tootles is two

when jack was about six months old, i learned about a little secret.  and it was told to me by the two pink lines that showed up on the pregnancy test i had just taken.  usually, i'm totally into fun and creative ways of announcing the coming of a new baby, but i was so taken aback that i just picked up the phone, dialed josh's number, and blurted out, "i'm pregnant!"

there was nothing but silence on the other end.

"josh?" i said.

he replied, "yeah, i'm here.  wow!"

it wasn't that we weren't excited.  we were just, umm, surprised.  way surprised.  i mean, my bed at the hospital was probably still warm from being there with jack.  but after the shock of that day's completely unexpected main event wore off, the elation of god's new creation took over, and we were ecstatic!  in following with my other pregnancies, i looked forward to feeling good, having an excuse to indulge a few cravings, and getting plenty of tummy attention (i'm one of those women who actually enjoys belly rubs from strangers at the mall).

and it actually went that way for a while...

then the restless legs and insomnia kicked in.  i had never struggled with more than a passing queasiness with my other babies, and being pregnant was generally a pretty fun time for me.  but i don't do well with little sleep, and i certainly don't do well with multiple nights on end of zero sleep.

zero.

there are no words to describe the misery of those weeks.  i've had women say, "oh yeah, i had a hard time sleeping, too.  my belly was so big, and i just couldn't get comfortable."  oh ladies, you have no idea.  i can vividly remember hours on end of being curled up on my bathroom floor begging god to make me sleep (or even keel over...at that point, i didn't really care).  restless legs is an actual disorder (who knew?!?) that can appear without warning during pregnancy, and in my family, a long line of women before me have dealt with the condition. 

i won't bore you with the rest of the details, but between daytime catnaps, incredible friends who took my kids some during the day to let me rest, and countless calls to my mom for restless leg advice, i survived, and i looked forward to a lightning fast delivery (after all, i only pushed for 11 minutes with jack, so i just knew i was in store for a four-minuter with my third baby).

i showed up for my 36-week checkup at my OB's office, and when he asked how i was doing that day, i told him it felt like i was having some contractions.  one thing led to another, and i ended up down in L&D with some seriously rapid progress.  whoo-hoo -- i was well on my way to the easy delivery i had dreamt of!!

you know what they say about third babies, though...

what should have been a 2pm on january 7 birth ended up being a 12:39am on january 8 delivery.  but everyone was healthy, so i hardly have anything to complain about.  after all, i got this out of the whole deal...

and to add to that, as soon as our munchkin was here, the restless legs were gone.  and i slept.  all day.

it doesn't get much better than that.

so two years ago today, isabel mary lewis joined our family, and we've thanked god every day since then for entrusting her to our care for our time here on earth.

 this morning, the big two and i stormed her room with a booming rendition of happy birthday.  not sure what she thought about it...

but i do know she perked up quite a bit when i told her she had birthday muffins waiting for her downstairs...

she ate, of course, off of the red plate as we all serenaded her with a second verse of happy birthday.

 

oh, and that little worry about having the little ones all so close together?  i think it's worked out pretty well...

 

man, we all love this precious little girl!!

go here to see the rest of the photos from our impromptu session.