Nunnery, Party of Four!

On August 12th, I did a thing.

I took a pregnancy test. And it was positive.

I wasted no time in telling everyone I knew, even though I couldn't have been more than two weeks pregnant, and posted it online eight days later when I turned the big 3-3. Listen. I'm old now, you guys. I don't have time to wait for stuff like this. And with the whole world gone topsy-turvy, good news needs to be shared as soon as it's had.

If you want the story, please keep reading. If not, I bid you farewell.

Before we left for the U.K. in April, I went to see my midwife and had my IUD removed. (Also, did I tell you guys that said IUD was the reason my face went BONKERS in 2015? Yeah, just figured that out. Copper toxicity. Would have been nice to know then. Anyway...)

As we had done before I got pregnant with Lucy in 2013, Pierce and I spent a few months in prayer and realized we would never know the answer to our questions if we didn't give God space to actually answer them. I couldn't know if He would give us another child if I didn't, you know, actively remove the preventative measures I had taken to NOT have another child. And just like in 2013, I was scared. Would I be a good mom to a second kid? Did I want a second kid? Would I ever sleep again? What if this one had health issues? What if I got distracted by one child only to have the other go missing while my back was turned? Really fun stuff was going through my head. It's awesome having OCD. Truly. But, again, I recognized that all these questions were from a place of fear, not love, and so I told God I loved Him and with a big, deep breath to calm myself made an appointment with my midwife.

Three months later, I realized I did—in fact—want a second child when my period came for the third time and I burst into tears.

(To the women who have been waiting for years, I am so sorry. I experienced just the tiniest taste of the hope you endure and it was miserable. I love you, you're incredible, and I pray God will bless you over and over again.)

One of the surprising side effects of having my IUD removed was that my period had suddenly become predictable down to the day. I have always been regular, but not that regular. So in July, I made note of my peak ovulation day in the Nurture app and decided I'd try to get things going with Pierce the day before I ovulated. It's such a small time frame—only about twelve hours—in which everything lines up correctly for conception, so waiting until the day I ovulated to have sex seemed like it would actually be too late.

Five days before my missed period, I was getting ready to go to lunch with some of my students from Inside Out and decided to go ahead and take a test before I hopped in the shower. I figured if it was negative I could just wait a few more days, so I wasn't feeling anxious about it. With the water running and the bathroom door closed, I peed on the stick, waited for two minutes, and then opened my eyes to see the faintest of little blue plus signs.

With Lucy, my first words had been, "Shit. Really?" But with this one, I didn't say a word. I just grinned and put the test in my robe pocket. Then I got in the shower, told God thank you, and relished in the whole hour when I was the only person on earth who knew there was another little Nunnery on the way.

As I was getting ready in the bedroom, Pierce was folding clothes next to me and watching The Office. (As one does.) I looked over at him and said casually, "Babe, you should probably go ahead and get used to having a bunch of laundry on the bed...because there's gonna be a whole lot more of it this time next year." To which he looked up and said simply, "You're pregnant, aren't you?"

This is how our lives go. His proposal, my first pregnancy, my second pregnancy...all of it has been quiet and simple and sweet. And always just the two of us without any kind of show. It's the best.

Yesterday, I finally had my first appointment and everything is going perfectly, so far! As I had predicted, my due date is April 23rd and I am currently a little over ten weeks. I also decided to go ahead and pay for the genetic abnormality blood test so we can see the sex early. I'm not high risk at all, but my OCD brain has been a little overzealous these past couple of weeks and if by some chance there are abnormalities we'd like to know ahead of time.

Also, four of my friends are pregnant with babies due in late February/early March (one of them with TWINS!) and it makes me ridiculously happy, all these tiny little humans. Why are babies just the absolute best?

We love you, peanut. See you in a few months :).