Second Pregnancy: How we found out

I can't even explain how fast this pregnancy is going. Last time, each day ticked by so slow I could hardly stand it. I was working 9–5, almost two years less wise, anxious to know what motherhood was all about, and even more curious to experience labor and birth. So much is different now. Not only am I busy keeping up with a 15 month old toddler day to day, but I kind of know what to expect this next time around. I'm just much more relaxed.

I don't plan to blog in the same way I did last time. It just seems redundant. But I definitely hope to share about this pregnancy along the way. I would imagine an update every month should suffice. I can tell already that there just isn't as much to talk about. My appointments with my midwives are an hour long and it's quickly becoming more difficult to fill that time. Two years ago I had so many questions and ideas.

I do think it would be fun to recap the first trimester and share some of our highlights so far, which is what I plan to do over the next few weeks. To start off, I'd love to share with you some of our journey to getting pregnant and how we found out, very similar to this post from almost two years ago! And for those wondering, I am currently between 14 and 15 weeks, due July 22, 2014.

We decided we'd start trying for another baby in October, when Lola turned one. We liked the idea of having our children somewhere around two years apart. However, I wasn't even sure I was ovulating despite having a regular period since six months postpartum. I had heard a lot about anovulatory cycles and we hadn't been using any form of birth control since Lola was born. Although we weren't actively trying, I was always surprised every month I had a period and wasn't pregnant... hence my suspicion of anovulatory cycles. I was also still breastfeeding, which I knew could be a very valid reason for irregular cycles.  

As we began to near the year mark, I started talking with my doctor, a naturopath, about my cycle, balancing hormones, and wanting to get pregnant. She suggested I buy a digital ovulation kit to see if and when I was ovulating. This is the one she recommended and I used. It was super simple and easy to read, opposed to the less expensive strips that can be hard to decipher. It shows a smiley face on days that you're fertile and a circle for every other day. I bought a kit in September and began testing every day starting about a week after the onset of my period. Around 10 days in I continued to get negatives, but was feeling potential symptoms of ovulation, as I had previous months. And then the one day I really thought was it, I eagerly got in position and the test holder died. Womp womp.


Although annoyed, I was surprisingly calm about the whole situation. Probably because that wasn't the month we were planning to try. Nonetheless, I was so eager to see if I was even ovulating or not. I wanted to know so I could know whether I should begin weaning Lola to get a regular cycle back. It just wasn't God's timing or plan, I suppose. I called Clearblue and they sent me a replacement test holder and strips. I was geared up to go at it again next month.

My October period came and I began testing a little over a week out from day one. This time with a bit more excitement and urgency. I really trusted God's timing for this second baby if that was His will, but was hoping it wouldn't take very long, or get complicated with nursing and weaning. Lola turned one on October 27, and I continued testing and praying for clarity and God's timing.

Three days later, BOOM, a smiley face! I couldn't believe it and was over-the-moon excited to see that I was actually ovulating. Arthur was excited about the news and we got down to baby-making business. I got another smiley the next day and the baby-making continued. The following day was back to a circle, but we continued with one more day of sex, per my doctors directions.

Then we waited.

If you've ever been in the situation where you're trying to get pregnant, that two-week wait between ovulation and your potential next period is the pits. It's nearly impossible to not over-analyze every cramp, pang of nausea and twinge. I had been temping since I started doing the ovulation test the month prior, so I was also pouring over my temperature each morning. Although I didn't want to be and was fighting an urge I knew would be strong, mentally I was a hot mess. I was praying, I was giving the circumstances over to Jesus every day, but it was a battle for me to not obsess. I was eager and excited!

My temperature pattern was normal. It showed ovulation, a peak right after ovulation, and even a peak about a week after ovulation, which is a sign of implantation/pregnancy. I tried to keep neutral about what I was seeing, but I was daily comparing my temp to where I was at on that same cycle day on my pregnancy chart from Lola. I began to feel twinges of nausea, sore breasts and even had a brief episode one evening of severe cramping and diarrhea. That was the night that I knew, though I wanted to wait until 16 days post ovulation to test, which is when I got a very faint positive with Lola.

The days crept on one by one, with my temps showing no sign of dropping (a woman's basal body temperature either drops as she approaches her period, or stays elevated all the way through pregnancy). I clued Arthur in a little bit to how I was feeling and what I suspected, but was hoping to be able to surprise him at least a little this time around. He was off on a week-long business trip that weekend, and I was hoping to have a word one way or another for him before he left.

By day 14 post-ovulation, I felt about 51% sure that I was pregnant. I wasn't sold, but I was confident enough to start sewing a onesie for Lola that said "Big Sis". If nothing else, I'd use it to surprise Arthur whenever we did get pregnant.

Day 15 rolled around and I was calmly antsy, if that is a thing. "Just one more day," I repeated to myself through the afternoon. I tried anything to not think about it. But I caved by 2pm. I had three pregnancy tests, so I figured what the heck. I was mostly anxious about the prospect of seeing a negative but feeling so pregnant. I had experienced that over this past year (more on that in a "Postpartum Series" post) and didn't want to feel crazy yet again. Shaking, I tore open the test, got into position and prayed.

My heart was racing as I set the test on the sink and watched the little window begin to flood. For those first few moments I braced myself, readying my heart to be okay with not being pregnant. And then, in God's always gentle fashion, the second line slowly began to appear. My heart began to leap. I felt so much joy. The line continued to darken...and darken...and darken, until it was almost darker than the control line! I couldn't believe it. Tears of excitement flowed down my cheeks. With Lola, the test line was hardly visible and that was a whole cycle day later. This was crazy. I thanked God and felt the weight of His love for our family.

I told Lola she was going to be a big sister and gave her a big teary, slobbery kiss. And then we went on with our day, just like any other. I played cool that evening and somehow convinced Arthur that we weren't going to even test until he came back from his trip a week later. I debated whether to tell him the next morning before work, or the following day, Saturday, when we'd be able to share a morning of excitement together before he left on a plane. But I just couldn't wait another second. I decided I'd tell in the morning.

I sprung out of bed right as I heard Lola peep in the morning, knowing that he wouldn't notice or even wake up. I had tucked away the special onesie I made her in her dresser before bed that night. My heart was racing and I wasn't even sure what I was going to say or do. I couldn't think of anything clever, so I figured I'd just plop her in front of him and let him figure it out.

We crept in the dark room and opened the shades. I urged Lola to go snuggle him, but quickly realized he was too groggy to figure this out on his own, so I stood Lola up in front of him. Still nothing. I wiggled her a little. "Those aren't the jammies I put her in last night," he said confused. "Nope they're not....do you see what it says?" He calmly replied, "Big Sis. Yup, you're a big sis," rubbing her head and giving her a snuggle. You see, we call our cat, Mia, Sis (as in 'sister') to Lola, but Lola is the little sis in that case. He wasn't getting it. "No, read it again," I urged. "Big Sis. What about it?" he asked, confused why I was acting so weird. "Lola is a big sis. She's going to be a big sis," I explained in an exhausted tone. "Are you pregnant?!" he finally squealed. "YES! GEEZ! Took you long enough," I sighed, relieved that he finally knew. And in true Arthur fashion, the next words out of his mouth were, "Yeah! I'm a sniper!" We exchanged excitement, hugs and kisses and went on with the day.

And just like that our family of three became a growing family of four.