39 weeks

39 weeks

Baby #4 is well cooked and can come anytime now.  At my appointment this week I had a non-stress test and all was well with little man.  I am measuring 40 weeks and my OB predicts that he is already 7.5 lbs.  That and with my "advanced maternal age" means that my Dr wants me to not go past 40 weeks.  So I am set up for induction for Saturday Aug 25th unless he comes on his own before then.  The waiting game continues but at least there is an end date in site!

Now to finalize his name...

My Pregnancy Journal - 20 weeks

Baby #4 is officially half baked!
We had an ultrasound on Tuesday and this the shirt the new baby will be wearing.

It's a boy!  

Little man looks healthy and is measuring about a week bigger than my due date.  My OB is leaving my due date the same for now.  

 He does have 2 choroid plexus cysts (just like my 2nd son did) in his brain, so I'm going back to the Specialist for another Ultrasound at 30 weeks just to make sure they are gone.  CPC's are fluid filled cysts that form in the choid plexus of the brain of 1-3% of babies and are visible during 16-24 week Ultrasounds.  They are either harmless and go away on their own or could indicate trisomy 18.  My specialist did not see any other indication of a trisomy 18 abnormality and I declined the amniocentesis to confirm.  I did not see putting a normal baby at risk of a miscarriage from an amnio since I've had another child with CPC's that turned out to be absolutely nothing.  If there had been any other indications of abnormalities, I would have taken the miscarriage risk and had the amnio to be sure.
In case you'd like to read more about CPCs , go HERE.

The big boys are super excited that the baby is a boy.  

They weren't really sure what they would do with a sister. 

Symptoms:  Tired all day and unable to fall asleep some nights makes for cranky Mommy. Wish I had more energy.Weight Gain: Gained 4 lbs this month for a total of 8 lbs so far.  Having Easter candy around probably isn't helping ;).Cravings: Salty things lately like Bugles, Pretzel Chips and tomatoes with a touch of salt. Aversions:  None that I can think of.  What made me cry: Lots of little things which when all compiled together have made me emotional and cry this past week.  Tuesday I cried when hubby called from Qatar to hear the gender of the baby.  Not because I was sad that we are having another boy, but because he wasn't there to see the ultrasound, hear the heartbeat and find out together with me.  Today I cried at my OB appointment out of frustration about having to wait 1.5 hours to be seen, having my youngest son sick at home, hubby being deployed, and homesick for family that all lives halfway across the country.Medical Stuff: Blood Pressure was fine, baby's heart beat was 146bpm I'm measuring 21 weeks.  See above Ultrasound info.Looking forward to: Seeing our relatives this summer.  Once my older 2 boys are finished with school, we are flying to visit family for 3 weeks.  I got the okay to fly while 27-30 weeks pregnant.  I am to see the OB right before I leave and within a week of coming back.  She also wants me to increase H2O intake the day before and day of flying, do leg exercises, and make sure to get up and walk around while flying to decrease the likelihood of blood clots.  

16 weeks

16 weeks!Moving right along.  This week I had an OB appointment.  Everything looked fine.Baby's Heart beat - 148bpmMeasuring at 16 weeks,Nothing overly exciting.  

Symptoms:  Still super cold all the time.  I did however use the air conditioning for the first time this year in the car on Saturday while shopping.  The sun was super hot that day.  Still tired most days.Weight Gain:  total 4 lbs.  I think I actually look pregnant now, not just that I've gotten soft and chucky in my middle section.Cravings: Chocolate Milkshakes and Onion rings are still high on the list of cravings.  Also enter salt, in the form of Chipins (popcorn chips, sea salt flavored), lemons (sour, but I like to eat them with salt), and tomatoes (which I also salt).  Aversions: I prepared and ate sound ground beef, so I guess that aversion is now gone.  No aversions have popped up this week.What made me Cry: Nothing.that I can think of.Medical Stuff: Listed above... baby's heart beat 148 bpm and measuring at 16 weeks.Looking Forward to: Waiting to hear back from the office about when my Ultrasound will be.  It was ordered for between 18 and 20 weeks, so I should be hearing something soon.  Anxious to find out if we'll be a family with 4 boys, or if we can finally add a little pink into the mix.

