I have been wanting to get some “mother’s jewelry” for awhile now but never could decide on what to get. Before I was pregnant, I figured I’d just get something that could be added to later, since we thought we’d have three children eventually. Now that we have the third on the way, I’ve been looking at pieces that are more all-encompassing. We won’t order anything until this baby girl is born and has a name (I have a feeling it may take her birth for us to mutually agree on a name…). There are a lot of necklace choices out there but I am liking these pieces so far.

Mother of Pearl by The Vintage Pearl

+ Circle of Love + birthstones by The Vintage Pearl

Open Circle Necklace by Lisa Leonard Designs – with the girls names added

Dewdrop Necklace by Lisa Leonard Designs – three names won’t fit on this one though

Teenie Tiny Initials Necklace by Lisa Leonard Designs

Nesting Necklace 3 Baby Birds by Figs & Ginger

Eternally Family by etsy seller cinnamonsticks

Itty Bitty Rimmed Charms by etsy seller cinnamonsticks

Are there any pieces that you have seen and like? I’d love some more suggestions.

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THIRTY-SEVEN!

Age: 3 years 6 months

I couldn’t stand the uncertainty of not knowing for sure if our next child is a girl, so I made an appointment for a 2D ultrasound at Stork Vision, a prenatal imaging center. The appointment was scheduled for today, a Saturday, so that meant the whole family could go.

When we arrived the office was running a little behind so they said we could get a couple of peeks at the baby in 3D/4D to make up for it. I hadn’t ever had a 3D/4D ultrasound so it was interesting to see the baby as a three dimensional figure, albeit still a bit alien-like since she doesn’t have a lot of fat/padding under her skin.

After a lot of prodding and searching, the ultrasound tech finally felt confident to identify the baby as a girl. It took awhile to reach that conclusion because the baby had her legs close together, was facing the placenta and wasn’t doing a lot of moving. It just took a little patience on our part (and skill of the technician) to be able to get a good view. In the picture below, the top left box has a bottom view of the baby with the white lines indicating we are indeed having another girl. The picture is a montage of different shots from the ultrasound, both 2D (black and white) and 3D (brownish). We got the images on CD which is pretty cool — no scanning or picture taking required to have them digitally.

In the end, I feel very confident that the baby is a girl. Yay!!

… not a boy!

Huh?

Ok, so that’s not really what the doctor said during the ultrasound, but that’s how I took it. The doctor spent a lot of time looking for boy parts. He didn’t find any, so he figured the baby is a girl. Girls are more than “not a boy;” girls have parts too. We didn’t see those parts; I even asked, “aren’t there supposed to be three lines (hamburger sign) for a girl?” He said yes but he couldn’t find them. And the baby’s legs were wide open, so it wasn’t like the view was bad.

Image from MALLORY's anatomy scan. See? There are girl parts.

So while the doctor says the baby is a girl, I think there’s still a chance, albeit very slim, that the baby is a boy. I’m still returning the baby boy clothes though. This uncertainty makes me want to pay for another ultrasound to get real confirmation one way or the other. Maybe in a month I’ll do that.

And, we only got one picture of our baby. I think the doctor was in a rush because I had to ask the doctor for a picture; otherwise we wouldn’t have any. Strange, as we got at least a half a dozen pictures from the anatomy scans with Mallory and Chelsea.

Other than a bit of uncertainty, the baby looks great; healthy and measuring correctly. That’s all we can ask for really.

So, the news of another baby girl in our family is starting to sink in. I was really gearing up for adding a boy to the mix (even calling the baby “he” a few times) but am absolutely thrilled with the idea of three sisters so close in age. What fun they will have and we’ll for sure have lots of drama in our future. If the three get along as well as the two, then we will be blessed beyond belief.

ETA: I am not disappointed in the least bit that we are having another girl; quite the opposite really. I have always loved the idea of having three little girls, but was worried that I’d be *disappointed* if it didn’t happen that way. And in the beginning I was a little nervous to be a boy-mamma but I thought it would be very unfair and selfish to feel any kind of disappointment when finding out the gender and that’s why I was trying to get used to the idea of having a boy. By the time the ultrasound rolled around, I felt a boy would fit into the family great — especially because he’d have two big sisters to mother look after him. A boy sounded like fun. We won’t get to find out what it’s like to have a boy (unless through some miracle) because we don’t see us having four children. My only disappointment from the ultrasound comes from not feeling certain on the baby’s gender. I am a planner and I don’t like surprises. I’d just like to feel confident one way or the other. (And I do know that ultrasound gender predictions can be wrong and nothing is 100 percent certain).

