Some Happy News!!!
- 09
- 13
- 10

It turns out that the biggest news around here is not that I have a sexy and sassy new look. Nope. There is something even more meaningful on our Rowley existential radar. Something both huge and very tiny.
I am pregnant!!!
You all know that I am not a fan of the exclamation point, and I’m particularly wary of exclamation points that come in triplets, but hey, I’m excited. We’re excited. All of us. To be more precise, we are happy/shocked/overwhelmed/anxious/happy. Husband and I told the girls our news about a week ago. It wasn’t part of a grand plan we had, but Toddler was on to us. She kept pointing to my belly and kissing it. And so. We told them.
“Guess what, girls?” I said. “There’s a baby in my belly!” Their reaction? Well, Toddler looked like she was about to cry. But then I realized she was actually focused on a particularly tense moment of Wonder Pets. Baby said incredulously, “Naaah! No baby! Let me check!” And then she picked up my pajama top to check. Not sure what she concluded.
It turns out they are both fine with our news but only if we give them a sister. We’ll see what we can do, girls.
Anyway. It’s been a bit weird blogging over the past couple months without mentioning this highly relevant detail about my/our current life. Particularly because, well, I’ve been feeling pretty rotten. A steady stream of low-level morning sickness plus vicious headaches does not a happy camper make. It’s also been strange to try to cook up compelling conversations here when all I’ve really wanted to say is: “Hey guys, I am going to be a mother again. I’m thrilled. And very very tired.”
So, this is a relief. A happy relief. That I am spilling the beans. That I am sharing our news, our excitement, our latest. But this is also scary. It is one thing sharing this breed of news with friends and family, but another thing entirely to broadcast this to the Internet. As I know all too well, things can go wrong in pregnancy, and a good part of me wants to hide.
But. There are so many reasons, and good ones, to open up about this. This is an amazing, if complicated time. I want to write about it. There are questions I want to ask. There are stories I want to tell. There is ambivalence I want to excavate. Though I can’t possibly admit this to myself, this will very likely be my last pregnancy, and I want to be able to look back and see what it is I felt and feared, how my body and mind and writing changed during this wonderful period.
I have not yet figured out how, and how much, my pregnancy will feature on this blog. Will I post weekly belly photos and weight gain stats? Unlikely, but maybe. Will I regale you with all of my loony food cravings and aversions and all the absolutely silly things my pregnancy brain has already led me to do? Quite possibly. Will I open up about how I worry that having a third child might just throw a wrench in my career as a writer? If I am brave enough.
I will talk about my pregnancy somewhere between Never and Always. Sound good?
For now. That’s it. Our news. My news.
And I wanted you all to know. I did. Because for the next six months? It’s not just about me anymore.
P.S. The above shot is not our ultrasound. You know that I would only post a picture of my unborn child from the back
______________________________
- Any advice about welcoming our third child?
- Did you leak some IQ points while pregnant?
- How did your older kids react when you told them a baby was on the way?
- Do you think I am foolish for going for #3 when many would say I should be focusing only on the birth of book #2?
- How much would you like to hear about my pregnancy on this blog?
- Anything specifically you would like me to write and think about vis-a-vis my pregnancy?
- Do you have a guess whether I will have a boy or girl?









Congratulations!!! Really happy for you!! Sending lots of love to all five of you! xox
Congratulations!!! There is nothing foolish about choosing to bring a new life into this world while still pursuing your writing – I did some of my best writing while pregnant (once I got over the horrible morning sickness that meant I couldn’t do anything but collapse on the couch and moan). Our children are “living epistles,” and what we write on their hearts lasts far longer than any words we put to paper.
I am usually wrong about these things – but if I had to guess, I would say that you are going to have a third girl!
Congratulations!! We have three, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I’d love to hear about the pregnancy on the blog.
My strange but true story about babies 2 & 3 – the twins. We had told our then 19 month old that Mommy was not fat but having two babies. A few days later – I was put on disability at 26 weeks – he came up to me yelling at me to stop drinking the hot tea I had in my mug. I was burning the babies. Yes, we had said the babies were in mommy’s belly and he didn’t see how I could drink hot tea. Life lesson – I had to explain to a 19 month old how Mommy had another body part that only girls have so they can have babies and that the tea doesn’t get there. My uterus was the talk of the month as he would tell people everywhere we went.
Congratulations, Aidan and family!!
Aha! I knew it!
Congratulations
I wouldn’t worry about a third baby & writing… believe me, you have room in your life for both. So celebrate them both
Oh my goodness!!! I am so so happy for you. Congratulations. Baby three, you brave woman. I can’t wait to read and hear more about the journey.
Take care, and enjoy this time.
xo
Awww, congratulations!
CONGRATS, CONGRATS, CONGRATS!
