so we’re having another baby!
We’re having another baby!
And I am oh-so glad the secret is out. Oh my gosh. First, let’s just say that it’s been the worst kept secret on the internet! Lots of people know and certainly everyone who came to my meetup last month knew (hence the lack of pictures!!), so waiting this long to tell you guys was excruciating.
I always feel out of the loop and not-so-connected when I have something that is taking up such a huge part of my life but I haven’t shared it with you guys yet.
So let’s overshare! Let the insanely rambly pregnancy updates resume. First, I’m due on Halloween, so for Max’s trick or treating sake, I’m hoping this little one stays put for an extra day or two. Heh.
This pregnancy has been wildly different from the last. I have been a lot more relaxed, for one thing. And I attribute that to four things:
- Max! He keeps me so distracted and busy all day long. I don’t have much time to (over)think.
- The book. I’ve had an enormous workload on my plate this year, with regular work, freelance, but also shooting the book and putting together my manuscript. Thankfully most of the recipe testing was done last year (I cannot even IMAGINE doing that while pregnant), but shooting, some occasional retesting and putting together the final manuscript has kept me busy.
- No fear of the unknown. Since I’ve already been through this once, my very worry wart mind was sliiiightly at ease. Slightly.
- This is TMI, but no spotting this time around! You guys might remember that with Max, I spotted everyday until 16+ weeks and again at 20 and 22 weeks. While my doctor said this was fine or normal (and was not concerned at ALL! Which freaked me out!), seeing that everyday was so anxiety-inducing and I was just waiting for the worst to start.
And the other way it’s been different? I.have.been.so.sick. HOLY CRAP!! When I was pregnant with Max, I had a few days where I was really down and out, but that was a joke compared to the last 15 weeks. I was so nauseatingly, pukey, horrible-feeling, dead-on-my-feet every single day, ALL day, from week 5 to week 15ish. I have never felt anything like it. It has been crazy! And I love being pregnant, so feeling that way has been a bummer.
I was even taking the b6 + unisom combo that my doctor recommended for my last pregnancy and it did nothing. In my true dramatic fashion, the last four-ish months have been a blur and I have no idea how I got so much work done!
I’m obviously not sure why I’ve felt so different, but I keep wondering if it’s because I’m three years older?! Everyone around me is all “oh you’re having a girl!” but I don’t necessarily buy that. Plus, since I know you guys will ask…
WE ARE NOT FINDING OUT AGAIN! It was such an amazing experience with Max, and we (Eddie especially) really want to experience that again.
Another way that this pregnancy is different? I have zero feeling of what’s in my belly. I was so sure that Max was a boy (I had a dream when I was very newly pregnant, but didn’t know I was pregnant, that I birthed a baby boy and named him Max’s exact name) almost the entire time. This time, I am really unsure. I am sort of feeling boy, but maybe because I already have one?
Everyone always says that they know I’m hoping for a girl, but just because I’m girly doesn’t mean I only want a girl. I have two brothers, so I think that if Max has brother, it would be such an incredible experience. It’s cliché but it is so true: we are just praying for a healthy baby.
Anyhoo, now that the all-day sickness is in the past, I have been hit with a horrific sinus infection and am unable to take my usual cocktail of cold meds. I’m living on apple cider vinegar (which also DID help a bit with the nausea) and lots of sleep, humidifier-ed rooms and trying to stay away from dairy until it passes, but oomph.
So how did I find out? If you’re a frequent reader to the baby page, then you know that we had been trying. I had taken so many negative tests over the last year that I was not expecting one in February to be positive, and it was! It was about three months after I stopped nursing, so even though I tried all the tricks of the trade while still breastfeeding Max, I just don’t think my body could do it for some reason.
We were leaving music class and I just couldn’t wait any longer. I was two days late but promised myself I wouldn’t test until five days… and totally caved. We stopped at the grocery store and of course, even though I am a WOMAN IN MY THIRTIES, I have to buy extra things in to cover up the pregnancy test in my cart while I walk through the rest of the store. Like what am I so afraid of? Why am I such an unassertive baby?!
The moment we got home and I took the test and saw a +, I had the same reaction as my first pregnancy. FREAK OUT! In the best way possible, obviously. But my heart was racing, I started pacing my house like a lunatic while Max just looked at me like I was crazy.
