Here We Go Again

Anyone who has perused this little blog of mine will be well acquainted with the many struggles I experienced in my transition into motherhood. It may be no surprise therefore, that my daughter is quickly approaching three years of living the single child experience! Despite my own lifelong love of children, and of small babies in particular, there have been many moments when I have strongly considered never getting pregnant again.

Josephine enjoying the full attention of both parents.

Even in these moments however, I never thought we were completely done having children. Whether biological or adopted, I have always wanted to give Josephine the gift of siblings to play with, fight with, and be lifelong friends with. Having grown up with three sisters who have continued to be my best friends in adulthood, I have specifically hoped she would be blessed with the gift of at least one sister!

Baby Girl Gibbs at 12 weeks!

Here is where the great news comes in- I am pregnant with her first ever sibling! Josephine is incredibly excited to be a big sister, and now pretends to have a baby in her tummy several times a day.

In keeping with my parenting journey thus far, this pregnancy has been quite difficult. I had barely any nausea with Josephine, and only started feeling really uncomfortable in the third trimester, which I am convinced no reasonable woman could truly enjoy. This time around has been an entirely different experience, with so-called morning sickness raging around the clock, relentless insomnia from week four or so, and a heightened sense of smell which makes me dread opening the refrigerator. I have taken to drinking only from my closed top water bottle, as fresh water in a clean cup smells revoltingly like glass.

Practicing her big sister skills with her cousin Eleanor.

During the several months it took us to get pregnant, the idea of an at least six month delay before our family was really affected helped to calm my fears of having a second child. Instead, from the day before my positive pregnancy test, it has felt like my life has come to a screeching halt. I had reached a point where I finally felt like I was getting this stay-at-home mom gig down, complete with routine cooking and regular laundry completion. Despite being very excited about this baby, I honestly have enjoyed a miniscule fraction of this baby baking process.

All of this is why I am a whopping sixteen weeks along already, and am only announcing it now! We announced my pregnancy with Josephine as soon as we had verified it with a six week ultrasound, but this time around the very idea of posting to social media or writing a blog post has been prohibitively exhausting.

Josie and her cousin Eddie

Not only do I now get to announce that Josephine is a big sister, but that she has a little sister as well! This is a relief to all of us, since she had been vehemently opposed to this child being a boy. When asked why, her explanation was simply, "because Eddie." Apparently her cousin's constant pestering has soured her idea of a brother.

I am sure that both girls will give me plenty of material for my scribbling, so readers can be sure they will be kept informed of our many struggles and adventures as we jump once again into the worlds of diapers, teething and sleep regressions. We are going into this round with much fear and trembling, as we are no longer the naively optimistic first timers of three years ago. Prayers for a more tolerable level or suffering this time around would be infinitely appreciated!