Jun. 27, 2009 - Pregnancy Update

I've decided that I really don't know my husband as well as I thought I did.  I mean, WHO has actually been with me on the other side of the bed?  Who is this stranger that I eat meals with, watch movies late at night and go to Marble Slab with on date nights?????  For a little background...

Lydia wants us to have all the girl's names end in "ia" since that's how she and Sophia's names end.  We didn't do that on purpose.  It just worked out that way.  We really considered it, but after awhile, Darin and I agreed that we didn't want to fence ourselves in with something like that.  So we've been going back and forth over girl names for this baby (because really, I think it IS a girl.  If it's a boy - sorry, Boy! ;-).  For every 100 names I read out to Darin, he might say yes to one of them.  Well.  For a joke, I read out "Beatrice." 

HE LOVES IT.

He wants to name our daughter Beatrice, and I'm left wondering if I really ever knew him.  He's so passive/agressive....we will probably end up calling her Beatrice.  Oh.  More.  He said we could call her "B.D."  I have nothing else to say.  God bless us, every one.

I'm 16 weeks along now.  Next month we will find out if this baby is a boy or girl!  Can't wait for that!

I looked at maternity swim suits today.  Oyve.  They are so low-cut and I'm so VERY modest.  ;-)  It kills me that I never learned to sew, and now am stuck with not enough time to learn to sew. 

When I went for my monthly check-up with my OB, I tried to explain my overwhelming exhaustion to him, but I'm not anemic (the only time I'm not anemic is when I'm pregnant.  Weird) so he basically told me to buck up.  Waaaahhh-ha-haaaaaaaaaa.  I just want to not be so exhausted.

Darin and Ben are off at a birthday party-type deal today.  They are doing an outdoor Ropes Course.  God bless them.  It's 103 today.  I loaded up Lydia, Jack, Henry and Sophia and we went to the grocery store.  What a crazy trip!  It took us two hours, two carts and a stop at the Starbucks there in Target before we made it through. The cutest thing was when Henry, who is 3, asked, "Can I ride on the cart like a fireman?" I let him ride inside the cart like the Captain of all the firemen.  ;-)  While we were making our way through the store, I heard someone say, "She's got four little kids with her here at the grocery store and she's pregnant with another one!"  That just makes me grin from ear to ear and feel so blessed.  I wish more could experience it!

• 2 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Jun. 18, 2009 - Baby Machine

An acquaintance told me that I am a "Baby Machine."  She said, "You know what I mean." 

Well, I sorta know what she means, but I just can't go all the way with her line of thinking because the LAST thing I feel like these days is a Baby Machine.  I am exhausted and queasy even now, into the Second Trimester.  I'm struggling! 

I'll bet I'm not the only Mom of a large family who struggles during pregnancy.  There's this strange perception of Mom's of large families out there.  We are Baby Machines - pregnancy is easy - and we can really "crank 'em out!" 

First to the "cranking them out" believers.  Labor still hurts, no matter how many children we already have.  Well.  I do have to put a disclaimer in here.  My last labor was literally pain-free.  You can go HERE to read about it.  I mean, it was every woman's dream!  At least it was my dream delivery.  You see, I showed up to be induced, was already dilated to a 4, so went ahead and asked for an epidural right way and got it. 

Ooooo - that leads to another common misperception of Mom's with large families.  We do not all give birth at home, in our bathtubs.  It sounds really groovy and all, but that route is just not for me. 

Back to the Baby Machine/pregnancy is easy for you thing....pregnancy is a marathon for anyone.  I have had great pregnancies.  I might have even felt like a Baby Machine every now and then.  But I have also had difficult pregnancies.  Just like every child is different, so is every pregnancy. 

What it boils down to is that I don't choose to continue to have children because it's easy for me.  I do it because children are a blessing from the Lord.  It's worth it to go through anything that comes up during a pregnancy, knowing that no matter what, my husband and I are being blessed by God with a new life to care for.  Children are not a nuisance, or a drain on my "me-time."  They are interesting, funny, insightful, challenging, they grow my character as I strive to be a good parent, and most of all, a BLESSING from God.  Our culture believes otherwise, but I'm not buyin' it.

P.S. I found that really nice picture frame HERE.

