Baby 5: Week 24

How Far Along: 24 Weeks (16 weeks to go!)

How I'm Feeling: I'm feeling good! A little tired for general kick related night-time hijinks (what's up almost 4 year old??? Why all the waking at night, kiddo?), but surprisingly energetic. I was thinking back to not too many weeks ago, when all I wanted to do was sleep. Sleep and eat a little, and sleep some more. I'm finding eating isn't the highest on my list (I'm still eating, just not in all-day snack mode), nor is sleeping (except at night, obviously). During the day I'm up and buzzing about. The TV has been turned off all day for 4 days, and I've been baking muffins, playing with the kids, and simply enjoying them!

What I'm Thinking: My brain has been working double time. We got the results of our ultrasound on Friday, and everything was great. Apparently this baby is a very energetic, healthy baby growing nicely (not unlike my waist-line). We also decided for the first time to find out the gender, and have been spending the last few days passing names back and forth. We were SO sure we were having a girl that we had a perfectly beautiful girl's name picked, so when our doctor said this little munchkin will be our third BOYYYYYYYYYYY, we were stumped. We had a name, but the second it became so real that this is in fact a boy, we ditched it. We have a new name in mind, but we'll be praying hard about it before we make anything official.
 

What I've Done This Week: Besides baking, I also went nuts cleaning in the kitchen. It's not pristine by any stretch of the word, but as of right now there are no dirty dishes. Rejoice! This shouldn't be a big deal, but it totally is. I've also been busy with things at Church, like our Moms' group, the Welcoming Committee, Baptism Formation sessions, and some odds and sods. I've also gotten a pretty cool gig transcribing some audio files of my parish priest's talks down at a conference. He's writing a book based on some work he's done giving presentations on the New Evangelization in the Catholic Church. I've been doing that in the quiet times and enjoying it all.
 

What I Hope To Do Next Week: I hope to finish the bulk of my transcription, and then, (ha, how many times have I said this?) clean up baby boy's bedroom so we can lay the flooring. We're so close to getting it done, but as that room has become a kind of a drop zone it'll take some doing.

Baby 5: Week 23

How Far Along: 23 Weeks and 3 days (16 weeks and 4 days to go! I'm quite behind this week! Oops!)

How I'm Feeling: The cold is really bugging me these days. I'm finding my skin especially dry these days so the frosty chill of a Canadian winter is wreaking havoc on my skin (not to mention my hair, but that's not exactly a crowning glory of mine at the best of times, so mehn). I've also had some itchiness where my stretchmarks are getting their own stretchmarks. Laugh all you want friends, but by the fifth baby the once moderate length and width of my first stretchmarks (which already look like a young Spiderman's elementary school project) have been far eclipsed by the supernova of stretchmarks that come with each new pregnancy. I wonder if Michelle Duggar has any unstretched skin left on her stomach after so many pregnancies... But I digress. On the up side, with only moderate amounts of caffeine, I am much more alert and full of energy. I know the kids are appreciating this upswing of energy. I'm sure the two oldest are very wary by now of this brief spurt of energy, as at least the oldest will remember the down swing brought on by third trimester sleepiness. Enjoy it while you can, kiddos. Daily art projects and monster truck dinky races for all!
 

What I'm Thinking: I've been having lots of wacky and funny pregnancy dreams lately, which have been giving me a laugh during the day. I'm not sure I can even explain half of them as they make no sense to me anyway. Last night I dreamt that I took a pilgrimage to Rome (Rome=Home, as my German friend often reminds me) with my family. We were there to have the Pope baptise this new baby (who was, by the way, born but had neither name nor gender). Apparently in my dreams I have access to the Pope, which is pretty cool and random. For a somewhat normal pretext (especially considering my parish priest is currently in the Holy City, and tweeted some great pictures from St. Peter's square), my dream quickly descended into wacky land. Let's just say it involved one of those wacky British sitcom style chase scenes where people are running out of different rooms in a long hallway (which was, by the way, the Papal Apartments in my dream). Swiss guards, toddlers, a stray donkey. You know, the usual. So yeah, pregnancy brain is hilarious when I'm asleep.
 

What I've Done This Week: This week was our Parish's Stewardship of Talent Fair, so I was pretty busy with getting ready for that. We also celebrated my wonderful husband's 30th birthday. All of this means that it looks like a series of bombs have gone off in my house. It was totally worth it for the sake of all the fun we had! We also got to meet my friend's 2 week old baby boy. He was totally adorable. It's a good thing I'm already pregnant, because for real my ovaries were clenching with new baby love!

