Surprise!

We should talk about this:

Yes, y'all, I am pregnant, and I just found out yesterday. Normally, I wouldn't publicly announce an impending birth so soon into a pregnancy, but as always, there's an element of surprise with this.

The kicker? I am seventeen weeks along!

"Wait, what? Did she just say she's seventeen weeks into a pregnancy and just found out yesterday?!"

Oh, you think you're shocked? I can assure you that you are not as shocked as Chris and me. There's nothing like finding out you're pregnant and immediately finding out that you're nearly half way through said pregnancy. (By the way, it's a girl, and I'm due in March!)

In many regards I feel like I could have ended up on that show "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant". Between this and my last baby falling into a toilet, it's getting harder and harder for me to convince people that A- I'm not an idiot, and B- that I am not a redneck.

Shall we cover some basics, first?

How could you possibly not know you were pregnant this far into your pregnancy?! 

So far, I have exhibited zero symptoms. And people, this ain't my first rodeo! No morning sickness, no unusual fatigue, no major weight gain, no strong food cravings, no changes in appetite, nothing! I took a home pregnancy test on a whim because I was feeling a tad chubbier than usual. In retrospect, this could possibly explain some recent sleeplessness and general crabbiness, but I just chalked that up to having a toddler and a baby in the house.

Uh, didn't you suspect you were pregnant when you missed your period? 

I haven't had a period since December 2011 because I was pregnant with Caroline and then nursing for nearly a year. Caroline had only weened three weeks ago, and Aunt Flow hadn't come by for a visit. Now we know why.

But couldn't you feel the baby move by now? 

No, I didn't, and I still don't. Turns out my placenta is low lying, so it's muffling a lot of the early movements. With Jude and Caroline I didn't feel them moving until way past week 20.

But... but surely you're showing a little already? 

I am! Just a little. But I attributed it to not having gone to the gym in over a month and eating really horrible foods during my midwest vacation last week. I estimate that I've only gained three pounds since this summer. My jeans still fit and my feet haven't swollen. Yet.

I don't understand! Seriously! How could you not know?

Since July, I've taken three home pregnancy tests, wondering where my period was, and all turned out negative. The two I took right before and after TxSC were digital and it may have just been too early to tell. The one I took more recently may have been too old to give a proper read (I found it under my sink and I think it was from 2010). Combine that with the nursing on demand and no period and no symptoms, I thought my womb was vacant for the time being!

Was this a planned pregnancy? 

For over a year now, I've done this really odd thing at playgrounds: I visually check in on Caroline (usually strapped onto my chest or in her stroller) and I get a bead on Jude and then I'd start tracking for a third kid... who I don't have! I have not felt that our family is complete. Likewise Chris would like to have at least four children total. We weren't actively preventing a pregnancy, and we were certainly hopeful to add to our family again one day. Baby three is a surprise, but a happy, welcome surprise, indeed! We do still feel very strongly about fostering and adopting, but it appears that the wisest choice for us is to push our foster to adopt classes back a year. Personally, I love that our first three kids are going to be so close in age.

So are you still going to do the Mrs. Texas pageant? 

Ha! There is no way I can compete in the 2014 Mrs. Texas pageant as the pageant has been pushed back to April (from December) and is three weeks after my due date. I'll retain the Mrs. Austin title through 2014 and compete in Mrs. Texas in 2015. Pageant prep is on hold.

Note:

When one finds out she is pregnant and well into her second trimester of pregnancy a few things happen:

1. You start mentally going through the last four months to determine if you did anything that could have disrupted the normal development of the baby. Did I drink too much? How much sushi and deli meat have I had? Did I eat enough vegetables? Thankfully I am not a smoker or recreational drug user, and I can count the number of drinks I've had since June on one hand (and thankfully those were not all on one night!). Baby 3 is perfectly healthy so far. I do feel bad for all the fried and fast food I've been giving her, though. I've got to increase my vegetable intake, stat!

2. The nesting urge hits you like a ton of bricks. Realizing that I have half the time to prep my house for this baby as I had with Jude and Caroline is daunting. How did my house get so full of toys? When is the last time I even dusted? How can I find the time to clean out the closet and drawers in Caroline's room to make room for her new sister's things? How can I shove another crib into the already small room they're going to share? Sadly, I think I'm going to have to start stalking Pinterest again to get some ideas for a shared room and to come up with a strong de-cluttering plan in the meantime.

Oh, and about this labor...

I had precipitous labor with both Jude and Caroline. Jude was born in three hours and Caroline in twenty minutes. I am mentally preparing for a more traditional labor, but I'm also aware that I could birth in like, five minutes flat, while out and about or something. I think I should lock myself in my house for the entire month of March so I don't become the subject of a news story about a woman giving birth in the McDonald's drive thru. I still plan on doing a homebirth with Julia and Laurie as my attending midwives again. I just really, really hope this baby doesn't end up in the toilet. Surely she's surprised us enough already?

Bottom line: despite the shock, we are thrilled and happy! I'm excited to document some maternity style on here this go around. I've never been pregnant in the fall/ winter, so I can't imagine how difficult it's going to be to dress the bump with something other than empire waist sundresses. I am thankful to be feeling great, and I'm just over the moon to be sharing this crazy news with y'all.