I'm So Inspired By You

Wow!

2009-03-20T16:59:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-20T16:54:00.000-07:00

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

2009-02-26T11:39:00.001-08:00

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!!

2009-02-12T11:27:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-27T13:33:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-01-10T07:25:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-12-25T19:18:00.001-08:00

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.

Getting Closer!

2008-12-22T12:36:00.000-08:00

Today is December 22. I had my 12 week appointment a week early. The heart rate was 160 and I've lost 12 pounds. What's going on there? My pre-pregnancy jeans are falling off me! Doc said the bleed they saw on the ultrasound will just be re-absorbed and is nothing to worry about. So, the plan is to tell the family on Christmas Eve. Expect a freak out.

Pop Up!

2008-12-16T19:12:00.000-08:00

Owen turned five on Sunday. Here's the conversation he and I had about his birthday.

Owen: When will I be five?

Me: At 11:20 this morning.

Owen: Do you think I will FEEL it?

Me: I don't know.

Owen: Tell me when it's time, because I'm going to stand really still. I bet I'll pop up.

Me: OK, I'll let you know. (Laughing on the inside.)

He is just so thoughtful. He amazes me. We laugh about the things he says every day.

Ahhhh...

2008-12-10T12:55:00.000-08:00

I had my 9 week 3 day ultrasound today. The baby measured 9 weeks 1 day and was moving all around! We could see the little heart beat flickering, too. So cool. They did find a cyst, probably a corpus luteum cyst, in my right ovary. And there was a little (old) bleed next to the amniotic sac, probably from implantation. Neither are of any concern. So, we are relieved, not only for a healthy baby, but also for just ONE healthy baby. If all goes as planned, our family will be complete.

8 weeks, 2 days

2008-12-05T20:44:00.000-08:00

I had my first "official" ob check-up on December 2nd. Doc found the heartbeat in less than a minute (it was 162) and did another blood test. My hcg came back at over 134,000 and progesterone was 24.4. The nurse was laughing at how high the hcg was! I get to have an ultrasound next week. I am SO excited. I'm still very nauseous, have diarrhea and am extremely tired.

The best news? Melissa just found out she is pregnant, too. We are 1 month apart! We're going to tell the parents together. She's waiting for me. I'm waiting until I can't hide it anymore. Might end up being sooner than I thought as its already getting hard to "suck it in". Hopefully I can at least make it until Christmas!

So Much

2008-11-26T19:46:00.001-08:00

I have so much to be thankful for. My wonderful husband, great kids, a healthy family, a new baby on the way, our new house, great friends. I'd have to say that I've got everything I could ever need. So, thank you to you, for being a part of my life! Have a great Thanksgiving!

A Different World

2008-11-24T16:09:00.000-08:00

The World Wide Web is a strange place for me. You make purchases, watch movies, play games, make friends, fall in love. You can also go into debt, ruin real-life relationships, lose friends, and dislike people. In real life, if you don't get along with someone, you might "play" nice, distance yourself, or even try to avoid that person. Online, you can totally cut that person out of your life with no repercussions. Some people treat the online world just as they treat their real world; others do not. It's a fine line, isn't it?

Sickness

2008-11-23T17:00:00.000-08:00

The sickness came to our house 10 days ago. It started with Owen, moved on in a worse way to Emerson and now has hit Greyson the hardest. I really thought we'd all be over it by now. I just want non-sick kids for Thanksgiving, which is in four days. Hopefully, we'll see some improvement tomorrow.

I've Created a Monster

2008-11-19T06:27:00.000-08:00

We all know how much I love all of the baby shows: A Baby Story, Birth Day, Jon and Kate Plus Eight, The Duggars, etc. Well, Emerson has developed her own obsession with them. She has given up any sort of cartoon and only wants to watch "the lady that's having a baby". She loves the big bellies, the pushing, the blood, seeing how many there are, the names, everything. You should see how mad Owen gets. Poor guy.

Rewind

2008-11-18T18:20:00.001-08:00

I think I need to bring you up to speed on my current pregnancy. Let's start at the beginning.
I'd like to start off by saying that I have gotten pregnant the first month of trying for six pregnancies. This time, we started trying in April. Not too serious, but trying. In July, I finally got pregnant. It lasted all of 13 days. I started to feel "not pregnant" and I took a test. There was only a very faint line, and I ended up miscarrying later that day. So we started trying again.
In October, we got pregnant again. Three days before my bfp (big fat positive), I had a crazy dream. It went like this: I'm having an early ultrasound (about 8 weeks in) and the ultrasound tech says, "Oh look! It's twins!" And I think, "holy crap!" THEN she says, "No, wait there's THREE!" Then I wake up in a panicky sweat. Not funny. Then, about a week ago, it happened again. I had another triplet dream. Not the same dream, but similar and very real. I've had dreams of being pregnant before. Actually, I've had one before all of my bfp's. But NEVER a triplet dream. Jason says to quit talking about it. He goes pale if I mention it. So, I've tucked it away and silently wonder.
That brings us to now. Now, where I feel like crap and have a lot on my plate. At least I have something to do.

When Will It End?

2008-11-18T18:09:00.000-08:00

SO. I am 6 weeks, 2 days pregnant with our fourth child. I'd have to say that this is the worst I have felt with any of my pregnancies. For the past two weeks, I am nauseous around the clock and I feel like I could sleep for days. Even the thought of eating or cooking food makes me gag. Also, I have had constant diarrhea. And to top it off, the kids are all sick with ear infections.

Aside from all of that, we are moving into our new house next week, which is also Thanksgiving and my birthday. And then, in two weeks, I am taking my real estate licensing exam. Luckily, I am just about finished with the Christmas shopping.

All I have to say is, for all the boredom over the last few months, I'm sure getting one heck of a payback.