Fatigue

I was so exhausted this morning! I'm not sure how I'm going to do it, but have to make adjustments to my evenings so I get to bed earlier. I was barely getting enough sleep to feel good during the day before this, now I am really tired all of the time.

First prenatal visit

In conjunction with DS's 9 month check-up this morning, I had my first prenatal visit for baby #2. It is still hard to believe that we're going through another pregnancy so soon. My doctor was almost as surprised to see the reason for the appointment as we were last Sunday. He asked if it was "just the two of you"? (Or something like that.) The other doctor in the practice that I saw last time, commented that God must have decided to make it a little easier on us this time. The nurse who took my blood pressure said that her 2 children are 17 months apart and that the second pregnancy was much easier. That would be nice for me, too.

My friend who is supplying us with milk wants to keep doing it. I'm very relieved to know that!

Prepping Your Child for the New Baby

The Womb of the Unknown Pregnancy -- I should have read this 3 weeks ago. :-)

We told my dad and my sister in person yesterday evening. My sister's reaction was a big smile and exclaiming, "All by yourselves!" Then hugs all around. That was great! We called DH's parents and told them also. We plan to tell the rest of our family members sometime in the next week. DH will tell his quartet on Thursday because he has decided that he will need to stop singing with them after the show this spring (and after contest, if they want to keep him instead of replacing him for the contest). I will need to tell my friend that has been giving me extra milk for DS, because my "temporary low supply problem" is now know to not be temporary.

I haven't been able to concentrate on work very well today. Here are a few links that I found.
HavingAnotherBaby.com
I'm Pregnant. Do I Have To Wean?
Tandem Nursing
Kelly's AP: Nursing During Pregnancy and Tandem Nursing
Breastfeed.com: Tandem Nursing in Today's World
Tandem Nursing
Mothering Magazine -- Tandem Nursing

Mothering Magazine -- Birth After Cesarean: A Primer for Success -- It's a whole new world. VBAC, Tandem nursing, what else?

I have a prenatal appointment at 9:30 on Thursday. DS's 9 month checkup has been moved from the afternoon to 9:50 so we will only need to make one trip.

My stomach feels awful!

From a post on pumpmoms: Yes, a dip [in milk supply] right before or during the first days of AF is completely normal. It all has to do with hormones. Your body decreases the amount of hormones used in lactation and increases other hormones in preparation for implantation of the fertilized egg. If implantation occurs, levels of progesterone (and something else) remain high while prolactin drops, which is why pg women usually see a dramatic decrease in milk production. If implantation does not occur, things go back to normal and hormones responsible for milk production increase. [My emphasis]

Okay, it's normal and expected, but what can I do about it? I'm so glad that my friend is giving me some of her extra milk for DS! I don't want to wean him completely, I definitely don't want to give him formula, but I know I am not producing enough milk for him right now. I don't want to ask her to supply him with milk for 3 (or more) more months, but she probably wouldn't mind. I think he's ready for a lot more foods than we are giving him, so maybe we'll just move faster with foods that I was planning. We need to start proteins and expand our vegetable choices. I'm going to drink as much water as I can stomach, and I'm going to try to get some oatmeal cookies made since they seemed to help somewhat in the past.

I called the doctor a few minutes ago. Since my doc doesn't deliver babies, he won't have the receptionist set up an appointment automatically. He will call me back. But I'm at work. So I hope I can do the "call park" thing right on my phone when the time comes so I can get to a more private phone to talk about it.

We're pregnant!

I think I'm about 7 weeks along (LMP age, not gestational age). This is such a shock! We are going to have another child! Considering what we went through to get PG the first time, the fact that I'm still breastfeeding, and the (in)frequency of conception opportunities, this conception is "more" of a miracle than the first one!

I started wondering around the 10th of January. My periods started back up when DS was 4 or 5 months old, and had been pretty regular at 28-29 days. I expected that it might start while we were gone on vacation 12/26/02-1/1/03. I was pleased, but not surprised, that it didn't. My milk supply was extra high right before Christmas, but the past 3 weeks it has been dropping. I have been extra tired for about the past 2 weeks, and this past week I have felt bloated and my stomach has been queasy in the mornings until I get some food into it.

DS has his 9 month checkup this coming Thursday, and I was planning on getting a test at the doctor then if it was still a question. The possibility and not knowing was just too much for DH today. He bought me a PG test while grocery shopping. The instructions said to wait 3 minutes, but that a positive could show up in a minute. By the time I got off the toilet to wash my hands the pink line was visible! The control line wasn't there yet, but the PG line was!

It took me a few minutes to figure out how to tell DH, because he commented a several times in the past week that he isn't ready for another child yet. He didn't want two in diapers at the same time. So now we're both in shock. I'm excited, but I don't think the reality has hit yet. DH is starting to think about changes in vacation plans for next summer (EDD is mid-September if my memory is right for my menstrual history -- I hadn't been righting it down), changes in our personal activities, a new vehicle, and probably a new house.

I'm starting this new blog because some family members may still be reading Blog to a Baby, and we're not ready to tell anyone yet. DH did call our pastor and ask for prayers this evening, though. We will probably tell my dad tomorrow. We're already further along than when we told our church last time, but this one is different.