Baby #3!

This was written in several chunks. I just couldn't seem to get anything fully complete, so I just kept adding! The beginning was all kind of a blur anyway, so it's fitting I guess!

We got a big surprise at our house in early November! On November 4, 2015 we found out we were going to be a family of FIVE. I had felt suspicious for a few days that I might be pregnant, but thought surely not. After one night of heartburn (which I NEVER have except with my other 2 pregnancies) combined with total exhaustion that had me falling asleep on the couch at 7:30 (which I NEVER do except with my other 2 pregnancies), I decided to take a test I already had-just to rule it out. When the test showed positive, I could NOT believe it. Honestly, I was in shock. I showed Steven, and he felt the same way! I specifically remember him saying, "I feel so old and tired!" and I said, "Me, too!!" We let it sink in for several days before talking much about it. (Sorry, baby, but I know you will totally understand when you become a parent yourself!).

12/9/15-First ultrasound with Dr. Murray

It was kind of weird timing with my OB anyway. My beloved Dr. Light, who was my doc for both of the other kids, was retiring! I had already scheduled to try out another OB for my regular yearly visit, but when I found out I was pregnant, I called his office right away. The  main reason was that I had no idea how far along I was, and it was driving me crazy! I just had not kept up with all that. They said I could come in for a blood test to see how far along I was. So, I went back to the UAB clinic the next week on 11/10. They called with results saying that Dr. Light wanted to see me himself-I read between the lines and realized that it was because I was not very far along yet. SO, the whole family went for and ultrasound and doctor's visit on Dr. Light's LAST day-Tuesday 11/17/15. Basically, I was about 6 weeks along and everything looked good. I got to sit down with Dr. Light for a few minutes and tell him how much I appreciated his care during my other 2 pregnancies. I told him I was so happy for him, but so sad for me!! He was able to give me a few names of other OB's he recommended, and I went with Dr. Murray who he spoke highly of and who had studied/trained under him directly. So far she has been good, but she is just not "My Delight" as Henry called Dr. Light during my whole pregnancy with Annie. I'm sure she will be good, and I feel more at ease with all of this pregnancy stuff in general than I did my first time around, so it's all good. I'm happy he got me through the first 2!:)

2/19/16, 20 weeks

I had a very hard first several weeks with this pregnancy. I am not going to sugar coat it! I felt yucky and I was having a hard time processing it all. This is the first time in my life that I have ever dealt with feelings of anxiety/depression. I knew all my feelings were rooted in selfishness, but I just couldn't help it! I love having kids who sleep through the night and who we can leave overnight with family and who eat real food and who are on a schedule......just stuff like that that allow me to feel not SO depended on.  I always knew if I were to have kids, I would not want just one, so I think my brain was just settled on 2, but 3 was a shock! All 3 of my pregnancies have been unplanned, but this one just rocked my world in a different way. Plus I know of so many who are struggling with infertility, I felt bad being anything but thankful over this pregnancy, and that just made it all worse. I think it being the beginning of a long dreary winter did not help my mood either, and I was just SO tired, too! I would be able to cope OK at school, but as soon as I got home, I would put the kids down to nap, and I would nap the whole time they did. This would have been fine if then I woke up feeling rested, but I did not! I was still tired and just blah. I also struggled with God's timing on all of it. I had just gone back to work and was having a great year! Why in the world would this happen NOW! I didn't want to stop teaching, but wasn't sure it would make sense to do anything else. I finally got to sit down with my principal who was totally supportive of me wanting to continue teach half days next year, so I felt so much better once I got all that established. Anyway, luckily I made it through this phase and started feeling somewhat better once Christmas rolled around...well, probably January would be a more fair time to say I started feeling more like I did around this time with the other pregnancies. Maybe 18 weeks or so, whereas I felt better at 14 weeks with my others. I talked to my doc about it all and was monitoring my "emotional" stuff with her, so I was so thankful to make improvements. I continue to have "lack luster" days, but overall, I am much improved. Anyway, enough about that. Now at almost 24 weeks I have embraced all of this craziness and just realize that it is God reminding me yet again that he is in control; He knows best and not me. His plan is for us to be a family of 5, and I can embrace that!

