31 Weeks Pregnant

30 weeks pregnant at the beach

We are 31 weeks pregnant with baby #4 and I can't believe the time has absolutely flown by.  I cried when I heard her first heartbeats. I was so excited that she was viable, that our baby was really there. I had a scare with the last baby and I thought I would lose him.  He stayed and he was born and he is now a downright delightful 3 year old.  Now we have baby #4 growing and getting stronger every day.

There are so many thoughts running through my head. One of them being, I wish I had blogged, posted, journaled throughout this pregnancy. But quite honestly, I was downright exhausted from the get go.  The first trimester was tough with the morning sickness and the exhaustion.  I was thrilled when the morning sickness did not last as long as it had with Mr. Bananas.  I think it was only 13 weeks of sickness.  Most of the first trimester are a blur of being sick and taking naps.

The second trimester was busy. I was Flipper rep again for our local swim team and spent endless hours at the pool.  I was too busy to be sick and to notice the exhaustion, although I treated myself to a nap every afternoon after lunch. My children made do with PBS while Mama napped on the couch. They were troopers. They also learned a bit of independence getting themselves snacks while Mama napped.

I continued to run as long as I could hoping to run throughout this pregnancy.  I did pretty well until about 6 months along where I had to definitely switch it to walking intervals. Whenever there was a spurt of energy I ran for a minute.  Overall, I feel really good this pregnancy. Even though the first trimester was probably the roughest of all four pregnancies, the second and third trimesters I have felt pretty good.  I'm still exercising and I'm still moving around pretty well. I've dealt with a lot of swelling with my feet and the doctor's recommendation was:  stay off my feet, stay out of the sun, drink more water.  This was difficult to do while on the pool deck. I was constantly moving around speaking with parents, asking coaches questions, and well, I was in the sun. But if that is my biggest complaint all pregnancy, then I'd say I'm doing pretty well.

We do have a name and have had picked it out since the last baby was born in the hopes of having one more and in the hopes of having another girl.  We do not have a middle name yet, but I'm going through names I like and I will give Buggy a list of 3 or 4 names to choose from and let her pick out her sister's name. Boogie picked Mr. Bananas' middle name and we'll let Buggy choose one for Baby Batty.

We've had fun speculating on her hair color and eye color.  The kids are excited and every once in a while Mr. B. will look down the neck of my shirt and say, "I love you, Baby."  Boogie who is not much of a snuggler will hug me and say into my belly, "Hello Baby, it's me your big brother."

Buggy had a rougher time when she found out we were having a girl.  Right before we found out we were having another daughter she said, "I want to be the only girl." She was struggling to find a place in her changing world. I am happy to say that she has recovered and she is really looking forward to being a big sister. It was a big help that our babysitter took Bugs under her wing and told her that she loved her like a little sister and we were able to say, "Coach A. doesn't have any sisters and all the cool things she does with you, you can do with your baby sister."  Coach A. even had Buggy over for a tea one day and it was just the big girls.  I am grateful and love our babysitter/swim coach that much more.  Another big step for Buggy was that one of the Big Team coaches on swim team put Buggy in her first swim meet and she had to swim across the pool all by herself.  He really asked her out of desperation because we were trying to fill lanes. But in the end it worked out for everyone. She earned points for the team at every swim meet and she felt like one of the big kids.  His need for an extra swimmer built up her confidence and she was ready to accept a big girl role and is now ready for a baby sister.

Hubby and I could not be more excited.  We were hoping for one more baby and we are blessed that we will have one in a little over 2 months. Yikes!  It is bittersweet that I am starting to give away our boy clothes. I am happy to be able to give away things that I have been saving for 8 years, but on the other hand, it means that this may be it for us.  I am desperately trying to savor this pregnancy and it is flying by. Part of me can't wait to hold her, especially as she pushes on my bladder, periodically suffer from insomnia, can't run like I want, and the pull of exhaustion is great.  But I'm not foolish. At least I'm not up every 3 hours, my breasts aren't leaking (yet) with milk, and right now she is pretty portable.  I look forward to seeing her sweet face and having one more to add to our beautiful family. 9 weeks to go!

Easter 2014: 11 weeks pregnant

My Best friend and I pregnant with our fourth babies.
I'm about 12 weeks pregnant and I think she is about 20 weeks pregnant.
She's having a boy an I am having a girl!

14 weeks pregnant and still running