Here's the back story with some explanations for some of the questions I've been getting when we share our news.
For the past couple of years I've been helping my friend with her three kids. It was therapeutic for me because I was pretty overwhelmed with my own three kids and by doing so I found that going from six kids to three kids made having three seem not too difficult. My juggling powers have grown and my responsibilities of having a fourth child three days a week coming to an end as my friend gets ready to graduate, I found myself feeling sad that the house would be so quiet and I'd only have one child at home while the older two went off to school all day. My heart was sad. I talked with my husband and we took some time to think and pray.
Funnily, when I was pregnant with our 3.0 I made Hubby promise if I EVER asked for another child he would remind me that I made him promise to say no and remind me of that promise. He looked at me and reminded me - "Remember our conversation? You made me promise I would tell you and remind you? Are you saying you want another baby? Are you sure you can handle it - physically and mentally?" I really appreciated how tenderly he said it though. I could sense a small part of him thinking another little person in our life would probably be pretty awesome but three was just such a tough transition for us. We have grown a lot since then, though. He's helped a lot with the bonus kids, too. He used to get up and make them breakfast a couple mornings a week. He is well known for his perfect toast.
Now I signed up for a 5 year birth control plan so reversing that does not happen over night. There is a wait to get into to the doctor and then a wait for one's female cycle to restart. So emphasis here - we did not just wake up one day and say, "Let's have another baby" and then just go for it. I say emphasis because a lot of folks think this baby is a surprise or accident. Not at all. Quite the contrary. Many just cannot comprehend that we would actually want four children. My response, "We're just crazy and love being surrounded by our kids and being engaged in their lives full time." We don't do anything else except work and tend kids. We love it. We do often feel like we need a break and goodness knows It's been 9+ years since my husband and I have been on a trip minus kids but it's okay. We're happy and love being all together before bed snuggling, watching some Star Wars cartoons, and reading stories before saying prayers. Life is just simple and beautiful. I NEVER thought in a million years such a life would be so satisfying but it is. 20 years ago I thought being a single person practicing medicine and living with a dog was the life for me. Interesting how meeting the right person and building a life with said person can change one's life completely - for the best!
I just wish I would have changed my mind about more children before giving everything away. We need to reacquire darn near everything again but it's okay. Lots of friends are where we thought we were several months ago - getting rid of baby items. So, my neighbor just loaned me a big box of maternity clothes and says I can borrow any of the baby items stored in her garage.It will be fine. I've learned from experience that new is not necessary and a lot of the "baby stuff" is totally unnecessary.
We also know we're having a baby boy. He's growing beautifully. We initially found out it was a boy through our genetic tests. I'm old in the world of child bearing so there are some risk factors. Even our insurance agreed and paid for it. We opted for the blood testing to avoid risks from amnio. Everything checked out good and we did get the gender. At our 12 week ultrasound our physician, who is well known for being a genius with ultrasounds, confirmed it was a boy. In fact, he was able to meet several of the benchmarks that are looked for at a 20 week ultrasound (i.e. 4 heart chambers, etc.). We watched our baby boy drink fluid, watched the fluid going into his gut, then into the bladder, and the back out. It was quite amazing. Heart beat was excellent. He was even measuring 13 weeks versus 12 (I assured our doctor there was no way he was 13 weeks old, though, so it seems he probably going to be big or just deliver early). This is the only pregnancy where the placenta is anterior versus posterior. With it being in front I won't feel as much baby movement action but I have felt him move - nearly every day for the past few weeks. First butterfly flutters, then bubbles, and now tiny taps to either my left or right side - but usually on the right. His egg is also from the right ovary. Kids 1,2, and 4 are right side kids. I love little tidbits like that.
After we got all the testing done and things looked good through ultrasounds we told the kids and the next day I went in to talk to my boss and co-workers. It was April first when I told much of my staff so they thought it was a joke. The following week several asked if I was still pregnant.I got a good laugh out of that. We all did.
How am I feeling? Well, I got influenza when I was 7 weeks. It was horrible. I was bedridden for 10 straight days. I missed over 2 weeks of work. Because of the immune compromise that pregnancy is, it made getting well very difficult. I feel very blessed that our baby was strong to survive the whole ordeal. It was one of the worst illnesses of my life. It was also during that time the nausea and vomiting kicked in, too. Really tough couple of weeks. I had horrible nausea and vomiting for about 4 weeks and then things improved significantly. I also found that 12 hours of sleep a night can help a lot to stave off that. With my girls I had months and months of vomiting. This time is much better - a lot like with my first. I've resumed some exercising - just not my ab exercises. I rode bikes with the kids last week and have been walking them to and from school. Someone gave me a great compliment today - "Are you adopting that baby boy in the fall because I don't see how you could be pregnant?!?" It was very sweet of her. At 15 weeks I have switched to maternity clothes but still not feeling too large - yet.
About 5 months ago, my little S drew the first photo. She says she has no idea why she drew it with 6 in the family. She even got the gender right! The other is our little guy as a gummy bear - his first photo. I love gummy bear photos. Such reassurance that something is actually there growing. One last photo - adding last minute. I told my friend last week I feel like I popped over night. She demanded a bathroom selfie so it's added at the bottom. (Taken at restroom at work.) I am adding one more selfie that a bit more refined and on my actual 15 week mark. I like to keep track of growth.
Thank you for sharing our wonderful news with us. We're are very excited about the upcoming changes. It will certainly be crazy but it is craziness that went into with eyes wide open and asked for.
