16 weeks Well, I had another doctor appointment yesterday and they finally found the heartbeat on the doppler! The baby was moving around a lot so it was hard to get a reading, but the heart rate was 168 which is fine. I got to schedule my ultrasound for May 12 at 8:00. I got the first appointment. I'm really impatient so I'm happy it's so early. I'll be about 20 weeks then. I'm really hoping they can tell if it's a boy or a girl. If they can't tell, I'm going to pay for a 4D ultrasound. My doctors office does offer them, but you have to pay for them out of pocket.
I'm feeling really good. I began feeling the baby move a few weeks ago. I wasn't positive that it was the baby until last week. It seems like the baby likes bananas and milano cookies. Every time I eat them he/she moves around a lot. I haven't gotten hard kicks yet, just little taps.
We've told the kids that I'm pregnant. I don't think they really get it yet. Seth always laughs at me and says "no." But the other day he said "hi baby" to my stomach. We're trying to decide whether or not to take them to the ultrasound. If we don't, then Josh won't get to come, but I don't know if they'll understand at all what's going on.
I'm also trying to decide if I want to try to have the baby naturally without any pain medicine. I know that I could do it, and most people have had a positive experience, but I don't know if I want to feel all that pain. I have to say that I like just sitting and watching t.v. while I wait to have the baby. But, I'm also kind of curious as to what it feels like without any medicine since this is my last baby. Oh well. I guess I still have some time to decide.
Yesterday we bought a van. It's a Honda Odyssey. We decided we weren't going to try to fit 3 car seats into the subaru, so we bought the van. It's very nice. I really like how it drives. Now, we can buy another carseat. This baby is getting expensive! I realized that I have to buy most things since I gave away or borrowed most of what we used for Seth and Taylor. And Taylor is still in her crib, so we'll have to buy a new crib too. Oh well. I think that's all for now. Hopefully next month we'll have the big announcement if the baby is a boy or a girl.
2008-03-19 (12 weeks)
12 week update Finally, the end of the first trimester! It seems like it's gone on forever! Today I had my 12 week doctor's appointment. He tried to find the heartbeat with the doppler, but couldn't find it. So I got another very quick ultrasound. The baby was moving all around. He/she even waved at me with a very alien looking arm. So everything looks good so far. I remember they couldn't find Taylor's heartbeat either the first time they tried to hear it. I've also gained 5 pounds. I think my ultrasound will be in May. That seems so far away. I'll be 20 weeks then.
I'm officially in maternity pants. Maternity shirts are still a little big for me, so I'm just wearing a size bigger in shirts than I normally wear. I'm starting to look pregnant to other people, but it could also be mistaken for eating too many donuts.
My morning sickness has mostly gone away. I also have a lot more energy and am feeling pretty close to normal. My biggest complaint now is that I can really feel my uterus stretching and it's not always comfortable. I can feel it much more than I could with Seth or Taylor.
We're beginning to think of names. So far for a girl we like Virginia Grace (will be called Ginny), and for a boy, maybe Douglas Elvin (Elvin is Josh's grandfather's name). But these names have not been completely decided on yet, so don't be surprised if it ends up being something totally different. I personally think that I'm having a boy and so does the doctor. I just have a feeling.
I've had a few cravings. I've been craving candy (not good, I've really limited eating that), Chinese food, and cherry limeade's from Sonic.
Well, I can't think of anything else interesting to say. I'll update again if I think of anything or after my next doctor's appointment in four weeks.
2008-02-21 (8 weeks)
8 Week Update I thought I'd give an update since it's been a month since I wrote last. I had my first doctor appointment today and I got an ultrasound to date the pregnancy and make sure everything was going well. I measured 8 weeks, 4 days. According to my dates, I was only 8 weeks, 2 days. My due date will stay the same though, September 30. It was incredible to see the baby, although it looked more like a blob with a few things sticking out (arms and legs). I got to see the heart beating, so that was a big relief.
Over the past 4 weeks I've gotten morning sickness, mostly starting in the late afternoon and lasting until I go to bed. Lately the pattern seems to be two days where I barely have any morning sickness at all followed by two days where by dinner I can barely eat.
I've also had major food aversions. I couldn't stand the thought of eating chicken. Fast food or anything greasy isn't good either. A few weeks ago, it was really hard for me to find stuff I could eat. I didn't even want vegetables or anything good for me. What I thought I could eat changed by the minute. Needless to say, I haven't done a lot of cooking and we've ended up running to the grocery store or ordering take-out more than I'd like to admit. Some things I can eat now, and even crave a little bit are steak (I know, strange), cheese, and citrus fruit and fruit juice. I hope my prenatal vitamin is covering some of the deficiencies in my diet.
I've also been exhausted. It's getting better. A few weeks ago I would literally throw the kids at Josh when he walked in the door and go to bed until dinner and then fall asleep on the couch by 7 and not wake up until Josh woke me up to go to bed.
It's pretty hard being pregnant and chasing two kids around. They're getting very stir-crazy because it's been cold and I haven't had the energy to do any big outings. I signed them up for mother's day out at our church starting in April 2 days a week, so I think that will be good for all of us.
I'm also a lot bigger than I was at this point with Seth and Taylor. I only have a few pairs of pants that fit. My shirts are also getting pretty tight. I broke down and bought a pair of maternity jeans and some stretchy waist pants last weekend. It's scary that they fit. I'm also starting to look pregnant. The doctor was convinced I had twins and was looking really hard during the ultrasound, but he only found one. One is enough for me.
Well, I think that's a long enough update for now. I'm going to try to post some pictures on here of my ultrasound.
2008-01-28 (4 weeks)
Surprise! Well, here I am 5 weeks pregnant. Last week I found out that I am expecting baby number 3. I was very surprised. I wasn't expecting it at all. We had been trying for about 5 months, but it wasn't happening. I had almost decided that I wasn't supposed to have another child and decided to quit trying so hard. Well, it happened after I stopped trying. I had been getting very frustrated. But God decided to bless us with another pregnancy. Josh and I are both very excited. This one isn't a total surprise like Seth and Taylor. I think the spacing will be better too as Seth will be almost 4, and Taylor will be 2 1/2. We haven' told the kids yet. We decided we'd wait until we hear the heartbeat, probably in a month or two.
It seems like it's been so long since the last time I was pregnant. I know it's only been 2 years, but when you remember that I only had a 9 month break between Seth and Taylor, it all seems new to me. I'm pretty tired. The mornings are definitely the best for me. So I try to get some cleaning done and do lots of things with the kids because I know by lunch all I want to do is take a nap. I've had a little bit of morning sickness, but it hasn't been too bad yet. In a week or two, it will get bad though. It seems like most of my "morning sickness" is at night. That's good since Josh is at work during the day. Josh has been such a great help. He's doing most of the cleaning and lets me rest a lot and takes over with the kids.
I'm trying to eat healthy, but I don't know how good of a job I'm doing. I haven't had any cravings yet, but for some reason I've wanted junk food, so I'm trying to control that. I haven't wanted to cook much, so we're not having any gourmet dinners.
Well, I think I'll get going. I need to take a nap.
