First of all, thank you to everyone for your Congratulations and words of encouragement in regards to my pregnancy announcement! I couldn't wait to 'go public' with our announcement but I wanted to wait until the second trimester and then it took awhile to get the word out to our friends and family!
So here's the story on Baby Galloway #2....
Around the time Grace turned four months old, I started missing being pregnant and having a newborn. Ian and I were realistic though, for our situation, and decided to wait until the timeline would line up so that the baby wouldn't be born until after we were done with language school and moved to Abu Dhabi. My cycle hadn't even started back so I was content to enjoy this season of our lives.
When Grace was eight months old, my cycle was normal, I was almost done nursing, and we were ready to start trying. Keeping in mind that it took nearly 13 months of trying (with a couple of months off in the middle,) in order to conceive Grace, we began what we thought would be at least a six month process.
My parents visited at the end of that first month, and on the last day of their visit, I realized I was "late," but only by 2 or 3 days. Ian ran out to the pharmacy and bought two tests and we went to sleep in our hotel thinking that my cycle would start that night and we wouldn't need the tests.
The next morning, February 1st, I woke up and slipped into the hotel bathroom. My mind flashed back to the dozen tests I had taken with Grace, the stress, and the months of disappointment at negative results. I didn't think anything of that morning. I took the test and before I could sit it on the counter next to me, my eyes glanced at the positive result.
I sat there for a minute...shocked. Then I wandered out into our hotel room with a goofy grin on my face. Ian and Grace were snuggling in bed and Grace was doing something cute. Ian looked up, thinking my smile was for Grace, and began telling me what she was doing. I went back and forth between the bathroom and our bedroom in shock, trying to find the words to tell Ian. Finally I slipped into bed beside Ian and Grace and just told him, "Well, we're pregnant!"
Ian wasn't surprised at all (how, I have no idea!) but I was! We spent the morning with my parents at our favorite mall, had lunch at Chili's, and tried to find the perfect moment to tell them. The trouble was, my mom was having stomach issues and kept having to run off to the bathroom, right as I was about to announce the big news! Finally, after doing some shopping for Ian in a Men's Express, we stood in the hallway of the mall deciding where to go next. Figuring this was as good a time as any, I told my parents that we had some news. "I'm pregnant!" They were overjoyed and beyond surprised! It was so special being able to tell them in person! We had told all of our friends and family over Skype with Grace, so this was such a great opportunity and was totally in God's timing!
A week or so later we told Ian's parents on skype. They weren't surprised at all- they had a feeling about it (really? because someone should have let me in on this "feeling" thing, because I had no clue!) I was able to tell my sister and best friends over skype within the next month or so. I told my closest friend here, A, about it on my birthday, February 16th. I was sick with a stomach bug and was feeling just awful. I told her how I wasn't feeling good and she asked if I could be pregnant. Not wanting to lie, I told it "it's possible!" She wanted to immediately go buy a test but I told her that wasn't necessary, because I was pregnant! Her response was alot of hugs, smiles, and yelling "Shut Up!"
I'm fifteen week pregnant now and feeling good! The first trimester was much more difficult than in my pregnancy with Grace. I was nauseous all of the time, had heartburn, and was so exhausted! I didn't have any morning sickness with Grace, but this baby is very different! I found myself craving everything I could not get over here....bacon, bar-b-que, girl scout cookies, dirt cake, and salsa. I even cried over cookies once, when our friends had shared some thin mints with us, because all I wanted to do was eat the entire package! haha.
My doctor was SHOCKED when I walked through the doors to see him at 12 weeks. He had seen on his schedule that I had an appointment, but just figured that I was sick. He had just gotten my file open on his desk when I walked into the room and he turned to look at me with saucer eyes and an open mouth.
I know, I know. My baby wasn't even a year old and I was there for my THREE MONTH appointment. Walking the halls of the hospital was a surreal feeling- I mean, I was just there a year earlier doing the same things for Grace!
I'm much more relaxed about this pregnancy and have realistic expectations about what I can accomplish. I'll be happy if I am able to get a belly shot and short update once a month. I am not reading the pregnancy books religiously and I'm not worrying about every little bump or strange feeling.
Grace has no idea. And she probably will barely notice a difference when the new baby comes, as she will barely be 18 months old. I'm sure her life will look different, but luckily, with them being so close together, our prayer is that they will be able to be each other's buddy.
We'll find out the gender the last week of May (I don't like this kind of surprise! Why not find out?!) but will probably be going with a gender neutral nursery, so that we can use it again. We'll have to have a second crib as I don't want Grace out of her crib at only 18 months. I already have a color palette and theme picked out and I can't wait to see my thoughts become a reality! We'll decide on a name after we find out the gender, because, honestly, we don't like wasting the energy on agreeing on two names when we only need one!
We're so excited about this little one and can't wait to meet him/her in early October!