Following up, now that everybody knows

For those of you not connected with me on Facebook, Tuesday, we let our friends know that we're expecting a baby. Since that time, I've been asked a few of the same questions, so will answer them here. If you have any others, feel free to chime in. :) Mostly, I feel very blessed by the well-wishes of so many people, and sort of surprised at my friends' restraint, for the most part, with the whole "not making fun of me because it really was a toss-up about whether this was menopause or a baby" thing.

1) We didn't tell people earlier because our ages are a risk factor, and we did just have a miscarriage last year. Until we were past the first trimester, we didn't want it widely known. We did have some pretty awesome people praying for us fairly early on, though, and for that, I'm extremely grateful.

2) Daphne is an only child and has always relished that role. Last spring when I was briefly pregnant, she had a very difficult time accepting it, but eventually grudgingly did. She started off there this time, so we were already ahead of the game. I have no doubt that in the years to come, she will grow to love her sibling. It's okay with me that she's not over-the-moon excited; all she knows of babies is that they're noisy and they keep weird hours. I get it. I know this first hand and chose to have another one. She didn't. Within Team Dave's, we have the freedom to have various feels, as long as we keep it respectful and remember that we *are* a family, whether we always like it or not. :) The other day, she told me, "If you guys have a third kid, I'm leaving." I asked her where she was going to go. She said, "I didn't say I had a plan. I just said I was going." I love that kid. And, if that happens, I might join her.

3) 41. 42 when it's born. 60 when it's legally an adult (I know this because, despite my theater major, I can do some elementary maths). Yes, many of my contemporaries are becoming or are somewhat experienced grandparents. Yes, this makes me think we might be a bit crazy.

4) We have the anatomy scan next Wednesday, but James doesn't want to know the gender so we probably won't find out. But please pray for a normal scan; this is the one big reveal after which I'll feel so much more relaxed, enough to start buying things we're going to need. We have heard the heartbeat at the last three prenatal visits, and we did see the heartbeat and what was allegedly the baby (but I'm no radiologist, and it didn't look like much to me) at an early ultrasound. You can read all about the action so far by going back in the blog to January or by clicking on the "pregnancy" tag so it will pull out all of those entries. Also, I've kept a periodic vlog, the playlist for which is right here on YouTube

So, there you go.

Now back to our normally-scheduled blog.

As I mentioned last time, although I *wasn't* showing, everything has started happening pretty quickly. In fact, I took a picture of myself on St. Patrick's Day (one I put up on Facebook on April Fool's Day, as "proof" that I was expecting... although it truly could have been a low-slung pizza overeat at that point) because I'd gotten an email that morning that included the information: "Your baby will double in size over the next four weeks."

Monday, I had worn "normal" clothes, but my skirt was hiked up about 4 inches above my natural waist, because there wasn't any "give" there... and I still had band marks. So that night, I switched my closet out. I'd bought a whole summer wardrobe worth of maternity clothes on Zulily and it was time. Oh, man, I never want to go back! I've been *so* comfortable the past few days! Today I'm wearing a dress with an empire waist and it doesn't pull anywhere. Yesterday, I wore denim shorts that look for all the world like nice jean shorts where it shows, but are like sweatpants where it counts. Plus, the longer lines of maternity shirts suit my short-waisted frame, so after the pregnancy, I might become a permanent leggings-and-flowy-long-shirt lady.

The only thing I still need is... Well, first, here's a warning: If you're a dude, you might want to go create your own comic here. For those of us still here...

Saturday, we went to the Sherwood Forest Faire. I was wearing a dress and, at some point, because I left my purse in the car, had both hands laden with purchases and food and my camera, etc. James and I were walking back to where we'd left Daphne and TJ to eat their turkey legs when I realized that I was losing my drawers. They were succumbing to gravity, what without a waistline above protruding hips to hold them securely in place.

I told James what was going on and swore, "If they fall off, I'm just going to kick them over there, so keep walking."

That's when I decided that I needed to purchase some over-the-belly maternity drawers. Well, I went online to shop and, can you believe it, all of the underpants on Motherhood are under-belly or fold-down bikinis? Um... no. I found six pair I liked on Amazon.com... then realized my cart total was $118. I'm only going to wear them for a few months! What the heck?! So I don't have a Plan B yet, but I'm working on it. For now, you'll have to excuse me if I'm wearing a skirt or dress and do a lot of "hiking."

Yep, that's the exciting status of the pregnancy at the moment. Today, I'm working (with my feet propped up to avoid edema) and getting ready for a super hot date I have this evening! The See's Candy Blogger pre-grand-opening event is tonight, so be watching for my other blog's post on that tomorrow!