October has been an emotional month for me and my family. Not only did my baby girl turn 1 year old, I also found out that I am pregnant again!!! We received positive blood results on October 5th, one day before Juliana’s birthday. It’s been so hard holding in this wonderful news!!! The picture of me above is from my last pregnancy – not me right now (hahaha, I’m not that big yet!).
We decided at the end of August that we would start trying again for another baby. I was on the Cezarette pill and did not know it can have devastating affects on the reproductive system. My doctor said it was the only pill I could have while breastfeeding, so I trusted him. I should have done my own research. If you ever go on this pill, do your homework first if you want to have more kids in the future. I stopped taking the pill and thought there was no chance I would get pregnant quickly… especially since I was still breastfeeding. Whoops! I was wrong.
I started showing pregnancy symptoms three weeks later, yet had three negative pregnancy tests. After the fourth week, I was losing my mind, my husband as well. I was cranky, irritable, and had major mood swings (yep, the kind where you cry for no apparent reason). So we went to the doctor for a prescription for a blood test and then drove 40 minutes to the nearest lab. My husband held Juliana in his arms, as the brutal nurse jammed the needle into me. It was the end of the day, so I think she was tired and careless. She said we could call at 11am the next day. My husband called at 11am exact! He went out an bought a bottle of champagne to toast with my father-in-law (who was visiting for our daughter’s birthday) and he gave me a bottle of nonalcoholic champagne (whoopee!).
I’m beyond excited to be pregnant again!!! Mais oui, I will miss my wine, cheese (best stuff here is unpasteurized) and cafés. Oh, I will also miss having energy and my body back (so nice being back down to my pre-pregnancy weight). But as I learned from the last pregnancy, I’ll forget about all these little annoyances as soon as I look into my new baby’s eyes.
I measured 7 weeks on my ultrasound today and saw his/her little heart flickering (picture below). Next ultrasound is in 3 weeks… this one will give us an accurate due date. As of now, my US due date is June 14th, and France due date is June 21. Yup, we calculate due dates differently in France!
Inese says
Great news!!!! Congratulate all my heart and rejoice with your family! :):):) Best wishes!:)
jennifer_mayni@yahoo.com says
Congrats! We are expecting our first around June 10, 2013 so I am a week or so ahead of you! We expat’d with my husband’s company from Greenville, SC to Manzat, FR (a little north of Clermont-Ferrand in Puy-de-Dome). Likewise, we live in a very small town (of about 1,200). My aunt recommended this site to me and already it has been a Godsend, just knowing there’s someone else out there who is going through the double-whammy of culture shock and pregnancy hormones.
French Mamma says
Hi Jennifer and welcome to my blog! Wow, that’s too funny we’re expecting around the same time! How long have you been in France? I haven’t had a chance to spend much time in your region, do you like it? I hope you stick around here, it’ll be fun to compare our experiences. Culture shock and pregnancy hormones are a dangerous combo 🙂 feel free to email me if you ever need to vent! I had a rough time with my first pregnancy, but it definitely gets better. And now, I’m just as comfortable with giving birth here as if I was back at home.