So we have big news in the Rothlisberger house (as if moving across the country last month wasn't enough!). We've decided to continue our tradition of having a baby in every state we live and add Arizona to the list!!!!
So Baby Roth #3 is due in April!!!!!
I have a LOT to say about this pregnancy so beware :) We'll start with the fun stuff! We are due April 9, but of course with my history, we're not planning on making it to April!! I just hope Baby manages to steer clear of Madison's birthday at the end of March. I found out on August 1 with a positive pregnancy test that morning. Jordan had gone out running so he wasn't home at the time. We have a little tradition of writing each other notes and turning them into puzzles for each other to figure out so I just wrote "We're Having a Baby", cut it into pieces and put it in the little box we use for these notes so he'd find it when he came home from his run. He was incredulous at first (there's a long backstory to this baby, which I'll talk more about in my next post) but once I finally convinced him that I was serious, he was thrilled, of course!! I think he wants babies even more than I do :) We decided to wait until after my first dr appt when we would have an ultrasound picture to tell the girls so we waited about three weeks to tell them. They were so ridiculously excited!!! Madison in particular has been asking for a new baby sister for several months so she was so happy! We did a special little FHE about families and then showed them the picture and told them that our family was going to be growing! Ever since then, they both love to kiss and hug my belly. Madison also loves to talk to Baby and lean her ear against my stomach so she can hear Baby. She swears she's heard the baby talking to her twice. She's so good about blessing Baby in her prayers too. She absolutely wants a sister while McKinley says she wants a brother. Madison originally told us that we had to name the baby Elsa but she recently told me she was concerned that if we named the Baby Elsa, the baby would freeze all of us so she's decided to let us pick whatever name we want :) We also told family and close friends around this time since Madison started telling everyone she saw and we knew it wouldn't stay quiet for long. Plus, with the move happening when I was around 8 weeks, it meant there were several people in Mississippi that I wanted to tell in person and not have find out via text message or Facebook since we were already gone. So it may have been a little earlier than is traditional to start telling people but whatever! We had some very close friends who supported us and loved us so much through the difficulties we faced in the 12 months prior to this pregnancy that I just wanted to share our news with them!!
As for me, I haven't really had a chance to think too much about the fact that we're having a baby because all I can think about is not throwing up. I am insanely sick this time!! It started the day before I hit 6 weeks and has just gotten worse with each passing day (I'll be 13 weeks this Thursday). You know it's bad when you long to just be hospitalized, fed through an IV and tuned out to the world... Kate Middleton, I so envy you! When I went to my first appt at 7 weeks in Mississippi, I requested Zofran, which is what I was on with both girls. This time around, the Zofran was worthless. I was throwing up 14-16 times a day the week before my second appt. at 11 weeks. This time it was with my new doctor in Arizona, whom I totally love, and he was very concerned that I wasn't keeping anything down and had actually lost 9 pounds in the four weeks between appts (on a side note, this has actually brought me to the lowest weight I have been in years, like way pre-marriage. Who knew all I had to do was get pregnant to lose weight?!) He prescribed a brand new anti-nausea drug that has just been approved, and it has made a big difference. I now only throw up 4-5 times a day and even have some days where it's down to twice. I still feel nauseous all the time, but at least I can keep enough down to keep us both alive! This has been really hard for me not just from a physical standpoint but from an emotional and mental one as well. I feel like I've completely lost my identity as a person and can't do anything normal anymore!!! I used to have projects, activities and outings planned for the girls every day; now Madison's weekly dance class is about all I can handle. It takes me three days to work up the courage and intestinal fortitude to go to the grocery store. I just can't even handle thinking about food long enough to meal plan and make a grocery list, much less spend an hour in the store surrounded by food! It's awful. I haven't even bothered to make friends here because it's impossible to smile and carry on a conversation. Right now, I have to choose between concentrating on not throwing up and being nice ... myThankfully, my family has been wonderful. The girls have been so great about staying home more and entertaining themselves, and Jordan has simply been amazing! I feel so bad that I don't take care of things around our home and with our family like I used to, but he has stepped up in every way and hasn't complained one bit!! I LOVE HIM!!!
Since my 11-week appointment was with a new doctor, he wanted to do his own ultrasound so we've gotten to see baby twice already. The second time was especially beautiful for me. I'm not really a super emotional person so I've never teared up at an ultrasound, but when I saw Baby moving around and having a blast in there at 11 weeks, it really helped me remember that we're having a baby, which is an extra huge blessing for us, and that all of this sickness is part of something much bigger. I was honestly having a hard time remembering that in the midst of all the awfulness. So for now, I'm just trying to take things day by day and hold on. My one hope is that while my trend of being sicker with each pregnancy has definitely continued, I also got over being sick faster with McKinley (around 23 weeks) than I did with Madison (I was sick the entire 32 weeks with her - the very first thing I did after delivering her was throw up because they hadn't let me take my Zofran that day!) So I have hope that trend will also continue and I might be able to move on from this sometime in the next eight weeks. Oh I hope! Until then, if you need me, I'll be in the bathroom trying to remember my little miracle between heaves ;)
