Cheryle....

Just wanted to say HI!

I love the fact that I am not the only one here with teenagers... and getting ready to start over!

When I have this baby my kids will be 13 & 15 and my niece that lives with us will be 18. Seems absolutely crazy to be doing this again!

Hi back to you!  
It is really wierd to be pregnant again when my kids are all teenagers. Alot of my friends think I'm crazy to want to start all over again  

What do your kids say about your pregnancy? My youngest two are extremely excited about it. My oldest is more laid back. It doesn't bother him but he's more into his friends and his life than being interested in a baby brother (but his girlfriend is quite excited about it   )

I'd be interested to know what made you want to have another baby so many years after the others?

Well, I'm off to bed (German time is bedtime now) but this made my day to see a topic addressed to me   Thank you.

My son (13) is pretty laid back about it.

My daughter (now 14, will be 15) was upset at first. She wasn't too happy that the baby is due five days after her birthday, and was sure that I only got pregnant to "ruin her birthday". She has gotten better. I'm fairly sure I know what the problem was- she is such a "daddy's girl", and she is/was worried that she would lose that spot.

She still pretends to be "mad" around us sometimes, but then I hear from her friends things like "Maggie told me she doesn't care what it is as long as it's healthy" and I know she is really happy for us. Plus, I have explained to her that about the time she is ready to be married and have babies of her own, this one will be able to babysit   and that made her happy. LOL

Maggie and Ricky are from my first marriage, but DH (John) has been their dad for the past 8 years. They spend less than 24 hours a year with their bio-dad, and dh is their dad in every way. Ricky doesn't remember living with his bio-dad, but Maggie does. Maggie remembers being "daddy's girl" to him and then him leaving and moving out of state. So she is very protective of her status with her daddy, John.  

We first started trying to get pregnant in 2000 when Ricky was 6 and Maggie was 7. We tried for several years and I think it was around 2005 when the doctor told us that it wouldn't happen without some more invasive and expensive procedures. By this time Ricky was about 11 and Maggie about 13, and I wasn't sure I still wanted to start over. I knew DH still wanted another one, but he said it was fine if we didn't have anymore, because he already had two great kids.  

So this pregnancy wasn't really planned, but wasn't prevented either- since it wasn't supposed to be able to happen. I was more than 9 weeks before I found out. I have very irregular cycles so I didn't suspect anything right away. I was unsure the first couple of days. We had a lot of plans that had to be thrown out the window, but now I am super excited and cannot wait! DH has been that way all along!

Wow! You really are having a "miracle" baby!   I'm glad your daughter is now accepting the idea of your being pregnant. Teenage girls full of hormones are almost as bad as pregnant women full of hormones  

I'm in my second marriage too. My first three are lucky enough to have a great father though and have a close relationship to him still. And we are all lucky enough, that they also have a great relationship with my second husband and fully accept him in their lives. I think my second husband did a great job of earning their respect without ever trying to replace their father so that they never felt they had to chose between him and their dad.

My husband has no children of his own and we actually got married saying that we wouldn't have one together. He said, he was happy with the 3 that I have and feels a part of their lives even if he isn't their father. It was enough for him and I had also had quite a few complications after the birth of my last son that made us scared for my health if I should have another. After we were married, I talked to my doctors about what my risks were if I should have another baby and was told that although I'd be classified as extremely high risk and may end up spending quite a bit of time on bed rest, they would still give me a "green light" to go through another pregnancy and birth.

After discussing again back and forth the pros and cons of having another one, we decided we could not decide and would leave it in God's hands. We decided I would go off the pill for a year and if it happened in that time, it was meant to be and if not, we would just be happy with the 3 we have. Since I was over 40, we didn't know if it would be possible to get pregnant without invasive procedures and we were under no circumstances going to go down that road. So I went off the pill and fell pregnant to the amazement of my doctor and us the very next month. I lost that one quite early in the pregnancy though... I have a feeling that my body was still out of whack from being on the pill for so long and wasn't producing enough progesterone to support a pregnancy. 4 months later I got pregnant again with this one and things are looking really good.

I have developed gestational diabetes with this pregnancy, but haven't had any other complications and have needed no bed rest. I have another appointment later to check on his growth and to make sure he's not affected by my GD and the nice part is, she always gives me a free 3D ultrasound when she checks.  

Best wishes to you and your family!