Apparently the last post wasn't exactly 'clear' as to whether or not Mouse actually saw a second line (a bit like Groundhog Day though with slightly more serious ramifications I suppose).
So I thought I would clear it up.
Yes. There were two lines. The second one may have been hard to see but it was there. And just to make sure I took another test the following day. And another the day after that. And another one a week later just to be, you know, SURE.
(no seriously - this is not the sort of thing that you can live with 'maybe' for long):
And we're sure. There is indeed another baby. Which is clearly massively exciting and terrifying in equal measure! We're due in late October (24th), though I imagine that will actually result in early November.
Just to clear up any lingering uncertainty, here are some pictures of the actual, real life, baby from our scan last week:
This scan experience was entirely unlike the one we had for Finn (which you can read about here) . The woman couldn't immediately find the baby and when she did it wasn't moving. Unbeknownst to us, the very first thing she did was check for a heartbeat, which she'd found, but didn't mention until I finally asked if everything was ok. She was surprised that we seemed worried and was said "of course" which still didn't quite cut it for me until it woke up and I saw it move for myself. It didn't move around too much though (Finn was jumping and flailing at this point) and was in the most awkward position for scanning (said both the woman and the man who eventually took over to see if he could do it). It involved quite a bit of fairly painful pushings and squeezings to get the measurements they needed, which in the end they did though it took an extremely long time. At various intervals I was instructed to shake, twist, rock and otherwise try to get it to shift, but to no avail. This thing was staying still and staying put. The movement we did see was very subtle and slow. Nothing like Finn. But maybe it was just that day. Or maybe me and my ribs will get a bit of a break this time around.
Though the possibility of a smooth and calm pregnancy is already not proving the case. That is the other thing that has been different this time around. I was barely sick at all with Finn. Nothing for a long time and then, when it started, it was over after a couple weeks. Not so this time. I started feeling nauseous nearly immediately and began throwing up at about 5 weeks. Thus began six weeks of vomiting once or twice a day every single day. The first was predictable and would come right before I left for work but the second was random. On the bus, in the bushes at the park, in the middle of a meeting - it would just hit me. I had to carry plastic sick bags with me everywhere I went. Absolutely horrendous. I just felt so awful. And exhausted. Unable to stay awake past 9:00, often in bed by 8:00, literally couldn't keep my eyes open. But I'm now 13 weeks along and coming up to the second trimester and things are so so so much better. I haven't been physically sick in about a week and have more energy. Even the nausea is easy enough to keep at bay and some days is gone completely. And I am so thankful. I really didn't know how easy I had it with Finn, because this was so much worse.
Finn was quite funny through it all. At first he was really concerned that I kept "coughing in the toilet" and told me that it wasn't nice and that I should stop. Then he was just curious and would follow me in to the bathroom and ask questions while I was at it. Then get impatient and say I was 'all done' and try to pull me away. And a couple times he even had a go himself. I told him it was time to go and he said 'just a minute' then ran to the bathroom and pretended to cough into the toilet a few times and then came back and said 'ready!' Which I had a great laugh over (probably why he then did it again a couple days later). The things kids pick up on...
I've also gotten a bump a LOT quicker than Finn. It seems my belly has just gone "oh, you're pregnant? I'll just relax all the muscles then and BOOM there it all is for the world to see." I'm probably about as big now as I was with Finn at 18 weeks. But I'm ok with that. Hopefully it's not just me that sees it as a baby bump - perhaps to the outside world I just look like I had a LOT of pies.
So yeah, that's the most of it - new baby! Exciting! I'm sure the subject will come up a few times more in the monthly updates but that's the big news of it all up until now :)
