Blame it on the rain that was falling, falling

Well, this is the song that is stuck in my head as I write this blog. You know, the old Milli Vanilli song. I suppose it's because I have worked really hard to blame it on something ... anything ... because my counting method has just been impeccable. Ha! Well, I can no longer brag about that. Once...Twice...3 times a mommy - I am due July 8th.

So how did this unfold??? I will start with Wednesday (10/28) when I called my gyno's office and told them I needed to reschedule my annual appt. I said that I was all crampy and I just knew that I was about to start early. They encouraged me to keep the appt and just said to call Thursday morning if I couldn't come in. I went in for the appointment. Dr. Stinson was so pleased with how I'd lost all the baby weight, and my blood pressure was perfect! We even discussed my counting method as he shook his head (I don't take the pill due to the prior concerns with blood pressure), and planned for me to come in the following month for the IUD. He asked if I was finished with children, and I said that I wasn't sure. I would decide by December of 2010, and I wanted to be permanently FIXED then. :)

So I left my appt on cloud 9 - because that's how I always leave there. For hypochondriacs like myself, there' s not much better than a good doctor's appointment. I left there and went shopping for the rest of my morning off. I even called my mom from the mall and told her how dangerous it was for me to be there shopping because I felt so good and wanted to buy all the skinny clothes I haven't been able to wear for so long due to pregnancy. I bought a couple of dresses and 2 pairs of shoes and headed home. The next day was our Halloween party at work. I wore an old black dress (I wore it when I was in college at NWCC in 97!) with leggings...and used yellow duct tape to make stripes and wore a headband antennae that I made for Ronin's party. I was a bee. Anyway, after pretty much the worst day at work ever ever - I came home to my wonderful family. Jax started pulling off my stripes. I was playing with the kids. John was exercising. I walked to the back to chase Ro and noticed that my stomach looked very round and bloated when I looked down. I remembered that I was supposed to start that day, but I felt a little panicky. My stomach was flat the day before. I knew something was not right to be that round and bloated. I dug up a pregnancy test, but I didn't really have time to take it for another hour.

When I finally remembered, it was positive before I even laid the test down. I nearly had a stroke. And then I ran down to the exercise room screaming "I'm pregnant" ... Me, the girl that wrote out an elaborate poem to tell John about Jax. Me, the girl that waited 3 weeks to tell him I was pregnant with Ro so my book that I made could come in. I just ran in and blurted it all out. He (of course) said "No, you're not." Which typically is a good response since I am an over reactor by nature. But I started crying, no I started sobbing. And he said, "Amanda! Calm down. It's going to be fine. We love babies. We are a team. We are going to be fine." I remember it perfectly because I thought he couldn't have said anything more perfect. But I still cried. Then I stopped. Because I became irrational. I decided my test must be expired (it wasn't). I decided I counted my days wrong (I didn't). I then decided that it was NASA's fault. They did bomb the moon on October 6th. They prefer not to use the word "bomb" to describe the $79 million dollar strike on the moon...but as I watched the media surrounding this event on tv, I was rather tickled at the women who had called NASA. They were concerned that this bombing would affect the tide and mess with their menstrual cycles. But this information quickly came reeling through my brain, and I decided that NASA could have made me ovulate early. (Here is the link about that: NASA) I sent John to Walgreen's to buy a package of tests. But after he left, I texted him and told him to buy me some prenatal vitamins while there. I just knew. The test was positive and dark so quick. He read the next two tests for me, and he told me that we were definitely having a third baby. Then he told me I might have to get a minivan. Not the smartest thing considering my emotional breakdown. And just for the record, the picture at the top was how I told my parents.

I called the next week and canceled the IUD and scheduled a prenatal visit. We've already had an ultrasound and saw the heartbeat (140...just about the same for Ro and Jax at this point). And I am feeling pretty well. I have very nauseated moments every day, but I've only thrown up a couple of times thus far. But smells of so many things make me feel sick...garlic bread, keys (the metal?), garbage, road kill, red peppers, green peppers) Okay, I feel sick just typing this. Anyway, I love being pregnant! So once the shock wore off, I was okay. My daily exercise has suffered a little bit, but I am a trooper. I exercised at least 4 times a week the whole time I was pregnant with Ronin until I was 36 weeks.

Anyway, that is our news! I haven't kept it secret at all, and my body really wouldn't let me! Just for proof... here is a 3 week belly picture so you have a good "before."

Here is a 4 1/2 week belly picture:

And here are the 8 week belly pictures....ignore the date!