…actually in just five days, we will get another peek at the baby to see how he/she is growing and hopefully find out the gender (I’ll be 18 weeks then). Of course, we will be happy with either outcome and just want a healthy baby in the end. But naturally, thinking of the future with a boy or another girl has crossed our minds many times.

Picture from Mallory's ultrasound. Look at her little up-turned nose!

I would be perfectly happy with another girl and surprisingly so would Jonathan. I already feel like I know what I am doing with girls and we basically have everything we need (poor child could be wearing hand-me-downs until she went to college!). But the idea of adding a boy to the mix is intriguing… and something I’m thinking about more.

This pregnancy has been a little different from the previous two. The “differences” could be that this is my third pregnancy so things are a little different each time naturally or that I don’t have the best recollection of the first two pregnancies or a combination of both.

Pregnant with Mallory above; already showing more than this at 17 weeks, this time around.

DIFFERENCES:

• Belly. I am showing much sooner this time; already with a noticeable bump at 17 weeks. This may be because my body knows what to do, so is ready to pop sooner. Or it could just be that I’m about 20 pounds heavier than I was the first two times (how did that happen?!?). But strangely enough, I haven’t gained any weight yet, so where does the baby bump come from??
• Sick, sick, sick. It has only been in the last two weeks that I haven’t felt sick every single day. That last week of feeling sick was a doozy because I was physically getting sick at least once a day (and for more than a day and a half could not keep anything down, even water). Then I became BFF with Zofran and I felt normal for the first time since before Independence Day.
• Easier (in a way). This pregnancy hasn’t affected my body the way the other two did. With the first two, I ended up having several-times-daily episodes of rapid heart beat (tachycardia). With the last pregnancy it got to the point where my OB sent me to a cardiologist to get checked out to make sure everything was ok (it was; it’s just a *feature* of my heart). Dealing with the tachycardia got old though; I’d walk from my car to inside a store and have to sit down to rest because I felt like I was going to pass out or I’d have to sit down while cooking dinner because I felt faint. And, for whatever reason, from early on I couldn’t lay on my back because it made me feel ill and/or faint (something to do with the womb/baby putting pressure on blood supply lines). For both big ultrasounds (at 17 weeks for M and 21 weeks for C), I was only able to lay on my back for a short amount of time; then I had to lay on my side for the duration of the exam. This time? I have no problems (thus far) with either issue: no rapid heart beat and I can still lay (sleep even) on my back without issue. I’m guessing my body has changed somehow on the inside so that the baby isn’t putting pressure on that blood supply or maybe the womb is lower?? Who knows…

December 25, 2007: A week shy of Chelsea's birth day. It's strange to think that Chelsea is currently the same age as Mal in this picture (20.5 months). I think it's good that Chelsea has some extra time before a new baby enters the house (she'll be almost 26 months at the due date). She needs it!

So, because of the differences this time around, I am having a feeling, albeit slight, that this baby is a boy. I am feeling it enough that I have purchased a good bit of baby boy clothes (only because Gymboree was having their Baby Sale and I wanted to take advantage of the deals while I could and I couldn’t pass up the $2.27 shirts!). I am saving all receipts and will take everything back if need be. It’ll be a little embarrassing but I’ll get over it. Jonathan thinks I’m jinxing things by my premature boy shopping. I say nothing is going to change the gender of the child by me purchasing little blue clothes. On Thursday we’ll (hopefully) find out one way or the other.

Big sister knows a baby is coming and is excited. Little sister has no clue and doesn't realize how much her world is going to change, especially considering how much she is attached to her mama.

Mallory says she wants a “sis-tah” and Chelsea wants a “bwuh-dah” (she likes to tell us Chelsea’s preferences on a lot of things even though Chelsea only has a few words). For awhile Mallory thought we were getting both, but now understands there is only one baby in mommy’s belly or belly button (she gets confused sometimes).

I seem to update my Project 365 blog more than this one, so don’t forget to check it out too.

Scenario: Girls playing in Mal’s room. Music is on and blaring. (Their favorite CD: Baby Einstein: Playtime Music Box)

Situation: Mallory is now crying and quite upset. Chelsea has left the room walking fast, with Mal following her and yelling at her. Mal is crying/whining, “Chelsea don’t leave! Come DANCE with me! Chelsea won’t DANCE with me!”

Solution: Thankfully I was able to talk Chelsea, the dancing queen, in to going back and dancing with Mallory. All is right with the world again and we have two happy girls, for the next two minutes at least. Crisis averted.

I’ve been a little preoccupied lately because of this:

On Father’s Day, Jonathan (and I) got an extra special gift of finding out that we are expecting our third child. And I may end up with an extra special gift on my birthday next year (2/22) since the due date is 2/24 (Chelsea came one day early).

