32 Weeks Pregnant - for the first time EVER!

32 Weeks Pregnant - FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!
I meant to write this post a few days ago but then - I mean, REALLY do I need to explain?
This past week has been such an important one for me as I passed the 31 Week & 4 Days pregnant mark. That gestation is so important to me because that is when my triplets were born! My water broke at 31 Week & 3 Days but I had a full stomach so they had to wait several hours to section me (I had a full stomach of Panda Express, I believe). The babies arrived at 5:50AM, 5:52AM and 5:57AM on December 11, 2007, which means their THIRD Birthday is in less than a week. I CANNOT BELIEVE MY BABIES will turn THREE YEARS OLD. How did this happen???

Anyway, it's crazy to think that I've never been 'this pregnant' before. I HAVE NEVER BEEN 8 MONTHS PREGNANT before today. This pregnancy is SO SO SO different. It's so easy! Last time I was DYING and in tears near the end and in so much physical pain and LOSING MY MIND. This time, I'm chasing 3 VERY ACTIVE toddlers, working a couple nights a week (ON MY FEET!) and having no real problems at all. I am so grateful for this experience. It's like God knew that deep in my heart I always wanted to know what it felt like to carry "JUST ONE" and here I am!
Don't get me wrong, I am TIRED and clumsy and swolen and achy and uncomfortable - all those usual third trimester things. But these are not problems - just reminders that the baby and I are getting BIG!
And speaking of BIG, my belly is ginormous. Of course, NO WHERE NEAR as big as I was with the triplets, but still I am HUGE for being 8 months pregnant! And BOY is everyone letting me know. It's amazing what strangers say - THINK before you speak, people!
I am no where near prepared for this baby. I have not purchase one thing. And, contrary to what you may think - we dont have ANY baby stuff. Not one onesie or sock or anything. Actually we DO have a carseat, a couple of pack-n-plays, a swing (which I pretty much never used with the triplets) and a jumperoo. I gave EVERYTHING else away because we thought we were done! Although I am such a planner, I just couldn't freak out about it. There's enough to do around here! For now, we're switching some rooms around to make a room for the baby. I just hope this baby stays cooking for MANY weeks to come because we've got a lot of getting ready to do!
I've got so much more but I need to get to the things on my list and the steaming piles of laundry while I still have the energy.

It's A Girl, NO...Boy...NO, really...it's a GIRL!

It's A Girl, NO...Boy...NO, really...it's a GIRL!

I just got home from an appointment with Dr. Lantry and I am still giggling because there was a little confusion during my appointment today.  When I got there and was talking to my nurse she said that the report from my 20 week ultrasound with Dr. DeVore said that Bonus Baby is a BOY, not a girl as we have believed for the last 2 weeks.  Turns out that it was just an error and that #4 really IS a girl, but for a while I was not so sure!  Funny thing is I wasn't disappointed to hear it was a boy.  I was excited and happy!  This pregnancy has been such a surprise blessing - I really don't care either way about the sex of the baby.  I like the idea of 2 boys & 2 girls and I LOVE the idea of Alexis having a sister (I LOVE MY sister!), but I was surprisingly pleased when I thought it was a boy.  It's a WIN-WIN people!  I get to be pregnant with a singleton - something I thought would never happen.  I am so grateful and excited about this baby coming.  Brian and I are really happy.  As you know that's NOT how he felt in the beginning, but as the shock wore off, we have become so excited about having another baby.  We can't wait to see how the triplets are with a little baby sister!  Brian even added "Baby Sister" to the kabies' nightly prayers.  It melted my heart to hear that HE WAS THE ONE to think of it, not me.
Now their nightly prayers go like this:

"Dear Jesus, 

Thank you for Mommy 

Thank you for Daddy

Thank you for Mimi (Alexis)

Thank you for Zacky (Zachary)

Thank you for Jackson

Thank you for Baby Sister

A-MEN!"

