Week 28 Update

I did my glucose test this morning and heard the baby's heartbeat - 156.  I gain a bunch of weight (6 lbs in the last month). I gave myself an allowance for this pregnancy and I only have 8 more pounds to go.  The doctor said I was measuring big and asked me how big my largest child was...um, 6 lbs 8 oz.  I think she was mistaken on the measurement.  I doubt I'll have a child bigger than 7 lbs.  I had to sign a paper saying I wanted to try a VBAC and was aware of the risk. I'm in the low risk category for a uterine tear but they still wanted to make sure I know the risk. I'm low risk because I've had 2 vaginal births, I have small babies, I didn't have a fever or infection after my c-section, I have a history of going into labor early (I won't need to be induced), and my incision is good.  I did have a placenta abruption with Joshua but the placenta is not near incision so that's good.  I have another appointment in a month and then I go every two weeks...already!  I got the labor and delivery handout this time so the doctor's number will go up on the bulletin board.

Also got a call today that we won't be able to donate this baby's cord blood because we had a adverse prenatal diagnosis (i.e., Joshua's trisomy 18) before.  I'm kinda bummed but mostly because I don't get why.  They really didn't give an explanation but the lady kept saying "not at this time."  And I really wish they would have said something on their website before I filled out the 20 page application.  But they don't take donations for babies born on Saturdays and this baby is going to be born on Saturday July 5th so it wouldn't have worked out anyway...:)

The survived the trip to FL although I've been quite stiff after sitting in the car all day on Monday. The 5K walk for Assist Pregnancy Center is this Saturday so I'll be up and moving by then.

I've actually outgrew some of my maternity clothes.  I really don't think I'm that much bigger than I was with Dylan or Lydia - I think the summer maternity clothes are just more fitting and I never wore them this far along with Dylan or Lydia.

Week 26 Update

So do I look anymore pregnant?  Updates, let's see I can finally wear more of my maternity clothes since it's getting warmer (finally!).  I got the support belt and I think it's helping.  I think mostly I just need to not sit for long periods of time (did I mention we're driving to FL next week?).  I swam another two times and I felt good after I did both times.  Had a stomach bug so was out of commission on Sunday (are these little bugs hitting me harder because I'm pregnant?).  I took Imodium but I think the pendulum swung a little too far the other way if you know what I mean.

Met with my client yesterday.  Didn't tell her I'm pregnant and I wore a shirt that was conspicuous enough.  It shouldn't affect my work.  Signed up for a summer class that ends 4 days before my due date and a week after I think this baby will come.  It's a continuation of a class I'm taking now so I'm going to start early (in the week between spring and summer session) and try to work ahead so I'm done in 6 or 7 weeks instead of 8.  Better than doubling up in fall.  I've barely been able to keep up with 2 classes this semester.

Shower invitations went out so I'm getting excited about that.  Going to try to go through baby clothes this weekend.  Oh, and I turned in the cord blood donation forms this week.

Week 24 update

Not much to update just plugging along.  Doctors appointment went well today.  Baby's heartbeat was 150.  I talked to the doctor about my sciatic nerve pain and she gave me the name of a chiropractor and a flyer on a support belt.  I think I may try the belt and do some stretches I found on youtube for sciatic nerve pain before doing the PT or chiropractic route.  I decided to talk to her about it since I was getting so stiff at night and the sharp pain was getting worse and more frequent.  And it was worse after the days I exercised which I thought was supposed to help.  I walked 2 miles on Saturday and then swam on Monday (50 lengths of the pool) - both probably took me 45 minutes to do.  Monday night was the worst.  Today was better.  When I swam, it was amazing though - all the pain was gone.  I could move without pain!  Made me realize how much I was just putting up with and what it felt like to be pain-free.  I think the buoyancy of the water released the pressure on my hips.  So hopefully the belt will do the same for when I'm not in the water.  

Week 22 update

Not much to report this week just a new picture.  Did some walking and a Leslie Sansone walk and yoga video a couple times.  Still stiff after sitting.  Staying up too late studying and watching TV.  Need to get my rest!  Had a couple warm days but this winter is going on forever and I'm still freezing even on the "warmer" days.

