7 Thoughts From Being 7 Months Pregnant

I should clarify:

My wife is 7 months pregnant – I am not 7 months pregnant.

(I have a really hard time saying “We’re pregnant.” I’m not the one doing the work here so I refuse to claim that title haha.)

Here are a few of our thoughts as we head into the final 2 months before getting to meet our baby girl, Riley Jean Ratkovich.

1. 2 months seems like forever… and like no time at all

It’s so tempting to kick back and relax as we wait around for this little baby because it sort of feels like we still have a long way to go. At the same time, we’re realizing just how much we have to get done before she comes – and there’s always the chance that she’ll come early! It’s a pretty weird dichotomy, but as parents we’re pretty familiar with it. Not only from the first pregnancy, but also reflecting on the fact that our daughter Amelia is a year and a half old already. Again, in some ways it seems like we’ve been parents forever and we can’t even remember what life was like before becoming parents. It’s also amazing how quickly time flies and we can hardly believe that our little girl is officially not a baby anymore and is a full-fledged toddler!

2. We’re excited to make the transition from 1 to 2 kiddos

Of course it will be new, or course it will be work, of course it will be different, etc. We know this haha. And we also know that there’s a lot that we don’t know, and we’re excited to embrace everything that our second child will bring with her. We’ve been grateful for our supportive friends and family who choose to spend more time encouraging us and less time warning us. I think it’s going to be so much fun to walk through this season with Amanda, and it will certainly be one for the books!

3. We’re both preparing our businesses and clients for postpartum madness

One of the things we’ve been careful to do is to “future-proof” our businesses for special occasions such as this. As a Coach myself and as Amanda being an illustrator, we both aim to take excellent care of our clients by serving them well! We’re both gearing up for setting each of them up for success as we get closer to Riley’s due date, and it’s a fun challenge! On my end, as I did last time, I’ll be writing up some longer training blocks for my clients that will extend the length of my paternity leave, while also making sure that I’ve answered all of their questions ahead of time so they’re not left hanging. Here on this site, I’ll be working on some great write-ups and programs for you to download on time as well!

4. We’ve been practicing saying Riley’s name around the house

For our first daughter, we kept her name a secret until she was born, where we finally told our friends and family in the hospital for the first time. It was a really fun experience, but this time we wanted to take a different approach. We still got to surprise our friends and family, but we did it ahead of time, so we’ve gotten a lot of practice “practicing” her name in private and public. Amanda’s bump is officially called Riley by everyone and it definitely increases our anticipation to meet here! We haven’t shared this in too many other places, but here’s the 30 second story about where her name came from: We actually started with her middle name. Her middle name Jean is also my grandma’s name (it’s her middle name, to be specific!), and we loved both the name and the family ties as well. We both individually loved the name Riley, and thought it sounded like a good name for a little sister. We pitted it up against a couple of other names that we liked, but Riley was the clear victor!

5. Our parents have been wildly helpful AND excited

Oh my goodness, where to begin on this one?! All four of our parents have been such an amazing support system for us, and this pregnancy has been no exception! They’ve certainly spoiled Amelia and Riley both with gifts of clothes, toys, diapers, and babysitting, but even more than that, they’ve all both so involved and engaged with their new and upcoming grandkids. Watching them play with Amelia and watching them talk about Riley is wildly heartwarming, and it means the world to us that they would be so helpful and loving. With both pairs of parents local to our area, it’s been so great to get to spend so much time with them over the past year and a half and beyond!

6. Parenthood is largely about stewardship for us

To nobody’s surprise, one of the most common questions married couples get is “How many kids do you want to have?” It’s a fair question I suppose, but the one asking really doesn’t stand to gain much from the answer so it seems a little weird haha. Anyway, our answer has always been “We want as many kids as we can support.” Financially, yes, but it’s more than that for us. We view parenting as a big responsibility in stewardship given by God to us. Our sole aim in raising our kids (no matter how many we end up with!) is to love and lead them as Jesus does, and to join alongside them in their own journeys to faith in Christ. It sounds a lot easier and more simple written down like this, but we are overjoyed that God would bless us with kids that we might have the opportunity to help lead them.

7. Amelia is in for quite the surprise!

This post wouldn’t be complete without recording a thought about how Amelia will be a big sister soon! She is indeed in for quite the surprise when the baby comes home… and doesn’t leave! We’re anticipating that she’ll love the baby at first with great curiosity and gentleness. However, her true toddler colors may begin to show as baby Riley absorbs more of our time and attention. It will be a spectacle to behold haha! Amelia loves babies in general, and we’re already working on teaching her to say Riley – we’re at “RyRy” right now!

So that’s what’s going on in our lives off of social media right now! We’re in the middle of an exciting season, and we know that God has some amazing plans in store!