Charlotte has some business to share

She's going to be a big sister!

And this little wee one is due mid-August and is a GIRL!

I was not-so-secretly hoping for another girl so Charlotte would have a sister. 

We'll get to the boys in the next few years...

  We are so thrilled (obviously)! We waited for this little one for awhile (back story below if you're interested) and feel so blessed to be welcoming her this August. I'm 20 weeks along (can't believe halfway...). I'd thought I'd "announce" it awhile back, but kept putting it off and then decided to just wait until we knew if it was a boy or girl and do it in one big shabam. 

Obviously if you saw me this wouldn't be a surprise. I started showing at about 16/17 weeks. So a few weeks earlier than last time. I've felt slightly more tired and nauseous, but still never got sick. My mornings are my best times so I've been able to keep up going to the gym 4-5 days a week - which I know will help in the end. I've felt her move for weeks now, but just tonight I was able to see and feel her kick on the outside. She is one strong mama.

Charlotte's only known for a few weeks.  We waited until I was really showing and were finding out the gender soon. Now she thinks she's pregnant too. We have a handheld doppler at home to hear the heart and she likes to put it on her belly to hear her baby (which is really her own heartbeat). She kept saying that she was having the girl baby and I was having the boy. When I told her we were having a girl she got ticked that I "stole" the girl baby away. Once we explained it a little further she reluctantly said it was okay and that she'd just have to have the boy. She wants to name her "Shoshie" which is how she used to say lotion when she was tiny.

Here is our little alien-looking baby waving hi and looking straight at you. Our ultrasound was yesterday. One of Ben's patients was laboring but he dashed over for our ultrasound then rushed back for the delivery. It was perfect timing.

 She was just like Charlotte and was constantly moving and grooving. The tech had a hard time taking any pictures because they kept coming out blurry from her movements.

I'm excited to have a summer baby and be able to get out and about in nice weather. Although having the last few months of my pregnancy in humid-hot-Chicago weather is going to be harsh...

There are 3 other friends having babies within 3 weeks of each other and another one due next month. Future playgroups are going to be hilarious with so many new babies (one of those friends is having twins).

We are SO grateful for our family. Charlotte (which I need to do an update on soon) has been a huge blessing and a tiny best friend for when Ben is working. She is hilarious, affectionate, sassy, and sensitive. 

She's my home. 

We're grateful for our Heavenly Father's continued blessing with our little addition coming soon. 

God is oh so good.

The back story... hopefully the short version...

It took us 2 months to get pregnant with Charlotte four years ago. So this time around Ben and I tried for about 10 months with no results (she was about 18 mths old at this time). I got frustrated. Ben said up to a year was fine so he wasn't too stressed. Once 12 months hit, I headed to the doctor for tests. They ran some blood tests and found that my prolactin was ridiculously high which made my progesterone next to nil. They couldn't come up with a reason. Only that after my year of pumping milk, the prolactin (that produces said milk) levels didn't naturally drop. They prescribed a tiny pill that would normalize these levels. It took about 6 weeks or so to become "normal" again. Then 2 months later we were pregnant with this little peanut. Thank heavens for modern medicine. I'm thinking/hoping our next pregnancy will be a little easier once we check my levels again.