I finally decided that I needed to start posting updates on not only life - but this pregnancy. I always love going back and reading little thoughts or stories I wrote down with the other 3 pregnancies, and I know that unless I jot things down, these thoughts that seem like they will stay forever become passing memories all to soon.
Today I was reminded to write again when I was munching on my cold & crunchy afternoon snack of a PICKLE! Actually, I had a few. It is SO hot right now, and the afternoons can be so long as we try to keep cool tucked inside the house with the blinds closed and drinking as much ice water as possible. I really wanted something besides ice - something else that would be cool & crunchy...but what? It didn't take long to paw through the fridge (we went way over our grocery bill this month. so the last week we used just about every item from fridge, freezer & pantry!). I saw the pickle jar, and thought 'Why not? I'm pregnant, so perhaps they really will taste good!' I'm not opposed to a pickle, but I don't usually just eat them plain - however, I enjoyed a few slices of those pickles and I started to really crave a canned homemade pickle - extra crunchy and cold. Maybe later this week I'll find the perfect pickle! :)
According to Baby Center at 16 weeks the baby is about the size of an avocado. That is not so big, and hardly seems big enough for all that the body has gone through - however, as Jacob says when I haven't felt good in this pregnancy - "Your body is just allergic to the baby, right Mom?"
Overall, health wise things are going so much better at this point! The turn started to happen around 12 weeks - the first part in June. I still was getting completely exhausted by the end of the night, and usually needed to be laying down flat ready for bed by 8:30/9pm at the latest. Every so often there was a night that I could stay up past that - but I never knew if it would push things to the edge of getting sick or I'd be able to scrape by. For each pregnancy I've had to lay low at night - staying up too late was an almost easy answer that I would get sick....either that night, or the following morning. Sometimes both, which was the worst.
I haven't been sick - really sick each day and multiple times during the day for the month of June. I've had a hard day here and there, but by and large it's amazing to not be loosing my cookies multiple times a day or week, feeling nauseous all the time, and although my sense of smell is still very keen and I have the worst gag reflex of my entire life - things are looking up. I feel like I keep saying that after I have complained for an entire paragraph....really things are getting better!
I had planned to surprise Bryson with a gender revealing for Father's Day - I was going to get an ultrasound and have the technician not tell me the gender, but seal it in an envelope and then hand that to my sister-in-law who would make a cake with pink or blue frosting....then on Father's Day Bryson would have cut into the cake to find out what we were having. I left going to Fetal Fotos to the day before Father's Day & I woke up sick that morning, and then finally went in for a (much, much needed!) haircut early afternoon. We then had Bryson's Grandpa Lord's 80th Birthday that evening and it went a little later, so that when I called to try and make it for the last ultrasound they had finished their appointments for the day. I was so sad my idea hadn't worked out - I was so excited to finally come up with something that would have been memorable and fun....only to have it thwarted by time. Oh well - we have an ultrasound scheduled at the birth center which we are using at the end of the month, and if I really can't last until then - I'll go into Fetal Photos and perhaps we can still do a cake gender reveal before then. I'm excited to find out the gender - but if I have to be completely honest, I'm a little hesitant to find out. We all are looking forward to a baby in general - and by saying this next part I don't want whomever comes into our family to feel bad....however, we really would love to add a girl to our family so that Madeleine can have a sister. The boys have each other as brothers, and even though they would be 11 years apart - a sister is a sister. So, yes we would love a girl...there I said it! And because I say it every so often and think it - sometimes I'm convinced that it will be a boy! I love my boys - they are exciting and VERY full of life...another boy would definitely provide another lifetime of many exciting adventures! And yet, I'd definitely be alright to have an adventure with another little girl. If a girl doesn't come in this round, then I told Bryson it gives more reason for me to push adopting! :)
Here is a quick list of some of the funny, quirky & just plain strange things about how I'm feeling with this pregnancy:
* I really don't like light right now - one could say I abhor it actually! I love natural light - but turning on a man-made light right now, unless it's a really low lamp at night when I absolutely have to have some extra light, makes me cringe. Everyone is aware to turn off lights when mom is in the room & are actually good sports about eating dinner in the very low-light of what the sun provides through our windows. We joke that I've turned into a vampire!
* I still usually need to start the day with a protein. The days I don't, turn into loosing my cookies or I get intense headaches. I wish we could keep chickens right now, because we are buying a lot of eggs lately!
* I live in maxi dresses...they are cool & comfortable and I'm almost convinced that I want to make a few that could give me more options than the 3 dresses I rotate between. I think I'm going to have Madeleine help me sew a few - she's been taking a beginning sewing class and is doing rather well --- it sounds like a fun project to sew a few dresses together, let's just hope I actually start and see a project through!
