That Person

There is this funny thing about having kids.  It has made me realize I've already become "that person" in so many ways.  I am now that person who...

*stays in "yoga" pants 6 out of the 7 days of the week and only 25% of the time will actually have make-up on
*will linger a little longer during a church service to hear the speaker in hopes I myself will be uplifted even though my babies are starting to make louder and louder noises
*arrives late to events because my estimation oh how long it'll take me to get out the door has still not caught up with the reality of how long it actually takes
*tries to navigate a double stroller in the narrow aisles of stores while bumping into clothing racks and just saying, "Sorry...oops, sorry...oh yeah, um sorry about knocking that over" then just keeps going
*makes a weight loss goal public who should've just kept their mouth shut because instead of using this...

I now have to use this...

I'm that person who struggles for YEARS with infertility then after finally having a baby (in my case babies) gets pregnant naturally right away.  Yup, that gets added to the list now too.  Ahhhh, I am now "that person" in so many ways.  Let's just establish that babies are a blessing and there is no denying that, but I have to admit getting pregnant so soon after having twins has really devastated my body image.  I seriously was so pumped to "get my body back" and now it'll be 2013 before I even start thinking about that again, blah.  And for those of you who are super human and gain like 10 pounds during pregnancies and work out the entire time so within 2 weeks of delivery you're back to your pre-pregnant body I don't want to hear any advice you have to give.  I think its generous of me to say we can still be friends at all ;-)

*** I know that the majority of my readers are women, but there is one who is not - so this is where you may want to stop reading, Grandpa***

So now onto the details.  When my cycle came back after having the twins everything was back to clock work.  I've always been super regular in that department (which is why it was uber frustrating dealing with unexplained infertility).  Then one month I was late.  Dave and I talked about it and decided to wait another week or so since it was still so close after I had the babies before we tested anything and we were both in denial that we'd really be pregnant.  Still nothing.  Then the following week Dave came home one night with a pregnancy test and early on a Sunday morning he woke me up and said, "So are you going to take the test?"  I was still so groggy that I replied, "I don't have a test, I'm not in school anymore."  He laughed and said, "No, the pregnancy test."  Oh yeah.  So I grabbed one of the sticks and headed off to the bathroom.  No joke in 2 seconds flat it had changed, but Dave got a test I was not familiar with (which is pretty funny since I have peed on many, many pregnancy test before) and I had to shout to him, "Look at the box and tell me what it means if there is one negative sign and one plus sign."  He came running in and said, "It means you're pregnant!"  SHOCK.  Complete and total shock.  I couldn't even bring myself to pee on the second stick because I didn't want it confirmed so fast.  

I still can't believe it.  And to be honest after trying so hard to have the twins and all the anticipation and work that led up to it, this was a bit anti-climatic.  I thought - so this is how it is for everyone else.  Just pee on a stick after being a little late then boom yup, pregnant.  I waited to call the OB for a little bit, again still trying to wrap my head around it all.  Don't worry, I did start taking pre-natal vitamins right away though.  So finally I made it in for the blood test, results - positive.  At the first ultrasound we saw the baby was measuring right around what the estimated due date is - 

It was really fun sharing the news with our parents.  We told mine on my mom's birthday and I totally wished I'd had our flip set up to record her reaction because it was awesome!  I gave her a gift of a framed family photo of us with wording on it that said - Printed Picture $2, Frame $15, Gift Bag $3.50, the look on your face when you realize there are five of us in this photo, priceless!  Priceless indeed.

We told my MIL early on Mother's Day by asking about my SIL who is due in a month with their third boy.  We asked, "Now what number will this make for how many grandchildren you'll have?"  Nineteen!  Then Dave said, "Gosh mom, who do you think will have number 20?"  She laughed and thought about it and said, "Oh, I don't know." Then Dave said, "Well, I do - it's us!  We're pregnant."  She was shocked as well and it was so fun sharing the news with her too.

As my mother so lovingly pointed out, "Well you had the twins sleeping through the night by 4 months old, then you add 9 months of pregnancy so they'll be 13 months apart.  Can't help but wonder if you didn't so such a good job with sleep training if this baby wouldn't have come for a little longer."  Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

There you have it - the details of Traxler baby #3.  Well, I guess I should share this detail as well -- we are not finding out the gender until the day I deliver.  We figure why not keep with the trend and let this baby be a surprise all the way around?!  As far as being prepared, we already have baby things for a boy AND girl so we're covered...I think.