August 29, 2017
I have really been feeling the urge to journal lately. I 'll just jump right in with what's going on now.
Last week I found out I'm pregnant with our FOURTH child. Four sounds like a lot, doesn't it?? I am so excited because I have known for a while that another child needed to come to our family, but I didn't know when. This is an exciting time because Michael and this baby will have almost the exact same age difference as Adaline and Matthew, and I kind of like the symmetry of that.
The first symptoms of this pregnancy-that I noticed before I took a test-were my face breaking out, having to pee in the middle of the night, and feeling so stinkin' hot all the time. I'm not quite 6 weeks and just today I'm starting to feel sick. Maybe it will be a fluke and I'll feel better tomorrow! I can hardly wait to tell the other kiddos! Adaline has been asking for a baby (she specifically wants a sister) for a few months now and she will be so excited!! And Matthew will get excited just because Adaline is. He is funny that way.
Andrew and I are excited, the kids will be thrilled, and hopefully I have a smooth pregnancy ahead of me!
March 13, 2017
Sadly, that day of morning sickness was not just a fluke. It was a rough 1st trimester and trying to keep my family fed while I didn't want to even thinking about food was so hard. Thankfully, I got back on the eating train eventually and here we are many months later and things are great!
The first item on the agenda was finding a new dr. I loved the midwife that I saw throughout my last pregnancy, but she was at a practice with a head OB, and I was terrified that the OB would be the one on call when Michael was born, or even that I'd ever have to meet him. I read a 40 page handbook that he wrote and gives to all his patients, and it was very obvious that we don't see pregnancy and birth the same way. Everything ended up being fine, the other midwife was the one on call and she was fine, but I was so anxious the whole time. For this pregnancy, when I called to schedule my initial appointment, I asked if I could opt out of the early ultrasound. My reasons were that since I have a high deductible insurance plan, I'd be paying for the whole thing without it counting toward reaching my deductible when baby is born (different years), that it really isn't necessary and doesn't give extra information (I knew my dates were right and my last 3 kids were on time, on time, and 6 days late-pretty accurate I'd say), and that it's my body and my baby and this is in no way vital to survival/nothing life threatening/etc.. Anyway, they said I couldn't opt out because it was their policy to have that ultrasound. I mentioned that I could just call back at 10 weeks to schedule an appointment and get out of it that way since it would be too late (basically what unintentionally happened last time), but this brought back memories of feeling anxious in their office and fighting them on other things in the past. So, I found a new office. It's the same type of set-up, a combination of OBs and a midwife, but there's a much higher chance of the midwife actually being the one there when baby is born. I've also met all the dr's, just in case, and their philosophies all align so much more with my own. One of the OBs even said something like, "we're just there to come between your baby and the floor." Perfect. That's all I need you to do. He even asked me about switching doctors, because he noticed who I went to before and said he was surprised because they couldn't be more different. Oh, he also went to HS with the midwife that I loved so much. It's been a much better experience this time around.
I set a goal at the beginning of this pregnancy to be more active. I actually decided that before I found out I was pregnant, and I just wanted to make some better habits. It ended up being really good timing! I was pretty consistent with classes at the yoga studio downtown while I was pregnant with Michael, but I wanted to do something more consistent this time. I loved the classes, but since it took effort and Andrew being home to go, I only went 2-3 times a week. I'm happy to report that I've kept up my goal for this whole pregnancy! I started with youtube video workouts and then got a subscription for the BeachBody workouts which ends two days before my due date. For the last 3 months, I haven't missed any days except Sundays. I think I'm most happy about keeping it up even when I was staying at hotels or sick. One of the hotels didn't even have a gym, but I made it work. I hope this doesn't sound prideful, but I want to remember how hard I worked and that I did it even when it wasn't easy. I got a PR when I ran the Halloween 5k a few months back and it was such a happy moment! I am so grateful to be able to exercise because it helps me feel good! Since I've been a more consistent this time, I'm interested to see if there's a noticeable difference in my recovery after baby comes.
