• Jan. 7, 2007
Baby is Here!!

Our son was born January 5, 2007 at 12:34 pm.  He weighed in at a mere 10 lbs, 4 oz and is 22" long.  Labor was about 8 hours long, ending with 5 minutes of pushing.  He's a cutie, with Grandpa's nose and the longest, narrowest feet I've ever seen on a newborn!

What a blessing to be holding a newly born baby!

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• Oct. 5, 2006
baby #5, 26 weeks, already anxious to hold him!

This is fairly unusual for me:  I know that being pregnant is easier than having a newborn in the house.  I'm getting more sleep now than I will after the birth.  I'm enjoying the independence of my almost 2 yo.  But I'm longing to hold this new little baby in my arms and January just seems so far away.  Or maybe its just the week in bed that I'm looking forward to!!

My next midwife appointment is in two weeks.  I'll be doing the glucose screening then, yuck, but necessary after skipping the test in a previous pregnancy and having an 11 pound baby.

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• Aug. 17, 2006
baby #5, 19.5 weeks, Ultrasound Results!!

IT'S A BOY!!!  Praise the Lord!!!  With three girls and only one boy (so far), we are so thrilled to be expecting another son!  We got a really good look at him, so there are no doubts. :)  More importantly, everything else looks wonderful, all the parts where and as they should be, and sized just right for my dates.

Now begins the name game...the hardest part of the game is keeping it secret.  So many people, especially family, want to know what we've chosen.  But we like to have a good look at our new babies before we commit to a name.  We do have a couple of favorites and we have picked a middle name...but still, just in case, and to have some surprise...it's a secret.

This is the first time since our oldest that we've found out the gender.  I like the fun of not knowing until the wee one is born, but Dean really wanted to know this time and now I'm glad to know, too.  And I'm also glad to know there is only one baby...twins would be a wonderful blessing and maybe I will be blessed that way someday. But for now, with our first full year of homeschooling coming up, I'm so glad the Lord has given me just one new one!

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• Aug. 9, 2006
baby #5, 18 weeks, Almost Halfway!!

It's funny, at least to me, how my pregnancies seem to go in spurts.  The first few weeks seem to drag so slowly...waiting to be far enough along to tell people, then waiting to not be feeling so sick and run down.   Then the middle few months fly by.  That's where I am now.  The other day, I posted at a forum and was amazed when my ticker reminded me I am in my 18th week.  Almost halfway!

Movement is more definate now.  A few thumps and bumps and lots of wiggling.  Something new for me with this baby is that I can feel this on the outside much earlier than usual, probably because I lost 60 pounds inbetween #4 and this one.  What a difference!

I am feeling tired again this week, I'm sure from not getting enough sleep.  I'm trying to catch up on lots of stuff and staying up too late, considering I'm awoken each morning around 6 or 6:30 by my youngest, who leans over her crib (next to my side of the bed) and shouts "mommy!".  Except for the time, it's a wonderful way to wake up.

After much thought and discussion, we've decided to have an ultrasound after all.  We won't look for the gender, though with three girls and only one boy so far, I will be keeping a close eye out for "hints" ;).  We are thrilled and eager to welcome any child the Lord has chosen to bless us with.  If there is a problem that we can prepare for ahead of time, we'd like to know.  We don't do any of the other testing, so this is our best shot at discovering any major problems.

So the 17th is the big day...I'll let y'all know how it goes!

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• Jul. 26, 2006
baby #5, 16 weeks, Visit to the Midwife

Today's visit with the midwife was wonderfully routine.  Her scale says I've gained more weight than my scale at home, but she told me the scale was new and we could continue to use the numbers from my scale to track my total weight gain.

I am still measuring big, but not quite big enough to concern my midwife!  Yeah!  I'm 16 weeks and measured 20.  If I'd been 21 or more, she would have strongly urged me to get an ultrasound.  I'd rather not do that, so for now, we are both comfortable skipping it. 

We easily heard the heartbeat, a nice 140's rate.

I need to work on getting regular exercise, chasing after the children doesn't count. :)  And she has asked me to keep a food diary for a week, to check on what I'm eating.  She does this with everyone and doesn't think I have any particular problems with my diet.  She likes to be sure her moms are getting the right balance of protein, carbs, etc.

My next appt is in four weeks...we're moving along here!

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• Jul. 4, 2006
baby #5, 12 weeks, measuring big!

At my midwife's appointment last week, we were very excited to hear the baby's heartbeat.  My husband and all our children were able to be there.  It's always such a wonderful thing to hear.

I'm feeling a lot better, and even have a little more energy.  I'm taking a different multi-vitamin, called SuperMom, and I can tell the difference.  Of course, just remembering to take them daily helps!!

There is a little mystery...at 12 weeks, I am measuring 18.  My midwife was a little surprised I was that much ahead.  We did only hear one heartbeat...but if I'm still that far ahead next time, she will send me for an ultrasound.

Hmm...what are the chances??  I've always told people that I can "handle" our growing family because God sends them one at a time.  I wonder if a challenge is on the way?

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• Jun. 7, 2006
Baby #5, 9 wks, Feeling Yucky

I'm in basic survival mode.  I do the bare minimum neccessary to get by.  Dishes get done when either a: the counter is too full or b: we are out of clean dishes.  Ditto for laundry, which by the way, hasn't been folded in two weeks.  My flower gardens are battlegrounds between my perennials and the weeds.  The kids are enjoying a steady diet of pb&j and cereal with milk.  Cooking is definately not neccessary to survival.  Either is vaccuming more than once a week, dusting, washing windows or sweeping our 9 foot ceilings for cobwebs.  And our homeschool retroactively dismissed for the summer back to Memorial Day weekend.