Baby's moving a lot.  I can especially feel him when I sit or lay a certain way.  

Week 20 update

First pregnancy picture.  I never think I look pregnant enough to pose for a picture until about this point and even now I had to shape my shirt around my belly to make it look right.  Half way through!

The big news this update is that the sonogram went really well and everything looks good.  We saw *very* clearly that we are indeed having a boy and his heart, spine, legs, feet, head, and all look good.  Lydia ended up coming with us to the sonogram and so she got to see her little brother. We're all getting more excited but it does seem like a long way to go.

Two weeks ago I was getting a little nervous because I wasn't feeling the baby move that much.  I had felt him move here and there but I felt by this point I should be getting a daily reminder that he's there.  I actually prayed to feel him move more.  God answers abundantly!   I've been feeling the baby move pretty much at least 3 times a day ever since I prayed that.  Thank you God!  It's great to get to that point now.

Of course it's also the point where I'm starting to feel more uncomfortable.  Sciatic nerve pain and stiffness after sitting is the worst of it so it's not too bad.  The doctor said "walking is your friend" so I need to keep moving more.

I think I've lost that 2nd trimester energy burst that I had felt the past few weeks.  Staying up late at the women's retreat didn't help and so maybe I'm just catching up from that but I've been having to go to bed early the last few nights.  Unfortunately that cuts into my study time so I'm hoping I can catch up soon.

Made the facebook announcement so I think everyone knows now.    

Week 18 Update

I've felt really good the last two weeks.  I even cleaned a bathroom yesterday!  That says a lot.  I finally feel like I have some energy.  Not too much to post this week.  I got a new prenatal vitamin (after insurance it's free!) and it's a lot easier to swallow than my last one.  It's a mail order thing that comes automatically until I cancel so it's super convenient too.

Feeling the little guy move here and there.  Looking forward to seeing him via ultrasound in two weeks!

First hike of 2014 (also Hiking with a pregnant lady part IV)

Many long-time readers of my blog know that I used to post pictures of us hiking all the time, especially back when I was pregnant with Dylan and when he was a baby.  Martin would also post them on his old blog and call them hiking with a pregnant lady.  We still hike fairly frequently but blogging about it started to seem trite.  This hike, however, was pretty remarkable.  This was the first time that we hiked when there was snow still on the ground.  This has been an unusual winter here in DC in that it stayed cold for a long enough time period for snow and ice to stick around.  Usually we have a cold spell and then a couple 50+ degrees days here and there to give us a break and to melt any snow.  I've been lamenting the lack of break this January but it gave us this unique opportunity to go on a truly winter hike.  Today was the first day it got above 40 degrees and we were all ready to get outside.  It still took a shirt, a fleece, gloves, and a ski jacket for me to be comfortable in 40 degree weather but I enjoyed it nonetheless.  We went to Fountainhead Regional Park to hike the beginning of the Bull Run Occoquan Trail (BROT).  We have done other portions of this trail before but this was by far my favorite.  The trail was clean, far enough removed, and there were lots of picturesque water views.  We made it almost to the 2 mile marker (which meant an almost 4 mile hike) so the kids impressed us with their endurance.  We did have a little bit of a rough start because Lydia had a "I'm not going, my legs are tired" mini-tantrum at the beginning when she found out we forgot the lunch and snacks that we packed (we started hiking at 11am).  But we got her going and she was happy for the rest of the way.  Although Martin did have to carry her on his shoulders for a spell or two on the way back.  It was fun hiking on the snow and ice especially since we had our hiking sticks/ski poles, but on the way back it got kinda muddy so we were glad we started when we did.  You can see from the pictures below the beauty of the frozen creek and the leaf-covered forest ground.  And you can see how frozen the water was that Martin and the kids could stand on it!  Anyway, we had a really great time and hope you all enjoy the pictures - especially you snow birds in FL!

