Because it is time to share the news

New year, new start, and news to share. We’re pregnant. Baby #3 is due in July – an astonishingly wonderful bit of announcement and of course I’m grinning as I type this. The kids are delighted, too, and they seem to have endless questions for me about how the baby is doing. This morning, it was about size. There is a bump which they think is enormous and hilarious, and they wanted to know just how big the baby is today. 8 cms or so. About the size of half a banana.

A big banana? A little banana? Which half?

There are so many questions.

We first told them the good news about the baby on the last day of school before Christmas. We had gone out to a restaurant for dinner – an Italian place where I used to work when I was an undergrad – and everyone was dressed up and a little excited. The Spouse and I weren’t quite sure if we were going to tell them at dinner or after dinner, or maybe we’d wait till we got home again. You get in the habit of keeping secrets and it’s hard to sort out how to share them. I sipped tomato juice and the kids pulled apart Christmas crackers. The place was more or less empty. Then I heard the music drifting over our heads along with the gloriously smell of buttery garlic. Someone was singing something about a new kid in town and I couldn’t help laughing. Beangirl asked why. Of course, she did. So I explained.

In there? Direct middle point.

Yes.

IN THERE?!? Delighted and amazed.

Yes. In there is someone. Someone who is going to be one of us. Who is already one of us and we’re getting ready. In all the mind-bending configurations to come.

I had an ultrasound last Monday afternoon. Yes, New Year’s Eve. I was surprised that they offered appointments that day, but it seemed like a good way to end the year, I thought. And it was. I hadn’t had such an early one with either of the others, so I wasn’t quite sure what we’d see. Something blurry and alien, most likely. Instead, it looked like Beangirl. At least, in utero. And it (he?she?) was amazingly active! So much reaching and turning and what looked like nose-scratching and turning over again and little ankles crossing and uncrossing and a little hand reaching up. Perfect. And because of all the activity, the measurements took a long time. Which was great because we got to watch for a long time. Amazing.

That’s the right word for it. Nothing feels been-there-done-that about this pregnancy. It’s amazingly new and amazingly familiar at the same time. On a literary tangent, amazing is one of those words whose derivation is a mystery. Unknown origin. Yet since Old English, we’ve been amazed nonetheless. Isn’t that appropriate? A beautiful, blessed mystery.

And we’re feeling amazingly blessed by community, too. Maybe it’s the time of year when everyone is feeling lovey anyway. But wow! So much goodness. Offers of babysitting for Beangirl and Blue, baby furniture, food, books, beds for visiting grandparents to stay in the summer, strollers and baptism cakes and love. The Spouse used the word buoyed the other day, and that’s just it. We’re all feeling buoyed up by the support of community near and far.

School starts again tomorrow, and we’ll have to fall back into some old routines even as we look forward to new ones. The Christmas baking is mainly gone (and don’t worry, I think I can cope with the rest just fine…) The Christmas tree is down and waiting for a saw in the garden. There are still cards all over the house.  And they are lovely, these visible reminders of support. Maybe a little messy propped up on the mantelpiece, but that suits me fine.  They keep the ultrasound photos company so they can stay, at least a little longer.