We got back in the car – Max and I ran to Target and grabbed a big brother shirt. I planned to have him in the shirt when Eddie came home, but much like the last time I found out, I forgot that Eddie had a work event that night and Max would be asleep by the time he got home. Luckily for me, Eddie ran home in the late afternoon. Unluckily for him, my aunt had dropped by to see us, and I didn’t want to spill the beans yet, so instead of having Max IN the shirt, I followed Eddie upstairs like a psycho and threw the shirt at him once we were in our room! He opened it and immediately started to bawl his eyes out because he is the sensitive one in the relationship.
HAHAHAHA. It was perfect.
Speaking of Max, he kiiiind of gets it, but I think he also gets it confused with my SIL who is pregnant and due in July. I didn’t mention it to him much for the first few weeks because we hadn’t told our families yet and I didn’t want him accidentally mentioning it, but now he knows for sure that “there is a baby in mama’s belly.” If you ask him if it’s a boy or a girl, he ONLY says girl (but also might be confusing that with my SIL, who is having a girl!) and says he wants to name her Pink. Bahaha. No idea where that came from.
So overall, I am feeling great pregnancy-wise. For those first few months, I was petrified that I was on the verge of getting scurvy because it felt like I was surviving on saltines, the occasional pretzel and water.
Speaking of water! OMG. I know that I had a slight weird thing with water early on in my pregnancy with Max, but this was on another level. I drink water all day – in fact, it’s all I drink and really like. I don’t like soda or carbonated beverages, I don’t drink any sort of juice, the only thing I drink (asides from alcohol, ha) is kombucha. Around 5 weeks I was immedaitely turned off from water – it tasted terrible. This lasted up until around 2 weeks ago. The only water I could drink has to be freezing ICE cold and out of a straw. Normally, I prefer it at room temperate with no ice. Crazy.
And speaking of alcohol, obviously, no I haven’t been drinking all of the cocktails I’ve been sharing! I made a ton early on before our kitchen renovation, when I had multiple people here to test them out. I’ve made a few on other days when I have someone here to test them. But otherwise, I’m going to be taking an obvious hiatus from cocktail Thursday posts! I’ll be sharing regular drinks, mocktails and maybe a post on my Crumbs section instead.
I haven’t had a ton of other food aversions, besides, well… everything. I haven’t wanted to eat anything because I’ve felt so awful. Things that have sounded particularly terrible are chicken, oh and sweet potatoes! Back in January when I had this 48 hour flu bug, I had been eating a bunch of sweet potatoes before and couldn’t stand the sight of them after that sickness. Since then, the aversion has just become worse.
No real cravings either, other than tons of fruit. Smoothies. Ice cold things, but not ice cream. I don’t want anything sweet, like chocolate or dessert at all. See the above where I only wanted fruit-flavored froyo with no toppings! SO weird. Um and the only real embarrassing thing I’ve been crazy? The Pittsburgh-style salads. Like grilled chicken or steak salads with tons of iceberg, piled high with cheese and French fries and covered in Italian dressing. I mean, GROSS right. May as well just order a cheeseburger. But. I only had one once… last week. Ha! I think that got me over it.
ALSO. I have to tell you about this weirdest thing. I have been wildly… irritable. SO irritable. And not with people, but with THINGS! Like, what? For the first three months, I’ve hated having my hair down and having any jewelry on. If I heard certain songs and music, I basically LOST my mind. I couldn’t stare at a screen. I couldn’t watch TV. Gilmore Girls annoyed the heck out of me. The only thing that keep me from losing my mind and puking at the same time was READING.
Guys. I freaking read 13 books in a matter of weeks. It was ALL I would do when I wasn’t working. I could watch an hour of our favorite shows or something, but couldn’t watch Sunday night TV for 2 or 3 hours. On the weekends, I would spend about 6 to 8 hours locked in our room working on my manuscript, and the rest of the time when I wasn’t playing with Max, I’d read if we weren’t out and about.
From the time Max went to sleep around 630-730, I would start reading and read well until the night. One of the early signs that I thought I *might* be pregnant was because that crazy insomnia came back that I had early on with Max. For the first few weeks, I would go to sleep and wake up at 2am and be up until 5 or 6. So some nights I would just read from 7 until 12 or 1. Some nights I read entire books in one sitting after he went to bed and while Eddie was working or sleeping. It was crazy!
Once I finished reading so much and was spending time working on the book, there were nights when I was going to bed at, um… 730. Basically with Max. Sometimes 830. Pretty sure there was a Saturday night here and there when I went to bed at 8 after working on the book from 12 to 7. I WAS REALLY A BALL OF FUN! Max had a ton of dada time on the weekends while I finished up the book.
In more pregnancy clichés, I feel like I started showing a lot earlier this time around. And right now, my bump is around the size it was when I was 20 weeks pregnant with Max. Eeep. I love it.