Lydia-isms

One reason for the blog is to remember fun things that the kids do.  I haven't kept up with that as well as I should and I use facebook for that too but since I'm on a break from facebook (so that I'm diligent about my studies) and we've had a couple good laughs over some things Lydia has said lately, I'm going to post them here now.

Two days ago I was taking Lydia to sign up for t-ball.  We're in the car and and out of the blue she says, "Mommy, I have a lot of dreams about being a super dog."  Where do you go with that?

Then today at dinner the kids were being kinda loud and Lydia starts yelling "Bock" really loudly.  She did that a couple times and then through the giggles she says "erupting chicken!"  Now you have to know that Lydia often likes to take jokes and substitutes different animals in the place of the ones in the jokes.  So we figured she meant interrupting chicken as in interrupting cow in the knock knock joke.  But erupting chicken was so much more appropriate.  You had to be there!

Yes there is a theme here with animals.  She loves stuff animals much more than dolls too.

There are other times when Lydia will just tell me something out of the blue that she likes, like "I like when Daddy uses his wrench" or "remember when we went to that park."

We have Lydia's last preschool parent-teacher conference on Monday.  Can't wait to hear what else her teacher tells us.  

Week 16 update

The "practice" sonogram (I got to be a model for the first time in my life! - and probably last) went really well.  Everything looks good and our little guy was moving around a lot.  It was fun to just watch while the nurses were practicing on me.  Baby is still measuring right on and maybe a little ahead of schedule (at least according to head size but my children have big heads).  Heartbeat at the sonogram was 160.  My appointment today went well too.  Heartbeat was 153 and my blood work was good.  Full sonogram is scheduled for February 26th.

I'm finally just now feeling better.  That cold that I had put me in bed for over 2 days and I had a lingering cough for about a week and then a headache from all the coughing for a couple days.  So I'm just starting to feel the second trimester energy.

I haven't had an real cravings this pregnancy, unless you count carbs and junk food.  If I had to pick something, I'd say tomato sauce and pizza.  Every time I see a commercial on tv, I've wanted to order pizza.

Not much to "get ready" for this time around, other than the lack of sleep.  The biggest thing is picking a name.  We have a few names that we both agree on so there's progress.  Working on thinking of some middle names now.  We have most everything we need but I did start an amazon wish list.  The biggest thing there is a car seat.  Going to try to stick with the cloth diapers to keep costs down and for environmental reasons so we'll see how that goes.  That's about all for this week.

Week 14 update

Big praise since last update - we received the results of the free cell genetic blood test - no chromosome problems and we're having a boy!  We found out at my appointment on the 3rd.  Dylan is very excited and after a few initial tears, Lydia is excited too.  I was in an emotional stupor for a few days after getting the results because I was getting nervous about the results.  We had the blood drawn on December 19th and even with the holidays I would have thought we would have heard something by then so I assumed that there was bad news and they wanted to tell us in person.  Turns out the doctor hadn't gotten the test results in the mail so they called the company and had them faxed over while I got my exam.  The doctor read the results to us in the hallway so I knew then it was good.  But yeah, the normal oh my goodness something is wrong feeling that a lot of women get right before an appointment was super magnified for me at that appointment.  After a day or so of emotional release I was able to thank God and start telling more people about the pregnancy.  Since then we've told most people at our church and the kids' school.  We'll probably put something in the church bulletin soon but we'll wait until after the ultrasound to do the facebook announcement.  Next week I have a "practice" sonogram at Metro Women's Health - a pregnancy center that is just getting its ultrasound services up and running so I volunteered to be a guinea pig for the sonographer training.  Then I have another appointment on the 29th.

My morning sickness has pretty much subsided as of this week but then I got really tired and then I got a cold.  So just trying to rest (well, "trying" depends on what there is to do - laundry, then I rest well; out with friends, I don't do so well at trying, although I did skip a babysitting co-op meeting and bible study this week so mostly I'm resting well in the evenings - probably because I did a bad job of resting during the day).  The time to rest has been good to get a head start on my classes that started this week.  I know I won't be able to keep up for long.  I'm going to have to spend most every second that the kids are both in school with my head in the book to keep up.  So I probably won't be on FB much.  Martin is still doing the cooking since I'm so sick and tired.  Waiting for the second trimester energy boost to kick in.

