Wow!

I was looking at the calendar today, and while July seems like forever away, I actually only have sixteen weeks (or less) left. I can't believe I'll be six months pregnant in two days! I kept this pregnancy a secret for so long in the beginning that it now seems to be flying by. And let me just say, I am elated to be having a little girl. Elated.
Emerson and Owen are excited, too. Every day they come up with new names for her, some of them silly, and some are the names of their friends. I think it will be different for them this time. They seem to remember when Greyson came home and how he cried in the night and only drank mommy's boobies. They know this time they won't really be able to "play" with the baby right away. But they do know that they can help me and they know how to be gentle.
Now, Greyson on the other hand, may be a different story. He is in a bit of a destructive phase, throwing the remote for the television or grabbing his cousin by the neck and throwing him to the ground. Hopefully he comes out of that before we have our new arrival!
Jason is getting excited, too. He always takes a while to get used to the idea that there will actually be a baby here. But just this week he came home with a little piece of paper with six baby girl names written on it. Very cute. It made me smile to think oif him secretly writing his list at work.
I have just started wearing a few maternity shirts, but I lost so much weight in the beginning that I'm just now up to my pre-pregnancy weight. My maternity shirts are still big and baggy and I haven't even tried my pants. All of my regular jeans and pants still fit, so I'm sure the maternity ones are too big. I know the time is coming when all of those maternity clothes fit, probably not too long from today. I have been feeling really good lately and still go to the gym most mornings, when I don't have a meeting or appointment. I am having occasional contractions, but I know they are just practice and not anything to be concerned about.
I pray that the remainder of my pregnancy goes as smoothly as the others have.

22 Week Ultrasound

We had another ultrasound at 22 weeks, 3 days to check on the position of my placenta. It has moved a little, but is still touching my cervix, so all of my restrictions are still on. We made sure she was still a girl this time, too. No more doubts! She was head down, wedged into my pelvis and was unwilling to budge at all. Hopefully this is not a sign of stubborness to come! She weighed 1 pound 2 ounces and looked much bigger than just a month ago. She was measuring 22 weeks, 5 days, so a little ahead. I am really hoping to actually go into labor this time, so if she decides to get big quickly and come out a few days early, that's fine by me!

5 Months

I can't believe how quickly this pregnancy is going! We had our 20 week doctor's visit this week. Baby's heartbeat was 154, my blood pressure was 117/60. I had NO weight gain. That leaves me still down 8 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight. (I am not complaining!) My doc was in a big hurry as she had to rush to deliver a baby, but I mangaged to ask her quickly about my ultrasound. She said baby looked good, but then told me I currently have complete placenta previa. This is where the placenta competely covers the cervix. After doing some research, I've found that in 90% of cases the placenta migrates up and out of the way before delivery. I've also found that most people diagnosed with this are given some physical restrictions to prevent hemmoraging. My doc didn't mention anything, maybe out of hurry, maybe because there's nothing to worry about at this stage. So, I guess I'll be taking things easy for the next couple of weeks. I have another ultrasound in a couple of weeks to see if the placenta has moved at all. I pray it has. I really do not want a c-section for my final delivery after three natural births.

It's a GIRL!!

To say I am excited would be an understatement. I am elated. I am so happy Emerson will have a sister to grow up with and share things with. Everyone has a playmate. I cannot wait for little frilly dresses and all things pink. It's been four years since we've had a little baby girl around here. Can I go shopping now?

16 weeks

I made it to the four-month mark! I saw the doc today for my regular check-up. I'm measuring right at 16 weeks and baby's heart rate was 154. Although I gained two pounds since my last visit, I'm still down ten since I got pregnant. I'm sure I will make up for that soon enough. The big news? My big gender/anatomy scan is in TWO weeks! I can hardly wait to see what's going on in there!

Holy Shit!

That is the only thing I can say about our recent findings. Here's the story:
My sister, who is pregnant, was scheduled for an early ultrasound on Thursday. Her husband had to be out of town for work, and she didn't want to go the ultrasound by herself, so she had me come along. She was a bit nervous because she was so sick with Brady and has felt nothing this time. So, we get in the room and the tech decides to to the transvaginal because she's only 8w6d. Mel wanted to have Thom on the phone so he could hear what was happening, but the tech said it would interfere with the machine. She starts to put it in and we see nothing...then, all of the sudden, TWO blobs. The tech says, "there are TWO babies." Melissa says, "holy shit!" and the tech says, "holy shit! You can call your husband!" We were all crying. The babies are fraternal, each having their own sacs and what looked like placentas. They are both measuring 8w6d. It has got to be the coolest thing I have ever seen. We just could not believe it.
So, the crazy part? Her due date WAS August 14. Mine is July 12. Because she is having twins, that moves up her due date two to three weeks. Plus, she had pre-e with Brady and her risk is greater now with twins, giving her an even greater chance of delivering earlier. So, we'll probably deliver quite near the same time, essentially giving us triplets.
We both woke up the following day and thought, did that really happen? "Holy shit!"

Merry Christmas!

Here it is, Christmas Day evening. The kids are in bed and the gifts are somewhat organized. We told our families our big news yesterday. After the shock wore off, everyone was excited and happy for us! The kids all enjoyed their presents and we had a great morning watching them open their gifts from Santa. I just love how they accept Santa without question. So innocent. I would like to request, however, that next year Santa assmebles all the toys he leaves, as it took a good chunk of time out of our morning!! Our Christmas was a good one and I hope yours was, too.