Aw congrats! I knew you would be pregnant soon! ps. its even more amazing the 3rd time around
HOORAY! I believe you will have another blond haired, blue eyed girl, who will wind up at Yale and hopefully roommates with a certain little girl with a very similar birth date… (even though I’m 99% sure this other “little girl” will be a boy).
So thrilled for all of you.
Cheers to Baby Bulldogs Class of 2033
We just need to make sure they do not under any circumstances go on to law school!! (Am I allowed to write a blog post about our brunch here? Hope so!!)
of course!
Just wanted to join the chorus of Hoorays! Very excited for the next round
Wow! What wonderful news! And yes, exclamation points are in order!
Congrats, and may you begin to feel better soon.
Congratulations!!!!
When you said on twitter you had a secret… I knew! Can’t wait to hear however much you want to put out there on this space!
CONGRATULATIONS!!! I love happy news. So excited for you and your family!
I am so happy for you-Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That’s such exciting news, Aiden! Is it OK that I exclaimed there? Now you need to work on growing a third arm…
Congratulations on the wee bean.
How wonderful! Congratulations to you and the family!
Many heartfelt congratulations! Having three is such an amazing adventure. Mine are a bit more spread out and older now (11, almost 10, and 5) but to see the changes in them as they grow into brothers is a marvelous sight. Plus, by the time the oldest is too big for snuggles, you will still have a baby who wants her mom.
Yippie yahoo for you and your family!
Welcome to the club! Hoping for you good days ahead–no more headaches and lots of second-trimester energy!
Congratulations! Best wishes to you and your family
Congrats to you and your family:) I wish you a healthy and happy pregnancy.
Congratulations, Aidan!!!
Congratulations, Aidan! Wonderful news. I wish you and yours all the best.
Congratulations Miss Aidan! Blessed news!
I think that you are having … a boy.
And I think that it will be interesting to hear how being pregnant impacts your need to create and write. Do you feel the pull to write about different subjects? Are you more introspective? Since I only have 2 I can’t imagine #3. But I can imagine that it will have serious impacts on your lives. But in a good way. I always wondered this (and actually I know) how you can love each child the same amount. But I know that your love increases as it divides.
Wonderful happy news! Thanks for sharing. Wishing you smooth sailing the rest of the way.
Enjoy the day!
Erin
Congrats, Aidan! Wonderful news!
(!!!!)
Congratulations Aidan! Sending you positive vibes and high-fives! So happy for you and your family! (Yes, I used three exclamation points).
Congratulations! You can absolutely have a whole flock of children and still be a successful writer!
Congratulations! I have absolutely no advice on #3 since I was shocked by how hard my #2 was! =) What an exciting time. I do think, as major as this is, it should definitely have a place on your blog…..
CONGRATS!
New haircut. New novel in the works. New baby in the works. So many wonderful changes are afoot for you. Congrats to you and your entire family. Really, I couldn’t be happier for you.
I was hoping that was the secret you mentioned… I hope you do write about your pregnancy – I am sure we will all love following you on that journey, too. Blessings!
You already know how thrilled I am for you, and how much I understand the fear of announcing this news to the internet. Congratulations! A perfect fit for your growing (books and kids) family!
Yay, new baby!!!! That’s so wonderful! (I’m not going to guess on sex, since I always guess wrong.)
I don’t think that my IQ dropped any during pregnancy, but my attention span after the baby was born now matches my six-month-old’s—so you should try to get as much written as possible in the next six months. Not that I think you’ll be unable to write your novel afterward, ‘cuz you’re a determined woman, but why have that much more to do after your due date?
(As a side note, it seems like it was just a month ago or so that you posted about whether to have a third or not—were you just trying to throw us off the scent, or was the post I’m thinking about written ages ago?)
Your comment made me very curious, so I went back to see when I wrote my “Pondering Baby #3″ post – http://www.ivyleagueinsecurities.com/2010/05/pondering-baby-3/ – and it turns out I published it at the end of May when Husband and I were in major deliberation mode. We did not get pregnant until June, so it was not just a means of throwing you all off
By the way, going back and reading that post – and all of the wonderful comments – makes me even more excited that we went for it!
Oh, Aidan! What terrific news and how tough must that have been to keep quiet! Wishing you a safe, healthy, and wonderful pregnancy!
-Yelena
Wonderful news!!!!!!!!!!!
Wishing you wellness and lots of laughter.
Congrats! And keep taking good care of yourself. (Let everyone spoil you!)
Congratulations!! Looking forward to hearing whatever you want to share about this exciting time in your life and being pregnant! Oh and my guess is it is a girl! Will you be finding out before it’s born? You’ll have to come up with a clever name for your newest addition to use!