What I Hope To Do Next Week: I'm kind of in survival mode right now. If I achieve anything, I will give myself a high five. We have a doctor's appointment on Friday and we'll hear the results of our 20 week ultrasound. That we haven't got an ominous phone call before now means that everything is fine, but I will be relieved when we hear all the details. We also have the chance to find out our baby's gender. We've never had the option to find out for free before, so we will see what we decide!

Baby 5: Week 20

After a break for Christmas, we're back with baby updates!

How Far Along: 20 Weeks and 1 day (19 weeks and 6 days to go!)

How I'm Feeling: Huge. And not just because of Christmas eating, which was actually pretty moderate. I've gained a mere 3 pounds in the past month, but all of a sudden my belly is poking out. My nausea is pretty much gone, and after 2 weeks the cold I was battling is back down to a sniffle.  I've been having a few dips in blood pressure too, which has made long, hot showers impossible. A small sacrifice to know that I'm growing a baby. It means that my doctor has recommended that, for the 5th pregnancy in a row, I increase my sodium intake. I feel like every time I get that recommendation I'm winning the pregnancy lottery. Since I crave salty foods anyway, I'm more than happy to indulge.

What I'm Thinking: Today we had our 20 week ultrasound. Our baby seems pretty sensitive to caffeine. I say that because I had only one cup of coffee this morning, and baby was moving around like crazy. A little frustrating for the ultrasound tech I'm sure, but joyful for me to see such a strong, wilful baby. The actual ultrasound took over an hour (what what!), and I loved it. I now get to sit on my hands for the next few days, hoping and praying the phone doesn't ring with any news from the doctor's office. No call means everything is totally normal. So of course until the week is out, I will be going through all the images I saw in my mind, trying to see perfection in each of them, and trying to keep down any unnecessary worries and fears.

What I've Done This Week:  It was Christmas, folks, so pretty much all I did was float the waves of joy emanating off the kids. We visited with family a  little, but because we were all overwhelmed by a cold, we mostly stayed close to home and enjoyed some mellow together time. My husband has 11 days vacation, so we get to enjoy one more full day with him before he goes back to work. This has been his first real, non baby-related vacation since we got married, and I have been trying to treasure every sweet moment of it. I don't know how I'll deal once he's back to work. haha

What I Hope To Do Next Week: I'm going to work on getting back into the swing of our regular schedule. Our oldest girl will be happy as a clam to be back to regular school work. I'm also going to try and tackle our mountain of unfolded laundry so I can have extra room to really clear out the nursery. I need to start bugging the midwives clinic again in hopes that I make the list. I love my family doctor, and it would really be lovely to still be seeing her, but I love the idea of trying out the midwives! Also, I hope we'll be welcoming baby girl's Godparents' baby, who is due any moment now! Go Baby A Go! Time to come out!

Baby 5: Week 15

How Far Along: 15 Weeks 3 Days (24 weeks and 4 days to go!)

How I'm Feeling: A little tired today anyway. We ALL had our flu shots yesterday and now we're all tired, a little cranky, and counting down the minutes to nap time. Or maybe that's just me? Overall I've been feeling good though. My uterus is just the right height for how many weeks I am, which means it's infringing on my bladder. With 2 potty trained (and one more who is daytime trained) kids at my heels, it's the big battle for the bathroom these days!

What I'm Thinking: We heard our baby's heartbeat yesterday for the first time. We'd seen it flickering on the screen during our dating ultrasound, but to really hear our baby's heart beat, was so incredibly beautiful. The biggest kids who are used to this sort of thing were very excited, while our two smaller kids listened with as much interest as confusion I'm sure. I love the way our family is growing. We're getting so close to the half way point!

What I've Done This Week: We had our first regular prenatal appointment (oh the joys of the 5th pregnancy) so I got all weighed (don't ask), measured and like I said we heard the baby's heartbeat. And because no prenatal appointment should end without someone crying, we all got our flu shots. In all seriousness, no one cried, no even the 15 month old. There was a little lip quiver, but she got to smiling when the doc put a smiley face on her bandaid (what a pro!). We also got the date for our next prenatal appointment and our 20 week ultrasound, New Years Eve!

What I Hope To Do Next Week: I'm part of 2 cookie exchanges, so I've got to get to baking. I'm also hoping to clean out all the unwanted toys out of the baby's room so we can start working on the flooring. I'd also like a better place than my closet to hide the Christmas presents. haha

Baby 5: Week 13

How Far Along: 13 Weeks (27 weeks to go!)