* I stopped craving peanut butter probably around the end of May, but there were a few weeks from the end of April through May that I had to have some peanut butter every day.
* My nose went from being bothered by the fridge to the pantry. It probably helped that I just plowed through and cleaned the fridge from top to bottom twice and it finally got out some of the smells that I couldn't stand. I need to clean out the pantry, but have yet to really want to do it....I just hurry and open the door grab what I need or send one of the kiddos for it. It will be getting a thorough cleaning in the upcoming weeks - I just need to find a day when the smells are down a bit!
* The last week or two I've noticed that there is a little bump growing. It's especially noticeable to me - I'm probably showing more to everyone else than I realize! - when I'm wearing one of my maxi dresses as the waists have a little bit of the empire waist and at the end of the day my stomach muscles are kaput and that bump has a nice little round to it - in the spot where I'm supposed to be growing. I need to work on not growing in the other areas...now that I'm feeling better, I have got to find something that I actually want to do & could last through. I'm thinking about taking up water aerobics, but I need to find something for the kids to do while I'm in class - hmmmmmm.
* I did find it funny the last few weeks on the random days that I'm sick, I've noticed that the family is over & done with that part of the pregnancy....it's so yesterday to have mom sick! I've been doubled over throwing up and people will come in and ask me a question! It's rather comical & if I were still very, very sick than I'd be upset....but I think they are all ready for the mom they need to be around.
That seems to be the highlights I can think of to catch up to this point. The kiddos are still very excited for a baby to come - we have talked quite a bit that the baby is starting to develop it's hearing and can hear their voices....so they really need to stop yelling at one another! That is for another post - but truly it's our summer goal (okay it's my goal - I need to be sure it's their goal as well) - to have them not yell at one another any more....they get bent out of shape at the smallest mishap and can fly off the handle so quickly. Thankfully, the reminder that the baby needs to hear happy & pleasant voices has helped somewhat - hopefully it will get better each day!
Onward to Week 18 - one of the midwives that I see mentioned that I might be able to feel the baby move or kick in the near future, especially with this being the fourth and that I know what to anticipate. We told the kiddos that once the baby really starts moving and my tummy grows we'll have 'Baby Night Shows' - Bryson & remember laying down at night and laughing at the babies as they would roll around and we could see their little bodies playing inside my tummy.
Let the good times roll :)
Today I was reminded to write again when I was munching on my cold & crunchy afternoon snack of a PICKLE! Actually, I had a few. It is SO hot right now, and the afternoons can be so long as we try to keep cool tucked inside the house with the blinds closed and drinking as much ice water as possible. I really wanted something besides ice - something else that would be cool & crunchy...but what? It didn't take long to paw through the fridge (we went way over our grocery bill this month. so the last week we used just about every item from fridge, freezer & pantry!). I saw the pickle jar, and thought 'Why not? I'm pregnant, so perhaps they really will taste good!' I'm not opposed to a pickle, but I don't usually just eat them plain - however, I enjoyed a few slices of those pickles and I started to really crave a canned homemade pickle - extra crunchy and cold. Maybe later this week I'll find the perfect pickle! :)
Overall, health wise things are going so much better at this point! The turn started to happen around 12 weeks - the first part in June. I still was getting completely exhausted by the end of the night, and usually needed to be laying down flat ready for bed by 8:30/9pm at the latest. Every so often there was a night that I could stay up past that - but I never knew if it would push things to the edge of getting sick or I'd be able to scrape by. For each pregnancy I've had to lay low at night - staying up too late was an almost easy answer that I would get sick....either that night, or the following morning. Sometimes both, which was the worst.
I haven't been sick - really sick each day and multiple times during the day for the month of June. I've had a hard day here and there, but by and large it's amazing to not be loosing my cookies multiple times a day or week, feeling nauseous all the time, and although my sense of smell is still very keen and I have the worst gag reflex of my entire life - things are looking up. I feel like I keep saying that after I have complained for an entire paragraph....really things are getting better!
