had our sonogram and discovered the gender (it's a boy!), both kids were thrilled. Luke obviously already had his heart set on another boy, and although Sarah said she would prefer a girl, I think she was (at least subconciously) relieved to find out that she wouldn't have to share her princess-dom with anyone else. I am a little disappointed not to get to relive all of the gorgeous baby-girl clothes that Sarah wore, but other than that, I am completely happy about having a boy. (And it helps that Sarah is in an especially screechy stage right now that Luke never experienced - so I must admit I'm not sorry to miss out on round two of that sort of thing...)

This weekend, we managed to build in closets and move furniture so that everyone's in their new places, ready for the new arrival to move in. The kids are now occupying the large north room which had been our guest room (because it didn't have closet shelving! until this weekend and the magic of IKEA...), and the baby will be in Luke's old room. Our guests will now have the luxury of Sarah's old room, which while smaller, also boasts it's own sink and entrance to the bathroom. (This is important when you are hoping grandmothers will come and stay for long, helpful visits.)

So now it's just the waiting. (And about a hundred other things in the baby room, a few major diaper purchases, and I'm sure numerous other things I've forgotten...)

I'll keep you posted. At least every once in a while!