The unexpected news of this third child has been a life changing event for me.  Besides the fatigue and ever present nausea I’m currently experiencing (this pregnancy is kicking my butt), I can’t fathom how I’ll manage to be a good parent to three little ones, ALL AT THE SAME TIME. I can hardly keep up with these two. Chelsea will be newly 2 and Mallory will be 3 (a month and a half shy of 4) when the baby is due. Don’t get me wrong, we were definitely open to the idea of a third child, but LATER when Mallory is in school full time in a couple of years.

So, I’m kinda freakin’ out and I think about how this will all playout constantly. Maybe when the first trimester yuck of nausea and fatigue go away (hopefully!), my perspective will change (hopefully).

What I need to keep in perspective now is that we have two sweet, happy and healthy girls (save their allergies) who get along well. We have a roof over our heads with room for another child (we think we’ll keep the baby in the bassinet/pack-n-play for 6 months, then move him/her to the crib in Chelsea’s current room; at that point Chelsea would be 2.5 and we’d move her into Mal’s room and the girls would share the double bed; children have shared a bed for centuries, surely we can make it work for us). Jonathan has a job in this weak economy. We have great friends and a supportive family. We have our health. What more could we ask for?

The only real change we will need to make is my car. I can’t fit three carseats in my car, so we’ve already started the process of researching what will work for us. I’m leaning toward minivan from a purely what’s-most-practical standpoint (Toyota Sienna is top of the list); Jonathan is leaning toward anything BUT minivan (he’s too cool for that ). I know we could go the route of bigger SUV, but I really don’t want anything that big.

I’m currently 9.5 weeks along. We should find out the gender around 17 weeks. I am hoping by then that I will have my energy back and be feeling better. Wish me luck.

{Note: I do know that millions of women before me have had three children (or more) and survived just fine. The surprise of this caught me off guard and it wasn’t the plan, so it is taking me awhile to process (accept?) it all. Part of the anxiety is that Jonathan’s work will require him to start putting in more hours so he’ll be home less; we don’t have any immediate family in-state to help; and the girls’ allergies prevent me from getting a break from fixing all of their meals if I am tired or overwhelmed or need the convenience of eating out — i.e. we can’t just run to Chick-fil-A for lunch. We can sometimes supplement their meals with restaurant food (like ordering a fruit bowl), but we still have to provide the major portion of their meal with food brough from home.

I know I’ll get through this, somehow… Just give me some time. }

Mallory at 16 months and Chelsea at 17 months. Even though she was younger at the time Mallory had a bit more hair than Chelsea has now.

Chelsea is growing up so fast! How is she already turning into this toddler. I love the age that she is right now. I want to freeze her in time right now.

Some bits and pieces about this girl:

• more teeth are making their way through the gums: 7 visible + more that look to be poking through.
• she tries to give kisses. She either makes the kissing sound or she’ll lean in to receive a kiss. She doesn’t know to do both at once.
• she’s in between size 6-12 and 12-18 clothes. Most 12-18 pants are too big on her.
• she’s self feeding 95 percent of the time. We only spoon feed her things she can’t feed herself yet – like yogurt, applesauce.
• she can be a finicky eater. She’ll love something the first time she eats it (scrambled eggs, hot dog) but then won’t touch it if served it again. She loves ham, peas, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, guacamole, pretzels, chicken, pork, fruit, yogurt and applesauce. She self feeds everything except food that requires a spoon like applesauce and yogurt. She’s drinking water out of a sippy cup and looks cute doing it, especially if it’s a big sippy cup. She can sometimes get liquid out of a straw cup. She still will not take milk out of a cup which is a little frustrating.
• she tries to color with a crayon if you give her one (we’ve learned to pick them up quickly if they fall to the ground because otherwise, watch out for our walls!)
• she is still throwing fits when I change her diapers or try to change her clothes. She screams and fights me when I lay her down to do these things 90 percent of the time. It doesn’t seem to matter if I put her on the change table or the floor; or if I try to give her a toy to distract her; or if I have Mallory try to distract her. She just hates it when I change her. However, 90 percent of the time, if Jonathan changes her, she’s all smiles and is fine with it. Every once and awhile she’ll throw a fit for him, but not often.
• give her a container and she’ll put something in it. She loves finding a small thing to put in a bigger thing. This means we’ve found odd bits here and there around the house (random toys in bathroom drawers, boxes filled with little goodies).
• she does this funny thing when she tries to walk fast. She’ll jut her neck and head out in front of her body and her arms angle backward from her body. I need to get a good picture of this.

I’m sure there is more, but I need to get this posted since she’s already 14 months old…