This is the first time, in preparation for a baby, that we've had a room that actually looks and functions like a nursery and even have space in the dresser for baby's clothes. It's so nice to be in a house! We recently moved the kids around so that Adaline and Matthew are sharing again, and Michael has his own room until the baby comes. He's still sleeping in the crib, so baby will be in the pack n play until Michael learns to climb out, because I have no desire to kick a content toddler out of a crib. #Iheartbabyjail
Did you notice I keep saying "baby"? We have no idea what we're going to name this little guy. Boy names are so hard for me to choose. Hopefully we can decide on something in the next 6ish weeks!
Braxton Hicks/practice labor/whatever you want to call them have been coming pretty frequently, though as I'm writing this, I actually feel like I've gotten a bit of a break from them this week! They're annoying, but by now I'm so used to getting them for the entire end of my pregnancy that they really don't bother me.
This baby moves sooo much and I love it. In fact, I felt him much earlier than the other kids. I noticed his first movements when I was between 13 and 14 weeks. I was so surprised, but I was positive that's what I was feeling. Usually when I lie down at night, he starts moving like crazy. I suppose that might sound like it would be annoying, but it doesn't keep me awake. Instead, it's comforting to know that he's doing well.
What's not so fun about night time is the constant getting up to pee. I'm so over that. And it's not much better during the day. Recently I've had a persistent cough and been sneezing thanks to everything being in bloom. It's SO annoying and I'm hoping you can piece together why.
Adaline was not exactly thrilled to find out that she's getting another brother. However, she has come around recently, all on her own, and is now so excited that we're having a boy because she "loves having brothers" and says "they're so much fun". I'm so happy that she got to this point before the baby was born. I knew she would come around eventually, but it's fun to see her excited anticipation return. Even Michael seems excited. He likes to kiss/pat/blow raspberries on my belly and will start saying baby and trying to lift up my shirt whenever he wants to do that. It's cute until it happens while we're at the store.
I've had so many thoughts and moments that I wanted to record throughout this pregnancy. I know I've forgotten many of them, but I guess some is better than none.
Now for pictures:
I have really been feeling the urge to journal lately. I 'll just jump right in with what's going on now.
Last week I found out I'm pregnant with our FOURTH child. Four sounds like a lot, doesn't it?? I am so excited because I have known for a while that another child needed to come to our family, but I didn't know when. This is an exciting time because Michael and this baby will have almost the exact same age difference as Adaline and Matthew, and I kind of like the symmetry of that.
The first symptoms of this pregnancy-that I noticed before I took a test-were my face breaking out, having to pee in the middle of the night, and feeling so stinkin' hot all the time. I'm not quite 6 weeks and just today I'm starting to feel sick. Maybe it will be a fluke and I'll feel better tomorrow! I can hardly wait to tell the other kiddos! Adaline has been asking for a baby (she specifically wants a sister) for a few months now and she will be so excited!! And Matthew will get excited just because Adaline is. He is funny that way.
Andrew and I are excited, the kids will be thrilled, and hopefully I have a smooth pregnancy ahead of me!
March 13, 2017
Sadly, that day of morning sickness was not just a fluke. It was a rough 1st trimester and trying to keep my family fed while I didn't want to even thinking about food was so hard. Thankfully, I got back on the eating train eventually and here we are many months later and things are great!
The first item on the agenda was finding a new dr. I loved the midwife that I saw throughout my last pregnancy, but she was at a practice with a head OB, and I was terrified that the OB would be the one on call when Michael was born, or even that I'd ever have to meet him. I read a 40 page handbook that he wrote and gives to all his patients, and it was very obvious that we don't see pregnancy and birth the same way. Everything ended up being fine, the other midwife was the one on call and she was fine, but I was so anxious the whole time. For this pregnancy, when I called to schedule my initial appointment, I asked if I could opt out of the early ultrasound. My reasons were that since I have a high deductible insurance plan, I'd be paying for the whole thing without it counting toward reaching my deductible when baby is born (different years), that it really isn't necessary and doesn't give extra information (I knew my dates were right and my last 3 kids were on time, on time, and 6 days late-pretty accurate I'd say), and that it's my body and my baby and this is in no way vital to survival/nothing life threatening/etc.. Anyway, they said I couldn't opt out because it was their policy to have that ultrasound. I mentioned that I could just call back at 10 weeks to schedule an appointment and get out of it that way since it would be too late (basically what unintentionally happened last time), but this brought back memories of feeling anxious in their office and fighting them on other things in the past. So, I found a new office. It's the same type of set-up, a combination of OBs and a midwife, but there's a much higher chance of the midwife actually being the one there when baby is born. I've also met all the dr's, just in case, and their philosophies all align so much more with my own. One of the OBs even said something like, "we're just there to come between your baby and the floor." Perfect. That's all I need you to do. He even asked me about switching doctors, because he noticed who I went to before and said he was surprised because they couldn't be more different. Oh, he also went to HS with the midwife that I loved so much. It's been a much better experience this time around.
