Last week ds18 went back to Jerusalem after the bar mitzva, ds13 spent three days in Jerusalem with his best friend who is visiting from the US, and the rest of us at home got some more sleep to compensate for all we did in getting ready for the bar mitzva!
I also had a few one on one chats with our older kids who were home, since with all that was going on I couldn’t get everyone together for a family discussion. And what I shared with them is the exciting news …. that our family will be growing at the end of July!
I told dd15 a long time ago, a week or two after I found out (which happened to be my birthday – isn’t that nice?). We told everyone else last week, except the littles – I’ll tell them when it’s closer, and ds18, who I told when he called home last night. The reactions ranged from disbelief and excitement (ds9, dd11, ds13), to a casual, “Oh, I had a feeling” (dd17 – she gets feelings about things before they happen, and I told dd15 two months before there would be no way we’d be able to surprise her). I wasn’t expecting ds18 to have much of a reaction since he’s older and out of the house so it won’t affect him much, but his spontaneous excitement was really nice. There’s lots of good energy floating around in our family about our news!
Besides for her ‘feeling’, I asked dd17 why she thought that, and she said she thought I looked pregnant at the bar mitzva (which was the very end of the first trimester). This wasn’t what I wanted to hear – I was cringing thinking this was obvious at such an early stage to everyone there. And this is really atypical for me. What’s typical is this: (someone says): “Oh, are you expecting?” “Yes, I’m due in three weeks”. “Due in three months? You don’t look that far along.” “No, three weeks.” “Gasp.”
Seriously, I don’t usually show until five months, and in the winter, can usually keep it from being obvious until about seven months. With ds5, I literally spoke in front of a room of people the night before he was born, and most of them didn’t realize I was expecting until they got my email the next day announcing his birth – this was very unnerving for some of them! I have lots of stories like this. I can wear generally things tucked in until about six months as long as I wear a jacket over the blouse – and it looks normal – but to be showing now? Strange.
So my teen girls think it’s pretty obvious. I thought they were overly aware of how I look, but last week, literally one day into the second semester, I went out with my mother. I wanted to tell her our news while she’s visiting, but I didn’t get the chance to initiate the conversation, since she said, “Can I ask you something? Are you expecting?”
This my tenth pregnancy and, no, she’s never asked before. And that includes when I haven’t told her until after 5.5 months along! So I guess the girls aren’t overly aware after all. But when I expressed my discomfort to them about it being noticeable at this point, they asked me, “Is something wrong with looking pregnant if you are?” And I realized they were right!
For those who are wondering, no, I don’t think it’s twins (though it’s a really nice idea and I’m at a stage in life that I would LOVE it)! We’ll have a space of 3 years and two months between ds2 and the new addition, if the due date is accurate. Those who have been reading my blog a long while know that ds4 was three weeks early and ds2 was three weeks late, so I make no assumptions about dates!
One really nice addendum – my only sister emailed me a few nights ago and told me she was expecting. I emailed her back and told her I was, too! I told her my due date and asked for hers, and it turns out she’s due just eight days after me. We’ve never been in this situation before, and it’s such a nice feeling!
Avivah
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