2/24/16-20 week anatomy scan.

One of the sweetest things about expecting again is the sheer joy and excitement Henry shows toward his "new baby!" as he calls it. The look on his face when we told him at the appointment in December was totally precious and priceless. He was THRILLED and immediately went out into the waiting room to report to everyone, "We are having a new baby!!". He would tell total strangers at the grocery store the same-with so much joy and enthusiasm. He loves to tell people about the hierarchy in the family-"When the new baby gets here, I will be 4 and Annie will be 2! I will always be bigger than Annie and the new baby." He's come up with some interesting names like Duck, Chair, Isabella, Violet, Chuck. We weren't planning to tell him at the 9/10 week ultrasound, but the tech just started talking to the kids about being a "new big brother/sister", and we could see him trying to think it all through, so rather than leaving him confused, Steven gave him the news there. We told him we wanted to wait until Christmas to tell the family, so he would need to keep it a secret. He reported to every stranger, but surprisingly was pretty quiet about it to everyone else we knew.

2/24/16-20 week anatomy scan. The bottom pic says, "It's a girl!"

 I was really hoping to keep it under wraps until after Christmas break at school, and with the exception of his Tuesday teachers at school, he was able to do that. They came to me saying, "We don't know if this is true or not, but Henry said you guys were expecting a new baby?"....of course I could not lie, so I just asked them to keep it hush hush. For our family, I wanted to tell Steven's when we gathered at our house for our Christmas celebration. I had wrapped the ultrasound picture under the tree and put the 3 cousins names on it. They came in Friday, and Henry didn't say a word. He made it all Saturday morning until about 10 minutes before we were going to gather to open presents. As we all started to gather in the living room, he was running around and just blurted out, "We are having a new baby!!" People didn't know what to think I don't think...they kind of looked around and at us and said, "really?" Once we confirmed it, everyone was congratulatory of course!:) It was just a funny way to break the news. Then we let Henry call my mom and dad and Steven's grandparents in Iowa to share the news via his little voice. My folks were totally shocked! They were both so happy. Then I signed our Christmas card Love, Steven, Kelly, Henry, Annie, and Baby #3 (due this summer) and sent it out to friends and extended family to further share the news. Lots of people were surprised! We got many congrats notes and comments from our Christmas card.

Posed reveal to cousins/family the week before Christmas:)

Once back at school in January, I told my class after my doc appt. on 1/6. I think I just told them I had a Friday surprise for them (normally they get a treat of some sort on Friday mornings from me). Then I told them about the new baby and they were thrilled as were all of my co-workers and boss. I am blessed to work in such a family friendly environment. 

Another from 20 week ultrasound. These always amaze me. Such an awesome thing to see such detail at just 20 weeks!

I've had all the normal beginning pregnancy feelings I had with my other two (nausea, no appetite, etc.) at the beginning. No major cravings, but lots of diversions. SO many things sounded yucky to me-especially anything I cook myself, so we ate out way more than we should. But it got me through, so it was worth it. The cravings I do have are one time cravings...Chinese food, Rosie's enchiladas, fettucine...or for a few weeks I wanted Dr. Pepper (this one is so funny to me because I don't really want that or any soft drinks really under normal circumstances, but I craved it with Annie), or sour candy (also funny bc I'd never choose this over something like chocolate normally, but I craved it with Henry). Overall, though, I've wanted bland, blah food like chicken and rice or noodles or bread or CARBS like that, although I also crave a good salad I don't make myself. I also had the cold wind to contend with for several months-it would make me gag, gag, gag! I remember this with Annie's pregnancy, too, I guess because it was during similar winter months. It's just funny to walk outside and get a gust of wind and almost loose it! And of course changing her diapers has been gag city just like it was when I was changing Henry's 2 years ago wile pregnant with her! And I could barely hold it together while brushing my teeth...but overall I think I am luckier than many pregnant women who struggle with nausea. I also experienced such scatterbainedness just like with the other 2! I don't know how else to describe it, but I'm already forgetful, so for it to be worse is really bad! I did several crazy things to begin with-one of which was making out our mortgage check to our church and sending it in! Ha! And several other things that I won't go into!:)

