Yes, we are expecting baby number three!
I'm so pleased to finally be able to tell you! It feels like forever since our first scan at 6 weeks. There was our baby to be in black and white on the screen, with the tiny flutter of a heart beat. The last six weeks have been a blur of ever present nausea and crushing exhaustion, thus the reason I have been more absent than usual from my blog. I also came down with a virus in the first weeks, which the doctor feared was glandular fever. I came home and cried all afternoon. I could not imagine being pregnant, caring for two children and having glandular fever - remembering well the months of recovery when I was eleven years old. You can imagine my relief when the Doctor called to say the test results were negative.
Not long after those two pink lines came up, I found out I hadn't been accepted for the Finders Keepers market. I was disappointed, but I had been pushing myself really hard to make new pieces, and what with being pregnant and sick, I decided to give myself a two week break from the bench. I remember sitting with our family at dinner one Wednesday night, after my two week break. We discussed the market and what I planned to do next. Dave and I both agreed that not being accepted was probably a blessing in disguise, given how sick I had been.
Wouldn't you know, the next morning I received an email to say they had a space for me at the market! I wandered around the house all morning with this piece of information. I changed nappies, made breakfast, tidied up, wandered in to my studio, opened my laptop again and replied 'yes!' Dave was a little surprised. I was a little surprised. But I am not good at doing nothing. Having a goal and a focus to help me through the first trimester seemed like a sound idea. So I promised myself I would just do what I could, little by little, to get ready for my first market. Without pushing myself too hard or getting stressed. I have been managing to fit in the work where I can. I won't have as many pieces as I had first hoped, but I am still really proud of what I have achieved. Especially given that my usual uninterrupted making time vanished with my need to nap each day when the children nap.
Despite my obvious little baby bump (third child after all), we waited to fully announce the news, only too aware of the risks. Oh, I am not good at waiting, I wanted to shout it to the world. But attempting to be sensible, I had intended to wait even a little longer before sharing the news. However, a few days ago we had quite a scare and thought we may loose the pregnancy. I lost a lot of blood. It was a difficult wait for the ultrasound to confirm whether the pregnancy was viable or not. I feared the worst. A positive outcome seemed so unlikely. After crying all morning I felt numb in the waiting room. As I lay on the table I craned my neck to see the image on the screen. I let the sonnographer do his work until I could wait no longer. "Is it good or bad news?" "Good!" he replied, as he turned on the volume and the sound of a strong heart beat filled the room. I burst in to tears once more. Relief. Joy. Shock. There was our little baby - floating, squirming, waving - on the screen in front of us.
The rest of the test results have been positive. The specialist feels confident about a 'positive result' for the pregnancy. While still a little nervous, I could wait no longer to share the news. After the scare I wanted to celebrate the news of our growing family. I wanted to let everyone know about the little blessing we are expecting. Already the kind words of congratulations and well wishes on instagram and facebook have been a balm to the stresses of the last few days.
I can't express my thanks enough to my family and friends, who all dropped what they were doing and came running when I sent out the call for help. They took care of everything and I knew I was in good hands.
One day I hope to tell our youngest child the story of their pregnancy. I just hope the rest of the story is less eventful. xx