• 6 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Jun. 4, 2009 - Appley Goodness

The first trimester has followed me into the second trimester and I'm struggling with food. Nothing seems good to me.  But I have settled on an afternoon snack that I can stomach.  An apple with peanut butter and chocolate chips.  MERCY!  It's good.  :-)  Chase it down with a glass of freezing cold milk, and I'm in Heaven!  Now if I could just work out breakfast, lunch and dinner.

You can see Jack giving rabbit ears to the peanut butter.  That boy can't let a picture go by without doing something silly in it.  Kinda like his Mom, I guess.  ;-)

• 2 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

May. 30, 2009 - Pregnancy Update

The poison ivy is practically gone, and I'm so glad.  All that's left on my arms are dark red patches, a few scabs and lots of dry, flaky skin.  No more steroids.  No more antibiotics!  I was still nursing Sophia (17 mos.) and had to wean her cold turkey because of the steroids.  I hid the Boppy in the closet so it wouldn't remind her but she found it yesterday and brought it to me, so excited and saying, "Da! Da! Da!"  That's her all-purpose word for just about everything.  I said, "Do you want to eat?"  She said, "Mmm-hmmmm!"  So we assumed our positions and she gave it a try.  It took her about 3 seconds for her to come to the conclusion that it was never going to be the same.  She got up saying something like yuck.  I asked her if she wanted to eat more and she shook her head and ran off.  Waaah.  :-)

I think the steroids helped me with the nausea I was having.  All last week I felt fine!  I thought it was because I was nearing the end of the first trimester, but after finishing all the medicine, my upset tummy has returned.  Seems the one thing I crave is milk.  It helps soothe things a bit, but talk about Dragon Breath!  Tic Tacs are a daily staple, along with the milk.  ;-)

Anyway, I had a first appointment with our new OB this week.  It was really hard to switch doctors even though I knew it was the best way to go.  My old OB delivered all our other five babies, so the familiar was hard to give up.  But after the first visit with Dr. Cummings I have no regrets!  For one thing, it turns out we go to the same church!  Best of all, he is excited for our 6th baby and is not interested in inserting himself or any unnecessary procedures into the pregnancy.  He said he doesn't expect to hear from me at all.  He's just going to let God do His thing, and we'll see each other once a month!  How cool is that?  My other OB was constantly wanting to do this test or that.  I spent all my time saying, "No. We're not interested in that." while she gave me those "how dare you endanger your baby" sort of looks.  So, peace.  Sigh.  It's nice.  :-)

I wasn't sure, but I had thought all during the month of April that I was pregnant, but had a negative test at the beginning of the month.  This has happened with  me before with all our girls(!).  When Dr. Cummings was checking me out, he mentioned that he thought I was either further along than 7 weeks, or was carrying twins.  I quickly assured him that I thought I was further along.  ;-)  So we made a sono appointment for later that day.  Jack, Lydia and Sophia went with me and we got to see our sweet little babe for the first time!  The baby measured at almost 12 weeks, so I WAS pregnant during April.  I'm so excited!  Here I am already in the 2nd trimester.  I just can't wait to meet this new little one. 

I feel SO pregnant right now because I tear up over the littlest things!  The kids and I watched the National Spelling Bee this week and evey time one of the kids misspelled a word, it killed me.  The kids would look over at me and say, "Mom!  Quit crying!"  LoL 

• 2 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

May. 8, 2009 - I'm Pregnant!

Took a test last Friday night to make it official and all, but I was suspecting all during the month of April that I was pregnant.  As the month wore on, I became increasingly more tired and slow.  The biggie for me was the night we had breakfast for dinner.  I was working my way through my scrambled eggs and got to the point, about halfway through, when they just looked and felt rubbery and NASTY.  I have not recovered from that to this day.  ;-)

Darin and I are in a little bit of shock.  We've never really felt as if we have a "big" family before.  Other people we know have big families, but not Darin and me, eh?  Now with the upcoming arrival of #6 (late December/early January), we feel as if we're going to join the ranks of our friends who have big families.  Isn't that silly?  Maybe once he/she/Stephen/Claudia arrives, we'll decide that we still feel as if we don't have a big family. 

I'm excited about the new OB that I will be going to!  This is a guy who believes that women should have babies until their bodies are done.  What a concept!  I've been totally stressing out my old OB with every new pregnancy with the homeschooling/big family/she's-too-old-to-be-giving-birth- thing.  I didn't want to be responsible for any increased stress in her life, so I am just quietly slipping off to this new guy. 

• 14 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link