While announcing that we are pregnant to folks at church I found out that there are 7 more women who are pregnant and due (I think) in June or July.  Then there are another 3 I know at church who are due before that.  Looks like another baby boom.  I'm exciting to be pregnant with these women and to have children in the same class.  Oh and one of our neighbors is pregnant and due in June with a girl.

Someone mentioned to me oh, it will be good to have a baby in the summer so you can get out of the house and take the baby for a stroll.  I wonder what that will look like with Dylan and Lydia.  Let me see....Dylan running up ahead around the corner so I can't see him and Lydia trying to climb on the stroller to get a ride.  Time to think of ground rules....  maybe we'll stick to the parks and playgrounds instead of walking in the neighborhood unless Daddy is around.  Our double stroller converts into a sit and stand so that may be the solution for Lydia but how do you solve a problem like the D-man?  Regardless, getting exciting for the new adventure...just gotta get through all this school work!      

Catching up....

To catch up with what's been going on in our family, go back the sixth of november (literally) and read forward....

I can't believe she's 5!

Lydia is 5 today!  She can't be this old!  For some reason 5 didn't hit me as much as with Dylan as it is with Lydia.  Maybe because she is the younger one and it's hard to believe she's growing up too.

Milestones this year:  her first haircut in March, singing in the choir for the first time (and, as shown in the picture, wearing a skirt for the first time in 3 years) starting to read (three letter words), hiking without having to be carried in a backpack, writing her name with a capital and the rest lower case letters, counting to 100, and moving into a booster seat in the car.

Lydia is in the Boa class in preschool and goes on MWFs.  She also takes dance lessons for an hour a week - half ballet, half tap.  She loves dancing in front of the mirrors.  Lydia is also doing great at her swimming lessons and is able to put her face in and is hoping to swim underwater before summer.  I've signed her up for t-ball for the spring so we'll see how that goes.

Highlights of this last year were keeping up with Dylan, spending time with Mommy at home starting in the fall (when I quit work), going to the pumpkin patch, having many playdates at the preschool playground, going to Pine Springs Camp with Mommy, Dylan, and Pennsylvania Grandma, and going to Great Wolf Lodge on vacation.

Lydia still loves to be held and read to and still sucks her thumb.  We tried giving her an incentive to quit (if you don't suck your thumb for 10 days, we'll buy you the stuffed animal you wanted) but that didn't work.  This year we may be taking a harder line approach.  She doesn't do it at school so I'm not too concerned but I guess it's more of a dental thing at this point.  Lydia is still a great helper, especially in the kitchen, at Dylan's school, and at the grocery store.

I can only think of one word she cutely incorrectly pronounces (vitium for vitamin) but there may be more.  Lydia's favorite foods are mac and cheese, cheese quesadillas, grilled cheese, pizza, and yogurt (do you notice a theme here?).  Her favorite toys are stuffed animals and recently she has become infatuated with penguins.  She also knows most of the names of the Skylanders that Dylan plays with.

Lydia is doing better on her shyness.  It's just with adults who she doesn't know very well.  She talks to all kids she knows.  If some overly outgoing kid comes up to her at the playground and says "Hi, I'm so and so, wanna play?" she would probably run the other way but once she knows the kid she plays talks and plays a lot.

Lydia is content with so many things.  Even just little things.  She is happy just sitting on my lap or just going for a walk.  We've had some really special times, particularly on Tuesday mornings this fall when we don't have to go anywhere, and she is just a joy to be around.  She's up for most anything and is always happy to be with her family.

Week 12 update

The big news this week is that we told our families and the kids.  Needless to say everyone is super excited.  The kids keep talking about the baby and asking all kinds of questions - how is the baby eating? how does the baby go to the bathroom? etc.  I'm actually getting hugs from Dylan again because he wants to hug the baby.  Dylan hopes that it's a boy and Lydia is hoping that it's a girl.  We should find out by the end of the week!  Dylan is now counting the number of siblings that he is older than and Lydia is interested in all the things we'll need for the baby.  When we were praying last night I said we should pray for the baby and Dylan says, yeah, we gotta pray that the baby won't die.

