How big is baby:A cantaloupe at 10.5
– 11.8 inches and 12.7 oz.
Weight gain/loss:
Meh, I'm right at 15 lbs right now. I started a weight lifting program this week, so we'll see how that effects me pregnant. If nothing else, it's freaking amazing for my sanity. I love endorphins, setting goals and surpassing my expectations. Of course, the weak sauce that I am right now, that's not happening, yet.
Sleep:
I'm back to complaining about Miri. Girlfriend has picked up a little bit of a cough and combined with cutting all four top teeth, it's been difficult around here.
Diet/Cravings/Aversions: WATERMELON.
Movement: Absolutely confirmed. Movement almost every hour.
What I'm loving: Knowing that my baby is healthy! And another girl!
Symptoms: I've been dealing with some pretty bad swelling in my legs and feet due to the house spent working at the computer . . . which is in on our kitchen table.
What I'm looking forward to: This weekend. Tomorrow is Gina's baby shower and . . . no set plans. Just like Sunday includes a maternity session and . . . no set plans.
Best moment of the week: Either yesterday or today, when I actually swallowed my pride and entered the free weights area at the Y. It doesn't matter how little the weights are right now or how long it's been since I did the lift. Over the years I've expressed how much I love lifting and unfortunately how much I've missed lifting. With the surge in popularity of crossfit, I've often thought it would be something I enjoyed, but at the same time doubted that I had what it took to keep up. While I'm quite certain I couldn't keep up with CF, I know without a doubt that lifting is integral to who I am. It awakens something within me that makes me come alive, completely different from cardio or races.
- We're almost a week into our first membership at the Y and I can already tell that it beyond the money for us. I know it's no coincidence that the summer membership coincides with school being out for the summer, but my goodness, it just really is perfect timing.
The kids love going to their Kids Stuff area, and while Tony and I haven't managed to get there at the the same time, we've both consistently gone since we signed up last Thursday. I started logging about 5 miles of walking (1 over my lunch break and 4 at home) when I was pregnant with Miri, but that was during hockey season and slow season for photography, so I'd spend 1 1/2 hours at night on the treadmill . . . which is clearly not the case now. I'm really hoping that I build some strength before I get too late in this pregnancy to help me survive my wedding season.
I.am.so.weak.
- This weekend was definitely different for us. There was none of the excitement of a three day weekend free from work responsibilities, as I had a double header wedding weekend and Tony brought some extra projects home to get over time.
My weddings went amazingly and we got to enjoy a little bit of family time together on Monday. We'd planned on taking the kids to the Y to go in the pool, but we mismanaged our time, got out the door a little late and showed up when they were closed. As a plan B we ended up at the Lakes Beach and Isaac declared it was even better!
- My porch is starting to feel a little bit more like what I envisioned when we first bought our house. Rocking chairs, potted plants and I found some galvanized steel planters for the railings. Tony had to screw them to the porch, but I absolutely love them! I'm not a huge fan of the dead space spanning all of the rock in the front, but we can do something with that over time.
For now I have yellow begonias, goldilocks, white begonias and white moss roses in the planters. They are so cheerful! I can't wait for them to fill in.
- Isaac graduated from preschool last Thursday and I have to admit, I was totally emotional about it. I always remember easily making fun of preschool/kindergarten/5th /8th grade graduations growing up . . . but when it's your child about to transition to that next stage of school, I appreciate being able to take the time to recognize it!
- Miri has been such a character lately. It's so crazy to me how literally on the day of their birthday I am able to watch my kids change. For Miri it has been the development of very strong feelings. We've seen insane fits and uncontrollable laughter, trying to comfort a crying brother and demanding food/drink.
We definitely do not have boring children, that's for darn sure!
How big is baby:A grapefruit at 10.5
– 11.8 inches and 12.7 oz.
Weight gain/loss: I started my 2nd Advocare challenge to hopefully help with steadying out this weight gain, and I'm happy to say that I've rebounded from my Mexico and Hawaii travels. I'm at a 12lb gain now, which will hopefully be half of my total.
Sleep: I've been waking up with leg cramps almost nightly again, so I'll either be adding in bananas to my smoothies or resuming my consumption of coconut water, which worked like a charm for me with Miri!
Diet/Cravings/Aversions: I've been doing great, but no where near as stringent with paleo as I got with Miri. Only three days into my Advocare challenge and we started at the Y yesterday!
Movement: Absolutely confirmed. Movement almost every hour.
What I'm loving: Knowing that my baby is healthy! And another girl!
Symptoms: Other
than my rapidly expanding belly, some baby movement and irritability . .
