Guess what? We’re pregnant!

Ok, so no real guesswork required considering practically everyone already knows, but we can officially make the announcement since we finally told Dave’s family this weekend. We figured since I would be staying the night with them before driving off to my sister Molly’s wedding we may as well wait and tell them in person. I’m glad we did…I just didn’t realize how long 17 weeks would be. So my apologizies to my In-laws, but wasn’t it more fun to hear it in person than over the phone?
I broke the news by awaking early and leaving a note on the kitchen counter. The note covered a photo of the baby’s 8-week ultrasound and read “Hi Grandma! Sorry this photo is a bit out-dated, but no one seems to want to take my picture. Oh well, see you in August. Love, your new Grandbaby.” After Christine (my mother-in-law) said good morning to me and went into the kitchen to start breakfast I waited. Then it came. The delighted shriek. I went into the kitchen with the two youngest kids, Marky and Caroline, and the three of us enjoyed the excitement together. Next we were joined by Reed, then my father-in-law Mark, then John, and gradually all the of the rest of the kids (Daniel, Taylor, and Jennica with her 2 children,) and then my sister Natalie also came down. It was delightful all being together talking. I was so glad I’d waited. And then I was completely spoiled with sympathy as I had to excuse myself to go take my injections – 2 shots in the morning, 2 at night, right into my stomach. I get to look forward to the same routine for my entire pregnancy, and every other pregnancy to come. This is due to a genetic blood-clotting disorder called Leiden Factor V which was inherited by Emily and me, though not Natalie or Molly. Ug, the shots are awful, but I’ll post about them some other time.

The main thing is we’re pregnant. I’m 17 ½ weeks along, and my due date is August 23, though owing to my blood disorder I will probably be induced a couple of weeks early (just like Emily had to be.) We find out the gender next month on April 6th . Dave is so excited, and it is funny to watch him hold my stomach and try to persuade the baby to “move for Daddy,” yeah, not going to happen yet. Give it a chance to get a bit bigger. I don’t have a clue about the gender, though I always refer to the baby as a “him” while Dave refers to it as a “her.” So we’ll wait for April and hopefully find out! Yeah!
(Oh, in case you don’t read any of the blogs of my sisters, all three of us have been pregnant at the same time: Emily with baby Andrew born March 6, Natalie with her baby boy due the end of May, and me due with some munchkin in August. Only Molly was left out, but of course she got married one week after baby Andrew was born, so no one was really left behind. It is going to be a crazy year for my parents! But so fun for all of us!)