Here we go again!

I might as well tell you now, and I might as well just say it outright: I'm pregnant. Again. We've known for a month (along with family and a few close friends), and it's still a bit early to make this public, but what the hey. My pants are already too tight, and it will be obvious to everyone sooner rather than later anyway.

I think the easiest way to write about this might be with some FAQs:

Q: Did you plan this?
A: No way, José.

Q: So this is your third uplanned pregnancy? Haven't you learned anything by now?
A: Give me some slack here. We weren't throwing caution to the wind in any way. I had an IUD! Let me tell you, that "less than 1% failure rate" of IUDs seems much more significant when you fall into that category. Given that this is my third pregnancy in as many years, I think we'll need to resort to surgical means of birth control after this kid makes his/her appearance.

Q: When are you due?
A: According to the ultrasound I had today, December 30. That's the day after my birthday, in fact.

Q: So how are you feeling?
A: Physically? OK. I'm not sick, but most afternoons I feel like I've been hit by a truck and can't move. Otherwise? Well, except for being anxious about having not one, but two kids in grad school, unsure how I'm going to have the physical stamina to get everything done, and feeling generally overwhelmed by everything, I'm doing. Just. Great.

Q: Will you finish your DMA?
A: You bet your sweet ass I will. I was planning on graduating in December of this year anyway, and now I have more of a deadline than ever, eh? My plan is to do my final project/dissertation over the summer, and my exit recital and final defense in the fall.

Q: Will you find out the sex of the baby?
A: Nah. With Daniel I opted not to have the 20-week ultrasound, and unless there's some special reason to have one, I think we'll give it a skip this time around, too.

Q: Names?
A: We have some, but it's too early to tell you!

Before I leave this entry to go crash on the couch, I want to share that Daniel has some kind of eery wisdom only a very young human can have. In the last month, basically since we found out, he's become very interested in my belly. He likes to pat it, hug it, give it raspberries; it's like he knows there's something going on. See?

Comments

Pam said…
I'm just sorry I couldn't be with you out on the UW terrace eating ice cream when I found out this time!! :-) I guess we'll just have to do that in August instead!
Animal said…
HOLY. SHIT. Well...congrats!! :-) This is pretty awesome...even if it WAS unplanned! (Stu & the Super-Sperm: good name for a rock band.)

When "surgical birth control" rolls around, remember: this is an EASY one for the guy! *snip-snip!*, a bag of ice, and yer back to work on Monday.

Keep us posted!
Thorny said…
OMG! Congratulations!

I know it's a surprise and all, but still - wow! A new wee baby!

And I really sympathize on the IUD issue - the women in my family are notoriously fecund, and so many of us have been conceived despite the best efforts of our parents. I wish you best of luck in finding a method that sticks after this one! (that's meant fondly and kindly - I just realized that it might come across weird thanks to the internet)
Anonymous said…
1% failure rate. After about 70 times you have a better then 50-50 chance of experiencing a failure. After 100 times you are down to about 37% of being successful all the time. I might send you the math in the mail later. Think about Russian Roulette. 1/6 failure rate per trial. Now take the success rate of 5/6 and raise to the 4th power and you have less then a 50-50 chance of success; i.e., greater then 50-50 of failing. And it takes only one failure in this deadly game and you don't play anymore.

-Chanterelle
Anonymous said…
To Le Grande Champignon: contraceptive success/failure rates are defined per year. Therefore, if IUDs have a 1% failure rate, that means that 1 in 100 women using an IUD gets pregnant per year (not 1/100 per "trial"). So as I calculate it, you would need to use an IUD for 70 years to have better than 50% chance of getting pregnant. Of course, nature will probably have taken care of it before then. :)

And animal, EASY? YOU get it done, then let me know how it goes, mmkay? :)

-Madtown Mama's hubby
Congratu-frickin-lations! Planned or unplanned, it's awesome! And I agree with animal about the band name. Tee hee hee.
Anonymous said…
Congratulations Suze!! Wow. . It's cool to think about Danimal having a play companion. . I've heard it's actually easier on parents having two than it is having one.

all my best to you and your growing family!!
All those people who say having two is easier than having one were either 1) non-parents, or 2) absent parents. I don't biologically have two children, but I do have two children in the house. Two children are not easier than one.

Now don't be discouraged, they aren't exactly harder, either. It's just, well, a different dynamic. So, please, no more "two are better/easier than one". Not better or easier, just different.
Anonymous said…
thanks jenn, for the reality check. . I was indeed talking out of my butt on that one!

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