Hearing That Whoosh, Whoosh Once Again

Jonas helped us share the big news by drawing pictures for the grandparents.

My stomach has given up. When I was pregnant with my first two and nursing them for their first years, I remember saying, “I can’t wait to have my body back.” It took some time (and patience on my part), but finally I was getting back to where it was beginning to feel like mine. It wasn’t looking the exact same, but I had gotten onto a decent workout track and I was starting to feel better about my body again. And then we decided to have another baby.

I swear the moment I became pregnant, my belly just gave up and popped out. With my first, I began showing somewhere in the fourth month. It happened a bit earlier with number two. But number three has made it difficult for us to keep our pregnancy a secret through the first trimester. I have been doing my best to camouflage and suck it in, but when we finally began making the announcement official over the weekend, we were the ones who were surprised. The responses we heard from several family and friends were, “I knew it!” or “I thought so!” or as my mom said, “I noticed you were getting a belly.” Gee, thanks, Mom. So the “surprise” was actually on us.

We have always preferred to wait until the end of the first trimester and after my first midwife’s appointment to tell everyone. I’ve seen couples share their news early, have a miscarriage and then have to deal with a whole different sort of announcement. Call us cautious or superstitious, but that’s why we’ve waited. My first appointment was last week, at which time I asked the nurse practitioner to make sure she heard only one heartbeat. With the way my stomach was popping, a part of me wondered if our family of four would expand to a family of six…or more. Thankfully she said I was measuring fine and she was pretty certain there was only one heartbeat. Fingers crossed, that will remain the same during future appointments.

I must say that hearing that “whoosh, whoosh, whoosh” of the heartbeat really did make this pregnancy more of a reality. Honestly, before that it just felt like I had eaten one too many cookies. But alas, there is purpose behind my changing physique thanks to the little one growing inside—news that has Jonas, 4, and Kenna, 2, very excited. They have been talking non-stop about the baby and asking to touch my belly (which is still weird at this stage).

We decided to get Jonas in on the announcement and had him draw pictures for the grandparents. He drew five stick figures and labeled them, “My Family: Dad, Mom, Jonas, Kenna and Baby.” And, yes, my figure was also a stick figure, giving me hope that in time my body will once again be mine.