Update

All the titles I can think of are dreadfully boring.

We had the Nuchal Translucency screening a couple of weeks ago, and the results were considerably better than my "advanced age" would have predicted. So we were happy and relieved, and now we're just looking at the Level II ultrasound and fetal echocardiogram (thanks to my bombing the 1-hour glucose test in week 7). I am checking my glucose levels 4 times a day and so far they are nothing to be alarmed at. I'm inspired by Julie, who has done such a great job managing her GD in this pregnancy. I hope I can do as well as she's done. I know I'll be on insulin later, but hopefully I can put it off for a long time.

I saw my favorite doctor today for my 4-month appointment. This was the first time I had seen her during this pregnancy, and I was happy to see her again. She was very pleased with my testing, my daily glucose numbers, my weight gain (about 2 lbs so far), blood pressure, everything. It is so strange how different this pregnancy is from the last one. Of course, I remind myself that last time I lost a twin, too, which could account for much of the spotting and bleeding I had. But what a relief not to be calling the doctor every other week with an emergency. We'll see how it goes later on down the road.

Emotionally it's a different pregnancy, too. Can you believe I didn't order a doppler? And while I always know I'm pregnant, and what day I'm on, I just don't obsess about it the way I did. I feel so lucky for that. Perhaps most telling: I was under consideration for participation in a study on stress during pregnancy, and after the intake interview, I didn't make the cut.

And that's despite the fact that my job ended on Friday. I'll be staying home for a while until I find a new one. I don't mind spending time with my little boy - he's a great companion, even if 2.5 years is a challenging age. It's a fun age, too, with all the pretending.

The thing I worry about most with this pregnancy is how to manage parenting two children, and especially, how to make it okay for the oldest. I know I will love the second one just as much (although, honestly, it's hard to imagine how that will feel), but I also know my sweet boy's world will be shaken to its core. It feels like we have a long time to get ready for it, but with the way the last 2.5 years have flown, these next five months are going to pass before I know it. I just hope we can make it okay for him. My sister and I were never close as children (of course, we were also eight years apart) and, worse, I antagonized her terribly. I wish my mother had had a serious talk with me about it; I was certainly mature enough to have understood, even if I didn't like it. I wish I hadn't been such a self-centered brat. We get along very well now, but of course, I am at a much more "advanced age." I hope we can manage the introduction of our fourth family member in a way that helps my little boy accept the change. I want them to love each other best of all.