Mr. W and I may not be as far apart in our future family planning as I recently thought.
About a week ago, Mr. W said that if a job offer that is on the table comes to fruition, he thought a second child might be more of an option. With this job, he would be working from home and therefore my bed rest would not be a major problem for the lowercase since he would be there to do the active stuff (cooking, cleaning, carrying the lowercase when needed) while I could do the light work of parenting (hahahaha) from a horizontal position on the couch. (Incidentally, we will find out more about the possibility of this job at the beginning of November, possibly as early as the first).
While in the car last weekend, he off-handedly asked if I thought that my perinatologist would consult with us if I were not pregnant -- "you know, just to see what the protocol would be if we did decide to give it another go." He further went on to say that he thought we should do everything exactly as we did with the lowercase since that time we had success. He wondered if I would have to pay to have my massive file shipped to my current gynecologist since she was not the doctor I saw when I became pregnant (the first trimester with the lowercase, I was still part-time downstate, part time in Western NY and saw my downstate doctor). Or would it be simpler for me to just call my downstate doctor and maybe make an appointment when I was visiting to get the Clomid prescription and go over the baby aspirin and prometrium regimen since he was the one who took care of all that in conjunction with our former RE. (Have I mentioned I do not like my current gynecologist? That I think she's cold and unfeeling? That she's a bit rough with the speculum? And that I'm now nearly a year overdue for an exam as a result? And that I don't think she'd be at all sympathetic to my attempts to maintain a pregnancy? Consider it mentioned.)
He kind of caught me by surprise and so I just discussed things as far as he was willing -- basically answering his questions with my opinions but not pushing for more. Something that totally goes against everything in me to do, but I let him lead this conversation in its entirety. And it kind of worked. He didn't get frustrated or try to change the conversation -- it only ended when we arrived home and had to take the boy out of the car seat and unload the trunk.
I suppose that where I once wasn't sure the Mr. and I were even in the same library, it appears that we not only are but are even reading the same book. We're just on different pages at the moment. Here's hoping he's a fast reader. And that, despite my fear of taking this particular metaphor too far, one of the next pages he comes to involves the job shift that could make this all possible.