Finally a due date!

This was an exciting week for us! Monday we had our second ultrasound and finally received an official due date for our new baby - October 27th.

We had a sonogram two or three weeks ago to verify that we didn't have a tubal pregnancy because I was having some pain on the right side of my pelvis. After much prayer, we were relieved to find out the problem was only a cyst that was causing the discomfort.

While thankful that the baby was where he/she was supposed to be, our little one was too small for us to see on the ultrasound screen even though the doctor could tell all was well. The baby was also too little to pick up a heartbeat yet or take measurements of to get a due date. This verified what I'd suspected - the baby wasn't as far along as expected. Needless to say, we didn't get any souvenir pictures to take home with us that time around. Monday though, we got our first photographs of Baby.

The ultrasound tech determined that this little one was only about seven weeks and a day at that point, and it was difficult for us to make out any of the body parts as you can imagine. Where do you think the head is? What about a foot? Give up? Let me diagram this photo for you to help a bit. At the top of the dark circle where you see a somewhat round blob, that is the egg sac. The baby's feet/tail are right beside that, and his/her head is down near the word BABY - with the dark spot being the brain which is mostly water. Isn't it amazing how the ultrasound tech could tell all that and we couldn't even make out up from down?

Probably the most exciting part of the whole experience this time around was just to hear the heartbeat. With both of my other children, I think I heard the perfect rhythm of their little hearts on the very first visits and didn't have reason to worry. Since this child was too small on our first trip though, I felt a little desperate to hear it to make sure all was well.

This pregnancy has been different for me in several ways. To begin, I don't remember being nearly as nervous with the other two. I don't know if it's because my hCG levels were low at first or if it was the cyst scare. Maybe it's that we weren't expecting to have another one quite so soon. Maybe it is because I am trying to figure out the logistics of taking care of three babies instead of listening to Matthew 6:34 ("Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own"). Maybe it's because I feel pressure from people who think I am crazy when I tell them we are having another baby when we already have two who are already so little. Maybe because I feel so much more tired and nauseous this time and am trying not to over do. Or, maybe it's just those crazy hormones. No matter what the cause really, God is the solution to any of those concerns. Spending time in prayer has been so helpful and maybe that is the whole reason for the nerves anyway, just to draw me closer to the One I need to be spending time with daily (and all day for that matter) to continue molding my heart to be the mother I need to be for my three babies. He is so good at putting my eyes back on the blessing and taking them off the worries.

Aside from my emotions running wild, physically I've struggled more this time around too. I had some nasuea (usually in the evenings) with both my other children, but this time around it seems pretty constant. Since I am still nursing Hadley, and hoped to until she was a year old which is in two weeks (How can she be that old already?!?!), it is very hard to intake enough calories and drink enough water to keep up. Subtract the 12 or so tubes of blood they took this week for the pregnancy panel and my normal Lupus monthly pregnancy bloodwork and you can imagine how literally drained I've been. While it breaks my heart to wean our sweet girl so soon, I've decided that there is nothing magical about her birth date being the day I can start her on whole milk. Since it is so close at this point, I plan to try her on some cow milk this weekend to see it if helps improve my overall health so that I can feel better to take care of the kids and enjoy them.

Tiredness has taken its toll this time around too. You may have noticed the blog posts are more infrequent lately. The main reason is because when my two little boogers sleep, usually I sleep too! My to-do list is getting a bit out of hand, but it's alright (or at least I keep telling myself that). Going to bed early and planning for both kids to nap at the same time so I can nap too has been what's gotten me through. It seems strange that I don't remember being as tired with the other two since while pregnant with Caleb I was teaching Spanish to over fifty students, teaching and producing a yearbook with another full class of students, taking my last graduate class, and prepping like crazy for my comprehensive final exam, and then with Hadley I was tending to Caleb, teaching a Bible study, and running to physical therapy and water aerobics multiple times a week. However, I do feel so much more exhausted than I recall being before. Possibly it's because I still have to get up to nurse Hadley at night or maybe because chasing two small kids around as well as feeding, diapering, and cleaning up messes constantly is more exhausting than it sounds. Either way, I had better quit typing, get off here, and get to bed....

Thanks for reading and I hope to post more about our third child soon!