Ethan's story didn't start when he was born, none of our stories do. They start in the hearts of our parents. In the pure elation, panicked excitement and sometimes utter despair when we discover we've created another life. Our hopes and dreams for our children, our worries and fears, all contribute to shaping our child's life.
Ethan was no different. I was so anxious to be pregnant that I never even waited to miss my period, I was peeing on sticks as early as I could. A few months of disappointment passed and then August long weekend right before our annual trip to Grand Forks I thought maybe before we head out on the road I should check, we were, after all, about to head into a week full of wobbly pops! It turned out to be a very sober and nap filled weekend.
We were so excited. It had happened. Another baby. Ella was going to be an amazing big sister. Her nurturing nature and little heart overflowing with love, this was one lucky little baby.
Not only did I have dreams for my little babe to be but I had great plans for my pregnancy too! I was going to be the "fit mom". That girl who only has a belly. I was going to bounce back so much faster this time. I wasn't going to let those sour keys tempt me. And you know, for a while, that is just how it went.
My 1st trimester was pretty typical, although a bit different from Ella's, I should have know it was a boy! I was super lucky to get an amazing midwife team and even hired a doula (that was another goal, no cesarean), I was nauseous (although not nearly as bad as with Ella) and tired and bloated. God was I bloated! Until I found peppermint tea that is. Do yourself a favour and keep peppermint tea at home, have a cup at night and you'll wake up flat as a pancake!! My skin never freaked out at me and my appetite was totally different. I actually craved salad
and veggies. We even took a trip to Palm Springs with friends and enjoyed sunshine, the
pool and some shopping.
There were a few hiccups along the way too. My first ultrasound found an ovarian cyst and a subchorionic hemorrhage (which had caused me to bleed at 5 weeks). We also had trouble finding his heartbeat at 12 weeks which kind of terrified me because that had never been an issue with Ella. But overall everything was quite normal and uneventful.
And then the honeymoon stage hit, or what should have been. If we're going to use marriage analogies here, my 2nd trimester was a horrific divorce...
