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The bummer is that I lost my one day a week job.  I have been working at the Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired (a school for children with visual impairment as well as other physical challenges) one day a week for a little over a year, and it was a great gig.  It was a good opportunity for me to be around colleagues, keep up my skills, and remember I’m more than just a mommy.  Plus, the income allowed us to do a few extra things, like plan our upcoming trip to Florida in September.  The great thing about working hourly without a contract is that my plans can change at any time.  So when I found out I was pregnant, I told my employer I’d like to work through December and then be finished before having the baby.  She was fine with this and happy for my news.  Unfortunately, the downside of working hourly without a contract is that the job is never a guarantee.  So when I had a voicemail message from her yesterday, I knew what was coming.  The school had overstimated the number of therapy hours they were going to need covered as the new school year begins, so a new full-time PT was hired.  Now that those hours are not materializing, they have a new, salaried (and contracted) employee to fund, so they need to let me go.  There are no hard feelings, but I am pretty bummed.  The change occured so abruptly that, essentially, when I left work last Tuesday with a cheerful “See you all in a few weeks when school starts!” it was actually my last day.  Since I had been counting on the income over the next five months to pay for fun furniture for Lily’s new “big girl” room, among various baby expenses, I am now feeling like I should try to find some hours elsewhere.  It’s just a little tricky to find a job when you will automatically need to quit in five months.  And I never had any intention of working after the baby is born.  I enjoyed (and needed) to be home full-time when Lily was born — a minimum of a year.  So, that stinks.

But, two fantastic things happened in the last couple of days that FAR outweigh that issue.  One, we got the results from the quad screen back, and they are A-OK!  The quad screen is a blood test given early in the second trimester that measures risk factors for certain genetic anomolies in the fetus.  For some reason (probably a 20-lb blonde one), I was not obsessing every minute waiting for the results this time as I did when I was pregnant with Lil.  But when I got the call, I was so relieved I started to cry.  I’m not exactly a spring chicken in the world of obstetrics these days, so concern over increased risk for genetic issues was lingering in the back of my mind.  Second wonderful thing: just yesterday, I started feeling the baby move!  I wasn’t sure I would recognize the subtle “butterfly wings” feeling, because I never felt it with Lily.  With that pregnancy, I had an anterior placenta (sorry, is this getting TMI?), which makes it difficult to feel early movement.  I didn’t feel anything until she started really kicking around 20 weeks or so.  But after pausing several times yesterday and concentrating on this new sensation, I knew it was our little bean making his/her presence known!  So the good stuff pretty much puts everything in perspective and lets us know that, with all signs pointing toward a healthy baby, little things like a little extra spending money are kind of negligible.

Along those lines, a movie recommendation:  Away We Go, with John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph.  Why this movie is only in select theaters I do not know.  It was fabulous.  I have hardly seen anything about it, so I didn’t really know the premise going in.  It is about a couple expecting their first baby, and they are questioning what kind of parents they will be because they are not exactly financially stable, not too settled, etc.  So they embark on a trip to visit various friends and relatives, looking for the ideal place to raise their child, but also kind of looking for the kind of parents they want to be.  And they find out that everyone else has their problems and insecurities, too.  The movie was just so well done, and the couple was so believable, if a little eccentric.  It doesn’t hurt that the endearing and nerdly father-to-be reminded me a bit of Bill.  If you haven’t seen this movie, do.  It is heartwarming, and it may even make non-pregnant people reach for a tissue (I needed a box). 

I’ll end with a photo of me a few days ago at 15ish weeks pregnant – I guess this is kind of the first picture of me with BOTH of my babies.

I’m back to announce the good news!  I’m pretty sure the word has spread that we are expecting our second baby this January.  I started the second trimester this week, and I am really feeling a lot better.  Whew, it was rough there for bit.  It started pretty much the day I found out I was pregnant  — just three days after Lily’s birthday — and continued with a few good days interspersed until just a few days ago.  Lots of nausea, lots of headaches, exhaustion, the whole bit.  But I’m keeping my fingers crossed that there are brighter days ahead!

We are so thrilled, and Lily seems, um, interested.  She likes to tell us she’s a big sister (already), and she talks about babies, but really she has no clue what’s in store.  Frankly, I’m not sure we do either.  It is a whole new ball game with a toddler in the house.  But, as the weeks pass, I think it is starting to sink in that another family member — possibly the one to complete our family — is on the way.

Even though she doesn’t really get it yet, Lily has demonstrated a big time interest in babies lately.  She likes to watch the baby shows on TV, like TLC’s A Baby Story and Bringing Home Baby.  At first I was unsure about letting her watch the whole show, with the delivery and everything, but she really liked pointing out all the people, the mommy, the daddy, the doctor, the nurse, so I just kind of let it go.  So last week, after having watched an episode earlier in the day, Bill was getting her ready for bed when she escaped and streaked into the living room.  She climbed up on the couch and was kind of leaning back and, as Bill and I were talking, she looked down, grasped each leg with a hand, and started saying, “Push! Push!”  Then she looked at me and said, “Push the baby out, Mommy?”  Oh my.  So maybe she has a better handle on this whole deal than I thought.

Already this baby is suffering from second-born syndrome.  When I was pregnant with Lily, we loyally took pictures of my growing belly every week from six weeks on.  This time, nada.  Perhaps it’s because, rather than a firm abdomen that eventually gave way to a sweet little baby bump, this time I immediately bloated to a soft marshmallow consistency and have remained unchanged these nearly 14 weeks.  Not really photo-worthy.  And we are already apologizing to our kid in utero for cursing him/her with a January birthday…in the Midwest.  Bill said the poor kid’s birthday parties will probably be canceled half the time due to snow and ice.  If we even plan birthday parties, considering they will be right on the heels of Christmas/New Year’s.  Poor kid.

So, I’ll have more to update in the coming months.  Perhaps this will renew my dedication to the lagging blog.  At least I can promise many adorable photo posts in another six months…