In Kelly’s Words – I have big news!

Well we’ve officially thrown our 2019 KBF event planning into chaos because I’m excited to announce that I’m pregnant! I’m due the middle of March, which makes me around 21 weeks pregnant right now.

In a lot of ways, the pregnancy “announcement” feels different the second time around. There are so many unknowns and new and exciting things with the first baby, and the second time around we know so much more about what to expect. At the same time, our lives are so crazy in so many ways right now, the addition of a second baby is going to be such a shock to us.

Zeke and I always wanted to have more than one child. Our kids will be just under 3 years apart which we’re hoping will be a nice spread. I haven’t really started thinking about what it is going to be like to have a second child other than to know it is going to make our lives crazier.

This summer I started working a second day each week at the KBF because we are so busy. Zeke is traveling more and seems like he is constantly busy keeping up with new things that we’re doing with KBF. And we have big plans for 2019 and 2020 for the KBF. So now we are going to throw a new baby into the mix to give us an even greater challenge (along with many rewards!). It’s going to be a lot! But this is also a typical story, right? No matter what you’re doing in life, having a second child always adds stress and joy. I see it every day as a pediatric nurse practitioner.

As far as the KBF is concerned, we’ve decided to rework Inspire!Denver, which we traditionally host in late-January, because I’ve been told no flying after the new year. We’re hosting a couple more casual events earlier in the winter, including a gathering we’re calling “Brews to Benefit KBF” in Denver on Wednesday, Dec. 5. And it may also mean I end up videoing in to Inspire!Boston on March 28, which I had to do while in the hospital pregnant with Dylan in 2016!

As I thought about writing this blog, I wanted to try to find some additional insight about being a mother in a wheelchair and what new challenges I expect for #2. But I couldn’t. During my first pregnancy I had a lot of questions about pregnancy and delivery and there were a lot of unknowns about both. I didn’t know how I was going to be able to maneuver a child once she was born. And once she became mobile, I wondered what my limitations were going to be (what happens when she runs behind the couch?!?). I’ve blogged about those concerns—and the realities—over the last couple of years. They all worked out fine. I don’t have the same wheelchair-specific concerns about baby #2. Instead, it’s the typical stuff: sleep, the amount of attention I’ll be able to give Dylan, the work-KBF-home life balance.

This pregnancy has been pretty normal so far. I had a lot of nausea in the beginning, which will come as no surprise to those who know me well, but the last few weeks I have been feeling well. We found out a couple weeks ago that we’re having another girl which we are all really excited about. I love having a sister so I’m so happy that Dylan and this baby will have each other. And I’m excited to be able to reuse all of Dylan’s old clothes!

During my last pregnancy I had a few minor complications (unrelated to my spinal cord injury, kind of….) that landed me in the hospital for the last 4 weeks of my pregnancy. We, and my doctors, are really hoping to avoid that this time! All I can do is keep my fingers crossed that things go smoothly and we won’t have to go down that road. So far so good!

Dylan Update:

We have talked to Dylan about being a big sister a bunch, but I think she only partially understands what we are saying. She knows that there is a baby “in mommy’s belly”, but she will sometimes tell us that she and daddy also have babies in their bellies. We talk about what babies do and what they will need help with but I think she really doesn’t get it. We have also asked her what we should name the baby. Her idea is always “baby”, something we won’t be going with!