More happy belly times

...because Ginger told me to. :-)

1. WAS YOUR SECOND PREGNANCY PLANNED?
Wellll, we were planning another baby. Just maybe not right that minute. MJ was only nine months old!

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME?
Yes. Wouldn't have cared if I weren't.

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS?
Shock. Concern. Then pure joy.

4. HOW OLD WERE YOU?
28.

5. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT?
I was at the doctor for some other reason. As an afterthought, I said, "I've also been feeling a little queasy, kind of like I felt when I was pregnant." Hmmm.

6. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST?
Frank. We got into the shower together to contemplate our new circumstances.

7. DUE DATE?
March 6th, I think. But I just knew she was going to arrive in February.

You remember how sure I was that MJ was a boy? Right.

8. ACTUAL DATE BABY WAS BORN?
March 11th.

9. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS?
Every damn day for more than two months. Then I felt like Superwoman.

10. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE?
Hmm. Sleep mostly.

11. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST?
Working.

12. WHAT WAS YOUR SECOND CHILD'S SEX?
Girl.

13. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING?
Not even a little bit.

14. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY?
I have no idea. Not so much that it was a problem, not so little that it didn't show.

15. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER?
Gawd, I don't even remember. That whole time is a sleep-deprived blur.

16. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW?
n/a

17. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY?
Not a one.

18. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH?
Group Health Hospital, Redmond, Washington

19. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR?
From the first twinges to the happy moment, 10 hours.

Favorite memory: Feeling those first contractions as I was tucking MJ into bed. Also, Frank's lack of concern when I told him I was having said contractions. He was quite sure we were at least 24 hours from actual delivery and went off to bed.

20. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL?
Frank. "No, really, Frank, it's time to get up now."

21. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH?
Frank and Cherie, the midwife, and a platoon of medical people I was pretty much oblivious to.

22. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION?
Natural.

23. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN?
Yes, an injection of some narcotic that did little to ease the pain but a lot to interfere with my ability to cope with the pain. If anybody had told me how little time was actually left, I wouldn't have had it.

24. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH?
Ummm. A little under 7 lbs., I think.

25. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN?
7:00 a.m. straight up

26. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER?
Chloe Barbara Pierce Maier

27. HOW OLD IS YOUR SECOND BORN TODAY?
Almost 15