Baby #3: The Last 14 Weeks

I have been looking forward to writing this post for a few weeks.  It's taken me longer than I would have liked to get all the details pulled together.  Thank you for your enthusiasm, excitement and love for Baby #3.  We are thrilled!  I hope you enjoy some details I have yet to share about this pregnancy.

A little backstory to get started...

We have struggled with infertility since 2011.  You can read all about our journeys to Olive and Fletcher here - Infertility: I Never Thought It Would Happen to Me.  We have never been able to get pregnant on our own.  It has always required so many doctor visits, tracking, medicine and more.  Getting pregnant with Fletcher was twice as long and complicated as Olive.

So fast forward to 2019... we really felt like our family was wonderful and we were really happy with two kids.  We also felt like it was nearly impossible for me to ever get pregnant on my own.  We both agreed that we weren't interested in going through fertility treatments again at this point in our lives.  We'd joke and say that if we were supposed to have another baby, it would be up to God.

Both kids have asked for another baby regularly this year.  Olive said she'd pray for one (specifically a little sister) and Fletcher on his own asked me one day - How do we get another baby?  I told him it was something we had to pray about and ask God for.  He proceeded to pray for a baby. 

Towards the end of this Summer I just wasn't feeling great.  Tired, low energy and just worn down.  We had a variety of sickness at the same time for all of us, I'd just taken on a new role of president of my moms group and was really busy.  I just attributed all my symptoms to that.  I was eating better than ever, exercising daily and starting to feel a little better.  If you know me well, you know that low energy, low motivation, low drive to get stuff done is something that I NEVER complain of.  I keep busy all the time and always get stuff done.

Given my infertility history, It really never crossed my mind that I was pregnant.  I have PCOS and have always struggled with regularity and predictability with cycles.  Being all over the place and irregular was somewhat of a norm.

Fletcher randomly drew my portrait the week of September 16.  I turned around from my computer to see this.  I asked him to tell me about the picture.  He said "This is Mom and that's a baby in your belly!"  I was shocked.

He went on to draw a family picture.  I was still shocked and he was super proud.  It got me thinking - What if I was pregnant?!?!

We have been really trying hard to walk, exercise and stay active during this time.

September 18 I ordered two pregnancy tests with my online grocery pick up order just in case.  Such a sneaky and convenient way to do this in 2019.

September 19 Late that night I casually mentioned to Kevin the things above and said I was probably going to take a test soon.  He said to do it right now.  We'd never done it this way.  I'd always waited on dr phone calls, testing, numbers before taking tests when the time came.  So I took the tests, set some timers and we waited.  Kevin said a prayer, we looked and they were both POSITIVE.  We were thrilled, but also in SHOCK.  Was this really happening!?!  Especially after 8+ years of this not happening for us!?!  We went to bed with a game plan to call my doctor in the morning to make an appointment.  

And as tradition would have it, Olive woke up in the middle of the night with terrible ear pain.  We had to scrap our morning plans of school/phone calls to head to urgent care.  Double ear infections and medicine was the diagnosis.  When we announced we were pregnant with Fletcher, Olive woke up the next day was a very high fever and was so sick.  It's like a quick reality check that parenting is UNPREDICTABLE.

September 23
I was able to get in to see my doctor the following Monday.  She'd been my doctor when I was pregnant with Fletcher.  I've never lived in the same city for long enough for this to happen before so this felt so easy and unfamiliar to me.  I dropped Fletcher off to Kevin's office and headed to my appt.  My doctor was in a new location at a new hospital.  I randomly ran into my childhood Sunday school teacher in the parking lot.  It was a sweet surprise and was super comforting.  I was nervous and it was like God was giving me a little sign :)

The appointment went great.  Everything looked great.  Healthy Baby #3 Coming April 14, 2020!  That meant I was almost 11 weeks along!

11 weeks:

The baby was the size of a strawberry this week!  Only Kevin and I knew our secret and it was so much fun!  He's been super sweet.  He reminds me often that I'm doing the most important job in the world, insists I nap on the weekends and is always looking for ways to help me out.

Olive drew this family picture of us around Christmas last year.  Notice anything about my picture?  I asked her about it and she said, "You've got a big belly because there's a baby in there."  We just laughed it off back in December.  This family picture is still hanging in her room right now.

12 weeks:
Oct 4ish
We started Sharing Our Joy of Baby #3 with family and friends.  I was feeling pretty okay - still tired, still nauseous, but excited.

We decorated with lots of 3s this year.

The kids were super excited and loved practicing taking care of their babies.

13 weeks:
I'm starting to feel better and life is zooming right along.

14 weeks:
The baby is the size of an orange.  We've told the kids the size of the baby in relation to fruit every week and it's been so fun.  They announce it to everyone - My Mom is having a baby and it's the size of an orange this week.  It's such a great way to help them connect with the baby.

Friends have dropped off fun baby gifts.  I've noticed a theme with baby #3... Here's a sweet, totally unnecessary gift for the new baby.  I love it!

My cravings or lack of cravings is totally throwing me off.  I've been more nauseous and more tired this time around.  I craved sweets and citrus with Olive and burgers, steak and Taco Bell with Fletcher.  This pregnancy I am basically having to make myself eat.  Food doesn't sound great in general.  We're ordereding cheese pizza for me because meat sounds gross.  Bagels sound good sometimes, coffee sounds awful and I'm having to talk myself into making desserts.  Who am I??  No clue what any of this means for a helping me guess if it's a boy or girl.

We added a baby scarecrow to our family decorations this year.

Now we're all caught up on baby stuff!  I'd imagine that my next baby post will probably be a gender reveal!

We are so thankful for this sweet surprise baby.

I used to say that I didn't like surprises, but I was wrong.  It's crazy to me that something we prayed for for YEARS (to get pregnant on our own) is coming true 8+ years later.  God's timing is always better than ours.  We're settled and happy and can't wait for this sweet addition.  We are all excited and can't wait to see if we're adding a boy or a girl.