Movin' along....

Sixteen weeks. I've been pregnant for 16 weeks. What a blessing.

Things have been getting much better on the morning sickness front. I've managed to avoid the toilet bowl blues for quite a while now. I still get nauseous from time to time and there are still foods I have to stay away from. But generally, I feel good. My newest aches and pains are my hips and pelvis. I get Sciatica pain pretty frequently, which Doc says is normal. He gave me some pointers and said I should try to stretch, daily, but not a lot. Yoga, here I come!!

Today's appointment was pretty uneventful for the most part. Heart beat is around 153, which is fabulous! I had a stressful few days at home with the doppler because the heartbeat was only registering around 140 or a little higher. It made me worry since little bean's heart rate has been in the 160's for so long now. Doc said 140 is still in the normal range and he's not worried. Whew! They did take blood again today, which I'm beginning to really dislike. Some of the girls are great at drawing and some are just terrible. I have pretty good veins....there should not be a bruise the size of a kiwi on my arm an hour after you draw. But thank you for being a nice person about it. That counts too. And the best thing I heard today aside from how good baby is doing...how skinny I am! Doc said he has the feeling I'm going to be aalllll baby this time! That's good news since I gained 75 lbs. with Gabe!!!

The last 16 weeks have been full of a lot of things, most of all, love. I think I have the biggest circle of friends and family than pretty much anyone on the face of the planet. Every single person in my life is so stinking special to me. I just love you to death! It's been a long, painful, sorrowful road these last few years and you've all made this journey so amazing for me. Finding out we were expecting again was not only a blessing but also created a familiar fear in my heart. I managed to hold on to my sanity and remain calm and optimistic for the first few weeks because let's face it, what choice did I have? As the morning sickness kicked in I was the perfect mixture of ecstatic and terrified. I knew it was a good sign, but I couldn't help but worry. I was pretty much miserable in that department for about 8 1/2 weeks. The most prevalent angels were the ones who had to suffer right along side me, Barry, Gabe and Caleb. Thank God for them. I know it was hard for them to see me like that but they smiled at me, hugged me, catered to me and did everything they could to help me and I'm eternally grateful for that. I recently found myself starting to worry about things that are beyond my control. The Doctor's want to run so many tests when you're expecting, some of which I have the option to deny. Maybe I could deny them all but I'm referring to the ones that test for diseases and disorders, things like that. Today I had the quad screen. It tests for Spina Bifida and chromosome abnormalities. I'm a little worried, I won't lie. I'm over 35 with a history of losses. I can't help it. Last week I had a horrible dream that I couldn't find the heart beat so the Dr. did an ultrasound and the baby stopped growing. I hate dreams like that!! I'm trying so hard to focus on the positive here. Some days it's harder than others. But today I'm grateful that everything seems to be going just as it should. Baby is good. Momma is good. Life is good. So thank you, to everyone in my life that played a part.

Although there are other hurdles in front of me, today's is the 4 week wait for the gender ultrasound. My dilemma? Schedule an elective gender ultrasound or wait until March 19th. I think I can find enough to keep me busy in the next 4 weeks to pass the time fairly quickly....but I want to buy something for my baby today!!!!!  Honestly, my intuition isn't that strong. I flip flop a lot. Most days I think I'm probably leaning toward another boy. Of course I would love to have a little girl. Especially since this is our last baby. My last baby. 19 years ago when I was giving birth to my first baby I swore he would be the only one. Then I saw his precious little face and swore I'd do it 10 times over if my body would let me. I meant every word of that. Whether I have a little princess or a little cowboy brewing, I cannot wait for the days when I can hold this little miracle, kiss their cheeks, listen to their adorable little sounds and watch them grow. I know a couple of big brothers and an awesome daddy that are pretty excited about it too! Not to mention Grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles and an army of other family and friends! All the pain, sickness, worries and wonders will all be worth it in about 165 days!!! Until then, let's countdown to March 19th!! Only 28 days to go!!!

Thank  you so much for being a part of my journey!!