I set a goal at the beginning of this pregnancy to be more active. I actually decided that before I found out I was pregnant, and I just wanted to make some better habits. It ended up being really good timing! I was pretty consistent with classes at the yoga studio downtown while I was pregnant with Michael, but I wanted to do something more consistent this time. I loved the classes, but since it took effort and Andrew being home to go, I only went 2-3 times a week. I'm happy to report that I've kept up my goal for this whole pregnancy! I started with youtube video workouts and then got a subscription for the BeachBody workouts which ends two days before my due date. For the last 3 months, I haven't missed any days except Sundays. I think I'm most happy about keeping it up even when I was staying at hotels or sick. One of the hotels didn't even have a gym, but I made it work. I hope this doesn't sound prideful, but I want to remember how hard I worked and that I did it even when it wasn't easy. I got a PR when I ran the Halloween 5k a few months back and it was such a happy moment! I am so grateful to be able to exercise because it helps me feel good! Since I've been a more consistent this time, I'm interested to see if there's a noticeable difference in my recovery after baby comes.
This is the first time, in preparation for a baby, that we've had a room that actually looks and functions like a nursery and even have space in the dresser for baby's clothes. It's so nice to be in a house! We recently moved the kids around so that Adaline and Matthew are sharing again, and Michael has his own room until the baby comes. He's still sleeping in the crib, so baby will be in the pack n play until Michael learns to climb out, because I have no desire to kick a content toddler out of a crib. #Iheartbabyjail
Did you notice I keep saying "baby"? We have no idea what we're going to name this little guy. Boy names are so hard for me to choose. Hopefully we can decide on something in the next 6ish weeks!
Braxton Hicks/practice labor/whatever you want to call them have been coming pretty frequently, though as I'm writing this, I actually feel like I've gotten a bit of a break from them this week! They're annoying, but by now I'm so used to getting them for the entire end of my pregnancy that they really don't bother me.
This baby moves sooo much and I love it. In fact, I felt him much earlier than the other kids. I noticed his first movements when I was between 13 and 14 weeks. I was so surprised, but I was positive that's what I was feeling. Usually when I lie down at night, he starts moving like crazy. I suppose that might sound like it would be annoying, but it doesn't keep me awake. Instead, it's comforting to know that he's doing well.
What's not so fun about night time is the constant getting up to pee. I'm so over that. And it's not much better during the day. Recently I've had a persistent cough and been sneezing thanks to everything being in bloom. It's SO annoying and I'm hoping you can piece together why.
Adaline was not exactly thrilled to find out that she's getting another brother. However, she has come around recently, all on her own, and is now so excited that we're having a boy because she "loves having brothers" and says "they're so much fun". I'm so happy that she got to this point before the baby was born. I knew she would come around eventually, but it's fun to see her excited anticipation return. Even Michael seems excited. He likes to kiss/pat/blow raspberries on my belly and will start saying baby and trying to lift up my shirt whenever he wants to do that. It's cute until it happens while we're at the store.
I've had so many thoughts and moments that I wanted to record throughout this pregnancy. I know I've forgotten many of them, but I guess some is better than none.
Now for pictures:
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| The picture we took and sent our families |
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| 14w5d |
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| 15w2d |
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| 16w6d |
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| 21weeks |
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| How we announced on facebook when I was 24w2d. Something about there being more than one reason that my pants no longer fit. |
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| 26w1d |
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| 27w |
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| 28w2d |
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| 30w |
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| 30w2d |
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| 30w4d |
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| 31w |
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| 31w6d |
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| sucking in because I think it's funny |
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| 33w1d |
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