27 Weeks

#namethatmovie :)

How far along? 27 weeks

Days since transfer: 170 days

Total weight gain: +18.2

Maternity clothes? Maternity clothes, yes, but mostly running shorts and t-shirts. Because it's HOT outside already.

Sleep: I have slept a little better this week. Still battling my cough, so nights are rough, but I am at least able to fall asleep lying down {instead of sitting up with a bunch of pillows}.

Best moment of the week: Hearing Aiden's heartbeat! :)  Also, good family time this weekend playing in the water at the spray fountain and the pool!

Cravings: Enjoying lots of watermelon! At 20 cents a pound, we're going to enjoy as much as we can this summer :)

Symptoms: I feel like a broken record, but I am still battling my cough/cold. But other than that, I am not feeling anything pregnancy related. So I guess that's a good thing?

Looking forward to: This last trimester! I have a long list of things I want/need to get done before Aiden's arrival, so I had better start moving haha. I finally got my craft stuff unpacked and organized, so I hope to start working on Aiden's quilt soon :)

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Size of baby? About the size of a pork pie hat {Walter White, anyone?}, a bottle of Sriracha, or a deflated basketball

Development: Baby boy is having a huge growth spurt this week, growing an entire inch this week alone! The network of nerves to the ears are maturing, so he is hearing pretty well now. His tastebuds are developed now, and he is starting to hiccup.

Heartbeat: Running in the 140s at the last appointment 

Movement: Moving all the time! My belly is officially dancing haha. Something different about this pregnancy is that he tends to roll and flip more than kick. Probably because he has a ton more room than Eli and Maddie ever had.

Gender Predictions? It's a BOY! :)

27 weeks- twin pregnancy

{iPhone Rewind} :: May

Maddie with her cousin Elizabeth! She just plopped down in her lap...NOT a typical Maddie thing to do, so Elizabeth must be super special! :)

Granny gave us a train table, and we are loving it!

Like father, like son :)

Eli seemed intrigued by a classic haha

And Maddie was intrigued by her foot :)

Haha #outtakes

Poor puppy. She puts up with SO much...  {I made sure to get him right off. Poor puppy endures a lot but she's old and doesn't need toddlers sitting on her}

About how Maddie was feeling about her day...

I got a day "off" and took advantage of the time to grab a pedicure and read my current book!

I was so excited to celebrate with this sweet friend at her baby shower! And I love that we have a photo of our baby bumps together! Can't wait to meet her sweet boy :)

Sweet girl. She loves all things animals :)

I had a sore throat so I thought I would record the book that Eli and Maddie kept bringing to me to read over and over...and then they brought me SEVERAL. So much for my plan. Well played, babies.

This little dude learned how to move the chair and climb up to get to the things we put up high on the counter...

This is why it takes me an hour to put laundry away...

They love watching Daddy work!

I love that they love books :)

Daddy's helper. Seriously- he wants to see how everything works :)

Bad table manners, but he's just so darn cute :)

She's full of personality, this one.

Cutie #1

Cutie #2

Waiting patiently for Daddy to assemble the new slide!

Yep. He held out his hand to give me something...and I definitely screamed and jumped when the beetle started moving. And Eli thought it was the funniest thing.

My cold/cough wasn't getting better, so I finally went to see a doctor and had to take these 2 crazies with me. It was terrible. But we survived :)

I pulled out the Mega Bloks again, and Eli is LOVING them. He is starting to build things and will spend long stretches of time working on his little creations :)

Because why wouldn't you wear your sun hat to the grocery store? :)

Reading to ALL my babies :)

Memorial Day Weekend

We had fun plans this weekend with family, but we had to postpone and then cancel them. I was still sick on Saturday and needed more time to recover, and then our nieces got sick on Monday, so our original plans got changed. Despite the setbacks, we were still able to make it a fun family weekend!

We had planned to grill out with family on Saturday, but since we already had all the food and were not having anyone over, we decided to grill out anyway. So we grilled WAY too much food and ate leftovers all weekend :)

Sunday was a big day because it was the first time we finally left Eli and Maddie in Sunday School! We were ready to leave them when they dropped their morning nap, but then we bought a house, moved, and had injuries and sickness that have prevented us from all being at church. But it finally worked so this weekend was it! 

