Hey guys, it’s been a while! There have been lots of changes at the Pickle household the past 6 months, some good and some pretty challenging.

Little P is 19 months old now! In January she started Mother’s Day Out at a preschool close to home. She has thrived and loves her teachers. Her last day of school is this week and I’m sad she won’t have the same teachers during her summer session or in the fall. She’s grown so much since she turned one. She eats and sleeps great and is just a happy kid. She’s definitely no longer a baby and has entered toddlerhood. She’s even transitioned out of her crib. The only struggle is her lack of speech. She’s been referred to early intervention and will be evaluated for a speech delay at the end of the month.

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all dressed up for school picture day

In February Mr. P’s work schedule changed. It’s a temporary change, but we don’t know when it will end. He’s working 12 hour shifts and alternates nights and days. That means a lot of solo parenting for me. Under normal circumstances it would be hard, but it’s even more difficult because of the biggest change our family is experiencing… I’m pregnant!

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18 weeks

Back in December I felt weird for several days in a row. I had one postpartum period and my second one was late. I didn’t think much about the long cycle because I heard they could be irregular for a while. I decided to make a doctor’s appointment to find out why I was feeling weird but figured I should take a pregnancy test beforehand to rule it out. Mr. P picked up the cheapest test in the store while grocery shopping one night and I took it the next morning expecting a negative. After all, we are an infertile couple. I got the shock of my life when I saw that the test was positive. We both wondered how? Over the next couple of months the shock wore off, but we both felt a general uneasiness as we waiting for ultrasounds and NIPT results. There was a great chance I would miscarry or that the baby would have a trisomy. Miraculously the NIPT came normal and the baby looked great at the NT and Anatomy scans! We are expecting a healthy baby girl at the end of August.

This pregnancy has been so much more challenging for me than my first, both physically and mentally. Physically I ache all the time and am already having difficulty moving around. I’m carrying pretty low so I know this will get worse the further along I get. I also have a partial placenta previa. I’m not allowed to lift over 15 pounds. Little P weighs 25 pounds now and not being able to pick her up when she wants me to is not easy. The bright side she is a climber and doesn’t need me to lift her to get in anything like the car seat, high chair, or bathtub. 

I’ve been most surprised by the mental struggles. First there was so much stress about whether or not the pregnancy would be viable. I also struggled with it being an unplanned pregnancy. Frankly, I wasn’t ready to be pregnant again. Apparently I don’t handle life changing surprises very well and that makes me feel guilty because I know lots of people would love to get pregnant without trying. During the first trimester I was dealing with the usual nausea and food aversions while solo parenting and was pretty miserable. Then earlier in the second trimester I dealt with anxiety for the first time with my life. I admire the strength of those who handle mental health issues on a daily basis, because that is one of the hardest things I’ve ever gone through. I reached out for help and am in a much better place now. Mr. P and I are both now excited about this baby and so thankful that our family is growing.

So, what about our last frozen embryo? Our original plan was to go back to our clinic and transfer the last embryo this month. Obviously that is on hold for now. We are keeping the embryo and will transfer sometime in 2019. Once we knew we had infertility we never thought we would have a large family and now we could have three kids! The thought is slightly terrifying to me.

Today, while I am over being pregnant, I can say that I’m excited to be having another baby and looking forward to meeting her in August. I’m doing lots of research trying to figure out what I really need for a second baby. I’m overanalyzing all the double stroller options trying to figure out what’s the best one for the best price. Does anyone have any recommendations?