One Month Away From Meeting Our Third Child

Let me catch you up.

We are welcoming our third child in the next 31 days!

Last week I updated my personal Facebook profile picture with one of the maternity photos I took and added the picture to Instagram. I received a flood of private messages and a few comments saying "Congratulations!" quickly followed by, "Did I miss an announcement?!"

First of all, thank you.  I appreciate the words of congratulations.  Second, no, you did not miss an announcement.  The updated profile picture was basically the announcement.

You see, I'm strange about pregnancy announcements and talking about being pregnant.  I guess if I'm being honest I don't love being pregnant (I feel guilty about this).  It's taken me three pregnancies to admit this because social media says we should love it and if we don't we are wrong and plagued with judgmental comments. Don't get me wrong, pregnancy is an amazing experience that I know I take for granted. I'm well aware of all of those beautiful, perfect women who aren't able to experience pregnancy. And, being pregnant is not hard for me (my husband would likely disagree, I can be a wreck!)  Be confident in knowing that I do thank God every day for this life I'm carrying. 

As I'm getting older (35 which, according to the medical world, is old for having babies) I'm becoming more private, aware of my surroundings and conscious of the struggles other women may be facing.  I also don't get caught up in the stigma of having a baby. I'm not pregnant because I want another baby, my husband and I want to raise a good human.

The other reason I've been strange about being pregnant... my self esteem took a huge downward spiral during this pregnancy. (Hormones are killing me - maybe a sign it's a girl?!) While I should feel beautiful and like I'm glowing I just don't see and feel those things this time around. I've worked hard to counteract this by getting up every morning to shower, put on makeup and do my hair.  I've pledged to myself that I will remain as normal and put together as humanely possible for as long as possible. Don't judge, it's just who I am.

Moving on...

Remember I mentioned that I'm 35?  Well, 35 comes with extra doctor stuff.  I have to say, my doctor is so kind and good at reminding me that I'm not really old.  Bless her heart!

With being pregnant at age 35 I've had to do a few more checkup-related things including a more intensive ultra-sound at a pre-natal center.  Fortunately, everything checked out really well there.  

I was also required to do the "downs-syndrome test" which my husband and I have never done before - we've never felt the need to. Let me take a moment to talk about this test.  This was my first pregnancy that this test was explained to me as more than testing for downs syndrome.  The test actually looks for any possible signs of birth defects.  This test, in combination with the intensive ultrasound, can actually help our hospital be prepared for any issues that might arise.  Because the hospital where our baby is going to be born is small they don't have all of the equipment on hand but do have the ability to bring in equipment that they may need and limit the amount of time that we are separated from each other in the case that something is wrong.  Who knew?! Had they explained this to me I would have taken this test every time. 

I'm now down to weekly appointments and am required to take a non-stress test.  These are actually pretty relaxing.  I get to sit in a recliner, read a book, and no-one can bug me because cell phone reception is so terrible at the clinic.  WIN!

And now for the good stuff.

It has been so fun walking through this pregnancy with my two boys - Colton 4 1/2 and Hank almost 3. They are so excited about this baby! Colton wants a brother and Hank claims we are having a baby zebra.  We don't know what we are having - although, I can rule out that it is NOT a zebra!  My sister is convinced that I know it's a girl.  I swear I don't know, it's just the feeling that I have since this pregnancy is so different (morning sickness, excessive hormones, a difference in weight gain and how I'm carrying the baby, some anxiety...)

It's also been fun to get back into one of my old interests - decorating! During Christmas break we moved the boys into the same bedroom which was so fun to decorate for them.  They were so excited to share a room and have really adapted well to being in such a close space together.  I also put together the babies room - simple, gender neutral and still one of my favorite rooms in our home. (You can see a quick glimpse of it in the picture above.) Bless my husband that he is cool with decorating being my interest, it can get expensive.  Do you want to see the rooms?! I can do a blog post with a source list.

I'm also excited to out some new baby things including a Snuggle-Me-Organic, this sound machine, this swaddle, and reading the Mom's On Call book (you'd think I'd have the hang of this mom thing, right?!)

Let's not forget to mention maternity leave!  I get 10 weeks of leave and after this sales season in agriculture, I'm looking forward to the break.

I have a strong feeling that this baby will come early (We have to avoid this weekend, my husband is going snowmobiling for 5 days in Colorado) so stay tuned!

PS... thinking of bringing my blog back. Is anyone a blog-reader anymore?!