By Lori Montgomery
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 2, 2002; Page B02

Five weeks after they wed in a quiet ceremony at the governor's mansion in Annapolis, Maryland Gov. Parris N. Glendening andthe new first lady announced that they are expecting a baby.

In an interview yesterday in his State House office, Glendening, 59, and his bride, Jennifer E. Crawford, 35, told the Associated Press that they discovered in January that Crawford was pregnant.

"Both Jennifer and I are very excited," Glendening told the AP. "We're expecting the first week in September."

Glendening and Crawford declined to talk to other reporters.

Crawford, making her first public statement as first lady, said she is feeling well, though still having morning sickness. With a baby on the way, Crawford said she does not plan to lead the sort of public life characteristic of her predecessor, Frances Anne Glendening, whom the governor divorced in November.

"I think I'll be focusing a lot on my family, getting ready for the baby and taking care of my husband," Crawford said.

Glendening is forced by term limits to leave office in January. So, he said, "I'm in a good position to put a lot of time into parenting."

The child will be the second for Glendening, who has a son, Raymond, 22. The governor separated from Frances Anne Glendening in July 2000. Their divorce became final on Nov. 19, two days before what would have been their 25th wedding anniversary.

Before the divorce, Glendening began a relationship with Crawford, then his deputy chief of staff and one of the most powerful and controversial figures in his administration. Crawford resigned her $103,000-a-year post on Jan. 25 and married Glendening in a brief civil ceremony that afternoon.

It is her first marriage and the governor's third.

News of the baby caps an eventful few months for Glendening. In addition to the divorce, the marriage and the pregnancy, Glendening received a frightening diagnosis of skin cancer in January. He underwent surgery Feb. 8 for removal of a melanoma from his scalp. Biopsies indicated the cancer had not spread, and his doctors said there was no need for follow-up treatment.

"It's been an extraordinary month," Glendening said. "We got married, had the honeymoon and a few days later I found out I had cancer."

Added Crawford: "It was a little scary."