Week 28- Hello 3rd trimester!

It has been a long month.  All is well, and baby is growing like a little dandelion in there.  She is dancing and thumping, and having a grand old time.  Right now, her feet seem to be on the left side of my belly and her head on the right.  So I think.  Last week, it was just the opposite.  I am glad she is enjoying her time of flips and somersaults, as her space is about to dwindle rapidly.

Mommy status:  So much has happened since last I blogged.  Two weeks ago, I became very ill with some kind of cough and congestion that turned into an infection.  I spent an entire week going to work, coming home and sleeping.  Baby did not seem to notice that I was sick; in fact, I think she enjoyed my laying around the house so much because she wiggled and played more than she ever had before.  Luckily, I am well now (thanks for the antibiotics, doc!) and running at full pregnant lady speed- which, as you may guess, is about a snail's crawl.  My back hurts enough now that I have to wear the belly support band every day.  The stabbing abdominal pains of my round ligaments is a daily challenge, and I can't do grocery shopping or walking for any length of time before they start to hurt.  Once they get going, it is hard to stop.  Everything else is pretty normal, and anything else is too gross to share :)  We just came home from the Houston Livestock Show where Triston showed his pig, Bandit II.  I have zero stamina in me, and actually fell asleep in a camp chair in the middle of the noise, commotion, and stench of the pig section.  I can tell the third trimester has begun because of this crazy exhaustion, the constant need to drink and pee, and the fact that it takes three separate sets of movements to get in or out of the car.  Oh, and my husband is constantly teasing me about being so slow and waddly.

                                                      

             At the pig show                                                                                       27 weeks, 2 days

Nursery Status:  Since the last update, we have increased the offerings of our nursery to include many baby outfits (thank you Cindy for donating the beautiful baby girl clothes!), an amazing rug, a rocking chair (thank you Grandma and Grandpa Goodfellow), and a bedding set (which took my probably 12+ hours of searching the internet to find because I am insane and refused to spend $200 or more for baby bedding, and I did it- the whole set was ony $50.00!).

Nursery at 28 weeks- furniture in, decorations to go!

Mom enjoying the rocking chair

Baby status:  We go to the doctor on Tuesday.  So far, she has been measuring just perfect, and her heart rate and movements are all good.  At our last visit, I did mention again to my doctor about the possibility that I was exposed to the Zika virus.  We were only slightly worried, since I didn't seem to have any mosquito bites after our trip.  Then, after finding out it was transmittable person to person, and knowing that Jason did have mosquito bites, we became slightly more worried.  The upside to my worry is that we get to have an ultrasound at this 28 week visit.  I can't wait to see my girl again!  The downside to the 28 week visit is that I have to drink the vile orange drink and take the 1-hour glucose test.  Boo!  Hoping I don't have to do the 3-hour.  I have done it two or three times, and it is poopy.  Especially the time it turned into gestational diabetes.  Here's hoping for low sugar!
Braden loves to sit and feel the baby kick.  She loves to play with him, and is always very active when he sits down to push and play and chat with her.  Katie can't wait for her to get here; she has already picked out the one outfit we have bought for her- complete with a pink bow and hearts.  Triston, my patient child, is waiting calmly for her arrival.  He is the only one who made a that-is-so-disgusting face when I asked him if he wanted to see her delivery.  Katie wants desperately to be there, and Braden has not yet decided if he thinks it is a very good idea, or a very bad idea.  Regardless, this baby girl is coming to the three best siblings any kid could ask for.  

Name status:  At this point, I am telling people we are sticking with Jimmy.  This is what Braden called her before she was a "she," and it is funny.  I am fairly certain we have found our winner, and I am also fairly certain we are not sharing yet.  Mary Elizabeth and Brooklyn both seem to have been tabled in favor of this new name.  We shall see...

Daddy status:  I think Daddy is going nuts with my incessant planning.  With my three surrogate pregnancies, there was no planning.  With my first three, I was too poor to plan, so we just kinda bought stuff as we needed it.  I am far too caught up in planning everything for this one (as is evidenced by the baby bedding fiasco), but I am also enjoying it too much to stop.  Daddy has been able to feel baby playing now that she is strong.  He seems to have a soothing effect on her though, and every time he places a hand on my belly, she calms right down.  We are hoping this continues after birth.  He talks to her every morning and every night.  Sometimes he puts his mouth almost against my belly and talks to her.  Sometimes about me, sometimes about what they are going to do, and sometimes I just try not to listen so he can tell her secrets.  He is going to be so good with our little Ray of sunshine.

