24 Weeks Pregnant

24 weeks today! I'm so happy that I've made it this far! If baby were born today, he'd obviously been in a scary situation but would probably survive. This makes me feel so relieved to know! Baby boy weighs about 1 1/4 lbs and is the size of an ear of corn. He's getting big (and so is mama)! I've gained about 18 pounds already, which is a few pounds more than I'd gained by this point in my other pregnancies. I'm blaming it on the fact that I'm older and that this is my 4th baby. It's crazy how my body just packs on the weight when I'm pregnant. I gain weight so easily! I'm trying to be careful about what I eat and exercise at least 3 times a week, but it's still a struggle. I hope I can at least keep it under control enough that I can manage to make it to delivery without getting stretch marks. I've managed to make it through 3 pregnancies without them, and I'd die if I got them now!

I've been feeling baby move for almost a month now, although his movements haven't been strong enough for anyone but me to feel. Last night was actually the first time Adam was able to feel him move. The boys have been so sweet with baby. They love to gather around my belly to talk to him and try to feel him move. ❤️

I had some pretty bad sciatic nerve pain a few weeks ago but baby boy must have shifted because the pain stopped suddenly and I'm back to feeling great. I've already had to stop jogging at the gym because every time I do, I get contractions. I've been climbing the stair master instead and doing exercises like wall balls, weighted lunges, and squats. I'm starting to really feel the extra weight on my body. Exercising is getting a lot harder than it used to and the extra weight is definitely slowing me down. Despite all of this, I feel so grateful for my health and my body that's able to grow this baby! It's such a miracle!

I've started to get excited butterflies in my stomach as I've seen babies around town the past few weeks. I can't wait to see what this guy looks like and get to know his personality. Now if Adam and I could just come up with a name for him.... Naming humans is hard! It is definitely my least favorite part of having a baby. There's so much pressure to give him a good name that he's going to love and that's going to suit him. I pour over baby name websites all the time, but nothing jumps out to me. Thankfully we have 16 more weeks to decide!

24 weeks pregnant with Eli, Oliver, and Isaac.

Isaac: 2 1/2 Years Old

Dear Isaac,

Words truly can't describe what a joy you are. You get sweeter and sweeter every day. You're incredibly affectionate and love crawling into my lap for snuggles, tickles, and attention in general. You are my sweetest little buddy. I love spending my days with you. You're an intense child. You need attention all the time, not in an annoying way, but you just always like to be near me. You talk nonstop and ask a million questions during the day. By the time you go to bed at night, let's just say I'm ready to have a little break from you. But then an hour later, your dad and I are talking about all the funny things you did that day and are looking at pictures of you because we miss you so much.

You give the sweetest compliments. No joke, multiple times a day, you tell me that I'm nice, pretty, and a good mommy. Your compliments are always completely unprompted and are so genuine. I can't help but smile at your kind words. You are such a ray of sunshine. You are also very good at saying thank you without being prompted whenever we give you something. It's so refreshing after rarely hearing those words from a certain two older brothers of yours.

Your obsession with piggies has grown even deeper. You insist on sleeping with a dozen of them every night and you carry your most beloved one around the house with you all the time. I don't let you take him into stores or restaurants but make you leave him at home. I don't want you to get in the habit of dragging him around everywhere we go. I don't want him to get lost but more importantly, I don't want him to get filthier than he already is! He always looks so gross.

I still put you down for a "nap" every day, but you only fall asleep about once a week. I wish you'd sleep more, but at least I get a little break from you while you're having your quiet time in your crib. You're never mad to be in there. You just talk and sing and play with your stuffed animals until I come get you. I usually leave you in there for an hour or so before I get you out. You always tell me that you slept even if you were talking loudly the whole time. So funny, You're great about going to sleep at nighttime. You're usually out like a light as soon within a minute of us leaving your room.