I've been feeling better but that might have to do with the fact that we were traveling all week and that's kept my mind off of being sick.

Week 10 update

Still feeling sick in the afternoon and evening mostly.  Martin's been cooking the last few nights since I haven't been able to make myself go into the kitchen.  I think it's getting better though.  I can eat as long as I don't have to cook.  I've been eating out a lot.

The weird thing is I've been freezing for weeks.  Granted its cold outside and our thermostat was set at Jaromir Jagr which means it was Mario Lemieux (#pittsburghdad) downstairs but still, the cold doesn't usually bother me this much.  I just can't regulate my body temp or something.  I'm constantly cold.  I never complained about being hot when I was pregnant in the summer so maybe I have the reverse problem.  I guess I was only every at most 7 months pregnant during the summer but still.  I guess we'll see in June when it's hot if I'm complaining then too.

I've been sleeping in a lot too so I'm tired but getting my sleep.  I think I've given up on working out until at least after new years.  We'll see how I feel then.  I just count it a victory that I'm able to get thing ready for Christmas, keep up with the day to day stuff, and finish my class.

Can't wait to tell the family next week and then find out the results of the test (which we'll have done tomorrow) and find out if we're having a boy or a girl.  I think we figured out how we are going to tell the kids.  It will be fun!

Dylan update part b

Dylan had his 7 year old checkup today and we had our first parent teacher conference of the year.

Dylan gained 5 lbs and 2.5 inches this year, remaining in the 10th percentile at 43 lbs and 45.5 inches.  Dr. Karp asked him a lot of questions and told him a lot of stories.  He seemed to spend a lot of time with us.  He said Dylan looked great.

We also got a good report from his teacher.  Dylan is right on track with reading and writing and 'rithmatic.  She said he is a delight and is creative and a hard worker.  He just needs to work on sitting still when it's time for that.  Dylan was "secure" in most of his academic work and all the rest were "developing" on track.

Week 8 Update

Today, December 4th, we had the first ultrasound.  Everything looked good!  The baby is measuring right on schedule (maybe even a little ahead of schedule) which is a huge praise since Joshua was over a week behind even at this point.

Saw Dr. Fisk and he said they can't do the genetic blood test until 10 weeks so I'll  have it done before Christmas but probably won't get the results until after Christmas.  So we'll tell the folks and the kids at Christmas and tell them we will know the results in a week.

Since the last update, the morning sickness has hit hard.  The Saturday after Thanksgiving was the worst.  I get it bad after lunch and after dinner.  And I'm really tired.  I fall asleep just sitting on the couch. My family didn't suspect anything when they were here though.  Ugh, four or five more weeks of this!  Could be worse.

Another week of anniversaries

Today ends a week of Joshua anniversaries.  His birthday, his heaven day, Thanksgiving (on which he was born), the day after (on which he died), the day of his funeral (yesterday), and the day of his burial (today).

Some friends sent us these beautiful flowers last Saturday.  We got a couple cards.  But not many people remember after the 1 year anniversary.  I don't blame them.  I don't remember the anniversaries of my friends' loved one's deaths.  It's just extra special when someone does remember.  On Joshua's birthday we went out to lunch with a few friends at the same place we went last year and then went to the cemetery with them for a short time.  We sprinkled rose petals (from my anniversary roses that were dying) on Joshua's grave.  Lydia did actually and she did it like she was flower girl in a wedding.  It was COLD as usual at the cemetery so we didn't stay long.  The next day we went to see the lights at Meadowlark Gardens like we did last year.