Hearing him say their prayers with them every night (the nights I'm not working) MELTS my hormonal heart!  Sooooo excited to see this caveman with a new little baby.  :)

The appointment went well.  No ultrasound but we did hear the heartbeat.  I haven't been worried at all because I feel her kicking me NON STOP all day/night.  I wonder when this baby sleeps.  She is a feisty one!  Zachary was the feisty one in utero but has turned out to be the mellow one after being born.  Let's hope Bonus Baby turns out mellow too.  I don't know if I can keep up with another feisty one! 
I asked Lantry if I could go back to exercising and even running around the Rose Bowl again while pushing the triple stroller.  She said it was NO problem, as long as I don't let my heartrate go over 140BPM.  This was great news!  Now I need maternity workout clothes.  I can no longer fit in any of my running shorts.  Do they even make maternity running shorts?  Something to look into!

Otherwise the pregnancy is going very well.  I have some minor issues but NOTHING compared to last time.  This is a piece of cake compared to last time and I joke that I could do this 100 more times!  Brian does NOT laugh when I say that ;)  In reality I am very happy with four kids.  I wouldn't mind be pregnant again but I am done having more kids.  Maybe surrogacy is in my future?  Hmmmmmm...

I gotta go throw something  in the washing machine before the kids wake up from nap.  thanks for the love and support and please continue to keep our family in your prayers!

P.S.  I will be shifting over to blogger comments soon.  Hopefully that will resolve the issues that so many of you report having with not being able to leave comments.  Sorry about the problems - hopefully the switch will resolve all of that.

22 Weeks Belly Shot - Bonus Baby!

22 Weeks Belly Shot - Bonus Baby!

We haven't exactly been documenting this pregnancy like we did the last one.  Not that it isn't exciting or important.  It's just that...who has time?!?!  But I figured I better start taking belly shots so I can have the memory for us and for the kids (if they even end up reading this blog when they grow up!).

Here's my 22 week singleton belly!

I realize that I look almost as big this time at 22 weeks as I did with triplets at 22 weeks.  They say you pop sooner and grow bigger the second time around - who knows.  I feel MUCH better this time around.  I am not in constant pain like last time.  This is a piece of cake compared to carrying triplets!  Last time I was in MISERY by 22 weeks.  UGH!

Here's my 22 week TRIPLETS belly.  MISERY!

20 week ultrasound images are still coming. I know, I know.

It's A.....

It's A......









GIRL!

Hey Everyone! I know it is LATE LATE LATE and most of you are already sleeping. So sorry I haven't updated sooner. Today was SUCH a busy day and I am exhausted! I'll have Brian upload the ultrasound video and pics tomorrow. In the meantime I thought I would at least spare you the suspense and tell you that everything went very well, everyone is healthy, my cervix is LONG (NO BEDREST - YAY!!!) and we are right on track for a January 31 due date. We are SO excited to have another girl. Alexis will have a sister! :) We've already got a couple of names that we are thinking about, but we're keeping that a secret until we decide ;)
Brian also had a job interview this morning. It went well (I think?) - it was over one hour and fifteen minutes long - I almost had to leave for the ultrasound without him! There are several other candidates going for the position so we are remaining cautiously optimistic. Please keep our family in your prayers!

Ultrasound video next time - stay tuned!

Holy Crap - Part 2

Holy Crap - Part 2

I know you're going crazy and you want the stats NOW. Here you go:

How pregnant am I?

EIGHTEEN WEEKS. Yes I was (STILL AM) SHOCKED too. That's 4.5 months. The baby is about the size of a small mango. I have been pregnant since end of April/beginning of May and had NO IDEA. More on this in the next post.

What is my due date?

January 31, 2011. This may change after I see the perinatologist. The baby will be about 3 years younger than his/her older siblings (born 12/11/07).

How many are in there?

Thankfully, there is only ONE BABY. Screw you guys who were wishing for another set of multiples!

Do you know the sex of the baby?

Dr. Lantry's guess is that it's a girl. But she said NOT SURE so don't paint anything pink yet.


Here are some not-so-great shots of the baby. I will have better pics after visiting the perinatologist (Dr. DeVore - remember him from last time?).

This one looks like the baby is showing girl bits:
Here's the head:
Blobbish weird blurry pic:
baby kind of bent over. you can see the spine:

I have a longer post that goes into more detail about my whirlwind emotional day, but I will leave it at this for now. Stay tuned!!!