I am.... 15 weeks?  Hmm... I suppose I should really know these things when I plan on giving an update....  It's either 15 or 16.  I'm going with 15.  I am past the falling asleep while stading on my feet stage.  I had constant quesiness before which had me eating alot and gaining weight.  That, too, has past.  Unfortunatly, it has turned into full blown nausea.  I wake up sick, feel better, and by early afternoon, I'm nauseous again.  But it seems as though it has gotten worse again.  Today, I only had a few hours of relief.  Right after lunch I started feeling sick.  So, I am just sitting on my computer trying not to move because it seems that movement brings it on.  I also am limited to when I can talk.  Signing has come in handy, once again.  I'm telling you, if you can't sign, you need to learn.  There is always a new use for it. 

So much for being hot while you're pregnant.  I am constantly freezing.  Hopefully my hot hormones will kick in soon. 

I asked the boys to clean the kitchen for me, since I was feeling sick.  They were so quiet I just had to look at what they were up to.  They were cleaning my cabinets!!  Um.. thanks guys, but I really only wanted my counters cleaned.  Goofy kids.... When they were done, N came over to me and told me I was the best mom in the whole wide world.  And then he asked if there was anything else he could do for me.  Wow.  What a good day.  Even if I can't move.   

Our fish was acting crazy yesterday.  She was swimming all over the place, really going crazy.  I remembered her doing that once before and I thought she was going to die.  I also noticed, yesterday, that her stomach was huge.  It looked like she was going to explode.  I thought, "Could she be having more babies?  Nah... that would really be impossible."  Last night when I was getting ready for bed, I looked in the tank, and there were babies everywhere!!!  We counted 15.  It was crazy!!! 

If you look just above the rocks, you can see tiny specks.  Those are the fish.  So whatever kind of fish I have can reproduce without a male and gives birth to live fish.  CRAZY!  I actually read that all fish lay eggs, but some lay them inside of themselves.  They don't actually give live birth. 

Here is a picure of how big our first baby has gotten.  He is above the mama fish in front of the heater:

I had to wake the boys up to see it last night.  I figured the fish wouldn't survive the night.  The mama fish eats her babies.  (D didn't even remember waking up and coming down stairs to look.)  There was still quite a few this morning, but now we are down to 3 or 4.  I guess it's a good thing.  What would we do with 17 fish in a 10 gal tank?!  We keep yelling at her, though.  "Stop eating your babies!" 

On the Baby B front, I started him on bananas.  I had tried a few weeks ago, and he hated them.  So I waited another week and a half, and he LOVES them.  He grabs my hand and tries to shove the spoon in his mouth.  It is so cute to see him moving the bananas around in his mouth.  He is 5 1/2 months old, and what a difference it makes to wait to feed your baby.  With my first two, I fed them cereal at 3 months.  They made faces and spit it all back out. Yet, day after day, I kept forcing it down their throats.  I thought at three months you were supposed to give them cereal.  That's what the doctors said.  Well, along came baby number 3.  I read alot more and was now aware that babies didn't have to have food until 4 - 6 months of age.  Wow, that's a long time to wait!  I was determined to wait until at least 4 months.  When I went to the doctor at her 4 month visit, the doc told me to start solids.  (stinking docs, what do they know anyway?)  I waited until she was 4 1/2 months and then started her on bananas.  She still had the "stick the tongue out and all the food with it" reflex.  But, I still kept feeding her.  I had waited a month and a half longer than I had with the boys, and that was hard.  I got such pressure from the people around to start solids.  "Maybe she'll sleep better.  Maybe you'll have to nurse less.  Maybe she'll gain some weight."  I got all that pressure this time around again.  But, with each time around, I get more confident (also I didn't/don't have the time to deal with the mess of solids and wanted to wait as long as posible.. hehe...).  So now I knew that I was doing the right thing by waiting.  No, he wouldn't sleep better (the first two didn't sleep any better).  Last week, I really felt it was time to start him.  He watched us intently and tried grabbing what we were eating.  He moved his tongue around in his mouth imitating us when we chewed.  I wish that everything that I am learning while raising my kids, I would have already known the first time around.  I feel that by the time I have my last one, I will be learning the last of what I need to know to do everything right, and it will be too late.  Great, I'm going to be one of those bossy, know it all, do it my way, kind of mother-in-laws! 

My beautiful Baby B is getting so old.  He is almost 5 months old now.  He is so much fun.  I couldn't wait until he was finally in the stage that I could play with him.  We were having so much fun with Princess C, that when Baby B was born and just sat there like a bump on the log, it was so depressing.  Now I can tickle him, fly him in the air (watch out for the drool!), but his favorite is peek-a-boo.  He cracks up!    He has his moody times, but for the most part, he is a very happy baby. He smiles at everyone.  We took him for pictures and it was so easy to get good shots.  In fact, it made it near impossible to choose my free picture!  Here are a couple of shots:

Isn't he beautiful?! 

Baby B is driving my nutso!  He has to be rocked and held and nursed and if I try to put him down to sleep, he immediatly wakes up and cries.  I don't remember my others being like this!  Maybe I blocked it out.  Any advice?  He is 3 months old now.  He was starting to put himself on a schedule, but vacation messed that up, and it doesn't look like he is getting back on one.  Maybe I should give it more time?  I tend to frustrate and give up quickly.  Help! 