Mom's favorite picture to date.  Dad loving with his girl as she kicks him in the head.

I think that is all the updates for now.  I am so looking forward to meeting this child.  In June.  June 4.  Just throwing that out there.

Week 24- and an important milestone

I love week 24 of pregnancy.  Week 24 is the week that allows my daughter the hope of living if she is born.  Week 24 means that with all of our modern science and technology, my daughter will live if she is born.  With all my fears about her coming too soon, this eases my worries and gladdens my heart.
I have started to have stabbing pains in my abdomen, or maybe they are just coming more frequently. The worst was after going grocery shopping, when I came home and the pain was so bad on the left side I had to sit down for 40 minutes before it stopped.  Thank goodness for my Katie May who put all the groceries away for me!  My back has started hurting, but that is manageable.  Baby is playing and active, and that is all I need to be okay.
We are making progress on the nursery.   It now boasts a crib and a dresser ordered by mom and assembled by daddy and big brother B.  I stand in the room and I can see it all coming together.  Every time someone walks in there with me, they get my list of what is going where and what color it will be and yada yada.  I think maybe this is why nobody ever goes in there unless I ask them to!  I am enjoying decorating my first nursery.
I have cancelled my order for our last baby name, and we are searching for new names even as we have two on the drawing board.
Jason has felt baby moving now, and likes to wake up each morning pushing on my belly to try to wake his little darling up.
I have been calling her my "little Ray of sunshine" the last few days.  She needs a nickname since we are slow on finding an actual name.  When people ask, I just tell them we are sticking with "Jimmy."  When they get that puzzled look, I reply, "this is what her brother named her before we knew she was a girl."  Whatever people, we will name her when we are ready!  And, maybe, just maybe, we will share her name with you before she arrives.  I have found that the best way to NOT get input on baby names is to wait until baby is already here and named.  Really, what can you say when it's already a done deal?
And maybe this will help other moms-to-be, maybe not.  After trying baby registries at Target and Buy Buy Baby, I have found that Amazon baby registry not only has everything that we need, free shipping, and equal or lesser than prices, they also walk you through the whole process!  It makes it so much easier to go through the virtual store section by section :)

Here are some pics of the nursery thus far:

The crib that daddy built.

The little table mom found at the "antique" shop, with the flowers in the vase given as a baby gift from our friend Jeanette.

Daddy and big brother B assembling the dresser.  They are pumped!

Week 20- Halfway there!

We reached that beautiful milestone just yesterday.  20 weeks down, 20 weeks to go.
I would imagine a mountain and imagine that I am now on the downhill side, sliding down into the conclusion of this story, but I am not a dummy.  I have been on this trek 6 times before, and I know I am nowhere near the top of this mountain.
Baby is in there playing and growing.  I feel her bumping here and there regularly this week.  Daddy still hasn't been able to feel her yet, but I keep trying.  He has made me promise that I won't let anyone else feel her first.  I felt her kick this morning and I know  he would have felt it had his hand been there in that moment.  We will get there soon!
Everyone keeps asking if we have a name yet, and we keep saying, "No, we are working on it."  One benefit to this being a girl is that I don't have to worry about names now.  We like many girls names, but never had a boy's name we liked very well.
We had it narrowed down to two girls names before we found out she was a she.  Now, we think we have picked her name.  We are just sitting on it, pondering on it, and making sure we know for sure before we share.  We do not really care what anybody else thinks, so we don't really need any help.
I will admit that I have shared with one person, but it is the only person that I felt compelled to share with.
I am spending my evenings looking up baby accouterments, from  bedding to toys to baby carriers.  I looked up reviews on car seats and we picked the safest one.  We picked out a crib and dresser (one of those fancy cribs that changes to a toddler bed and full size bed later.  I have never actually seen anyone convert the crib, but maybe we will be the first!).  I am currently reading up on baby carriers and my mind boggles before I can ever pick which one we want.  Jason sits beside me while I search the baby stores online trying to find the perfect things for our girl and nods his head when I ask his opinion.  Haha!  I made an account at a baby registry so that I can keep up with all the things we want.  I love to look at it and imagine how it will all go together.
My new excitement is now that we have the gender, I added lavender as a new nursery color and am finding beautiful things to add to spruce things up in there.
Jason climbs into bed each night, rubs on my belly and says, "goodnight baby" and wakes up every morning by putting his hand on my belly and saying, "good morning daughter!"  He is ridiculous and beautiful all at once.
Baby is growing.  I only gained one pound last month.  My husband is over the moon with excitement.  My children are healthy and (secretly) excited for baby.  It has been a long road to get to this new adventure, and I am enjoying every moment of this happiness we have been blessed with.

