Pregnancy is Weird...

...a couple of weeks ago the mere mention of a bean burrito sent me running for the trash can...yuck!  But today, bean burritos sounded pretty tasty and were a decent lunch.  Normally I {love} avocados, but lately I am just not a fan...I think it's the texture though, so I am avoiding them for the most part.  I have always just loved coffee, and Dr. Pepper and then water...in that order pretty much.  But I can't even bring myself to drink a cup of coffee right now (which is good since I'm supposed to limit my caffeine anyways) and Dr. Pepper doesn't tempt me in the least and water...ugh!...but I HAVE to drink that, so I force it down.  These days I'm loving the blue Powerade.  There's just something about it that really quenches my thirst without making me feel ick.  :-)

And scents...let's see, I feel like I know what it must be like to be a bloodhound because I can smell everything!  And the only thing that has even slightly smelled "good" to me in the last several weeks is wet potting soil.  Haha!  That's a little strange, right?!  I was weeding out some of my potted plants and when I pulled up the weed and smelled the wet dirt that came with the roots it actually smelled pretty nice...fresh and earthy.  So no sweet scents for me right now...i.e. no candles or wearing perfume and even kissing my boys heads after they're all bathed and clean sort of makes me feel queasy...I can't wait 'til that goes away!  Oh and bacon...I like to eat it but the smell is atrocious...which is bad for me because on Saturday my sweet hubby began to make breakfast while I slept in a bit...I was rudely (yet sweetly) awakened by Johnathan running in to say that Daddy needed help...when I got to the kitchen it was completely filled with smoke...burnt bacon...EWWWWWW!!!  :-)  I think the smell is finally gone from the house today!

So yeah, pregnancy is weird.  You never know what tastes or smells might make you re-visit your last meal!  ;-)

*Grace*

2nd Prenatal Visit w/ Our September Baby

This past Thursday I had my second prenatal visit with our little September baby. Since I have a few complications as a "normal" part of my pregnancies I usually have to go to the doctor a little more frequently than other ladies. At this point my Dr. is seeing me every two weeks...which means even more chances to see our little baby love! :-)

Compared to the ultrasound we got just two weeks ago (at 7 weeks) you can see the dramatic changes that have already occurred with our little baby.  Last time *she* (I'm convinced this one is a girl!) looked like a little bean, but on Thursday at 9 weeks along you could distinctly see *her* head, body and small arm and leg buds.  And *her* little heart was pumping away at 177 bpm!  (My boys' heart beats always ranged between 130-140 bpm which is one reason I think we're having a girl this time around...my Dr. says I'm 50% right!  Haha!). 

I will go back to my doctor in another two weeks to continue checking on me and the baby.  So far everything is looking great and the baby is measuring right on track.  Thankfully morning sickness seems to be easing up this week.  It is still present throughout most of the day, worsening at night, but it is less severe than the last couple of weeks, so I am VERY grateful for that!  I am still pretty fatigued during the day, some days are better than others, and I think that I am less worn out than in previous weeks, but I still get pretty tired so I've been taking lots of time to rest and my sweet boys have been troopers while I've been down for the count on the couch or wherever I try to get a bit of shut eye. We have watched a lot of Phineas & Ferb lately!  ;-)

So all good news!  We are very grateful for this baby and can't wait for September!

Blessings, 
*Grace*

Surviving Morning Sickness & Hearing Our Baby's Heart Beat at Home!

I feel a little out of touch with the world these days.  All I seem to want to do these days is eat (whatever doesn't sound completely disgusting so my stomach doesn't hurl), sleep or lay down as much as possible and make those ever frequent trips to the bathroom to pee.  Oh the joys of early pregnancy! :-)  I had forgotten how utterly exhausting making a baby can be...and how just the mention of a certain food can have me running for the trashcan to "lighten my stomach" to put it nicely.  I am pretty sure that this pregnancy has been my toughest yet as far as morning sickness goes.  It started up a little before 6 weeks along and is going strong, pretty much 24/7, with some relief in between.  Nausea is not my thing...is it anybody's???...so it's somewhat miserable, BUT all for a very good reason, so I just have to keep focusing on that!

Some key things that are helping me survive morning sickness are:

-Trying to eat something BEFORE I begin to feel sick in the morning.  Right when I wake up I feel pretty good, but within about 10-15 minutes that yucky feeling starts, so I try to head it off with whatever sounds appetizing...lately that has been fresh fruit or a glass of really cold fruit juice with ice in it.