How I'm Feeling: The nausea is still there, but is very mild. It has been replaced for the most part by excessive hunger. When I don't eat small meals throughout the day (plus snacks), I get so weak I can barely stand. So yeah, I've been eating all day. Poor me. haha!

What I'm Thinking: The ultrasound has come and gone. As my regular readers read on my blog on Thursday, we are blessed with (only) one beautiful, active, and perfect baby. You may have noticed our due date skipped 2 weeks ahead. We figured our dates must have been off because our hormone test came back with very high results for our original date. Since we had the ultrasound my mind has started focusing on the reality of this one, precious little wonder growing inside of me. We could already see so much of this new baby's personality at a mere 12 weeks. What a lively child so full of interest and so feisty! I'm so excited to meet him or her in another 27 or so weeks.

What I've Done This Week: The ultrasound was the big thing. Since then we've been refining the names we've picked, and praying hard about who the Godparents should be. It's a tough choice when we have around us so many beautiful people who we know would be a perfect fit. We're really trusting this one to God! The great things is that we hope to have more babies, so eventually we'll probably get to invite our other precious friends into our family as Godparents for those babies.

What I Hope To Do Next Week: I'm going to start knitting little things like hats and sookie blankets for the baby, as well as some Christmas gifts for the big kids. Time is flying!

Baby 5: First Ultrasound

We had our first ultrasound this morning. We got there quite early and by chance they were able to take us in right away. It pays to be punctual, folks. We were out of the ultrasounds before our appointment time. For those of you who have been following the weekly instalments relating to this pregnancy, we had estimated (based on sparse facts) that we would be 10 weeks and 4 days today. I'd not had an obvious return of my cycle, so we weren't able to use the LMP for our estimations (like that works anyway) but guessed based on other details we had. Based on the very high levels (for the EDD we had) of hormones from my blood pregnancy test, we were left wondering if we'd botched the dates or if we were having twins. We discovered recently that twins run in the family quite a bit on my Dad's side (he's adopted), and with the fact that we were on our 5th pregnancy, we knew statistics were starting to tip towards a twin pregnancy this time around. We were very excited (and of course nervous) for the prospect. We had started looking for a bigger van, were talking about all the little details we needed to square away to make sure we transitioned smoothly to two more babies. I think part of my mind had totally accepted that it was twins. I even wanted twins. Yes, it would be a challenge, but having witness a dear friend not only survive but thrive with two beautiful twin girls I felt like, with her advice and wisdom, we could do the same thing (or our own version of it anyway).

So as I parked my very tired, very bloated body on the ultrasound table, I squinted my eyes, expecting to see two little sacs, two little babies. I think it would be wrong to say I was disappointed that there was only one little baby in there. I was SO excited to see our perfect, beautiful little baby. There was a part of me, the part that had built up the expectation that there might be two, that was surprised to see only one. I actually said out loud: "Maybe next time!" and then got down to the business of memorising every delightful detail of the little baby on the screen.

Not to brag or anything, but my husband and I make gorgeous babies. Even in the womb, they are to die for! As the ultrasound wand swept back and forth, we saw a perfectly formed little body, a sweet pounding heart, and a profile that looked so much like baby's big sisters already. Baby was also bouncing around, changing sides constantly, and waving tiny little hands at us. We couldn't help but smile and laugh at how active this tiny person was! The ultrasound tech told us our Baby is already 6cm on the button.

Size leads me to our next point. I guess we were a little tiny bit off. Two weeks to be exact. So, as of this morning we are 12 weeks and 4 days along, with a update due date of May 19th, 2013. Knowing that I often go late, we'll probably still be closer to June before we meet the newest baby. It's nice to know we're hitting the end of the first trimester. My nausea is already down significantly, which is great. It's time to start enjoying the 27-29 weeks left before we meet our little one!

Baby 5: Week 10

How Far Along: 10 weeks (30 weeks)

How I'm Feeling: I'm still nauseous folks. Surprise surprise! I'm also having a little problem with motion sickness that can be inspired just by watching someone or something else move in just the right way. Odd stuff! This week I've also noticed some minor changes in my eyesight. Not enough to make me think I was blind, but enough to make me call my optometrist. She told me that changes in eyesight are a side affect of being pregnant. I'm guessing that because my blood volume has doubled, the fluid in my eye has shifted a bit causes a slight disturbance. Luckily, these changes go away on their own. I can still read most things, so I'm not going to complain. I'm also experiencing wild salt cravings! My blood pressure runs low so of course I need plenty of sodium to pump it back up. Good times!

