Yes, you read that right! Latest information on pregnancy! In case you missed it on Instagram, she recently announced that we are expecting her third baby!
I’m pregnant with my third child!
I really should get out of the habit of calling this name “Number 3” because I have a feeling it’s going to stick around…a bit like The Umbrella Academy (has anyone seen this on Netflix? If you haven’t, please take a look. It’s very good!)
Yes, so this morning I went to the hospital for tests and got the good news that everything is fine. We haven’t told the kids about it yet (we’ll tell them tonight!), but we can’t wait to see their reactions.
Strangely enough, things seem to have changed quite a bit with this pregnancy. Pregnancy not only made me feel bigger, tighter, more painful, and generally more pregnant, but it also made me more willing to accept the changes that come with having another baby.
When I had George, I was determined to continue traveling and my life as a travel blogger remains the same. And most of the time, it wasn’t. When Joseph was born, I continued to stay plugged in, traveling and adventuring as much as possible. But the second time was even more difficult. Traveling with two kids under 2 was tough, but leaving them at home and traveling without them was even tougher. I was in a weird limbo where I wanted to travel but didn’t want to be away from them, but it was also a lot of effort to get them everywhere.
This time it feels different.
I know life is going to slow down for a few years, but I’m okay with that. I won’t be traveling as much, which is a good thing.
I’m not done traveling, and I’m not done with traveling, but as I get older, I feel less of a rush to see everything and get everything done as quickly as possible. It takes years to see the world. I don’t think dreams should be put on hold, but I have more important things to focus on right now!
I’m 100% sure this will be my last baby so I want to enjoy every moment and soak it all in. With my last pregnancy, I just wanted to rush through it and get it over with as quickly as possible so I could meet my new baby. But now I know it all goes by so quickly and this is my last chance to enjoy it.
I did not write about the pregnancy with George and Joseph. During my pregnancy with George, I was terrified and didn’t want to talk about anything for fear of jinxing him. I also felt afraid that I would say the wrong thing and that my experienced mom would come out of the woodwork and tell me I was doing something wrong. I didn’t want to talk about the fact that I didn’t take any vitamins, or that I accidentally slept on my back, or that I didn’t follow the new rules that are introduced every few months.
I was also really lucky that I didn’t have any negative symptoms during my pregnancy, so I didn’t think there was anything interesting to say. My bump was small and George was in such an odd position that I could barely feel him move. He had no heartburn, no morning sickness, no aversion to food, no appetite. I was just a little tired, and who wants to read someone’s weekly pregnancy diary when they’re feeling tired!
After giving birth to George, it took only nine months for her to become pregnant with Joseph. Yes, that seems completely insane even to me now. I was so busy taking care of George that I barely had time to acknowledge my second pregnancy. I remember every midwife appointment felt like such a hassle and the pregnancy seemed to last about 6 weeks!
For the boys, I was a little scared to write too much about my pregnancy and the early days of my baby on my blog. I didn’t want to reveal that I was completely over it because I didn’t know what I was doing and always thought I was doing something wrong. Looking back now, I don’t know why I was so scared. Good luck to all new parents!
But I won’t be Tsubasa the third time! I know what I’m doing, and this confidence is the best gift a parent could ask for.
Telling people is THE BEST
During my first two pregnancies, I waited until after my 12 week scan to tell most people. In fact, I waited until I was 20 weeks to reveal it on my blog and social media channels. Although we had told our closest friends and extended family, we mostly kept this interesting news to ourselves.
At the time, I was worried that something would go wrong. If it didn’t work out, I wouldn’t have had the strength to go through the awkwardness and heartache of having to face people and tell them it didn’t work out. It was the right decision at the time, but it also made me feel very sad. There’s nothing worse than being the only sober person at a party and having to pretend you’re drinking and having a good time. And there’s nothing worse than having life’s biggest secret to yourself and not talking about it. You are expected to pretend it’s not happening and carry on as normal, even though it’s the only thing you can think about and the only thing you want to talk about.
It’s hard to keep pretending to be “okay” when you’re not only lonely, you’re actually feeling the worst, and you’ve never felt so tired. At least people who know you’re pregnant can excuse their grumpiness and ignore the fact that they can’t keep their eyes open!
I’m not sure how I feel about the social norm of keeping a pregnancy a secret for the first 12 weeks. That’s true for some people, but I think more people would benefit from talking about it. When people have a miscarriage, they are expected to keep it a secret, hide the pain deep inside and hide it from the world. I feel like a lot of the reason we don’t tell people is to avoid them pain if something goes wrong. Others would rather not know, and no one wants to admit the pain. So let’s pretend it doesn’t happen and don’t tell anyone. I don’t like it, unless of course the couple wants to keep it a secret.
Anyway, the third time, Sam and I agreed to tell people pretty quickly. I wasn’t as nervous if something went wrong, but this time I knew I would have the strength to deal with it if it were to happen.
When I was six weeks pregnant, I also attended a hendo where I drank alcohol. I didn’t think I could keep it a secret, especially from my closest friends since most everyone knew that Sam and I were hoping for her third baby. I told the girls, Sam told the girls, and basically all our friends found out.
It was great to be able to tell people what we expected. I didn’t feel lonely during the first few months like I did with my first two pregnancies.
Thank you for reading this rather long and rambling post. I will be blogging more about my pregnancy and sharing updates!