Thankfully, they did really well. There were no tears at drop off or the whole time they were there. It wasn't until we went to pick them up and Maddie saw us that the lip came out and the tears began to fall. Poor baby girl was SO sad and held on to me for dear life haha. So we'll see how next week goes. I anticipate it might be a little tougher, but we have at least started the process. And it was SO nice to go to the church service with Mike without distraction. 

Monday we decided to head to the the pool and splash pad in our neighborhood. We headed over after breakfast to try to beat the heat, but it was closed. There was a miscommunication on the opening time, so instead, we headed over to the spray fountain outside our city hall, which happens to be around the corner from our house, which is awesome! 

Maddie was a little wary at first, but Eli jumped right in :)  They both had a BLAST, and we are so excited to have this fun {FREE} water distraction down the street. We plan to enjoy it all summer!

As we were heading back to the house, the security guy came by and said he was about to open up the pool. So we were able to enjoy some time there for a little while too. We are so thankful to have a neighborhood pool, and we look forward to spending lots of time there over the summer!

Our weekend was full of good family time, and we are so thankful for time to relax. We're sad we didn't get to hang out with cousins, aunts, and uncles, but we look forward to rescheduling once everyone is well again.

Another OB Visit

Today I got to check in on my little man again!

This was a quick visit, as my OB just measured my fundal height and listened to Aiden's heartbeat. I love getting to hear that sound; it just will never get old! And it's nice to be able to hear that, since I don't get as many ultrasounds as I did with the twins. He is definitely following suit with his siblings...he is constantly moving, which makes it difficult to catch his heart rate :)

I also had to give blood to check whether or not I have developed any antibodies {since I am RH negative}. I already received a Rhogam shot when I made my trip to the ER. If my body has started to develop antibodies {potentially dangerous to baby}, then I will receive another shot at my next appointment.

Baby Aiden:

- Heart rate is in the 140s

- Fundal height measuring at 25 weeks {currently 26 weeks}

26 Weeks

How far along? 26 weeks

Days since transfer: 163 days

Total weight gain: +18.0

Maternity clothes? Yep. I looked back at my twin post at 26 weeks, and I was already growing out of clothes and having to purchase more maternity items. Thankfully, I already have items available and don't have to go searching for anything additional at this point!

Sleep: Sleep has been 50/50 this week. I have slept well when the nighttime cough syrup has worked. But it hasn't worked every night, so coughing has kept me up quite a bit.

Best moment of the week: Having my mom here for the week! And having a 3 day weekend with Mike at home :)

Cravings: Sweet tea. Nothing specifically food related.

Symptoms: I am still working to get rid of my cough. I thought I was getting better, but had a relapse on Tuesday. I ended up going to the doctor to get some antibiotics, so I'm hoping that maybe I can start getting some relief soon! I'm exhausted and ready to be better!

Looking forward to: Checking in on my sweet boy tomorrow!

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Size of baby? About the size of a Double Gulp cup or a pair of work gloves

Development: My development app asked me if my belly was getting heavy yet {since he's weighing about 2 pounds now}...and I just had to laugh. Compared to twins, this little one doesn't feel so bad! :)  His eyes are starting to open this week, which means he is able to to see, though there's not much to look at in my uterus. His iris still doesn't have much pigmentation though. His brain wave activity is gearing up, which means he can hear noises and respond to them {with an increase in pulse rate or movement}. 

Heartbeat: Excited to hear it again tomorrow!

Movement: Pretty much moving all the time. There was one day this week that I didn't feel him as much, and I got kind of worried. But the next day he was back to his usual antics, so I guess he was just taking a rest day :)

Gender Predictions? It's a BOY! :)

Forgive the no makeup, but I am loving my "Twin Mama +1" t-shirt from 3 Little Monkeys! It's super soft, and it just makes me happy :)

26 weeks- twin pregnancy

Countdown to Baby Aiden :: 100 Days!

I officially have 100 days left until my due date. When I was pregnant with Eli and Maddie, I wrote an overly sappy post about all the sweet moments of my pregnancy. I wanted to remember all that the Lord had done, all the sweet gifts He allowed me to experience.