My struggle this year was keeping up the traditions.  Last year, I wanted to a few things for Joshua's birthday that we could do every year as a tradition because traditions are an important tool for remembering, especially for the kids and it helps not having to think of something to do on each anniversary.  Because if you don't do something to remember the person you've lost, you feel guilty.  Human nature.  The Meadowlark Garden things is kinda expensive and doesn't change from year to year and it was cold so I really didn't want to go.  I compromised and went on Monday the 25th (when it was cheaper) instead of on Joshua's birthday.  But I'm not sure if we'll continue to do it because it feels like we're doing it only because we said we would.  But maybe that's still a good reason for some traditions.  Going to that Peruvian chicken place will be out next year though.  I just chose that place because I didn't want to have to plan where to go.  Plus there's apparently a much better Peruvian chicken place right down the street.  We'll still go to the cemetery of course and take something special.  Maybe balloons next year.  You want to do something but everything you can think of doing seems trivial.  So I guess you just keep on doing it.   

Week 6 update

Today, November 20th, I had my first doctor's appointment.  I met with the PA and really liked her.  She knew my chart and I didn't have to repeat sad details that she should have known because she was on top of it.

I'm not having too much anxiety about the pregnancy which is good.  I'm a lot healthier than I was going in last time for what that's worth.  But at first I was going to snub all the "rules" (within reason) like no alcohol, no hot tub, no soft cheese, but then that cause some anxious feelings so I'm going to stick to the rules... : )

I still won't have a amnio or a CVS test but there are some blood screens that I could have and it would be nice to get some good results from those before we start telling more people.  I found out more about a new non-evasive genetic blood screen (but it's pretty close to a test) at the appointment today.  They take the mom's blood and can separate out the baby's genetic material to determine if there are any genetic disorders.  With my risk factors (age and previous genetic issue) the insurance should pay for it.  It can be done as early as 9 weeks and it takes 1 week to get the results so it looks like we'll be able to know right before Christmas.  Assuming good results, we'll tell our families and the kids on Christmas.  

I'll go back to the doctor in 2 weeks for an ultrasound.  At this ultrasound, Joshua was measuring really small already (10 or so days behind) so for us, if this baby is measuring on time, we will take that as a very good sign,

I think I started to having a little bit of morning sickness on Saturday.  It started just before and after lunch.  I think I waited too long to eat and then had maybe too much at once.  I remember that happening before.  I felt sick if I didn't eat but then I also felt sick if I did eat.  Need to remember small and frequent meals.  I'm also starting feeling tired earlier than usually (6,7,8 pm instead of 9 or 10 pm).

I've been keeping up with my exercising that I've been doing since I quit work.  Aerobics with some weights twice a week and then swimming once a week.  Hoping to keep that up as long as possible.

On being (mostly) out of the workforce

When most people ask me how my voluntary unemployment is going I say that I like it and I'm still busy.  All true.  But here's the longer answer.

I still base how well my life is going on how many things I'm getting done.  So I keep having to remind myself of all the things I'm doing that aren't on any list to cross off or are less concrete.  I'm exercising again and losing weight (slowly) but more importantly that's keeping me healthy.  I can even put that on a list - a goal list.  Our life is less hectic, particularly during dinnertime (goal, check).  This is the first year that Dylan has had homework and with that and piano lessons/practice, getting home at 6:30pm three days a week and trying to do dinner and getting the kids in bed by 8pm would have been crazy.  Now we have time for family worship after dinner and some wrestling time with daddy.  And Martin is less stressed and doesn't have to cook dinner as much.

I've gotten to do some things that I was never able to do before - take Lydia on playdates with her friends from school, go on the annual trip to Cox farms with Dylan's school, take Lydia to the Frying Pan Park, have time for the kids to just be home and play, be around for Dylan to have playdates with the neighbors, and have time for last minute shopping trips when I forget to get a gift for someone.  Things are a lot less stressful as far as our schedule.  I spend a lot of time at the playground.  My kids are enjoying the outdoors (a priority for our family) and I'm being available to connect with people there.

And as I recently read in Simplicity Parenting, it's this downtime where real connection with your children are made.  These intangibles (being more healthy, more quality time, etc.) are hard things for this to do list person.

