It's official! We're pregnant with Baby #4 and are SO excited to become a family of SIX! As always, here are a few of the initial details about growing this new little life!
Due Date: January 19, 2020
Boy or Girl: I have no clue! I'm leaning more towards boy just based on previous pregnancy experiences/symptoms but there's just no telling. With baby #3, it was pretty obvious to me that Cami was a girl... this baby seems much less obvious... it could to either way! When others have an opinion or feeling one way or another they almost always say they feel like it’s a girl!
Morning sickness: YES. Lots of nausea with this one! Probably one of the roughest early 1st trimesters I've had out of all 4, but I feel like I shouldn't complain because it really isn't THAT bad compared to how bad it could be. Luckily, I usually have only 3 weeks of feeling really crappy (weeks 6, 7 and 8). By the end of week 8 I'm typically already starting to feel much better, though still OH so tired.
Exhaustion: SO. FREAKING. TIRED. You just always forget what that kind of exhaustion feels like. You're just SO wiped out. Words can't describe it. But it's a different KIND of tired. It's different than newborn/sleep deprivation tiredness... I think because you could literally sleep for 16 hours straight and wake up and still feel dead inside. Add in also caring for 3 other littles and that's a recipe for LOTS of naps and letting the kids play in their beds/rooms until late morning before getting them up for the day. Oops!
Belly: Lots of giant end-of-the-day food babies starting around week 7 or 8. (After a few babies you pretty much just start showing by week 4 anyway!) Baby belly definitely popping though between weeks 10-12.
Planned: 110% (btw I don't really like using the word "planned" for this. Maybe "intentional" would be a better term here?) But yes, even before conception this was already our most planned for, talked about, prayed for and thought about baby. For a lot of different reasons. But we were absolutely wishing/praying/wanting this baby to come into existence at exactly the time when he/she did. With NFP/FAM we are always saying YES to God and His plan for our family, and we are grateful for His perfect timing.
A little more background(/TMI) info on “planning” for this baby: We've been talking about this baby for a while now. We knew what our desires were/are for our family, and we prayed that those might align with God's. For over a year now, I kind of had 2 different "timelines" if you will as to what I felt would work best for me, my health and for our family to add another member. Once we knew what felt right, I decided to plan a fun getaway for us (sans kids)! Looking ahead on the calendar, I figured out when I would be ovulating during the month of April (the earliest I would want to get pregnant = January baby and [unless something goes awry] no December baby. Sorry Christmas b-day people!) and booked us a babymaking trip! I really went into it knowing our intentions but also recognizing that if we were to NOT get pregnant at that time I would be at peace with it. I know that it's not about OUR timing but God's timing, and if this was not His desire for us to conceive then we wouldn't. And we could continue to "try" if we wanted to. Or not. So although this is what we wanted, I wasn't trying to hold on to this idea as an end-all-be-all decision/timeline because I know it's not really up to me (as much as we like to think it is most of the time).
How did we find out/pregnancy test details: We had only been back from New York for a few days when I decided to start testing. This time around I did a lot of research on pregnancy test sensitivity - meaning which pregnancy tests truly pick up the lowest amount of HCG. (If you're curious, First Response Early Result Tests REALLY DO tell you first! First Response will pick up HCG at as little as 6mIU/mL, whereas most other brands won't pick up HCG until it reaches at LEAST 20mIu, or more.) ANYWAY. That being said I started testing with First Response the earliest I thought implantation was possible. On Monday, May 6 at 3w1d, (9dpo and 6 days before missed period) I got that first VERY faint positive! I was absolutely blown away at how early we found out. I share these specifics because: a) it took me 4 pregnancies to figure this out - knowledge is power people - and b) I honestly feel that I would have known about our other babies much sooner had I actually been using First Response and not those darn cheapies. (Don't get me wrong I love keeping the cheapies on hand for "emergencies" BUT they just can't tell you much if it's before your missed period. I've never been someone to suspect a pregnancy and then wait to test until AFTER my missed period. Cheapies are great if you're already late, when hcg levels have already had a chance double a few times, in my personal opinion.) Not that WHEN you find out changes anything at all, but if you're like me and you prefer to know at the soonest moment possible maybe you found this information helpful :).