I really didn't have a strong feeling one way or another on the gender. My brother AND Steven's sister both have boy and 2 girls in that order, so everyone in our families just assumed this was a girl. I could see it both ways, but was certainly ready to find out! Henry wanted a brother (he already has a sister, after all!). Other predictions? Boy: Sarah, Jessica, and 8 of my students Girl: Robin, Julie, Bush family, me/Steven, Annie, 3 of my students. I think I asked others, but that's all I wrote down! Anyway, at my 20 wk appt on 2/24 our whole family went to the ultrasound and saw pictures of a perfectly healthy baby....GIRL! We were excited to know! I love finding out. It just helps me bond with the baby and feel prepared. We called family and let Henry tell everyone. I made a math puzzle for my class, and they had to crack the code to read the secret message that I was having a girl. I brought pink butterfly little Debbies to give in celebration, too. When I texted out the news to several friends, it was so funny to get responses from all the friends who say having a sister is so wonderful, and they are so happy Annie gets to experience that. I agree-I know they will fight and all that, but I always wanted a sister, so I am excited they get to experience that, too. I think I would have been a little sad/happy either way. I would have loved another boy, too, but then I would have been sad about not having another girl since this is for sure our last, but it's not our decision and there is peace in that! Two daughters will be a wonderful blessing I know! 

3/23/16-24 weeks  I had to have another ultrasound at 24 weeks because my cervix and placenta were measuring too close at my 20 week appt. Luckily at this ultrasound, everything looked great and there was no need to further monitor it. I got to see the baby's details all again which was fun, although she wasn't cooperating enough to let us check her girl parts again, so the tech got good pics of her hands and feet instead...just trusted that 20 week appt was accurate and was thankful for no further issues and a healthy baby!

Now I am 28 weeks and feeling like I have finally hit the "good part" of my pregnancy! I don't have to take a nap everyday, and I generally feel pretty good. I am getting big fast, and I am feeling everything sooner than with the first 2. She is lower, and I am more achey/sore than I remember being at this point before. BUT, I have not had any back pain OR weird sciatic nerve pain like with Henry, and no pneumonia like with Annie, so I would say so far that part has been MUCH better! I have pretty consistent heartburn (things like peanut butter and bananas sound terrible due to the heartburn they cause). There for a while I was waking up in the night for an hour or two...just not able to sleep...and I remember this with the other 2. The first half of the pregnancy I had no desire for sweets, but now I want chocolate ice cream everyday!! Specifically chocolate milkshakes...I had a sore throat for about a week and a half, and that just sounded so good on  my throat. I guess I just got hooked! Oh well, it could be worse...or could it?:/

We are working on names...we are so bad at that! We both have a decently long list, but we are at a bit of a stale mate now. Steven's favorite is not mine and vice versa. We'd kind of like to decide so we can go ahead and start saying it to the kids, so maybe we can figure it out soon. Her middle name is decided at least! :) It will be Jane-Steven's grandmother's name.

More updates...I am now 34 weeks and continuing to do well. All my doc appointments have been uneventful. I am measuring right on and the baby's heart rate is good (ranging from 130s to 150s). The doc always comments that the baby is active/enjoying it in there/something along those lines. At my 34 week check up, she helped me figure out that the pain I have on my actual stomach (left above my belly button) is a pinched nerve. This explains a lot! This is new-I didn't have it with the other 2. It is like my skin is burning right there! It's bearable, just weird. I also talked about some swelling that had developed since my last visit...she said just to watch it...but it has already been better. The last week of school and leading up to Annie's bday party/family visiting for the weekend was crazy, and I was on  my feet nonstop. My body was telling me to take a break, yo!

More to come...next week I start weekly visits to the doc. Crazy how time is flying by with this pregnancy.