The kitchen remodel has been a blessing and a curse. After so much cooking and recipe development over the last few months, it was amazing to just be OUT of the kitchen and away from all that food while I felt so sick. But also, coming up with dinner was torturous because nothing sounded good. I actually am still having a tough time coming up with dinner ideas each day (of course, since the kitchen is taking weeks longer than I was told), which is frustrating. But also, okay, since I have to make dinner and feed another little mouth in this house!
Okay! Other than all that jazz… I think I’m done. 1962 words later, per usual. Glad to know we’re right on track! Thanks for reading all my wordy rambles. You guys are the best. We’re so excited!
219 Comments on “so we’re having another baby!”
YES YES YES! I was wondering if we might hear something like this soon. How wonderful for you and your family. Hoping the rest of your pregnancy goes smoothly. A huge congrats to you!
thank you kristin!
Congratulations! This is just so exciting! Max is so super cute I can’t wait
to see the next super cutie baby!
As for morning sickness.. ohh girl. I feel ya. I was one of those people that was sick from day 1 to day of delivery. Terrible Horrible Very Bad sick. I had a girl. Maybe that’s a sign since it’s different for you this time? Love following along from afar and I wish you guys the absolute best!
thank you so much! and i seriously cannot even IMAGINE being sick the entire time! i was so afraid that’s how it was going to be. don’t know how you did it!
It was awful awful. I work ft outside the home and spent a lot of time lying under my desk with a garbage can and the phone cord stretched . There’s a reason I was ‘one and done’ LOL But it was all worth it in the end.
Yay!! Let me tell you, Halloween birthday parties are the best!!!lol!
thank you tonia!! :)
Congrats! I am due with #3 on 11/1 and also not finding out. I have two boys.
yay! congrats to you!! xo
Major congrats!!! I was wondering and sort of had a feeling you would be sharing news like this one of these days and am so thrilled for you guys! Sorry to hear you were massively sick (I was too), the worst, ugh, but glad you seem to be doing better now. And your dress is beautiful!
i remember you telling me how sick you were!!! gahhhhhh. thanks love!
So happy for you and that bump picture is just the cutest thing!
thank you love!!!
So excited for baby How Sweet #2!!
thanks ryan!!! xo
I was super sick the second time around! Couldn’t even walk in my kitchen or think about food with out running for the bathroom! Turned out to be twins 😱😱😱
I’m so happy for your new addition!
haha this is SO funny, i was so sick that my brother was convinced i was pregnant with twins at first!
yea!!! i’ve been wondering when we would see this news. congratulations!! so happy for you guys.
thanks jennifer!
Congrats! I’ve got almost the same due date (oct. 28), allow with #2 and I also think it’s a girl but just because #1 was a girl!
What were the 13 books you read?
congrats to you!!
i listed most of the books in my tuesday things through the last few months, but i read basically all of renee carlino’s books, all of colleen hoover’s (that i hadn’t read), all by taylor jenkins reid and a few randoms!
OHH I just discovered Taylor Jenkins Reid and read all of her books early this spring. LOVE.
Omg, your baby post made me bawl so bad, especially when you talked about telling Eddie.
Omg!!! And you’re gonna have a Scoripo baby!!!! The Scorpio club is the best!! :-D So happy for you and wishing you and your new baby and family so much blessings!!!
honestly i am nervous as hell about having a scorpio baby because i am a scorpio and i am a lunatic. thank you leanne! xo
Congratulations! So happy for you and your growing family! Loved every word of this 1962 word post! XOXO!
thank you liz!! xo
Yes! I knew it!!! Congratulations! I’m an avid reader of the site and loved, Loved, LOVE all your preggo posts with max. Plus I’m at 13 weeks with our third, so it’ll be extra fun to follow along!
thanks kathryn! congrats to you!
Congratulations!
The ultrasound technician told me that the older siblings are always right. When I was pregnant with #2, my older daughter kept telling us that I was having a sister. She wanted to name her Yellow Star. (We went with Quinn instead. ;) ) Thinking about it… I had the same due date, too!!
oh that’s so funny!!! hahaha!!!
Congrats! I just had my second 6 weeks ago. We did not find out the gender either. I have a soon-to-be 3 year old son who was also convinced the baby was a girl for my entire pregnancy and that we should name her Bingo…as in “was his (her) name-o”. His certainty that it was a girl definitely through me for a loop when our second boy arrived. Clairvoyant, he is not, I guess. 😬 And we dodged a bullet with “Bingo”.