So now you get an overly sappy post about this pregnancy :)  

A lot of the sweet moments of this pregnancy are the same. Getting to experience pregnancy again is just such a sweet gift, and I have tried to enjoy every moment of it. It has been a little bit harder to focus on this pregnancy, since my days are filled with chasing crazy toddlers. But I often have moments in my day when I feel him kick or see my belly dance, and I just can't help but feel overwhelmed that I get to experience this again.

Some of the sweet moments that are different in this pregnancy...

...carrying only 1 baby! Haha- it's sweet because it has made this pregnancy so much easier on my body. I have mentioned before on my baby bump posts that I don't look any smaller with one, but I definitely feel smaller with one. And that's a HUGE blessing. By this time in my twin pregnancy, I was definitely feeling the weight of carrying two babies. I feel like I have so much more energy and feel less achy this go round, and that is definitely sweet :)

...the benefit of knowing what to expect {for the most part}. I still have the unknown of actually going into labor {which is HUGE}, since I didn't know I was in preterm labor and ended up having to be induced in the end with Eli and Maddie. But everything else seems familiar, and it has been fun to anticipate some of those things. Like knowing what baby flutters and kicks feel like, and knowing the weird things about pregnancy, and knowing how he has been developing along the way. 

...the joy of adding to our family again. There's a joy and excitement over your first. There's a different joy and excitement over adding to your family and giving your first a sibling! So while he still won't be genetically related to me or Mike, he will be genetically related to Eli and Maddie. And we are so thankful for that sweet sibling connection. We have loved getting to watch the beginnings of Eli and Maddie's relationship grow, and we are so excited to see how Aiden fits into that sibling dynamic.

...the excitement of getting to meet this little one. When will we get to meet him? What will be his birth story? Will he come early? Late? Will he look like Eli or Maddie? Or neither? How will he fit into our little family? How will he change our dynamic? We are so excited to meet him, and while we know it will be crazy and hard with 3 under 2 {yikes!}, we just cannot wait to see how he rounds out our little family. 

I can still hardly believe how the Lord was kind enough to allow me another pregnancy. I was told I wouldn't get to experience pregnancy at all. And the Lord has graciously allowed me to experience both a twin AND a singleton pregnancy. How many people in general get to say that, let alone someone with an infertility diagnosis?? 

There are still some bittersweet moments, as this will be my last pregnancy. These will be the last baby kicks I will feel, the last miracle of growing a tiny human inside of me. And there is certainly some grief over that. Not because I necessarily want to be pregnant again. And certainly not because I am ungrateful for all the Lord has already provided. But because there is just such a finality to it all. This will be my last countdown to the arrival of a baby.

And so I want to remember this sweet and precious time. I want to remember all that the Lord has done and given. I want to enjoy the last moments of this pregnancy, and of pregnancy in general. Because the Lord made a way where there literally was no way. He generously gifted the impossible.

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So what will these next {more or less} 100 days look like?

• Finishing unpacking and getting fully settled in our new home.
• Working on Aiden's nursery.
• Preparing Eli and Maddie for the arrival of a baby brother {at least as much as you can prepare toddlers under 2!}.
• Breastfeeding education. I am definitely hoping to try again, so I want to brush up on a few things to help get ready.
• Soaking up sweet time as a family of 4 before we jump into the fun and excitement of being a family of 5!
• Check-ups with my OB {that hopefully remain uneventful and routine}.
• Sleeping long stretches at night :)
• Enjoying the sweetness of feeling life inside my belly.

Thank you, Jesus for your unending blessings. For reminding me to stop and enjoy and remember these sweet moments. Thank you for the incredible gift of these precious moments.

Summer Bucket List :: Go to the Aquarium

Mike took today off work, and so we decided to make a fun family day of it! We also got to cross off our first summer bucket list item :)

We headed over to the Children's Aquarium at Fair Park. It's definitely pretty small {with few exhibits}, but it was perfect for our kiddos. It was just the right size for tiny toddlers, and thankfully it wasn't too busy. There were a couple of small school groups there, but otherwise we had the exhibits to ourselves. 

There were varying indoor tanks that mainly showed fish, turtles, seahorses, etc. 

 They also had an outdoor covered stingray and shark exhibit. You can pet and feed the stingrays, but we decided just to watch them :)

Eli and Maddie loved looking at the fish, and it was a nice {air-conditioned} outing for our little family. We probably won't go back...one visit is sufficient, but we are still glad we got to experience it together!