Baby #3 | 17 week update

Well, it’s been just over a year since the last time I’ve written on this blog. It’s really for my personal kid memories and keeping track of little things I want to remember. Since the last update, we started homeschooling, I turned 30, then a few days later a chunk of our house was crushed by trees from hurricane Michael, we moved in with Jonathan’s parents, then I stayed with my parents for a while, then we moved into a rental, then said rental got terrible fleas everywhere, then it was foreclosed, we found out we were expecting again, we moved in with Jonathan’s parents and then we moved home just in time for Genevieve to turn two! It’s been a whirlwind year…and that is only a tiny bit of what I can put here. There’s more! I’m grateful for the journey, regardless of what a rollercoaster it has been these past few months especially!

Since I’m just now getting around to this post, at almost half way through my pregnancy, it will probably be long so I can catch up on the details I’ll want to remember. Surprise surprise, in the middle of flea and packing due to foreclosure craziness, we found out we were expecting our third child! I had honestly thought that I kept getting sick due to the stress of having to pack the kids up into one room, or outside for the day while I had to treat the house for fleas…or take what felt like all of our house to Jonathan’s parent’s house to be washed. (The fleas were the worst before the laundry access, so I had to do laundry elsewhere for a few months.) I had honestly struggled with remaining at peace in the midst of these crazy circumstances that completely disrupted our lives. I felt like I was trusting God and looking to him, but my body was a wreck. I felt the strain between my heart, and the physical stress of keeping our family from being covered by fleas, especially when they got in my car, and things not working out for us to move home when we needed to. I was very happily surprised to find out that the reason for at least some of my physical symptoms was not stress, but pregnancy! What a blessing in the midst of a chaotic season! It wasn’t easy to pack and move twice while being in my first trimester, but thinking about our new baby was a happy distraction. Now we are home and trying to piece together our routines again, and also getting ready for baby.

It’s a BOY! We found out a few weeks ago, to my utter shock. Both Jonathan and I had mentally prepared for life with three little girls, but are so overjoyed to welcome a son. In many ways, he is a gift and answer to prayers in ways I can’t currently explain. God spoke so clearly to us while we were away, and going through all of that crazy. In the midst of it all, he was preparing us. We know He heard us, and has answered some prayers in amazing ways. Maybe down the road I can share those stories.

For now, we are so thankful and excited to be settling back in and thinking about life being totally changed again come December. We can’t wait for you little boy! Now, if only we can find a name!

How big is baby: the size of a pomegranate

How I’m feeling: I’m feeling a lot better now than I was at the beginning. The nausea and exhaustion was very real. Thankfully, I have felt better since about week 11 or so. I still get a little sick at night, but the daytime sickness has subsided. My energy has come back a little more, but I definitely have to take more breaks than I’d prefer. After we moved back home, and had Genevieve’s birthday party, I was completely wiped out for days. I’m sure it was partially because I 100% unpacked and set up the house in less than a week while Jonathan was out of town, and executed a birthday party….eeek. I know I overdo things, but I actually do hold back from what I’d like to get done in a day. I try to take a break after lunch between kid chasing, chores, projects, errands and working some here and there. It’s hard for me to have physical limitations, especially on my energy during pregnancy. But still, I feel so much better than I did with either of the girls, and things are going well, so I can’t really complain!

Weight gain/ clothes: 5-7 lbs. I’m not exactly sure what was my starting point, so I’m counting from my normal weight. Everything is about the same as with the girls. I jumped up a little quicker this time, but that is probably due to the fact that my sickness didn’t last quite as long, and my appetite returned sooner. Thanks baby boy!

Symptoms: Fatigue, a little indigestion, some nausea at night, the usual pregnancy aches and pains.

Sleep: Sleep is a lot better now that we are back home. I generally wake up once early morning. Then Genevieve, my little morning person, is up around 5:30. I don’t really sleep past that, so I have to be careful to go to bed at a decent hour…which is hard to do when your husband is a night owl!

Diet/ cravings/ aversions: Thankfully, baby boy let’s me eat most everything. At night, I have to eat pretty light…mostly veggies or a light salad if I want to feel ok. Other than that, I make sure to snack on some fruit throughout the day to keep my blood sugar up. I do have to be careful about blood sugar for sure! I forgot a snack last Sunday morning and ended up having to go and ask Preschool to bail me out with some fruit snacks! Ha!

Movement: I am just starting to feel him kick some. I love that part at the beginning, and then I don’t appreciate so much at the end when baby gets so much bigger!

Exercise: Well, I definitely counted moving and all that entailed as exercise. I also count running after my two kids and playing with them. We have gone on more walks lately and I’m trying to do some strength training once a week if I can help it. This week, I weeded our garden plot, tilled it and planted some veggies (yay, finally!), so I definitely counted that as my strength training this week.

What I’m looking forward to/ best moment this week: I don’t have much to put here, other than just getting back to a normal rhythm of life. I’ve thought about how we’re going to squeeze our soon to be three kids and a guest bed into two bedrooms! Ha! It’ll be very tight, but we’re excited about it.

Mood: Great really. I’m mostly just relieved to be home, and I’m appreciating all the small things one usually takes for granted. I’m grateful to be having a son and all that entails. Sometimes I get restless if I get trapped at the house waiting on construction workers all day, but we have plenty to keep us occupied and busy these days for the most part! We’re so excited about you baby boy!