. none. I feel like every pregnant woman is hating me right now, but I
feel nothing.
What I'm looking forward to: Honestly, I'm really looking forward to a lot of my Mom friends being done with school for the summer and for consistent nice weather!
Best moment of the week: Isaac graduated from preschool, but that's a whole post in itself!
Five hurts my heart. Five, just feels like half a decade, which doesn't sound nearly as monumental as it hit me.
Isaac is every bit as strong willed as a first born should be. He challenges us. He keeps us on our toes. He ensures that we're always vigilant, because if not, oh boy, he's going to be there calling us on it.
He is silly. He is earnest. He loves his family and Jesus. He is laughter. He is tickle fights and races and puzzles and lego creations. He loves people and is constantly seeking new friends, whether they are his age or not.
He sucks his cheeks in when he is embarrassed or proud, or embarrassed he's proud, but he wants our approval and we want nothing more than to give it.
Happy 5th birthday, Isaac. I have no doubt you're going to do amazing things!
Sleep: Miri has started to sleep better again! Such a praise!
Diet/Cravings/Aversions:
I've been doing really well this past week and I'm so excited to start my 2nd 24 Day Advocare Challenge [specifically for pregnant women]. To boot, we're going to sign up for a summer family membership to the Y, which means I can work out every day if I want, with childcare!
Movement: Absolutely confirmed. Movement almost every hour.
What I'm loving: Knowing that my baby is healthy! And another girl!
Symptoms: Other
than my rapidly expanding belly, some baby movement and irritability . .
. none. I feel like every pregnant woman is hating me right now, but I
feel nothing.
What I'm looking forward to: I've got a decently full weekend, but no weddings and I'm so looking forward to being with my family!
Best moment of the week: Meeting AJ's newest little one! I got the text that her water broke around 11:00pm last night and was at the hospital around 1:00am. We weren't sure how fast she was going to progress, so we both went with erring on the safe side . . . which unfortunately backfired a little. That said, AJ was able to still have a relatively fast labor, faster transition, water birth like a champion and Fern was on call, so pretty much, it was perfect. Making the drive, I was flooded with anxiety and just fear, that I'm not ready to have another baby. That I already felt like my strength for a med-free birth with Miri was wavering and questioning how I'd be able to have another med-free birth when I hadn't had enough time to forget the last one! But, as AJ labored I took so much encouragement and walked away absolutely jealous of the sweet bundle she was cuddling in her arms. It was so amazing and unexpected for me!
This is, oh, you know, about a month over due . . . but better late than never, eh?
Continuing with the tradition we established with Isaac, we combined Miri's dedication with her birthday celebration. I'm so grateful to have such great friends at church, one of whom shot these photos for us.
It was so amazing to be surrounded by our family and friends while she
was anointed with oil and we dedicated ourselves to raising her to know
God and develop her own personal relationship with Jesus.
Afterwards, everyone came on back to our house and we were able to have a wonderful party for Miri, within the comfort of our own home . . . which has never happened before!
She clearly approved of her cake smash!
She had just a bit of help getting into her presents.
How big is baby:A freakishly large
pomegranate at 10.5” [from head to toe].
Weight gain/loss:
I'm not going to pretend like I didn't gain a crap ton from the amazing food I ate in Hawaii, but I'm back to the same 11lbs that I had at my 20w.
Stretch marks:Miraculously none.
Sleep: Miri has started to sleep better again! Such a praise!
Diet/Cravings/Aversions:
I've been increasing the number of green smoothies in my diet, but I
know I need to get serious about eating paleo again. My biggest concern
is being able to stay limber and strong for my late August weddings. I
felt amazing with Miri, so I have the blueprint . . . which I've been sticking to, other than a GF meal on Mother's Day. So glad to be feeling good and I just want to string together a few weeks of clean eating!
Movement: Absolutely confirmed. Movement almost every hour.
What I'm loving: Knowing that my baby is healthy! And another girl!
Symptoms: Other
than my rapidly expanding belly, some baby movement and irritability . .
. none. I feel like every pregnant woman is hating me right now, but I
feel nothing.
What I'm looking forward to: I've got a decently full weekend, but no weddings and I'm so looking forward to being with my family!
Best moment of the week: Finding out that we are adding another sweet girl.
There are so many points of entry for this blog post, so many thoughts that haven't been conveyed, posts that should be written between my lackluster attempt to even post a weekly baby bump update.
I miss blogging. So much.
So how to explain what a whirlwind these past 4 weeks have been, but especially the week between leaving for Hawaii to shoot a wedding and finding myself in the same ultrasound waiting room I have visited 4 times.