I had planned to surprise Bryson with a gender revealing for Father's Day - I was going to get an ultrasound and have the technician not tell me the gender, but seal it in an envelope and then hand that to my sister-in-law who would make a cake with pink or blue frosting....then on Father's Day Bryson would have cut into the cake to find out what we were having. I left going to Fetal Fotos to the day before Father's Day & I woke up sick that morning, and then finally went in for a (much, much needed!) haircut early afternoon. We then had Bryson's Grandpa Lord's 80th Birthday that evening and it went a little later, so that when I called to try and make it for the last ultrasound they had finished their appointments for the day. I was so sad my idea hadn't worked out - I was so excited to finally come up with something that would have been memorable and fun....only to have it thwarted by time. Oh well - we have an ultrasound scheduled at the birth center which we are using at the end of the month, and if I really can't last until then - I'll go into Fetal Photos and perhaps we can still do a cake gender reveal before then. I'm excited to find out the gender - but if I have to be completely honest, I'm a little hesitant to find out. We all are looking forward to a baby in general - and by saying this next part I don't want whomever comes into our family to feel bad....however, we really would love to add a girl to our family so that Madeleine can have a sister. The boys have each other as brothers, and even though they would be 11 years apart - a sister is a sister. So, yes we would love a girl...there I said it! And because I say it every so often and think it - sometimes I'm convinced that it will be a boy! I love my boys - they are exciting and VERY full of life...another boy would definitely provide another lifetime of many exciting adventures! And yet, I'd definitely be alright to have an adventure with another little girl. If a girl doesn't come in this round, then I told Bryson it gives more reason for me to push adopting! :)
Here is a quick list of some of the funny, quirky & just plain strange things about how I'm feeling with this pregnancy:
* I really don't like light right now - one could say I abhor it actually! I love natural light - but turning on a man-made light right now, unless it's a really low lamp at night when I absolutely have to have some extra light, makes me cringe. Everyone is aware to turn off lights when mom is in the room & are actually good sports about eating dinner in the very low-light of what the sun provides through our windows. We joke that I've turned into a vampire!
* I still usually need to start the day with a protein. The days I don't, turn into loosing my cookies or I get intense headaches. I wish we could keep chickens right now, because we are buying a lot of eggs lately!
* I live in maxi dresses...they are cool & comfortable and I'm almost convinced that I want to make a few that could give me more options than the 3 dresses I rotate between. I think I'm going to have Madeleine help me sew a few - she's been taking a beginning sewing class and is doing rather well --- it sounds like a fun project to sew a few dresses together, let's just hope I actually start and see a project through!
* I stopped craving peanut butter probably around the end of May, but there were a few weeks from the end of April through May that I had to have some peanut butter every day.
* My nose went from being bothered by the fridge to the pantry. It probably helped that I just plowed through and cleaned the fridge from top to bottom twice and it finally got out some of the smells that I couldn't stand. I need to clean out the pantry, but have yet to really want to do it....I just hurry and open the door grab what I need or send one of the kiddos for it. It will be getting a thorough cleaning in the upcoming weeks - I just need to find a day when the smells are down a bit!
* The last week or two I've noticed that there is a little bump growing. It's especially noticeable to me - I'm probably showing more to everyone else than I realize! - when I'm wearing one of my maxi dresses as the waists have a little bit of the empire waist and at the end of the day my stomach muscles are kaput and that bump has a nice little round to it - in the spot where I'm supposed to be growing. I need to work on not growing in the other areas...now that I'm feeling better, I have got to find something that I actually want to do & could last through. I'm thinking about taking up water aerobics, but I need to find something for the kids to do while I'm in class - hmmmmmm.
* I did find it funny the last few weeks on the random days that I'm sick, I've noticed that the family is over & done with that part of the pregnancy....it's so yesterday to have mom sick! I've been doubled over throwing up and people will come in and ask me a question! It's rather comical & if I were still very, very sick than I'd be upset....but I think they are all ready for the mom they need to be around.
That seems to be the highlights I can think of to catch up to this point. The kiddos are still very excited for a baby to come - we have talked quite a bit that the baby is starting to develop it's hearing and can hear their voices....so they really need to stop yelling at one another! That is for another post - but truly it's our summer goal (okay it's my goal - I need to be sure it's their goal as well) - to have them not yell at one another any more....they get bent out of shape at the smallest mishap and can fly off the handle so quickly. Thankfully, the reminder that the baby needs to hear happy & pleasant voices has helped somewhat - hopefully it will get better each day!
Onward to Week 18 - one of the midwives that I see mentioned that I might be able to feel the baby move or kick in the near future, especially with this being the fourth and that I know what to anticipate. We told the kiddos that once the baby really starts moving and my tummy grows we'll have 'Baby Night Shows' - Bryson & remember laying down at night and laughing at the babies as they would roll around and we could see their little bodies playing inside my tummy.
Let the good times roll :)
1 comment:
I am glad you are starting to feel better. I hope it goes up from here. And the cake idea is so cute! We were never very cute with our gender revel... next life perhaps.
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