THIS IS SO EXCITING!!!!!!!! Congratulations! I just checked the blog and saw this wonderful big news!!
Congratulations, Aidan! Thanks for sharing this happy news and I wish you all the best!
Congratulations!! I’ll love hearing all about your pregnancy on your blog, the more the better. And yes, I had major pregnancy brain when I was pregnant. My boss was really nice about it thankfully, but document review had never looked so good!
So excited for you
!!!!!
Oh, congratulations to you and your family! How very exciting, and I laughed when you said your girls are okay with a new baby as long as it’s another sister. As one of two daughters myself, I can relate to that!
Oh this is so exciting for you! This will be another grand adventure and I look forward to hearing all about it here! None of the icky bits though please…
CONGRATS! So excited for you.
Congratulations! I can’t wait to see if it will be a girl or boy. I applaud your efforts to maintain your blog while experiencing the terribly exhausting and nauseating first trimester. Also, nothing can throw a wrench in your writing career because you’ve already found your voice. Best of luck, Aidan!
Congrats! A baby is certainly happy news, indeed!
Congratulations! Wishing you health and happiness throughout your pregnancy and beyond… and the same to the Little One.
Mazel tov, my friend!
)
Lovely news. I remember when my parents told my sister and I we were going to have a brother or sister. We were overjoyed and excited to know that he/she was already on their way and not some time off in the future. New siblings are great. Hope you remain healthy and safe.
Congratulations! So thrilled for you!
Congratulations, Aidan, I am so happy for you! And what a lovely ultrasound picture. I could never make anything out in mine; they were always doing closeups of the feet or something!
And, from a writer’s point of view, a woman’s life has some different ebbs and flows to it, right? You can write into your eighties but you can only have babies a certain amount of time, so it’s very special!
It is a lovely ultrasound picture, but isn’t ours! It is a stock image which now seems weird to me… Odd that I have featured some mystery baby on my blog.
Alas. Thanks for the warm wishes!
Congrats!! A very very happy time. My best to your WHOLE family:)
Congratulations! That is such wonderful and exciting news! I wish you nothing but the healthiest of pregnancies! I’m pregnant w/ my first and am enjoying every second.
Congrats Aidan! So happy to hear such wonderful news!
Many, many congratulations!! What thrilling news. About three months into this having-three-kids thing, I am continually amazed how much more fulfilling and less stressful it is than I expected. And I say that truly and seriously (even though I am covered in goo.)
Best wishes! I have three – wouldn’t send that little guy back for anything!
Congratulations to you and Husband! I hope you have more energy soon. Is your mom thrilled?
Yes, Mom is thrilled. I was under the impression that she had passed along the news to all of you. But turns out I never really gave her the go-ahead! Oops. Anyway, we are very excited about our expanding family and hope to see all of you soon!
Let me add my Congratulations to the heap Aidan, that’s wonderful news!
I can’t believe that the One Day I postpone reading your blog I miss such exciting and wonderful news! Joshua & L are here so I was busy lovin & playing with him yesterday but I did check back first thing this morning and found out the good news.
Congratulations! Best wishes!
That is the best excuse not to read my blog! I have heard through the grapevine that Joshua is quite the cutie. As I said to Joanne above, I am sorry that I didn’t allow the word to travel more personally to all of you. Turns out I never gave Mom license to broadcast it! Hope all is well!
Aidan, we are so happy for you and Husband! Congrats!
Thanks so much, Pam. I wish I had allowed Mom to tell you before posting to my blog, but good news is good news, right? Hope all is well with you and the fam!
Congratulations!
How thrilling and exciting. I remember your blog entries from a fews mos ago about the possibilities of a third:) I also have a little one on the way:)
I do not think you are foolish in the least to have a baby while writing book 2! I think it’s marvelous that you want everything life has to offer and you’re going for it!
I was wondering if this was the happy secret. Secret no longer, it’s the happiest news! Congratulations to the whole family.
Congratulations on your happy news and the new hairdo! I can imagine just how difficult it was to blog and not write about the one thing you really want to talk about. And now you can as much as you like – we’d love to hear it I’m sure. There’s so much sadness and loss out there that it’s wonderful to hear news like that for a change. Enjoy every delicious moment.
Many congratulations to you and your family – hope you feel better soon!
amber
Congrats on getting past the first trimester!! ANd NO it is not selfish to have a third baby. You are bringing more joy into the world. Many wish they could do it.
My baby is coming this week…my first one!! At 39 it was time.
I am so happy for you. And so glad that you shared your news. And I look forward to reading more of your blog – hearing more about your pregnancy (but only as much as you are willing to share). While I’m far from being a mother, I can’t wait for the thrill of pregnancy. People think I’m crazy for admitting this, but I just know that one of my purposes in life is to become a mother. And apparently, it is one of your purposes in life!