Morton - Party of 4!!

Big Brother Dominic seeing his first glimpse of his new little brother or sister. :)

Brian and I have some wonderful news that we're excited to share with you.  Dominic will be getting a little brother or sister for Christmas this year!  We’re expecting "Baby #2" around December 4th!!!   We couldn't be happier about our family expanding especially after Dominic has brought so much love and fun into our lives these last 14 months.  We should find out Baby #2's sex in June, so it’ll be torture not knowing till then.

Baby #2 at 8 weeks

One of the top questions/comments people have been making to me when I tell them I’m pregnant is about when I was sick with that horrible stomach bug and had to go to the ER.  They all think I was just sick from the pregnancy…even my OBGYN asked! That’s not the case at all.  Dominic and Brian both had the same virus (along with several of our neighbors).  Plus it was way too early for me to be getting that sick.  I haven’t thrown up from “morning sickness” this round yet - thankfully.  What happened was that I took a pregnancy test before I missed my period (sorry for the TMI) because I somehow had a feeling.  The test was faintly positive as it was still really early and then 20 minutes later Dominic threw up in his crib from the stomach bug.  Yes, it was quite an eventful night!  The next night I got sick too and couldn’t stop throwing up.  I would probably have ended up in the ER anyway from this as the exact same thing happened to me when I was in graduate school and caught a stomach bug from the kids I nannied for at the time.  Brian had to take me to the ER that night too because I couldn’t stop throwing up.  This time knowing that I was pregnant plus breastfeeding Dominic made it even more important that I not become too dehydrated, so I made Brian take me to the hospital. 

In the last several weeks, I’ve been enduring the “fun” of morning sickness – or pregnancy sickness as I prefer to call it since it’s definitely not just in the morning!  I feel nauseated most of the time.  With Dominic it was worse though, I’d say (at least at this point), and more constant.  This time it seems to get worse at various times throughout the day and some days are worse than others.  When I was pregnant with Dominic, I was sick 24-7 from weeks 6 through 13.  After that point, the nausea went away.  I’m hoping for the same thing to happen during this pregnancy but worry when I hear people tell me they were sick throughout their entire pregnancy.  Certain smells make it miserable for me.  Dominic’s dirty diapers of course are included but it’s mainly foods that bother me.  Dominic’s grilled cheeses – his favorite food that eats almost daily – make me want to vomit.  It’s been hard to stomach letting him eat them. 

The biggest challenge so far during this pregnancy is my lack of energy.  The same held true during the first trimester of my 1^st pregnancy.  I remember by the time I got home from work that summer (I taught at a summer program during my summer break), I was too exhausted to move…let alone cook dinner or do anything else that needed to be done.  Work was particularly hard that summer because I was feeling sick and exhausted all of the time while I was having to entertain, teach, and take care of 15 3^rd graders.  This pregnancy I’m just as exhausted and taking care of a 1 one year old.  In some ways it’s a lot harder and in other ways it’s a lot easier than the last pregnancy.  I’m able to take a nap usually when Dominic takes his nap, which has been very helpful to my energy level.  I couldn’t do that if I was teaching.  On the other hand, Dominic wants to play all of the time, but I honestly don’t have the energy to play with him as often as I used to.  I spend a great deal of the time playing peek-a-boo with Dominic from the sofa.  And forget about chores around the house.  Cooking, cleaning, and laundry all require too much energy most of the time.  Poor Brian’s been doing most of the cooking these days.  I know that my energy level will most likely go back up once I clear the first trimester, but to be honest it does scare me to think how the last couple of months will be when I’m 8 months pregnant trying to keep up with a 20 month old.

I’m counting the days until we can find out Baby #2’s sex.  I feel like then we can start planning and really make it all real.   I made a 3-D ultrasound appointment in mid-June, so we can find out early.  I’m impatient.  Until then we’re going to start clearing out our living room to prepare to make it an office.  Our current office is an upstairs bedroom, which will become Dominic’s room.  His nursery will become Baby #2’s room.  Dominic’s new bedroom will be MUCH bigger than his current room and the furthest away from the nursery, so hopefully he won’t be woken up by Baby #2.  There’s so much to do and, believe it or not, so much to buy before December.  I can't wait!!!