I have so much to start off with – I’ll try to cram it into this one first post!

I guess to start, I should come out with the reason for this blog to begin with:  we’re having our third baby!  Eeeep! 

There’s a funny little story leading up to us getting our first positive test.

We had only started trying a couple of cycles ago.  As some of you may know, our last baby took almost 18 months to conceive so we both excpected a long road ahead.  I hadn’t gotten all hard-core “ttc” (trying to conceive) yet, I hadn’t gotten the fertility monitor that helped us conceive our last one, and I was only half-assed charting.  So when I got not one, but two negative pregnancy tests a few weeks ago, it wasn’t a terrible shock.  I was busy with Jag’s 6th birthday, his kindergarten graduation and transitioning the whole family into summer break mode.  I had plenty to keep me busy.  And stressed.  Hence the late period, or so I thought.

Fast forward to about a week and a half ago.  I started having some light spotting and thought, how odd.  I’ve only ever spotted when pregnant.  I got a little worried, since I had gotten two negative tests previously, and stupidly did some internet searches that led me to “menopausal spotting.”  Yes, I know how ridiculous that sounds.  EVERYONE told me so.  But I’ve had some bizarre cycle patterns in the past, and I was scared and worried so I called and made an appointment with my OB/GYN.

A couple of days later, the nausea started.  The sore boobs.  The food aversions.  The exhaustion.  I made more than a few comments to Jason that something must be really wrong with me because I feel JUST like I do when pregnant.  (are you laughing yet?)  Jason kept saying “maybe you are,” but I refused to entertain that idea.  I mean, I had taken two tests, they were negative!

In my own defense, I can’t count the number of times I’ve been disappointed by negative tests.  I really don’t look for opportunities to go through it again.

Finally, on Friday, Jason talked me into testing one more time.  He had taken the day off work, so after lunch I zipped up to the drug store to buy a test.  I came home, went straight into the bathroom and peed on the stick.

And there you have it.  Pregnant!  So pregnant that the “pregnant” line is WAY darker than the test line, even!  According to my last cycle’s half-assed chart, I’m seven weeks along already!

It’s kind of weird finding out this late in the game.  With both of my previous pregnancies, I found out at 4 weeks.  So far I’m finding it to be mostly a good thing.  Only a handful of weeks until we can make an official announcement to our friends and extended family (we’ve told close family already).  The second trimester doesn’t feel like it’s forever away.  Fewer weeks to deal with all those first trimester worries.  The only drawback I’ve come up with so far - I didn’t know I was pregnant, so I’ve enjoyed a few beers here and there, taken ibuprofen for my headaches, etc.  Nothing major, but things I normally wouldn’t have done obviously.

I still have my “menopause” appointment this coming week, so I’m going to go ahead and go since it’s right around the time they’d want to see me initially anyway.

Sometime in the next few days I’ll have to take a “before” belly shot, and maybe step on the scale for a “before” weight.  Unfortunately I’m starting out this time about 10 or 12 pounds heavier than I did with Kat’s pregnancy… still hoping to gain very little and have a peanut of a baby again though.

Not sure what to expect on the VBAC front.  My first child was a c-section, and my second was a VBAC attempt ending in c-section.  I don’t know what my doctor’s policies are on VBAC after 2 c-sections.  If they’ll allow me to try, I will.  If not, I’ll not fight it or try to find another provider.  I felt I was given a very fair chance last time around, especially given the circumstances (sent to the hospital at 38 weeks with low amniotic fluid levels detected on an ultrasound) and I even felt that my doctors were genuinely disappointend for me when it didn’t work out (one even shed a couple of tears with me as I cried upon the decision to do the c-section) so I trust their judgement.

Oh, and about the name of the blog… we are a perfectly, evenly divided family.  We have 2 girls (myself and Kat) and 2 boys (Jason and Jag).  Even when you count the dogs, we’re even steven.  This baby will be our tie breaker!

So there you have it – the beginning of The Tie Breaker.  Tune in later for more!