I want to potty train you before your baby brother is born, but I don't know if it's going to happen because of your fear of pooping. You only poop every 4 or 5 days. You'll pace around in discomfort for days, freaking out about how scared you are that it's going to hurt. You hold it until you literally can't take it anymore and then you finally let it out. I give you Miralax all the time so it's never hard, so I don't know why you're so scared to go. You've actually pooped on the toilet twice. I made a huge deal out of it both times (I called family to let you brag about your big accomplishment, bought you presents, took pictures of you next to the potty, etc) but the excitement hasn't been enough to make your fear go away. Hopefully we can get this issue resolved soon so we can bite the bullet and take your diapers away for good.

I love you to the moon and back,
Mama

2 1/2 Year Old Stats: 
Height: 37 inches (73rd percentile)
Weight: 31.6 lbs (76th percentile)

22 Weeks Pregnant

Oh boy, the quality of this picture is terrible, but what can ya do? I have to take these pictures by myself with a tripod and it's hard for the camera to focus on a blank wall. When I walk into the frame, the focus is never quite right no matter how I try to adjust it. It's so frustrating!

Pregnancy-wise, things have started to get real the past few weeks. The most exciting development is that I've started to feel baby boy's movements! They're not very strong yet and feel more like twitches than anything. But he's definitely moving around in there and getting bigger! I love it every single time I feel him move. It's such a strange feeling to have something alive and moving around inside of me, but I feel so honored to have the task of making a temporary home for this little boy.

The other development is that I've started having pain in my pelvis, lower back, and the sciatic nerve running down into the right side of my butt. I can feel my hips widening and my pelvis opening up. If I don't rest enough during the day or do something too physical, I hurt worse. There have been days where the aching is so bad that I can hardly think about anything else. The funniest part though is that whenever I lie down to rest, my boys immediately come over to me to climb all over me, particularly little two-year-old Ike. He thinks it's time to rough-house even though all I want to do it take a little break!

While I was jogging on the treadmill at the gym a few days ago, I had my first Braxton Hicks contractions. I couldn't believe it! They came on really suddenly and surprised me. They went away  almost as soon as I slowed down to a walk, but I was pretty bummed because I don't remember ever getting them this early in pregnancy with your brothers. I hate thinking that I'm going to have to start taking it easier already! I'm a busy lady with three little boys and it's going to be hard to slow everything down!

20 Weeks Pregnant

Today marks the halfway point of my pregnancy! I can't believe how quickly it's going. I had my 20 week ultrasound this morning and as I laid back in the chair and watched my little boy dance across the screen, I couldn't help but cry as the technician told me that he looked completely healthy and normal. I feel so blessed to have yet another perfect little boy, almost a little guilty, because I realize there are so many women that struggle through complicated pregnancies and babies born with health problems. So many women struggle to get pregnant and it usually happens for me the first month we try. So many babies are born with major problems, and even though we're not out of the woods yet, everything looks good so far. I feel very grateful.

I've felt all of my babies move by this point in my other pregnancies, but because of my anterior placenta, I haven't felt this little guy yet. At least I don't think I have. It's hard to tell for sure. Over Christmas break while we were in St. George, I was laying in bed and I felt a big twitch. I'm not sure if that was the baby, but either way, I don't think it's going to be too long before I start feeling him consistently. I'm looking forward to the baby's movement though because it's one my my very favorite parts of being pregnant.

I had my first complete stranger ask me when I was due a few days ago. It was kind of exciting to hear that question because that means I'm past the awkward point of people just wondering if I've put on a few pounds and into the stage where I actually look pregnant. Yay! I love looking pregnant.

I'm feeling great these days. I have lots of energy, almost to the point where I feel hyper all the time. It's hard to make myself sit down during the day or go to bed at night because I'm never very tired. At my ultrasound, the ultrasound tech told me that the baby weighs 9 ounces and is the size of a banana. It's crazy how tiny he still is! I know he's getting cuter every day in there and I can't wait to see his little face!

20 weeks pregnant with Eli, Oliver, and Isaac.