Time stood still in first tri, mainly as I struggled with the weight and pain of the emotions I felt to be unexpectedly pregnant, but it's as if I blinked and we were at our ultrasound (despite how many times I've written about dying to know the sex).
That said, I toyed with the idea of finding out the sex prior to the anatomy scan. I finally decided against it, as truly, the most important thing is to confirm the health of the baby, which we wouldn't have, in the least.
While I loved both Ezra's reveal and Miri's reveal for different reasons, I figured with three kids 5 and under that simplified and straight forward would be the best. I came across Amanda Rydell on instagram, saw her lovely paper pinwheels and went with it!
Tony and I wondered if Joan, our ultrasound tech, would remember us from Miri's fiasco of an ultrasound, and thought for sure she would have somehow flagged our account, but she seemed completely oblivious. She greeted us warmly and joked that she wouldn't shut up throughout the scan. I told her that I much preferred it that way, as I knew she only was quiet when there was an issue.
Thankfully, she didn't stop her chatter the entire time and grew increasingly happy, as Baby Bonus was the most cooperative of all of our babes in utero and she flew through all of the measurements. We even got this sweet profile of the little love.
And suddenly, we were done and on our way to my appointment with Fern, with a healthy report on our surprise baby.
Fern quickly confirmed the heartbeat, told me I was a "perfect" patient, and then I told her about my weight gain due to traveling to Mexico twice and Hawaii the week prior. I don't think she'll call me a perfect patient again, but she was very glad to hear my traveling is done for the year! Next up, we picked up the kids from my inlaws, where Miri had developed a croupy cough and both she and Ezra were due for naps. Tony was upset about how much work he was missing, as he'd only banked so much time and is out of vacation, and combined with the weather, I knew pictures were going to be a miracle to get much from.
We forged ahead though and even though I'm telling Tony, Gina, Kendra and Bethany how annoyed I am with him . . . we managed to have a great time finding out that our Baby Bonus is another sweet girl!
Isaac never wavered in his saying it would be a girl. Not once. I thought it would be really special for him to find out first, by having the girls open the envelope and giving him the correct pinwheel while we had our eyes closed.
I love the smile on his face as he went to run to us, unfortunately the wind blew the pinwheel a bit though and he slowed to a walk.
I love how Ezra is looking the entire time, but didn't say a word!
We decided to count to three to open our eyes.
And it took us a second for our eyes to gather the color information we were seeing!
While I originally thought it was another girl, based on my "girl" symptoms, especially that I had a migraine with Miri and this baby, over the past two weeks I noticed that I was subconsciously referring the baby as a boy in my internal dialogue with the little one. Tony experienced the same shift, so as you can tell, we were both shocked to open our eyes and see the girl pinwheel!
Aside from screaming, all I could say to Isaac was "You were right!" He, for the most part, had no reaction and asked to then go play on the playground. In hindsight, I really wish we'd just put the pinwheel in his hand, also with his eyes closed, as I missed his reaction, but it was still super sweet.
While on the playground Isaac kept telling Bethany, "I"m so happy I was right." She finally sent him running back to us to tell us and that's when we got to see more of a reaction from him!
Who would have thought, from a boy mama to two of each.
And here's the video of our reaction!
We're so blessed to have four healthy children, regardless of their sex, but feel especially joyful that God gave Isaac the desire of his heart for a sister for his sister.
How big is baby:A freakishly large
pomegranate at 10.5” [from head to toe].
Weight gain/loss:
Well, I'm at 11lbs now.
Stretch marks:Miraculously none.
Sleep: Neither good nor bad. Miri didn't continue her sleeping through the night habits. I'm considering a body pillow.
Diet/Cravings/Aversions: I've been increasing the number of green smoothies in my diet, but I know I need to get serious about eating paleo again. My biggest concern is being able to stay limber and strong for my late August weddings. I felt amazing with Miri, so I have the blueprint, I just need the willpower.
Movement: Absolutely confirmed. Movement almost every hour.
What I'm loving: Um, being in Hawaii. ;)
Symptoms: Other
than my rapidly expanding belly, some baby movement and irritability . .
. none. I feel like every pregnant woman is hating me right now, but I
feel nothing.
What I'm looking forward to: Friday. Friday. Friday. I can't wait to see this little one and find out what sex will be completing our family. Best moment of the week: Isaac's birthday . . . which reminds me, I still need to do his birthday post! Let's be honest, I haven't forgotten. I just haven't had the ambition to put it together or edit the photos. What has this blog become?