So, I got my son weighed at the doctor a week ago.  He was 12 lbs 12 oz.  My neice got weighed today.  She is 3 weeks older than baby B.  She weighs 11 lbs 2 oz.  So by now, he is probably at least 13 lbs, so he is a whole 2 lbs bigger!!  My mom and I were just discusing how large he was.  He is too big to hold in only one arm.  And he is only 7 weeks!!  He was up every 3 hours last night to eat when he was just starting to sleep 5-7 hours at night.  And can you guess what he is doing right now?  Yup!  EATING!  I am so tired.  We are meeting my brother in Colorado in a month.  By then, the babies are going to look SO different!  Oh well... 

My son is now 5 weeks old.  I must say, he is crying less than he used too.  I have tried different gas drops, gripe water, chamomile tea.  I have eliminated things from my diet that might affect him... dairy, citrus, caffiene, nuts, now eggs.  (I  have gotten some ideas and help from my new friend Maria.  Thank you!!).  I'm not really sure if anything has helped, or if he is just getting older and therefore crying less, but I really hate to find out the hard way that they were working.  I have also tried holding him in different possitions to see what works best - I got some ideas from websites about different colic holds.  None of them worked.  Luckily (after 5 weeks), I figured out that he likes to be held with his chest on my chest, his legs scrunched up, head leaning back on my hand, and me bouncing up and down.  Of course, it is a very tiring position.  As I bounce, I keep telling myself, I need to lose weight, I need to lose weight.  He just wants to help, right?  Yesterday, we all jammed into the car to go visit my grandma.  While we were there, I realized that baby B was sleeping peacefully in his carseat.  I thought, why don't I put him in there to sleep during the day?  (He won't sleep during the day unless he is being held)  So, that's were he is right now, sleeping peacefully.  AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH..... How nice!  You would think that after having 3 kids, you've earned the right to know exactly what was going on with your baby.  But nnnnnnooooooooo.  Each and every one has to have it's own personality.   

I blogged earlier about the crazy house I was living in.  Wed, we went back down to 8 people in the house.  Today we are down to 6.  The house was soooo quiet!!  My husband took my oldest son, D, to Royal Rangers winter camp.  They will be gone until Sunday.  They were so excited to go.  They have all sorts of outside, winter activities.  They feed them meals and snacks.  Best of all, they get to stay up till MIDNIGHT!  WOW!  D was so excited!  It's going to be strange with them gone, but I think I will enjoy the smaller, and more importantly, quieter, household. 

Baby boy B was born Dec 15, 6:04 PM.  The doc broke my water and I walked the halls of the hospital hoping labor would start, but nothing happened (except me becoming exhausted from walking).  So around 2 I agreed to have cervidil and see if that would do anything (I was trying to avoid pitocin).  I was told to lie in bed for two hours before sitting up or getting out.  At the 2 hour mark, I sat up, still not feeling anything.  About 15 minutes later I started contracting (4:30).  I soon found out that cervidil produced very strong contractions just like pitocin.  Ouch.  At 5 I asked for an epidural because I was only dialated to 4 and I was having such strong contractions.  I had planned on doing it naturally, but I thought I had a few more hours of pain and I was not up to dealing with it.  At 5:30, the epidural was in and working, but by then I was a 7!  So I had a pain free half hour before he was born.  had I known that, I could have done without it!  Oh well.  Maybe next time... 

B ended up with ABO jaundice, same as C, and had to spend a few days under the lights.  I was released early on the 18th and thankfully, B was released late the same day.  That morning the nurse came in and said the nurses the night before had made a mistake and I was suposed to have been released the night before.  I am SO glad they did.  I couldn't imagine going home without him.  (I was really aggravated that he had to be under the lights and I felt that it was unnecessary since his billi count only reached a 10, if anyone one has advice, or info, it would be appreciated.)

Today the doc called and said B needs a repeat newborn screening test because one of the tests was borderline.  We will do that tomorrow.  Hopefully everything will be OK. 

My mom and sister are staying here now, so it's four adults to four children.  B likes to be held, and won't really sleep unless he is.  C always wants to sit on a lap with a book.  N has to be watched constantly so he doesn't destoy the house.  D always wants to play games.  And of course someone is always asking for food.  And you can't forget the always overflowing laundry (which is currently on hold due to plumbing problems).  So even four adults isn't enough.  HOWEVER, right now the house is quiet.  B and C are sleeping (B is in my arms of course), N is at the store with dad, and D is playing a game with my sister.  My mom is working on notebooks to get me organized (thanks to Cindy Rushton). 

I went to the doctor yesterday.  My fluid level for baby number 4 is very low and dropping rapidly.  My due date was the 6th, and I have been turning down her offers to induce me.  I do NOT want pitocin!! OUCH!!  But, with the fluid being so low, she does not want to wait any longer.  So, I go to the hospital Thursday morning.  She told me she would first break my water and see what happens.  If she needs to give me something, she will first try Cervadel (sp?).  She said those two things should work, especially since it is baby number 4.  Still not what I wanted, but I guess better then Pit.  I had imagined laboring at home, going to the hospital dialated to 7, and having the baby within the hour.  I didn't want to be stuck in bed all day, hooked up to machines and an IV.  I had that with the first three and I am sick of that.  Oh well, maybe next time.....