Week 18 and 19- Good news comes in 3s!

We have had an exciting last two weeks.  The quad screen results came back within normal range, so that was fabulous news.  We are 18 weeks, and my belly has finally quit with all the bloat, and is just the baby.

We spent the MLK weekend, and the extra day off from work, painting the nursery.  We broke it down into days so that I wouldn't overdo things- as I tend to do.
Day 1- Primer and trim (we had repaint inside the closet and the trim for the entire room)
Day 2- Paint the base color of the walls (2 coats later... and then I painted the inside of the bedroom door and the closet shelf)
Day 3- Paint the "pop" wall with the three stripes

Our project turned out great.  The room, that we don't think had been updated since the house was built in the 1970's, is modern, and bright, and beautiful.  It is just waiting to be filled with delightful baby things.

Big sister and Mom painting the nursery on day 2

The finished product- nursery is ready to go!

As we enter week 19, I am so anxious for the ultrasound so I can see my little peanut.  I feel baby moving, but not often, and faintly, so I worry.  Jason and I busted out the fetal heart monitor that I bought a few pregnancies ago.  It wasn't very effective with twins, but Jason was able to find our baby's heartbeat quickly.  Love.

On Tuesday afternoon, I am actually anxious and agitated because I am so excited!  We have an absolutely beautiful ultrasound.  Baby has two femurs, two humeri, four chambers in a beating heart, brains, one lense (a tiny white outline) in each eye socket, a nose, and baby is swallowing with a little mouth opening and closing.  Baby kept putting hands up on head, down on thighs- oh so precious!  And, in the show-stopping moment, the ultrasound tech froze the picture between baby's little legs and said, "well..."  

I know the signs.  Three lines = girl and a penis = boy.  I am looking at three lines.  I should grasp what this means, but what I say is, "I don't see anything."  

The ultrasound tech says, "Nope."

Jason says, "Wait, I know.  I know."

And I tell her, "You have to say it."

And she says, "It's a girl."  

And Jason squeezes my hand.  And I look over at him.  And he has actually choked up and a few tears escape his eyes.  I almost cry, but in true Emily fashion, I laugh instead.  I so wished I had been able to video his response- priceless.  We have a moment.  And then we watch our little actress on the screen for a good while.  She has two kidneys, a spine, and all the other parts they are supposed to be able to find at this point.  We are so happy.

Profile of baby with her hand (and 5 fingers) up

It's a girl!

After our appointment, we put our "gender reveal" plan into action.  Katie told me earlier that we "must" have one.  So, we ordered a bunch of pink balloons, hid them in a box, and had the kids come over to open it.  To say that I was not impressed with their reaction would be an understatement.  It was terrible.  I blame it on the fact that they didn't have dinner beforehand and were super grouchy.  Add in the fact that it wasn't Jimmy.... 

On the other hand, I will never forget watching those pink balloons float up to the second story ceiling into the light.  I leave you with this video.  It is not the video I expected to film, but it is real.  This is my life, completely unfiltered.

17 Weeks and Rockin' Along

We went for our monthly doctor visit this week.  It was about 5 minutes long. I gained six pounds (oops!) and am perfectly, normally pregnant.  Aside from the stabbing pains where my ligaments and muscles are groaning with the stretching.  I have never felt the pain this early, but my OB says, "with many pregnancies, this is normal."  Of course it is.  I can't imagine those amazing women who have 10+ pregnancies when I am complaining about 8!  Heartbeat was hard to find because baby would not stay still!  This, of course, makes my heart skip with delight.  In my mind, whether realistic or not, a moving baby is a healthy baby.  We did the quad screen blood test, and I am anxiously waiting through this week and praying and hoping I don't get a call from the OB's office since they only call with bad news.  Jason says all will be well, but really, what else could he say?  I pray to the gods and hold out hope that I will receive one last miracle out of this old womb.  