Ha! We had the exact same situation. I blame Daniel Tiger, Super Why, etc. ALL the children’s shows have a male protagonist with a baby sister!
ahhh! HAHAHA. that is so true. i really think max is thinking it’s a girl because he is confused with my SIL in having a girl (we were all so crazy excited when she found out and talked about it nonstop!) oh my, we shall see.
So wonderful!! 💕 I loved getting this happy news today. Thanks for sharing!
thank you!! xoxo
Congratulations!! Been hoping to see this news. :) That dress is gorgeous on you too, btw. Look forward to reading/hearing more about the pregnancy as things go along!
thank you emily!
Congrats!! What were the tricks you tried before weaning? My one year old is showing no signs of slowing down but we would like to start trying soon. Curious about what you tried!
oh man! i tried a bunch of things. if you google, there are lots of “tricks” that certain women swear by. my main things were stopping any and all nursing at night, going at least 8 to 10 hours between nursing (this was in the later months after he was about 1.5 years old, taking some maca powder to boost fertility (which i often use in smoothies anyway), making sure i was eating enough but limiting sugar, etc… i just don’t think my body could do it! especially because my period had returned before he was 1 and was back on regular schedule. i’ve known lots of people to get pregnant while breastfeeding though!
Ahhhh I had a feeling! CONGRATS!
thank you lauren!!!
Congrats! My first is a few months younger than Max and my second is due in a month- I was hoping to see this news from you! Going from one to two is so exciting! My pregnancy felt harder this time because running after a toddler is just so exhausting. Going to bed at 7:30 makes total sense to me! Wishing you lots of health and feeling good!
thanks rachel!! congrats to you!!
Might be too soon to tell, but is this one riding differently? My 2 pregnancies were light years apart- first I was super sick and the baby rode so low I really thought I should wear stockings to catch the little squirt. Was a really chilled out kid though, moved but not crazy. Turned out to be a boy. My second one I wasn’t sick, and it rode so high I thought it’d come out my nose. and ACTIVE? omg it was like a starfish on cocaine. Girl. Go figure. (There about 3 years between the 2)
this definitely made me laugh out loud, haha!!! i can’t really tell yet? and i haven’t had anyone (like my mom, family members) say anything yet if i’m carrying differently. we shall see!
Congrats! Love your blog and now I’m really excited about the mock-tail recipes. I’m a couple weeks behind you with my second and my newest love drink wise is a pineapple aqua fresca. Super refreshing, not sweet if I don’t want it to be. Congrats again!
thank you katie!!! congrats to you!
Congratulations!!!! Max is the cutest!! You and Eddie make such gorgeous babies!! I’m so happy for you. 💜💜
thank you rachael!
CONGRATULATIONS! <3
thank you katy!
Congratulations!! So excited for you! I’m 9 weeks along with my second and soooo much sicker than I remember being the first time around. Sometimes my son says his baby sister is in my tummy and sometimes he says it’s his brother… depends on what he wants that day, I guess! So cute!
congrats to you ann!!! thank you!
Just reading this whole thing with the most gigantic grin on my face. Sorry you’ve been so sick, I hope the rest of it is just easy sailing. Wish I could give you a big hug! Huge congratulations!
thank you! love you!
I just love this so much! Max is so adorable, baby 2 is going to be such a cutie! We are hoping to get pregnant sometime over the next year and I’m of course stressed bc I’m halfway through my 30s *sigh*. Such an exciting journey and I can’t wait to see yours unfold!! Much love to you guys 💗
no stress!! you are super healthy and active. :) thank you so much girl!!
I was wondering when you would be pregnant again. Yahoo!!!!!!!!
I am so glad you’re not finding out the 2nd time……I always said it is the biggest surprise you can have in your life.
So what if people buy green and yellow baby stuff.
I am so happy for you.
thank you alicia! it is such an amazing surprise!
So happy for you!!!! Congrats, Jess!!!!!!!! <3 <3
thank you love!
Oh my gosh Jessica!! I had my baby boy just a few weeks after your Max was born and now I’m also pregnant – 14 weeks! Looks like our littles will be matching in age!
We found out the gender of this one – I just couldn’t wait – we’re having a girl :) it would be an awesome coincidence if you did too!
Best of luck through the rest of your journey – I hope it goes smoothly and you feel radiant and well x
LOVE! congrats to you!!!
Oops! I got too excited and forgot so Congratulations to you too!
