well…surprise!

pretty fun, huh!  we are between 10.5 and 11.5 weeks along.

we found out that we were expecting baby #3 on September 17.  (yeah, we know how to keep a secret.)

and although we had been trying for baby #3 for 20 months, we were still shocked.

(i know, crazy, right.)

and while 20 months is a drop in the bucket for some couples, for us, it seemed like an eternity.  we never did try to medically intervene (not that it never crossed our minds) knowing that God already knew what our future looked like.  had we not already had 2 girls i don’t know that we would have been as patient…actually, I KNOW we would not have been as patient and we would have turned to modern medicine for help.

if you’ve been keeping up with our blog at all then you know we moved and have been in the middle of a huge renovation.  well, right around the time that this precious bundle was conceived we were at the very tip top of our stress and exhaustion.  i really did not think that it was possible at all seeing as how most nights we collapsed into bed, asleep before our head even hit the pillows.  ahem.

isn’t God funny.  we moved out of our old house on September 5, spent two weeks wandering around in a fog of cardboard boxes, and then, on a whim, bought a pregnancy test one Friday night and, the rest is history…or the beginning.

in all honesty, i had given up the hope of increasing our brood any and had finally started feeling okay with that.  we have two healthy girls and they are at the age where things are easier and predictable (well, 75% of the time).  i figured God had completed our family.

SURPRISE!

matthew and i haven’t really talked much about it and i think the main reason for that is because we haven’t shared the news until very recently.  i think now that the news is out, we will allow ourselves for the excitement to start settling in.

we told the girls friday night and they were precious!  nora was pretty excited but very low-key about it.  elyn told me, immediately, “i will hold the baby because i’m big now.”  so sweet.  then she jumped up to show me how big she was.

i asked the girls where the baby would sleep (knowing already where it would sleep each night).  nora thought for a second and then said, “in the middle, i guess.”  in the middle of her and elyn!  how precious!  i told them that the baby would probably have it’s own room and elyn did not like that at all.  she told me that the baby could sleep in her bed!

they have already told us that they will help feed and change diapers…we’ll see.

saturday, nora came up to me every few minutes and told me how happy she was that i had a baby in my tummy!  and they have come up with all sorts of names too.

all girl names.

they don’t even want to hear that there is a 50% possibility it could be a boy…they want a little SISTER!

but, in the meantime…

i have been EXHAUSTED and NAUSEOUS from the time I wake up until the time I get to go to bed.  and while both are good feelings and let me know that our baby is growing, i am really ready for the second trimester to miraculously take both away.

i have had several cravings and several repulsions with this baby.  i cannot get enough of salty/vinegeary food.  i have eaten an entire jar of pickles already and am working on another one.  the thought of food in the mornings turns my stomach and i really don’t have much of an appetite until 3 o’clock.  however, i still figure out a way to eat all day long because it does make my stomach feel a little better.

other things that have sounded tolerable to me have been Sonic mozzerella sticks, McDonalds breakfast burritos, turkey sandwiches, baked potatoes.

the one thing that makes me unbelievably nauseous is, sadly, diet coke.  my love.  ugh, even right now, just thinking about it turns my stomach.  and while that is a good thing for my sweet growing baby, it is a change of lifestyle for my tastebuds-ha!  i haven’t totally given up the liquid of the gods though, i have found that late at nights the past few days i actually want a few sips.

and i’m not all that crazy about sweets.  which is insane!  i would rather eat an entire bag of salt and vinegar chips that have anything sweet.

i have also discovered that the smell of drywall nearly does me in.  yep, drywall.  thanks to the renovation of our house, i discovered that.  i bet not many other people can say that drywall is a trigger for pregnancy symptoms.

and tired.  OH MY GOODNESS.  tired doesn’t even begin to describe it.  i can barely make it through a day if i don’t rest for a few minutes.  and since my schedule does not allow for much resting during the day, by 7pm, i am pretty much done.  stick a fork in me, i am done!

a few weeks ago, one saturday, i got a 2 hour nap and then was in bed by 8:30.  and i felt zero guilt about it.

i tell matthew all the time that i think i am having such symptoms because i am so much older now (a real grandma at 33).  i really don’t remember feeling so sick or tired when i was pregnant with the girls.  i remember being sick to my stomach some when i was pregnant with elyn, but never 24 hours a day like i am with this pregnancy.

i will definitely be keeping you all up to date on this final pregnancy of mine.  however, i will not be posting weekly bare-bellied shots and letting you all know of my weight gain.  i know, i’m no fun at all, am i?  i will just tell you that my final weight gain will be around 40 pounds.  shocking!  yes, it is.  that is how much i gained with nora and elyn and i treated those pregnancies completely different!  i think i just gain 40 pounds.  (it’s fun to lose).

i will tell you that i am starting this pregnancy at the heaviest i have been in a while.  remember when i told you all that i had gained “stress weight” this summer due to our move/renovation?  well, thankfully, i never lost it.  so i’m going into this 4.5 pounds heavier than i would have at the beginning of the summer.  awesome.

but, honestly, i am not even concerned about the weight factor!  we are overjoyed to be adding an addition to our family.  all of our plans have changed!  and we are so excited!  we are no longer going to have an “office” room at our new house.  it is now a nursery!

although the girls have a definite opinion of what gender they want, do we care what we are having?  absolutely not!  we tried for so long to even get a baby that we are past the point of being concerned if it is a boy or a girl.  my gut tells me girl (and twice my gut has been correct), but regardless of the gender, we are happy.  i would love a boy for matthew (and i know he would love it too) and for myself.  i hear that little boys love their mamas like no one else can.  i would love all that comes with little boys and i think nora and elyn would LOVE to have a baby brother. but we know girls, we love girls, we are set up for girls, we would welcome another pink bundle into our arms with very joyful hearts!  (we are tapped out on girl names though).

we go to the doctor on the 5th of november and pray for a good report.  we thank you for your prayers for us up until this point and welcome your prayers as our baby grows and our family gets ready to grow.  we are prayful for the health of this newest babe and for open hearts for what God has in store for us.