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Gwen refused to be in this photo from our trip to NOLA on the way home for Thanksgiving. But THERE’S STILL FIVE PEOPLE IN THE PICTURE. Did you catch that?!
I’m good at keeping secrets about other people. About myself? Not so much. And I’ve been dying to tell you this for the past month!
It is with greatest joy that I announce that we are expecting a new baby next summer! We are absolutely thrilled about this new life and so grateful that God has chosen us to be his/her parents.
With each of my four pregnancies, I have been very much amazed by the mystery of life. I know it’s impossible to deserve such a gift and I can only stand in awe of it.
Do you have questions? I have answers!
Q&A:
When’s the due date?
Harry Potter’s birthday, July 31st. So I think we can expect great things from this little Chosen One…of course the past two babies were more than a week late so….I think we can expect an August babe.
Did you plan this?
Yeah. I mean…I guess. When you don’t contracept, it’s really just as matter of not avoiding certain fertile periods of the month anymore and just seeing what happens. We were very much hoping for a baby and had stopped charting when we got pregnant.
Why’d you wait so long between babies?
I know you are FAR too polite to ask this, but since I find it really helpful to understand how Catholic couples try to discern expanding their families, I thought I’d be really open about this in case it helps someone. Gwen will be FIVE when this new baby is born (what?! How did that happen?!). So yeah, it’s kinda been awhile. The number one reason we’ve spaced out babies so far is how severe my morning sickness (or HG, hyperemesis gravidarum) is. Being so ill while caring for a 3yo and a 10 month old baby when I was pregnant with Gwen was……unbearable. It was really hard and kind of traumatizing for me and for the other kids (since I was basically MIA for a few months and couldn’t bear to even be touched by them). So that was a big piece of needing to wait longer for another pregnancy. Then I also needed a little mental sanity break from pregnancy and newborns–particularly with our move across the country. And then I had a flare up of my autoimmune issues that took time to get under control again. So once that was all sorted out and I had forgotten how awful it feels to have HG, we were ready to try again! And I felt that tugging on my heart whenever I’d see a newborn.
Do you really get THAT sick?
I guess it depends on what you mean. There are certainly women who get HG WAY worse than I do and have to be hospitalized for months of their pregnancy just to stay hydrated. My first two pregnancies I was just nauseous 24/7 for several months with daily vomiting. My third pregnancy I couldn’t even keep down water and was quickly dropping weight and had to take prescription drugs to control it. I had hoped that doing all sorts of preventative things would keep me from being so sick this time, but it’s been playing out just like my 3rd pregnancy. Crippling nausea beginning at the end of the 4th week. Like can’t get out of bed, can’t smell food, can’t shower, can’t drive, can’t sleep kind of nausea. Thank GOODNESS my kids are old enough to be able to feed themselves! By week 6 I was despairing and asked to be put on the same drug I was on when I was pregnant with Gwen. I took my first dose before bed and woke up in the middle of the night just queasy….not overwhelmed by nausea. I cried with relief. The next day I got up out of bed! I took a shower! I made lunch for my kids (ok, it was mac n’ cheese but it was the first time I had been in the kitchen in ages)! So yeah, I get really sick. Way beyond typical morning sickness. But it’s controllable with meds and neither my baby nor I have been in danger due to the HG, so I know I have it better than a lot of people.
Are you gonna find out the gender?
Yes! One of the heartbreaking things about HG is that you feel so wretched that you start to think of your due date as the day you’re freed from the nausea rather than the day you meet your baby. It can honestly be hard to bond with your little one in utero because it’s difficult to think about anything but how sick you are. So finding out the gender helps me remember why I’m putting myself through it all and helps me bond with my baby. It helps to know whether baby is a boy or a girl so I can start calling him/her by name. It just really helps me mentally.
Do you have names picked out?
We do have some frontrunner names for each gender but we’re gonna let them simmer for a little while before we settle on anything.
Are the other kids excited?
Oh. My. Word. They are THRILLED. Benjamin is just dying for a baby brother, so for his sake I hope it’s a boy. And Gwen is telling everyone she sees (like EVERYONE. Like random people in the grocery story everyone) that mommy’s having a baby. We have tried to deter her, but she will. not. be. stopped. They have all really stepped up over the past few weeks to take care of me. Benjamin always makes sure I have a La Croix to sip on and they are doing their absolute best to make everything easy for me while I feel sick.
How do you plan to deliver?
Planning on a fourth midwife-assisted hospital birth.