Congratulations Jess! I kept thinking I might see an announcement one of these days! :)
PS – No shame in that Pittsburgh salad craving.. not pregnant, but sometimes I crave them and nothing else will suffice! I grew up in Pittsburgh but relocated to Baltimore for a few years and it was torrrrtureeeee when a craving would hit and I couldn’t get a salad with steak, fries, black olives and ranch on a giant pile of iceburg HAHA! Luckily I’m back in the ‘burgh living in the South Side now where Pittsburgh salads are a-plenty ;)
Congratulations Jessica! So happy for you, Eddie and little Max!! That picture is so cute!! Love the dress too (i think it’s a dress right?) love it!! 🤰🏻Congrats again!
Hooray! I’m so happy you for you and your family. I know we discussed this topic at the retreat, so really fun to see it come to fruition. Sending all the love and health. xo
Ah congratulations! You don’t know me in real life but I started following along with your blog obsessively when you did your last pregnancy posts. I actually went back and re-read your posts when I was pregnant with my daughter a year later and I love your Max posts! So excited for you and excited to follow in this new journey now! (Maybe it will convince me that we’re ready for baby #2!)
What wonderful news! Congratulations!
I’m going to guess girl, also. I read that pregnancy tends to be “worse” with a girl because you have double girl hormones. Made sense to me.
OMG!!! Congratulations!! I didn’t know when I saw you last month. I’m so happy for you!! :)
Congratulations!!! Very happy and exciting news. When I had met you here in Seattle at Book Larder you were pregnant with Max. He’s such a cutie!!! Glad you are feeling better. Your symptoms sound all girl to me, but as you said healthy is all that matters. Hope the rest of your pregnancy is smooth sailing!
Congratulations! Such a lovely, sweet post, best of luck throughout the rest of your pregnancy!
Congratulations!! It sounds like you’re having a happy and healthy pregnancy. My kids are teenagers now so I love reading your rambles about Max and little boy stuff. Brings me right back to when my kids were little! Really happy for you and Eddie and I know that Max will love his little brother or sister!
Congratulations you guys!! My daughter had a horrible sinus infection and doesn’t like to take medicine. We found that coconut oil on qtips put lightly in her nose and swirled around was helpful. It helped to hydrate her dry nose while working to kill the infection. I think that coconut oil is the cure for everything at this point. If your throat is dry/sore/scratch, gargling with some with also help that. Again, so happy for you all!! Take care, Stacey
I’m so freaking excited for you!!! Also, Max is exactly six months older than my son and I’ve read all of your pregnancy and baby posts religiously the past two plus years, considering them to be a sort of crystal ball. My husband and I are hoping to try for another soon, so in my super logical mind, that means that we shouldn’t have any trouble conceiving, because of course it will just end up being six months behind yours again.
Keep up the baby posts. I live for them.
Congratulations! I love reading your blog for both the recipes and the baby posts and am so happy for you and your family! My son is going to be 2 this summer and we’ve been trying for a second for 5 months now with no success. It was so easy the first time! I really appreciate your openness and honesty about your own experience as it makes me feel better to know that others have been through this too and had it all work out. Best wishes for a happy and healthy pregnancy!
SO HAPPY FOR YOU FRIEND! AHHHHHHH
Lol I love reading your word rambles! CONGRATS JESSICA! So happy for you! :) :) :)
Jessica, I am so happy for you! The pictures of Max hugging you is precious. (and I love your dress!)
I hope this pregnancy is smooth and easy for you!
Congratulations to you and your family!! What an amazing blessing!! You certainly do have all of the usual symptoms of having a girl … even the denial part. hahaa ;) Craving fruit is a sign, and also the nausea and mood swings, supposedly due to higher amounts of estrogen in your body while creating that tiny female. But I know you are thrilled with simply healthy!! And we are thrilled for you!!
I had a feeling! Congratulations! I was actually laughing out loud when I read “I followed Eddie upstairs like a psycho and threw the shirt at him once we were in our room!” I’m still laughing because I can see that whole scene. And it’s totally something I would do. I can’t surprise my husband the way I wanted? I’ll throw the surprise at him! ROFL
I hope this time is easier. :)
i’m due with my first on october 28 and i’m kinda hoping s/he goes longer because how fun would a halloween birthday be? we are not finding out the sex either and i’m looking forward to the surprise though for some reason we’re really only considering that it could be a boy. like only thinking boy names and not paying attention to girl-y stuff at all. *luckily* i’ve not had many symptoms at all. like i’m still always surprised when the dr finds the heartbeat at my appointments because i just don’t *feel* pregnant. though i guess i still have a good 5 months for that to change! can’t wait to get more preg updates and follow along with you!
Congratulations!!!