A little more background(/TMI) info on “planning” for this baby: We've been talking about this baby for a while now. We knew what our desires were/are for our family, and we prayed that those might align with God's. For over a year now, I kind of had 2 different "timelines" if you will as to what I felt would work best for me, my health and for our family to add another member. Once we knew what felt right, I decided to plan a fun getaway for us (sans kids)! Looking ahead on the calendar, I figured out when I would be ovulating during the month of April (the earliest I would want to get pregnant = January baby and [unless something goes awry] no December baby. Sorry Christmas b-day people!) and booked us a babymaking trip! I really went into it knowing our intentions but also recognizing that if we were to NOT get pregnant at that time I would be at peace with it. I know that it's not about OUR timing but God's timing, and if this was not His desire for us to conceive then we wouldn't. And we could continue to "try" if we wanted to. Or not. So although this is what we wanted, I wasn't trying to hold on to this idea as an end-all-be-all decision/timeline because I know it's not really up to me (as much as we like to think it is most of the time).
How did we find out/pregnancy test details: We had only been back from New York for a few days when I decided to start testing. This time around I did a lot of research on pregnancy test sensitivity - meaning which pregnancy tests truly pick up the lowest amount of HCG. (If you're curious, First Response Early Result Tests REALLY DO tell you first! First Response will pick up HCG at as little as 6mIU/mL, whereas most other brands won't pick up HCG until it reaches at LEAST 20mIu, or more.) ANYWAY. That being said I started testing with First Response the earliest I thought implantation was possible. On Monday, May 6 at 3w1d, (9dpo and 6 days before missed period) I got that first VERY faint positive! I was absolutely blown away at how early we found out. I share these specifics because: a) it took me 4 pregnancies to figure this out - knowledge is power people - and b) I honestly feel that I would have known about our other babies much sooner had I actually been using First Response and not those darn cheapies. (Don't get me wrong I love keeping the cheapies on hand for "emergencies" BUT they just can't tell you much if it's before your missed period. I've never been someone to suspect a pregnancy and then wait to test until AFTER my missed period. Cheapies are great if you're already late, when hcg levels have already had a chance double a few times, in my personal opinion.) Not that WHEN you find out changes anything at all, but if you're like me and you prefer to know at the soonest moment possible maybe you found this information helpful :).
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| 1st pos. test with a very faint line! Hard to see in a photo! (9dpo) |
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| The next day. Feeling more real! (10dpo!) |
Why did we decide share the news when we did: We shared our news "publicly" at 7 weeks. Ever since my first pregnancy, I have felt very convicted to share our pregnancy news as soon as possible. When I was pregnant with Heidi, I can remember thinking to myself: "I'm doing this thing that everyone is telling me I'm supposed to do (by waiting to share) but why?" I do not feel like I'm protecting myself by keeping my babies a secret until a certain magical time. It is a personal decision for everyone, but I would be hurting myself and making things much much harder on our family should a miscarriage or other health issue occur. Every woman and every family is different, so the decision truly is different for everyone, but I feel very strongly about not keeping our pregnancies a secret until X number of weeks. And if you've been around here for a while you know I don't make decisions based on fear or the "what ifs" if something were to go wrong. I also am not naieve to think that something could go wrong at any point. Because in our family we place such a high value on the support we receive from our community, we will always share the news of pregnancy with those who we are closest with right away, and publicly within that first month or two. Regardless of whether it's a healthy pregnancy or if a miscarriage happens a life is a life and one that deserves love, joy and celebrating. One way or another.
How far apart will Cami and baby #4 be: 2yrs 4 months (somehow the largest gap we've had between kids so far - insert smiling sweating emoji!)
We are SO excited to welcome this fourth addition to our family. Pregnancy is totally my jam and bringing babies into the world is something that I truly love to do. I am so excited and SO grateful that God is allowing me to experience it all again. We look forward to sharing our journey with you for a FOURTH time!