Have you seen your midwife yet?
Not yet! I’m only about 6.5 weeks along, so I have two more weeks before my first appointment. I would love to have your prayers that baby looks healthy and strong!
So 2018 is shaping up to be a pretty exciting year for the Stewarts. A baby’s birth expected in the summer and a book release in the fall. I feel so grateful….and very queasy, but mostly grateful. While I struggle through the worst weeks of nausea and plough through book edits, things might be pretty quiet around here. I know some of you have been around from the very beginning of the blog and followed our family as we’ve grown. I’m so grateful for each of you. Thanks for everything. Y’all are the absolutely best readers in the universe. There is no doubt in my mind about that.
P.S. Especially considering we’re in the holiday season which is already a difficult time for those grieving a loss or struggling with infertility, I know that even hearing pregnancy news from someone you don’t know in real life can be hard. If you are carrying that pain through this holiday season, please know I’m praying for you, offering up my HG for you, and that you are remembered and loved.
Awwwww yes!!!!!
Congrats!!!!!!
Yay!! Congrats!!
THIS MAKES ME SO HAPPY!! I’ve been living vicariously through your little family since you were pregnant with Lucy and I’ve come to love hearing about your adventures. I can’t wait to read about the joy this new child brings to your sweet family.
Congrats!!! So excited to hear about another little Stewart baby! I’m sorry you’re feeling so sick and glad that meds make it bearable. Praying for you!
Ohh, congrats! I am so very sorry about the HG, though. I had that with all four of my pregnancies, and it was so hard. So, so hard.
I completely get what you’re saying about counting down to the due date from the very beginning….like, how much longer do I have to live through this???
I’m so glad the drugs are helping. I was medicated the entirety of my last two pregnancies, and man, I think I’d have been in the hospital if it weren’t for Zofran.
Oh I’m so happy for you! I too am in the middle of the HG battle, almost 12 weeks and still trying to find a led combo that will help, though I’m doing far better than I have before so I try to focus on gratitude for that. I can’t wait for all 2018 holds!
How exciting!! Congratulations to the whole family. We are expecting too right around the same time. Online calendar says August 4 but I’m sure the first sonogram next week will give us a different date. I will offer up prayers for you each day. So far in this pregnancy I’ve had zero nausea. Crazy since both of the others were 24/7 level nausea unless I was eating beginning right at the 5 week mark. And what wonderful and caring kiddos you and Daniel have raised.
This is going to sound so dumb, but I got all choked up when I read this post! lol Between your blog and the podcast, I feel like I know you and Christy, so this made me super happy! (Sorry if that sounds creepy or weird. lol) Many prayers for you and your little one today and everyday throughout your pregnancy. I hope that you can keep your HG to a manageable level. Love and joy from Steubenville! Congratulations!
Congratulations! How exciting
Yay Haley!!! Congrats to you and your family!
We have a space of 5 years between our two youngest also. Adding our littlest guy was such a huge blessing for our 4 older kiddos. They absolutely LOVE having a baby around and it has created a tenderness to babies in general that they were just too young to have before.
Prayers for safe and healthy pregnancy. Congrats again, your babies are beautiful!
Congratulations Stewart Family! What a gift to have another little one ? is it weird that I’m so excited for a family I don’t know IRL? Oh well! So happy for you
I have a question regarding HG – did your midwife or other healthcare practitioner officially diagnose you? I just assumed that if I wasn’t hospitalized due to vomiting/nausea that I didn’t have it. In fact when I told my midwife that I was vomiting 7+ times per day and not eating much more than goldfish she just said “yeah, pregnancy can be hard.” I’m curious so I can have a little more information come the next pregnancy.
Congratulations! Wishing you the best!
HOORAY!!!!! What a gift!!! All the best!
Congratulations! My second is due next month and my daughter will be 5 in May. HG is so hard- I’ve had it with both- and it’s so important to take care of yourself in between pregnancies! Hoping you find some greater relief soon! Diclegis has been great for me this time around, much more so than Zofran last time.
Be well!
Congratulations, Haley! So happy for you guys! I’ll be praying for you!
Congratulations! And thanks, too, for your Q&A. I’m not Catholic, but as a Latter-day Saint, we share similar values, and I appreciate the open and genuine way you live–and share–your faith.
Your health and non-queasiness will be in my prayers!
In fact, there’s an aromatic nausea remedy that they gave my daughter at Mayo; it’s called “QueaseEase”. It looks like a lipstick, so you can keep it in your pocket but it has concentrated essential oils in it that seem to be very effective. Best of all, it’s safe. I got them on Amazon.