On January 1, in the wee hours of New Year's morning, I felt the baby move for the first time.  I cannot explain the joy I feel to have my baby moving and playing inside of me.  It has always been my favorite part of pregnancy.  There are not enough words to explain what this feeling is like, but it is pure magic and every time my peanut moves, I smile because my heart is bursting with joy.

My belly is growing- probably more than is necessary for one little peanut, but it is good and stretched out! 

 

We have our ultrasound scheduled for January 19.  We have our plan for the "gender reveal" that my kiddos want.  I am excited to have a pronoun to use to talk about baby and to be able to work on names (we love several girls names and can't find any boys names!).   Jason will either be justified in calling the baby his daughter, or Braden will be justified in calling his brother "Jimmy."  Either way it goes for Team Pink and Team Blue, I am still here holding down Team Healthy Baby.  

In the meantime, we are here, waiting for our little peanut and debating nursery colors.

The Holidays at 16 Weeks

Exciting news world!  We are 16 weeks and officially in month 4.  The baby is the size of an avacado.

Jason and I went shopping at Target and Babies'R'Us to get a feel for what is going on in the baby world these days.  We were overwhelmed with the choices and the technology (did you know they have computerized swing/bouncy seat contraptions now?).  I did enjoy the maternity parking though!

Christmas was uneventful since the kids were with their dad, but Jason did surprise me with a new pregnancy pillow.  This is going to save my back, my hips, my belly, and allow me to sleep comfortably for the next 5+ months.

The kids came home after Christmas, and my heart filled with light and love again.  We started painting different color options in the nursery (we are currently at 10!) and Katie has been helping me figure out the best way to meld the classic nursery design Jason wants, the clean and simple style I like, and the modern look Katie thinks the baby should have!

We traveled to BuyBuyBaby where we were further confounded by all of the baby choices, but took the whole family along and everyone got to play with rocking chairs (they come in recliner style now!), strollers, and car seats.  
The baby received her/his first present from Grandma and Grandpa- a tiny, soft bear.  It was my favorite present.

The holidays have been beautiful this year, with the love of my growing children and this new baby we are all preparing to embrace.  Stepping into the new year, I am filled with the joy of my children and the hope of our new child growing bigger every day.

15 Weeks and Falling in Love

I fell in love with my first baby when I had an ultrasound.  She was an unplanned pregnancy and I was miserable.  I wanted to die; I didn't want to have to live with the reality I was facing.  And then, I had an ultrasound.  I remember lying on the table and looking at the tiny screen and seeing a little bean wiggling around with a beating heart.  And I was a mother.  My heart changed in that moment and I loved that baby with my whole heart and would have done anything from that moment on to protect her.

I fell in love with my oldest son as soon as I found out he was coming.  He was the unplanned-planned pregnancy.  You know the kind, where you know having another baby isn't the best idea, but you want one anyway.  I was so excited for this child the entire time I was pregnant.  We never found out his gender, but it didn't matter.  This was my baby and I was creating siblings.

I fell in love with my youngest son before I even took the pregnancy test.  I could feel him inside me.  Well, mostly I felt the nausea and tenderness of my body telling me he was there, but I was over the moon with joy with this third, and completely planned child.

I fell in love with this baby at 15 weeks.  This was our "we-were-planning-a-baby-that-died-and-I-don't-think-I-can-handle-another-loss-so-let's-don't-try-oops!" baby.  I was miserable and sick and I didn't think I could do this.  Just when I had accepted that I was done with pregnancy, here is a little peanut.  It seems crazy to me that it took so long, as I already have a mother's heart and we wanted a child.  But then I think about all that this body and this heart have been through.  I have given the last five babies I have grown into their parents' arms as soon as they were born, and most recently, been chopped in half to get them out.  I survive post partum depression every day, and I just lost a baby in September.  This is a lot of my heart that has been given away or taken from me.  I knew that I would need time, and I knew that I would be blissfully happy about this child by the time he/she arrives, but I didn't know how long it would be.
And then, I woke up on December 19, a Saturday, and I was in love.  I am blissfully, over the moon, ecstatically happy for my little peanut.  
I have no explanation for this.  I just know that my mother's heart is alive, has room for more, and is overflowing with love.