What I'm Thinking: I'm having a bit of tunnel vision in that all I can really think of is the ultrasound this coming Thursday. We went to visit to a dear friend of ours who is a priest. I saw him by chance a month or so back, and he told me I was pregnant before I even knew I was. I told him I was still just chubby after Baby 4, but he shook his head, smiled and walked away. He's one smart Italian. When we saw him this week (we try to visit often as he's oldest boy's Godfather) he let me know we're having a girl. Too bad our ultrasound won't be able to tell us gender as this point because it would be interesting to see if he's right. haha! I've been dreaming about twins again, and with all this nausea I'm curious to see if we'll see one little sac on the screen on Thursday or two. The suspense is killing me!!!

What I've Done This Week: This week I was really focused on other folks' babies. With the help of my husband and two other friend we ran a Baby Shower for a local charity called BirthRight which provides help and counselling to people with unexpected pregnancies. It's been nice to focus on someone else's baby other than ours! We also had a visit a few friends this week, including that of a beautifully pregnant Mama who let me touch her belly. I could feel her baby's entire back curled up against the front of her belly. So beautiful! So I guess what I've done this week is embrace the joy that comes to us from our beloved friends!

What I Hope To Do Next Week: I have nothing to think of but our ultrasound this Thursday. I am so focused it's crazy. Must try to get out of my own head space.

Baby 5: Week 8

How Far Along: 8 weeks (32 weeks until I'm due!)

How I'm Feeling: While my nausea is still there, and picks up dramatically for hours at a time, I'm mostly feeling much better. I'm starving a lot of the time and have to remind myself not to stuff my face because I end up feeling sick from eating too quickly. I'm starting to get some stretchy feelings down in my stomach and am noticing a bit of a bump that isn't just my leftover belly fat.

What I'm Thinking: I've been thinking a lot this week about how blessed I am. I have been given a heart moved to always say YES to what God is giving me. After each baby I've had the feeling that I'm satisfied with how our family looks, but in my heart I've always left  it up to God. Every new pregnancy has been a source of joy and excitement. I know how truly blessed we are to have such abundant fertility, but also that we have hearts open to the gifts that God gives us through our fertility.

What I've Done This Week: I've been working on making heartier foods to help grow this baby while keeping up my blood pressure. I've always had low blood pressure, but it gets much lower while I'm pregnant, causing fun fainting spells and getting sick when I need to give blood. Fun, right? So, once again, my Doc has advised a high sodium diet. Good times. I also got the call with the date for our dating ultrasound. On November 8th at 8am we'll get a sense of how far along we are, and also confirm the number of little ones swimming in my womb. I suspect only one, but you never know, it could be two!

What I Hope To Do Next Week: I have no big plans for myself. I'm trying to keep active in the middle of my nausea so I have a few playdates planned with some close friends who won't take it personally if I toss my cookies in their bathroom. Other than that, we'll chalk this week up to surviving the first trimester.

Baby 5: Week 7

How Far Along: 7 weeks (33 weeks until I'm due!)

How I'm Feeling: Still nauseous. Pretty much all day. I got about 2 hours of a break from the nausea today and stuffed my face with a feeling of urgency since I've felt too sick to eat. I'm starting to feel some stretching down in my lower ligaments, which is making me a little sore. I've also found myself hyper-sensitive this week. I've been jumping to conclusions and crying at the drop of a hat. I keep catching myself crying at commercials and then start laughing at myself! All in all, I'm just trying to survive the first trimester, and I'm finding that easy when I feel the joy of new life brewing in me!

What I'm Thinking: I'm spending a lot of the day trying to figure out what it is I can eat that'll fill me up with nutrients without making me sick. Luckily, my mind is more pre-occupied with baby names and nurseries to get too upset about the nausea. Sure, I'm finding myself whining (internally and vocally, sorry!!!), but underneath it all I'm so grateful that God has blessed my motherhood with more abundance.

What I've Done This Week: I called my doctor by chance this week and managed to get an appointment. There is a benefit to having a Doc who specialises in pre-natal work because we can often get the dropped appointments from women who have already delivered their babies. We managed to get a referral in for a dating ultrasound, and a prescription for diclectin (which has done an awesome job fighting my nausea, but sadly knocked me out with exhaustion and gave me a racing heart, so I can't use it anymore. Boo!).

What I Hope To Do Next Week: I'm going to work on finding the perfect mix of ginger and other ingredients to keep the nausea at bay. I'm also going to work at upping my prayer life to give me more focus and balance so that I can let go of my little complaints and focus on what my 4 beautiful children who are already born need from me. Lots more hugging and silliness is in store!