So happy for your family!
Congratulations!!! I’m so happy for you and your family. And come July, I will be so happy that you have AC! What wonderful news. Hang in there with the HG.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!! You all will be in our Rosary intentions this season! I’ll also ask Ven. Fulton Sheen, to pray for your HG, because he’s a cool guy. Seems like something he’s like to help you with:-)
Oh- this just made my day!
Much Love from your Idaho friends,
The Alvis Family
Congratulations Haley and family!! What a beautiful gift this child is!!!!
Yay!!! I am SO excited for your family!!
This is just wonderful! You have such a delightful family that I’ve been hoping you’d have more kids. God bless you!
What wonderful news! That is so exciting! My prayers will be with you for relief of sickness, and a healthy pregnancy and delivery!
Yay, so so happy for you all!!! Congratulations and prayers
Congratulations to you and your beautiful family! I would like to echo what another commenter said: you have such an amazing family that I was hoping it would get bigger! Thank you also for remembering those that struggle/have struggled with infertility or loss… You are a very Beautiful person!!!
SUCH great news!! Excited for you and the rest of Team Stewart
Congratulations! Love and prayers through this season and beyond.
Also – July 31st is my daughter’s birthday, and while I’ve known for awhile now about HP’s birthday, it only took me 8 years of her life to learn that it is also St. Ignatius of Loyola’s feast day!! {Of course he had been saint stalking me for a year so the truth was bound to surface eventually}.
I have tried to explain to people that I find out the baby’s gender for the same reason you articulated and they still blink and ask, “But don’t you want to be surprised?” LET ME CLUE YOU IN, RANDOM STRANGER: It’s surprising no matter when you find out!
Congratulations !!!! We are also expecting our fourth in June!! I haven’t gotten any “was this planned!” Questions yet but I always look at NFP as “postponing” instead of preventing so … hey, we postponed it! NFP worked! Haha
Hope you get to feeling better asap!
Oh! Happy day. Congratulations on your new little.
Congratulations!! I am so happy for you and your family.
You are such a kind person. It was nice of you to remember those with fertility issues. I will be praying for you that you can handle all that’s expected from you. Congrats and God Bless. This really was such a wonderful post, that I had to say “thanks”.
Praise be to God – that is so exciting! Many blessings!!!
Aaaah! So thrilled for you! Will pray for your HG. ♡♡♡
Congratulations!!! I’m due with my fourth just before you, on July 24th! I’ve had bad morning sickness, requiring medication, through all my pregnancies so far, but nothing like you’ve had, I’m sure.
I know you’ve taken some steps to strengthen your health in between pregnancies; would you be willing to share what you’re doing during pregnancy as well?
Thanks for sharing your good news (and answers to all the questions inquiring minds want to ask)! God bless you and your family!
Congratulations – what wonderful news! My husband and I are going through our adoption home study, so perhaps we’ll also have a little one sometime next year. I propose I’ll offer up my frustrations with the adoption process for your HG. Sending lots of little offerings.
Ahhhhh what joyous news – congratulations!!! I will be praying for you and baby. Thank the Lord for anti nausea medicine!
Is it totally creepy to admit I’ve been looking forward to a fourth Stewart baby? Such good news! I’m right there with you with the waiting…waiting…I think Roan will have to be at least four before we can considering intentionally trying for another. But I feel the quiet pull on my heart. <3
Congratulations! My face lit up when I read the title of this blog post. It always seems so strange that I feel such joy for a family that I’ve never personally met, but it leaves me even more grateful that this is what it means to be a part of the body of Christ. Our joy is just that much sweeter when shared, congratulations to your beautiful growing family!
So happy for your family! I may be biased, but big families are the most fun!
HG sounds miserable though. Don’t know if I would have had the fortitude to put up with that. Glad to hear medication helps somewhat. To be that sick is certainly not normal.
Congratulations! Wonderful news!
I get HG as well. It. Is.brutal. and I agree about the ultrasound! A nice little bright light in the all day sickness tunnel.
The baby announcement we’ve all been waiting for!!!! Congrats!!!! ?
Ahhh!!! Congratulations, Haley!! I’m so happy for you and hope you have a wonderful pregnancy and God gives you some relief from the HG <3
Congrats!!
With such NFP success, I have to ask…which method do you use?
Woohoo!!! Congratulations
Congratulations !
