How HAndS's Baby #2 Came To Be

Let's start at the very beginning....

If Shaun had it his way, our second baby would've already been born, hehe.  However, I couldn't have a baby while in nursing school, so he had to wait.  Sorry Shaun!  We agreed to start trying in November 2011, which would give me an EDD of August 2012.  I graduate at the end of May 2012, so even if the baby was premature, I would still be in the clear for graduating.  This would also be perfect for Shaun, because he will have the month of August off from school.  

Possible TMI warning...
So, we started actively trying last November.  I tried charting my basal body temperature, just like I did with Aria, but the numbers were no where near accurate this time.  With staying up late studying for nursing school and getting up in the middle of the night with Aria, my morning temps were all out of whack.  Hence, I became completely addicted to taking ovulation predictor tests.  These tests detect the surge in the luteinizing hormone that occurs 12-36 hours before ovulation.  Because the surge can happen only 12 hours before ovulation, and I didn't want to miss the surge, I was testing 2x per day for 2 weeks (I ended up ovulating very late).  I even referred to myself as a POAS (pee-on-a-stick) addict during this time.  I guess you could say I really love knowing what my body is doing (the scientist in me), especially since I wanted to know if I was ovulating at all (since complete anovulation is why I had to take Clomid to conceive Aria).  I finally got a positive ovulation test and I know the exact day I ovulated (+/- a few hours).  I kept Shaun out of the loop on all this (at his request), because he just cared about the "fun" part of trying to conceive ;).

Oh, and a little tidbit about me that many of you may not know...  I haven't taken any birth control since we had Aria!!!  I tried for a month and failed horribly at taking the pills on time, so I threw away the next month's package.  Shaun and I both agreed, "Well, if it happens, it happens!"

Shaun and I found out I was pregnant on December 1st, at 4 weeks pregnant.  We got pregnant on the first try, but I still don't know if we were completely *ready*, since we thought it would take longer (it took a little over a year to conceive Aria), but we were extremely ecstatic nonetheless!  I actually POAS in the morning, and told Shaun later in the day.  I dressed Aria in a "Big Sister" shirt and sent her over to Daddy.  I wanted Aria to be a part of the excitement too :)

We decided to keep it a secret and not tell anyone else until Christmas.  But of course, we had to tell Aria right away!  We taught her to answer the question "Where is the baby?" with "Mommy's tummy", but this almost backfired on us.  A couple times we had to distract both Cheryl and my mom after they asked Aria where her baby (a.k.a. her doll) was.  Shaun and I quickly distracted Aria before she had the chance to say, "Mommy's tummy"!  Luckily the surprise was never spoiled :).

Christmas came along (I was 7 weeks pregnant at this point) and we spent the morning with Cheryl, Rob, and my mom.  Each year we have a tradition of hiding a pickle in the tree (German tradition, I think), and whoever finds it gets a prize.  This year we informed the searchers that they were to look for a "high-tech" pickle.  After some puzzled looks, the searching commenced.  Cheryl ended up finding the digital pregnancy test we hid in the tree, and immediately started screaming with joy!!!  I think the "high-tech" pickle was a success :).  During the course of the day, we called Aunt Jessica and Uncle Shane to tell them the news.  We wanted to call Uncle Nick as well, but he was in Guam, and it just didn't work out to call him :(.  After the calls, we posted a video of Aria saying her "mommy's tummy" line, to announce the pregnancy to everyone else.  If you haven't seen this video, look at our Facebook page on Christmas day.  

And so, our baby is due August 13th, 2012.  Shaun and I couldn't be happier, and we are thrilled that Aria will have a sibling :)

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