The Cat's Out of the Bag (or in the oven)...

So, if you’re a friend of mine over in the Facebook world (funny how “Facebook” gets mentioned in practically every post?) or if you’re a family member or have a way to obtaining good gossip, then you already know…

…we’re pregnant!

Yes, we are expecting our little “BouBerry” sometime around June 13^th (the date’s been up for debate among me, the doctors, the ultrasound techs, etc. – let’s just say it’s between June 9^th and June 14^th). That puts me at 11 weeks’ along at this point, and here are four quick observations I’ve made so far with this pregnancy:

1) We are already in a “better position” than we were with our last pregnancy, when at the first ultrasound, no fetal pole could be detected. The past miscarriage definitely made me a lot more paranoid this time around, but at eight weeks with BouBerry, we had an ultrasound which not only showed a moving little “raspberry” at that point, but also let us glimpse AND HEAR a beautifully beating heart. I know that life is fragile (especially the life of a teeny, developing baby) but I feel more confident now that I did after taking that initial pregnancy test.

2) Just like last time, people are already REALLY ANNOYING in their constant baby- and pregnancy-talk. Don’t get me wrong… it’s nice to be cared about. But when I work with someone 5 days a week, and they ask me how I feel, followed by “I had nothing for my first, but was sick as a dog with my second” every single day of those 5 days, it gets a little (a LOT!) old. And we’ve got 29 more weeks to go! Soon, I’m sure I’ll be bombarded with the “Wow, you’re getting big!” and “You’re still here?” and “You haven’t had that baby yet??” statements. For now, I’ll leave you with the two most interesting ones over the past week

– Last Monday, when I was 10 weeks’ pregnant, a coworker stated,
“You’re having a boy. Your face hasn’t changed a bit.” (I was only
TEN WEEKS’!!! I hope my face wouldn’t change already!)

– Today, the same coworker mused, “Wow – you’re really carrying
different this time.” (I am only ELEVEN WEEKS’!!! Come on!)

3) It is not too difficult (yet) to chase a toddler around while pregnant, which I’ve been warned could be a tough thing to do by the end. However, having a toddler does make it harder to sneak snacks in while driving! When I need to eat, believe me, I NEED TO EAT – and at 5:00PM when carting Casey home for a well-balanced dinner, the last thing I want is to have her snacking in the backseat. But if Mommy’s munching away, she definitely wants in on the action.

4) For the first time in my life, I have no idea where Tee Jay and I stand on the subject of Future Kids. Before we were married, we both knew that we definitely wanted children. I always said I wanted 7 (but would settle for 4), and he always quipped that 2 would be a nice number. At some point, I think I convinced him to jump up to the 3-kids range, and after Casey was born, we were still on the "there'll be another one someday" bandwagon. But now that we’re juggling the finances of just one in day care (and pulling our hair out about the certainty of a second), I honestly feel clueless as to what our future family will look like. I mean, don’t get me wrong – I’m not really worrying about this right now; it’s certainly not keeping me up at night (while other things are!). We’ve got plenty of time to ease into the parenting of BouBerry alongside Casey – and I’m sure plenty of pay raises, job changes and other life adjustments to get through – before we even have to think about adding a third Baby Boudreau to the mix. But it’s a strange, clueless feeling nonetheless.

Oh, and for the heck of it, let's throw in a quick fifth observation - If you are emotional to begin with and were even more emotional the last couple of times you were pregnant, well... it should just go without saying that you're DEFINITELY out-of-control emotional the fourth time around!

But we're living through it, and I'll leave you with the sweetest little pics of our BouBerry.

Artist

This morning Casey painted a few masterpieces after breakfast....






Then went promptly into the bath!

A wonderful start to the weekend!