I wonder if all my series posts will start this way from now on. I can’t believe I’m 22 weeks all of a sudden!! I think it helps that the sun is coming up a bit earlier. It also helps that I can feel our little Bambina move from time to time. Time passes easier when our mental health is better, right? Right. Mine isn’t exactly aces but its rolling. We’ll talk more about that soon.
Size Comparison: These size comparisons, though. They crack me up. I THINK they go mostly by height? Based on that, baby is roughly as tall as a cob of corn, or a spaghetti squash, or my Nalgene water bottle! Being that my water bottle is significantly larger than a cob of corn, I’m thinking its just a height comparison. So baby is about a foot tall. And thanks to last weeks ultrasound, I learned her weight is ballparked around 14 oz, so just shy of one pound! To think she’ll still gain so many of those.. I can’t wait!
Appointments: I had probably the BEST ultrasound I’ve ever had last Friday! We took the last appointment of the day, because it suits us very well to be able to pick Dekker up from school and go all together. It also seems to be the best time for them, because no one is in a rush, they’re very relaxed about the kids running around the waiting area a bit, and they really make us feel welcome! Friday was no different. Solly was finally feeling better (YAY for a pooping toddler!) so he was all over the place, visiting the ladies at the desk, playing with the toys, and shrieking at everything. It was cute! The kids spread out the waiting room toys pretty well, but tidied up quickly before heading back. Our tech was lovely and warm to them, as usual. They headed to play with the bins of toys provided, and we started our scan. The kids were more energetic than usual that day, and our baby clearly wanted to fit in with her siblings! She was SO active and wiggly! It was awesome to see 🙂 She was sucking her thumb, sticking her tongue out, and waving her arms. Getting her heart rate took effort, as she simply refused to hold still, but we finally got it recorded as 166 bpm. Thats a GREAT heart rate! We got beautiful, clear views of her nose and mouth, and her hands were just all over the place! We confirmed, once again, that she is still a girl 🙂 The whole thing just thrilled my heart! Sadly, for the first time ever, the printer was malfunctioning, and I left without pictures. But my tech insisted I stick my head in there another day soon and get some, because they were just some of the BEST pictures we’ve ever gotten of her! The kids, however, did not leave empty handed. Our tech had some little prize boxes and let each kid choose a gift. Rowan and Solly chose dinosaurs, Dekker got a “crystal,” and Laela managed to weasel herself into getting TWO toys – a “diamond” and a necklace. They were so thrilled. All of us were. Next appointment with my doctor is still two-ish weeks away. Oh! And physio starts on Wednesday, finally!
How am I feeling emotionally: I think my emotions are going to continue in a similar fashion throughout the rest of my pregnancy. As I mentioned, I am THRILLED, and excited, and things are feeling more and more real, and possible, and hopeful! But every one of those feelings is quickly followed by a wash of anxiety. Losing her now would hurt SO much. Not that it wouldn’t have hurt before. That fear is real. But to cross more and more milestones and THEN lose her… I don’t know what I would do. And as much as I don’t want to, I carry some fear in that department, and I likely will until she’s born. Maybe a bit afterwards. I’m not sure. I don’t want to plan for fear, but I also don’t want to pretend its not there.
How am I feeling physically: Dare I say, for fear of jinxing it, that I’m feeling a bit stronger?? Nausea is pretty gone. When it is around, its small enough that I can ignore it. My boobs hurt again, which I could live without. At least I have bras that fit again! That should only help. My legs and pelvis aren’t in constant pain, which I’m thankful for. However, they hurt differently than they have in the past. In previous pregnancies, my legs and pelvis would be shot by the end of the day unless I really did NOTHING that day, which was almost never. I’m sure thats still coming, let’s be real. But these days, I can go through many days feeling fine, but my pelvis will give up on me with NO warning, and out of nowhere, there will be an audible crunch sound, and I will have searing pain for the next two days. Its quite unreal to not be able to anticipate it. I super hate that. But again, I’m finally going to physio on Wednesday, where I’m sure my amaaazing therapist will be a wealth of ideas and information. I can’t wait!
Wish Lish/Purchases: If you missed it, I posted my unreasonable wish list on Fridays post. It was fun to just lay it all out there, and I am so excited that a friend offered to lend me her Rock n Play for Bambina!! One less thing I have to buy! I’m stoked 🙂 I’ve added a few cute little things to my wish list for her, like the knotted/twisted headbands from this etsy shop. The prices are awesome, but I don’t love the shipping costs, so I’ll likely start fishing around locally 🙂 I also have my eye on a few stretchy car seat covers from Amazon, just haven’t bit the bullet yet. Do you guys like option #1 or option #2 better? I like option #1 better, I think, but its literally twice and price. Hmmm… 🤔 Lots of daydreaming these days. Have you seen the adorable little baby rash guard bathing suits Old Navy just put out? Ack! I have a problem…
Pictures: I wish I had ultrasound pictures for you, but no dice :/ I do have a belly picture, though! Hopefully that counts for something!
Its growing….. Its pretty bizarre to see just how out there it is. But I like it. I feel pregnant, and I feel like I look pregnant! Wins all around.
How are the kids feeling: Now that they kids know the baby’s gender and that question is off the table, they just want her to come already!! I think we all feel the way around here 😉 So the countdown is on! And by “countdown,” I don’t mean number of days. I should rather say that the timeline is on! When the kids ask, we do a rundown of the timeline. It goes something like this:
The snow will melt and spring will come, hopefully in the next month or so.
Once spring is nice and warm, we’ll start going to the lake on Saturdays.
Solly’s birthday is in May.
School for both Dekker and Laela will end in June.
Summer holidays will start.
A couple of weeks into summer, Bambina will come home!
I hope I can fill in some of the gaps with more fun things soon, but those are the basics anyway.
The kids are also anticipating her arrival in a more practical way. They constantly speculate who will get which job, and they “call” certain jobs, from getting her diapers and blankets to singing her songs. Feeding her seems to be a hot commodity, which warms my heart so much to hear! One of the little benefits for us bottle feeding families 🙂 I can’t wait to actually see some of that take place!
Getting to know the baby: I like to think that our little lady has pretty decent hearing, because she responds to her siblings from time to time. Not just during our last ultrasound, but in general, when they are bouncing off the walls rowdy, she is more active. It will be so amazing to see her finally home with her siblings, eventually playing with them and laughing at them.
The BEST part of being pregnant: Bambina is growing! And the COOLEST thing that happened this week was her moving and me being able to feel her bump against me in two different places at once! I know it sounds like such a small thing, but its continued proof that she is growing and changing and hopefully thriving!
Favourite thing: Ok I’m really trying to make this category of the series about a product of some kind that I’m excited about, but it just isn’t coming naturally. I decided today, instead of breaking my head over it, I’m going to use my truthful FAVORITE thing about this week, and that is my pooping toddler!!! What a HUGE change we’ve seen in Solly now that he’s not constipated and in constant discomfort! He is more playful, and silly, and chatty, and even more comprehensive! He follows simple directions better than ever before, and follows along after his siblings, whereas before, he’d often choose to stay put where he was. You can just tell 🙂 He feels like a million bucks, and THAT is my favorite thing!!!
So I cheated a little bit on the end part of today’s post, but thats what you’re getting! After Dekkers rough vomiticious (yup, don’t question it) weekend, he’s home for the day, and all FOUR kids are sleeping!!! Not Bambina, but I’m cool with that. She and I can spend some one on one time together this afternoon 🙂 I don’t mind! She’s probably enjoying the cookies I’m eating.
Don’t forget to tell me quick car seat cover you like better!