Elise's 27 week checkup

I will be 27 weeks pregnant tomorrow! I can't believe we're going to get to meet our 3rd baby in 13 weeks!!!!!! I went in for my doctor's appointment today, and everything is going well!

I had to take my glucose test today, which is not too bad, but not my favorite. I had 5 minutes to drink the sugary drink, which I thought was no big deal. I was halfway finished when I realized I only had 1 more minute to finish it! So I had to gulp it, and that wasn't really that great! I'll get the blood-work back in 3-4 days, so I'm hoping that I pass so I don't have to take the longer test. The nurse taking my blood was really nice, but was so busy talking to me that she wasn't as seemless as some of the other nurses I've had draw blood. I can't complain, though, it wasn't too bad.

I've been measuring about 5-7 days bigger the entire pregnancy, but I think I'm catching up to normal. Today I measured 27 weeks, which I will be tomorrow.

I also need to start going to the doctor every 2 weeks now! I can't believe that! That just makes it seem more real that she'll be here before I know it! I feel like I'm running out of time to get ready for her. Chris and I put several things off for summer-time since the end of the school year was so hectic. Now that Chris is on vacation (as of today!!!), we can put a big dent in our list. Some things on our list include: going through baby clothes, fixing the car seat situation (figure out which 3 seats will fit in the back of Chris' truck, where to put them in my van, etc), putting the nursery together, cleaning up/unpacking our master bedroom to make room for a pack n play, stocking up on diapers/getting all of the necessities in order for the nursery and around the house, etc... Wow, I'm a little overwhelmed just thinking about it! But I can't complain, I have the time now.

I talked to the doctor about some contractions that I've been having. I couldn't tell if they were happening because Elise was stretching out and causing them to start, or if I was just having braxton hicks already. Dr. Scott said that it was most likely just contractions, and not to worry. She said I could even have a few per hour and it would be ok, as long as they didn't happen more than 4 times and hour or get onto a regular schedule and have pain. She also said that since I don't have a history of early labor, that I shouldn't worry about it. I'm not worried, but I do have to say that it scares me a bit to feel them! They don't even hurt yet, but they're uncomfortable, and I know what's coming now!!!!!! 

How this pregnancy is different

So far, this pregnancy has been completely different than my other two. 

First of all, I was soooooo sick with this baby girl! I've heard that the nausea gets worse with each successive pregnancy, and maybe that's what happened to me. I was only sick 7 times total with Evan, more with Aubrie (I had about 2 weeks of sickness, with a cold on top of it), and then I was sick for 11 weeks with this one! I also think that since this was the farthest I'd gone without being pregnant or nursing, that my body just didn't seem to know how to react. 

It has definitely been harder on my body this time around, too. I feel "old" this time around. My back has been more tender this time. I bought a pregnancy belt, and that has helped a lot. I can also feel my body starting to tense up and get tired if I do too much work during the day. Picking strawberries is a great example: I had a lot of fun picking them, but I felt it the next day! It's like I need a day to recuperate if I do any kind of labor-intensive work (i.e., clean the house... hint hint). :)

Haha, another thing that is different this time around, is that my leg and underarm hair is growing like crazy! I only had to shave twice when I was pregnant with Aubrie, and I really do have to shave all the time with this one!

What else... I can't remember if I like sweet things or not with the other two, but I didn't like anything sweet for the longest time with this one. I can stomach sweet things now, since the metallic taste seems to have gone away, but I still like the salty/savory flavors.

I never got dizzy with another pregnancy, but I seem to get very dizzy every now and again this time. It hasn't happened for a while, but there were several days at work when I had to sit down because I was so dizzy! Haha, except for right now as I right this blog... I'm super dizzy!

Oh, and Elise seems to get the hiccups about 10x more than the other kids! I feel them at least a few times per day. I remember the other two getting them, but just off and on. Elise is a regular hiccuper! (Is that even a word?!).

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Some things that have been the same:

This baby girl reminds me of both pregnancies in some ways, too. She reminds me of Aubrie because she is more of a "roller" than a kicker. Although, she does have some amazing kicks every now and then! When she gets going, she can really take the breath from me! She even kicked Aubrie's cheek one day when Aubrie was laying down on me; super cute!

Elise (if that's really what her name will be) reminds me of Evan's pregnancy, too, though. When I was pregnant with Evan, he would move and kick, but stop as soon as someone would try to feel him him or look at him. It was always our joke that he was going to be a toddler getting into something, but stop and look at us with this innocent look on his face when we found him. Elise is exactly like that! She will move like crazy, but stop as soon as someone looks at her or tries to feel her move. I'm ok with her personality being like Evan, though; he's pretty awesome. :)

I'm still not swollen anywhere, but I do seem to feel it in my fingers sometime this time around. I've taken my wedding bands off and put them on a necklace around my neck, just in case I start to swell up.

Also, until my appointment this morning, I had only gained 11 pounds... Then I gained like 9 pounds in 4 weeks! I'm assuming that's all baby, right????????????? So that puts me right at 20 pounds gained. I have 13 weeks left, and only gained 34 pounds with Aubrie. So I can only gain another 14 pounds in the next 13 weeks... Yeah, I don't think that's going to happen! I'll try to get out and take a walk every day, but it's sooooo hot! I kind of hate being pregnant over the summer! 

What's In A Name?

I mean, really. Why can't we just come up with a name for this new little one?! It's so hard!

