Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Differences of being pregnant for the second time... (not talking about symptoms)


So, this has been really irking me since "coming out" with being pregnant, and I've been meaning to blog about it (because that's what we do when we have opinions, right?) When I got pregnant with Greyson, everyone was SO excited, yay it's your first baby, congratulations, etc. It was a really easy, uneventful pregnancy that was actually really fun to go through and experience all the changes and growth of this amazing little life. Now that we are pregnant again, I'm getting a lot of hesitancy from almost everyone. Like, "You are?" And little comments about finances have come up and it really ruins everything for a moment. I get a lot of skeptical looks from people and I don't have to be any Sookie Stackhouse to know that they're thinking I'm an idiot for having another baby.
The only people I get genuine positive reactions from are other young moms (by the way I'm not even THAT young my mom-standards. I'll be 24 when #2 is born, ok? Just apparently everyone still thinks I'm straight out of high school still.) and of course from my own mom. I'm grateful for my friends and fellow struggling young parents - it's definitely not easy. But you know what, it is entirely worth every week that goes by wondering if the cable will be turned off. I mean if my biggest concern as a mostly-stay-at-home-mom is whether or not we can afford the luxury of 300 channels, then I have no room to complain, which means no one else has the right to judge my priorities. Yes, we struggle. But big flippin' deal. Show me someone who hasn't and I'll show you a liar.
I'm excited about my new baby. I'm excited to see Greyson as a big brother and to have someone for him to play with. I'm excited to see Zack with all kinds of little kids hanging from his pant legs. I'm excited to have holiday traditions for these tiny souls and to show them how be respectful and considerate humans, while still being able to stand up for themselves.
So there. I know the difficulties ahead of us, but I also know which things are important. And money isn't one of them.

That being said, here's a little pregnancy update: I'm only 7 weeks, and I won't have my first doctor's appointment until after the new year, but everything is going smoothly. I'm not showing, but I have a definite curve in my lower abdomen that tells me things are growing! I wouldn't say I have morning sickness (though there was about a week there when I did have it) but now it's like I feel like I do the day after getting over the flu. Not quite right, but good enough. And cravings galore! Nothing in particular, it changes by the hour. And if I don't act on it, then I miss that window to eat something and I starve because I can't find anything that sounds good, so I force myself to eat a bagel or something. I never really have cravings with Greyson, but this one's got me all crazy. I can't go to the store very effectively anymore.... I come home with a deli sun sandwich, popcorn chicken, and all the ingredients for chocolate cake. So now I'm making sure I bring a list.

and here's a picture of #1 just because he's adorable :)