Not that I am complaining.  My blogging friend Mumof5 suffers from HG, that type of pregnancy sickness that lands you in the hospital, dehydrated and losing weight faster than is safe.  So my mid-range level of constant queasiness is easily managed:  avoid most food smells and increase diaper changing speed so that I can hold my breath during messy changes.

The bigger battle for me is the fatigue.  I have no energy.  Even to sit here and do a blog entry is tiring.  I spend an hour or two at a time reclining on the couch, making sure my little darlings don't get hurt or set the house on fire.  Then I get up, go to the bathroom, do about 10 minutes of whatever (lunch prep, change a diaper, put a load of dishes or laundry in) and then back to the couch for another hour or two.  I go to bed by 9 pm and don't get up until 7 am.  Not that I sleep all those hours, but at least I'm lying down.

I know that I'm about halfway through this stage.  I'm 9 1/2 weeks and right around 12 weeks, I'll begin to feel better, and by 14 weeks, I should have lots of energy for tackling my to do list and catching up on housework.  Until then, by the grace of God, I am blessed to have a loving, hard working husband, who comes home to a messy house and tired wife and never complains.

One more thing, we've starting telling our families...the response so far has been mostly quiet (we emailed the news) and very happy from Dean's mom.  Which is a big relief, since we rent our home from her.  She even offered to pay for the ultrasound co-pay, if we would find out boy/girl.  Which we will by having the tech write it down and seal it in an envelope.  We will give her that and then she keeps it to herself, because we like to be surprised.

Well, time to head back to the couch.  I'll see y'all later...

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• May. 24, 2006
Baby #5, 7 wks, First Midwife Visit

I saw my midwife for the first time with this pregnancy today.  And actually, it was only the second time I've met with her.  The wonderful midwife who caught my last two babies now lives 100 miles away from me (I moved) and with three major cities between us, the drive takes two hours at least.  She was willing to come to my home for the birth if I would come to her for the visits, but between the time and the cost of gas...I had to find a new midwife.

By the grace of God, I found Amanda.  There is a link to her site on my sidebar.  She is only about 30 miles away, so much much closer.  One of the things that drew me to her was that she did two years of training under my previous midwife!  She's really up to date on the latest knowledge about pregnancy and birth and is just so warm and friendly, and perhaps best of all, is a qf-minded Christian.

So, we did the whole medical history thing, talked about all my previous pregnancies, took blood and urine, weighed and finally did a brief external exam to see if she could feel my uterus.  It was right there. :) Just the right size for dates! Yeah!

My next appointment is in 5 weeks:  my husband and the children will come with me to hear the heartbeat.  Once we've heard that, we will (finally) tell our families.

Meanwhile, I'm battling on again-off again moderate levels of naseau, frequent trips to the bathroom and the worst (for me) heavy fatigue.  All I want to do is sleep...my new bedtime is 8 pm! 

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• Apr. 28, 2006
Shh!! It's a secret!!

Ever had a secret that just wouldn't stay a secret??  I do. :) 

What if you had made your husband promise to keep the secret, well, secret, but then you went and told a few friends...friends you knew would keep the secret?

What if you just couldn't keep it a secret anymore, you just had to share the secret or else you thought you'd burst with it?

I have a very good secret to share...and if you PROMISE not to tell my mother or my husband's mother, or my father and his wife or my husband's father and his wife, or my sister or my husband's sister or grandmother, or anyone who might tell any of these people...I'll tell you.

Ready?  We're going to have a baby!!! 

It's very early days, just a few weeks along, but there were two lines on the test!!  Thank you LORD for blessing us again!!  Please pray that the LORD will soften the hearts of our family, that they will be as excited about this fifth child as they were with the first. Thank you. :)

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• Apr. 1, 2006
Not His Time

I've been feeling down the last few days because I didn't conceive this past cycle.  I was very hopeful, even doubled checked the existence of the pg tests in the back of the linen closet, but by late Thursday evening, I knew I wouldn't be needing them this month. 

Being QF is more than just having lots of babies.  It's trusting the Lord for the timing as well as the size of our family.  And apparently, it's not His time, yet. My thoughts just seesaw between being sad and being relieved.  It's hard to settle on one or the other.

I'm sad because I love babies, and I have strong baby cravings.  My "baby" is 15 months old, walking, communicating with and without words, and just is not a baby anymore...she's a toddler.  I see little babies around and just yearn to have a new one in my arms.  I've always been pregnant again with a 15 month old in the house.

I'm relieved because I just started homeschooling and I'd like to get settled into a good, solid routine before the exhaustion and queasiness of early pregnancy unsettles everything.  I'm also relieved because, deep in my heart, I like having my kids birthdays somewhat distant from each other.  We already have a December birthday, our youngest. 

My own sister and I have our birthdays in the same week.  As children, people got them confused, or gave us "one big gift to share".  That always annoyed me.  And so I've been glad that my kids birthdays are all several months apart. 

In the end, I choose to feel peace, to let go of sadness and relief, and simply set my sights on the work the Lord has already given to me...raising my children to love and serve the Lord.

The Lord is so good, so all-knowing, that I can't argue with His plans.  I will continue to trust in His timing and find peace and comfort in knowing He loves me.  He knows the deep desires of my heart and I trust Him to fufill them in His time!

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