I got a bunch of little projects done and even some work on a big project in that first month after I quit.  But life fills up quick and even things that I agree to that I don't think will take much of my time end up do taking time.  Plus, I'm not very disciplined.  If I have 20 minutes before going to pick up the kids, I'm not going to read or clean a bathroom or file papers, I'm going to check facebook.  Some of the best advice I ever got was to chop up every job until 15 minute chunks.  That's the way to get things done.  Then, even when you have a few minutes, you make progress.  

I've decided to inject a little more structure into my 12 hours per week that the kids are in school so that I can see more fruit.  I'm going to take 3 classes in the spring.  So hopefully I will feel more of an urgency to be diligent about my school work.  I think I can handle the load because I've had the prof already and she is easy and the other classes don't have any prereqs and are usually taken as 8 week classes and I'm going to take them as 16 week classes.

But mostly I just need to enjoy this time that I'm in.  And I need to celebrate progress and not focus on what's not done.

I realized that there were a lot of things that I was doing at work and know I have to do them at home so I didn't gain quite as much time as I thought I might.  And I do miss work and the issues and the people.  I went to a meeting for something at Dylan's school and I was so into it and feeling like I was back in the game again.  So it's hard when you like both (or many) things, determining how to spend your time.  If I could do work for 15 hours per week, when I wanted to do that work (no set hours), I'd be working now.  The 30 hours per week scheduled work hours was too much but I'd love to find another arrangement to get back in the game.  All in good time.  Just going to enjoy this season for now.  It's a good one.  

Baby #4 due to arrive in July

I found out today (November 6th, our anniversary) that I'm pregnant with our fourth child.  Yea!!!  So excited.  Happy anniversary to us!  Sweet November!

You won't be reading this until January because we decided not to tell the kids until Christmas.  Well, we decide not to tell our families until Christmas and you can't tell a 7 year old and 4 year old a secret.

This is the first time I've really felt the profoundness of the decision we made to have a child.  Dylan wasn't planned and the decisions to have Lydia and Joshua were just sort of what came next.  This time we had to think hard about whether we wanted another child.  God is sovereign but I still I felt the weight of the decision in the sense that we would be changing the course of our lives forever.  That's exciting and weighty to me.

So the due date is July 16th and since all the rest of our kids were born within a day of a holiday and were early I'm expecting this little on on July 5th.  God's timing is great.  The big kids will be out of school and done with most of their activities for the summer and I won't have too much on my plate with school stuff.  I'm taking classes in the spring semester but they will be done in early May.  Still hoping to go to Moms and Tots at Pine Springs Camp in early/mid June but that might be pushing it.  And of course I couldn't go through a pregnancy with how it affects my work schedule so I'm hoping that the contract work I was hoping to do with the FDIC is still doable.  It is nice to not be working and not have that stress of going to work with morning sickness or telling the boss.  Also, having done this before a few times, it's nice to be able to just focus on praying for my child and dreaming about having a newborn rather than the other concerns that I thought about the other times (like what can/can't I do/eat/etc, planning, shopping, and work issues).  

I'm exciting about bringing a baby home to this house.  THEN it will be our house.

Another thing I'm excited about is that I think having another child after losing one is going to give me more opportunities to talk about Joshua which I love.  People tend to ask pregnant women more questions about their families (what number is this?  how were your other pregnancies? etc.) so I'll get opportunities to honor my third child as well and be excited for the new baby.  And at church the announcement will say "expecting their fourth child."  

I'm excited that Lydia will be home with me on Fridays next school year (K is only 4 days a week at their school) so I can get those special times of me taking care the baby and she helping or mimicking me by caring for her dolls.

And I get to finish the LHOTP series!  I read the first 3 books to Dylan and the second 3 books to Lydia so I need to finish the last 3.  And I'm excited to have a baby close in age to some friends who have had babies recently.

I'm also excited for the challenge of caring for a newborn and having two school-aged kids with all their running around and activities.  Given the high priority I place on breastfeeding and sleep (for the child) this is certainly a challenge.

Going to try to keep up with the blogging every week or every other week throughout the pregnancy.