Conlin Baby Five Top Ten FAQ's

Here's answers to ten of your most burning questions about this baby/pregnancy that you never realized you had!

1. (We'll start with the big one) Do you want a girl?

I don't mind this question when phrased that way. But one of my biggest pet peeves is the question that is usually behind this question, "Did you get pregnant so you could maybe have a girl?" Really? No. We did not decide to have another baby on the 5% chance that it could be a girl. In addition, it implies that we are unhappy with our four amazing, probably to-be-five amazing boys. Which is absolutely, unequivocally untrue. That said, we would love to have a girl. I think Adam and I both always thought our family would include at least one. But we are already planning on our little boy, since that's what we do, we have boys, and we do it pretty well, I think! We would love, and be excited about, another boy. And I will give you four reasons why (can you tell who is who? i dare you!):

2. Are you crazy?

The answer to this question is a definitive YES! I think any person who decides to have even one baby has to have a bit of the crazy in them. Think about it: you are choosing to bring a life into this world, committing to raising it to the best of your ability, knowing that you are going to screw up a lot and that there are very hard to control outside factors that will influence your child in ways you never dreamed, and in the end you have to pray and hope that all that you did will be enough for them to become happy and productive members of society. Yeah. Crazy. But we love crazy here! And, crazy or not, watching them grow and change and become the amazing big kids they are and the amazing adults that I know they will be, there's nothing to compare it to. Love it.

3. I thought you were done. Was this baby planned?

Well, that's kind of nosy of you, isn't it? (*chuckle*) Yes, we did plan this baby. The conversation started about two years ago with, "Alrightee! Anytime now, Honey, you can go get that business taken care of!" Then, when the time to make the appointment came along, it moved to, "Wait. Maybe wait just a bit." And then we had to ask ourselves "Why wait?" And the discussion turned to, "Do we adopt or do we have another?" Which was the HUGE question in our minds, that we debated for about 8 months. And then, after much prayer and late night talking, we both finally felt it, "I think we may have one more little Conlin needing to join our family." And here we are with a bun in the oven and back to the, "Alrightee, Honey!" point.

4. Are you going to need to get one of these?

Dear me, no! Although this 12-passenger beauty is not uncommon at all here in the Springs where large families seem to flourish. However, I am hoping to avoid this van, exhausting all other possibilities. For now, our current van will be squishy, but we all fit...although I'd love an excuse to get a new one as you all know!

5. Has this pregnancy been the same or different so far?

Actually, it has been pretty different. I've never been this sick. But I have known women who have had it way worse than me, and after this pregnancy I admire them all the more, especially if they have more than one! And not all of my pregnancies have been exactly the same anyhow. But this has been the sickest. On that note, I really did think I had the stomach flu from that slug post awhile back. But after no one else got it, I thought it was food poisoning. Then it happened again, a whole day, sun-up to long-after sun-down sick. So then I was suspicious. And my doc confirmed it. I guess in a sea of nausea sometimes you can have a day where your body just can't take it anymore. But! I have been feeling a bit better the past couple of days. Not back to normal yet, but any better is waaaaay better. Now if only there was a cure for sleepiness....

6. But you rode roller coasters!

Yes, I did. And they were very fun. And the baby is fine, just as I knew he'd be. I did avoid the jerky ones though. No Thunder Mountain, no Star Tours, no Matterhorn. Nothing where I was worried I would hurt the baby in any way. One thing I do well: get pregnant and stay pregnant until someone makes that baby come!

7. How are you feeling about having five?

I am actually pretty nervous. I mean four kids is a big family. But, in my head, five is a huge family. I think I have felt during this pregnancy really similar to my first: very excited and pretty scared all in one. But I have a wonderful husband who is an amazing teammate and loves being an active and involved dad, family and friends who are such an encouragement and support, and four boys who are going to be great big brothers, once again.

8. Speaking of the boys, what do they think?

Zach and Ben are both really excited about having another baby. Zach was told pretty early, since he was starting to get worried about how sick I was without knowing why. He's hoping the baby will ask him to baptize it when it is 8 and he is 16. Ben and Josh we told after we had the ultrasound last Monday and saw that sweet little heartbeat. That night Ben came downstairs and told me all the ways he could help with the new baby (this is our child that for at least 3 years has said he wants to have 10 kids when he grows up). My favorite suggestion was that he could push the baby in a stroller for the times when Luke still needed to be in a stroller and I needed to push him. What a sweetheart! Josh seems happy about it. He is always loving on other people's babies and talks excitedly about having a new baby. And he is thrilled that the baby's due date is just two days after his fifth birthday. Let's just hope they don't end up sharing, it might seem fun at first, but I don't think either of them will like it so much as the years wear on. Luke, well, he isn't going to know what hit him. And I am not sure he is going to be overjoyed. We will have to see!

9. Are you planning on delivering again without an epidural?

For now the plan is yes, but, as with Luke, I am giving myself a guilt-free pass if I decide to have one at the last minute. But I didn't with Luke even given the pass, and I don't plan on it this time around either. The biggest thing that may change that plan is if they decide to induce me, as they have in the past because of my humungo babies. If I am induced again...well, we'll see!

10. OK, so there's not really 10. But "Top Nine" didn't sound as cool.