Aw, congratulations!
My dear! What great news! So happy for you! The last couple of years I’ve been following you more from a distance, but it’s always such a warm familiar feeling to read you! Much love and all the best in the world for you and your family, new baby specially! – with a big hug from Amsterdam !
Congratulations!
Congratulations! What a beautiful time to be carrying new life, right alongside our Blessed Mother and on this Feast of the Immaculate Conception! God be with you and your family for a safe and strong pregnancy.
Congratulations! And thanks for your PS too. We’re in a weird place where it’s clear that there’s something wrong and I can’t conceive, but we’re under such financial strain that we’re not pursuing a solution right now. I’m mostly fine with it, but every once in a while I see a baby and my heart just hurts. I’m never offended by other people’s good news, but I’m moved that you’re thinking of people like me in the midst of your joy and physical misery
Oh dear Haley, congratulations to you and your family! I am so happy! Let me say that I am so happy you mentioned the five year gap; we Catholics gals do not have to have a baby every 18 months! Thank you so much for mentioning that on your blog! Aren’t we all mamas who want to do the best by our families? I will be praying for you as you battle the sickness. Congrats!!
Congratulations! I’m reading your post from my hospital bed this morning after delivering our fourth child, so I’m super excited for you! Good luck with the nausea. Try not to feel guilty about the medication – if I could go back and take it with my first child, I would!
Congratulations!! Wonderful news. Will definitely keep you in prayers during the pregnancy and hope that the sickness doesn’t last the whole time. Our family’s youngest 2 are 5 1/2 years apart and our older 3 kids completely adore the baby (and vice versa). Have fun preparing for the new one!
Congratulations!!! Thank you for such a wonderful post that had such honesty. How beautiful to be pregnant during Christmas! I find it to be such a joy! I will be praying for you!
Congratulations, Haley!! I’m so excited for you and your family! :)))))
Yay!! Super excited for you guys!!
Congratulations!
I’m just curious if you have tried the Pink Stork products? I’ve had HG as well and have some hope that next time around that regimen might help. Basically I’m hoping to hear someone with full-blown HG say that it made everything much better.
A fellow HG mom shared this quote with me: “The prayer of a sick person is his patience and his acceptance of his sickness for the love of Jesus Christ. Make sickness itself a prayer, for there is none more powerful, save martyrdom!” – St. Francis De Sales
So happy for you!
Congratulations!!!!!I am so happy for you!!!
Congrats Haley!! Such happy news!! Sending prayers.
Praying for you and your baby.
Congratulations!! What wonderful news!
So exciting!!! so wonderful news. Praying xx
From someone who knows the HG struggle only too well, thanks for sharing! When I was in the midst of it with this pregnancy, it was so tempting to think I’m NEVER having another child again – I just can’t do this to my other kids or myself, so it’s nice to hear that even experiencing it, you might make some plans, take some time, but you are having another baby. (I guess Kate Middleton did the same thing, so we have some royal company as well!). Anyway, many congratulations and hang in there!!!
Haley, I know I already commented but this quote from a fantastic book, “The Apostolate of Holy Motherhood” came to mind and I wanted to share it with you. In it, Jesus says something to the effect of “I have the power to remove any cross from your life, but I won’t do it if it is necessary for your salvation”. I find a lot of comfort in this idea whenever I have a source of suffering that I can’t get rid of! Hang in there; I am happy to hear the meds help you but I know meds often just take the edge off and that you are still suffering. Prayers and hugs coming your way!
Yay!!! SO excited for your family!!
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Congratulations!! I also hope for Benjamin’s sake that it’s a boy. I feel you on the HG and waiting for more children. My children are 7 & 5 and I had just gotten over the PTSD of HG.
So the obvious thing was to have another one. My due date was 3 days before yours (7/28), but the day before Thanksgiving, I miscarried. I will live vicariously through you, pray for your HG and pray for a healthy baby for y’all in 2018.
Congrats from another currently pregnant HG woman. Sounds like mine is a little worse at the beginning… but it’s always gone away. That’s been traumatizing enough! Forty weeks of it sounds awful. I did lots of crunchy preventative stuff before this pregnancy and it helped a little, but not enough to keep me off meds (my rule is to take them if I’m headed down the path to the ER). Lots of prayers!!!
Congratulations! We are also expecting our 4th child this summer – that’s awesome. Thank you for all the material you post on here – we always find it enriching.
aaah i’m so excited for you! Can’t wait to find out the name! Will be praying for you