You missed my entire first trimester! Congratulations! Really, if there were a way to skip those fretful, stressful, urpy weeks, I would. Now I’m pretty established in the second trimester, so I’m reflecting on some of those moments I couldn’t share then.

~ When I was around 10 weeks pregnant, we went to a department store that is going out of business. I found some great deals in the kid’s clothing department. My husband and I had Ryley (13), Archie, and Teddy with us. My husband said he wanted to look for something in the electronics department, so he wheeled Teddy and the stroller away, leaving me with Archie and Ryley. Ryley was looking at graphic tees on a rack nearby and Archie was getting squirrelly. He was ready to leave. I was trying to hold my bag, the items I wanted to buy, and his hand. But he broke free and ran for the down escalator.

“Ryley! Go get Archie!” I shouted as everyone turned to watch. Ryley ran to the escalator and met the escapee down the stairs halfway. He picked up a screaming, angry Archie. I figured he’d ride it down and then ride the up escalator back. But no. He turned on the moving stairs and started running up. I think it took him 35 minutes to get to the top, but he did. Out of breath, he delivered his little brother to my side just as my husband returned from electronics.

The woman standing in line behind me looked at my belly and then looked at me. “Do you know what you’re having yet?”

I was stunned because I was only 10-ish weeks…but obviously showing. I said, “not yet.”

“Maybe it will be a girl?”

Lady who thinks I need more pink in my life: One of my two lovely girls

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I haven’t had classic morning sickness for several pregnancies. Instead, I seem to get very strong food aversions. This disrupts our entire family because I couldn’t handle even being inside a grocery store. It’s hard to feed people when mama comes home from the store with Clifford Crunch cereal and ranch dressing because, at that moment, everything else was the equivalent of raw sewage. My poor husband picked up the slack with shopping and cooking. The only foods I craved and could eat without shivering were avocados and cheddar cheese. Consequently, I must have eaten my weight and more in guacamole, avocado slices, and chunks of cheddar. Eventually, I was able to move on to taco salad. I think I ate more taco salad in the past 3 months than I ate in the past 3 years.

Thankfully, my terrible food aversions passed as the second trimester kicked into gear. Now, there are foods that don’t sound great but my family is eating normally.

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How did the kids react?

Aidan, our oldest, guessed. She gets home from high school before the other kids. My husband came home early on the day of my first appointment. She asked why he was there and I said I had to go to the doctor. She said, “It’s because you’re pregnant!” I said she was right. She surprised me by jumping up and down and clapping. She said she knew it for weeks. We told her to keep it a secret, and she did.

I told Teddy very early because I knew he wouldn’t spill the beans. I whispered it in his ear.

We told Archie one Saturday morning when he came into our room, newly awake. He climbed up and into our bed. Teddy was already there. He joined us a few hours earlier. For some reason, I was struck with wanting Archie to know, so I pointed to my belly and said there’s a new baby brother or sister in there. “Oh!” he said. And then he kissed my belly. I don’t know what he was picturing. I know I was struck with his sudden and unexpected gesture because he doesn’t remember the last time I had a baby in my tummy. That was Teddy. Archie was only 19 months when he was born.

A few days later, Archie stuck out his fist and raised his little thumb. “Good job on the new baby, mama!”

Beatrix was the next to know. We told her on another Saturday morning as we lounged in bed. This time, I knew the secret didn’t stand a chance so I didn’t bother telling her to be quiet. When Beatrix knows, the world knows. By the end of the day, the news tumbled around and into all our little ears, finding its way out of little mouths.

Everyone has been happy and excited. The person most reserved about the whole thing is our teenaged son, who seems to be a little mortified whenever it comes up. That isn’t surprising.