Here is a list of names that we've contemplated for our new addition:

Lia, or Leah

Catherine (Kate)

Elena

Madeline

Heather

Anna

Ok, some of these have been a no from Chris from the beginning, but I like them. :) I'm pretty sure we've come up with a name for our baby girl, though! It's been a long road, and we're still trying it out, but I think her name is going to be Elise Carol! Since we've exhausted family names, we could pretty much go with any name we wanted, which made it extra hard! I remember my Dad saying that he liked the name Elizabeth, though. We didn't want to name her something that common, though, and we found that Elise is a form of Elizabeth. That way we can honor my Dad's pick for a name, but also put our own unique spin on it. I think it is the perfect name. We can call her Elise, or Ellie, or Lissy... All super cute, and I think it fits our family well.

The first time we tried the name out with our kiddos, they both gave it a sour face. They are still not convinced that is her name. Evan thinks that she will come out with a collar around her neck telling us what her name will be! The kids' alternative to Elise is "Faubrie" or "Scooby Doo," so Chris and I are pulling executive naming power and going with our pick instead. :)

My Pregnancy So Far

I'm already feeling Mommy guilt for this third baby as I have hardly written a word about this pregnancy! I promise I love you, baby girl! It's just been a whirlwind of a year, and I'm just now catching up.

Chris and I started talking about having another baby in December, as we'd finally made it into our new house, we were halfway through my first year back to teaching, and the kids were settling into our new routine really well. We also decided that since our house was already unorganized from moving in, that it'd be easier to have another baby and organize everything once instead of multiple times. Well, at least we had one conversation on the topic, because we were pregnant by the end of the month! Let's just say that we were both surprised, as the other two kiddos took at least 3 months to conceive. 

I was fine up until the 5th week of pregnancy, and then the sickness began. Whoo-wee, was I sick. The two times I've been sick with food poisoning are the only two times that I can remember being any sicker. But the sickness was in the evenings, so work was not too bad at this point. I would just get so exhausted that my body would react by getting sick. I remember being so tired on several occaisions that I fell asleep in the parking lot to at least two grocery stores and our own driveway several times. I stopped going to church orchestra practice, where several times Chris would come home to either fine me in the bathroom, or in the exact same place he'd left me before leaving, asleep. Let's just say that my body wasn't used to this kind of thing anymore, and it was taking it hard this time around. After getting nausea medication from the doctor, it seemed to get better, and I haven't had any type of sickness since about 16 weeks (I'm now 26 weeks). Thank the Lord for nausea medication, is all I have to say! 

Since then, I've really enjoyed this pregnancy. The exhaustion is gone, and I've really enjoyed being able to feel our little girl move around (I've felt her from about 14 weeks). Now I'm feeling huge, although I know that's only relative as to what's coming up in the future. I'll be in the third trimester in about 2 weeks, and I'm hoping that the exhaustion doesn't come back too hard. Although, it is summer vacation now, so I can sleep all day if I need to!!!!!! 

Here are some pictures from the past few weeks.

photos from our gender ultrasound

 21 weeks pregnant

22 weeks pregnant

 23 weeks pregnant

24 weeks pregnant

Last day of school, 25 weeks pregnant

Memorial Day Weekend 2013

This year we went to Nick & Alia's neighborhood for a block party on Memorial Day. There was good company, great food (crawfish, bbq, peach cobbler and ice cream, roasted corn, etc.), and the kids got to play and ride bikes in the cul-de-sac. All in all, a great weekend before the last week of school!

Happy Birthday and Mother's Day To Me!

I woke up on a beautiful Sunday morning to find this waiting for me:

Chris had been at Fiesta Texas the day before with his band kids, and he set all of that up when he got back at 1am! Such a sweet and thoughtful man. He got me flowers, a cake, a Bugs Bunny coffee mug for me, some superman capes for the kids, and even a batgirl onesie for the baby.

I'm one lucky Mama.

Picking Strawberries... Sort of

April 27, 2013

I'd heard of a small farm near our new house that I wanted to try out and take the kids to pick strawberries. I love having that near my Mom's house, and I thought it'd be neat to go to this place if it was nice. I love the idea of having a farm close by to use for canning vegetables and making homemade jellies and jams for our home. Well, that dream was squashed as I tried to take the kids by myself one day to pick strawberries.

Everything started out well, but I (and the kids) were ready to go about 30 minutes into our trip. Between being scared of bugs, complaining about the heat, and complaining about who had more strawberries in their bucket (which I was filling, by the way, since they were complaining so much), they kept me busy!

I dropped them off at home, told Chris to let them play quietly in different areas of the house, and I went to the plant store by myself for 30 minutes to cool off. I came home with some pretty flowers for our house, and we all just cooled off together.

I did get enough strawberries to make my first batch of homemade strawberry jam by myself!

Initiative

I just have to brag on my son for a few minutes. Apparently Chris has been talking to Evan about the word "initiative." One morning we walk in to find Evan's room looking like this...

We were so proud of him! He'd worked on cleaning up his room the night before after we'd said goodnight, without us asking! He just knew that it needed to be done (and, oh boy, did it ever!), so he did it! He did a great job, and is very proud of his clean room.

I'm so thankful that God has blessed me with such a sweet son.

Aubrie's "1st" Official Haircut and Girls' Day Out

April 6, 2013

Sometimes a girl just needs to get out of the house and go make herself beautiful. Aubrie and I decided to go for a Girls' Day Out and go get her a haircut, and get our nails done. It was so much fun! I can't wait to go with both of my daughters, because we had a blast. 

I have trimmed Aubrie's bangs since she was little, but I didn't want to tackle a full-blown haircut on my own. Also, her hair is so fine, that I thought a nice trim would thicken it up and make it healthier. She did sooooo well sitting in the chair for the haircut. I think she really enjoyed being pampered!

After the haricut, we both went to get our nails done. I ended up with just a pedicure, while we had all of Aubrie's nails done. She sat so still while her nails were being painted, and loved that they put cute little white flowers on her nails, too. 

I think we're going to need to do this quite often in the future! I loved bonding and spending time with my big girl!