Surprise Baby #4

For weeks now, I've been reading Danielle's pregnancy journal over at Happenings of the Harper Household but have yet to make my own post.  If I remember correctly, we are just days apart on our due dates (Mine is August 24th).  That is where the similarities end.  
A little background:Surprise!  Baby #4!I have 3 boys age 8, 6, 21 months.All my babies were overdue: 7 days, 3 days, 5 days respectivelyAll 3 vaginal deliveries in a hospital with epidurals (yep, I'm a wimp and totally okay with that).
Symptoms:  Cold, freezing cold, all the time.  I added 2 blankets to our bed because I was shivering so much at night that my jaw was sore.  I wear sweaters even though we live in the desert where we have highs in the 60's and 70's.  Also, tired all the time.  I try to sneak in a nap with my youngest in the afternoons.  I started out the pregnancy with tiredness, nausea, but thankfully no vomiting!  Even though I tried to eat a little something every 2 hours, I still felt nauseous all the time.  The nausea has dissipated, thankfully.  No breast tenderness this pregnancy, which was always my indicator that I was pregnant with the boys. 
Weight:  Not sure... I'm not a fan of the scale and don't really know what I weighed before pregnancy. It always annoys me that my scale at home and the one at the doctors office don't agree.  We'll have to wait and see what their scale says at my next appointment.
Food Aversions:   Ground beef, can't cook it, smell it cooking, or eat it.  My boys will just have to get used to meatless spaghetti sauce for the foreseeable future!
Cravings:  Chocolate milk shakes and onion rings!  I've limited myself to once a week, but it ALWAYS sounds good to me.  
What made me cry:  I'm not really a crier when I'm not pregnant.  Also, my husband is deployed right now, so I'm not sure if my crying was due to him being gone, or the pregnancy hormones, but that song "Letters from War" by Mark Schultz came on my i-pod and I bawled and bawled.  Little man just kept giving me hugs and kisses, saying "Mommy okay?"  So sweet.  Other than that song, I've gotten teary eyed at church during our worship songs.  So I guess emotional songs make me cry.
Medical Stuff:  My first pregnancy related appointment was back at 11 weeks where I found out I had a urinary tract infection, not fun by the way, but is now completely cleared up by antibiotics.  I was also told that since I'm of "advanced maternal age" aka, 35, I would be seeing a specialist for an ultrasound at 20 weeks.  Not all that bad of a thing to have an expert in fetal development doing an extensive 4-D ultrasound, that insurance will even pay for.  I did have an ultrasound at 11 weeks and here is a  peek of baby #4:

Fetal Movement:  Yes!  I know it is still early, but after being pregnant so many times, you know what those first little nudges feel like.  They are by no means big kicks, but I do feel little flutters when I'm really still in the evening, like lying on the couch watching TV.  They are really subtle and very low in the abdomen, right where they should be.  Great reassurance that he/she is growing and "really in there"!
Thoughts from the boys:  My oldest, age 8, jumped up and down like I had just told him we were going to Disneyland when I told him I was having another baby.  He is super excited to be a "big, big, big brother".  He predicts the baby will be another boy.

My second, age 6, seemed excited, although not as much at son #1, and wanted to know what his brother's name is.  I guess he also thinks it is a boy.

Thanks to my neighbor and best friend being pregnant (18 weeks ahead of me), little man has seen lots of Ultrasound pictures and knew right away that the picture was of a baby.  He thinks the baby is in his tummy, though, not mine.  I think I have him convinced that it is Mama's baby in my tummy, but he still insists he has a baby in his tummy too.  He is such a mommy's boy, that he's in for a rude awakening in 6 months when mommy needs to give the new baby some attention.  

Something I'm excited about:  Getting into the 2nd trimester, which eases my anxiety about miscarrying, and no more nausea, finally!