-I am so not a breakfast eating person, but lately I've had to become one or I feel just plain awful.  Scrambled eggs, pretty plain with just a tad of salt/pepper on them have been okay to eat.  Also toast is pretty easy to eat in the mornings.

-Drinking Powerade seems to help a bit...apparently B vitamins can help ease nausea.

-Chewing peppermint or cinnamon gum.

-Eating several small snacks throughout the day...a granola bar, some fruit, slice of cheese is what I've liked lately.

-Avoiding smells that make me sick...which lately is pretty much any candle smell!  Can you believe it?!!  I run my little online gift shop and right now I can't stand to smell my own product!  So I'm avoiding them until morning sickness eases up so that I don't hate them forever!

-Getting plenty of rest.  I've noticed on nights where I haven't gotten very good sleep is when I feel the worst the next day.  So I try to rest/nap throughout the day as I can...which is pretty hard since my two little guys don't nap.  I usually have to just lay down in the playroom as they play or put on a movie to keep them relatively still so I can get a little rest.

-Not over-stressing about getting "it all" done.  My priorities on what I want to get done each day has significantly decreased.  These days I feel good if I can get my boys fed, get our school done and hopefully get a few chores around the house completed.  We haven't gotten out much to do stuff because I get so exhausted, but on those rare days when I feel pretty good we certainly take advantage of it!

So, that's how I'm surviving morning sickness and pregnancy fatigue these days!

On a very happy note today was the first day that I was able to find our baby's heart beat on my home doppler that I rented from BabyBeat.  I did this with the boys and always found it so reassuring to hear their precious little heart beats.  I got it in the mail a few days ago, but couldn't hear it right off...after all our little baby is only about the size of a raspberry!...but today after trying for a few minutes I found our baby's sweet little heart beat!  What a precious series of little thumps!  I calculated it and it averaged about 165 beats per minute!  Nice and strong!  So amazing!  Johnathan heard it too and was pretty excited!  He could even pick it out as we tried to find it again...I guess it was moving around because I kept having to readjust the doppler to find it!  It was pretty special.

This weekend we have a special visitor coming to stay {our sweet Arden!} so hopefully I will be up for doing some fun stuff...and if not, I'll just have to power through it, because sometimes as a mom you've just got to suck it up and do stuff even when you don't feel like it!!!  :-)

Happy Weekend!
*Grace*

Our September {Baby Love}

Yesterday Aaron and I went to my first OB with our little September blessing.  I was pretty anxious about it since I had been experiencing some symptoms that made me nervous. So you can imagine my great delight at seeing our precious little baby and his/her little beating heart.  It was so amazing to see and made this pregnancy seem much more real...it's always nice to realize that the morning (all-day) sickness and exhaustion is for a good reason!

Each time I'm pregnant with a new baby I get amazed all over again at how wonderful God's design is for human life.  Our little baby, at only 7mm long, already has a heart, that's pumping blood through tiny little veins...incredible!  We could see his/her little spine too on the sono...can you believe it?!!  Life is truly a miracle and a blessing from God.  You cannot doubt His handiwork when you're face to face with one of His purest miracles.

Our due date is September 26th, although with my past history we'll be extremely surprised if I make it that far...although I'd love to make it to term!  As long as we make it to September we'll be golden!  ;-)   

Here is our sweet little Baby Love.  7 weeks along and unmistakably a most precious miracle of God. 

For you created my inmost being;

    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

¹⁴ 

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

    your works are wonderful,

    I know that full well.

¹⁵ 

My frame was not hidden from you

    when I was made in the secret place,

    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

¹⁶ 

Your eyes saw my unformed body;

    all the days ordained for me were written in your book

    before one of them came to be.

¹⁷ 

How precious to me are your thoughts,^[a] God!

    How vast is the sum of them!

¹⁸ 

Were I to count them,

    they would outnumber the grains of sand—

    when I awake, I am still with you.

-PSALM 139:13-18

***I want to acknowledge that while I am feeling extreme joy at our happy news there are other women right now feeling intense loss.  My heart goes out to you all, and I know that the only comfort to be found is in God.  I hope you feel His arms around you.***

Blessings, Grace