There's a baby on the way!

Number three is due in September, and we're expecting her in August. And yes, I said her. WOOOHOO! I'm getting a girl. I've blogged about my other two pregnancies in detail, and here I am at 20 weeks with a lot to catch up on!

So, we were planning on getting pregnant in a couple of years. We knew with all the expenses of the house, and the fact that Alex is well past two and still wakes up multiple times a night, that we wouldn't be ready for at least a couple more years. I also love having kids, and since Ryan wants to stop at three kids, I wanted to spread out the kids a little bit! Anyway- that was our plan!

Before we moved into our house my cycle started early. I have always been very regular, and have no recollection of my cycle starting early. We were a week away from moving in, and pegged it to stress. Condoms got lost in the move, and the rest is history. It only takes once, and it did... only. take. once.

I knew that if I had actually gotten pregnant I had 3 weeks to work my butt off on the house before my energy would be zapped and I could possibly be good for nothing. I painted bedrooms, painted furniture. Unpacked heavy boxes... I had a very strong feeling I was going to be pregnant. I didn't make much of a dent in our "NEED TO DO" list, a few days before my period was due I took the test and it was obviously positive.

 I was excited, but not as excited as I thought I should be. A lot of it was being held back by being really scared. I felt like it was really bad timing. I felt out of control. I knew my babies cost money... and this one would be no exception with the many doctors I have to see to try and get a healthy baby. It was the worst winter in history of me living in Utah and the first trimester I had a really, really hard time. I know people talk about post partum depression, and I haven't felt that, but holy cow did I have some form of first trimester depression. To add on to it, I felt extremely guilty for feeling so depressed about it.

So in retrospect, the first trimester was hard. It was a dark time for me. I felt overwhelmed. I felt really sick. And to top everything off I was bleeding a lot. All through the first trimester and almost every day. I had many ultrasounds to make sure the baby was still doing well, and she always was.. but no doctor could explain why my body was doing this, and called it a "threatened abortion" . I still don't get why they called it that. Threatened miscarriage sounds more appropriate, but I'll need to research the meanings. Anyway- I didn't get any "Congratulations!" packet that I got with my first pregnancies. I'm assuming because they weren't expecting this pregnancy to last.  It then got to the point where I would try to avoid being excited about the pregnancy because I didn't want to be disappointed.

 I think about week 10 or 11 I finally found peace through prayer. I got some special answers to prayer that carried me through the next few weeks.

Once I made it out of the first trimester, I felt so much better emotionally. I finally felt happy again. Seeing the sun again may have helped that!!! I was truly excited and looking forward to this pregnancy. And I'm so glad, because I was really starting to worry.

On week 15 we found out that we were having a girl. It was such an awesome experience to see her moving around on the screen. Jayden was so excited, he told me, walking into the hospital, "Mom, if we have another boy, I'm going to be really mad." ... I was honestly feeling I would be okay if I had another boy because I know how to raise boys. At least, until they turn 4. Ha. ha. ha.
  People kept asking if I wanted a girl, and I did! But I was at a point that I wouldn't be disappointed if she wasn't a girl :-) . Thinking back to that ultrasound, hearing that I was having a girl brought me so much joy and excitement. Now, I just need $1000 dollars to buy girl clothes. We have nothing!

On week 17 I was having bad cramping. They felt like contractions. And they were consistent all day long. Finally at 2 p.m. I called the Dr's office and asked if they could see me to make sure I wasn't going into preterm labor. The SWEET (I'm being sarcastic, I'm mad at her) nurse told me I had to go to the ER to see if I was in preterm labor. I asked her if that was really necessary since the ER would be so much more money, and if they could just check me... but no.
 So I went to the ER. And they could find nothing wrong with me or the baby after SEVEN hours. The ER doctor was really ticked at the maternity floor for having me go down to the ER. Even the OBGYN who checked me was really confused as to why I was told to go to the ER. I am still ticked about it.
  Anyway- the next day after throwing up and being in the bathroom all day, I discovered I had a stomach bug. Seriously, GREAT way to spend 100s of dollars.

I just had my 20 week ultrasound. She looked great. I haven't been able to feel her move very much, and that had me worried. Turns out my placenta is between her and my stomach. So it is cushioning her movements. She is a wiggle worm, but I'm feeling her move a lot later than I did with my boys.
Her spine looked good. Her heart looked good. She seems to be healthy! Yay!!!

I'm working on building up my girl stuff supply, and it's lots of fun. So much cute stuff. Garage sales next weekend for sure. Hopefully I'll find some good stuff!!! We're working on names, and we have a room waiting for her. Currently ceiling and walls are painted blue with airplanes all over, but hopefully we'll have it cute and ready for her soon! ;)