Bundle in the Oven has returned!

Jeff and I are very happy to announce that Mirabella is going to be a big sister! Yes, we are expecting...again! "What? So soon?" you ask. Uh-huh. Since we believe this is the way things were meant to be for us, this was no accident, but we did not plan for the quick turnaround! Still, we couldn’t be more thrilled about the news of our upcoming arrival. It will definitely be busy around our house having two babies in just over thirteen months (screeeech...yep, you read that correcly...two babies in thirteen months), but with all of you waiting on us hand and foot for oh, the next couple years or so, we know it’ll be a piece of cake. Thanks in advance!

And speaking of cake, we’ll be just about eating the last of it at Mirabella’s first birthday party and it’ll be time to celebrate a new miracle in our lives. Did I hear someone say Irish twins ? No, not quite, but close. Mirabella was born on March 1st, 2009 and this new baby’s due date is April 11th, 2010. After talking with my doctor, I'm fairly certain about having another c-section, so with it most likely being scheduled a week or so ahead of my due date, we’re looking at early April to begin our family of four.

After much anticipation, Jeff and I met with my doctor yesterday (Thursday, September 17th) for my first appointment with him. Jeff had made a quick bathroom stop when I was called in and my doctor, who I couldn't wait to see, greeted me with open arms and a big hug. I said, "Can you believe we're already back?" to which he replied, "Of course I can. When two people are in love, this is what happens!" Still, when Jeff came in, we all couldn't help but chuckle a little.

He talked with us briefly, trying to confirm my due date and then he said we were going to do an ultrasound. He did one early for us last time, but kind of snuck us in since usually at this appointment, you get to hear the heart beat, not see it. But we happily (and somewhat nervously for me) followed. He then told me he was going to do a vaginal ultrasound. Huh? This was such a new prospect for me, so right away I wondered if everything was OK. He started and turned the ultrasound screen more towards him as he looked, further triggering my curiosity. Finally he let us know that everything looked great and that he'd let us see momentarily. He proceeded to show us the beating heart. Ah, sigh of relief. We could already see our baby when he pointed out the head, arms and legs, or the beginnings of both at least. How amazing that we could see so much so soon!

We also received the confirmation that there was only one baby inside. We did wonder (my grandma was a twin). Later we realized that the vaginal ultrasound was most likely because my pregnancy was early on, he wanted to get an idea of the size of my baby to better confirm my due date and to see if there were multiples.

The three of us went back to the examination room and he spent a bunch of time talking about my delivery and the pros and cons of trying to deliver vaginally after my c-section (vbac) and the pros and cons of multiple c-sections. After the discussion, I was pretty much decided upon scheduling a c-section. Sure, there were risks to both, but not because of how close my babies would be, just because that's the nature of the game. Nothing alarmed me, and I was so glad for the reassurance.

My doctor further made us feel at ease when he explained that being able to hear the heart beat at this early stage made the chances of miscarriage highly unlikely, only a two percent chance. Whew. He also said that even though my pregnancies were very close together, there was no reason to suspect any complications. What a relief!

The appointment was fantastic and we couldn't have felt better walking out the door (before getting my flu shot...H1N1 shots come in two next month). It's fair to say, which I did to Jeff prior to getting on the elevator, that we're one of Dr. Chow's favorite couples. Actually, I asked him if he thought so and I know he wanted to say yes. Ha! Really, I'm sure I only feel that way because he's our favorite doctor and because he's so good, I'd guess he makes everyone feel that special. Needless to say, if anyone's looking for a good doctor, I have a glowing recommendation for you.

I'll be 11 weeks pregnant on Sunday. We'll keep you updated on all of the exciting, and much of the not-so-exciting news if you want to follow along with this blog. We'll still have our other one going, The Scene at Eight 19 , for more of the non-pregnancy going ons in our family (and probably some pregnancy tidbits too), but we'll just have to see how managing two blogs goes. For future reference, the link to that one can be found at the bottom of this blog's main page. Cheers to the next big thing in our lives!

Please see the previous post for far too many details about my pregnancy (finding out about this news, mostly) over the last several weeks.